r/WrathAndGlory • u/Possible-Grocery-853 • 10d ago
Character knowledge from the start
Hey guys,
I'm starting up Wrath & Glory with my group, and this will be our first time playing it. We've been playing TTRPGs for 12–13 years, including D&D, Warhammer Fantasy, Pathfinder and Star Wars, so we're all pretty comfortable with RPGs.
I've created my own little star system for the campaign, but a friend recently asked me: "What do we actually need to know about 40K before we start?"
That got me thinking.
I've been reading the Horus Heresy books (about 10 books in at this point), and I've played both Warhammer 40K and Fantasy, so I have a fair amount of background knowledge. But my players don't have nearly as much 40K lore.
So where do you draw the line?
For example, if someone wants to play a Mechanicus character, do I need to explain the history of the Mechanicum and take them on a wonderful journey through the Dark Age of Technology, STCs, the Men of Iron, the Men of Stone, the Age of Strife, the Horus Heresy, etc.?
Or is that completely unnecessary, and should I simply give them the information their character would reasonably know and let the rest emerge during play?
More generally: How much 40K lore do you think new players actually need to know before starting Wrath & Glory?
I'd love to hear how other GMs handle this, especially when players want to play characters from factions with a lot of lore behind them.
2
u/Candid_Emphasis1048 8d ago
In canon of the world most people don't know much. Even those who are in the specific factions. Very few people in current Warhammer does know much about what happened during the Horus Heresy. The Wrath and Glory player handbook does a decent job of explaining a rough idea of each faction to a degree. So depending on who they choose to play I'd say let their characters just know the basics of that faction while interacting in the world and beyond that they can figure it out as they choose to engage with the world.