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.

Basically would Emperor returning have way too big changes for the 40k setting as a whole? Would it be too big a chsnge for GW ever making it?

How would it go in-universe, in the meta of the universe, in fandom and finally if Emperor of Mankind was released as a playable figure for TT, how would that go in gaming community?

I think it would be absolutely awful and I would have no interest in playing a game where the Emperor was a playable miniature.

Even the idea of him "returning" in the background alone is super lame to me and eliminates all the cool ambiguity of the background I grew up with.

That said, GW might do it. They brought back a primarch and released daemon primarch models for the base game. Unless they plan on bringing the rest back, they might think that the Emperor coming back is really "cool". Plus they decided to make Custodes a playable army for whatever utterly baffling reason (an even worse choice for a full army than Grey Knights!) so having the Emperor around would actually justify that somewhat because it would give them a reason to not be sitting on Terra guarding his corpse.

They seem to be moving toward a way of doing background where the Galaxy is a very small place with a limited cast of superhero like characters doing everything significant, and a very poorly written ongoing storyline everyone is supposed to follow.

I think this is unambiguously terrible and it turns me right off playing the game. But it seems to be pretty popular with a lot of people. Cool for me I guess, I can save money ignoring all the new stuff.

It sounds monumentally stupid and terrible to me, even if it were just in 30k where it made sense. Hopefully they never do it but as Da Boss says - they brought Primarchs back.

It would be dumb

A core part of the setting is that the Imperium runs on ignorance, religious fundamentalism and Kafkaian bureaucracy. It's so far away from what the Emperor was trying to build that he would change it as soon as possible. It would remove a lot of the "grimdark", which is one of the main things that make 40k so unique.

I'd be okay with him finally dying and ascending to become the god of humanity (like we have the two gods of the orks). That could let the emperor do more than just sit on his throne, without totally altering the setting.

The haven't given Sigmar a miniature, I won't be afraid of the Emp getting one unless that happens.

You see those opening paragraphs in the 40k rulebook? Drop your budgie smugglers and take a big dump on it. Bringing back the emperor would be tantamount to that.

Well, a common concern is that it’ll cause a massive religious schism between those who believe he has, and those that don’t.

But, given her made the entire Word Bearer’s legion kneel with a thought? I don’t foresee much of a problem.

Well, for one thing, the death of the setting

I wholeheartedly agree with what Da Boss wrote earlier, but if... IF they were to bring Big E back, the only way it could remotely work within the universe without killing all that make it fun would be to "bring him back" via the birth of a new Warp God. A fifth big chaos god born out of the actions and worship of the Imperium alla how Slaanesh was uttered into existence. A new warp god of total, managed order in guise of the Emperor would be truly, truly terrifying.

There would be a great deal to think about, what about the astronomicon, the entire empire would not be able to navigate their spaceships and it would be a return to the dark age of humanity.

However I never played fantasy but my understanding is they have totally changed that game over a period of years and destroyed the world in which it existed. So why not. Bring back the emperor as a warp god, shatter the galaxy to pieces separated by warp storms, bring back all the primarchs, good and bad, new eldar god (which is already cannon?), gork and mork, something similar for the other Xenos armies. Armies of order, armies of chaos, etc etc. They did it once why not do it again if it means you can sell more books and minis.

They way Warhammer 40k is I can’t see players turning away from it