What is Wrath & Glory?

#40KFriday

We are currently working hard on our upcoming revised core book and will share more on it as soon as we can! If you missed last weeks FAQ you can catch up here, but for now we hand over to C7 Producer Zak Dale-Clutterbuck to answer a very important question - what is Wrath & Glory? 

Prepare to face the perils of the Dark Imperium, a grim and dangerous future plagued by the star-spanning schemes of the Ruinous Powers…

Cicatrix Maledictum, the Great Rift, has torn the galaxy apart. Time and space have bent and buckled under the warp storm’s wrath. Daemons surge into realspace, sowing destruction in their wake. The Imperium of Man has lost contact with untold worlds, and stands on the brink of disaster. 

This is a game of intrigue and adventure. This is a game of action and carnage. This is a game about the struggle to stop the doomsday clock from striking midnight for an entire galaxy. 

This is Wrath & Glory. 

...but how do you play it? And how is it different from the many other great RPGs out there? 

It’s YOUR hammer!

Wrath & Glory gives you the freedom to roleplay 40k your way. Sit down with your friends, decide what kind of story you want to tell, and assemble your squad from a host of iconic archetypes. The 41st millennium is a huge setting, offering up a broad range of customizable characters to play and a million ways to adventure. 

Who do you want to play? What do you want to do? 

Are you a wisecracking Rogue Trader up for adventure with your Tech-Priest and Hive Ganger pals? Very cool! Start exploring the Gilead system in the Emperor’s name. Imagine a radical Inquisitor ready to embrace an alliance with some Aeldari Rangers? Delve into the mysteries of a crashed Craftworld and fight Chaos together. Want to play the gang of Speed Freeks racing to plunder the downed Eldar Craftworld first? Get your WAAAAGH! on! 

Changing Rolls 

Wrath & Glory uses a d6 dice pool system that will be instantly familiar to Warhammer 40,000 players and easy to learn for anyone else. There are a lot of cool features to the system, and learning is far more fun when you’re actually playing! We’ve highlighted some of the basics here; read Sarah Kaiser’s incredible comic over on the Warhammer Community for a great introduction to the game, or check back on our website soon for even more details. 

If your character is good at something, they roll more dice when they attempt it. Results of 4 or 5 count as Icons. Get more Icons than the Difficulty Number, and you succeed at whatever you’re trying to do. Results of 6 count for 2 Icons, and can also be used for extra effects, like gaining more information from a task, or doing it quicker. 

Add in the Wrath dice for extra drama on any roll. A result of 6 on the Wrath dice awards you a point of Wrath and triggers a gloriously gory critical hit in combat. A result of 1 on the Wrath dice triggers a narrative complication, regardless of whether you failed or succeeded; the perfect opportunity for players and GMs to work together to create a more engaging narrative. 

‘Your communion with the machine spirit was successful, but you didn’t just open one door - you hear another slide open, and another, followed by the unmistakable skittering of chitinous claws on plascrete heading towards your warband!’

Earned from a 6 on the Wrath dice or through good roleplaying, each player can spend their personal Wrath points to re-roll failed dice, defy deadly wounds, and add narrative elements to the story. Glory is a resource shared by the party that everyone can contribute to, and can be used to add additional dice to crucial rolls and upgrade damage for maximum devastation. 

Combat is fast, fluid, and undeniably deadly with power weapons, bolters and brutal critical hit tables - just what you’d expect from 40k. Interaction Attacks let characters who aren’t 7ft tall ceramite-clad superhumans get in on the fun too; use your Tech skill to distract an enemy with a Cherub, or Intimidate them with your Commissarial presence.  

I'll be back soon with more 40k updates, as always let us know what you think over on Facebook and Twitter,

Until next time,

Zak.