Werewolf 40,000: The Horus Heresy CHAOS DEFEATED; MUTANTS SURVIVE

[tanglewood]

This game will be more complicated than the previous one, but if any of the new players enjoyed St. Cronin's excellent game then you may well enjoy a more full blooded one even more. There will be more roles and everyone will need to be involved to the end, as opposed the rigid run through of major suspects in order that basic games usually turn into during the last 2 or 3 days. Also, any players who haven't played before are more than welcome to make a debut in this game also. Some say it's best to not mess around and jump straight in the deep end anyway.

The game is tentatively slated to start on this coming Tuesday, the 30th August. The date may be pushed back if numbers are not forthcoming, or possibly even brought forward if interest is high and the players agree to do so (I am looking for around 16-18 players, although more are always welcome). Day lynch deadlines will be 9pm EST with the night running through until 9am EST (advance orders for night actions will always be accepted and can have conditional orders contained also) although may be subject to change with advance notice from the GM. Day lynch deadlines will not take place on Saturday or Sunday unless voted for by a majority of active players.

The Master of the Administratum - Fouts
The Inquisitor General of Ordo Hereticus - SirFozzie - Killed Night 2, Loyal Human
The Inquisitor General of Ordo Malleus - GoldenEagle
The Ecclesiarch of the Adeptus Ministorum - Greyroofoo - Executed Day 6, Loyal Human
The Fabricator General of the Adeptus Mechanicus - st.cronin - Killed Night 6, Loyal human
The Grand Provost Marshal of the Adeptus Arbites - kingfc22
The Paternoval Envoy of the Navigators - Saldana
The Master of the Astronomican - twothree - Killed Night 4, Loyal Human
The Grand Master of the Officio Assassinorum - bulletsponge - Executed Day 4, Loyal Human
The Master of the Adeptus Astra Telepathica - Anxiety - Executed Day 3, Chaos Acolyte
The Captain-General of the Adeptus Custodes - path12 - Killed Night 3 - Mutant
The Prince-Primate of the Holy Synod - AlanT - Killed Night 5, Loyal Human
The Lord Commander Millitant of the Imperial Guard - Blade - Resurrected Day 6
Primarch of the Space Wolves - BrianD
Primarch of the Ultramarines - Chief Rum - Killed Night 7, Mutant
Primarch of the Dark Angels - Mustang - Executed Day 5 -- GHOST
Primarch of the Blood Angels - Swaggs
Primarch of the Black Templars - Real Deal - Executed Day 1, Loyal Human

[tanglewood]

Introduction

This game will be based on the tabletop miniture wargame Warhammer 40,000, hereby WH40k or 40k. 40k is an offshoot of the original Warhammer Fantasy Battles game which is probably more well known and widely played, but in truth is really, really, really boring. WH40k however is not only better in a game mechanic sense but its biggest hook (for me) is a stupendously rich setting that I genuinly feel is the best sci-fi setting ever created. Better than Star Wars, Star Trek, Dune, Blade Runner, everything. WH40k is a huge universe, but this game only focuses on a specific region, a specific conflict and a specific time of the WH40k universe, so encyclopedic knowledge of the setting will not be neccessary to take part. The information I provide should be more than enough for even someone with no knowledge at all of WH40k to take an active and enjoyable role and I will also be more than happy to answer any questions based on the setting from the players (within the bounds of common sense GM restriction of course).

The Warhammer 40,000 Universe

The universe of WH40k can be loosely described as 'dystopian gothic science-fiction', think Star Wars meets 1984 meets the Dark Ages. The bloated Imperium of Man rules with an iron fist over an incalcuable number of star systems with The Emperor at its head, a godlike figure of worship for his citizens, desperatley kept artificially 'alive' for centuries on end for fear of what may happen if he dies. The Imperium is unashameadly facistic, rampantly xenophobic, irrevocably corrupt and technologically stagnant. Its enemies from the outside are many, the alien hive-like hunting creatures the Tyrannids, the monsterous barbaric species named Orks and others, but perhaps the most dangerous is the Chaos. The Chaos are a collection of Daemon Gods who inhabit the Warp, a kind of subspace acessible only to navigators who use it to pilot their ships, who prey on the emotions and stimuli of living flesh. They corrupt souls and bend them to their own demands, feeding on their anguish and burning hatred. As such, although Chaos does posses armies of Daemon warriors, Chaos cannot be combated in the same fashion as the Imperiums other enemies. Many of the elite genetically enhanced Space Marine super soldier legions sent to combat the forces of Chaos have themselves become corrupted and turned on the Imperium. 10,000 years ago, the first of these great Heresys, lead by the Emporer's favourite and most trusted general, Horus, almost ripped the Imperium in two, a shock in truth it has yet to recover from. It is this event that the game is based on and named after.

This post will be general WH40k information about the setting in a non-game related sense and will be updated throughout the game as people ask questions and as notice things fit to add. The next post will provide more detailed specifics about the actual game mechanics.

[tanglewood]

The strength of the Emperor is Humanity, and the strength of Humanity is the Emperor. If one turns from the other we shall all become the Lost and the Damned.

The Sermons of Sebastian Thor, Vol. XXVII Ch. LXII

The hordes of Chaos brought to Terra by the traitorus Space Marine Horus wreaked horrendus damage on our world, none more so than to the Emperor himself. He was fataly wounded in combat and now is totally dependant on a hideous contraption known as the Golden Throne, a garish machine that feeds him as it drains the life from the thousands of human souls that are 'processed' through it every day. The Emperor must survive, for without him the Imperium itself will fall. His spirit gives us discipline, our dilligence to him gives us salvation, our faith in him gives us strength. The unquestioned faith in the Emperor is the sole thread that strings together the miasma of systems in the Imperium. It is for this reason Chaos will stop at nothing in ending his existence. It is for this reason we must sacrifice our life for his.

Several thousand years have passed since the Chaos forces were repelled from Terra itself, but the war still rages as fiercely as ever. The players are members of the High Lords of Terra, the council formed to rule the Imperium and conduct the war effort in the Emporer's stead whilst he is 'recuperating'. The council is made up of the following positions:

The Master of the Administratum is the head bureaucrat of the Imperium and perhaps the most powerful High Lord on the council. In matters of great debate, the Master of the Administratum will often place the deciding vote and the other High Lords agree to abide by his wish. The Administratum's gargantuan task is the assesment and organisation of all planets in the Imperium, a most difficult task as planets are captured and lost at a far greater rate than they can be processed.

The Inquisitor General of Ordo Malleus is in charge of prosecuting the ever lasting hunt for Chaos agents and sympathisers in the Imperium. He is the man ultimatley responsible for the action of the feared Inquisitor teams, ruthless zealots who are a lethal cross between magistrate and executioner.

The Inquisitor General of Ordo Hereticus is a recently established position, but has gained tremendous power in such a rapid time. Since the intial sweep of Chaos through the Imperium, many hideous mutated creatures have manifested themselves. Whether they are corrupted by Chaos or simply an after-effect of its presence is immaterial, they must be destroyed. The Ordo Hereticus is the mutant hunting equivilent of the Ordo Malleus.

The Ecclesiarch of the Adeptus Ministorum is the head of huge religious apparatus that has built up around the myth of the Emporer's achievements. Whilst the Emperor was alive many on the council saw such worship as a humourus delusion of the masses, but now all believe, or suffer the consequences. There are many variations of worship that the Eccelsiarchy tolerates, as long as the cult promotes the three pillars the Imperium: adherence to duty, obedience to authority and thankfullness to the Emperor.

The Fabricator General of the Adeptus Mechanicus resides on the factory world of Mars, producer of the fleets and armies of the Imperium. Almost all of the Imperium's advanced technology is based on designs thousands of years old from the Golden Age, the time before the Chaos came. The origins, and indeed explainations for how any of it works, of much of the Imperiums designs have been lost for thousands of years, creating an almost cultish belief in the 'magic' of the 'Techpriests' who construct the arcane devices on Mars. As head of the Adeptus Mechanicus, the Fabricator General is responsible for the workings of the Emperor's Golden Throne life support machine. Others know what little they need to fulfill their singular task in its operation, but the Fabricator General is the sole individual who understands the entire process.

The Grand Provost Marshal of the Adeptus Arbites is in charge of Terra's huge and unwieldy police force. Whilst there is no universal galactic law as such, the Adeptus Arbites enforces general principles throughout the Imperium, often ruthlessly. Crime on Terra itself is a major problem in the underdwellings, but left largely unchecked as long as it does not penetrate the higher levels and bother those who truly matter.

The Paternoval Envoy of the Navigators is the elected representative of the Navigator's guild and therefore is de facto in charge of intra-Imperium commerce and trade. Whilst not technically under the Imperium's control, the Navigator's guild and the Imperium generally have the same goals at heart, namely stability, so have established a working relationship, the Paternoval Envoy being the liason officer.

The Master of the Astronomican is repsonsible for the huge galactic monitoring device known as the Astronomican. Allegedly built by the Emperor himself, the Astronomican registers activity in the Warp that may precursor any activity by Chaos. As such, it is perhaps humanity's most important weapon in the fight against the daemon entities.

The Grand Master of the Officio Assassinorum is feared amongst the other High Lords and with good reason. Assasaination squads typically have to be approved by the council before being deployed, either in combat operations or 'special duties', but previous Grand Masters have been known to use the resources under their commands to serve their own goals discreetly.

The Master of the Adeptus Astra Telepathica heads the barely tolerated organisation of psykers and telepaths that are attached to Imperial units in the field and operate in the various departments. Only a small number of humans have the potential for psychic power, but those that do are taken by the Imperium and trained as valuable tools to serve the Emperor. Still, psykers are almost universally distrusted in the Imperium and conversely psykers are always weary of the motives of any 'blunt' they deal with.

The Captain-General of the Adeptus Custodes operates the vast prision ships that orbit Terra. As the Adeptus Arbites and Inquisitor teams often have neither the time nor the patience for trials, suspects are often jailed indefinitley at the first hint of any possible transgression. This has lead to a huge prison population, who would be disposed of except for the contribution they can make in menial labour and as souls to be consumed by the Golden Throne.

The Prince-Primate of the Holy Synod 'enforces' belief in the Emporer's unquestioned divinity amongst the masses. Whilst the Inquisitors deal with extra-human threats, the Prince-Primate deals with humans who are sceptics, rationalists and other dangerous thinkers.

The Lord Commander Millitant of the Imperial Guard is effectively the Chief of Staff for the the Imperial Guard and Imperial Navy. He is the man held ultimately responsible for the war on Chaos and other threats, but due to the sheer vastness of the Imperium, in actuality he has little control over operations.

The Primarchs of the Space Marines are the leaders of the various Space Marine legions, known as Chapters. These genetically enchanced super soldiers are the elite shock troops of the Imperium and operate largely independantly of the rest of the military, with entirely seperate command structures and recruitment procedures. Each Chapter's structure is headed by a Primarch, who caries the original gene from which all the marines in a Chapter are derived from. The majority of the Chapters are fighting on the front lines against various enemies, but they are rotated so that at ony one time as many as seven or eight Chapters could be in Terra undergoing R&R and whilst they are undergoing refit, their Chapter leaders are invited to sit on the council with the High Lords.


In Werewolf 40,000 there are three factions, the Imperium, the Mutants and
the Chaos.

The council holds a vote every day, with the member recieveing the highest number of votes being executed and his soul consumed by the Golden Throne to feed the Emperor.

The Chaos win when their number are on a 1:1 ratio with all non-Chaos players. At this point, they overwhelm the other members of the council and strom the Emperor's chamber, forcibly removing him from the Golden Throne and hence killing him and crippling the Imperium.

The Chaos are led by one Chaos Daemon Lord who has taken human form and is impersonating a member of the council. He is joined by several acolytes, humans who have turned their back on the Imperium either for personal greed and delusions of reward or because the Chaos has corrupted them. The Chaos players may PM each other freely throughout the game and each night attack a player in their quarters, killing them.

The Mutants win if the Imperium defeats Chaos and they still have at least one of their number alive at the end of the game. At this point they will have enough of a proportion of the council to push through new doctrine declaring Mutation no longer an amboniation.

The mutants are 'led' by a Mutant Psyker who has gained some rudimentary psychic powers. He can contact the other mutants in the game by sending out one PM per night. He does not know the idendity of the other mutants, but has a chance of discovering the identity of one every time he sends a night message. The other Mutants know the identity of the Mutant Psyker but not of each other.

The Imperium wins a major victory if the eliminate both Chaos forces and the Mutants by the end of the game. They recieve a minor victory if they vanquish the Chaos, but there are still Mutants remaining.

Various players posses roles which may or may not break any of the rules mentioned in this section. This game is left intentionally unlcear at the beginning, but certain roles have the ability to piece together the game as play progresses.

PMs with roles despcriptions will be sent out on Monday. Players can paraphrase any PMs they recieve from the GM, but may not directly quote from them. The game will start on Day 1.

[Greyroofoo]

In

[DaddyTorgo]

in

[Chief Rum]

In!

[st.cronin]

in

[kingfc22]

Time to make my return to WW after a couple games off.

[bulletsponge]

in, my belly still isnt full from eating villagers last time. i think Chief rum and i will get more attention this game.

[SirFozzie]

why not

[path12]

In please.

[Greyroofoo]

Originally Posted by bulletsponge

in, my belly still isnt full from eating villagers last time. i think Chief rum and i will get more attention this game.

Just don't kill me if I'm your ally again, k thx

[Swaggs]

I'm up for another game.

[Barkeep49]

With school starting, I best sit this one out.

[bulletsponge]

Originally Posted by Greyroofoo

Just don't kill me if I'm your ally again, k thx

i promise nothing

[Alan T]

I'll play

[Lorena]

must... not... get... sucked in..

[st.cronin]

Originally Posted by Dodgerchick

must... not... get... sucked in..

Just sign her up and give her a role.

[GoldenEagle]

In.

[Farrah Whitworth-Rahn]

Originally Posted by Dodgerchick

must... not... get... sucked in..

Ditto. Going on vacation next week and will have plenty of free time to try to understand wtf is going on.

Of course I don't want to be the dork with a laptop on the beach...

[saldana]

in

i hate being out early it feels like forever before the next game starts.

[Lathum]

gonna have to sit this one out, moving next weekend and probably won't have internet for a few days at best.

[Fouts]

Villager checking in.

[twothree]

In. Taking the plunge in the deep end after watching the parnoid villagers stake themselves to a loss in the previous WW thread.

[Blade6119]

Originally Posted by SirFozzie

why not

AWWW CRAP, WERE DOOMED!!!! DOOOOOOMMMMEEEEEDDDD!!!!

in

[Lorena]

Originally Posted by st.cronin

Just sign her up and give her a role.

lol

Nah, I'm sitting this one out. If the other game was easy, this one will drive me even more nuts.

I'll sit on the sideline and be taking notes. Good luck everyone!!

[GoldenEagle]

I am a villager as well.

Do not seek the treasure, I repeat do not seek the treasure.

[BrianD]

I haven't played since the first couple of WW games, but I'll jump in if there is room.

[Fouts]

Originally Posted by BrianD

I haven't played since the first couple of WW games, but I'll jump in if there is room.

Welcome back, evil wizard!

[BrianD]

Originally Posted by Fouts

Welcome back, evil wizard!

Only sometimes.

[stevew]

I thought it said Werewolf:Hershey Highway.

[RealDeal]

Haven't done one of these in a while, and I'm in the mood again. Sign me up.

[bulletsponge]

Originally Posted by Greyroofoo

Just don't kill me if I'm your ally again, k thx

i might add that all the blood you sucked out of your victim made you extra juicy

[SirFozzie]

Originally Posted by Blade6119

AWWW CRAP, WERE DOOMED!!!! DOOOOOOMMMMEEEEEDDDD!!!!

in

Awwww come on Binky, it's not THAT bad... *laughs*

[Mustang]

Hmm.. A 40K twist.. Since I play 40K I'll have to ask to be included on this one if there is room still.

[Abe Sargent]

I can't play this round - too busy with training and such.

[Abe Sargent]

Actually, on second thought, I can play (I didn;t look at the start date) - so count Abe in

[Chubby]

IN

[st.cronin]

Wow, another big game.

[GoldenEagle]

Originally Posted by Anxiety

Actually, on second thought, I can play (I didn;t look at the start date) - so count Abe in

FYI, he said the start date could be moved up.

[Abe Sargent]

Yeah, and as long as it isn't, i'm good to go. But if you guys do want to start early, I'll have to bow out.

[Greyroofoo]

Originally Posted by bulletsponge

i might add that all the blood you sucked out of your victim made you extra juicy

Really? I thought Anxiety tasted funny.

And by the way, normal people DON'T SLEEP IN COFFINS!!!!

[tanglewood]

Originally Posted by Anxiety

Yeah, and as long as it isn't, i'm good to go. But if you guys do want to start early, I'll have to bow out.

It's okay, the option of moving it up was just that, an option. I have no qualms keeping it for a Tuesday start.

Just typing the rules up now.

[tanglewood]

Rules posted.

[Alan T]

I don't think Daddytorgo will be able to play after all

[GoldenEagle]

Originally Posted by DaddyTorgo

in

Due to some lousy moderation decisions, Daddy Torgo will not be partaking in this WW thread.

[Blade6119]

Originally Posted by GoldenEagle

Due to some lousy moderation decisions, Daddy Torgo will not be partaking in this WW thread.

See what happens when im not a moderator any more? And to think you were all soooo happy

[Blade6119]

[Mustang]

I hope I'm the head of the White Scars chapter...

chicks dig guys on bikes.

[twothree]

Since roles haven't been assigned yet, I have a general strategy question for everyone regarding the Imperium victory conditions.

The Imperium wins a major victory if they eliminate both Chaos forces and the Mutants by the end of the game. They recieve a minor victory if they vanquish the Chaos, but there are still Mutants remaining.

If you were a non-chaos, non-mutant, imperium member, and during the end game, you and your fellow imperium member believed you had the last chaos member identified would you:

Vote to excute him in order to attempt a minor victoy, or hold off on excuting him in order to excute all the mutants you could find first, so that you could attain a major victory.