Silent Legions or 'How To Do Lovecraft Right'

It's a known fact I hold a very positive opinion of Kevin Crawford's work in so much as his tabletop games are concerned. There's not a whole lot I truly know of the guy overall (and to be honest maybe it's better that way) but he's generally never failed to produce excellent games, especially in the area of his sandboxing tools. KC's work is generally defined, in my opinion, by a strong support and encouragement of GM to build things their own way and providing the right tools for it and nowhere is this more apparent than Silent Legions.

I've bitched about Lovecraft and his mythos before or, rather, why it's a bad idea to use it. Lovecraft's own work is something I do enjoy and find quite good but my issues with it exist beyond the man's original writing. By themselves, these stories are fine. The problem emerge from Lovecraft's mythos being held as some coherent fictional universe by his friends and future writers. To do so completely miss the point. Even worse: to use his mythos for tabletop is generally a terrible idea overall. When looking at the Lovecraftian universe in a vacuum (as in just HPL's story) there is a very clear understanding that we the readers are supposed to not know what horrible monsters and dreadful gods exist just as much as the protagonist is initially in the dark. Knowledge of things such as Great Old Ones and sorcery are limited to older text and personal journals, the kind of things which academic papers or (in the modern time) Wikipedia would not deem reliable. The mythos exist below the surface of accepted historical and cultural details.

The problem emerge when one decide to run Call of Cthulhu or any other RPG using Lovecraft's mythos. People who run and play these games miss the point entirely. They play with a group who knows what to expect. Even if we separate the player/character knowledge there's an implicit knowledge of the expected genre conventions and the overall, overarching mythos or, worse, a desire from the GM to actively reference it. This is a mistake and completely flies in the face of the original texts. There's a reason the better 'Lovecraftian' works of the past few decades have been divorced from H.P. Lovecraft's universe. If the entire genre is built on things man was not meant to know, then why is it that modern Lovecraftian works plays it safe and rely entirely on things the audience know and expect to see? Silent Legions offer a simple solution of offering sandbox tools and GM aide to build their own nightmarish reality.

Otherwise you end up with a group thinking the point of it all was 'tentacles and weird unpronounceable names'. Which I think does a major disservice to the work of Lovecraft.

"But Star Wars will be done my way! I don't care what you (Disney) have to say!"

Star Wars: once loved and adored as the modern mythology, now reduced to a punchline and cautionary tale of corporate greed, mishandling and misplaced politics from the people involved. What happened to the Star Wars we used to know? Well, it's dead and gone. At least as far as 'official' material is concerned.

"No, I am the correct line. Not 'Luke, I am
your Father', damn it!"

The thing is, Star Wars is the modern myth and Disney has no power over me as a tabletop Game Master. They can burn, they can destroy, corrupt and revise the lore as much as they want. As long as someone, somewhere, still has a copy of the original trilogy out there, Star Wars will live. We're not yet at the point where Disney can destroy people's old copies. I'm sure eventually they will be as insane as to remake Episode 1 through 6 and corrupt and twist every character but we're not there yet. I'm lucky enough to have been old enough to remember a time before even the Prequel trilogy, where my father rented the VHS of the original trilogy (in its old, slightly crappy French dubs) and sitting on the couch being blown away by that line. You know, "No, I am your your father!". There was a time where this was still something a kid would be able to watch without knowing it was coming. But enough of more of my 'premature old man shtick'.

You Can Run Star Wars Without $$$

As I was pointed out on MeWe today, there's Mini Six: Bare Bones edition. It's a slimmed down, free version of the Open D6 System, itself derived from the classic Star Wars D6 by West End Games. It comes with a stripped down version of Star Wars, or rather Star Wars with the serial numbers filed off. Why get a copy of Edge of the Empire or anything owned by Disney? You don't need it. What, do you need the 'lore'? The lore is available on Wookiepedia, be it the movies lore, the early WEG proto-Expanded Universe, classic Expanded Universe or the Disney garbage if you feel like a masochist. It's all written down by obsessive fans already.

Of course, in my personal opinion a more 'proper' Star Wars game would require a much more 'minimalist' approach to lore. This isn't me agreeing with the dickweeds at the modern Lucasfilm-Disney about canon. These people are idiots anyway. No, the issue is that while the EU has pretty good stuff its also quite messy. A GM is much better served by sticking to the movies and extrapolating from there, only adding any WEG/EU/whatever else lore if it benefit their game. The appeal of Star Wars originally wasn't in dozen upon dozen of metric tons of lore. I'm aware this may piss off EU fans and I understand, but the reality is there is such a thing as 'too much lore' when it bog downs your game or create arguments with players about what model of gun Storm troopers use or something along those line. To me, the most important lore elements are in the big lines, not the small details. So to recap, what you'd need:

• An internet connection.
• Mini Six (Free or a printed copy for about 3$).
• Maybe a printer, some sheet, pencils and dice.

Now considering most people in this hobby have a ready accedes to paper, a printer, a computer and all that it mean you can basically run your dream Star Wars game for under a few $. I guarantee you whatever the hell you run has a good chance of being more true to Lucas' original vision. It's about the spirit of adventure and cheesy scifi-meet-western-meet-fantasy. Now, to be fair, the prequels had a very different focus and a lot more politics but I'd argue the prequels are material for a group more focused on RP than raw adventure.

Still. Not a penny spent on new Star Wars material. As for my players, I'd encourage them to play into the archetypes. Now obviously, trying to directly copy Luke or Han is a bad idea, but there are many, many archetypes out there in fiction. Not everything needs to be some fancy, fart-huffing deconstruction. Let heroes be heroes and villains be villains, not everything need to be 'deep' (or a faked attempt a depth). Sometimes you just want to have space samurai cutting off space villains with laser swords. There's nothing wrong with mixing your inner child with time-honored mythological archetypes: that's the very thing one should strive for in terms of style and tone.

"Human Fighters Are Boring!" A rebuttal of the idea to nobody in particular

Well, this is going to come off as a bit rambling and somewhat oddly specific to a few people. I imagine anyone reading this blog who is more into OSR-related stuff and plays with older people doesn't deal with this mentality. This is very much a byproduct of Generation Y and Z that plays modern D&D, I've noticed.

I'm sure this is how this post will come across.

There's a bit of a stigma on the Fighter. Especially if its a 'Human Fighter'. The term is sometimes used as a joke by people who like the more fantastical aspects of D&D and fantasy RPG in general. Now I'm not going to shame people who play odd races and more exotic classes, provided that player does it well and in a way that doesn't hurt the game setting. This isn't what I got a beef with. My beef is with this idea that the 'Human Fighter' is a boring character. The idea on the surface has some merit, as it implies a very 'average joe' character on the most surface of level. The character is implied to be some guy (and its usually even more leveled at a guy) who has a sword and maybe a bow. He's that: a guy who is good with a weapon, in a party that usually include things like Tiefling Paladins, Dragonborn Barbarians, Goliath Sorcerers or Gnomish Hexblades or even more bizarre and nonsensical things. Yet in this parade of oddballs and freaks stand one man, an average man, a mortal man with nothing but his sword, his wit, his skill and hopefully a bit of luck.

One would think such a character actually has an innate cool factor. Yet apparently, the appeal of the 'everyman' character isn't what it used to be. To make a comparison to something which these people still find currently very popular, the Marvel Cinematic Universe: the 'human fighter' is Steve Rogers, Hawkeye or even arguably The Falcon (as he's just a guy with a bird jetpack). While some of these aren't the most popular of the Avengers, they're not exactly hated last I checked. Now I know people will bring up that Steve is a super soldier but really, his 'power' is that he was chemically given really good stats all around without being fully superhuman, if you really think about it. And a special shield. Steve is just a Fighter with really good stats all around and a special shield. He doesn't shoot fire, he doesn't levitate and he doesn't have magic. Yet, somehow, when you take these people who are fan of this you'd have to tie them to a chair and torture them to play a 'human fighter'. Pathetic.

I've come to realize the problem isn't 'exotic' races by themselves or even oddball classes. The problem is a fundamental inability to craft anything compelling, character-wise, without the crutch of a character's very state of being. Now I'm not saying everyone should come to a table with 26 pages of backstory, this is often quite useless in any game where you apply a modicum of Old School thinking and remove plot armor. However people have a certain inability to have a certain hook to their character which doesn't require a special exotic race and/or class. To prove my point I've collected a series of ideas, some my own, some found elsewhere to create a compelling 'Human Fighter' backstory that accomplish the following goals:

1. It provide a fairly simple, yet efficient hook or 'gimmick' to showcase that the character's class lend itself to more than playing 'Mike the generic human guy with a sword' and to show that the class and/or race itself is not the backstory.
2. It explains why the character is currently adventuring.
3. It's simple enough to be usable to add roleplay flavor without forcing the game world to bend to an overly complex backstory should the game focus more on dungeon crawl, hexcrawling and/or sandboxing.

In order to do so and be relevant to the currently most popular RPG, I have built these basic character ideas from the Backgrounds as outlined in various Dungeons & Dragons 5th edition books. As an additional limitation, these Fighters will be assumed to be either Champions or Battle Masters as anything else is too 'fancy' and different from the Fighter of older editions.

• Acolyte: A non-spellcaster disciple of Kord or similar non-evil gods of war and physical might. Big burly dude with high CHA who love history, religious songs and weird fighting techniques like hitting people with a sword's pummel. A bruiser but hardly a brute or an idiot, but possibly lacking in Wisdom.
• Charlatan: An asshole walking around with very fancy, very polished armor and nice, clean weapons. Pretend to be some holy knight-errant, some prince of a faraway land raised by elves or some other fancy shit. Is really just a charlatan that's good at fighting, a mercenary who over-inflate his prices.
• Criminal: The usual tough and morally dubious thug. He's a fighter and not a rogue, so that makes him some hired muscle. Alternatively, a bow-focused fighter who is a cold blooded assassin.
• Entertainer: A professional actor, specializing in re-enacting the plays of the greatest warriors, heroes and demi gods of the land. Fell on some bad times and now is using his weapon and skills to fight actual monsters and not stage props.
• Entertainer (Gladiator): Need no explanation.
• Folk Hero: He's from the same mold as humble heroes, farmboys-turned-chosen one and shonen protagonists alike. Good heart, good guts and as dense as a sheet of adamantine master crafted by dwarven smith.
• Guild Artisan: A smith and craftsman of weapons and armors who has fallen on hard times and, like the entertainer, has turned his skills to more practical goblin-slaying or whatever use. He knows how to maintain his gear perfectly.
• Hermit: Perfect for the battle master, this guy is some weirdass hermit taking cues from wuxia, living in the woods and trying to master weird sword techniques. His techniques are peerless, or will be with enough practice.
• Noble: Plenty of possible ways to implement this background, as historically speaking a fighter would have been from nobility.
• Outlander: Not every guy-from-a-more-primitive-background is a ranger or barbarian. Like the noble this can be done in a variety of ways, from Conan ripoff to even something slightly closer to Aragorn-minus-the-ranger-class.
• Sage: Not every scholar is a Wizard and not every area of research is safe. With both brain and brawn, this adventuring scholar knows how to fend for himself just fine. While this type of backstory work even better for a Rogue, whose to say this one doesn't prefer a more blunt solution to problems?
• Urchin: Born in the mean streets, he rely on his raw skill and guts. Unlike other Fighters, he prefer to use crappier weapons rather than nice swords and armors. Probably a concept best reserved for games where Feats are available to further customize in some weird ways. Probably a battle master whose 'special techniques' who are actually cheap tricks like hitting someone in the balls.

Urban Fantasy: The Black and Iron Woods

The material world which we humans inhabit is but a fraction of the true scope of reality. Beyond the confines of 'mere' matter exist realms beyond our own time and space, Supernatural Realms which are the places beyond our world where the wonderful and terrible still dwell. Some of them are places recorded in myths and folklore while others are entirely unknown or only explored by a few brave or foolhardy souls. Most exist somewhere in between, recorded but only barely, full of half truth and lies.

The Black and Iron Woods are somewhere halfway between a Stable and a Dream Kelipah. The more mundane areas of the wood, especially around its edges (if such a thing exist, as the whole shape is unknown, if not impossible to grasp) tend to be fairly normal beyond being an expanse of terrifying wilderness. Deeper into the woods, however, it become more and more of a thematic Dream Kelipah, obeying its twisted mythology-and-fairy-tale-logic.

History and Nature

Art by Magdalena Świderska

Recorded in the Prose Edda as Járnviðr, the 'Iron Woods', the Black-and-Iron Woods is a supernatural location of unknown size and scope which manifest primarily in Europe and takes the form of an impossibly vast and foreboding forest. It is the dark forest which children and travelers become lost in, where witches and trolls of grim and horrific fairy tales dwell. It's exact origin, nature or purpose are unknown, if not lost to history. No one knows what exactly it is and maybe there's just no real answer: it just is. And what it is can be summed up as a massive expanse of wilderness full of fantastical and fearsome sights. The creatures which dwell in it may not be native inhabitants but rather have moved there over time as they withdrew from the world of humans, choosing to hide in the ever-shifting landscape of the magical forest which appears and disappear, as being able to navigate a place whose landscape is mutable is a very useful advantage when one is a predator or kidnapper. Mere humans become easily lost in Jarnvid but hags, trolls and other monsters can learn to properly attune themselves and know when the forest will grow close to the material world. This become the perfect moment to lure and snatch some victims who will then never be heard from again.

In the modern age, despite the loss of many great forests, Jarnvid still thrives. In fact, over time the forest's pull has grown in terms of scope, possibly due to the immigration of Europeans to other lands. This is pure theory, of course and no one is certain if the passing down of folklore, myths and general fear of troll-haunted woods has allowed the Black and Iron Woods to extend its influence. Some speculate that its power first manifested on North American soil when the woodsmen spread across the area of the Great Lakes from the French and English colonies. The tales of the so-called Fearsome Critters could be nothing but tall tales, misunderstanding and mislabeling of local life forms...or it could very well be Jarnvid's power literally taking root on new soil and even growing and diversifying as it found itself infused with newfound life.

The pull of the Dark Forest is a useful tool to create a change of pace in 'urban fantasy'. Generally the term implies fantasy set in modern times in a big city, but most of the world even today remain covered in pockets of wilderness. The Black Forest in Germany remains an area where it has strong connection but over the years it has found itself creeping all over the wilderness of North America. When the right cosmic conditions align, the % chance of any spot of dark forest becoming linked to the Black and Iron Woods might increase dramatically, creating dream-like and hazy landscapes of tall trees where sunlight barely reach, filled with giant mushrooms and the bones of long-extinct animals. Travelers in those areas can often become pulled in by a mixture of their own curiosity and the psychic pull of the location. During those times, disappearances in any area with a few kilometres of forests can increase dramatically, with bodies found days later, 'regurgitated' by the forest, leaving behind the rotting carcass and bones of travelers. For others, the forest is a good place to gather rare and unique plants and animals which are not of this world, or to seek the counsel and service of ancient troll-witches.

Game Concept: Warhammer 25 000

It is the 26th Millennium. For more than two thousand years, Mankind's fate

in the galaxy seemed to have been in a state of decay and uncertainty.

Once it seemed as if mankind was poised to conquer the stars,

even in the shadow of the Eldar's galaxy-spanning Empire.

From their humble beginning on Earth, the human race has expanded

into the great void of space and mastered nearly all areas of science

that they could ever hope to discover with their mortal minds.

In their folly, the greatest minds of the past unleashed what could have been our doom.

The birth of Artificial Intelligence, now deemed Abominable, was both a blessing

and a curse. With their aid mankind expanded ever further. And, for a time, it was good.

This age of artificial evolution has come to an end in the devastating conflicts.

Mankind emerged victorious but diminished. For a brief moment it seemed as if

the horrors of the past would have been put behind us. We were wrong.

Earth has grown silent. The invisible, immaterial realm of the Warp is stirring.

Mankind is on the cusp of either a true rebirth as a Psychic species or, perhaps

at the very edge of a damnation we cannot even fathom the depths.

To be a Man in those times is to live in uncertain times. It is a life focused on rebuilding

what has been lost while fearfully looking to the future without a clue on what it may bring.

To stand in the sunset of Mankind's greatest era and to fight to keep Old Night at bay.

These are the tales of those times. Preserve the power of Technology and Science,

for so much more risk being lost every day. Cling to the promise of progress and

understanding, less savages we become. For in the dying light of the future, there is

only uncertainty and the stirring of thirsting Gods.

Art by Adrian Mihai

Call it a silly pipe dream if you will, but one idea which has long haunted the wildest dreams was to run a tabletop campaign set in the Warhammer 40 000 universe, albeit away from the two major eras of the timeline, namely the Great Crusade/Horus Heresy, set in M31, and the 'modern' 40k set in M41 to M42. Its been a long established fact that giant chunks of the lore remained (thankfully) unexplored. Being a big fan of Kevin Crawford's work, I've realized that a lot of the material present in Stars Without Numbers seems rather similar to what we could extrapolate to have existed near the end of the Golden/Dark Age of Technology and the beginning of the Age of Strife. While any mention of crunch here mention Stars Without Numbers, this could easily be ran with a very heavily modded Dark Heresy or even GURPS.

There's going to be quite a bit of 'headcanon' going on here. I don't claim to be an expert who know all the minutiae of 40k lore down to the very last bit. In addition, since this is an era which will likely forever remain shrouded in myth, it means a lot of assumptions have to be made. As a final note, the tone of such an era is different from 40k. Because that's the point. To showcase the galaxy-that-was.

Can 'Stars Without Numbers' support such an era?

Most worlds which have not
degenerated would be TL4, with
some TL5 (but not all)

In my humble opinion, yes absolutely. In fact, it was looking at the Tech levels as outlined in the game that I realized that TL4 and TL5 would be fairly close to the level of technological prowess of post-Men of Iron humans. Most, if not all of the things outlined in there do in fact already exist in Warhammer 40 000 and have existed for most of the game's history. They simply represent forms of technology which aren't mass produced for consumer and civilian use but exist in extremely limited forms across Imperial technology:

• Cybernetics: These are extremely commonplace in Warhammer 40k, just in a somewhat more clunky form than they would be in the past. The Imperium and the Mechanicus make use of robotic limbs and cybernetic implants all the time. However they are rather ugly, bulky and baroque things full of wires and tubes. If I was to theorize, I personally believe a lot of the Mechanicus tech isn't so much the most advanced as it is the most rugged and versatile, able to sustain itself with minimal maintenance for centuries. Late Golden Age technology in this area is likely somewhat sleeker. However the most advanced designs are now lost tech and the implants are changing, increasingly devolving toward the clunky, techno-gothic style we all know and love.
• Genetic Manipulation: We know for a fact that, by around M22 the Navigators were deliberately genetically engineered. With that in mind we can assume that, prior to the initial phase of technological decay, humanity was reaching well into TL5 (if not TL6 of 'techno magic'!) areas of biological engineering. If anything, with the increase in Psyker population, the stirring of the Warp likely increasing mutation chances and the need to further engineer populations to better thrive on alien worlds (now that Earth has been 'lost'), this is one area which is likely currently thriving. It is likely most Humans by M26 descend from genetically augmented stock, healthier and engineered to reduce the odds or to eliminate genetic defects and diseases. It is my theory that this engineering, still existing within the genome of the Imperial population, can and does go 'haywire' due to pollution and other degradation, explaining why so many mutations in older 40k books seem so random. Not every mutation is Chaos (although many are). Some could be long dormant, spliced genes going crazy and suddenly expressing themselves.
• Near Immortality: This one would be 'lost technology' right from the get go, but there is some lore evidence to suggest that aging could have been, at the peak of the Golden Age, a thing of the past for the elite. Considering that 'Juvenat' treatments exist in 40k and that the Space Marines and Custodes are near-immortal, the posthuman elites of the Golden Age could have been able to indefinitely suspend aging.
• Localized Temporal Manipulation: These exist in 40k too, going far back into the lore as the Stasis Grenades. This type of technology is called Stasis Fields and they are still in use in the modern Imperium.
• Artificial Intelligence: This one is a no-brainer, as we know that the creation of the Men of Iron is what led to the development of the STC and the true dawn of the Golden Age.

Art by Tim Razumovsky

As one can see, much of this technology has long existed in 40k lore. The key differences, however, are in two things: how common is it and how is it treated? A game set at the start of the Age of Strife would see everything listed under T4 as commonplace on any sufficiently large and industrialized world which isn't too damaged by past centuries of war. The overall standards of life would be massively improved over the basic Imperial menial and these worlds would be, in many aspects, closer to our time. Personal computers used for both work and entertainment, a decent access to medical care (which, even in a highly diminished state, would surpass our current medical technology) and more would be the norm whereas in the Imperium these things are at best used only by Nobles. Even on a planet which spent centuries rebuilding from the conflict with the Men of Iron, technology would still be beyond that of the average Imperial world.

Secondly and, most importantly, much of this technology would still be understood. Maybe not completely, as the massive databases and the complete STC have been lost but much would still remain. These people would not regard technology with superstition. Now obviously these people would know and understand that things used to be better, that in the days of their great grandparents there used to be inter planetary transit on a much larger scale before these warp routes were lost, that people used to live several centuries more and that machines automated even more to the point it was a near utopia. However there would be none of that superstition which is built into the 'cargo cult' of the Adeptus Mechanicus.

The Gene-Wars and Psychic Abominations

Art by Vlad Bolotov.

One of the greatest dangers of this dwindling age, beyond the isolation of entire systems or planets by the Warp, is the threat posed by rampant genetic engineering and the growth of the 'Psyker' phenomena. Psykers were recorded among humans as early as M22 but they would presumably only explode in numbers around the start of the Age of Strife. But why are these two factors so important to the downfall of mankind? Codex: Custodes states the following:

"Thinking machines and the development of ever more esoteric weapons and transportation technologies played their part, but the single greatest factor to drive this expansion was the ability – and the reckless will – to manipulate human genetics. Utterly certain of their own primacy, scientist-kings and techno-demagogues followed every strand of curiosity and exercised powers of creation that made them seem like gods. Ultimately, their hubris led them to catastrophe, and onwards to the very brink of extinction. Worlds were overrun by bloody uprisings within their own populations, much of which were mutated beyond sanity and recognition. Gene-wars consumed entire star systems, while a psychic apocalypse drowned the stars in fire. The vast empire of Humanity was shattered amidst horror and anarchy, and the oppressive shroud of Old Night settled over all."

My personal theory on the matter is that, since Mankind could not rely on thinking machines as much they sought alternate ways to expand their power. With true artificial sentience outlawed/destroyed on any surviving world, power hungry individuals had to find something else. The human body and mind provided the right 'canvas'. The increased rate of mutation attracted scientific curiosity and, as with all things, someone somewhere will see it as a mean to gain more power. At first there would not really be anything seen as truly malicious in this, as humanity would already be used to posthuman modifications. However, humanity in that era was also quite naive and the powers of the Warp were misunderstood and the full ramifications of tapping into the Immaterium would not be immediately clear.

Fear and loathing of the 'mutant' would not be universal, especially on still well developed worlds. There would be a certain naivety to it all, as players could be allowed to take Psychic or even Arcane Foci. It would be treated no differently than any other technology. At least, until someone somewhere had a particularly bad roll. Human variations would also be commonplace and no one would really blink an eye, unless they were particularly repulsive or hostile. However, in the slums and former war zones the first true mutants, as modern Imperials would recognize, are being born. Without the full knowledge of ancient sciences, many anomalies are growing inside the human genome. These, in time, could create divergent strains of humanity which would unfortunately be exterminated by the Legiones Astartes five thousand years later. Other, more stable breeds would become the Ogryn, Ratling or the infamous Squats.

Another area of divergence to take into account is that of pre-Warp travel human civilizations. In the Warhammer universe, humanity was already spreading across the stars far before they ever invented primitive Warp Travel (around M18) or the Navigators (estimated M22). Even before the true dawn of the Golden Age they had already been colonizing their own solar system and nearby (or even distant) worlds for a very long time, using generational ships filled with enough raw material to enable self sufficiency for the colony. These worlds, assuming the colony did not die, would develop radically different ways of life or even biology. According to the old lore of a 1991 issue of White Dwarf, Mars' terraforming began (and seemingly, somehow, ended) in M3! In other words, it began in our own millennium. This means that by the start of the Golden Age, where Warp travel began connecting all these worlds, that humanity already had existed in isolated pockets outside of Earth for about 15 000 years.

Posthuman Augmentations

Art by Josiah Duncan.

For players, genetic engineering and biomechanical augmentation are a viable option when it come to increasing the capabilities of their characters. While the most advanced of genetic augmentations are now considered lost following the destruction of the Men of Iron and the most technologically advanced STC patterns (which logically would include medical data) and while the Emperor hasn't yet obtained the greatest troves of knowledge left on Terra to combine with His genetic material (to make Custodes, Primarchs and Astartes) this hardly prevent now stranded human colonies from creating super soldiers. True, they will never rival the future Astartes but we know from established 40k lore that genetic enhancement to make bigger, stronger, faster soldiers do exist. These type of people still existed early into the Great Crusade, before either falling in battle or being assimilated into the greater Imperial populace. In addition, with Psykers on the rise and the abilities of Biomancy, warp-fueled genetic modification is an area where the maddest of genius would dare to go.

• The Diehard and Iron Hide Foci from the Core Book, as well as Arcane Mind and Arcane Physique can all represent different expression of the Transhumanism used at the start of the Age of Strife. This can range from being born from a genetically engineered sub-species/ethnic group within the sector the game is set (whose descendants would one day be classified as Abhumans by the Imperium) to simply being an elite soldier or special agent whose rich and powerful masters have allowed access to permanent augmentations. Others might be Warp-tained and not even aware of why their bodies and minds are enhanced and the full extent of their degeneration has not manifested yet.
• Alternatively, these augmentations could be mechanical in nature. While the Mechanicum currently doesn't really exist in anything resembling its future form, it isn't as implausible as it sound for select individuals on these far off worlds to be implanted with mechanical augmentations which are similar in function or even directly based off the design templates which form the full range of Mechanicus implants, if not for them to carry augmentations which are lost in the modern Adeptus Mechanicus. Possibly, the Hacker Foci could be restricted to those whose bodies are implanted with these augmentations as they are able to more easily plug into the Noosphere, which would presumably also exist on these worlds through all the wireless technology which still exist.
• Playing a member of the Navigators is also an option. Presumably they are not quite as inbred and monstrously deformed in those days. With the Warp storms growing in potency, the Navigators cut off from Terra have settled on worlds which remain relatively stable and have become a local nobility of sort, sometimes attempting to mount reckless travels to reach nearby worlds and obtain rare resources. Navigators would use the Starfarer or some similar Focis to represent their Warp eye. However they would only ever be able to reach the nearest of star systems and only under considerable strain.

In the 26th Millennium, overall the nature of 'humanity' would be a lot more open ended. Being set in an era where genetic engineering is still commonplace means that the fear of mutants is not quite ingrained into humanity yet. While there are monsters and abominations lurking, the full scope of the isolation of Old Night hasn't fully taken hold yet and Abhumans don't exist so far. The worst is also yet to come on the subject of Psykers and Warp taint.

Familiar Foes

Were you expecting something else?

One of the reasons to set something within the Warhammer 40 000 universe is to, after all, make use of pre-existing material. While many of the game's factions would not exist in M26, there's still a pretty good amount of critters and aliens which are indeed recognizable from the lore, especially Rogue Trader-era lore.

• The Orks: An ever-present menace, the Orks have been a blight on the galaxy since times immemorial. At the height of the Golden Age, the superior technology of mankind kept the monsters at bay, destroying entire Waaaaagh!!! and leaving behind, at worst, scattered pockets of Feral Orks growing from the spores. However, in this period of isolation, instability and technological decay the Orks are growing bolder again. Space Hulks emerge from beyond the veiled Warp routes. Rumours are spreading that the green tides seen in past centuries were but minor incursions. The Orks encountered in the sector where my game would be set would be, as a nod to 1st edition lore, mostly of the Blood Axes clan and an overall more intelligent, sneakier lot. There is also a nod to the Beast Arise series, which depicted Orks as more intelligent and organized when under the influence of so-called Prime Orks, who will still be alive in those days. Overall these would be full of nods to 1st and 2nd edition Ork lore.
• The Eldars: As of M26, the empire of the Eldars has not fallen yet. The race has not yet splintered into Craftworld Eldars, Dark Eldars, Exodites or other groups. Their race is very powerful but also incredibly corrupt, as they are on the downward spiral that will eventually lead to the Fall of the Eldar. The best one can hope of the Eldar is that they simply leave humanity alone.  It seems most likely that Eldar machines were more often seen and interacted with than an in-the-flesh Eldar so overall the race remain mysterious.
• The Necrons: Initially it may seem silly. However, there indeed was Necron activity before M41 as there are mentions of Tomb Worlds slowly waking up during the era of the Great Crusade. There is so much we don't know about Necrons that they can still fit within such a 'prequel'.
• The Slanni: The reptilian Slann date back to Warhammer 40 000: Rogue Trader and were essentially the Lizardmen analogues before 40k reduced the amount of races it had that were copy pasted from Fantasy. The Slann encountered in M26 would be greatly diminished tribes of reptilian/amphibian creatures with ties to the Old Ones.
• The Hrud: The nomadic buggers have been around far before the time the Imperium ever found out they existed. Indeed, they most likely predate the rise of humanity as an interstellar species. It is likely they existed beneath mankind's notice, much like how mankind was beneath the notice of the Eldars.
• Warp Predators: There are creatures from the Rogue Trader book which still exist within the lore and would be around in this era, such as Enslavers, Vampires and Psychneuein. With the unregulated and misunderstood psychic powers going wild, these creatures could pop in anywhere.

Overall, not a bad list despite the lack of any Imperial factions, Chaos (beyond daemons) and Tyranids. Obviously Tau also be completely out the picture as they are still busy banging rocks together trying to figure out fire. Same with, presumably, the Kroots.

Madness & Damnation

Art by Johan Grenier.

One addition built into such a campaign would be the Sanity found in Silent Legions. Now, unless the characters are civilians generally speaking there shouldn't be too much that put a strain on their sanity. As the past centuries have had plenty of wars and societal decay at some point or another, soldier, assassins and mercenaries know what to expect. After an encounter or two with some Xenos, things get pretty easy to process, as these people aren't as brainwashed as modern Imperial citizen.

However there is one aspect of the universe the mind is not ready for yet and that is the Warp and Psychic powers. At this point, humanity knows that the Warp exist (having used it to travel since M22) and Psykers are becoming more common. The problem which is arising is that of Daemons and Warp Predators increasingly being attracted to the growing psychic potential in humanity. When the fabric of reality gets torn asunder and some Daemon of Tzeentch or some other ruinous entity emerge and start murdering people and eating their souls, this is where madness come in.

And yet, Hope?

Art by Sergi Sokolov.

However in the end things are not Grimdark. Not yet. Within the life span of the player characters, things may not look so bad. The best analogue for this era would be a game set during the fall of the Roman Empire. No one could predict how long the fall would last and how much time it would take to climb back to the heights of such an era. Five thousand years is a long time. Ultimately, this is an era which, while connected to 40k lore, in many way still draws more upon classic space opera and pulp scifi. Humanity isn't yet this degraded, crazy, superstitious and hateful thing whose sense of idealism has been utterly crushed. Yes, things will one day be truly terrible. The Grim Darkness of the Far Future will come but not today. Not tomorrow. It isn't here yet.

Time to hold back the darkness. One day at a time.