Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

Greetings,

So a couple of my friends -who are not into warhammer 40k- has asked me to run a dungeons and dragons game with them. They have no experience at all, but thought it will be fun. They think warhammer 40k is like dungeon and dragons, which is very very wrong. But I didn't want to disappoint so I told them I would think about it.

Which now brings me here... Anyone know a good adaptation of a roleplaying game for warhammer 40k? Or a game I could play with a group (3) of 1st timers?

Edit: I stay near warhammer world, so I will be able to use some fancy tables like zone mortalis.

Deathwatch is brilliant. You play as elite Space Marines just kicking all sorts of ass, yet certain campaigns can get quite deep in story (especially if your GM knows his lore).

I heard Dark Heresy is good, but I've never partaken in it.

Generally just browse Fantasy Flight Game's RPGs for good 40k ones.

Fantasy Flight Games does a whole series of 40k RPGs. From lowly humans in dark heresy to marines in deathwatch, to ship captains exploring new worlds in Rogue Trader, to the lowly imperial Guardsmen fighting on the front lines in Only War. I'm probably missing one or two, but you get the idea.

https://www.fantasyflightgames.com/en/products/#/universe/warhammer-40000

You'll want to look at Dark Heresy 1e & 2e, Rogue Trader, Deathwatch, Black Crusade and Only War. I've played all of them except DH2e and all of them are fairly solid and a blast to play.

as a dm for 28 years. ff games did awesome job creating the systems. is like rift kinda. its % based not d20 based.

I'd start with Dark Heresy or Only War. You start as a lower level character and as such have a better opportunity to learn the rules and abilities.

Deathwatch and Rogue Trader start you off with an abundance of powers, abilities, skills and information that can be a little overwhelming when learning a new system. DeathWatch and Rogue Trader characters are the equivalent of a 5th level or higher Dark Heresy Character.

There is rogue trader

fantasy flight games would be an amazing source to look at, though play off of their inexperience: have them be guardsmen, or work for an inquisitor or rogue trader. that way, they can really be aflicted by the horrors of this universe, unlike if they were death watch marines who should know all of this already.

It is worth it to read extensively read up on the games before you start choose one of them, since they differ greatly in playing style and some might not what you expected them to be at all.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Also keep in mind that some of these games are not for the faint hearted. I am not that familiar with all of them but at least rogue trader and black crusade really embrace the grim dark aspect. There are lots of drugs, mutating, vomiting, (accidental) mass murders by the players and gore in general and not all players are that into these sort of things. Just the explanation of what a servitor is might turn some players away.

 taemu_touhi wrote:
Greetings,

So a couple of my friends -who are not into warhammer 40k- has asked me to run a dungeons and dragons game with them. They have no experience at all, but thought it will be fun. They think warhammer 40k is like dungeon and dragons, which is very very wrong. But I didn't want to disappoint so I told them I would think about it.

Which now brings me here... Anyone know a good adaptation of a roleplaying game for warhammer 40k? Or a game I could play with a group (3) of 1st timers?

Edit: I stay near warhammer world, so I will be able to use some fancy tables like zone mortalis.

Any one of FFG's Warhammer 40k RPGs would suffice. Dark Heresy (Inquisitors), Deathwatch (Space Marines), Rogue Trader (Rogue Traders... if that was not obvious), Only War (Imperial Guard) or Black Crusade (Chaos).

rogue trader or black crusade isn't bad if you;re concerned they'll have trouble playing nice under the despotic rule of the IoM and will want freedom to do their own thing

You mean the Warhammer 40k rpg's that exist? I'm always stunned to find out how many 40k fans don't know about them honestly. This topic comes up way too frequently which shouldn't happen. More people need to know.

Dark heresy 2.0 and Only War are the most up to date and balanced systems. Black Crusade is fairly good in terms of balance but not quite as good as those. Anything older than this is going to have massive balance problems and the enemies will pose little challenge to a modestly tactical group.

My personal favorite to run is Only War, but I'm also enjoying DH 2.0 now that there's actually some support out for it. I did make my own custom sub-sector though since I found the core 2.0 setting bland rehash of DH 1.0.

Edit
There's great supplements for Tau, Dark Eldar, Kroot, and Orks as playable races in Rogue Trader.