It is the 41st millennium, a future in which the vast Imperium of Man stretches light-years across the galaxy. The wildly popular Warhammer 40,000 universe is one of constant strife; for untold billions, merely to be born is to be condemned to a lifetime of cruel suffering under an unforgiving and draconian regime. Only a select few in positions of power possess limited freedom: the Inquisitors who hunt heretics, the Rogue Traders who gather wealth, and the Deathwatch Space Marines who combat the alien threat. Science and technology offer little promise of relief; too much has been lost since the Dark Age of Technology, and all that is left goes to fuel the Imperium’s mighty war machine. It is a universe of grim darkness.

There’s a lot I don’t like about the 40k RPGs. The fact that they’re split across several books, classes and levels instead of the career approach of WFRP, the extremely tight and constricting focus/construction of the games. That said, there’s a lot to like as well. Having waited for a 40K RPG since the original Rogue Trader hardback wargame came out and being steeped in the influences that lead to its creation (primarily British fantasy/SF art, Moorcock and 2000AD) I love the 40k universe like no other and, despite not having been involved in the wargame hobby for some years, I seem to have assimilated the newer stuff (Dark Eldar, Tau, Necrons) by sheer gaming osmosis.

Deathwatch ‘completes’ the series of three books and three settings for the 40k RPG, each in ascending order of sheer munchkinism being Dark Heresy, Rogue Trader and Deathwatch.

Rogue Trader is the second RPG in the Warhammer 40k RPG line and, thankfully, it hasn’t followed the development of Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 3rd edition. This is definitely a book-based RPG rather than one of many components that can be lost, misplaced or damaged. This is the ‘middle’ book of the three 40k RPGs and the most loose-reined. Rather than being agents of the Inquisition or Space Marines, both of which are heavily constricted, players in this game take on the role of Rogue Trader, relatively free agents who trade at the fringes and even beyond the Imperium of man.

The characters are the command crew of a Rogue Trader vessel, the Rogue Trader himself – typically – and his entourage. You are amongst a body of Rogue Traders who are heading out into the Koronus Expanse, a dangerous, frontier area of space in which the Imperium is trying to increase its influence.

This is it, what many of us have been waiting for since the 1980’s: an RPG where we get to play Space Marines! A few years ago when we received word of the development of Dark Heresy, the geek world exploded with excitement. Having a Warhammer 40,000 RPG was something I think we all wanted. An official one, not just something we cobbled together in Mutants and Masterminds, but something officially sanctioned by the hallowed halls of Games Workshop. Dark Heresy was a dream come true.

One thing I appreciated with Dark Heresy, is that it kept the core mechanics of the existing Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay (basically a percentage-based system with talents and careers, and an advancement scheme for leveling). This has remained true all the way through the Warhammer 40,000 Roleplay series.

Fantasy Flight Games’ Dark Heresy and Warhammer Fantasy

Now Available at the Flames Rising RPGNow Shop!

Just in time for the New Year, two excellent sourcebooks for Fantasy Flight Games’ Dark Heresy RPG – Purge the Unclean (a trilogy of action, adventure, and horror in service to the Imperial Inquisition) and the Game Master’s Kit (featuring poisons and toxins rules, a xenos generator, quick reference charts, and a full adventure).

Writer/director/producer Christian Petersen’s Midnight Chronicles is an indie film based on the fantasy role playing game Midnight from Fantasy Flight Games. Evil rules in Midnight’s world of Aryth after Izrador, the dark god defeated the free races in a war 100 years prior. Men are now enslaved while Elves and Dwarves have disappeared into the forests and mountains. Hope resides in only the few brave enough to pursue it. As Mag Kiln travels to Blackweir to investigate the disappearance of a fellow priest, others also descend on the small town where a complex web of good versus evil develops that has implications on the future of the dark forces that rule the land.

Aye Dark Overlord! defies precise description. It is at once a board game, card game and has elements of a party game and role-playing games as well. The players take on roles of sniveling servants of the Dark Overlord, a vengeful chap whose patience with his inept followers grows thin…

Players begin by randomly drawing a hand of six cards – three hint and three action cards. One player is selected to play the role of Rigor Mortis; the Dark Overlord of the title. Once the players have their cards in hand, the Dark Overlord addresses one of them by saying something like “So my faithful minions; I ordered you to kidnap the princess. Has this task been accomplished?” The player indicated must then fabricate a brief story – using the elements illustrated on the cards in the player’s hand — explaining why the task was not completed, and in so doing shifting the blame for the failure to one of the other players.

Fantasy Flight Games (FFG) today announced its scheduled convention appearances for 2009. From Con of the North in the spring to GenCon and Penny Arcade Expo in the summer to Essen Spiele in the fall, FFG will travel the world to show off their newest titles.

For more information, visit the Fantasy Flight Games website at www.fantasyflightgames.com.

When I first heard about the Battlestar Galactica boardgame, earlier this year, I was interested in the game but not really dying to buy a copy. Sure, the Shadows Over Camelot-like approach to the game sounded fun, and the theme interested me, but I wasn’t so excited that I kept a close eye on rumors and new about the game. And when presented with an opportunity to buy the game at GenCon, I let is slip through my fingers (unlike The Black Goat of the Woods, which I immediately snagged). It wasn’t until I started hearing about the gameplay that I directed serious attention at the game.

Review by Philip Reed

Fantasy Flight Games has launched a new website for the Dark Heresy RPG. Dark Heresy is a roleplaying game based upon the universe of Games Workshop’s Warhammer 40,000. The setting of Warhammer 40,000 is a dark, gothic future where the Imperium of Man is beset by dangers within and without. In Dark Heresy players take [...]