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Does Khorne like sorcerers and psykers or is it just bad writing overall? Sindri and Kyras depict deception, trickery, manipulation, not direct confrontation yet both wanted to become daemon princes of Khorne. The case of Sindri is obvious, his voice, his personality and tactics that he uses is heavily a on Tzeentch's side, even though he's Chaos Undivided. There was a reddit comment 5-8 years ago well explaining that Khorne has a few numbers of exulted sorcerers although no source was provided. Although both Sindri and Kyras used tactics for sacrifices, it doesn't justify their way and actions, since it's cowardly (says the god of cowards, Khorne himself). At the end of their ascension they should've been turned into Chaos Spawns of Khorne.

1st edition Realm of Chaos: Slaves to Darkness


Khorne and Magic

Although Chaos and magic are so closely aligned, like two facets of an enchanted gemstone, Khorne, the Blood God, has rejected all ordered and trammelled forms of magic, such as spells. Khorne is a visceral god, the chaos power that embodies action, not thought. Slaughter in all its forms is the way of Khorne. Spellcasting is a process of the mind, not the sword's edge. The harvest of blood for the Blood God is of paramount importance, and those rituals and spells that would seek to quantify and control the forces of Chaos are an anathema to him.

Khorne is a practical god of blood and battle, not a god of effete intellectual pursuits. His 'magic', such as it is, reflects this character. Khorne followers use magical swords, Daemon Weapons, and technology to kill in Khorne's name. His followers are 'blessed' with technological and magical weapons of great power that no Old World weaponsmith could possibly have produced. Khorne's unnatural marvels are his gifts to his followers; the use of such weapons is his followers' delight. A bolter, a magic blade, a chainsword, a Daemon Sword - it marks its recipient as one of Khorne's chosen favourites.

Khorne's followers slaughter in his name, glorying in blood, but they do not kill everything in their path. Of the wizards and sorcerers they encounter, the lucky ones are killed outright. The uncounted and unfortunate ones are not slain, but are taken instead deep into the heart of Khorne's realm. There, far below Khorne's gore-flecked brazen throne, they labour for eternity in the forges of Khorne. The mages and seers are doomed to perpetual slavery in red-tinged and smoky darkness, enchanting the weapons that Khorne demands for his armies. The Forges temper mortal despair, death, the power of Chaos and mere steel into the arms of Chaos in its bloodiest and most unforgiving aspect. Death is no escape from the Forges, for the tempering of a Khornate blade requires blood for the quenching, and souls to stoke the furnaces.

But as the lore advanced, the Blood Pact of Khorne has tolerance towards Psykers and they have them within their ranks (Gore Mages) only because they turn other Blood Pact members into autistic raging monsters.

So does Khorne now make an exception towards psykers and sorcerers or does the rule from 1st edition still apply? GW hasn't explained anything in detail about the Dark Gods since 1st edition Slaves to Darkness and Lost and the Damned.

Blood Magic and Daemonology seem to be exceptions to the rule because they blur the line between magic and rituals of power.
Is opening a Warp Portal magic? If you do it using a spell sure but what about if you sacrifice eight people?
Is binding a Daemon to a host or engine magic or ritual? What's the line between the two?
If it's magic then Khorne can't have Daemonengines.

As for Dawn Of War, it's a video game with a limited number of unit models. It can't be a perfect reflection of the background. Let's remember that Dawn of War has an army customisation system that lets you have Black Templar Librarians, World Eater Sorcerers, and Emperor's Children Bloodthirsters.
Secondly, Rogue Trader is old. The vast majority of people involved in the hobby will never have played it and the background in the Realms Of Chaos books are fun but not representative of the two Warhammer settings (scifi and fantasy).
It's the foundations of the universe but it's hasn't been relevant since at least 3rd edition.

Is there much point being a god if you can’t engage in at least a little hypocrisy?

Khorne does allow warp based interference, like driving everyone, friend and foe, berserk to ensure a suitable punch up and maximum “honourable” combat.

Even pouring power into a Champion via Gifts and Mutations is, in a sense, relying on the Warp. As is elevating a mortal to Daemonhood.

Where does Khorne draw the line? I’m gonna potentially cop out here and simply say “wherever he damn well pleases, because what’s anyone else gonna do about it”.

But broadly, it seems to be when you actively rely on Magic. So, either side blowing each other up with mind bullets and opening up gaping chasms to swallow up charging troops.

This is an entirely different proposition to wielding a corrupted, empowered or daemon weapon. Sure, they help you kill in Khorne’s name. But if you’re rubbish at fighting? It’s still not going to help you. Daemon weapons come with the added “attraction” of the wielder having to dominate the Daemon to make it do what he wants.

Rituals and that exist to aid, and to summon Daemons. I’d guess there’s again “wherever he feels like it at that moment” line there. Though perhaps if you don’t expect it to do the fighting for you, maybe that helps?

As in, you do the ritual to weaken the walls of reality, empower your troops to make them stronger/tougher, and Daemons for you to lead might be fine and dandy. But if you’re summoning Daemons to do all the fighting for you, you may well come a cropper as a result.

AoS has this represented to some degree, where Khornate Priests can have prayers and beseechments answered, without actually casting spells as such.

 Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:

AoS has this represented to some degree, where Khornate Priests can have prayers and beseechments answered, without actually casting spells as such.

I think this is the key point:

Non-psykers can conduct rituals and beseech a warp god for aid, but it is not a psychic power because any warp powered effect is being enacted by the god from the other side if the god chooses to answer the plea.

This is different from a psyker using their own ability to scoop up warp energy from the warp and channel it into reality. The difference comes down to who is the one doing the heavy lifting of actually manipulating the warp energy.

Slaves to Darkness doesn't really imply that Khorne has a dislike of magic or psykers per se, only that he dislikes "spellcraft" and the abstract study of magic.

In WHFB terms this is easy enough to understand: Khorne doesn't allow wizards, only magic items and monsters. In 40k terms this is more ambiguous, since a rogue psyker shooting lightning from his hands isn't necessarily "casting a spell" or spending months reading books.

Also it's obvious that Khorne is fine with his followers studying magic if it's strictly needed for their job: rituals to summon Bloodletters exist and must be done correctly. But stuff like "Doombolt" is unacceptable, because presumably Khorne thinks the countless hours needed to learn it aren't worth the payoff. Sorcerers of other gods have an interest in magic for its own sake, but Khorne will only accept the bare minimum required for combat effectiveness.

 F.E.A.R. wrote:
the Blood Pact of Khorne has tolerance towards Psykers and they have them within their ranks (Gore Mages) only because they turn other Blood Pact members into autistic raging monsters.

the blood pact are part of the sanguinary worlds culture, which is a chaos undivided (or at least chaos ecumenical) culture.
as a warrior caste warrior caste, the blood pact, are more khorne inclined but still use practices from the non-khornate elements of their society like the sorcerors.
it's notable that their main rivals, the Sons of Sek, seem inclined more towards Tzeench despite drawing from the same sanguinary worlds culture elements.