Experiences Warhammer 40k adaptation & Roleplaying Trends

[Murdergurl]

So I just read a thing about Netflix Amazon adapting a Warhammer 40,000 series and it's gonna have Henry Cavill (The Superman/Witcher guy) in it.

I have also observed that when streaming networks come out with a new series, that the RP community tends to also follow in trend. A lot of cyberpunk started flying around after Altered Carbon, lots of Game of Thrones went around when that was big (and now again with the Dragon Throne series), The Witcher, and also recently some Wednesday Addams stuff. Needless to say, it's a predictable trend. But part of me hopes that we will see a rise in Warhammer 40k related roleplay requests. Even though I know that a lot of them are going to want to be based off this series, I still hope that it will spur people into looking passed the series and into the ACTUAL WH40k fandom for roleplay material.

Thoughts?

 

[Risotto]

I thought it was Amazon and not Netflix that got the rights.

Anyway, regardless, I don't think we're going to see an increase in 40k roleplays when the series airs. I think the setting is too grimdark for most people and the people that like that kind of settings are already aware of it.

 

[Murdergurl]

I thought it was Amazon and not Netflix that got the rights.

Anyway, regardless, I don't think we're going to see an increase in 40k roleplays when the series airs. I think the setting is too grimdark for most people and the people that like that kind of settings are already aware of it.

shit, you're right. I went back to the article, and it says amazon. Duy! (edited my post to reflect the error)

As far as the grimdark theme, I see a whole lot of RPs (both 1x1 and group) that advertise their theme as being "dark". Which, imo, most people have a very vanilla and un-shocking vision of dark themes. Or maybe I'm just desensitized. Regardless, I see peeps aplenty that look for dark themes. Will it appeal to people en masse? Probably not. Even though it's become a very popular fandom over the decades, the setting is still very much niche. But once a streaming service starts serving up a watered-down version to the general public, I can totally see it as a gateway for people to get into the fandom where they hadn't discovered it (or hadn't bothered to look into it) before.

I mean, even as a long-time Citadel Miniature enthusiast, I can still see how the general aesthetic of the space marines comes off as a bit cheesy to a newcomer. So I could totally understand why someone would pass it over at face value if they saw a Space-marine-centric trailer or other ad for Games Workshop.

 

[Steve Jobs]

I think it would depend on how accessible and engaging they can make the setting of the show. While never a niche hobby, D&D definitely got a surge in popularity when Critical Role became popular. Even though it spawned a lot of toxic players who just wanted campaigns exactly like the show it also brought in good players too. I never got into Warhammer 40k, but I'm sure that there will be people who enjoy the show to dig deeper into the lore, especially if they plan on making an RP based on it. Whether or not they'll be faithful to the source material is...questionable but it's a good first step.

 

[Jet]

W40K would be tough to RP. Most people want to RP important plots, ones that change the world to some extent, and there's nothing wrong with that. I'm 100% in that group too.

But the scope of 40K makes that impossible. Hundreds of trillions of people, millions of worlds and each sector has ten existential threats. It takes decades to do anything important too, even for heavy hitters like Guillemon.

W40K RPs would be like, a strange mix of both war and slice of life, where nothing is important on the grand scale. It's character driven to the extreme. Otherwise you're screwed. You can't change the Imperium, stop the Tyrannids, end the Necron etc. The whole point is that individuals mean absolutely nothing, unless you're a primarch or Belisarius Cawl.

It's not impossible but it's definitely weird. You'd have to go for a much humbler story than what's commonly found in W40K. Focusing on one planet or one battlefield, like staring into a microscope on the verse. Also, having no character importance needs to be accepted, or even desired by the writers.

RPN also has rules against excessive gore and disturbing shit, and well, lmao. I wonder how they'd handle Daemonculaba.

I'm interested in how it would play out. Such clusterfuck potential, but I do love 40K.

 

[Murdergurl]

I think it would depend on how accessible and engaging they can make the setting of the show. While never a niche hobby, D&D definitely got a surge in popularity when Critical Role became popular. Even though it spawned a lot of toxic players who just wanted campaigns exactly like the show it also brought in good players too. I never got into Warhammer 40k, but I'm sure that there will be people who enjoy the show to dig deeper into the lore, especially if they plan on making an RP based on it. Whether or not they'll be faithful to the source material is...questionable but it's a good first step.

I've heard of critical role, or rather that I've seen it mentioned a few times here and there. But I have no idea what it is. Annd well... D&D was definitely niche back in the day. But now it's super popular. At least in recognition. I think there is probably a huge difference in the amount of people that recognize D&D nerd culture to the amount of people that can actually play it and/or own manuals.

WH40k has so much lore.... and I mean a ridiculous amount. A good place for anyone to start is the online Lexicanum. But as someone who has 2nd Edition Codices and supplements from the 90's, lemme tell ya that the Lexicanum definitely is not all encompassing.

W40K would be tough to RP. Most people want to RP important plots, ones that change the world to some extent, and there's nothing wrong with that. I'm 100% in that group too.

I mean... I guess? Maybe I'm not in that group because I personally think that because of the sheer vastness and bleak nature of the setting, an RP coud be done in a very unhindering way to the main lore. A skirmish on some distant moon, excavation of an ancient relic, hunting down a group of Psyker Heretics on a Hive world, etc. The roleplays don't have to be gamechangers and can totally lead the players on a great adventure.

But the scope of 40K makes that impossible. Hundreds of trillions of people, millions of worlds and each sector has ten existential threats. It takes decades to do anything important too, even for heavy hitters like Guillemon.

Like I said, maybe I'm the odd one out, but I like to play as OCs. In fact, I feel like a wh40k setting is perfect for a group or OCs, and the few times I've seen it attempted here on the site, we were all RPing as our own created characters.

W40K RPs would be like, a strange mix of both war and slice of life, where nothing is important on the grand scale. It's character driven to the extreme. Otherwise you're screwed. You can't change the Imperium, stop the Tyrannids, end the Necron etc. The whole point is that individuals mean absolutely nothing, unless you're a primarch or Belisarius Cawl.

It's not impossible but it's definitely weird. You'd have to go for a much humbler story than what's commonly found in W40K. Focusing on one planet or one battlefield, like staring into a microscope on the verse. Also, having no character importance needs to be accepted, or even desired by the writers.

I honestly don't see the issue with not being a god-like character and going for something lower down in the ranks.

RPN also has rules against excessive gore and disturbing shit, and well, lmao. I wonder how they'd handle Daemonculaba.

I'm interested in how it would play out. Such clusterfuck potential, but I do love 40K.

I honesty feel that 90% of the writers on most RP sites don't actually have the capacity to write gore and dark topics to any real potential. I've seen a lot of roleplayers attempt these areas (more so on adult sites than PG ones), and the "dark themes" are all bark and no bite, imo. Obviously, things of sexual nature should generally be avoided on RPN, but thats a very small corner of the WH40K world.

(Personally, I'd love to see some Ork/Gretchin stuff going on. But most people seem to want to do Imperium-cetric roleplays)

 

[Jet]

Murdergurl

There's absolutely nothing wrong with that at all, just in my experience, most people want their character to be important. To change the world in some way and be a hero. In W40K that's impossible, so many RPers will be unsatisfied.

Again, I am not criticizing W40k RPs or making any value judgements, only bringing up a difficulty. I would RP 40K regardless of this trait, but it will make GMing harder. You need a group who willingly writes irrelevant characters, unable to change anything on a meaningful scale.

As for OCs, yes I agree. I'm not interested in writing canon characters either. I only used Guillemon & Cawl as examples. They're two of the only people actually moving the needle.

You need to be a Godlike being to make any changes, and I would never write one. The strongest I'd go would be a Grey Knight, which is still a microscopic drop inside an ocean.

Otherwise everyone is just an ant. Now it's totally fine to write an ant. I wouldn't mind it and neither would you, but the same can't be said for many people.

 

[Murdergurl]

Murdergurl

There's absolutely nothing wrong with that at all, just in my experience, most people want their character to be important. To change the world in some way and be a hero. In W40K that's impossible, so many RPers will be unsatisfied.

Again, I am not criticizing W40k RPs or making any value judgements, only bringing up a difficulty. I would RP 40K regardless of this trait, but it will make GMing harder. You need a group who willingly writes irrelevant characters, unable to change anything on a meaningful scale.

As for OCs, yes I agree. I'm not interested in writing canon characters either. I only used Guillemon & Cawl as examples. They're two of the only people actually moving the needle.

You need to be a Godlike being to make any changes, and I would never write one. The strongest I'd go would be a Grey Knight, which is still a microscopic drop inside an ocean.

Otherwise everyone is just an ant. Now it's totally fine to write an ant. I wouldn't mind it and neither would you, but the same can't be said for many people.

I still think that people would be fine playing as less-than-galaxy-changing characters. But the issue I HAVE seen with 40k RPs is getting eveeryone in on a central theme. Since there are so many sides to pick from, and within those elements there are further factions, its hard to get everyone in on a unifying theme. Short of a Rogue Trader scenario, there isn't a whole lot of ways to get one person who has an Ork character to be on the same side as someone else's Eldar, and also include a Techpriest and Sororita into the mix. Everyone has their favorite team, and it's a difficult endeavor to try to get a group going when their are so many perspectives to the fandom.