Stupid Khorne Ideas

[Skaorn]

Recently I was reminded that long ago Khorne actually had magic in GW games. This sparked some silly ideas in my head.

 

I'll warn you that Khorne is my least favorite Chaos God. All he really does is sit in his recliner, eat nachos (skulls), drink beer (blood), and yell at his sports team on tv. I find his armies about as inspiring as that image, though I know I'm in a minority as Khorne seems to be the favorite of GW. Fair warning.

 

My first thought was what if Khorne's magic from early editions actually was something that did exist at one point in 40k's background but had vanished long before the modern setting. What if some Undivided sorcerer happened to come across a forgotten artifact (a brass page book with bubbling blood for ink far example) that gave said character access to that forgotten power? Maybe the sorcerer can use it because Khorne cast off that part of his power so he can't just shut it off or send a daemon army to kill the guy the moment that power was used. Maybe the sorcerer could even bypass the normal psychic resistance of Khorne units to hijack Khornes Daemons from time to time, alloing him to run around with some stolen packs. The downside is that he'd be #2 on Khârn and the WE's murder list and despite having unique powers, he's definitely not the Emperor.

 

My other thought was as to why Khorne would actually give up that kind of power. I don't see where being an embodiment of anger and hate would preclude using magic to kill someone. Force choke and lightning always seemed like they'd be immensely satisfying to me. You also don't have to be a screaming maniac too; I imagine cold vengeance would be just as much fun for Khorne. So what would cause Khorne to become such a one trick pony compared to the other gods?

 

My answer is that Orks made Khorne stupid. Orks are all about the kind of violence Khorne likes now. They're the most numerous species in the galaxy. They also have a strong connection to the Warp too. What if Orks just filled up his wheel house with their kind of shenanigans and left everything kind of wonky? This kind of left Khorne addicted to the kind of violence that he favors now and cast of that which didn't give him the same buzz anymore. While an Ork might still find it funny to see a weird boy cause someone's head to explode it doesn't scratch that pure violent itch Khorne has, so what good is it? All he wants now is the moment two armies meet in close, savage conflict now.

[Res Ipsa Loquitur]

I'm with you.

 

It's just bone-headed, "KHORNE SMASH" rage. No subtlety. No finesse.

 

Just a moron who can't control their impulses.

[Azekai]

Ooh, chaos theology.

So, the orks made Khorne addicted to their lowbrow, hulk-smash style violence? Interesting... Khorne used to seem a bit more nuanced but even his fanatasy armies are basically portrayed like nails-enhanced World Eaters. Gone are the days of generals or duelists worshiping Khorne, now it is just unrelenting frothing insanity, apparently. Even the disciplined Blood Pact of the Gaunt's Ghosts seems out of place with the current portrayals...

So, what does that make Gork and Mork? Basically Khorne's personal worst case of athlete's foot?

[SanguinaryGuardsman]

Make Khorne Great Again?

[Khornestar]

I'm also with you, conceptually. 

 

On a faaaaar backburner I've been playing around with fluff/ideas for a sorcerer dedicated to Khorne, known as the "abomination of Khorne." He not only dedicates himself fully to Khorne, but has to deal with all the backlash not only from World Eaters and other devotees of the blood god, but also flesh hounds and stuff Khorne sends from time to time to claim his skull. He'd have to be insanely powerful to survive for very long.

[Sagentus]

I know it describes khorne as all smashing with no thoughts in a lot of texts. But at times in chosen of khorne even khan shows restraint (to an extent).

 

He does not kill one character and instead of just killing the 2 generals outright he bides his time until the time is right. The book was a little spoiled at the end by the 2 armies slaughtering friend and foe willy nilly with khan being the last bezerker standing.

 

I do collect a khorne army my self, but like to think they can be more tactical and the blood god is a little more patient with his followers as he would prefer more blood/skulls/carnage of there combined efforts over the few of his own followers.

[Skaorn]

How Gork, Mork, Khorne, and Khaine would operate metaphysically is a bit of a head scratcher since they're all trying to eat off the same table it would seem, and Khaine and Khorne seem to be wearing the same outfit. Now if Khorne is the embodiment of violent thought in the setting then it would seem to make sense that Khaine, Gork, or even Ares would just be a manifestation of Khorne for different species (it's not like the Chaos gods don't show up like that). But this is kind of contradicted by Slaanesh and Khorne fighting over Khaine during the fall. I suppose the shear number of Orks could support both Gork, Mork, and Khorne at the same time without anyone fighting over the last drumstick too. Either way, I'd say Orks are more like the bag of shrooms Nurgle sold him rather then athletes foot :D

 

While I realize I did call Khorne stupid at one point the title of the thread is actually about my own stupid ideas and not that Khorne is stupid. Khorne just comes across as very shallow to me. Even Klingons, who gained a very rigid honorable warrior stereotype, had a proverb from TOS that was "a thousand throats can be slit in a night, but only by a running man". I guess that's why the idea of the lost sorcery of Khorne grabbed me as an idea because it could be used to add depth to Khorne. I mean why does Khorne hate psychers as they would at least represent a conduit into real space that you could pop a daemon into and turn them into Jason Vorhees? Why does he dig close combat when orbital bombardment seem like the best way to slaughter? Does the idea of burning someone's hall and stabbing the survivors that come out bother him because it isn't glorious? The idea that those things aren't his favorite sport was what I was left with.

 

Okay, I'm done rambling...

[General Strike]

It's an inconsistency, he values honor and pride in one moment, then needless slaughter in the next. When I eventually do a Khorne army, they will be more like Predators and Klingons than crazed madmen. It's unfortunate we only get stuff focused on single types of worship.

Is it really more cowardly to use mind magic to kill someone than a 10k year old super human warrior juiced up by a God killing a human with a flashlight is?

Edited March 30, 2018 by HCMistborn

[Vantraxx]

Looks like a bunch of Slaanesh, Tzeentch and Nurgle lapdogs around here... time for a swift chainaxe to the face to settle this...

 

IXE

[Excessus]

Khorne hates psykers because they are using their powers to kill stuff, seeing it as "cheating". As far as I remember he used to be all for psycic powers as long as they "buffed" themselves and did the dirtywork with their own hands, the more honorable way, so I would assume that rule-wise that would be represented by an exalted champion or something...

 

...though that may be some oooold fluff, I can't keep track anymore. But I mean, Khorne has the most demonic vehicles of all the gods...and there would need rituals and such to bind the demons into the vehicles. Also, even on Armagheddon Angron had to pause his rampage to construct altars and monoliths of power to keep the warpstorm going...so his followers are fine with those kind of things...

[Res Ipsa Loquitur]

Daemonancers, too.