Drukhari Fluff and Books

[LunaSR]

Hey guys! 

I just have a few curiosities about anybody that writes fluff for their army. I haven't seen too many books about Drukhari, do you guys have any recommendations? 

Also in a fluff standpoint, how would you start yours? Is there any resources I could use to make sure my information is cohesive? 

Many other armies like the Chaos Marines and Regular Space Marines have it easier with the story making lol. As well as I regularly play with these armies, I would like to learn how to cohesively put them together in some sort. 

[Lord_Caerolion]

I cannot recommend the book Lukas the Trickster enough. There is a trilogy, Path of the Renegade/Incubus/Archon, but I'm really not a fan of them, not very well written at all, and the author doesn't quite seem to understand the Dark Eldar (has a Succubus leading a Kabal comprised of Wyches, that isn't just a Wych Cult because... no reason whatsoever).

[LunaSR]

I cannot recommend the book Lukas the Trickster enough. There is a trilogy, Path of the Renegade/Incubus/Archon, but I'm really not a fan of them, not very well written at all, and the author doesn't quite seem to understand the Dark Eldar (has a Succubus leading a Kabal comprised of Wyches, that isn't just a Wych Cult because... no reason whatsoever).

 I will see about that. I have heard of the trilogy surprisingly and you aren't the first one to say these things. Many things i've come across, aren't coherent to the actual fluff.... unfortunately  

[Lord_Caerolion]

I'll be very blunt, and say that a lot of the praise I see the books getting is from people who confuse "this book is about a faction I like" with "this is a good book". Unfortunately you get this a lot with tie-in fiction like this.

 

You should definitely pick up Lukas the Trickster, though. Half the book is written about the Dark Eldar side of events, and the author manages to get the Dark Eldar as being interesting characters in their own right that are also incredibly evil, instead of a bunch of Saturday-morning-cartoon villains talking about how evil they are and how much they love betraying people and torture.

Instead, the Dark Eldar are incredibly charismatic and flamboyant. They don't do what they do because they're evil muahahahah but because, to their mind, they are the rightful masters of the galaxy and the other races are barely sentient objects that can hardly be called "intelligent" compared to beings such as they.

 

That's what I've striven to get across when I try to think about my Dark Eldar fluff. They're not malicious, or doing things because they're evil, they're doing it because the galaxy is their birthright. They don't hate, or have malice, because to them one human is much the same as the next, in the same way that we don't distinguish between particular flies that we wish to exterminate, or a hunter distinguishes between particular deer when hunting.

What they have instead is contempt, that other races might dare think themselves their equal. 

[WarriorFish]

I've not done anything on mine yet - not even names - but as Caerolion says the typical representation of DE leaves much to be desired. The codex lore pieces are mostly moustache twirling and/or Vect going "just as planned" which is a bit shallow and boring. Even if they are objectively villains that doesn't mean they can't have some depth. Saturday morning cartoon villains indeed...

 

I much prefer approaching them as an extension of what they once were. Prior to their fall and the birth of Slaanesh the Eldar were truly the masters of the galaxy such that they didn't need to do anything and even dying was a game. The Craftworlders rejected this, but the Dark Eldar did not. So it makes sense to me that they continue this approach; from their perspective they are the very top of the food chain so much so that anything and everything else is not just beneath them, but by a chasm.

 

This is also why I think the internal politics of the DE are where to focus. From their point of view that is all that matters everything else is a sideshow or a direct ploy to benefit them within Commorragh. They don't invade real space after all, they raid it as we might raid the corner shop for a few things

 

That's not to say you can't have some moustache twirling, it's fun to camp up the baddies (and 40k should not be played too straight), but as long as their reasoning and motivations make sense you can't really go far wrong

[ThePenitentOne]

If you want to write your own fluff, my suggestion is to decide which "Type" of DE you like most. Is it the Kabalites, the Wych Cults or the Haemonculae Covens.

 

Then you figure out who the leader of that group is, and figure out what motivates them. Then you figure out how they manage their alliances with the other subfactions for realspace raids: bribery? Threats? Blackmail?

 

I am a weirdo, so I create campaigns to generate this kind of stuff. So my Arcon used to own a splinter realm, but it was mostly destroyed when the Yvraine debacle brought daemons to Commorragh. Now he's trying to rebuild not just his splinter realm, but the lost prestige he once enjoyed. He does this by reclaiming enough of the once glorius wych cult arena in his splinter realm to host battles between fledgling wych cults. He will sponsor the growth of the winners, buying their loyalty.

 

In the meantime, the Haemonculae are dealing for the bodies of those who "die" in gladitorial combat. Those fallen wyches become wracks under the blade of the Haemonculae, which has the capacity to obligate them to the cults who provide the greatest bounty.

 

That's where I'd start. GW faction is okay- some of it is even good. But my love for this game has always been the power it gives ME to create the story. As long as you understand the need for drama and dynamic tension between those three subfactions, stories can really write themselves.

 

Oh yeah- I forgot about the mercenaries! Any of the three subfactions could have relationships or formal agreements with any of the Incubi, Scourge or Mandrake units. Maybe an intergenerational pact dating back to the fall? Or maybe the relationship is truly mercenary.

 

Happy hunting...

Edited May 19, 2020 by ThePenitentOne