• Overview
  • Map
  • Areas
  • Points of Interest
  • Characters
  • Races
  • Classes
  • Factions
  • Monsters
  • Items
  • Spells
  • Feats
  • Quests
  • One-Shots
  • Game Master
  1. The Shattered Imperium
  3. Lore

What Players Can Be

Heroes, Outcasts, and Survivors

The player characters of The Shattered Imperium are individuals capable of surviving dangers that overwhelm ordinary soldiers, workers, pilgrims, and citizens.

They may be celebrated heroes, condemned criminals, disposable agents, wandering mercenaries, escaped prisoners, alien explorers, mutants, zealots, scavengers, sanctioned operatives, or servants of dangerous powers.

They do not need to begin as trusted allies.

A party may be united by military orders, a shared employer, debt, imprisonment, survival, prophecy, profit, revenge, or a common enemy. Some groups may remain loyal to one faction. Others may cooperate only because separation would be more dangerous.

Characters should possess reasons to participate in adventures, travel with others, and make meaningful choices.

Race and Species

A character’s race or species represents their biology, inherited traits, natural abilities, and broad cultural origin.

Playable options may include:

  • Human

  • Astartes

  • Abhuman

  • Ratling

  • Ogryn

  • Mutant

  • Servitor

  • Skitarii

  • Tech-Priest

  • Aeldari

  • Kroot

  • T’au

  • Ork

  • Necron

  • Chaos Astartes

  • Tzeentch Cultist

  • Tzeentch Daemon

  • Other approved xenos or altered beings

Not every member of a species is identical.

Two Humans may come from completely different worlds and cultures. An Astartes may be a loyal battle-brother, a Blackshield, a renegade, or a servant of Chaos. A Kroot may be a mercenary, tracker, shaper, exile, or independent hunter. A Necron character may be a noble, damaged construct, Cryptek servant, exile, or awakened warrior with unusual autonomy.

Race establishes a foundation rather than a complete identity.

Broad Classes, Specific Archetypes

Base classes represent broad adventuring and battlefield roles.

A class should be capable of supporting characters from several factions whenever possible. Specific organizations, military traditions, and cultural identities are created through subclasses, backgrounds, feats, races, equipment, and faction membership.

For example:

  • A Trooper could represent a Cadian Guardsman, Chaos militia veteran, T’au auxiliary, hive enforcer, or human mercenary.

  • An Operative could represent an Inquisitorial agent, saboteur, assassin, scout, spy, or criminal specialist.

  • A Battle Engineer could represent an Imperial combat engineer, Ork Mek assistant, renegade technician, or xenos field specialist.

  • A Psyker could represent an Imperial psyker, Chaos sorcerer, Aeldari seer, Weirdboy, or other supernatural practitioner through subclasses and spell selection.

  • An Orator could represent an officer, preacher, demagogue, propagandist, revolutionary, or alien diplomat.

A character should not require a unique base class merely because they belong to a famous regiment, Chapter, cult, caste, or warband.

Factions and Allegiances

A character may belong to a faction without being completely loyal to it.

Faction membership can provide:

  • Authority

  • Training

  • Equipment

  • Contacts

  • Safe territory

  • Enemies

  • Obligations

  • Beliefs

  • Reputation

  • Access to specialized missions

Possible affiliations include:

  • The Astra Militarum

  • The Inquisition

  • The Adeptus Mechanicus

  • The Ecclesiarchy

  • The Deathwatch

  • A Space Marine Chapter

  • A planetary government

  • A criminal gang

  • A Rogue Trader dynasty

  • A Kroot kindred

  • A T’au Sept

  • An Aeldari warhost

  • An Ork clan

  • A Necron dynasty

  • A Chaos warband

  • A cult

  • A mercenary company

  • An independent settlement

Characters may also be former members, deserters, exiles, infiltrators, prisoners, or reluctant servants.

Faction membership should influence the story without removing player control.

Mixed Parties

The Shattered Imperium permits mixed parties containing characters who would not normally cooperate.

A party might include an Inquisitorial agent, Kroot mercenary, sanctioned psyker, mutant guide, Tech-Priest, and renegade soldier. Another might consist of Chaos warriors, escaped slaves, hereteks, and xenos mercenaries preparing to betray one another.

These alliances should have a reason to exist.

Useful reasons include:

  • A shared employer

  • Mutual survival

  • A temporary military alliance

  • A powerful common enemy

  • Captivity aboard the same vessel

  • A debt owed to the same patron

  • A mission requiring several specialties

  • A greater threat that makes old rivalries secondary

  • A binding oath, contract, or prophecy

Franz should not ignore obvious tensions.

Imperial authorities may reject xenos. Loyal Astartes may distrust renegades. Aeldari may consider human plans dangerously shortsighted. Chaos characters may view mercy as weakness. Orks may become restless without conflict. Necrons may treat organic allies as temporary tools.

These tensions should create roleplaying opportunities rather than constant attempts to destroy the party.

Chaos-Aligned Characters

Chaos-aligned characters are permitted.

They may be cultists, renegades, sorcerers, Chaos Astartes, mutants, daemon-bound servants, hereteks, mercenaries, or individuals who believe they can use forbidden power without being consumed by it.

Chaos characters do not need to begin as mindless villains.

They may seek freedom from Imperial oppression, revenge against an enemy, personal power, forbidden knowledge, survival, religious revelation, or the favor of a patron. Some may regret their choices. Others may sincerely believe that Chaos offers the only honest path in a corrupt galaxy.

Serving Chaos carries consequences.

Patrons demand loyalty. Mutations may worsen. Rival warbands may challenge weakness. Imperial forces may hunt the character. Daemons rarely honor agreements in the way mortals expect. Power gained quickly may create obligations that cannot easily be escaped.

Chaos should offer genuine advantages and genuine danger.

Renegades, Criminals, and Outcasts

A character does not need to serve Chaos to oppose the Imperium.

Renegades may reject a commander, governor, noble house, priesthood, Inquisitor, or law without worshipping the Ruinous Powers.

Criminals and outcasts may include:

  • Smugglers

  • Deserters

  • Bounty hunters

  • Underhive gangers

  • Pirates

  • Mutants

  • Unsanctioned psykers

  • Escaped servitors

  • Rogue Tech-Priests

  • Disgraced officers

  • Exiled xenos

  • Failed acolytes

  • Mercenaries

  • Relic thieves

These characters may still possess loyalties, codes, families, communities, or personal beliefs worth defending.

Visible Character Information

Character sheets are visible to the players.

Essential campaign mysteries should not depend on concealing a player character’s obvious race, class, or public faction identity from the other players.

A character may still possess private motives, secret orders, hidden crimes, concealed mutations, forbidden contacts, or unknown ancestry. These secrets should add depth without requiring the group to pretend they cannot see basic character information.

Franz should distinguish between what the players know and what their characters have learned during play.

Building a Playable Concept

A complete character concept should answer several questions:

  • What is the character?

  • Where did they come from?

  • What can they do?

  • Which faction trained, employed, created, or rejected them?

  • Why are they adventuring?

  • Why do they remain with the party?

  • What do they want?

  • What are they unwilling to sacrifice?

  • Which enemies or obligations follow them?

  • How might the coming Black Crusade affect them?

A recognizable Warhammer 40,000 archetype is normally created by combining several character elements.

For example, a Cadian officer might use the Human race, Orator class, Commander subclass, Soldier background, Astra Militarum faction, and military equipment.

A Deathwatch Blackshield might use the Astartes race, Crusader or Trooper class, an appropriate subclass, the Deathwatch faction, power armor, and specialized weapons.

A Kroot tracker might use the Kroot race, Scout class, hunter background, Kroot kindred affiliation, and field equipment.

A renegade Tech-Priest might use the Tech-Priest race, Battle Engineer or Machine Cultist class, heretek background, Dark Mechanicum contacts, and forbidden augmetics.

The goal is not to reproduce every 40K organization with a separate rules system.

The goal is to give players enough flexible parts to build characters who clearly belong in the 41st Millennium.

Related Areas

  • All starting Areas

  • Imperial worlds

  • Xenos settlements

  • Daemon worlds

  • Independent stations

  • Voidships

Related POIs

  • Gate of Arrival

  • Scavenger’s Rest

  • Hall of Supplication

  • Character recruitment and training locations

  • Faction headquarters

Related Factions

  • The Imperium of Man

  • The Inquisition

  • The Astra Militarum

  • The Adeptus Mechanicus

  • The Deathwatch

  • Chaos warbands

  • Kroot kindreds

  • T’au Septs

  • Aeldari groups

  • Ork clans

  • Necron dynasties

  • Independent organizations

Related Characters

  • Player characters

  • Patrons

  • Commanders

  • Faction representatives

  • Rivals

  • Trainers

  • Former allies

Related Items

  • Starting equipment

  • Faction equipment

  • Weapons and armor

  • Character-specific relics

  • Augmetics

  • Psychic focuses

Related Quests

  • Character introduction quests

  • Faction recruitment quests

  • Personal quests

  • Redemption arcs

  • Defection quests

  • Loyalty missions

  • Rival and enemy quests