A hero may hail from various
worlds, may be well-travelled and have many careers over the course of his
life, but the benefits of a starting background are only applied once, at the
time of character creation.
Many starting backgrounds have a
prerequisite that the character must meet to qualify for the background. Each
background provides a number of additional permanent class skills that the
character can select from a list of choices. Once selected, a permanent class
skill is always considered to be a class skill for the character. If the skill
selected is already a class skill for the character, he or she also gains a
one-time competence bonus for that skill of +1.
Some starting backgrounds provide a
Leadership bonus or a bonus feat (in addition to the two feats a 1st-level
character already receives). A character still must meet any prerequisites for
these bonus feats. Finally, a starting background increases the character’s
Credit bonus.
Choose one background from the
available selections and apply the benefits to the character as noted in the
background’s description. All of the backgrounds described here are Imperial
backgrounds not universal backgrounds. Special backgrounds exist for races such
as Tau and Eldar, though they are not discussed here.
Adeptus Mechanicus / Forge World
Most likely you hail from a Forge
World; one of the industrial hives (like Mars) that supply the Imperium with their
vast array of gadgets. People with this background range from techpriest, to
engineers, to private technicians, to calculus logis and terminal hackers.
Prerequisite: Age 23+.
Skills: Choose three of
the following skills as permanent class skills. If a skill the character
selects is already a class skill, he or she receives a +1 competence bonus on
checks using that skill. Computer Use, Craft (chemical, electronic, mechanical,
or structural), Knowledge (trade, earth and life sciences, physical sciences, or
technology), Repair, Research.
Credit Bonus Increase:
+3.
You work for the vast bureaucratic
engine that is the Imperium’s Administratum: Lawyers, accountants, prefects,
functionaries, court adepts, and a variety of mid-level functionaries fall
within the scope of this starting background.
Prerequisite: Age 23+.
Skills: Choose two of
the following skills as permanent class skills. If a skill the character
selects is already a class skill, he or she receives a +1 competence bonus on
checks using that skill. Computer Use,
Diplomacy, Knowledge (trade, administatum, earth and life sciences, Imperial,
physical sciences, any xeno-racial or technology), Research.
Credit Bonus Increase:
+3.
Adventurers include professional
daredevils, mercenaries, relic hunters, explorers, field scientists,
thrill-seekers, bounty-hunters and others called to face danger for a variety
of reasons.
Prerequisite: Age 15+.
Skills: Choose two of the
following skills as permanent class skills. If a skill the character selects is
already a class skill, he or she receives a +1 competence bonus on checks using
that skill. Bluff, Climb, Demolitions,
Disable Device, Drive, Escape Artist, Intimidate, Jump, Knowledge (warp,
streetwise, tactics, or technology), Move Silently, Pilot, Ride, Spot,
Survival, Swim, Treat Injury.
Bonus Feat: Select one
of the following: Advanced Melee Weapons Proficiency, Brawl, or Personal
Firearms Proficiency.
Credit Bonus Increase:
+1.
Archivers include librarians,
archaeologists, scribes, teachers, and other members of the Imperium whose
primary function is recording and transacting with data. These characters
typically adorn themselves with long flowing scripts to show their function in
the vast machine that is the Imperium.
Prerequisite: Age 23+.
Skills: Choose three of
the following skills as permanent class skills. If a skill the character
selects is already a class skill, he or she receives a +1 competence bonus on
checks using that skill.
Computer Use, Craft (writing),
Decipher Script, Gather Information, Knowledge (warp, psychology, trade,
administratum, galactic events, earth and life sciences, Imperial, physical
sciences, tactics, technology, or religion), Research, or add a new Read/Write
Language or a new Speak Language.
Credit Bonus Increase:
+3.
Chartered Traders are paid to
travel the universe and buy and sell goods. For more details on the kinds of
trading charters see the section on Merchant Charters under the Imperial Navy and Star Travellers of the
Codex Imperium section. The trader
gets a charter to trade, but not neccesarily the ship to do so.
Prerequisite: Age 18+.
Skills: Choose two of
the following skills as permanent class skills. If a skill the character
selects is already a class skill, he or she receives a +1 competence bonus on
checks using that skill. Bluff,
Diplomacy, Gamble, Knowledge (trade, galactic events, or technology).
Leadership Bonus Increase: +1.
Credit Bonus Increase:
+3 & a Typical Charter covering 1 Solar System
OR
Credit Bonus Increase: +1
& a Hereditary Charter covering 1 Segmentum
Colonists are wayfaring pioneers who set the foundations of new
societies on far-flung continents, planets, or moons. To survive in their new
surroundings, they learn to live off the land and defend themselves against
indigenous predatory life forms and hostile forces of nature.
Prerequisite: Age 15+.
Skills: Choose two of the following skills as permanent class
skills. If a skill you select is already a class skill, you gain a +1
competence bonus on checks using that skill.
Computer Use, Craft (electronic, mechanical, or structural),
Knowledge (earth and life sciences or physical sciences), Navigate, Repair,
Survival.
Bonus Feat: Select Builder, Guide, or Planetary Adaptation.
Credit Bonus Increase: +1.
Death worlds are planets which are too
dangerous to support wide-spread human settlement but which for reasons of
natural resources, tactical reasons or otherwise necessitate the colonization.
Humans that live in these harsh conditions develop to be far tougher than your
average movie-going gamma-worlder.
Prerequisite: Age 18+.
Skills: Choose two of
the following skills as permanent class skills. If a skill the character
selects is already a class skill, he or she receives a +1 competence bonus on
checks using that skill. Climb,
Demolitions, Drive, Hide, Knowledge (tactics), Move Silently, Navigate, Pilot,
Survival, Swim.
Bonus Feat: Select one
of the following: Brawl, Combat Martial Arts, Armour Proficiency (light), or
Personal Firearms Proficiency.
Credit Bonus Increase:
+1.
Drifters are aimless wanderers and worldwise
jacks-of-all-trades who move between cities or star systems, working odd jobs
until boredom or fate leads them elsewhere. Along the way, they learn strange
customs and pick up interesting and diverse skills.
Prerequisite: Age 15+.
Skills: Choose three of the following skills as permanent class
skills. If a skill you select is already a class skill, you gain a +1
competence bonus on checks using that skill.
Bluff, Decipher Script, Disable Device, Disguise, Forgery,
Gamble, Gather Information, Hide, Knowledge (streetwise), Navigate, Sleight of
Hand.
Credit Bonus Increase: +2.
A feral world is one that is any in
a pre-blackpowder state. Often these worlds are regressed far past pre-black
powder state such as stone age or neolithic states. Not surprisingly Feral
Worlders find melee weapons easier to use than ranged weapons and are used to
close quarter combat.
Prerequisite: Strength
13 or Dexterity 13.
Skills: Choose three of
the following skills as permanent class skills. If a skill the character
selects is already a class skill, he or she receives a +1 competence bonus on
checks using that skill. Balance, Climb,
Drive, Jump, Ride, Swim, Tumble.
Bonus Feat: Select either
Advanced Melee Weapons Proficiency or Brawl.
Credit Bonus Increase:
+1.
Some worlds in the Imperium are so
disconnected with the rest of the galaxy that during the Dark Age of the
Imperium they regressed to a pre-black powder state – cut off from other worlds
by warp storms and other hazards. Some worlds develop from this point entirely
on their own. A Feudal World is any post-black powder world that is not
sufficiently advanced to be civilized. Perhaps they are still fighting from
horseback with musket or perhaps they are treading the line between civilized
and feudal. Feudal Worlders live a rough life but quickly adapt to the
technology of the Dark Millenium. They tend to be physically stronger than men
from gamma class worlds.
Prerequisite: Age 15+.
Skills: Choose two of
the following skills as permanent class skills. If a skill the character
selects is already a class skill, he or she receives a +1 competence bonus on
checks using that skill. Balance, Climb,
Drive, Handle Animal, Repair, Ride, Survival, Swim.
Bonus Feat: Select
either Brawl or Personal Firearms Proficiency.
Credit Bonus Increase:
+1.
Planets which are given over mostly
to tourism and to the credity are called Garden Worlds. Garden worlds are ripe with
philosophers and artists. A number of Ecclesiarchic planets are also garden
worlds. People from Garden Worlds tend to be relaxed intellectuals with a
capacity for reading people. Most are quite religious.
Prerequisite: Age 15+.
Skills: Choose three of
the following skills as permanent class skills. If a skill the character
selects is already a class skill, he or she receives a +1 competence bonus on
checks using that skill. Bluff, Computer
Use, Craft (visual art or writing), Disguise, Forgery, Knowledge (warp,
Imperial, religion), Perform, Spot.
Credit Bonus Increase:
+2.
Heirs are the elite sons and daughters of powerful magnates,
influential nobles, and imperial commanders. Unlike navy nobility and credity
upperhivers, however, they are bound by their lineage to certain
responsibilities, with the assumption that they might someday rise to lead
their families into the future. The son of an Imperial Commander for instance
will inherit the planet his father rules over after his death; the daughter expected
to marry another heir.
Prerequisite: Age 21+.
Skills: Choose two of the following skills as permanent class
skills. If a skill you select is already a class skill, you gain a +1
competence bonus on checks using that skill.
Craft (visual art or writing), Knowledge (art, business,
civics, current events, or history), Perform, Ride, Sense Motive.
Pre-Selected Feat: An heir must choose the Educated feat as one of her starting
feats at 1st level.
Leadership Bonus Increase: +1.
Credit Bonus Increase: +6. An heir may permanently reduce her Leadership bonus by 1
to increase her starting credit bonus by an additional +1d6; this expenditure
must be made before the character begins play. As long as her Leadership bonus
is +1 or higher, an heir’s credit bonus can never drop below 10.
The Imperial Guard makes up the
vast bulk of the Imperial military machine; recruited from the planetary
defence forces of the Imperium’s millions of worlds, it is a huge military
force of Humans and Abhumans.
Prerequisite: Age 20+.
Skills: Choose two of
the following skills as permanent class skills. If a skill the character
selects is already a class skill, he or she receives a +1 competence bonus on
checks using that skill. Diplomacy, Drive,
Gather Information, Intimidate, Knowledge (technology, streetwise, or tactics),
Listen.
Bonus Feat: Select one
of the following: Combat Martial Arts, Armour Proficiency (light), or Personal
Firearms Proficiency.
Credit Bonus Increase:
+1.
Law enforcement personnel include
the Adeptus Arbites, underhive Guilders, military police, Planetary Defense
Forces, or creditors and tax collectors.
Prerequisite: Age 23+.
Skills: Choose two of
the following skills as permanent class skills. If a skill the character
selects is already a class skill, he or she receives a +1 competence bonus on
checks using that skill. Computer Use,
Craft (visual art or writing), Decipher Script, Forgery, Gather Information, Investigate,
Knowledge (psychology, trade, administratum, or streetwise), Research, Search,
Sense Motive.
Bonus Feat: Select
either Brawl or Personal Firearms Proficiency.
Credit Bonus Increase:
+2.
Most men that have a knowledge of the
human body are members of a group called the Magos Biologis: a wing of the
Adeptus Mechanicus that deals in medecine, biology, biophysics, psycho-therapy
and other studies of the living form. These men typically come from
forge-worlds but don’t feel the same call of the machine god that their peers
feel. It is their knowledge of genetics that makes such things as servitors and
synth-skin a possibility. Other characters that might take this background are
combat medics and apothecaries.
Prerequisite: Age 25+.
Skills: Choose two of
the following skills as permanent class skills. If a skill the character
selects is already a class skill, he or she receives a +1 competence bonus on
checks using that skill. Craft
(pharmaceutical), Computer Use, Knowledge (psychology, earth and life sciences,
or technology), Search, Treat Injury.
Credit Bonus Increase:
+4.
Mining worlds produce the highest
tithe grades in the Imperium and for this reason they are rarely bothered with
by the Ecclesiarchy and the Inquisition. The Administratum knows full well not
to meddle with a good thing and as long as the money is flowing the law in
these places are in the hands of the Arbiters. Mining Worlds tend to be more
violent than other worlds (except for Hive Worlds and Death Worlds) with angry
gangs of disfunctional youth, hardened Arbiters and minimum wage disgruntled
workers.
Prerequisite: Age 18+.
Skills: Choose two of
the following skills as permanent class skills. If a skill the character
selects is already a class skill, he or she receives a +1 competence bonus on
checks using that skill. Balance, Climb,
Computer Use, Drive, Jump, Knowledge (psychology, galactic events, or
technology), Search, Treat Injury, Swim.
Credit Bonus Increase:
+2.
Not all of the men operating ships for the Navy are the sons
of affluent space captains. In fact, very few are, the majority of the sailors,
gunners and spaceship operaters are considerably rougher than the Nobility they
are born indebted too. The Navy Deckhand is a life of hard work, but can be a
rewarding life with fair pay and considerable voyaging.
Prerequisite: Age 21+.
Skills: Choose two of the following skills as permanent class
skills. If a skill you select is already a class skill, you gain a +1 competence
bonus on checks using that skill.
Computer Use, Craft (electronic, mechanical, or
pharmaceutical), Knowledge (earth and life sciences, physical sciences, or
technology), Navigate, Pilot, Repair, Survival.
Bonus Feat: Select either Aircraft Operation (spacecraft) or Zero-G
Training.
Credit Bonus Increase: +1.
The Navy is contains a large
quantity of affluent, well-groomed man: the Noble Admirals of the Imperial
Navy. If you are born in such a navy outpost and descend from a noble line, be
it captain or admiral, then prepare to have your life handed to you on a silver
platter. Your parents are undoubtedly among the creditiest men in the galaxy.
Some members of the Navy are also Navigators from the Navigator Houses – the
Navis Nobile – but not all are.
Prerequisite: Age 15+.
Skills: Choose one of
the following skills as permanent class skills. If a skill the character
selects is already a class skill, he or she receives a +1 competence bonus on
checks using that skill. Bluff, Craft
(visual art or writing), Diplomacy, Disguise, Navigate, Perform, Pilot.
Leadership Bonus Increase: +1.
Credit Bonus Increase:
+4.
Persecuted and exiled for being different, outcasts are lone
pariahs or shunned members of a culture whose characteristics the Imperium
finds deviant or abhorrent. Outcasts lurk on the fringes of civilization. Some
strive for acceptance, while others are trapped by their own feelings of
resentment, self-loathing, or hopelessness. Most outcasts are mutants or have
been accused of heresy or perhaps have been feeling the call of something from
beyond the physical world, a cry heard only in the effluvium of the warp…
Prerequisites: Age 15+.
Skills: Choose one of the following skills as a permanent class
skill. If a skill you select is already a class skill, you gain a +1 competence
bonus on checks using that skill.
Disguise, Hide, Knowledge (streetwise), Search, Survival,
Treat Injury.
Bonus Feat: Toughness or Endurance.
Extra: 2 free mutation points
Credit Bonus Increase: +1.
The children of Sanctioned Psykers
are unsurprisingly strong with the touch of the warp. They almost invariably
grow up to be psykers themselves so they are often trained from an early age
knowing the talents will develop. As a psyker-child you are posessed of
considerable psychic lore and unusual power.
Prerequisite:
Intelligence 10.
Skills: Choose three of
the following skills as permanent class skills. If a skill you select is already
a class skill, you receive a +1 competence bonus on checks using that skill.
Concentration, Craft (chemical or writing), Decipher Script, Gather
Information, Knowledge (warp, earth and life sciences, Imperial, or physical
sciences), Psychic Sense (Int), Research.
Bonus Feat: Select
either: Arcane Heritage or Psychic Affinity.
Credit Bonus: +2.
Ordained clergy of the Imperial
Cult, as well as theological scholars and experts on religious studies fall
within the scope of this starting background.
Prerequisite: Age 23+.
Skills: Choose three of
the following skills as permanent class skills. If a skill the character
selects is already a class skill, he or she receives a +1 competence bonus on
checks using that skill. Decipher Script,
Knowledge (warp, psychology, Imperial, streetwise, or religion), Listen, Sense
Motive.
Credit Bonus Increase: +2.
Some people are born hearing voices
and uncovering hidden powers. They have neither faith nor training to guide
them but learn to manifest their powerful psychic energy through personal
experience and innate understanding. These dangerous men are hunted by the Ordo
Xenos of the Inquisition.
Prerequisite: Charisma
10.
Skills: Choose two of
the following skills as permanent class skills. If a skill you select is
already a class skill, you receive a +1 competence bonus on checks using that
skill. Bluff, Concentration, Diplomacy, Gather Information, Intimidate,
Knowledge (psychology, tactics, or streetwise), Psychic Sense (Cha), Sense
Motive.
Bonus Feat: Select
either Innate Gift or Iron Will.
Credit Bonus: +2.
Scavengers turn society’s wreckage and discarded trash into
useful tools or items for trade, and if they’re lucky, their endeavors might even
yield one or two objects of special value. They effortlessly navigate and strip
clean the most treacherous places, and their playgrounds are abandoned space
stations, gutted buildings, and smoking battlefields.
Prerequisites: Age 15+.
Skills: Choose three of the following skills as permanent class
skills. If a skill you select is already a class skill, you gain a +1
competence bonus on checks using that skill.
Decipher Script, Disable Device, Knowledge (technology),
Move Silently, Repair, Search, Spot, Survival.
Credit Bonus Increase: +2.
Seers draw quiet strength from
their faith. They tend to become Mystic psykers capable of incredible acts of
healing, spirit-seeing, and fortune-telling. Some Seers are able to use such
items as the Emperor’s Tarot deck and even more powerful seers can even
understand eldar runestones. Seers are essentially psykers but whose power
stems from faith rather than training.
Prerequisite: Wisdom 10.
Skills: Choose three of
the following skills as permanent class skills. If a skill you select is
already a class skill, you receive a +1 competence bonus on checks using that
skill. Concentration, Craft (writing), Decipher Script, Diplomacy, Knowledge
(warp, psychology, Imperial, or religion), Psychic Sense (Wis), Sense Motive.
Bonus Feat: Select
either: Mystical Heritage or Psychic Affinity.
Credit Bonus: +2.
Skilled drivers and pilots, uncharted traders have to be
particular adept as to avoid prosecution at the hands of the navy. Also called
smugglers and rogue captains, these men fly home made, stolen or otherwise
illegal nonstandard ships to move people, information, and precious cargo
safely from one destination to another. They treat their vehicles as extensions
of their bodies and are most comfortable behind the thruster controls of cargo
shuttles.
Prerequisite: Age 18+.
Skills: Choose two of the following skills as permanent class
skills. If a skill you select is already a class skill, you gain a +1
competence bonus on checks using that skill.
Craft (mechanical) (Int), Drive (Dex), Knowledge (current
events, popular culture, or streetwise) (Int), Navigate (Int), Pilot (Dex),
Repair (Int).
Bonus Feat: Select either Spacer or Vehicle Expert.
Credit Bonus Increase: +1.
The underhive is a wretched Urban
sprawl built deep into the recesses of the mighty protective pyramids that dot
so-called Hive Worlds. The constructions are so tall that few Underhivers have
ever seen the sun and live their whole lives in the eerie half-light of electric
lamps.
Prerequisite: Age 15+.
Skills: Choose two of
the following skills as permanent class skills. If a skill the character
selects is already a class skill, he or she receives a +1 competence bonus on
checks using that skill. Disable Device,
Disguise, Forgery, Gamble, Hide, Knowledge (streetwise), Move Silently,
Sleight of Hand.
Bonus Feat: Select
either Brawl or Personal Firearms Proficiency.
Credit Bonus Increase:
+1.
If you live in the upper hive its because
you are a credity pig (or your parents were) and you are able to lead this
perfect life because you’ve been exploiting the underhivers living hundreds of
miles below your feet, fighting and clawing for survival, for generations.
Prerequisite: Age 18+.
Skills: Choose one of
the following skills as permanent class skills. If a skill the character
selects is already a class skill, he or she receives a +1 competence bonus on
checks using that skill. Gamble, Intimidate, Knowledge (galactic events or Imperial),
Ride, or add a new Speak Language.
Leadership Bonus Increase: +1.
Credit Bonus Increase:
+6.