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CommissarMega posted:The cutscene fragment in question, though the entire video is worth a watch: The best part is: If you play through his campaign, in the end you fight the inquisitor and win. Having her at his mercy, Bludflagg simply takes the hat and wanders off, leaving her unharmed. He only ever wanted a fight and a hat  .Generally I find that 40k's self-seriousness works in its favour when balanced just right with the winks at the audience. The way that these absolute absurdities are treated as perfectly normal and expected in-universe enhances the comedy of it, and allows for it to feel pretty cool to boot. Orks are just the most obvious aspect of it, but it really extends to everything, like the literal battle nuns who have actual shrines bolted to their tanks, or the supposedly unfathomably wise immortal space elves who keep making the absolute dumbest mistakes. In a weird way it reminds me of Metal Gear Rising: There, the idea that some tiny cyborg twink could just pick up a house-sized combat robot, throw it through the air, and cut it in half while overwrought rock blares in the background should be stupid and try-hard on its face. But the game plays it straight and commits just the right amount for it to be a) hilarious, and b) loving awesome. Also, when it comes to 40k authors, I second the recommendation for Abnett and the Eisenhorn trilogy, and also throw in a suggestion to stay well away from anything written by C.S. Goto. I don't remember much about his books, just that they were just absolute dogshit.
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Jun 5, 2022 11:47
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While we're on the topic, it might be a good idea to get into Archeotech a bit, since this game might well directly touch onto it. Basically, during the Dark Age of Technology, humanity's level of technology was really loving good, to the point where it could genuinely rival that of older alien races. But most of that was lost during the age of strife and at the current point in time, the Imperium's degree of technological sophistication is really rather poor compared to other players in the galaxy. They mostly compensate by sheer weight of numbers and industry. However, bits and pieces of that older, superior human technology are still scattered around the galaxy, commonly known as archeotech. Those can range from simply very good guns to advanced power generators to planet-destroying superweapons. Unsurprisingly, the Adeptus Mechanicus very much likes to gets their hands on such pieces, in part to make sure nothing terribly cursed gets into circulation, but mostly to maintain their continuing stranglehold on all technological knowledge. Nonetheless, small bits and pieces of archeotech do get out and are often a highly sought-after commodity among the Imperium's nobility. Rogue Traders in particular can often be found chasing after rumours of Archeotech finds, hoping to beat the Mechanicus search parties to the punch. That's also one of the major reasons why you occasionally find Mechanicus priests riding along with Rogue Trader crews, exchanging their technological expertise in exchange for first dibs on any archeotech finds. For the same reason, you also see former Mechanicus priests on these crews, who have left behind the Adeptus (or were forced to flee) because they chafed under the dogma. Perhaps the pinnacle of archeotech are the Standard Template Constructs (STCs), which were the thing that once allowed humanity to spread so quickly throughout the galaxy. Basically, an STC is a combination of an automated factory and a knowledge base of all human technology. A fresh group of colonists with a STC could just throw some raw resources in one end and receive reactors, vehicles, and whatever else they might need out the other, complete with blueprints and instructions on how to maintain and reproduce them. Unfortunately, all known STCs in existence have been either destroyed or have vastly degenerated (as they often included significant AI), and the best the Imperium can hope for is recovering small fragments that include blueprints or manufacturing instructions for individual artifacts. A lot of the most common pieces of technology used in the Imperium are based on such recovered fragments. To give an impression on just how big of a deal these things are: At one point, two imperial soldiers stumbled upon an STC blueprint for an improved combat knife. It was functionally still just a plain old knife, but it was sharper, sturdier, lighter, and cheaper to make than what the Imperium was using at the time. As a reward, both soldiers were declared heroes of the Imperium, and were each gifted an entire planet. Suffice to say, finding a complete, functional, uncorrupted STC is basically the absolute holy grail for the Mechanicus, and arguably the Imperium as a whole.
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Jun 8, 2022 20:15
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While we're doing infodumps, may as well do one on Xenos. Basically, there are a lot of alien species and factions out in the galaxy. The Imperium's official stance on them is usually kill on sight, but on the fringes of Imperial control (or in desperate circumstances) you do occasionally see uneasy truces or even outright cooperation. Here's a very much non-complete list of the major alien species around in the universe: Eldar: Basically space elves. They live extremely long, all have psychic powers to one degree or another, and have access to extremely advanced technology. Some 10,000 years before the current time, they were basically the de-facto masters of the galaxy. Trouble was, they let that get extremely to their heads. They turned to extreme hedonism, which unfortunately included being absolute torture-happy assholes to any other species they came across. It got so bad that the psychic concentration of their sheer hosed-up-ness spontaneously birthed a whole new Chaos god, who promptly went and devoured the souls of like 90% of the Eldar population. Now they are a shadow of their former selves and have splintered into three rough factions: - Dark Eldar: These didn't learn a single loving thing and are just as bad (if not worse) as before the fall. They're still all about torture and being horrible, now spiced up with some horrible cloning and bioengineering. Pretty much everybody else hates them and doesn't want anything to do with them, except sometimes the other Eldar factions. - Craftworld Eldar: Before the fall, several tribes of Eldar went and peaced out to live on giant generation ships called Craftworlds. They live a very regimented and ascetic lifestyle to avoid a repeat of the fall, and tend to be less immediately hostile towards other species. They can be reasoned with and have cooperated with humans in the past, but they still happily will pull poo poo like sacrificing several human worlds just to save a handful of Eldar lives. - Outcasts: These are individual unaligned Eldar who are just out there doing their own thing, usually out of a sense of Wanderlust. Some are doing piracy, some live primitive lives on specially prepared Maiden worlds, some just look for adventure. The one Eldar party member they've shown so far is very likely one of these. Orks: Big, green, and mean. Basically, a long time back some people tried to make a sentient bioweapon, and Orks were the result. They only thing they really care about in life is having a proper fight, they can slap together workable weapons, space ships, and war machines from any old scrap and wreckage, and they reproduce by fighting. Also they all got the personality of a British football hooligan. There are Ork tribes scattered throughout the entire galaxy attacking whoever they com across, and the trouble with them is that the harder you try to defeat them the more of them will come because they smell a good fight. They can be sort of reasoned with and occasionally work as mercenaries, but they're notoriously difficult to keep in line and may quickly turn on their own side if they think that makes for a better fight. They can sometimes be found in a Rogue Trader's retinue, but that's somewhat rare. Necrons: One of the oldest races in the galaxy, mostly owing to the fact they at some point in the far past they all uploaded their consciousnesses into artificial robot bodies. They had hibernated underground in Tomb Worlds for millions of years, but have recently started to awaken once more. The minds of most of them have significantly degenerated and the average Necron is little more than a murder automaton, but their higher noble class have held it together better and still have actual personalities. Most of them are bent on rebuilding their ancient empire (which usually involves eradication of all other species), but very rarely they end up cooperating with other species for a particular goal. They're also the source of a whole bunch of extremely weird and powerful artifacts scattered around the galaxy, which is the main way a Rogue Trader might end up coming in conflict with them. T'au: In a way, they're what happens if you took a fairly standard sci-fi empire and dropped them into the hellscape that is the 40k universe. They're united under a collectivist, utilitarian philosophy they call the Greater Good, and unlike just about every other faction they actually aren't virulently xenophobic. They usually approach other species with diplomacy first, and have integrated several other species (including some humans) in their empire. But that shouldn't give you the idea they're necessarily nice guys, internally they operate by a rigid caste system, they're very much willing to annex other factions by force if their Greater Good demands it, and there are hints that they're using some variety of pheromone or mind control to keep everyone in line. They're a pretty small empire so far and fairly confined to their corner of the galaxy, so it might be they won't show up in the game. But they also are one of the most approachable alien factions, which makes them a good source for illicit but profitable alien technology for an enterprising Rogue Trader. Tyranids: Imagine a race composed of Xenomorphs and things that are somehow even worse. A hive mind whose only goal is consuming every little speck of biomass in the galaxy. They arrived in absolutely gigantic hive fleets from outside their galaxy and are slowly making inroads, consuming everything in their way. There is no negotiating with them, they don't have any technology usable by anybody else, they are truly kill on sight for every other race. If they do show up in game, it'll be only as an enemy to kill or escape from. These are the main ones, but apart from them there are also countless minor alien races around, usually confined to a single planet or system at a time.
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Jun 24, 2022 10:03
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Terrible Opinions posted:He absolutely would waste resource on enhanced dongs. The emperor was an enormous idiot. Perhaps my favourite example of the Emperor being an incredible idiot was everything to do with Magnus. The emperor specifically creates a primarch who is very good at doing psyker stuff (and by extension an entire leigon of space marines good at psyker stuff), but then goes and tells him "you probably shouldn't use psyker stuff actually, only I should get to". Eventually he goes a step further and completely forbids Magnus from doing any psyker stuff at all (mostly because his brothers were salty bitchbabies about it), basically telling Magnus that he is now worthless and superfluous. Eventually Magnus breaks that proscription for the entirely sensible reason that he's wanted to warn the emperor about the literal civil war that has started on the outskirts of the Imperium. What does the emperor do after receiving the incredibly fortuitous warning just in time that might just allow him to forestall the worst? He throws an absolute bitchfit because Magnus destroyed his super secret project in the process, completely by accident. After that display Magnus quite understandably decides "well gently caress all this then" and joins the traitors. Idiotic leader, terrible father.
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Jun 25, 2022 18:07
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That background text does suggest that she's not formally part of the Ecclesiarchy anymore by the time she joins you, so that might be enough of an excuse for her to nominally tolerate Xeno crewmates. It's not entirely without precedent either, these days there's at least one more high-profile Sister who outright pals around with an Eldar to better murder Chaos, Ephrael Stern, though she's also hunted by the Inquisition for it.
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Oct 20, 2022 20:56
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The convenient thing about Newcrons is that you can still have oldschool style Necrons popping up if you need them. If all you need are spooky silent terminator robots, just throw a bunch of uncontrolled newly awoken warriors at the player. Fills the same narrative role, and you never have to touch the nobles with actual personality if you don't want them.
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Oct 21, 2022 12:02
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Yeah, it's not unheard of for Inquisitors to lean on Rogue Traders as resources or even partners. If nothing else, it's handy to know somebody with a ship capable of interstellar travel who also does not show up in any paperwork. Apart from that RTs can be a good source for xeno artifacts for the more radically inclined inquisitors.
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Nov 17, 2022 22:05
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Mad Wack posted:I really respect ACG and he's put out a positive-sounding hands on for Rogue Trader, officially hyped now. I do like how they seem to have abstracted trading, where you just bulk sell stuff for trader reputation/influence rather loving around selling a laspistol +1 for hard currency. That said, some bits of that video sure activated my  about 40k lore. 
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Dec 7, 2022 16:52
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CommissarMega posted:SHIP COMBAT The part about the Eldar ships made me go a bit  . Traditionally, the gimmick for Eldar ships is that they can dodge attacks very well, but in return they have no regular shields at all (with a handful of exceptions) and have a super fragile hull structure to boot. So they might avoid 8 out of 10 shots, but those 2 that do hit will do lasting and quite possibly critical damage. Owlcat giving them (presumably regenerating) regular shields on top of their agility seems like a weird move that'll hopefully be addressed down the line.
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Dec 17, 2022 12:29
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Anarcho-Commissar posted:1 million. Whatever nonsense the Black Templars are getting up to probably makes up for understrength chapters But anyways, I always figured the main power/utility of Space Marines is the ability to take care of high-value targets and objectives. Sure, you could put them on the front line of whatever conflict and they'll probably rack up an impressive kill count, but that's kind of a waste since you can achieve the same effect with just a tank or two. The real trick is throwing them directly at the enemy's HQ or flagship or whatever important thing they got without actually having to fight your way there the old-fashioned way. For anybody else it'd be a suicide mission with zero chance of success, but Space Marines will get it done and probably even come out alive the other end. And since 40k usually operates on the logic of load-bearing leaders, just taking out the head honcho tends to win a battle or even war in one go.
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Dec 21, 2022 13:51
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CommissarMega posted:How much did we know about the Big E before the Heresy books? Because I could swear there were enough hints here and there that he wasn't a very good father at the very least those books came out. In he old, old lore, there were a bunch of natural children of Emps running about, called Sensei. Their main deal was being ageless and complete psychic blanks, and as I recall the Emperor wasn't even aware of their existence most of the time. IIRC the concept has been mostly abandoned by now, but there are still occasional mentions like the Inquisition hunting them down and grinding up their bodies to turn into anti-psyker weapons.
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Dec 23, 2022 13:09
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Warden posted:That's actually called out explicitly in some of the Horus Heresy novels. The early Imperium liked to pretend that they're bringing a more enlightened and united future, but the truth is that the Emperor is just another tyrant in a long line of tyrants. He, in a discussion with the last priest left in Terra, before burning down his cathedral, answers the question what makes him different from all others is "Because I know I am right". Turns out he wasn't, whoopsy. That also extends to the Space Marines themselves. They were from the outset conceived of as brute terror troops. Just look at it from a practical perspective: Investing immense resources into breeding gigantic mutant monstrosities and equipping them with frankly stupid weapons like chainsaw swords and guns that blow people in half is not what you'd do if all you're looking for is battlefield efficiency. But it sure works just fine for terrorizing a former human colony back into line on the back of sheer overwhelming brutality and carnage. No wonder Marines just love falling to Chaos. So of course the Imperium would go and elevate them to near-divinity. Angels of the Emperor, indeed.
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Dec 23, 2022 18:41
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Kanos posted:The marines being gigantic hulking human tanks with ridiculously oversized overkill weapons makes sense in the context of them being intended to be able to fight and defeat anything humanity might run into, given that the galaxy is legitimately full of horrifying nightmare monsters that are more than a match for normal human soldiers and/or situations where a tiny super elite ultra squad can accomplish what 1,000,000 normal trained dudes cannot. That's kind a half my point. They're good at one particular mission, and at the time of their creation that mission extended pretty much only to human targets. During the Great Crusade, wrestling greater daemons or hive tyrants simply wasn't much of a consideration yet, xenos were something of a sideshow that would ideally be orbital bombarded out of existence anyway. Their main mission was dropping into the headquarters of a resisting human planet and leaving such a horrifying mess that the rest of them will surrender out of fear. Now I might be misremembering, but I think during the Great Crusade they actually met an isolated human system who managed to have their own elite soldiers who were almost the equal of space marines simply on the basis of high-tech equipment and training. The whole thing about turning space marines into giants who eat brains and spit acid seems to have had two main purposes at the time: feeding the Emperor's gene modification fetish, and becoming drastically more intimidating towards targets who are receptive to intimidation. Which, again, are mostly humans. Being able to go toe to toe with the more exotic monsters in the galaxy is an advantage that seems to have become relevant only later on. pentyne posted:I think the underlying premise is that absent the insane chaos (lol) of the massively regressive Imperium all those enemies would barely be a blip. Yeah, almost all the threats the Imperium faces in the current setting are pretty much self-inflicted. Orks wouldn't be much of a problem if the Imperium wasn't trying to eradicate them at every turn out of principle, which in turn just means more Orks being created and coming at them looking for a good fight. Necrons would still be snoozing if Imperials weren't constantly loving around on their tomb worlds. Tyranids are very likely only in the galaxy because the Imperials decided to build a gigantic psychic beacon, since that's the only way to even have a hope of keeping control of their ludicrously outsized empire.
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Dec 23, 2022 22:26
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I only got into this a few days ago and got a question: is it just me or are the momentum abilities from the second tier of archetypes just kinda worse than those from the first set? The first set are versatile staples that I'm using basically all the time: Officer's extra turn is always very useful, Soldier gets a good solid bunch of extra attacks with the right weapon, and Warrior's berserker thingy offers a ludicrous amount of offensive potential. Second tier meanwhile seems either more specific, less effective, or both. Stuff like a few extra AP if people stand in the right position, or a handful somewhat unreliable extra attacks under specific circumstances. I only really find myself using the Arch Militant and Bounty Hunter ones. And even those tend to pale next to the option to just go "Abelard, kindly kill everybody" and then watching him do exactly that.
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Jan 11, 2024 22:36
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Lord Cyrahzax posted:Yeah, 40k has horniness, you just have to look for it. The Eisenhorn/Ravenor novels I read a decade ago I remember being almost soap opera horny in the Inquisitors' retinues, and I know there was one particular character, a redheaded acrobat, who never appeared on the page without being described as "voluptuous" Hell, even the aforementioned Cain series can get up there. I'm on book 7 currently, and just about every time a particular character turns up Cain makes a point to note how she's about to spill out of her clothes. Which kinda makes sense, since chronologically it's one of the first stories where he's still pretty young, and he's being pretty adroitly manipulated by that character to boot.
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Jan 17, 2024 09:25
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