Imperium Maledictum is a new Warhammer 40,000 roleplaying game set in the glorious Macharian Sector, a sector forged in blood and fire from the thousand worlds conquered by Lord Solar Macharius. It is a sector rife with peril and treachery,
Imperium Maledictum uses a familiar but refined d100 system to draw players into tales of intrigue, betrayal, and conspiracy. Players take on the role of Imperial adepts and citizens recruited by a powerful Patron. These influential figures use teams outside the usual chain of command to undertake grim and perilous missions, furthering their often inscrutable interests. To succeed, players must weave their way through the complicated web of competing factions that make up the Imperium. They must navigate a realm where a whispered accusation can be as deadly as any bolter, plumbing the depths of the most lethal hives and navigating the often far more insidious threats that grace the courts of the highborn.
Do you have what it takes to survive the grim and treacherous adventures in the 41st Millennium?
The Setting
Far to the Galactic West of Terra, within the Segmentum Pacificus, lies the Macharian Sector — a teeming region of industrious worlds. Yet it holds only a portion of those planets seized for the Imperium by the conquering armies of its namesake, the legendary Lord Solar Macharius. For over five centuries the Macharian Sector has been a productive one, but suffered greatly amidst the darkness of the Noctis Aeterna. Unleashed across the Imperium by the opening of the Great Rift, many planets have been reduced to ruinous shadows of their former selves during the Days of Blinding.
Now, Sector Lord Aulus Sejanus looks to rebuild his shattered domain, but anarchy and sedition are wide-spread. Many oppose his efforts for their own purposes, or look to suborn them to their own interests. The shadows have grown long where once the Lord Solar Macharius’s light shined blindingly bright and no seer can clearly read what will yet come to be for the beleaguered Macharian Sector.
Where the lives of most of the Imperium’s countless billions of citizens are spent in endless, drudging toil, you have been chosen. Whether by luck or accursed misfortune a true power in the sector — your Patron — has lifted you out of obscurity, to use what skills you have in pursuing their own inscrutable agenda. You are bound to them, almost certain to die in their service, but in return enjoy freedoms far greater than those of the average Imperial citizen. You will travel the sector, witness events and vistas beyond the imagination of most citizens, and perhaps outright forbidden to them. From the lush fields of an Agri-World, to the sterile manufactorums of a Forge World; from the decaying bowels of gigantic hive cities, upwards into the glittering spires which pierce polluted skies, and further still into space, travelling the stars in voidships that ply the daemonic realm of the Warp.
Your life only has value as long as you are useful to your Patron. You are a deniable and often expendable asset that can be used to advance their interests, and tossed aside when you are no longer fit to serve their purpose.
Welcome to the grim and treacherous world of Imperium Maledictum.
Creating your Patron
The first step of your adventure in the perilous Macharian Sector is for everyone playing the game to collaboratively create a Patron. Your Patron is a powerful individual who has gathered you together as a team to advance their Faction’s goals or serve their own agenda. Patrons are usually unflinching servants of the Imperium, though their precise goals and methods vary wildly, and may be at odds with other Imperial factions. Your choice of Patron will strongly influence your experience of Imperium Maledictum, and every player — including the GM — should be involved.
Patron creation is a vital part of Imperium Maledictum and helps to shape the missions and investigations your party will undertake. However, for those in a rush, we’ve also included a number of sample patrons so you can get straight into making your character.
Creating a Patron is a collaborative process between the players and the Gamemaster. Your patron will have very different goals, depending on what part of the Imperium they represent, and this will influence the missions you undertake, the enemies you face and even the resources at your disposal. To create a Patron, you’ll need to decide on which faction they represent and their place within it, what motivates them, their boons and liabilities, and how much influence they really have.
There are 6 Roles in the corebook:
- Interlocutors have an aptitude for communication and can sway others with their words.
- Mystics have an understanding of the mysteries of reality, and possibly a connection to the unreality of the Warp.
- Penumbras are masters of stealth and subterfuge. They use these skills for varied ends, from espionage to assassination.
- Savants are scholars, experts, or artisans. How they come about their knowledge and expertise varies, from rigorous study, to cerebral imprinting, to communing with non-Human entities.
- Warriors are fighters through-and-through. They can use any conceivable weaponry to do their job, and have the armour and know-how to come through it alive.
- Zealots bear the flame of an all-consuming passion. Their fanatical faith drives them to achieve the seemingly impossible, at the cost of their own well-being.
