Divergent Forge Worlds

[Frater Cornelius]

So here's a question. How much can a FW diverge before being bombed by the everloveable AdMech? I'll be pretty honest, my enjoyment for 40k has been dropping at an alarming pace and this is not something I like. My best bet would to take a unique spin on some existing factions to rekindle my passion for this matter.

 

Knights are still near the very top of my list of preferences and they tie in pretty well with Forge Worlds in the grand scheme of things. However, that connection has ruined my attempts in the past. I can not simply cope with how dehumanizing the AdMech regime is and how little their humanity means to them.

 

So, the question is whether an FW can diverge from the traditional point of view of the AdMech. Like, for example, a different-thinking Magos Biologis that became obsessed with how life functions and literally went crazy in the process and gave birth to a new idea to br explored or maybe the leadership of that FW fell to the Knight House during a crisis and they have remained there ever since. I mean, anything really. The thing is though, how much is too much?

 

I know people usually dislike people taking their chosen fluff in somewhat of a different direction, but I still hope some of you have some input ;)

[Yodhrin]

If you've not already, you should urgently grab a copy of the Dark Heresy RPG supplement "The Lathe Worlds", it gives you a really good idea of how far you can take things before you even start to look like Dark Mechanicum.

[Frater Cornelius]

Got access to that one. I assume it is the Lathes Dominion that I should look at in particular?

[Frater Cornelius]

Okay, I just finished plowing through all the different cults in that book. The Carniculan and Hippocrasian Sects caught my attention due to their research into life, death and transition from corporeal to incorporeal. Pretty interesting how far they go without being declared hereteks. But I suppose, the AdMech is nothing else but a collection of Scientists. They may bicker but in the end, they all profit from their research. When looking at it from the scientists angle, it seems far easier to incorporate more divergen ideas like the research of the metaphysical.

 

Thanks for the input. Very good insight ;)

[Yodhrin]

Okay, I just finished plowing through all the different cults in that book. The Carniculan and Hippocrasian Sects caught my attention due to their research into life, death and transition from corporeal to incorporeal. Pretty interesting how far they go without being declared hereteks. But I suppose, the AdMech is nothing else but a collection of Scientists. They may bicker but in the end, they all profit from their research. When looking at it from the scientists angle, it seems far easier to incorporate more divergen ideas like the research of the metaphysical.

Thanks for the input. Very good insight

No probs man. I will quibble on the Scientists descriptor though, that angle can often lead to folk writing fluff that loses some of the grinding gothic dystopia angle that makes the Mechanicus so appealing(the ...of Mars series suffers a little from that, although you can explain it away as the main characters being Explorators, and so a bit mental by Mechanicus standards :P) - I find it's more helpful to think in terms of pre-Science; Alchemists, Naturalists, Theological Numerology etc. The seeds of what it means to be a Scientist are there, but they struggle to grow within the limitations of the dogma and assumptions that limits the minds of the techpriests. Naturalists of the period between the Renaissance and the Enlightenment are perhaps the closest "real world" analogue to the Mechanicus; most operated within a firm religious belief system, and were concerned primarily with cataloging and explaining "Creation" through observation(their "Quest for Knowledge") more than exploring their assumptions through experimentation.

Sorry if this is all obvious to you, I can never resist an opportunity to blether about the Mechanicus :P

[Olis]

Think about the diversity (or potential diversity) of the Imperium and it's creed. The Adeptus Mechanicus is an empire within an empire, so I would advise you to think about what sort of diversity a mini-Imperium would display. Quite a lot, I reckon.

 

If you assume, for arguments sake, that for every ten Imperial worlds there is a Mechanicus world/desmesne/vassal, then you have a galaxy spanning enclave of something like a hundred thousand worlds or more. That's not something to sniff at and surely something that would be quite diverse. ;)

[Plasmablasts]

One of the things I've liked from the 30k depictions of the Mechanicum is the impression that there are some adepts who would better fit our contemporary image of scientists. Of course, the Heresy spells the end of those more enlightened tendencies, but maybe, somewhere, a last spark flickers in the grim darkness...

[Frater Cornelius]

A spark is quickly lost in a morbid sea of dogmatic idiotism. But then again, sometimes it only takes a spark to cause a wildfire ;)