A little birdie brought us some rumors on 6th ed 40K fluff changes.
A friend of ours who knows someone who knows someone (you get the idea) and sometimes gives us juicy rumors related to us today some pretty crazy changes to the fluff. Now we don’t know if these are ture or not (they are rumors after-all) but they were interesting enough that we felt they bore sharing.
Supposedly, Imperial fluff will be changing pretty dramatically (which we’ve been hearing a lot).
- Space Marines will have big changes such as the Ultramarines defending the Tau (which we’ve been hearing a lot) as the Tau were either created by the Emperor or he saw that they would be the key to defeating or fighting Chaos as they have no presence in the Warp.
- And here’s the biggie: The Emperor is going to die!!
Now again, this was something related to us by a friend and it may or may not be true, but as I said, it was interesting enough and the source was good enough that we felt it bore repeating. I personally find this hard to believe as the Emperor is such an intrinsic part of the 40K mythos, however, I would love to see a big change like this so long as it is done right (i.e. Mat Ward doesn’t write it) as it opens up SO many possibilities for advancing the story of 40K.
If the Emperor dies how do humans navigate the warp? Do we see another Age of Strife? That is the stickiest part, IMO as without warp travel, the Imperium would fall into chaos.
However, from a story perspective it opens so many doors. Will the Emperor be revealed to be a Warp entity after-all? Will he reincarnate and lead humanity into a new Golden Age? Will Primarchs return from hiding to help humanity in their darkest hour? Will the balance of power shift in the Grim Dark 41st millennium? It would be a bold move to do this, but how awesome it could be?! On the flip side, it could also be a massive flop and screw 40K for a long while. It would be a big risk, but I love risks! I could see though from a business perspective that it may be too risky.
Only time will tell if this rumor proves to be true, but I for one welcome something like this. My gut tells me though, that this rumor may be a bit too juicy to actually be true.
What do you guys think about this? Too far fetched for reality? And if not, would you like a change of this magnitude in the fluff?
In some of the books, the choir doesn’t need the emperor to function as a beacon, he just helps guide it, as at times he stops doing so and a powerfull psyker takes over the lead… might not be so catastrophic
That is interesting, I have not read that before. Which books? BL or in the Codecies?
Been hearing this a lot so who knows….. I hope it is true
Yeah, we’ve been getting so many different rumors it’s all grown a bit confusing. Time will tell but I hope it’s true, too. I am ready for a change, so long as it isn’t poorly done.
This is the second time I’ve heard the Tau bit, so that could be true. As for the Emperor dying, I think that’s rumored in *every* edition change, so I highly doubt it. Although, I agree that it would be an interesting change to the fluff.
Yeah, that’s how I felt about it. It would be awesome but I think a little too dramatic of a change to believe. We’ll see what happens, though, and soon!
Well Magnus was always suppose to sit on the throne anyway if I recall and he never really was a traitor. Horus just messed with him and Leman Russ so I guess they could maybe try and push that some way. While I don’t see the Ultramarines leaving humanity it wouldn’t surprise me if they were put on some mission to protect them and guide them on a collision path with Chaos or some such madness.
That would be flipping awesome if Magnus came back to save humanity and the Ultramarines went on a mission to confront Chaos head to head. Probably won’t happen, but it would be so cool. You could have a climactic return of the emperor, as well, reborn. That would be awesome.
Sounds cool but remember in the Grim dark future of Mankind……there are only retcons and the status quo. anything actually happening now would be …..HERESY! That being said I’m a chaos guy so bring on the heresy 😉
I agree! I want to see Chaos play a larger role in the story. With the huge success of the recent BL novels, it would be a shame not to weave some of that into the story.
Rumour reeeevvvveeerrrrrbbb!
At this point I think that anything sort of change would be cool. It’s been pretty static since I first picked up the game in 3rd. Little has changed in the grand scheme of things. It could be a breath of fresh air to have some story changes to get excited about again. Especially since they don’t do world wide campaigns anymore.
Nothing has changed much since 2nd, honestly. They made a lot of small changes with the Horus Heresy but nothing big. I agree, I would love to see that.
That is some sauce for sure!!!! I think there have been hints that Big-pappa was reaching the end of his power. My guess is that they let him die, but that the Tau will compensate with some sort of intermediary warp travel locomotion. The Tau, to my knowledge, have been limited by lack of warp access, so they have probably had some work around in the pipes for a while. Thats my guess at least.
That’s a really good point. The Tau, in exchange for help, may provide FTL transportation. It makes sense logically, but I doubt that will happen, because then the Imperium becomes reliant on the Tau.
We’ll see though, that is a really good idea.
I don’t think the Tau vs chaos thing is that exciting TBH. I’d rather see them push for Tau vs Tyranids more. I like the parallel of technological evolution against biological evolution. Not to mention their play styles at this point on table seem to be pretty opposing. Also if the Ultramarines did become their baby sitters it would make a little more sense after what nids did to Macragge.
Nids vs. Tau would be cool, I like that. I can see them being used against Chaos too though, as they are immune to the effects of Chaos, which is pretty damn useful!
Nothing new here, folks… Tastytaste posted this rumor back in Feb. Actually, the Emperor’s death has been bouncing around the intertubes since 1998…
“As prophesizeed all the way back in 1st ed (WWWAAAGGGHHH the Orks!!!! supplement), the Waaaggghhh!!! comes sweeping through human space and threatens to engulf Earth. En route, they overrun the Crimson Fists’ homeworld, and the destruction of that oft- destroyed chapter finally becomes canon. In order to save Earth, they Emperor vacates his mortal shell for good and contests directly with Mork and Gork in the warp. One of the Ork Gods is destroyed in the psychic conflict, the Waaaggghhh! is broken, and IG amd marines sweep the demoralized greenskins back to the borders of huma space. Who remains as sole deity of the Orks? The Orks aren’t sure. A religious schism fractures the entire race, dissolving the previous clan allegiances. Instead of clans, all Orks everywhere are either Gorkers or Morkers. Interesting or what.”
You can find it via the wayback machine: http://web.archive.org/web/200101241100/http://www.portent.net/rumours/previous/40k/40k_july98.html
Yea I remember that. Every edition there is some rumor relating to the emperors death it seems. I want to see Calgar off the Emp with a wet towel and sit on the throne himself, would be funny. “Oh and boys, say hello to my new council!” (enter Abbadon).
It would be cool if one of the Chapter Masters decided to take down the Emperor and try and take over the Imperium! Again, probably not going to happen, but it would make for an interesting plot development.
It would be cool if another age of strife occurred.
Warp travel is limited and the space marines end up being isolated kingdoms under whatever Imperial worlds they can band together in their region, preparing for humanity as a whole to recover.
As orcs and the other races can travel in the warp, I assume there are other ways.
Powerful psyker atropaths as navigators like in old Rogue Trader canon.
I agree it would be awesome to see some fluff advancement, the story of the game is amazing and deserves to keep moving forward.