If you were Captain Ret-Con for a day...

[Freefall945]

...If you were Captain Ret-Con for a day and had the power to retroactively configure or add something significant to the lore, what would it be? Would you advance the Tau deep into the Third Sphere Expansion, giving them a psychic client race to afford true warp travel?

Would you set Necrons back to being soulless drones in the service of Cthulhu?

Would you revive Squats?

Would you make the Emperor slowly recover, glutted on the regenerative souls of ten thousand years of psyker tribute, blinking away the dust from his eyes and looking over his own ruined, whithered body... only to ask the Custodes in a sound like granite dragged over sand...

"My sons... Where are my sons?"

This isn't so much about how you'd like the 40k universe to turn out, however. Rather, it's a question of what you genuinely think would make it -better- as a setting. Surely, everyone has an opinion on that.

[Pendragon38]

...If you were Captain Ret-Con for a day and had the power to retroactively configure or add something significant to the lore, what would it be? Would you advance the Tau deep into the Third Sphere Expansion, giving them a psychic client race to afford true warp travel? Would you set Necrons back to being soulless drones in the service of Cthulhu? Would you revive Squats? Would you make the Emperor slowly recover, glutted on the regenerative souls of ten thousand years of psyker tribute, blinking away the dust from his eyes and looking over his own ruined, whithered body... only to ask the Custodes in a sound like granite dragged over sand... "My sons... Where are my sons?" This isn't so much about how you'd like the 40k universe to turn out, however. Rather, it's a question of what you genuinely think would make it -better- as a setting. Surely, everyone has an opinion on that.

Tau and squats they need more planets and beer

[wittdooley]

Removing any notion of Cthulu from 40k is the best thing that could have happened. Period. Cthulu is stupid.

I'd love to start to see some new stories regarding Magnus trying to work his way back into the imperial fold. I still think he's a loyal son, and would love for him, in the end times, to be the saviour of humanity.

[eldargal]

I wouldn't change much, perhaps alter the tone of the Space Marines so there isn't quite the same expectation of 'OMG TEH AWESOMEST!!!' that leads to truly ghastly fluff being written to meet those expectations.

[DrLove42]

My retcon just got done. Removing the Necrons from the Eldars fluff has made me happy

[Psychosplodge]

I think I preferred it when the necrons weren't a (direct) reflection of a warhammer army, although on the other hand it opens the door for squats...

[Pendragon38]

I think I preferred it when the necrons weren't a (direct) reflection of a warhammer army, although on the other hand it opens the door for squats...

yes to the squats think about it nothing like a bunch of drunken gingers in space

[Psychosplodge]

yes to the squats think about it nothing like a bunch of drunken gingers in space

That's the point, if they're going back to that system it opens the door for them,
they vanished because 40k was meant to be moving away from the future mirror wh.

[MaltonNecromancer]

I'd completely revise the gods of Chaos, because they just don't work for me. I don't see how all sentient emotion can be tied into War, Disease/hope, Change and Desire. It's overly simple, as well as the fact that Nurgle just doesn't seem to fit to me: how is disease an emotional state? It causes emotion, but in and of itself, it's not.

I'd probably either go with Chaos gods built around either the seven deadly sins (ala Helldorado - a god of wrath makes more sense than a god of war) or else the Qlippothic spheres (where each sphere represents a positive aspect of humanity that has turned sour when the positive aspect has left - thus "love" becomes "stalking", and "justice" becomes "revenge", etc...)

I think my problem with Chaos is that the Chaos gods were clearly designed by fantasy writers with no idea about actual ethics, theology, or philosophy, so they're kind of one-note and stupid. Like Slaanesh is the god of Desire... but that always just equates to "perviness"; it's just BDSM and boobs, rather than anything deeper or more meaningful.

I think it's just that you can't contain the entirety of human experience as either "You like war, sexy time, disease, or schizophreni... sorry, magic. Now choose!"

Plus, for "Chaos"... well, they aren't all that chaotic. Every bloodletter has a long, phallic head. Every daemonette has a corset. Every horror has multiple arms... They're so codified and ordered, I just don't get how they can be called Chaotic! One of the ironies of the game universe, I suppose.

Bottom line, I'd do something with Chaos akin to what Grant Morrison did with it in "The Invisibles"; order/control vs. chaos/freedom. Neither is particularly positive when taken to their extremes. (i.e.: play up the fact that at their core, Chaos and Imperial forces are Not So Different.)

That and have lots more different bits on the sprues so that units actually lived up to the army name and were actually disturbing.

(i.e.: compare

Fruity McTinkle Wings


to Mr. "My Belt Is Made Of Your Dad"
)

[eldargal]

I think you ate oversimplifying the gods, I've always felt it to be a rather elegant system.

Tzeentch represents our tendency to conspire, scheme and plot.
Slaanesh our selfishness and baser desires (remember she is the god of EXCESS and pleasure, not just pleasure/desire)
Nurgle represents our frequent dichotomy of entropy and hope.
Khorne represents the basic instincts we have of thumping stuff that threatens us.

I do agree there is a tendency for people, GW/BL authors included, to miss the subtleties, particularly with Slaanesh. In fact it was one of the teasons I was glad the new daemonettes are suitably daemonic instead of just being funny looking strippers.

P.S. I think the Hell Dorado miniature looks like a toy and is ridiculously over the top and silly, even if the GW one is pretty sad now too.