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| Warhammer 40,000; Setting | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Aug 18 2008, 06:29 PM (382 Views) | |
| WarhoundTitan | Aug 18 2008, 06:29 PM Post #1 |
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The Warhammer 40,000 game world is most readily characterized as a gothic science-fantasy setting. The central and most popular elements of the Warhammer 40,000 universe are the Space Marines, futuristic versions of fantasy knights and the finest warriors of the Imperium of Mankind, a dystopian and degenerate galaxy-spanning civilization. Since it originally was created as a sci-fi spin-off of the Warhammer Fantasy Battle game, the Warhammer 40,000 gameworld contains many elements of the fantasy genre, for example the concept of magic and adapted versions of classic fantasy races. The eclectic mix of inspirational sources for the Warhammer 40,000 universe include classic and contemporary sci-fi, horror and fantasy movies and television series and the works of renowned genre authors such as Isaac Asimov, Frank Herbert, H.P. Lovecraft, Michael Moorcock, J. R. R. Tolkien and Robert A. Heinlein (Heinlein's novel Starship Troopers inspired many elements such as elite marines in powered armor, and drop pods in which encased Space Marines and equipment are fired from orbiting ships down to the battlefield). These and other sources of inspiration, such as medieval, baroque and surrealist art (especially the works of H. R. Giger), and popular depictions of historical settings (such as the World Wars, Victorian Britain, Imperial Rome, The Inquisitions, Nazi Germany and Soviet Russia) leads to a wholly unique fictional universe, in which every side is to some extent evil – though some are slightly less evil than others. For example, The Imperium of Man, is generally thought of as the "good side", and while it may be true that there are many good people within it, as a whole it is an oppressive, xenophobic, corrupt mess of an organization. The only reason it can maintain any semblance of control of its population is because being worked to the bone night and day in total, oppressive adoration of the Emperor is better than being worked to the bone night and day in total, oppressive adoration of the Gods of Chaos, only to end existence as a sacrifice for a god hungry for souls. The physical setting of this story is the Materium, with all action here in the Milky Way Galaxy. Much of this is controlled by the The Imperium of Man, though he is not the only galactic denizen. A dynamic, galaxy-spanning story line is possible because of a separate plane of existence, the Immaterium or "Warp." The Warp is described as a realm of energy, where thought can take physical form, and with currents and eddies that make traveling vast interstellar distances difficult, yet possible. As this is a realm of thought, a coalescence yields the often sinister warp entity. The strongest of these entities are the Chaos Gods, Khorne (a god of rage, bloodshed and war), Nurgle (a god of despair and decay), Tzeentch (a god of change, deception, scheming and magic) and Slaanesh (a god of pleasure, pain, depravity and decadence). Indeed, the gods of Chaos actually are either core aspects of the human psyche or natural forces with profound impact thereupon. The Chaos gods have a dynamic, antagonistic relationship; Khorne rivals Slaanesh, while Nurgle rivals Tzeentch. Nurgle (decay is entropic and is associated with a negative increase in free energy) and Tzeentch (potential energy and complexity by definition oppose entropy) represent opposing forces (and both draw power from their psychological effects); Khorne and Slaanesh are more subtle – the actions of a Khornate devotee affect a victim, the actions of a Slaaneshi devotee affect the devotee (the victim is merely an instrument). Chaos and the Warp are still more complicated, considering there exist many other minor Chaos entities, some of which are worshipped in place of the four major powers of the warp. |
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