Black Crusade: Difference between revisions

 

* [[Alternative Character Interpretation]]: [[In-Universe|Within the context of the setting]], the Imperium can be viewed as a necessary force to safeguard and shepard humanity against the darkness which threatens to consume it, or it can be seen as a brutally oppressive regime which holds humanity back from realizing its true potential. [[Lampshade Hanging|A writer's sidebar]] [[All There in the Manual|early in the rulebook]] makes clear that ''Black Crusade'' is written with the later perspective in mind.

* [[Badass Normal]]: The Renegade archetype. The other archetypes are [[Super Soldier|Space Marines]], [[Psychic Powers|Psykers]], [[Magitek|Tech-Priests]], or [[Evil Sorcerer|Evil Sorcerers]], but a Renegade is just a human with some mad skills and a lust for something that Chaos can provide.

** The Apostate archetype counts as well, they are ordinary (initially, at least) humans who happen to be incredibly charismatic.

* [[Black and Grey Morality]]: While Chaos is generally [[Always Chaotic Evil]], an often overlooked aspect FFG is trying to re-emphasize is that Chaos also embodies ''positive'' concepts. Khorne, for example, is not only the god of bloody madmen, but also martial champions constantly defying the odds and looking for an honorable challenge.

* [[Body Horror]]: As a heretic becomes more and more corrupt, he body will slowly start to mutate, and some mutations are rather...impressive.

* [[Class and Level System]]: Notably averted. The followers of Chaos are a diverse and fluid lot, and so ''Black Crusade'' characters are not restricted by the same Career Path advancement system as their Loyalist counterparts.

* [[Conspiracy Theorist]]: Followers of Tzeentch can develop a neurosis which compels them to obsess over "conspiracies". The scary thing is that, considering [[The Chessmaster|Tzeentch]], [[Properly Paranoid|this might not be entirely inappropriate]].

** More specifically, there's actually ''two'' tracks in the game: actual Corruption, and [[Glory Seeker|Infamy]], which is the measure of both how much you've impressed the Ruinous Powers and your ability to control your mutations. Hit the threshold where you lose your humanity with a high enough Infamy score, and it's presumed your patron blunts the impact of the runaway mutations long enough [[Heroic Willpower|for you to control them]], and you become a Daemon Prince. Otherwise...

* [[Evil Counterpart]]: The game as a whole is this to ''[[Dark Heresy]]'' and ''[[Deathwatch (Tabletop Game)|Deathwatch]]''.

** One of the example origins for the Apostate is basically this. A loyal priest of the Emperor who ministered to the Imperial Guard and got sick of watching millions go to their deaths and thus turned to Chaos in order to sabotage the Imperial war effort.

* [[No Points for Neutrality]]: Somewhat. Staying Unaligned denies a character access to powerful Gifts, items and psychic powers and means they don't get discounts on certain skills, talents and attributes. However it also means they don't have to pay extra for purchases opposed to one deity or another and, for high level psykers, grants them access to powerful Exalted powers.

* [[The Pig Pen]]: Followers of Nurgle can become this, becoming filthy and destructive, and also contemptuous of beauty and the fine things in life. Another manifestation is that things around him seem to break down while he ([[Walking Wasteland|and he specifically]]) has them.

* [[The Renfield]]: ''Black Crusade'' characters can take Minions, followers of fanatical loyalty (but sometimes questionable competence) that can fill holes in their master's repertoire, or simply provide a source of warm bodies to throw at opponents. Taking multiple iterations of the Minions Talent can eventually lead to a character acquiring his own [[Quirky Miniboss Squad]].

* [[Sanity Meter]]: Averted, unlike in the loyalist-centric 40k RPGs. This is because any Heretic worth his salt is assumed to already possess 100 Insanity Points by the time play begins.

* [[Sense Freak]]: This is a pretty heavy theme with Slaanesh. There's also a drug called rose which heightens sensory input to incredible lengths, that the user can see in the dark; but the user runs the risk of sensory overload.

* [[Super OCD]]: Characters can develop this, followers of Tzeentch would manifest it as a paralyzing fear of contamination, while followers of Slaanesh can't focus unless something is "just right".

* [[Swirly Energy Thingy]]: The Screaming Vortex, the game's default campaign setting. [[Hub Level|Through it, one can also reach]] the Calixis Sector, the Koronus Expanse, and the Jericho Reach, default settings of ''[[Dark Heresy]]'', ''[[Rogue Trader]]'', and ''[[Deathwatch (Tabletop Game)|Deathwatch]]'' respectively.

** The version of Imperial history and organization presented here is stripped of the usual implication that it's all justified and things were fine until the Horus Heresy. It really plays up the idea that PCs in the other lines are tainted by evil just for defending it. A repeated theme is that many heretics embrace Chaos just because it opposes the Imperium and have no real loyalty to it.

* [[Weak but Skilled]]: ''Black Crusade'' balances Chaos Space Marines against ordinary human heretics by granting the latter a greater variety of starting Skills and Talents and a greater amount of starting [[Experience Points]]. Of course, when the Talents include such things as "is a psyker" and "can shoot lightning from my nipples," the terms "weak," "skilled," "ordinary," and even "''human''" begin to lose some of their meaning....

* [[Who Needs Enemies]]: Compacts<ref>(the ''Black Crusade'' equivalent of Endeavours in ''[[Rogue Trader]]'' and Missions in ''[[Deathwatch (Tabletop Game)|Deathwatch]]'')</ref> have three levels of objectives: Primary, which must be completed for the Compact to be successful; Secondary, which must be completed in order to complete the Primary Objective; and Tertiary/Personal, which represent each Heretic's personal stake in the Compact. The book recommends that for each Compact, the GM should make some Heretics' Tertiary Objectives incompatible, mutually exclusive, or even counterproductive to the success of the Compact as a whole, so that [[Hilarity Ensues|hilarity (and interesting roleplaying) will ensue]]. (Thankfully, the book also offers tips on how to stop the game from collapsing under the weight of all the intraparty conflict.)

* [[Wretched Hive]]: The Screaming Vortex is a wild and lawless region of space. On the outer reaches, the laws being ignored are those of the Imperium and of common human decency; closer to the center, the laws being ignored are those of [[World of Chaos|physics]].

* [[You Keep Using That Word]]: Any Heretic who chooses the "Nihilism" Motivation is actually motivated by [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metaphysical_solipsism metaphysical solipsism], which is different from [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nihilism nihilism].