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WH40K: Imperial Worlder

From Episode D6: Star Wars D6 Wiki

Name: Imperial Worlder
Dice: 12D
Dexterity: 2D / 4D
Knowledge: 2D / 4D
Mechanical: 2D / 4D
Perception: 2D / 4D
Strength: 2D / 4D
Technical: 2D / 4D

Move: 10 / 12
Size: 1.65 - 1.8 m
Weight: 60 - 100 kg

Special Abilities:

  • Blessed Ignorance: Imperial citizens know that the proper ways of living are those that are tried and tested by the generations that have gone before. Horror, pain and death are the just rewards of curiosity, for those that look too deeply into the mysteries of the universe are all too likely to find malefic beings looking back at them.
  • Penalty: Your wise blindness imposes a –2 penalty on Scholar Tests.
  • Hagiography: Meditation upon the lives–and, more importantly, deaths—of the Emperor’s blessed saints grants Imperial citizens a wide knowledge of the Imperium of Man.
  • Benefit: Imperial worlders gain the Scholar: Imperial Creed, Scholar: Imperium, and Scholar: War skills as starting Skills.
  • Liturgical Familiarity: Surrounded as they are by folk of the faith, Imperial citizens are accustomed to the preaching of the Ecclesiarchy.
  • Benefit: Imperial world characters gain Languages: High Gothic as a starting Skill.

Description: “You hail from an Imperial world, one of a million planets united by a belief in the immortal Emperor. Soldier, fanatic, thief, mercenary, noble: these are some of your many possible backgrounds. Whatever your previous calling, you are now in the employ of the Inquisition, and your adventure has only just begun…”

A bewildering variety of worlds are known to the Imperium. From hyper-technological democratic societies to drudging medieval worlds, many planets offer their fealty and devotion to the immortal God-Emperor of Man.

The Imperium covers such an utterly vast area of the galaxy that it is almost impossible to conjure an image of a “typical” Imperial world. In truth, no such thing exists. Amongst the million worlds of man, there is endless variety. Agri-worlds, for instance, are little more than vast farms, producing food for the good of the Imperium. Similarly, mining worlds produce ore and raw mineral for use in the vast factories of the forge worlds. Cardinal worlds are ruled by the Ministorum and are given over entirely to the Priesthood of the Imperium—the mysterious Ecclesiarchy. Stranger still are the garden worlds, which serve as havens for Imperial nobles. Paradise, however, comes at a price, for temptation and heresy may be rife in these places. Some Imperial worlds are utterly remote, having had no contact with the rest of humanity for centuries. As a result, cultural and societal diversity is to be expected from planet to planet, sometimes even within the same solar system.

The closer a world lies to Holy Terra—the home planet of mankind—the more important, advanced and well governed it is likely to be. Those far-flung planets on the fringes, on the other hand, are likely to be frontier worlds, left to their own devices for much of the time, and lying under the constant threat of attack, both physically and spiritually. Many worlds have a technological base akin to Holy Terra, while many more have devolved into feudal backwaters with little more than black powder technology. Such worlds make excellent recruiting grounds for the Imperial Guard, the Space Marines and the Inquisition, as nothing assures obedience quite so well as fear. Upon such planets, the Imperial Cult is surrounded by an atmosphere of superstition, demanding fealty to the immortal God-Emperor who, for many citizens of the Imperium, is so distant as to be little more than a myth.

Most major scientific advances in the Imperium come from the rediscovery of forgotten secrets from the Dark Age of Technology. The reliance on these ancient templates creates a mishmash of tech-use on many worlds. For example, it is possible for a planet’s industry to rely on gigantic steam-powered monorails for long-distance transport, yet still be unable to produce smaller versions of these aged devices, resorting instead to horse-drawn carts for commuting. Governmental organisation is equally as varied. Most Imperial worlds are ruled by a planetary governor, who assumes absolute control either by birthright or by election. The nobility frequently assume all positions of power and privilege on a planet, while the lower echelons of the class structure comprise workers, militia, fanatics, slaves and dregs. While many planets are free of the levels of scum that infest hive worlds, those closer to the Emperor’s grace harbour countless numbers of crazed individuals—workers who have lost their place in a zero-tolerance society, or who have realised that the galaxy is not only unimaginably vast, but full of hate and hostility towards mankind. Such realisation often leads to paranoia or outright insanity, and Imperial worlds are rife with broken individuals, prophets of doom, criminals and gutter-trash. The waifs and strays of society, however, also serve their purpose.

The millions of orphans produced by constant warfare, within and without, are taken in by the Schola Progenium. Many Imperial Worlds are pocked with vast orphanages, where the strict drill-abbots of the Ecclesiarchy produce faithful servants of the Emperor. Those of noble blood may become officers in the Imperial Navy, or even commissars, while the rest will undoubtedly find employment with the Ministorum, the Adeptus Terra or one of the Emperor’s armies.

With religion, superstition and fear dominating so much of society within the Imperium, deviancy is rarely tolerated. People place their faith in good, honest hatred to guard them against the manifold horrors of the universe. Man swarms in vast numbers working, praying, eating and sleeping in an endless cycle, each soul forming a faceless cog in the endless grinding machinery of the Imperium. Law and order within society is often kept by the Adeptus Arbites. Sometimes, however, more remote worlds employ civil militias instead. On such planets, mercenaries—sometimes even off-worlders—are hired to bulk out the standing garrisons that not only provide domestic security, but also form part of the Imperial Guard. If a world lies within a war zone, then often these fighters are the only thing that stand in the way of the destruction of an entire world.

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