Imperium Maledictum

[GreyLord]

So, I was looking at this and saw different options of what to buy and was unsure what was needed.

They have the Core Rulebook, but then they also have the Player's Guide and the GM's Guide.

Do I need all three to play the game? Do I need all three to play inquisitors (like Dark Heresy?). Does the Core Rulebook simply mash the Player's Guide and GM's Guide together into one book? Is there overlap?

For those who have played the game...if you wouldn't mind extrapolating some more items?

How similar to the Dark Heresy system is it? If it is like Dark Heresy, what are your character options (acolyte, Imperial Guard...etc). What type of enemies to they list (do they only list human enemies such as Psykers, do they list the alien xenos such as Eldar or Ork, do they list the Chaos such as Daemons and cultist...etc).

Do I need to buy the Player's Guide or GM's Guide to get those types of foes or players options?

 

[kronovan]

I posted a similar question on another forum recently and was told the CRB is all you really need, but the Macharian Requisition Guide is recommened. Since then one of my groups bought me the CRB and MRG. The Players and GMs Guide are actually the Inquisition PG and Inquisition GMG and are for GMs and players wanting a campaign involving inquisitors. I can't comment how similar it is to Dark Heresy as I don't own either of those guides and I only ever played at a DH2 table briefly. I can confidently say that PC creation and playing in the 40k universe is less restrictive in IM than it is in DH2.

The CRB has all the rules to create a Patron from any of 9 factions: Adeptus Administratum, Adeptus Astra Telepathica, Adeptus Mechanicus, Adeptus Ministorum, Astra Milatarum, Imperial Fleet, Infactionalist and Rogue Trader Dynasty. PCs can be from any of those factions as well. It's possible to play a PC from a different faction than your Patron, but of course under some circumstances that may not work so well - GM discretion as to what's allowed.

The MRG has a chapter titled Services and it provides some rules for Voidship and World travel, as well as hirelings, medical, communication and research services. Not to mention it has a lot of equipment, weapons, vehicles and vehicle rules. So, it's definitely a useful book to have at a table.

I should probably mention I'm a big fan of d100 TTRPGs (own CoC7, BRP, Delta Green, Mytrhas, M-Space) and Imperium Maledictum is one of the best implementations of that dice mechanic I've read.

 

[aramis erak]

How similar to the Dark Heresy system is it?

I've only skimmed it...
Starting atts the traditional 2d10+20 each... WS, BS, S, T, Ag, Int, Per, Wil, Fel. Or, start all at 20, and spread 90 points (4-18 per att). If you take rolls in order, you get bonus XP. If you reorder the rolls, take fewer bonus XP. If you reroll one and swap around, no bonus XP, if you point build, no bonus XP.
Origin: pick and no bonus XP, roll, and get bonus XP. Gives two atts +5 and a bit of equipment
Faction: Roll and get bonus XP, or Pick and get no bonus. Origin sets roll column. Gives 2 atts +5 each, 5 skill Advances, 1 talent (or several implants), 1 influence, more gear
Role: roll and gain more bonus XP, or pick but get no bonus XP. 4 talents, 3 skill advances, 2 specializations

Origin, faction, and role advances are restricted to pick from list.

Maxima: each of the 20 skills caps 4 advances (skill ranks) at +5% each (vs DH's 3@+10 each). But you also can have 4 advances in a specilization, also +5 each%. Cost for advances is uniform table, not by archetypes; advances in atts are +1, and the costs vary widely by current att; superhuman (>60) gets frightful expensive, skills are 5 per advance, and increase by advances in skill; specializations cost same as skills. Peak human without augmentations etc is thus 60% (att)+20% (skill)+20% (specialization) Maximum starting looks to be about 60-70 total chance with a skill. Talents are flat rated for XP cost.
Only a few skills are restricted by character gen; there are a few, tho.

The advancement is where it really differs strongly from DH. DH limits strongly your choices, while IM doesn't.

The character archetypes are broader, but still comparable to DH, without the emphasis on being inquisitors' investigators.

It shows clear lineage, but it's not the same game.

 

[TheSword]

So, I was looking at this and saw different options of what to buy and was unsure what was needed.

They have the Core Rulebook, but then they also have the Player's Guide and the GM's Guide.

Do I need all three to play the game? Do I need all three to play inquisitors (like Dark Heresy?). Does the Core Rulebook simply mash the Player's Guide and GM's Guide together into one book? Is there overlap?

For those who have played the game...if you wouldn't mind extrapolating some more items?

How similar to the Dark Heresy system is it? If it is like Dark Heresy, what are your character options (acolyte, Imperial Guard...etc). What type of enemies to they list (do they only list human enemies such as Psykers, do they list the alien xenos such as Eldar or Ork, do they list the Chaos such as Daemons and cultist...etc).

Do I need to buy the Player's Guide or GM's Guide to get those types of foes or players options?

So IM is heavily streamlined WFRP 4e in space. All the rough edges filed off so easy to start. Total flexibility. Quite neat.

Core Rule Book : Essentials has 90% of what you neef
Starter Set: Similar to other C7 starter sets. Slim down rules + setting + introductory adventure
Macharian Requisition Guide: Equipment book: weapons, vehicles, talents etc.
Vol Adventures: Four or five module anthology set on the same hive world carries over from starter set.

Then each faction is getting an expansion for players and a book for GMs. Inquisition & Mechanicum are already out. I presume ministorum will get an expansion next. You don’t need these but they add faction related options.

Xenos are detailed in the core book. Stats are very straightforward like WFRP. Basically build your own monster by no doubt a bestiary will come out.

Character classes are a bit abstract like in Dark Heresy. However you pick Patron -> Origin -> Faction -> Class. So that gives a lot of variance. Beyond that it’s all up for grabs. Characters are very flexible.

I was impressed. Seriously thinking about converting Masks of Nyarlathotep to that system as a sector spanning cultist hunt.

 

[thullgrim]

I was impressed. Seriously thinking about converting Masks of Nyarlathotep to that system as a sector spanning cultist hunt.

Same. My initial thought was to use Tzeentch but I’m leaning more and more towards Nurgle at the moment. My “original missing party’’ is another set of acolytes gone missing. Unbeknownst to the party patron they were led astray by a radical =I= who happens to be his superior. I’ve got a few sketched notes but not much more at this point.

 

[Ruin Explorer]

I haven't run it but one of the main reasons I haven't is that I felt like the core rulebook was extremely bare-bones (even as someone familiar with 40K since literally the 1980s). Like, it technically provides you with what you need to start a campaign, but it didn't feel to me like it gave you much to work with. From @kronovan's post it sounds like the Macharian Requisition Guide would help solidify things. I do agree it has a good implementation of d100-type rules, and it didn't seem like a clunky system (on paper, anyway).

 

[Fenris-77]

I thought the core rules were excellent. That said, I was a serious GM fanboy, also since the 80's, so maybe my prior knowledge filled in holes better for me? I don't really know what the rules would like for someone who hadn't played any 40K before. I do think that the core mechanics are the best set they've done for 40K though. Super slick.

 

[TheSword]

I thought the core rules were excellent. That said, I was a serious GM fanboy, also since the 80's, so maybe my prior knowledge filled in holes better for me? I don't really know what the rules would like for someone who hadn't played any 40K before. I do think that the core mechanics are the best set they've done for 40K though. Super slick.

Yes, definitely. I’ve heard that 5e of the fantasy rules is going to draw a lot of inspiration from the system to streamline 4e. I think it’s sensible.

 

[kronovan]

...I don't really know what the rules would like for someone who hadn't played any 40K before...

With that phrase, you're more or less describing me.

Well I've been around WH40k tabletop play for years, I've only actually sat down to it a handful of times. I'm too much of a Battletech geek to break away from BT sessions at our tabletop club's monthly meets to play WH. Before IM, the only 40k lore I had was from brief plays of the Dawn of War videogames. And I'm only a 3rd of the way into my 1st Black Library novel.

So...for a TTRGP fan like me, without much of any 40k lore, the IM CRB has been terrific. I read The Imperium and The Macharian Sector chapters and found them to be informative and for the 1st time feel like I have some understanding of the 40k verse. The CRB's Imperium chapter gave me a decent idea of the Imperium's institutions on a galactic scale, while the Macharian Sector chapter gave me good info on the mover & shakers of that sector, as well as its subsectors and their worlds.

I just bought the IM Starter Set and I'm really enjoying the Rokarth: Guide to the Hive book. Of the 2 books, I'm finding it the most inspiring in terms of making my brain hum with homebrew'n thoughts. I've only read the 1st, 2 chapters, but thoroughly browsed the 3rd's encounter tables and adventure hook sidebars - those really grabbed me!

Even though it's a guide detailing a Hive city, I feel the Factions & Powers and Commerce & Cultures chapters gave me a good idea of how the Imperium's institutions can impact, or manipulate the manufactorums, houses, guilds and gangs of a city. I like that it covers all of the Adeptus Terra institutions from an urban perspective, and that it details 4 Infactionalist-gangs, 4 major houses, 4 minor houses and 3 guilds. There's lots of potential conflict and intrigue between all those and I'm itching to scratch some of it. Not to mention the set's rules handouts are nicely done.

I'm thinking for a WH40k newb, the Starter Set is darn close to, if not a must have. Combined with the 2 chapters in the CRB, there's 130+ pages of lore. So yeah...good job by C7 so far at Lorifying us unenlightened.