Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #351377 in Books
• Published on: 2008-01-25
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 400 pages

Synopsis
In the grim darkness of the far flung future of the 41st Millennium, horrors lurk on all sides, ready to corrupt the Imperium of Man. "Warhammer 40,000: Dark Heresy" will be the first in a trilogy of 40KRP games. "Dark Heresy" allows players to take on the role of an Inquisitor's retinue. Their task is to uproot the taint of Chaos in Imperial society, to smash dark cults and foil sinister plots. It's a game of investigation and will be an ideal introduction to the dark and gothic universe of the 41st Millennium. This is a gorgeous full colour book crammed with all the information you need to play agents of the Imperial Inquisition. Packed with evocative background, detailed rules and an adventure to get you started, this book is all you need to step into the far flung future of Warhammer 40,000. Search out the traitor, the heretic, the mutant, and remember - innocence proves nothing.

Customer Reviews

Dark Heresy
If you are generally interested in the Warhammer 40,000 world then Dark Heresy (published by Black Industries - part of Games Workshop) will provide you with excellent background material and ideas to develop in your own games. If you like the work of Dan Abnett, Ben Counter, Green Ronin or Rick Preistley, then Dark Heresy certainly comes with a good pedigree.

If you are interested in role-playing games per se, then Dark Heresy uses the same style of character generation and game dynamics as the Warhammer Fantasy Role-Play system, which since its first edition made role-playing more realistic and enjoyable. The system is based on percentages, so you'll need a number of 10 sided dice (d10s) to generate characters and play out interactions with non-player characters throughout the scenarios you design (or purchase when they are published).

In Dark Heresy, players can choose from eight main career paths (Adept, Arbitrator, Assassin, Cleric, Guardsman, Imperial Psyker, Scum and Tech Priest), with each career path allowing characters to develop a range of skills (e.g. drive hover vehicles, interrogation, tracking) and talents (e.g. pistol training, disarm, deadeye shot). Each character becomes part of a team of Acolytes working for an Inquisitor and over time will accrue experience points to progress up through the ranks to eventually be recommended for a higher role within the Imperium.

In a positive way, role-playing games enhance personal team-building abilities, initiative, decision making, analysis/problem solving, leadership, strategy and planning and communication skills. As long as you don't allow them to become an addiction, they can allow you to escape (for a while) from the drudgery of everyday life. Remember it is fiction - not real life! If you are looking for a new set of challenges, then Dark Heresy may be an option for you.

For parents, be aware that Dark Heresy does deal with `mature themes and concepts' (e.g. deamons, insanity, corruption, despair and death) and so some caution must be observed if being purchased for the younger generation. Perhaps, push them towards the table-top battle systems first?

Dark Heresy
What a gorgeous looking book, and heavy! This role-playing book uses a system based on the Warhammer Fantasy RPG 2nd edition which is a very good thing as that is one of the best game systems I have ever played.

The players start as acolyte's in service to an Inquisitor. Their duty is to hunt out heresy, aliens and Chaos. There are a handful of career classes, extremely customisable and easy to use. The book includes it's own 'Sector' of space in which to set your adventures. It also comes with an adventure, ready to play.

The only drawback is it's a little pricey. If your a fan of Warhammer 40K and rpg's, this book is a must-have.

Great as a Sourcebook, very poor as an RPG
Before we sat down to play this, I would have rated it at a full 5 stars. It is big, looks fantastic and is full of great detail and atmosphere; the Misericord and the Tyrant Star being particular high points. If you have any interest in the 40K universe you will enjoy this read. If you intend to run a game using this as source material in a different game engine, you will enjoy this read.

Actually play the game as written and the cracks begin to show. It is based of WHFRP, if that means anything to you, except it is split into 8 classes with their own advancement paths which extend farther than the career steps in WHFRP so you start lower and can get higher, through smaller step if you get what I mean. The problem is you start off poorly skilled and the difficulty mods are too small for the size of the d%. For example, let's say you come up with a clever plan, and the GM awards you by making a task to difficulty levels easier, you have average skill scores and minimum skill points devoted to a skill. In Gurps you will be rolling under 16 on 3d6, with the bell curve that is almost certain success, in d20 with even a single skill rank you need a 4 on a d20, in Dark Heresy you are at 61%. Without a bell curve a d% means you will fail at easy tasks too often and it quickly become frustrating; begins to feel like what you do has far less effect than the dice roll. The party begins to "spam" checks as the rest of the party tries after the specialist has failed. The face man hacks the computer security the tech-priest couldn't, the cybernetic freak earns trust the priest or con-man fails to earn. The entire party misses the limping mutant at point blank range on full auto (bonuses max out at +30%, penalties also max at -30, so when you are firing at long range, in total darkness, go for a headshot).

When your character cannot do what he was built to do and others fluke it anyway you begin to loose immersion and suspension of disbelief. The tech-priest who cannot be relied upon to be a tech priest is what? When 3/4 of the party fall and hurt themselves for running in a dark alley with damp rubbish (one of whom is nearly killed by a rat) it is very hard to believe the characters were chosen by the inquisition as useful tools. Worst of all a table of rabid 40K fans gave up, not because it was challenging, but because we were bored to tears.

Call of Cthulhu has a worse system granted, but only because it doesn't have difficulty mods. Call of Cthulhu is more fun however as your expert can have 70% or 80% in his skill of choice and will only last as long as the first monster or book reading anyway. In Dark Heresy you are meant to keep your characters for a while.

If you are not a roleplayer, the above won't mean much and let me reassure you, as a book, it rocks, full 5 stars. The presentation and substance are top notch. As a game system it barely rates a 1. It could work as a game but you will have to bend over backwards and house rule to make it work. As it is sold as an RPG, I split the difference at 3 stars.