H.B.M.C. wrote:Unleash the power of Mars!

FFG wrote:Final Testament
Announcing the First Adventure Supplement for Only War

scipio.au wrote:

Team-Preston wrote:

Basic rough of the first deckplan in posted (B&W). I'll update again once it's painted.
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1894014851/dark-sci-fi-maps-and-deckplans/posts/320510

Starting to look much more interesting. I'm keen to see a finished map or two, then may well decide to jump on board.

 the_dunner wrote:
For those familiar with my work - I wrote the adventure portion of this one.

FFG wrote:The Lost Worlds
A Preview of The Outer Reach, the Upcoming Deathwatch Supplement

“These distant orbs of earth and fire, wind and water, provide us some insight into the greater design which lies just beyond our imagining. Let us pray that we might learn their secrets before it is too late”
–Prognosticator Renin Tri’el

In July, we announced the upcoming release of The Outer Reach, a supplement for Deathwatch. Revealing the secret dangers that lurk in the darkness between the stars, The Outer Reach gives players and GMs never-before-seen access to the enigmatic Dead Cabal, a mysterious circle of warrior-scholars who have devoted their lives to fathoming the unfathomable.

Now, with The Outer Reach coming to stores in just two more weeks, we’re pleased to present a glimpse into its disturbing mysteries!

Tainted Worlds

There are worlds throughout the Jericho Reach that have, for one reason or another, never been settled, terraformed, or colonized by Imperial forces. Many of these worlds bear the marks of past xenos occupation, while others are little more than dormant rocks, devoid of all life or even geological activity. These are not the typical proto-planets that are found in every stellar system, but instead show signs of artifice and manufacture on a planetary scale. No sound explanation has ever been provided for these worlds, no theories have been put forth by the Magos Siderea of the Calixian Mechanicus, the first Explorators sent through the Warp Gate in the early days of the Achilus Crusade. Other unique stellar bodies, such as the Slinnar Drift star cluster and the Black Reef, are present within the Jericho Reach, providing yet more unanswered questions.

These are the worlds to which the Dead Cabal turn their attention, to which they dispatch the Kill-teams under their command, in their search for answers. Chapter Two of The Outer Reach explores these worlds and phenomena, their past and their present, providing Game Masters with necessary information to build missions and campaigns centered around exploration into the lost and mysterious places in the Jericho Reach. Each world can be used as the setting for any number of Deathwatch missions, and numerous adventure seeds are included to provide GMs with ample fodder for their creativity.

The Lost Worlds (pdf, 4.1 MB)

One such world, the chaos-infested planet Belissar, has been badly contaminated and influenced by the Ruinous Powers. Learn more in the excerpt linked above, and prepare to unravel its Belissar’s terrifying mysteries; The Outer Reach will be available soon!

 BrookM wrote:
Decided to pre-order Only War at Miniature Market, don't know when it might be released, but $38,97 for the book? That's a steal.

Of course humanity was meant to cross the void between the stars. It is our destiny, and it is for this purpose, the God-Emperor has seen fit to grant us the power necessary to ply the roiling Warp. The Navigator guides us by His light. The Astropath carries His torch to the darkest corners of space. We go in His Name, by His Will, for His Glory. And, of course, for the tidy profit we earn for our efforts in his grandest of plans."
–Rogue Trader Raol Straud



The release of The Navis Primer, the upcoming supplement for Rogue Trader, is just two weeks away! This powerful volume reveals the secret history of the Koronus Expanse’s Navigator Houses, while unveiling the Astropath Voidfrost and Soul Ward Disciplines. Players can unleash the unpredictable might of the Waaagh! with the Ork Weirdboy Career Path, and uncover new Warp-touched powers, alternate career ranks, and elite advances for Explorers of all kinds. What’s more, The Navis Primer provides expanded rules for navigation and astrotelepathic communication, and presents terrifying new hazards and foes from the depths of the Expanse!

To prepare for its release, we’re pleased to present a two-part article series focusing on some of its artwork. For more, here’s a word from developer Max Brooke:

A Navigator's Perspective

When The Navis Primer was in early stages of development, we knew that it should have a new map of the Koronus Expanse, this time through the lens of the Navigators. These strange and esoteric individuals wield a power that not only allows a Rogue Trader’s vessel to make its daring leaps into the stuff of Chaos itself, but also gives them an incredibly different view of the universe around them, and we wanted to reflect one way that this unique perspective might manifest itself.

However, we would be remiss if we didn’t first trace our way back to the original maps for the Rogue Trader RPG, and so that is exactly what this first article will do. To get a sense of what the thought process behind these maps and their creation, I spoke to Ross Watson, Lead Developer of the Rogue Trader Core Rulebook.


Click to enlarge.

Ross described to me how both maps in the Rogue Trader Core Rulebook were designed to evoke ancient nautical maps. Though the stylized map that has dutifully appeared in every Rogue Trader volume does this more obviously, emblazoned as it is with compasses, calipers, and menacing creatures that represent mankind’s fear of the unknown, both maps depict a realm influenced by historical periods of exploration. The Koronus Expanse is a realm very different from Earth today, or even hundreds of years ago, of course, but it carries the echoes of eras in which maps depicted the world with far less certainty and far more trepidation. Describing the Koronus Expanse, Ross recounted to me a description he had used early on:

“Imagine a dark room with a door that opens into a bright hallway. The room is the Koronus Expanse, and the hallway is the Calixis Sector. You can see a few things in the room where the light touches, and that’s what’s on the map, but it eventually fades off into shadow.”


Click to enlarge.

Places of Shadow

These places of shadow include vast realms such as the Rifts of Hecaton, into which ships vanish, never to return. Besides the most imposing of unknown places, though there are many other wells of darkness surrounding the rare points of light, some named and others marked only by cryptic warnings such as “beware the Siren Star” or renderings of dread beasts that one hopes were merely the artist’s embellishments.

These maps give us two views into ways that the Koronus Expanse is organized and interpreted by Rogue Traders and their daring crews as they shuffle from star to star, skittering through patches of darkness with the hope that they will someday reach light again. To them, the Expanse is a grand unknown and an even grander opportunity—assuming, of course, that they do not disappear somewhere in the uncharted swathes, their fortune and fame overshadowed by the vastness of the Koronus Expanse.

But how might a Navigator, whose Warp Eye grant a truly unique perspective on the universe at large, see the Koronus Expanse? After all, for all the Rogue Trader’s flair or the helmsman’s skill, it is the Navigator alone who guides a vessel through the roiling dream-sea of the Warp. For that, you’ll have to wait for our next article; Mike Linnemann, Art Coordinator on The Navis Primer, will share his insights.

Keep checking back for more, and in just two weeks, unleash the power of the Warp in your Rogue Trader campaigns!

FFG wrote:Life as an Imperial Guardsman
A Preview of Only War by Lead Designer Andrew Fischer



“The men and women of the Imperial Guard sacrifice more and gain less than perhaps any other arm of the Imperial Armed Forces.”
–Commissar Ibram Gaunt

In April, Fantasy Flight Games announced Only War, a standalone Warhammer 40,000 roleplaying game in which players take on the roles of soldiers in the Imperial Guard, the galaxy-spanning armies of the God-Emperor. Compatible with FFG’s other Warhammer 40,000 Roleplay titles, this comprehensive game system explores a previously unseen side of life in the Imperium of Man.

With Only War’s beta at an end and its core rulebook coming to store shelves in a matter of weeks, we’re pleased to present the first in a series of previews. In Only War, each player takes the role of a Guardsman, a member of the Imperial Guard and one of the countless billions of hardened conscripts constantly fighting on myriad fronts at the whim of the Adeptus Terra. Today, lead designer Andrew Fischer presents his insights into this unique play experience.

From the Designer

Imagine an army so vast that at any one time there is no exact record of its size, an army of such scale that the resources of millions of worlds must constantly feed it with fresh recruits and new weapons. This is the Imperial Guard, the human armies of the God-Emperor, and defenders of an empire that spans the entire galaxy. In Only War, you play as one of these Imperial Guardsmen, a soldier tasked with the defense of all humanity.

Capturing the feeling of being a guardsman was a unique challenge. Each individual soldier is just one amongst faceless billions, and yet without the individual contribution of every one of those men and women, the Imperium would be lost. Every soldier has a harrowing and exciting story to tell, and in designing Only War, we set out to explore those stories.

To better explore the unique lives of individual guardsmen, Only War does not focus on commanding massive regiments of troops in battle (after all, that’s what the table-top game is for!). Instead, it focuses on the struggles of individual soldiers and their squad, mere mortals forced to contend with the greatest threats of the 41st millennium. Throughout the course of a campaign, players in Only War will embark on critical missions, face seemingly insurmountable odds, and suffer tragic losses, but will triumph through their force of will and the strength of their camaraderie.



Assembling the Squad

When a group first starts a campaign in Only War, they are doing more than simply filling out individual character sheets, they are creating a unique squad with which to tackle the challenges to come. A squad can come from one of millions of worlds across the Imperium, be made up of fresh recruits or hardened veterans, and contain guardsmen with many different specialities. No two squads are the same, and the make-up of a group’s squad can help define their entire campaign. There are three primary elements that comprise the squad in Only War, and help make it such an integral part of the play experience.

First, every squad has a shared history and background, determined by their Regiment. This decides their focus in combat and where they may be assigned across a warfront. To decide on their Regiment, all of the players in the group work together, crafting common history for their characters. This shared history helps tie all of the characters together, and give them common ground as they face the harsh battlefields of the galaxy.

Second, each character within the squad has a unique Specialities. These Specialities determine the character’s role in the squad. From a field medic working in the trenches, to a Tech-Priest Enginseer helping to repair the Imperium’s war machines, each player serves a special role within their squad.

Lastly, each squad has a cast of supporting characters known as Comrades. Each of these characters helps out one of the players on the battlefield. Aiding him in his specific tasks and watching his back. Each Comrade has a distinct personality, and their interactions amongst themselves and the players can help strengthen the camaraderie in the squad, or create tension.

Thanks, Andrew! Check back for more in the coming weeks, and look for Only War on store shelves later this quarter.

 BrookM wrote:
Yeah, it's a shame, I'm fairly new to the scene and it is getting harder and harder to get into groups.

 Manchu wrote:

 BrookM wrote:
Yeah, it's a shame, I'm fairly new to the scene and it is getting harder and harder to get into groups.

On the other hand, skype and similar services have opened up RPGing to people who otherwise would not have the opportunity. My first game of DH was played over the internet. In all honesty, my best bet for playing any of these games again will hinge on such technology.

I'd like to see a company like FFG take this into account when designing games. Perhaps they could work on some proprietary software to facilitate playing the 40k line over the internet? I know such programs exist but I find them to be generally cumbersome. People get together to play Black Crusade or Rogue Trader -- not to figure out some freeware.