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I've been jawing things over with @Necronaut for a while about how to keep a BC game cohesive so it doesn't implode, and still provide a Sandbox for people to frolic around in. I proposed taking over the Vulgar Display game, but I thought too much water had passed, and I'm a sucker for Session Zero build-ups. Back in the day, I ran a game called Beneath a Hateful Sky, which was a half-baked precursor to the excellent and successful To Plunder The Stars, by our own @Lysimachus and was a Deathwatch game set on the Secessionist side of the Badab War. I also tried another similarly themed, but pure BC Ruleset with Magellan's Devils. Seems I just can't get away from Uncle Huron... This time, with a hardened cadre of Players, I thought I could make another go of it. The Dastardly Plan: So, I wanted to float a few proposals. One is that I would prefer a homogenous Party. Either all Mortals or all Marines, but basically we blend the theme of the BC Intro game Broken Chains as the part gen and start you off all in the Big House. You could either start as mortals and get implanted, or could start as neophytes or recently elevated neophytes (up to you) of a Renegade Chapter. Huron does not get on well with legions, so no Legions builds, nothing advanced. It's BC Core ALL the way. You pick your Archetype and Class, and then start with a loincloth and a tin whistle, if you're lucky. Alternatively, you may all join from mortals into a legion who have raided the prison planet - but it's ONE legion. BC Core applies. You're not vets of this legion, you're ne'er-do-well's in the front line holding a sharp stick and a pair of tin underpants (where on your person you wish to wear them, is your choice, and we will not judge). No crazy stuff with millions of rules, no robots with cigar lighters for eyes, no instant armpit tentacles. On the Party, no splitting. Either you do it together, or not at all. Then you're appointed to a Red Corsair (or a Legionary) 'Advisor...' and sent to destabilise a region in your own, rather beaten up and run-down barge. An Imperial region (which can be post-Cicatrix, if you desire). Infamy Rating, and Security Threat: Infamy works as the book with a few extra bells and whistles. Each Infamy Point a PC possesses will result in a corresponding Imperial Threat Rating, so as your Infamy scales up, your enemies will scale up, but that's not all. Each zone of the operational area (AO) will have it's own Security Rating, which will be fixed. Now, all that means is that your Threat rating + Security Rating means Quality and Quantity of opposition, or the forces already established therein. The Imperial Defence plan is a designed as a constricting net of steel, formed into concentric rings, each collapsing onto the disturbance in order of economy of force. You can see this in the Battle for Armageddon. Example: Moroc is a Chaos Space Marine. He has a ball and and 2 Infamy Points. The ball is red, and very bouncy! See Moroc run and play! Unfortunately, Moroc has been kicking this ball against a wall, and has invoked the wrath of Old Man Jenkins, who is a Justice of the Peace, and saw Moroc widdle on his prize water-lilies last week. His threat rating of 2 means (for example) Moroc will be looking a herd of PDF troops in a Level 2 Security Zone, but because he is a complete asshat, he's crossed the border into a Level 3 Zone, and now he's looking at a couple of squads of Arbites. He's beats them up, and gains another Infamy Point, so now he's Threat Rating 3, and so if he breaks Jenkins' window, the Arbites are going to bring a Rhino, and support troops, possibly with a Sororitas, and now he's dead. Poor Moroc. Missions will be 'Compacts' as described in the book - from small ones like a supply raid on a fuel dump, to large ones (required) on the Precinct House. The bigger the Compact, the more your Infamy goes up, and therefore...poor Moroc. You will be required to scout for, and establish, hideouts in your chosen Operation Zone. Every time you undertake a mission, there is a chance Imperial Intelligence will get wind of your hole (in the ground, you Slaneeshi perv), and go and kick over the rocks. This could mean losing your assets. Undertaking a big mission will reduce these chances, all the way down to zero. Let me be clear: if you keep low-balling to dodge the claws of retribution, and avoiding high-level missions to actively combat your persecution, you will eventually be found, and they will kill you off, Infamy or no. The Imperium is looking for you - always. Alignment: The alignment system is, to me, pish. I hate it, and I think it's one of the weaker aspects of the ruleset - albeit I know what they were doing and where they were going. Now, unfortunately, pulling the ruleset apart is a no-go, unless I start a gofundme for Imperium Maledictum, and we can try that instead, but I digress. Alignment will rely on what you do, not what you pick - however - and I stress this, it will still count. It will be assumed that your choices show the predilection your PC has for which way they are going to fall. Now, if you wish to follow the path of Khorne (and his big red ball), then you can do things dedicated to him, but, if your Alignment is contrary, then you're going to get the attention you deserve, uh, of someone else. Gear: You get jack and nowt, and jack already left town with the best stuff. If your Party chooses to be Marines, you will be equipped with Legion Power Armour. However, this is not without caveats. You will roll for a random number of pieces of different armour marks. Deathwatch Rites of Battle Histories will not and do not apply. Armour customisation will be GM moderated, since, quite frankly, some of the options are garbage. Every armour piece will require a D10 roll to see how awful it actually is. On a 7+, the armour piece is knackered, and provides 1 AP lower than standard. Weaponry is the same. It's busted. You want better stuff, you'll have to beg, borrow or steal it. Everything beyond starting Acquisition rolls is one bracket higher than normal. Further, you have a choice of either: One of your Starting Weapons or Items is gone. The rest is unaffected. All of your staring Weapons or Items downgrade (you may pick) by one penalty (cursed metal etc). The PC's will have full access to as much intelligence about the AO and Imperial Ops as your Harrowmaster can muster. If you want more, you'll have to get it in a raid. You may not start with a Minion. Allies and Resources: There will be people who want to defect to the side of tentacles and blood. These informers can provide intelligence on targets for raiding, personnel capture, or loot. They won't repeat. As your influence and power grows, so will your allies. You will be able to requisition (Infamy) vehicles, support squads, artillery, air power and comms support. All these can be lost if the Imperium manages a reversal. The Four Kings and the Crown: To prevent a reversal, and to ease the grip of the Imperium on your throats, you must defeat the four rulers of the sector who govern over each of it's main arms, such as the Fabricator Maximal, the Sector Bishop of the Adeptus Ministorum, the Planetary Defence Commandant, and the Administratum General. Above them, sits the System Overlord, and Lord Commander Sector Imperialis. These five beings cannot be attacked directly. It is impossible, and any attempt to assault their power will result in instant failure. Each one of these august Imperial lackeys has a number of things which may topple them, removal of key commanders, exposure of dirty secrets, inability to meet quotas, that kind of thing. The Adeptus Arbites and the mighty Adeptus Astartes are independent actors, and thus, incorruptible. This is the proposal and my general thoughts on the layout of how this game will operate. Nothing is set in stone, but I won't be wavering too far off these tenets. Feel free to have at it below - do note that Silent Architect is in hiatus, and I need to leave that one on the shelf for now, as I've lost my way with it a little bit, so it will be either this, or Architect I will be running for the foreseeable future. Thanks for looking.

+ THE RPG NOOK, IN ASSOCIATION WITH THE CABAL OF DEAD INK, PRESENTS + + A BLACK CRUSADE RPG ADVENTURE + ++ THE BLACKEST HEART ++ 'From the Maelstrom's deepest pit, I do spit at thee! Should my chest be fit with cannon, Wouldst I fire both my Hearts upon it! My vengeance knows not the cold of mercy, Nor does it shrink with terror in the dark, for wherever you should hide my due, Even buried in your in your souls, e'er will I rake for it...until the stars burn out.' - Lugft Huron, The Blackheart, Tyrant of Badab, Master of The Maelstrom. +++++ PROLOGUE: Assault on CARTHAGE XIII: When the siren begins, it is a klaxon heard by all as it screams a shrill warning across the surface, skies and subterranean vaults of the planet. Purpose-built as a wilderness of violence and wickedness, decorated with oases of Imperial sanity, power and civility built deep into bedrock, shudders. This is not the ruckus of expected supply drops; or the harsh tocsin of a prisoner transfer, but something altogether more alarming still. Weapons emplacements pan and traverse across the prison yards, the gears of a machine grinding - a mighty shrugging of the Imperial pinions contracting. + PENITENTS, REMAIN CALM, FOR SALVATION IS AT HAND. THE EMPEROR’S MERCY HAS BEEN GRANTED TO ALL. AVE IMPERATOR. + A serene, controlled statement, given in a firm, calm voice. In juxtaposition, it merely stirs the populace into paroxysms of glee and terror, depending on the severity of heresy in their soul, their expectation of punishment or release a heady mix of personal poison. It is an announcement never made before on this scale. The inmates of this network of dungeons know the voice, for it is the judgement of those on high, the Word of the Master of Mankind himself. It is said by Judges, by Imperial Soldiers, by Commissars, by the Guildmasters of the Forges and Workhouses. By Executioners. Normally, death is rooted to a sector or block, where the culling of the wicked sinners is enacted through neutron bombardment, their belongings, cybernetics and chattels all used for the next raft of prisoners, or sent off-world to pay the debts of the incarcerated. ++ PENITENTS IN BLOCKS A, B, C, D, SHALL RECEIVE THE EMPEROR’S WILL ++ The guilty and innocent shriek in howling wails as the Penitentiary rouses for a mass slaughter, but the wise amongst the old hands, the few lowly trustees, that something else is wrong. There is threat not just from within the walls, and the souls dwelling there, but from without. Some of the inmates go berserk. They run at the walls, the gates in a mass panic, attempting to overwhelm the security, to breakout via a press of flesh and tide of blood. The throaty roar of emplaced weapons cut them down, exploding bolt rounds tossing charred gobbets of flesh in minced, bloody confetti. The grisly perfume of burned meat clogs throats and nostrils, even as the thunder of giant hammers resonates on the walls outside, causing huge blocks of masonry – plascrete and rockrete, painted dark with grime and blood over the pocked surface – to spall onto the huddled, broken masses beneath, crushing many and ending their cries for mercy, for forgiveness or curses brooking damnation to end with a brutal, gavel thump of finality. In the open segments of the prison, Perdita squads of the Adeptus Arbites swing into action, shotguns bellow, flamers cough in throaty swathes as many of the prisoners outside the Purgation Zone are cut down or boiled alive in blessed promethium. In the skies above, glimpses can be seen of Imperial Lightnings duelling with angular blades zipping around the skies. Bulk landers crash hard into the prison walls, making breaches in the low-level security zones. A guard tower crumples, and a neutron array fires prematurely, obliterating all living within its deadly caress and scope, before dying a heartbeat, and firing again. The sentries within are flung against the armaglas with such force, they lie broken and staring from the collapsed Babellian* overwatch, now brought low. Miraculously spared by the momentary pogrom, an old man, wearing nought but tattered rags, exposes himself obscenely to the crashed tower and Prison Judges therein, cackling at their fate, his tattoos of the Eightfold marking him as a true believer. He tears the mouldering garment free, and capers in wanton abandon. ‘Hahaha! Take that you fu-’ The tower explodes, tearing a crater in the pit of the prison earth, slaying friend and plucky, rude foe alike, punching great runnels in the ground and plascrete. It is then, and only then, when the squalid prison carcass is broken open for the straggly innards to be devoured, that giant shapes punch through the choking dust to feast. Dark figures cleave through the miasma of floating silt, in a cacophony of thunder - explosions billowing amber in the murk - and the skirl of whirring, chainsword teeth. Black and red, a melange of gold and steel, titans come with guns and blades. Almost as one, the hordes of darkness unleash, the Black Hand, the Ravaged Claw of Badab tears at the walls, raking out the charnel pit in a long harrow of screams and pleading, eager for fresh meat and raw victims to clutch to his cause. +++++ + [ AVE REGNIS CREUI ] +

This is just an idea toss - I was combobulating with another frater of some repute (unlike myself) about trying to follow up on a long dormant discussion (I didn't want to necro it, and by rights this is worthy of its own thread), regarding improvement of participation in the RPG Nook, and by extension a few other aspects of this 'niche' hobby. One of the proposals from our noble fraternity, was a series of strategies to help break down a few barriers to enlarging our player and potentially GM base. They can be found here and are well worth a read, as well as the posts regarding visibility. What I'd like to do is set up a themed open club, which is a function where we might be able to finally combine a lot of ideas that don't quite fit into the structure of the forum and also provides a special projects setting, much like the Cabal Of Dead Ink (hence the dazzlingly named thread title). Apart from gathering character or RPG game related fanfic, artwork and model builds (been banging on about this for a while now), one of the primary functions would be to develop/formulate a stripped-down ruleset (primarily for Deathwatch, but other RPG's are available) in an almost One-Page-Rules type thing. This, ideally would result in a few pregen characters, which a prospective player can just bolt their own stuff onto (Chapter, history, etc) with a few perks and sparkles, where RP is more valuable than crunch, having armour histories and the like be cosmetic only. There would be one or two scenarios providing, as Apologist suggested, an entry and exit point with defined goals and objectives. To speed up play, we could include some rules from Black Crusade and Dark Heresy 2.0 (re: actions) and the maps provided in certain starter adventures. Keeping it enemy/sector neutral could provide for easy flavouring and replays, perhaps with a 'rogue's gallery' to accompany it. On top of this, the games (Deathwatch at least) would be announced in the News, possibly Amicus and Space Marine subforums. They would run for a couple of weeks, perhaps every month or other month depending on the availability of GM's. The Rules could be bundled together as a PDF for download, in the same way as Convention Open Table games. As it progresses, this could possibly tap into the Liber, our sister forum, and expand any personal works or articles there (and vice versa). Whilst this is not currently the focus of this project, it should be considered future planning to increase engagement and improve visibility. Thoughts?

Adrián Rodríguez is an spanish freelance illustrator (From Vigo, Galicia. North-West Spain) who has worked in important companies and franchises. Most of his art can be seen in products of Wizards of the Coast (Magic: The Gathering) Games Workshop (Licensed products in Hasbro-WotC,Everguild, etc)Slitherine, Paizo, and others. In his Warhammer art, we can appreciate his works is Horus Heresy, W40K,Necromunda and AoS. You can see his works in: Twitter Artstation.com/adrianrodriguez Some examples of his art:

Thoughts on Imperium Maledictium from me. I haven't gone in-depth in the book, but read mostly around through the main "player" portions like character creation, combat, and the new Patron section. I'll put my overall opinion in, then focus in on the sections I looked at a little more in-depth. For reference, I'm coming at this from the perspective of player of the older FFG 40k games and other systems like D&D, Pathfinder, Call of Cthulhu, etc... , rather than newer Wrath & Glory game (which I haven't played). Overall, it looks quite good. If you are familiar with FFG's 40k games, you'll slot into this one easily, as it has not only the same attribute system but also the same test system (d100 rolls and rolling under for passing). The test system will be very familiar to FFG games players, but with some minor differences; what FFG called Degrees of Success are now called Success Levels (for every 10 you exceed or fail the test by) that have a table with outcomes predicated on the number of Success Levels you have. A new Test mechanic is now Advantage and Disadvantage that will be given by the GM to the players based on environmental traits or other things: Having Advantage allows the player to reverse their 10 and 1s dice (so a 71 could become a 17), while Disadvantage forces a player to reverse them. Its a very thematic and quite fun little system that can give some of those horrible rolls you get turn into your favor if you're lucky. Cubicle 7 clearly wrote the book to be easy for new RPG players to pick up, with the layout being very friendly and most of the information presented in a straightforward and clear way. Only real issue for me was that there wasn't a table for reference for Talents to get a brief look at what they do- it is a minor issue but something that I use often in my games to quickly check to see if a Talent is something I want to pick up rather than leafing through all the descriptions. In general, it seems like a very good refinement of Dark Heresy/Rogue Trader/Only War systems- it has the same style and general game systems, but the wording is clearer and overall play seems to be less muddled. Patron system New system that has a major impact on gameplay. Your Patron will be your party's sponsor and guide, the person that gathered you together and gives you missions/goals. This Patron is created by both the players and the GM, so this will definitely form the initial idea of what your campaign is going to be- whether you pick a Patron that is going to require quiet investigators or gung-ho doorkickers will set the tone for the whole thing. Each Patron has a Faction (that can be different from the players' factions) that they are a high-ranking member of and within that faction has a specific duty within that faction. Each individual will give out Boons to the party that give much needed help (such as supplies, reinforcements, or other bonuses) and will have Liabilities (chosen by the GM secretly) that may negatively effect the party or the party's interactions with the Patron. Available Factions and the set of Patrons within them: Adeptus Astra Telepathic (Astropath/Sister of Silence) Adeptus Mechanicus (Forge Lord/Magos Biologus) Adeptus Administratum (Departmento Munitorum Ordinate/Tithe Prefectus) Astra Militarum (Lord-Commissar/Senior Officer) Adeptus Ministorum (Arch-Confessor/Canoness) Inquisition (Ordo Hereticus/Xenos Inquisitor) Imperial Fleet (Voidship Captain/Port Commander) Rogue Trader Dynasty (Diplomat/Trader Militant) Infractionists (Criminal Mastermind/Guildmaster) ** Infractionists those that work outside of the law/Imperial bureaucracy, so criminal groups, those that were born in the Underhive, or suffered some tragedy that removed them from a "normal" life. Think of them like the Scum career for Dark Heresy. Character Creation Very familiar to FFG 40k- you have to roll up your Characteristics and select/roll an Origin (such as Hive World, Void Born, etc...). A note- any time you have the option to choose something in character creation you also have the option to roll it randomly; if you do roll randomly you'll gain experience, making the process a bit less risky than simply rolling and hoping everything will work out due to the experience gain giving you some ability to maneuver the character around. After you finish your characteristics/origin, you'll select your Faction (same set as the Patron factions) and then Role that you serve your Patron as. Both Faction and Role choices will give out Skills/Talents/Gear at character creation, and along with your Origin will form the basis of what/who your character is. Advancement is more fluid than the old Career system, as rather than a clear set of Skills/Talents/Characteristic Advances that you can gain as you level up, you instead have kind of an open option of all to choose though depending on what they are they may be Restricted to certain Factions or have prerequisites to gain (such as Psychic Mastery or Void Navagation). Faction choices are the same as with the Patrons, here are the Roles: Interlocuter- Investigators and diplomats, specializing in social situations Mystic- Psykers that use Warp powers Savant- Scholars who use knowledge to help, beneficial in a society that doesn't really like knowledge spread about Penumbra- Assassins and covert operatives, the sneaky rogues of the group Warrior- Fighters skilled with various weapons Zealot- Unswervingly loyal characters with wills of iron (or an extreme lack of self-preservation) Combat Mostly similar to old FFG stuff, though there are no longer half actions- you get a Move and an Action. The list of Actions are pretty familiar to any RPG player, nothing really new or different, though instead of adding a possible bonus to damage with characteristics (Strength for a melee attack for example), you add in your Success Levels (SL) that you rolled to hit with. What is new is the Superiority system, which gives out bonuses depending on what level of superiority your group is at from 1-3 (so on a test you can gain 2 SLs in addition to what you rolled, which could turn a miss into a hit or a hit into something really nasty by upping damage). Superiority is vs NPC's Resolve, and can be effected by stuff like fighting on home turf, critically injuring a player, or losing the NPC leader- not only does the party gain the SL bonus for having Superiority but the enemy can also flee/surrender if the difference between Superiority and Resolve is high enough. Damage and Wounds are treated fairly simply- if you have equal damage to your max wound trait you pass a Fortitude test or fall unconscious and any wounds over that convert into Critical Wounds (which are rolled on various tables depending on location) and if you gain untreated Critical Wounds more than your Toughness Bonus (typically 3-4 for PCs), you die at the end of the round. It is a pretty decent system and should be good for narrative combat without bogging everything down in a Last thoughts From what I've read, I like the book/system. It's fairly open-ended in the fact that it is basically combining every human-based FFG 40k RPG (so not Deathwatch/half of Black Crusade) and making everything a little more concise and easy to follow. I think that you could easily use Imperium Maledictum (dumb name, should be something shorter/easier to say) and tack on any extra stuff from the old RPGs to make whatever type of game you want. Cubicle 7 took all the good parts that FFG made, threw out the bad/confusing wording, and made a really slick system. In fact, I'd recommend anyone wanting to do a Dark Heresy/Rogue Trader game to instead use IM, it really does seem that good. There are probably going to be some issues with it, but without playing a game and just reading through the book right now I think it is a better option for those that want to play a 40k RPG than any of the old stuff just based on the more open "career" paths and various minor corrections/clarifications/simplifications of the old systems.

A little bird told me about this, but I put in a requisition for a Psychic Hood... With thanks to @Xin Ceithan Announcing Warhammer 40,000: Imperium Maledictum! – Cubicle 7 (cubicle7games.com)