Homeworld or Origins

Agri-World

Agri-worlds are the breadbasket of the Calixis Sector. These verdant planets are given over almost entirely to industrialscale agriculture, and are home to massive, city-sized farms and ranches controlled by sector wide agriculture business concerns. They produce the bulk of the Sector’s food, as well as many plant and animal-based products such as oils, medicines, building materials, and textiles. While some of these worlds are fully automated, home only to a handful of technicians and overseers keeping tabs on ancient cultivating apparatus and armies of servitors, most are home to millions of Imperial citizens, both cosmopolitan, business-minded merchants and agents in the port cities and the many hardy homesteaders and labourers who do the actual work of tilling fields and breeding beasts. While agri-worlders have a reputation as honest, strong, and hard working, they are also viewed, unfairly or not, as unsophisticated yokels and easy marks for confidence men, grifters, and other predators.

Many agri-worlders serve with distinction as infantrymen in the Imperial Guard, and there are quite a few armoured and mechanised regiments where these Guardsmen have put their skills operating heavy machinery to more martial uses.

Cost: 3

Characteristic Modifiers: +3 to any two of the following Characteristics—Fellowship, Strength, Toughness.

Skills: All agri-world characters start with Linguistics (Low Gothic), Operate (Surface), and Scholastic Lore (Beasts).

One With the Land: The regiment was raised from a world steeped in agricultural tradition, raising crops and food animals for the teeming billions of the Calixis Sector. Men and women who grow up on these pastoral worlds gain a deep understanding of both flora and fauna, and can use those skills on the field of battle to their advantage and to the advantage of their comrades. These characters can get food to grow in even the harshest conditions, and are an incredible asset to regiments embroiled in long, planet-bound campaigns.

Agri-world characters gain a +10 bonus to any Knowledge, Survival, or Trade Tests made to identify or otherwise interact with domesticated beasts or those with potential to be domesticated. They also gain a +10 bonus to any Knowledge, Survival, or Trade Tests made to identify, harvest, or cultivate food crops.

Blind to the Horror: Those men and women raised on bucolic and backwater agricultural worlds have little to no experience with Imperial society at large. Most have never left their village or city, let alone their home world, and those that have possess even less awareness of the wider realm of the Imperium than most of their counterparts. These innocents make easy marks for grifters, con-men, and others who take advantage of the confused and ignorant.

Agri-world characters suffer a –10 penalty to Scrutiny when using it to Oppose the Deceive Skill. Additionally, the first time an Agri-world character gains Insanity Points, he gains twice the normal amount instead.

Starting Wounds: Agri-world characters begin play with +2 starting Wounds.

Death World

“Few born upon such inhospitable worlds will readily trust those who have not endured what they have. Instilling appropriate discipline is a difficulty faced by many Commissars, but the difficulties are regarded as acceptable, given the matchless survival instincts and natural resilience of such peoples.”

– Extract from the Tactica Imperialis

Characters from death world regiments have left behind the danger and ferocity of their home world. They are rugged, uncomplicated individuals for the most part, at ease with the hazards of the battlefield and the dangers posed by alien monstrosities. However, death worlders are slow to trust off-worlders, who cannot understand the hardships they have faced, and they often lack discipline, which gives them a reputation for unreliability in the eyes of more strictly-trained regiments. Death worlders are renowned for their ability to endure the worst the galaxy can throw at them, and exemplify the concept of survival of the fittest.

Cost: 3 points.

Characteristic Modifiers: +3 to any two of the following Characteristics—Perception, Strength, Toughness.

Skills: All death world characters are Trained in Survival.

Fluency: While death worlders have learned to speak Low Gothic, they do not have time in their violent lives to learn how to read or write the universal language of the Imperium. Because of this, death worlders do not start with the Linguistics (Low Gothic) Skill at creation, however they are still capable of engaging in any verbal communication in Low Gothic that does not require a Skill Test.

Hardened: Death worlders are accustomed to violence, and many death worlds contain a variety of deadly, venomous creatures. They must be continually prepared and wary of danger from a young age if they are to survive, and those instincts do not easily fade. Death worlders start with one of the following Talents: Light Sleeper, Lightning Reflexes, or Resistance (Poisons).

Wary of Outsiders: Death worlders tend to be slow to put their faith in anyone other than themselves and their comrades, and they chafe at the expectations and strictures of more civilised society. They suffer a –10 penalty on all Interaction Skill Tests made in formal surroundings, and similarly impose a –10 penalty on any Interaction Skill Tests made on them by any non-death worlders. These penalties can be waived at the GM’s discretion if the death worlders are dealing with those who have earned their trust.

Starting Wounds: Death world characters begin play with +2 starting Wounds.

Feral World

Lawless and terrifying, feral worlds are realms of unrepentant violence, where power begins and ends with the sword. Feral worlds frequently house deadly environments, from boiling seas and blistering winters to deadly rad-zones that swallow entire continents to the broken shells of long-forgotten hives still spewing toxins into the choked skies. However, unlike death worlds, the greatest dangers of feral worlds lie not in the shifting earth or polluted skies, but in one’s fellow humans. Some feral worlds are dominated by reaver tribes who clash over hunting grounds or the small tracts of arable land, while others are dominated by massive gangs of transient warriors who travel on technological mounts their ancestors forgot how to build or maintain long ages ago.

Feral worlds are the source of many of the most violent and dangerous warriors across the Imperium, and some contribute to regiments of the Imperial Guard. Though soldiers from many other regiments tend not to trust feral worlders for their violent and opportunistic tendencies, these same traits can make feral worlders incredibly dedicated and lethal warriors for the God-Emperor of Mankind.

Cost: 4

Characteristic Modifiers: +3 to any two of the following Characteristics—Agility, Strength, and Weapon Skill.

Skills: All feral world characters start with Awareness, Parry, and Intimidate or Sleight of Hand.

Fluency: Feral worlders’ lives tend to be like their tempers: short and unpleasant. While some do survive to old age, few do so by spending time on scholarly pursuits. Feral world characters do not start with the Linguistics (Low Gothic) Skill at character creation, although they are still capable of engaging in any verbal communication in Low Gothic that does not require a Skill Test.

Brutal Warrior: By the very nature of their planet, feral worlders are rapidly taught that strength—and strength alone—determines one’s right to survival. Of course, strength can come in many forms, and feral worlders are no strangers to using stealth and subterfuge to gain the edge when raw ferocity and might alone cannot solve a problem. Feral world characters can choose to start with one of the following Talents: Ambush or Frenzy.

Violence Answers All: Many feral worlders see the universe in extremely simple terms: comrades must be protected, foes must be vanquished, and both of these goals must be accomplished at all costs. Feral world regiments tend to be close-knit, violent bands where disputes both internal and with outsiders are settled in blood.

When faced with the opportunity to crush a foe utterly, even if there is great risk involved, feral world characters must pass a Routine (+20) Intelligence or Willpower Test to pass up the chance. At the Game Master’s discretion, this Test can be waived when dealing with minor disputes or when the valour of discretion is overwhelmingly obvious.

Suspicious of Machine Spirits: On most feral worlds where any technology remains, the few artefacts that persist are treated not just as sacred objects, but as terrifying and dangerous magic to be avoided by all but the strongest: weapons of legend wielded by the most powerful warlords and killers whose strength becomes synonymous with that of their weapons. The Cult Mechanicus is a foreign concept to such warriors, and even if the two share a reverence for technology, the feral worlders’ viewpoint is often tinged by dread, and the suspicion that such power might not be a divine blessing, but a dark gift from ancient and capricious powers that demand a price for their gifts.

Feral world characters suffer an additional –10 penalty on Common Lore (Tech), Medicae, and Tech-Use Skill Tests unless they are trained in that Skill.

Starting Wounds: Feral world characters begin play with +2 starting Wounds.

Feudal World

Woefully primitive by Imperial standards, feudal worlds are home to low-technology, largely pre-gun powder societies with a population made up largely of peasants and serfs ruled over by warrior aristocracies. While nominally part of the Imperium, they are generally of little use to the Adeptus Terra due to their lack of technical acumen, their isolation, and their often heterodox beliefs. They do, however, pay tithes to the Imperium, and due to their largely agricultural society they are often converted into agri-worlds. Despite the fact that the sword, the spear, and the crossbow are considered state of the art weapons on most feudal worlds, regiments are occasionally raised on these worlds. In fact, one of the best known feudal worlds, Attila, is home to the vaunted Attilan Rough Riders. Guardsmen hailing from feudal worlds are known for their honour, their courage in battle, and their tendency to challenge others to bloody duels at the slightest provocation, a trait that the Departmento Munitorum has been unable to train out of them.

Cost: 3

Characteristic Modifiers: +3 to any two of the following Characteristics—Weapon Skill, Strength, Toughness.

Skills: All feudal world characters start with Athletics and Common Lore (War).

Fluency: Few feudal worlders take the time to learn to read and write, consumed as their lives are by toil and warfare, with written language largely the domain of scribes and other specialists. Because of this, feudal world characters do not start with the Linguistics (Low Gothic) Skill at character creation, although they are still capable of engaging in any verbal communication in Low Gothic that does not require a Skill Test.

Fealty: The majority of feudal world troopers are brought up in a society with a very clear separation between nobles and the commoners. These societies have strict rules of etiquette surrounding how the aristocracy interacts with their inferiors and vice versa. Regiments raised from feudal worlds are led by officers drawn from the local nobility and the common men and women in the enlisted ranks tend to revere their officers as not just their leaders but as their betters. Nobles and their chosen favourites often reinforce this belief with impressive skills in single combat, while most enlisted warriors hone their ability to fight in groups, spurred on by the prowess of their lords. Feudal world characters gain the Duelist or Double Team Talent.

Suspicious of Machine Spirits: The beliefs and general understanding of the galaxy possessed by the average feudal worlder seems woefully backward and benighted to many other Guardsmen. While most believe in the God-Emperor as the saviour of Man and his church as the one true religion, especially those that have been visited by Ecclesiarchy missionaries, many have other, more esoteric beliefs that are tolerated only thanks to their battlefield prowess. In addition, feudal worlds are by their nature millennia behind many worlds that provide soldiers to the Imperial Guard when it comes to technological advancement, and their wars are still fought with sword and shield, longbow and catapult. Feudal world characters suffer an additional –10 penalty to Common Lore (Tech), Medicae, and Tech-Use Skill Tests unless they are trained in that Skill.

Starting Wounds: Feudal world characters begin play with +1 starting Wound.

Forge World

Characters drawn from the Adeptus Mechanicus’ forge worlds tend to be highly intelligent, clear-minded technomats who have an innate talent for using and caring for the mysteries of technology and who seem to relate to machines more easily than to their flesh and blood comrades. Steeped in the dogma of the Cult of the Machine God, these craftsmen, engineers, and technicians bring an immense font of knowledge to the Imperial Guard and form the backbone of its engineering and technical abilities. Forge world characters tend and soothe the countless machine spirits that inhabit the Imperial Guard’s equipment and war machines. They pilot the tanks and infantry fighting vehicles, they raise fortifications, dig trenches, build and destroy infrastructure, and even bring the devastating power of the ancient Titans to bear on the enemies of the Imperium. While such regiments are certainly not revered by their counterparts in other Imperial Guard regiments, they are unparalleled in their ability to keeping the weapons working and the tanks running. However, their ties with the Cult of the Machine God make many outsiders, especially the more pious among the rank and file of the Imperial Guard, look upon their strange ways with suspicion.

Cost: 4

Characteristic Modifiers: +3 to any two of the following Characteristics–Intelligence, Perception, Toughness.

Skills: All forge world characters start with Common Lore (Adeptus Mechanicus), Common Lore (Tech), Linguistics (Low Gothic), Linguistics (Techna Lingua), and Logic.

Blessed of the Omnissiah: The Omnissiah grants many blessings upon his favoured subjects, and many mysteries of technology are revealed to those so blessed. Forge world characters start with the Peer (Adeptus Mechanicus) Talent.

Rites of Rewiring: Where most Imperial citizens see a machine as a singular and mysterious entity, those from a forge world view machines as a collection of discreet, sacred components, each with a uniquely important purpose. They are highly prized by armoured, mechanised, and siege regiments for their ability to both keep friendly machines running in the worst conditions and to efficiently dismantle enemy equipment. Forge world characters can choose to start with one of the following Talents: Technical Knock or Weapons Tech.

Isolated by Machines: Life on an Imperial forge world is an experience unlike that of any other world in the galaxy. Forge worlders are surrounded by the wonders of the Machine God and the teachings of the Priesthood of Mars from birth, and the mysteries and wonders of technology are as common to them as a herd of Grox to an agri-worlder. While this makes these relatively tech-savvy Guardsmen well suited for more technological occupations in the Imperial Guard, such as Operators and Tech-Priest Enginseers, it also has a tendency to produce insular, awkward troopers not fit for polite company. Forge world natives often relate to machines and servitors more readily than their flesh and blood counterparts, and have a sad tendency toward jargon and filling their conversations of long strings of Techna Lingua that are nearly unintelligible to the average trooper. Forge world characters suffer a –10 penalty to any Interaction Tests made to interact with characters who are not also from a forge world or initiates of the Adeptus Mechanicus.

Starting Wounds: Forge world characters begin play with –1 starting Wounds.

Fortress World

“Fortress worlds are a fine source of soldiers, owing to necessarily large defence forces, which are typically trained and equipped to the high standards of the Imperial Guard. Fortress Worlds are a valuable asset not only because of their significance as strategic bastions, but also because they can serve as a readily available source of skilled, disciplined fighting men, and it is a rare fortress world that does not raise its armies with the expectation that they may be called upon to serve the Imperial Guard.”

– Extract from the Tactica Imperialis

Characters from fortress worlds have been raised to serve in war, and by the time they reach maturity, they are wellversed in the arts of war and the doctrines of the Tactica Imperialis. Each has been long trained to destroy the enemies of the Imperium, particularly those whose threat forced their world to be fortified in the first place. Fortress worlders are disciplined, honourable, loyal, and with the highest regard for integrity, and each is already a proficient combatant long before they are taken to serve in the Imperial Guard.

Cost: 3 points.

Characteristic Modifiers: +3 to any two of the following Characteristics—Ballistic Skill, Willpower, Toughness.

Skills: All fortress world characters start with Common Lore (War), Common Lore (Imperium), Common Lore (Imperial Guard), and Linguistics (Low Gothic).

Hated Enemy: A fortress world often stands opposed to a single threat, and they are taught to hate that particular foe and eliminate it on sight. All fortress world characters gain a single Hatred Talent, where the group chosen is the enemy the fortress world has been established to defend against. However, this hatred is often so strong as to overwhelm reason and sound judgement, and all fortress world characters may be required, at the GM’s discretion, to attempt an Ordinary (+10) Willpower Test in order to restrain themselves from attacking without mercy when that enemy is sighted.

Combat Doctrine: Because of the intensive training that each fortress worlder goes through from childhood, including extensive live-fire drills and gruelling mock battles, all fortress worlders start with one of the following Talents: Nerves of Steel or Sprint.

Bred for War: Fortress worlders possess an entirely justified siege mentality, a natural result of daily lives shaped by the need for perpetual vigilance against an enemy that could strike at any time, and the discipline required to respond to that threat swiftly and effectively. Fortress worlders are loyal almost to a fault, and reluctant to disobey orders even with good reason, lacking personal initiative, and becoming inflexible as a result. A fortress worlder must attempt a Challenging (+0) Willpower Test in order to go against the rules and regulations of the Imperial Guard.

Starting Wounds: Fortress world characters generate starting Wounds normally.

Frontier World

Frontier worlders are rugged survivalists, and many frontier worlds are chosen for the founding of Imperial Guard regiments because of the relentless drive to endure and practical ingenuity that their harsh home worlds breed.

Cost: 4

Characteristic Modifiers: +3 to any two of the following Characteristics—Agility, Ballistic Skill, and Perception.

Skills: All frontier world characters start with Awareness, Linguistics (Low Gothic), Navigate (Surface), and Survival.

Life on the Verge: While frontier worlders are sometimes less refined that members of other regiments, their skills in the field are undeniably useful. Frontier world characters gain the Combat Sense or Quick Draw Talent.

Independent Operation: Frontier worlders are more accustomed to working far from others than many of their counterparts in other regiments. Their activities on their home planet often call for them to range far and wide, often alone, and as a result they develop a sense of confidence in this solace. On the battlefield, this frequently translates into a willingness to strike out beyond the sight of allies, confident that their compatriots will react swiftly to danger. The Comrades of a frontier world character count as being within Cohesion so long as they are within 15 metres of their Player Character.

Distrustful of Authority: Though they are valued for their ability to act independently, frontier worlders can also be difficult to control thanks to this tendency. This can be particularly problematic for newly raised regiments placed under the command of officers from outside, or for regiments merged with others after suffering losses. However, with time and patience, this friction can be overcome by outsiders who prove that they can stand on their own and contribute to the regiment.

Frontier world characters tend to distrust outsiders, especially those handing out orders. They suffer a –20 penalty to Interaction Skill Tests made to interact with unfamiliar figures of authority (such as new Commissars, officers from other regiments. Senior members of the Ecclesiarchy and Adeptus Mechanicus, and other such individuals) and impose the same penalty on Interaction Skill Tests made on them by those people. These penalties can be waived at the GM’s discretion, if the frontier world characters are dealing with individuals who have earned their trust.

Starting Wounds: Frontier world characters generate their starting Wounds normally.

Highborn

“Those born to wealth and power are born to lead, and it is not unusual for the command staff of a regiment to be drawn from the noble classes of a world, where their natural authority can be put to best use. On other worlds, the military arts are the preserve of the ruling classes only; this produces highborn regiments, whose wealth and prestige find them wellequipped, and placed on the front lines of many a battlefield.”

– Extract from the Tactica Imperialis

Highborn characters were born into wealth and privilege, shaped by tutors and the heavy burdens of dutiful tradition and dynastic obligation. Many highborn bloodlines have long and proud traditions of military service, viewing the arts of warfare as the obligation and honour of the wealthy, the powerful, and the influential. They are born to rule, and most highborn who serve in the Imperial Guard aspire to command and high office, seeing such authority as their right.

Cost: 3 points.

Characteristic Modifiers: +3 to any two of the following Characteristics—Fellowship, Intelligence, Weapon Skill.

Skills: All highborn start with Common Lore (Administratum), Inquiry, and Linguistics (High Gothic).

Fluency: While Highborn characters have learned to speak Low Gothic, they have no reason to learn to read and write the language of the lowly masses. Because of this, Highborn characters do not start with the Linguistics (Low Gothic) Skill at creation, although they are still capable of engaging in any verbal communication in Low Gothic that does not require a Skill Test.

Duty and Honour: The highborn hold themselves to standards of behaviour and etiquette, their upbringing distinguishing them from the low-born troopers that make up the common bulk of the Imperial Guard. Highborn characters suffer a –10 penalty on all Charm, Inquiry, and Deceive Tests made to interact with characters who are not highborn. However, they gain a +10 bonus on all those same Skill Tests when dealing with the nobility and other high authority in formal situations.

Abundant Resources: Highborn are almost universally wealthy and well-connected, able to draw upon considerable resources when seeking new equipment. A squad from a highborn regiment starts with 10 extra Logistics Rating.

The Finest Tutors: Years of study under a wide range of military instructors, and traditional connections to other military dynasties, have prepared each and every highborn for a life in the Imperial Guard. Highborn characters start with one of the following Talents: Air of Authority or Peer (Nobility).

Starting Wounds: Highborn characters begin play with –1 starting Wound.

Hive Worlds

“The immense populations of hive worlds, and the often harsh conditions found upon them, make them valuable recruiting grounds for new regiments, and many hive worlds serve to manufacture vast quantities of commonly-used materiel, making it far simpler to equip regiments. As a result, a single muster from a hive world can produce potentially millions of Guardsmen, forming thousands or even tens of thousands of regiments within a relatively short span of time.”

– Extract from the Tactica Imperialis

Characters from hive world regiments are one amongst many. Due to the colossal populations of hive worlds, musters from them tend to be large, sometimes numbering over a thousand regiments at a time, each of which may number as many as ten thousand men. In many areas of a hive world—not just the twisted depths of the underhive—murder, rioting, and gang warfare are rife. Constantly having to aor take part in) such dangers turns the people into capable warriors and survivors, made nimble by the tangle of urban decay, wary by the dangers in the darkness, and gregarious by the mass of humanity that has always surrounded them. Due to the suitability of hive worlders as Imperial Guardsmen, and the sheer quantity of people on each hive world, there are a vast number of hive world regiments in the Imperial Guard at any one time.

Cost: 3 points.

Characteristic Modifiers: +3 to any two of the following Characteristics—Agility, Fellowship, and Perception.

Skills: All hive world characters start with Common Lore (Imperium), Deceive, and Linguistics (Low Gothic).

Accustomed to Crowds: Hive worlders grow up surrounded by crowds, and they are used to weaving through even the densest mobs with ease. Crowds do not count as Difficult Terrain for hive worlders, and when Running or Charging through a dense crowd, hive worlders take no penalty to Agility Tests to keep their feet.

Hivebound: Hive worlders seldom endure the horrors of the open sky or suffer the indignities of the great outdoors. Whilst outside of an enclosed or artificial environment (such as a hive city, starship or similar), they suffer a –10 penalty to all Survival Tests, due to their continued unfamiliarity with such places.

Urban Violence: Hive worlders are constantly alert for the first hint of trouble, be it a hivequake, a gang shoot-out, or a hab riot, allowing them to quickly detect danger and elude it, if need be. Hive worlders start with one of the following Talents: Heightened Senses (Hearing), Paranoia, or Unremarkable.

Starting Wounds: Hive world characters begin play with –1 starting Wound.

Imperial World

“While many worlds may be required to provide resources, materials, and other such goods as part of their tithe, their primary obligation to the Imperium is in the form of manpower. It is only with rare exception that a planet not be required to provide men to the Imperial Guard, and if a world is found to be neglecting this portion of their tithe, they will be subject to extreme punishment.”

– Extract from the Tactica Imperialis

Characters from Imperial world regiments represent best the greatest mass of humanity. Their minds are shaped by faith and humble duty, their bodies honed by toil. While lacking the tenacity of death worlders, the unyielding discipline of a fortress worlder, or the unthinking zeal of the penitent, Imperial worlders are faithful, loyal, and adaptable, unconstrained by the focus of specialisation.

Cost: 1 point.

Characteristic Modifiers: +3 to Willpower and +3 to any one other Characteristic.

Skills: All Imperial world characters start with Common Lore (Imperial Creed), Common Lore (Imperium), and Linguistics (Low Gothic).

Blessed Ignorance: Imperial citizens know that the proper ways of living are those tried and tested by the generations that have gone before. Horror, pain, and death are the just rewards of curiosity, for those that look too deeply into the mysteries of the universe are all too likely to find malefic beings looking back at them. Their wise blindness imposes a –5 penalty on all Forbidden Lore (Int) Tests.

Kill the Mutant: The general citizens of the Imperium are trained from birth to fear mutation, for it heralds the taint of Chaos. All Imperial world characters start with Hatred (Mutants).

Starting Wounds: Imperial world characters generate their starting wounds normally.

Mining Colony

Characters hailing from one of the Calixis Sector’s many mining colonies are a hardy breed, much used to the kind of privation and hard living found deep within the bowels of a planet. Their bodies and minds have adapted to a life of living underground and heavy toil, and the constant threat of accident and sudden death has sharpened their senses to a preternatural degree. These Guardsmen have an innate sense of direction, are accomplished in demolitions and the operation of heavy equipment, and have built up a resistance to the natural dangers found in mines. Regiments raised from mining colonies are typically Siege Infantry regiments.

Cost: 3

Characteristic Modifiers: +3 to any two of the following Characteristics–Agility, Perception, and Toughness.

Skills: All mining colony characters start with Awareness, Common Lore (Tech), Linguistics (Low Gothic), and Tech-Use.

Acclimated to Darkness: Life below ground is incredibly dangerous, and those who make their living in the bowels of their worlds are a hardy lot indeed. Aside from the common industrial style accidents and the ever present threat of caveins, there are also dangerous extremes of temperature, deadly clouds of invisible toxic gasses, and the constant, oppressive gloom to deal with. Regiments raised from a mining colony are full of men and women who have grown accustomed to this strange and gruelling way of life, and whose bodies have adapted to their environments.

Mining colony characters can choose to start with one of the following Talents: Heightened Senses (Hearing) and Resistance (Cold) or Resistance (Heat) or Resistance (Poisons).

Tunnel Rat: Navigating the twisting warren of tunnels, shafts, and chambers that make up an average mine requires a good attention to detail and a well-developed sense of direction. Mining colony characters gain a +10 to Awareness and Navigation (Surface) when underground.

Unaccustomed to Light: Unfortunately, their subterranean lifestyle makes them incredibly sensitive to bright light, and they suffer a –10 penalty to all Perception and Awareness Tests made in full daylight or bright artificial light. This penalty can be mitigated with goggles or other types of eye protection at the Game Master’s discretion.

Starting Wounds: Mining colony characters begin play with +1 starting Wound.

Ogryn World

Ogryn worlds are those planets that are home to the hulking abhumans commonly known as Ogryns. Although the Adeptus Administratum officially classifies seven distinct types of Ogryn, the differences between these strains are minuscule in comparison to those between Ogryns and baseline humanity. Ogryns are massive, and superhumanly strong and resilient. Even the smallest Ogryns tower over the largest and most physically intimidating of normal humans. However, Ogryns are also universally dim-witted. Even those Ogryns displaying exceptional intellect must undergo additional surgical enhancement before they can be trusted to carry out tasks and instructions without direct supervision.

Unlike other origins, characters from Ogryn worlds are defined by their physical and genetic traits, rather than by their environment or culture. However, most Ogryn worlds do have certain features in common. Ogryns have evolved primarily on barren, inhospitable worlds with higher gravity than Earth. In order to survive and thrive on such planets, Ogryns require the masses of muscle which lend them such exceptional strength under normal gravity conditions. Because Ogryns are so intellectually stunted, Ogryn worlds tend toward the primitive side. Ogryns are unable to make technological advances on their own, and due to the changes in their morphology, are unable to utilise equipment inherited from their human ancestors, even were they to grasp the basic principles required to do so. In some cases, an Ogryn world might also be home to regular humans. In these cases, it usually means that human colonists have settled the world in the days since the Great Crusade, living alongside the abhumans who are descended from the original colonists. Because Ogryn worlds are so adverse to human life, such human inhabitants are more likely to be members of one or more of the Imperial Adepta, depending on what utility the world has to the Imperium.

Cost: 5 points

Characteristic Modifiers: +10 Strength, +10 Toughness, –15 Intelligence, –10 Agility, and an additional +3 to either Strength or Toughness

Starting Skills: All Ogryn world characters come from conditions so inhospitable as to be fatal to ordinary humans. Ogryn world characters start with Survival and Intimidate.

Toughened: Ogryns are notoriously resilient to injury, fighting on despite their wounds either through determination, sheer toughness, or simple incomprehension of their severity. Ogryn world characters gain the Die Hard or Iron Jaw Talent.

Fluency: Though they are likely to speak a debased version of their ancestral language, or else learn to upon their induction into the Imperial Guard, Ogryn world characters lack the intellectual capacity to learn how to read or write the universal language of the Imperium. Because of this, Ogryn world characters do not start with the Linguistics (Low Gothic) Skill at creation. They are still capable of engaging in any verbal communication in Low Gothic that does not require a Skill Test. However, even Ogryns who have undergone Bone ’ead surgery still speak and comprehend slowly, and verbal communication with humans who lack experience dealing with Ogryns is prone to some difficulty, at least until they come to an understanding of the Ogryns’ primitive use of the language.

Ogryn: Ogryns are clearly identifiable as abhumans thanks to their massive bulk and monumental strength. Ogryns are capable of flipping a vehicle with their bare hands and all but ignoring wounds that would cripple or kill a normal human. Yet, these fearsome creatures are almost universally scared of dark, enclosed spaces. Ogryn characters gain the Auto-Stabilised, Size (5), Sturdy, Unnatural Strength (+2), and Unnatural Toughness (+2) Traits, as well as the Clumsy and But it Dark in Dere! Traits (see page 91 of the Only War Core Rulebook).

Abhumans: Ogryn world characters have a very specific origin. Unlike hive-worlders or death-worlders, who can pass on some of their skills and abilities, there is just no way for Support Specialists to adapt to be more like Ogryns! Therefore, Ogryn world characters cannot be Support Specialists; they can only choose from the Guardsmen Specialities. To include Support Specialists alongside Guardsmen from an Ogryn world, players should use the rules for Mixed Regiments presented in the Only War supplement, Hammer of the Emperor.

Narrow Focus: Due to the restriction on Support Specialists, Ogryn world characters have fewer options when selecting a Speciality. However, unlike a lone Ogryn operating in a Squad from another regiment, Ogryns fighting alongside others of their own kind often more quickly adapt to the traditional roles of their home world. A Character from this regiment always count as both an Ogryn and a Guardsman for the purposes of prerequisites, regardless of his current Speciality or Advanced Speciality.

Wounds: Ogryn characters gain +15 starting wounds.

Penal Colony

“While swift and merciless retribution is the just and proper fate of all sinners and criminals, it can be effective to determine other punishments for them. Transit to distant worlds for the purpose of menial labour, or volunteering for military absolution are two such alternatives. Isolated penal colonies populated by these convicts produce vicious, hardy individuals, albeit ones who require nothing less than the harshest discipline to function in battle. However, these benighted souls can be regarded as more readily expendable than most units, for as sinners, their lives are already forfeit.”

– Extract from the Tactica Imperialis

Characters from penal colonies tend to be ruthless, opportunistic individuals, the desperate conditions of their origin making them eager for any opportunity to survive for just a little longer, or profit just a little more from a situation. While ill-disciplined and commonly impious, the expendable, vicious nature of convicts makes them quite useful in the Emperor’s wars. The resultant Penal Legions can be found in the harshest warzones, undertaking the most dangerous missions, with the promise of salvation in death, after which the survivors are imprisoned once more until the next battle.

In time, the few hardened veterans, survivors of a dozen or more would-be suicide missions, become amongst the most dangerous and unorthodox units in the Imperial Guard, deployed to achieve the impossible or die trying.

Cost: 2 points.

Characteristic Modifiers: +3 to any two of the following Characteristics—Agility, Strength, Toughness.

Skills: All penal colony characters start with Intimidate and Linguistics (Low Gothic).

Honour Amongst Thieves: Penal colonists, whether criminals themselves, or the descendants of the previous generation’s scum, know well the way criminal societies operate, understanding the nuances of deception, loyalty, intimidation, and violence that characterise the criminal classes. Penal colonist characters start with one of the following Talents: Peer (Underworld) or Street Fighting.

Larcenous: Hailing from worlds where the black market is the only market, penal colonists are skilled at obtaining illicit items, whether to sell, on or for their own purposes. Penal colony characters add a +10 to all Logistics Tests made to acquire illegal or contraband items.

Scum and Villainy: Penal colonists are ill-regarded by just about everyone else in the Imperial Guard, and tend to be viewed more as expendable fodder than as worthwhile soldiers. As a result, they are seldom afforded more than the most basic of equipment. Penal colony regiments have only 15 points when determining Standard Regimental Kit.

Starting Wounds: Penal colony characters begin play with +1 starting Wound.

Penitent

“Many worlds are dominated by particular zeal and piety, beyond even the devotions expected by the Adeptus Ministorum. Such worlds can produce exceptional soldiers, who are willing to sacrifice all they have for the Emperor, particularly where the recruits are those who aspire towards martyrdom, in order to prove their faith or absolve their world of some ancestral sin. As valuable as devotion can be in a soldier, rigorous discipline is required to ensure that their zeal does not become an uncontrolled frenzy.”

– Extract from the Tactica Imperialis

The penitent are not those born of a single type of world, but rather those of a particular mind-set. While all the Imperium lives in the Emperor’s service, the penitent are those who eagerly give their deaths as well. Willing martyrs all, the penitent fight to demonstrate their zeal or to show their contrition for the sins of the past. The penitent may be from Shrine Worlds, or the masses of pilgrims who cross the Imperium, while others hail from worlds where some ancient crime demands countless generations of absolution. In all cases, the penitent are savagely pious, seeking to bring death in the Emperor’s name, or die trying.

Cost: 3 points.

Characteristic Modifiers: +3 to any two of the following Characteristics—Fellowship, Toughness, Willpower.

Skills: All penitent characters start with Common Lore (Ecclesiarchy), Common Lore (Imperial Creed), Intimidate, and Linguistics (Low Gothic).

The Blood of Martyrs: The penitent do not regard death in the Emperor’s service as anything to fear, and face the prospect of righteous sacrifice gladly. Penitent characters start with one of the following Talents: Nerves of Steel, Orthoproxy, or Unshakeable Faith.

Only One Life to Give: So driven to martyrdom are the penitent, that it can drive them to take unnecessary risks, lamenting that they can only sacrifice themselves once. Penitent characters must pass an Ordinary (+10) Willpower Test in order to retreat from combat or otherwise act in the

interests of self-preservation.

Untempered Zeal: The pious spirit of the penitent is almost unmatched in its ferocity, and while their faith is closer to the violent ardour of the fanatic than the divine clarity of the Adepta Sororitas, it is nonetheless inspiring to behold. Penitent characters may re-roll any failed Charm Test to inspire religious fervour or righteous hatred in others.

Starting Wounds: Penitent characters increase their starting Wounds by +2.

Post-Cataclysmic World

Across the length and breadth of the Imperium, many worlds lie in ruins, testifying to some great cataclysmic event in their past. Such worlds are often little different from feral worlds or even death worlds, depending on the nature of the cataclysm. Some might even be classified as dead worlds, Imperial survey teams having failed to detect the minuscule human population living in the ruins or even beneath the planet’s surface. The inhabitants of such worlds tend to focus their entire society around the past, even if their myths and stories hold only a tenuous connection to reality. It is just as common for inhabitants of post-cataclysmic worlds to shun the ruins of their ancestors’ cities as cursed as it is for them to squat amongst the ruins of their forebears’ accomplishments. The societies of post-cataclysmic worlds vary, from marauding techno-barbarians roving the wastes to forlorn survivors hiding in vaults underground, awaiting the day when the surface is once again safe for habitation.

Characters from these worlds tend to utilise technology, but lack any capacity for manufacture, instead maintaining and repairing the equipment left over from the time before. Because such worlds lack infrastructure and are usually too irradiated to even provide foodstuffs, their only meaningful tithe to the Imperium is in manpower, although even this is a limited resource. In some cases, only a single founding is made from such a world, its entire remaining population drafted into the Imperial Guard, leaving only an empty and dead world behind. For the individuals drafted in such events, leaving their birth world behind to fight the Emperor’s wars is likely seen as a blessing.

Cost: 3 points

Characteristic Modifiers: +3 to any two of the following

Characteristics: Ballistic Skill, Weapon Skill, Perception

Starting Skills: Post-cataclysmic world characters start with Awareness, Linguistics (Low Gothic), and Survival.

Resourceful: Characters from post-cataclysmic worlds are used to getting by with whatever is at hand—scavenging food, equipment, and whatever else they might need. Postcataclysmic world Characters gain a +10 bonus to Survival Tests to obtain potable food and water, and to Tech-Use Tests to jury-rig or repair equipment that is not overly advanced, as determined by the GM.

Horrors of the Past: Whether it occurred in living memory or far in the distant past, all post-cataclysmic world characters are scarred mentally, and perhaps physically, by the event that scoured their planet; yet those who survive in such an environment gain strength from this adversity. Post-cataclysmic world Characters start with 1d5 Insanity Points and either the Resistance (Cold), Resistance (Radiation), or Resistance (Fear) Talent.

Wounds: Post-cataclysmic world characters generate their starting Wounds normally.

Ratling World

Ratling worlds are those worlds home to the abhuman strain known as Ratlings. This home world is not defined by its environment, but by its population. Ratlings are short and rotund, known for their gregarious personalities, skill in marksmanship, and gluttony. Ratlings enjoy food, drink, and company, and loathe hard work. Unlike other origins, characters from Ratling worlds are defined by their physical and genetic traits, rather than by their environment or culture. However, most Ratling worlds do have certain features in common. The lifestyle that Ratlings prefer would not be possible on most worlds of the Imperium, requiring a distinct lack of danger or industrialisation. Most Ratling worlds are rather idyllic, featuring plentiful vegetation, at least in those areas home to the native population. The Imperium classifies many Ratling home worlds as either pleasure worlds or agriworlds— although Ratlings are so resistant to hard work that a successful agri-world usually requires either the importation of ordinary human workers or a substantial force of overseers to ensure compliance by the native Ratlings. Because Ratling home worlds typically lack significant production or population, their Imperial tithe consists primarily of manpower. Ratling regiments are most commonly light infantry or reconnaissance regiments, which make use of the Ratlings’ propensity for stealth and marksmanship. Because Ratlings lack the physical and mental fortitude that makes for good soldiers, it is rare for the Departmento Munitorum to deploy them on their own, typically detaching individual squads for deployment alongside other regiments.

Cost: 3 points

Characteristic Modifiers: +10 to Perception, +5 to Fellowship, +5 Agility, –5 Strength, –10 Toughness, and an additional +3 to either Perception, Fellowship, or Agility

Starting Skills: All Ratling world characters start with Awareness or Stealth, Deceive, Linguistics (Low Gothic), and Trade (Cook).

Natural Marksman: Despite their preferred leisurely lifestyle, most Ratlings possess a coordination that makes them naturally adept at marksmanship. Ratling world characters begin play with the Deadeye Shot Talent.

Ratling: Ratlings are defined by their diminutive stature, which clearly sets them apart from ordinary Humanity. Ratling characters gain the Size (Weedy) Trait and the Heightened Senses (Sight, Smell, Taste) Talents.

Abhumans: Ratling world characters come from a very specific origin. Unlike hive-worlders or death-worlders, who can pass on some of their skills and abilities, there is no way for Support Specialists to become more like Ratlings. Therefore, Ratling world characters cannot be Support Specialists; they can only choose from the Guardsmen Specialities. To include Support Specialists alongside Guardsmen from a Ratling World, players should use the rules for Mixed Regiments presented in the Only War supplement, Hammer of the Emperor.

Narrow Focus: Due to the restriction on Support Specialists, Ratling world characters have fewer options when selecting a Speciality. However, unlike a lone Ratling operating in a Squad from another regiment, Ratlings fighting alongside others of their own kind often more quickly adapt to the traditional roles of their homeworld. A Character from this regiment always count as both a Ratling and a Guardsman for the purposes of prerequisites, regardless of his current Speciality or Advanced Speciality.

Wounds: Ratling world characters begin play with –3 starting Wounds.

Schola Progenium

“The Storm Trooper regiments and the Commissariat are all raised under the care of drill abbots of the Schola Progenium. Progena are amongst the truest servants of the Imperium you are ever likely to encounter, and Progena of a militant inclination are soldiers of unwavering loyalty and discipline, raised to defend the Emperor’s realm from a young age. While their numbers are few and in high demand, the orphans of the Schola Progenium make for outstanding Guardsmen.”

–Extract from the Tactica Imperialis

The creations of the Schola Progenium are trained to be of unyielding will, of decisive action, and of swift mind. Service to the Imperium is an expectation, one their lives have been directed towards for the years of their tutelage. The harsh mental and physical discipline of the Schola Progenium produces fine officers and soldiers, none finer than the Storm Trooper regiment, which recruit only from the finest Schola Progenium graduates.

Cost: 3 points.

Characteristic Modifiers: +3 to Willpower, and +3 to either Weapon Skill or Ballistic Skill.

Skills: All Progena characters are Trained in Common Lore (Imperial Guard), Common Lore (Imperium), Common Lore (War), and Linguistics (High Gothic, Low Gothic).

Only In Death Does Duty End: Those that pass through the Schola Progenium are drilled each and every day by hardened drill abbots, and all are expected to defend the Emperor’s domain with their lives if necessary. All Progena characters start with one of the following Talents: Air of Authority or Unshakeable Faith.

Starting Wounds: Progena characters begin play with +1 starting Wound.

Shrine World

In the Imperium of Man, entire worlds are often given over to a single purpose: manufacturing, agriculture, toil, and war, for instance. Just as important to humanity’s survival however, is faith. The Adeptus Ministorum, known also as the Ecclesiarchy, is the church of the Emperor and of all Mankind. Immensely powerful, the Ecclesiarchy stands independent of the Adeptus Terra, although all work for the Imperium has a strong spiritual element, so these separate branches of Imperial power work closely together. Entire worlds, known as shrine worlds, are gifted to the Ecclesiarchy for the furtherance of the Imperial Cult. Shrine worlds vary from planet-sized cemeteries for the final rest of the devout, to massive, continent-spanning temple complexes. Under ancient decree, the Adeptus Ministorum is barred from raising men-under-arms, but many citizens of shrine worlds nonetheless find their place serving the Emperor on the field of battle, in the armies of the Imperial Guard.

Cost: 3 points

Characteristic Modifiers: +3 to Fellowship, and +3 to Weapon Skill or Willpower

Starting Skills: All shrine world characters start with Common Lore (Ecclesiarchy), Common Lore (Imperial Creed), Linguistics (Low Gothic).

Fluency: Characters from Shrine Worlds have been raised amidst the word of the Emperor and the splendours of the Ecclesiarchy. The lives of saints and the verses of creed are as familiar as breathing. Even for people born to such a world who are not blessed enough to be inducted into the ranks of the clergy, being constantly surrounded by hymnals, scripture, and the works of the Ecclesiarchy breeds a familiarity with High Gothic. Shrine-worlders are capable of engaging in any verbal communication or reading of High Gothic that does not require a Skill Test.

Virtuous Ignorance: The citizens of shrine worlds learn many lessons in virtue from the pious sermons and teachings of the Ecclesiarchy. Amongst these is the lesson that ignorance is a virtue not easily disdained by the wise. Heresy, blasphemy, and death are the just rewards of curiosity, for those who look beyond the teachings of the Adeptus Ministorum for knowledge walk a dangerous path. Due to their wise and wilful narrowness of mind, shrine world characters suffer a –10 penalty on all Forbidden Lore Tests.

The Gift of Hate: Shrine-worlders are accustomed to the Ecclesiarchy’s teaching that hatred is amongst the Emperor’s greatest gifts to mankind. Though the priests of the Adeptus Ministorum preach hatred against many various enemies of humanity, often, a particular sermon leaves an indelible impression on a shrine-worlder. Shrine world characters begin with one of the following Hatred Talents of their choice—Heretics, Mutants, or Psykers.

Armour of Faith: Once per session, when a shrine world character gains any number of Corruption Points, the character may spend a Fate Point to instead gain no Corruption Points from that source.

Wounds: Shrine world characters generate their starting wounds normally.

The Lathe Worlds

The Adeptus Mechanicus enjoys unparalleled independence within the Imperium, an empire within an empire. The primary forge worlds of the Calixis Sector, the so-called Lathe Worlds, do not tithe manpower or raise regiments for the Imperial Guard. Instead, the Lathe Worlds select their citizens suited for military service for use in their own armed forces, including the Skitarii and the elite Crimson Guard of the Venatorii. While these forces are often tasked with defending the Lathe Worlds from attack or insurrection, they also accompany the Emperor’s armies to battle, alongside the Titan Legions, Tech-Priest Enginseers, and other militant forces of the Adeptus Mechanicus. While such units are not truly Imperial Guard, they often work alongside Imperial Guard forces. In most cases, the masters of the Adeptus Mechanicus see fit to coordinate their own efforts with the Departmento Munitorum, and such Lathe Worlds Regiments can be found fighting alongside Imperial Guard forces on the battlefields of the Spinward Front. Such forces might even accept orders and missions directly from the General Staff, so long as they do not interfere with the wishes of their Tech-Priest overlords. What truly sets the elite Lathe Worlds Regiments apart from their counterparts in the Imperial Guard is not only their training and culture, but the unique cybernetic enhancements that they bear. These implants are fundamentally similar to those of Tech-Priests, but with special modifications toward military applications.

Cost: 4 points

Characteristic Modifiers: +3 to Intelligence and +3 to either Perception or Ballistic Skill

Starting Skills: All Lathe Worlds characters start with Common Lore (Adeptus Mechanicus), Common Lore (Tech), Linguistics (Low Gothic), Linguistics (Techna-Lingua), and Logic, and are Trained in Tech-Use.

The True Flesh: Lathe Worlds characters possess the Mechanicus Implants Trait. In addition, their potentia coil is specifically enhanced to meet the high energy needs of integrated weapons.

Isolated by Machines: Lathe Worlds characters are selected for a life of war at a young age, dedicating their lives to the defence of the Adeptus Mechanicus’ interests in the Calixis Sector. The warriors of the Crimson Guard and other Lathe Worlds forces are unforgiving, blunt, and seem harsh to those unfamiliar with the cold, logical way the Adeptus Mechanicus operates. Lathe Worlds characters often relate to machines and servitors more readily than their flesh and blood counterparts, and have a tendency toward jargon and filling their conversations with long strings of Techna-Lingua that are nearly unintelligible to the average trooper. Lathe Worlds characters suffer a –10 penalty to any Interaction Tests made to interact with characters who are not also from a Lathe World, forge world, or are initiates of the Adeptus Mechanicus.

Soldiers of the Omnissiah: The Lathe Worlds Home World represents a uniquely specific origin for a regiment. Such forces are not truly Imperial Guard regiments at all, and so do not include the Support Specialists associated with Imperial Guard regiments. Lathe Worlds characters cannot select the Commissar, Ministorum Priest, Ogryn, Ratling, Sanctioned Psyker, or Storm Trooper Specialities (they can select the Tech-Priest Enginseer Speciality). A Character from this regiment always count as both a Tech-Priest Enginseer and a Guardsman for the purposes of prerequisites, regardless of his current Speciality or Advanced Speciality. If a group wishes to include Support Specialists other than Tech-Priest Enginseers in a Lathe Worlds Squad, players should use the rules for Mixed Regiments presented in the Only War supplement, Hammer of the Emperor.

Wounds: Lathe Worlds characters generate their starting Wounds normally.

Void Born

Many worlds in the Imperium feature orbital stations that fulfil a variety of purposes, from agri-domes and trading hubs to defence stations. Considering how heavily regimented and structured life is for most Imperial subjects, it is no surprise that many individuals born to serve aboard such facilities spend their entire lives space-bound, never setting foot on a world’s surface, unless, that is, they are chosen to serve in the Imperial Guard. Because regiments are most often raised from the ranks of planetary defence forces, most such void born regiments spent time serving aboard a defence orbital. Such troopers have trained extensively in artificial and even zero-gravity environments, becoming especially adept at operating in such environments under normal conditions and in emergency situations. Void born regiments are relatively rare, and are often highly valued by the general staff for their unique skills in what are often some of the most vital and hard-fought warzones.

Cost: 3 points

Characteristic Modifiers: +3 to Willpower and +3 to either Agility or Perception

Starting Skills: All void born characters start with Common Lore (Tech), Linguistics (Low Gothic), Navigate (Stellar), Operate (Aeronautica), and Tech-Use.

Charmed: It is said that the void born, even those confined to a stationary orbital station, are touched by their proximity to the stars and to the Warp. Such tales attribute unnatural luck to the void born, and misfortune for others. Whenever a void born character spends a Fate Point (but not burns a Fate Point), he rolls 1d10. On a roll of 9 or 10, the Fate Point does not count as being spent, even though the character gains the chosen benefit.

Ill-Omened: Characters born aboard void stations often seem unusual to those from the firm ground of a planet. Life amongst the machinery and cramped corridors of a void station is quite different to life beneath an open sky, and is confining even by the standards of a hive world. Additionally, void born characters are often appear unnaturally pale and gaunt. This unwholesome air, combined with the insular, clannish ways of many void born, often causes difficulties when interacting with non-void born regiments. Void born characters suffer a –10 penalty to Interaction Tests made to interact with characters who are not also void born.

Void Accustomed: Void born characters have experience moving about in zero-gravity environments, whether by dint of special training, mechanical failures, or the simple necessities of life on an orbital station. Void born characters do not treat zero gravity as Difficult Terrain. In addition, the Agility Test to stay on-target when making a Charge or Run Action in zero gravity is only Difficult (–10) for void born characters.

Wounds: Void born characters begin play with –1 starting Wound.

Home World or Origin	Cost
Agri-World	3
Death World	3
Feral World	4
Feudal World	3
Forge World	4
Fortress World	3
Frontier World	4
Highborn	3
Hive World	3
Imperial World	1
Mining Colony	3
Ogryn World	5
Penal Colony	2
Penitent	3
Post-Cataclysmic World	3
Ratling World	3
Schola Progenium	3
Shrine World	3
The Lathe Worlds	4
Void Born	3