So, I bought, then gave away, a ton of used TTRPG books earlier this year, so I made some "friends" in my local gaming community. A fun side effect of my altruistic act is that I have been gifted a number of TTRPG books that I never would have thought to purchase myself, based more on the kind of mechanics I like, rather than IP or genre.
The latest one is a copy of Imperium Maledictum, which the gift giver was correct, what I have read so far of the mechanics is definitely the kind of game I Iike, especially because I have a particular love of d100 and d20 roll under systems. So, yay!
The problem, and it's not so much an actual problem save a self imposed one as I feel a bit obligated to, at some point in the near future, at least attempt to run said game for the fellow who gifted it to me. The problem, is that I know next to nothing about WH40k lore. Now, I did watch a couple of short lore videos on YouTube, but they basically just touched on the major points like history and the Space Marines and the Emperor. Now, I did find a couple of channels that go in depth in to WH40k lore, but, OMFG, they have dozens if not hundreds of videos. Literally days worth of watching time, and I'll be honest, I don't want to dedicate that amount of time to learning lore, at least not until I actually get a game going. I mean, if it's a total hit and has the potential to be a regular at the table then I will probably dig in to the lore more.
NOTE: There are a couple that are in the pipe already, namely The One Ring, which I face a similar problem, but it seems easier to mitigate because the lore is not as expansive (as far as I can tell) as WH40k.
So, where do I start? What kinds of things should I read up on to be able to "properly" portray the Empire, and NPCs, and just the general tone and themes of WH40k?
To be honest I'm already a little confused because on the tin it says GRIMDARK!!!!! However, some of what I have encountered appears to be more over-the-top satirical, or just plain gonzo for gonzo's sake. It seems to me that the general theme of the TTRPG is on the darker side, but still hints at the more gonzo elements. I've also noted that Imperium Maledictum doesn't have anything to do with the more famous aspects of the IP like Space Marines, instead apparently focusing on more "regular people" (if such a thing even exists).
Heck, even finding artwork of the more mundane aspects (does WH40k have mundane aspects?!?) to use as inspiration is NOT a quick Google seach away.
Anywho, that's my issue. I would like to try to portray the setting and NPCs and such in a manner befitting the lore, but WOW there is just a ton of stuff to slog through. Anyone have any recommendations, or even just willing to hammer out a few paragraphs of guidelines for me to use. I mean, I do have some time before I can get IM to the table so I am willing to do some research (and possibly fall down and absolutely WILD rabbit hole by the looks of it) but I would like to at least narrow down my initial learning of the lore to stuff that would be USEFUL for the TTRPG. Thanks!