Warhammer 40,000: Imperial Knights

[ThisOneGal]

I'm looking for 3-6 players for a freeform group RP. Currently this is more of an interest check, but if people are actually interested we can move on without much ado.

Imperial Knight World
A Knight World is a world where--unsurprisingly--Knight machines are present and form a potent part of planetary governance. Knight machines are nine meter tall constructs of war, piloted by a single chosen individual. This particular Knight world is pre-Imperial contact. No greater knowledge of the Warhammer 40k setting will be required. Imagine a fantasy setting except there are mecha.

You
You are part of a long lineage of Knight pilots. You have survived the Ritual of Becoming and been accepted by your knight as its pilot. To create your pilot, we will need the following information. Please include a non-photographic portrait.

Name:
Age:
Physical Description:
Personality Overview:
Your House:
What happened to the previous pilot of your knight?
How did your Ritual of Becoming go?

Your Knight
You pilot a Questoris pattern Knight, like those your family has piloted for over a thousand years. It is an honour and a privilege to do so. To create your knight, we will need three things: your heraldry, its loadout, and its history.

Your heraldry is simple enough. We need a symbol and a field. Your symbol can be anything, but it should be something both simple and impressive. This generally represents you, personally. Your field is the background your symbol is on. The precise patterns and colours are important. Your field generally represents your house and your lineage.

Your loadout can be found in the large section below. You start with two primary weapons, a tertiary weapon, and a defensive system. This is more flexible than the canon, but creativity is cool and will be encouraged. it is strongly suggested you don't double up on weapons, and that you take both a ranged and a melee primary, but this is not required.

As for your Knight's history, we'll want several bits of info.

What is the personality of your knight? Every Knight machine has an inherent personality, a driving machine spirit that urges it to battle. Is yours aggressive? Careful? Shy?
Every Knight's Throne Mechanicum contains the essence of all its previous pilots. What do your ancestors say about you?
How old is your Knight? Does its creation lie so far back in the past no known date exists? Or is it brand new at less than a century old?
What is your Knight's greatest triumph? Its greatest shame?

Knight Weapons

Primary
The primary arm-mounted weapons of your knight. You get two of these.

Rapid Fire Battle Cannon w/ Heavy Stubber
Essentially a tank canon with an autoloader. You may swap the Heavy Stubber for another Tertiary Weapon. A solid and flexible weapon, capable of filling almost any role with specialist ammunition.

Thermal Cannon
An oversized meltagun, which is a kind of heat ray. Comparatively short ranged, but devastating against whatever it hits. An anti-armor and anti-monster weapon.

Avenger Gatling Cannon
An enormous gatling gun. Fires many many bullets. The bane of infantry and ion shields.

Reaper Chainsword
A massive chainsaw/sword. Does exactly what it says on the tin.

Thunderstrike Gauntlet
A massive clawed fist wreathed in cracking energy. Hits harder than the Reaper Chainsword, and can grab things, but is slower and less elegant.

Secondary
Carapace mounted weapons systems. You don't start with one of these, but may earn one if you're impressive enough.

Ironstorm Missile Pod
Fires big missiles what explode and do damage to a large area.

Stormspear Rocket Pod
Fires small rockets what royally fuck up whatever they hit.

Icarus Autocannon Array
An anti air gun system. Can also shoot things on the ground.

Tertiary
You have one of these as a pintle mount on your hull.

Heavy Stubber
Something akin to a heavy machine gun. Useful for ranging shots and killing infantry.

Meltagun
A short ranged heat ray that burns through armor. Good against other Knights and monsters.

Flamer
A flamethrower. It throws flame. Very useful against hordes and fortifications.

Defensive Systems
You get one of these, and there's only one option. For now.

Ion Shield
And energy shield that surrounds your Knight. It has a directionality/facing, allowing you to angle it towards threats, but leaving yourself vulnerable from other directions.

Code Select Expand

[float=right max=100%][img width=200]AVATAR IMAGE URL GOES HERE[/img][/float]
[b]Name:[/b]
[b]Age:[/b]
[b]Physical Description:[/b]
[b]Personality Overview:[/b]
[b]Your House:[/b]
[b]Previous Pilot: [/b] What happened to the previous pilot of your knight?
[b]Ritual of Becoming:[/b] How did your Ritual of Becoming go? What was your mental state when it happened?

[float=right max=100%][img width=200]HERALDRY IMAGE URL GOES HERE[/img][/float]
[b]Heraldry:[/b] A description of your heraldry, including symbol and field.
[b]Motto:[/b] What do you/your house stand for?
[b]Rank and Title:[/b] Your title/rank, and any complicating factors (weak claim, bastard, weak house, etc.)

[b]Knight Personalty:[/b] What is the personality of your knight? Every Knight machine has an inherent personality, a driving machine spirit that urges it to battle. Is yours aggressive? Careful? Shy?
[b]Throne Mechanicum:[/b] Every Knight's Throne Mechanicum contains the essence of all its previous pilots. What do your ancestors say about you?
[b]Knight Age:[/b] How old is your Knight? Does its creation lie so far back in the past no known date exists? Or is it brand new at less than a century old?
[b]Greatest Triumph:[/b]
[b]Darkest Shame:[/b]

[b]Left Primary:[/b]
[b]Right Primary:[/b]
[b]Carapace Secondary:[/b] Empty, but you might be able to talk the GM into allowing it.
[b]Hull Tertiary:[/b] Heavy Stubber


[Outcast]

The Knights have seemed like an interesting idea ever since they first got added to 40K. 

Mention of 'monsters' suggests that the world has a persistent problem with them.  Presumably dealing with them would be a key part of the RP?

What else would the game focus on?  Would the PCs be an adventuring party in classic fantasy gaming style (albeit with mecha)?

[ThisOneGal]

Thanks for your interest and the questions!

Indeed! The fighting and slaying of monsters only you in your Knight machines can hope to combat will be a large part of the RP.

As young ish knights you would operate out of your home fortress, so there would be less wandering around than your traditional DND fantasy party, but the vibe would be similar. There would also be a degree of political intrigue.

The world is not yet fully under the control of one faction yet, so dealing with other Knights would also be a thing.

[Rashol]

Titanicus one of my all time faces. Also like Knights. But no idea what to pick.

[ThisOneGal]

You can always start with creating some other aspect of your character/Knight. And it's freeform, so is not like there's a meta you need to fulfill. What interests you?

[Outcast]

How 'big' are you thinking of the Knightly society being?  A local area, a country, a continent, a whole planet, a large part of the stellar system...?

In part, I'm wondering how much other 'high' technology exists.

And how many knights would there be?  Would PCs be among a handful of known heroes, or part of a society where every few thousand peasants support a noble family and their mech?

Even if I don't play, I'm fascinated by world-building.

[ThisOneGal]

Local area to country sized for the knightly culture you're part of, the details of which are more up to group preference. There are other countries bordering yours (possibly other vassals of the same hegemon), ultimately covering most of the planet. Nobody is known to be capable of spaceflight, although heavier than air flying machines may exist as a novelty in some places. They're of limited interest due to the fact the advanced anti-aircraft gun already exists (in the form of the Icarus Autocannon Array). Water provides a major barrier; while Knight machines are semi amphibious, they are heavy as hell. Getting them across a body of water of any significant size is a major undertaking, and may not even be technically feasible. Ocean and seagoing ships large enough to carry a Knight machine simply aren't a thing.

Not much, but there will be exceptions. Things that survived Long Night. Random high peaks, but otherwise low overall. The Knight machines are the most obvious anachronism. The tech you have access to increases the closer you get to the nobility. Noble foot soldiers will have access to archaic las weapons, but your average peasant would be limited to what you image as standard fantasy gear, possibly with the addition of basic firearms. Development of infantry arms and armor has been stymied by the military supremacy of Knight machines; there's no point in giving infantry better weapons and armor if they all lose to a Knight just the same. Radio exists, though it's mostly limited to between Knight machines; people understand how to build the ones in the Knights, but don't understand the technology well enough to build a radio separately. 'Does this technology exist?' can generally be answered with a 'yes, somewhere.' 'Is this technology widely available' can generally be answered with a 'no.' 'Do we understand this technology is almost always answered with a 'no.'

Closer to the latter. Knight machines are the premier combat warform on the planet, and have out competed all their rivals. Simply put, any polity that didn't have Knight machines was subsumed ones that did, and the Knight machines themselves are such a massive jump in power that nothing can be developed to counter them apart from other Knights. The Knight machine is effectively the basis for all forms of large scale warfare. This also results in their pilots being extremely valuable, and them being ransomed a far more common result of capture than being killed.

Notable areas that are not under Knight House control are areas generally uninhabitable to humans (deserts, tundra), areas overrun by wildlife (giant monsters that Knights hunt), or areas where Orks and other greenskins are the dominant species/ecology (these must be regularly purged to prevent their spread).

Please, I welcome it. I'm not great at initial explanations, so your questions are helping me flesh out stuff and communicate more clearly.

[HairyHeretic]

Tempted. I don't know the Knights all that well, but I do like me some 40k games :)

[ThisOneGal]

I hope you do join; I'm a fan of your work.

Familiarity with 40k isn't required, and neither is familiarity with Knights in particular. If anyone has any questions, please feel free to ask. Even if this game doesn't get off the ground, the feedback will help me when I make my next attempt at running a game.

[Outcast]

[Knightly culture and transportation]

Innnteresting. 

A pre-contact culture (with Knights) could have been anything from an advanced space-faring society that has heavily colonised its own stellar system, to a handful of ancient mechs presiding over an impoverished society in which every scrap of useful ores is reserved for their maintenance.

I figured it was probably somewhere in between, but it was worth asking!

So, the PCs would all be within the same country, at the same sort of rank as each other.  Are you thinking of them forming an official group of some sort?  Created by a superior to defend an area / complete tasks; a voluntary warriors' brotherhood; a long-standing alliance of noble houses...?

On aircraft... if flight is viable and safe, even if only for the elite, then it dramatically extends the reach of diplomatic and cultural contacts.  If there're widespread flying monsters, then flight might only be safe along routes kept clear by the presence of Knights.  Either could have interesting effects on the spread of information, high-value trade, the nature of diplomacy, and so on.

Deep water as a barrier is also an intriguing quirk: building solid bridges could be a major goal for allies keen to work together... while blowing them up could be a significant tactic in war.  And the challenge of very, very carefully rafting mechs across a river (in the best weather possible) makes for a striking image.  I wonder how many old Knights are stuck at the bottom of a bay somewhere, after a transport attempt went wrong?

[Technology and Warfare]

That implies that anything / anyone needing defence lives close enough to a Knight that it can meet most of their needs... which would suggest that civilisation, even farms, cluster very close around Knights.  The more dispersed it is, the more need there's likely to be for non-Knight troops - and the more opportunity for brigands, raiders, etc.

[Radio exists, though it's mostly limited to between Knight machines]

*ponders*  For radios, it might make sense that those manors (or other noteworthy institutions) able to do so build static versions, so that they can talk to each other and to Knights in the field.

But it could be an interesting quirk of the setting if radios can only operate (due to geological interference, perhaps?) when backed by the power of a Knight's energy core.  That would put the Knight units themselves at the heart of communication as well as war - and could mean that even a broken Knight that can no longer fight is going to remain of active use if it can power its radio and / or sensors.

[Knights and combat]

*nodnods*  That's partly why I was asking about how common they were.  Half a dozen planet-defending heroes who are called out to fight the very greatest of threats would be at one end of the scale; at the other, there could be thousands of the mechs in existence, with a Knight looming over ever most manor houses - even if many of them haven't seen active use for years.

Notable areas that are not under Knight House control are areas generally uninhabitable to humans (deserts, tundra), areas overrun by wildlife (giant monsters that Knights hunt), or areas where Orks and other greenskins are the dominant species/ecology (these must be regularly purged to prevent their spread).

Oooh.  There are or(c/k)s and gob(boe/lin)s on the planet?  So classic dungeon-crawling could be a thing in this setting?   

Please, I welcome it. I'm not great at initial explanations, so your questions are helping me flesh out stuff and communicate more clearly.

Happy to oblige. 

Even if I'm not confident that I'll be able to participate in an interesting-looking game, if I can help out by asking nosy questions to round out the setting then I'm glad to do so. 

[ThisOneGal]

A pre-contact culture (with Knights) could have been anything from an advanced space-faring society that has heavily colonised its own stellar system, to a handful of ancient mechs presiding over an impoverished society in which every scrap of useful ores is reserved for their maintenance.

Yeah, I wanted it closer to a somewhat DnD ish fantasy setting for the sake of players unfamiliar with the setting. It ballooned a bit beyond that, but I think/hope that aspect is still there.

So, the PCs would all be within the same country, at the same sort of rank as each other.  Are you thinking of them forming an official group of some sort?  Created by a superior to defend an area / complete tasks; a voluntary warriors' brotherhood; a long-standing alliance of noble houses...?

The PCs would be a lance of Knights tasked with protecting the local area by the hegemon.

*ponders*  For radios, it might make sense that those manors (or other noteworthy institutions) able to do so build static versions, so that they can talk to each other and to Knights in the field.

 But it could be an interesting quirk of the setting if radios can only operate (due to geological interference, perhaps?) when backed by the power of a Knight's energy core.  That would put the Knight units themselves at the heart of communication as well as war - and could mean that even a broken Knight that can no longer fight is going to remain of active use if it can power its radio and / or sensors.

That would be viable. I had been reasoning it thusly: Radio is somewhat understood  by the tech priest class, but the radios used by Knights are something akin to digital, encrypted multiband hopping devices. You can't just build the radio, you need to build the computer-analog parts as well. So whatever static versions they have includes a partially built/destroyed Knight machine as well.

Oooh.  There are or(c/k)s and gob(boe/lin)s on the planet?  So classic dungeon-crawling could be a thing in this setting?   

Indeed; what better place to loot lost technology than areas overtaken by the greenskins?

[HairyHeretic]

I hope you do join; I'm a fan of your work.

Familiarity with 40k isn't required, and neither is familiarity with Knights in particular. If anyone has any questions, please feel free to ask. Even if this game doesn't get off the ground, the feedback will help me when I make my next attempt at running a game.

Believe me, I'm more than familiar with 40k .. just not overly where it comes to Knights. I know the basics of them, but I'm way more familiar with my Chaos forces :)

I have 40k models older than most people I know

[Outcast]

If memory serves, Knights appeared back when the 'epic' scale of 40K was still quite new (very early '90s).  They were a sort of bridge between squad / vehicle level combat and Titans.  In part, they served to emphasise just how scary even a 'scout' Titan really was.

Lore was sparse, and at least one other race (the Eldar) had their own version.  I vaguely recall quadrupedal models for them....

But 40K was very different on a number of levels back then.    I always found the story and setting of original 40K more interesting than the miniature wargame - though I very rapidly lost any desire to keep up with the constant rewriting of the setting.

Yeah, I wanted it closer to a somewhat DnD ish fantasy setting for the sake of players unfamiliar with the setting. It ballooned a bit beyond that, but I think/hope that aspect is still there.

That's the sort of thing it's worth declaring up front in an advert: making clear that it's a 'going on adventures as a party' sort of game, in this case. 

It does sound as if the world should be well-suited to it.

The PCs would be a lance of Knights tasked with protecting the local area by the hegemon.

Operating with any sort of command structure inside the unit, or all as peers?  An option I've seen work is that whoever's land (or house's land) a problem is on has responsibility and thus command - but they really need to be nice to the people coming to help.  If the problems move around, then the person 'in charge' can change frequently....

But having anyone in command can cause problems, especially in a forum game where disappearances are common!

That would be viable. I had been reasoning it thusly: Radio is somewhat understood  by the tech priest class, but the radios used by Knights are something akin to digital, encrypted multiband hopping devices. You can't just build the radio, you need to build the computer-analog parts as well. So whatever static versions they have includes a partially built/destroyed Knight machine as well.

Glad I hit on something that fits. 

And that does lead me into another query... this is pre-Imperial contact, so there's no worship of the god-emperor.  What faith(s) are in the game?

And have psykers manifested?  If so, sorcerors / blessed priests / whatever will probably have a key role to play in politics, adventures, and faith....

Indeed; what better place to loot lost technology than areas overtaken by the greenskins?

Would the residents of the planet know that they came from the stars in great ships to colonise the world?  Or has that been lost?  Just wondering whether there'll be lost cities (of the early colonisation effort), buried sleeper ships, or the like....

[Rashol]

Yeah. Knights have been around for a while, but I don't recall any army other than orcs really fielding their equivalents (orc Stompas) ironically Knights got the glow up on the 40k field while orc Stompas have practically vanished.

Imperial and eldar armies tended to field super heavy vehicles and titans.

[Outcast]

I had the faint impression that there were Orkish ones... but couldn't think of what they looked like.  I believe that at least one gaming friend back then acquired some.

The Eldar ones were real, I promise.  I think that they wound up feeding into the Exodite culture, when that was added to the setting.

Of course, that far back in 40K gaming, the only 'epic' armies were Imperial, Imperial-derived Chaos, Eldar, and Ork.

[Rashol]

I had the faint impression that there were Orkish ones... but couldn't think of what they looked like.  I believe that at least one gaming friend back then acquired some.

The Eldar ones were real, I promise.  I think that they wound up feeding into the Exodite culture, when that was added to the setting.

Of course, that far back in 40K gaming, the only 'epic' armies were Imperial, Imperial-derived Chaos, Eldar, and Ork.

It's ok. I kicked myself many many many times that my "first" games workshop game was 40k instead of Space Marine. Which became Epic, and then died. And is now Heresy... Something...

[HairyHeretic]

There were epic scale Squat armies, and Tyranids as well, though I can't recall which version of Epic they were under.

Adeptus Titanicus came first, then Space Marine, which then led on to the first edition of Epic with the multiple armies.

You can see how Knights have changed down through the years here

https://www.belloflostsouls.net/2023/03/warhammer-40k-3-decades-of-knights.html

[Rashol]

Name: Emily "the beggar knight" and "Singer" or "Old Reliable"
Age: 25
Physical Description:

Personality Overview:

Your House: Emily's house is much reduced in circumstance. The laws of chivalry preventing its subsumption have held, so far. There are barely enough serfs to keep the knight maintained, and barely enough to provide a credible presence for the household. The foundry has taken to recycling whatever it can in order to replace parts and repairs

What happened to the previous pilot of your knight?

How did your Ritual of Becoming go?

[Rashol]

I loved the Space Marine Reaver. I hated the Epic Reaver. They went from rock metal cover mad machines to blocky efficient looking military vehicles.

[ThisOneGal]

Operating with any sort of command structure inside the unit, or all as peers?  An option I've seen work is that whoever's land (or house's land) a problem is on has responsibility and thus command - but they really need to be nice to the people coming to help.  If the problems move around, then the person 'in charge' can change frequently....

But having anyone in command can cause problems, especially in a forum game where disappearances are common!

While I would like to include a more formalized command structure, the logistics of forum gaming dictate that I should not do so. So player Knights will be relatively equal in hierarchy. There will be degrees of seniority and prominence, so one player's character might have more sway/political capital, but they all ultimately serve the hegemon.

And that does lead me into another query... this is pre-Imperial contact, so there's no worship of the god-emperor.  What faith(s) are in the game?

A proto-machine cult exists, since that's really the only way technological information was able to survive Old Night. They're not connected directly the the Martian Mechanicum, but may have roots back in the same Martian empire that existed before Old Night. Unlike their Martian counterparts, augmentation is rare; this planet simply lacks the technological base to support it.

A form of animism is the 'default' religion. After all, if the mightiest of machines has an animating spirit, surely everything else does as well. A common variant of this is worshiping Knights and their pilots as deities. How the knights respond to this is up to them.

And of course, proto-chaos cults exist, some benign others have metastasized.

And have psykers manifested?  If so, sorcerors / blessed priests / whatever will probably have a key role to play in politics, adventures, and faith....

Yes, but the witch hunting is alive and well. A sorcerer is one of the few things that isn't a Knight that can threaten a Knight, and as such they are hunted with gusto. Though there are a handful of small polities that have psychic might as the backbone of their government.

[HairyHeretic]

Even allowing that all the characters are of equal rank, a Knight force would have someone in charge of any given mission, even if who that was might change from mission to mission. If the group gets into a discussion on a given course of action, someone has to be able to break any deadlocks

And on a separate note, this might be useful

https://warhammer40k.fandom.com/wiki/Imperial_Knights

[Outcast]

There were epic scale Squat armies, and Tyranids as well, though I can't recall which version of Epic they were under.

Adeptus Titanicus came first, then Space Marine, which then led on to the first edition of Epic with the multiple armies.

You can see how Knights have changed down through the years here

https://www.belloflostsouls.net/2023/03/warhammer-40k-3-decades-of-knights.html

...and I'm so ancient, that (unless my fading memory is playing tricks) the cover art of the White Dwarf shown in that article is a piece I recognise from its original use in one of Games Workshop's RPG books.

But yeah, I can remember original Space Marine - and still have the booklet that contains what I think was the first version of Horus's fall to Chaos (as a mistake born of overconfidence, back then)....  The article's right about the feel of the developing setting at the time: even as someone who never acquired an army or became part of the wargaming side of it, the 40K story and universe was fascinating to see developing - sometimes month by month, as new White Dwarfs came out.

The first appearance of Harlequins, the Knights, the autonomous war-robots, and more built on the fascinating ideas of the original book - with its rogue traders, beastmen regiments in imperial service, and lashings of science fantasy.  It didn't engage me as thoroughly as had the revelation of WFRP a few years earlier, but it was still fascinating to see grow and develop.

[HairyHeretic]

"Listen, Bejand. You are an outstanding staff officer, and I value your loyalty and concern. But why does one warrior-lodge initiation on one feral world disturb you so? I've gone through more than twenty of these rituals in the past. I've been a Space Marine and a commander of Marines for more than a century. You need have no fears for me."

"My lord, I..."

The Warmaster rose abruptly. "Enough." His voice was softer, more dangerous. "I am Horus, General and Warmaster. The first soldier of the Imperium, subordinate only to the Emperor himself. Shall it be said that Horus ran away from a hutful of savages?"

Bejand struggled for words. "My lord... I have had - dreams..." His distress was genuine. Horus laid a hand on his shoulder.

"Control yourself." he said gently. "You are excused for the rest of the day. Go to the Apothacarion for a psychological update. And then, perhaps, to the Chapel. A few hours' meditation will do you good. Unless you prefer to report these dreams and submit yourself to the Inquisition for psychic potential testing?"

Bejand swallowed hard. "No, my lord." "Well, then." Horus patted his shoulder gently. "Go now, and we'll say no more. Meanwhile, I must meet the elders of the Knife of Stone."

And in the Warp, something smiled.

[Outcast]

*sighs wistfully*  Oh, to be young and have a lifetime of roleplaying ahead of me!

Yeah, that's it. 

In many ways, 40K back then was simpler, not having had decades of accumulated work - but there was also a lot more nuance in much of what was there.

[Outcast]

While I would like to include a more formalized command structure, the logistics of forum gaming dictate that I should not do so. So player Knights will be relatively equal in hierarchy. There will be degrees of seniority and prominence, so one player's character might have more sway/political capital, but they all ultimately serve the hegemon.

Consensus is definitely preferable, but isn't always possible.  If a tie-breaking vote is required, then something like a rotating "your faction arranged this particular mission, so you have final responsibility" role could make sense.  Every mission, someone new gets the casting vote, should one be required.

Or there could be formal ranks within a clear command structure.  Or the less-certain ranks of a social structure.  Or all three systems at once, to make RP as complicated as possible....

A proto-machine cult exists, since that's really the only way technological information was able to survive Old Night. They're not connected directly the the Martian Mechanicum, but may have roots back in the same Martian empire that existed before Old Night. Unlike their Martian counterparts, augmentation is rare; this planet simply lacks the technological base to support it.

I've seen sci-fi settings in which different cults maintain different tech 'secrets', as another option.  Or it could be a matter of licensed guilds teaching guild secrets.  But tech adepts / tech priests of some sort might be the easiest option....

A form of animism is the 'default' religion. After all, if the mightiest of machines has an animating spirit, surely everything else does as well. A common variant of this is worshiping Knights and their pilots as deities. How the knights respond to this is up to them.

Hrmmm.  Interesting on both counts....

And of course, proto-chaos cults exist, some benign others have metastasized.

Yes, but the witch hunting is alive and well. A sorcerer is one of the few things that isn't a Knight that can threaten a Knight, and as such they are hunted with gusto. Though there are a handful of small polities that have psychic might as the backbone of their government.

So there'd be some debate (at least among some nobles) as to whether sorcery was inherently terrible, potentially acceptable, or only logical to make use of...