Book Review: First and Only

                                                                                                                                                      Black Library

Dan Abnett’s Gaunt’s Ghosts series changed the setting of Warhammer 40,000, both in and out of universe. The first installment, First and Only shares its setting with the Games Workshop wargame, in which an increasingly regressive galaxy is trapped in an endless war. The book was also the first one to be published under by Black Library, Games Workshop's publishing arm. First and Only established the current concept of 40K novels and arguably the direction of the entire property. Loosely modeled off of the Sharpe series, Gaunt's Ghosts follows Commissar Ibram Gaunt and the Tanith First and Only, the sole regiment of a destroyed planet. They belong to the Imperial Guard, the billions strong army of the oppressive, galaxy spanning Imperium of Man. Along with dozens of other regiments, they fight against the worshipers of the Chaos gods in the Sabbat Worlds Crusade. Abnett is the only author to capture the scale of the 40K universe while still focusing on well-developed individual characters, an approach he introduced to the setting with First and Only.

This premier chapter in the series established a few paradigms that ensured the success of Gaunt's Ghosts. Pitting the protagonists against fanatical demon worshippers helps offset the reprehensibility of the Imperium. This makes a more conventional narrative possible, while still giving the book a chance to explore the nightmare of living in the 41^st millennium. The backdrop of the Sabbat World Crusades also gave the series a chance to organically introduce a variety of allies, enemies, and planets. While 40K’s Imperium was meant to encompass every human culture imaginable, Gaunt’s Ghosts was one of the only instances where this was presented in a tangible way. It even taps into some of the most obscure parts of the lore, presenting its own additions alongside more long standing elements.

First and Only also introduced a cast of compelling, likable characters, rare for licensed fiction and especially a Warhammer 40K novel. Gaunt is convincing as a proud leader, who's a little quick to anger. Abnett constructs a convincing character through the flashbacks and warzones we see him in. The same goes for the Tanith “ghosts” under his command, like Corbec, Bragg, and Larkin. Major Rawne, formerly a wealthy man involved in criminal activities on his homeworld, serves as an antagonistic force that isn’t outright villainous. The most complex one is Dorden, the regiment’s sole medic. An elderly noncombatant, he’s lost the most from the destruction of his homeworld. His constant attempts to save the dwindling survivors of Tanith sells the tragedy of the regiment’s loss. The other Ghosts with names and backstories only exist to be torn to pieces and create further misery for the main cast. Those outside the regiment often face a similar fate, assuming they're even defined.

Unfortunately the book’s antagonists are much less developed, with a few exceptions. The Ghosts’ snobby rivals and commanding officers look down on them out of pride or petty rivalry. The regiment gets put in harm’s way constantly as a result. This is considerably less interesting then when the Ghosts suffer for failing to reconcile their tactics with the Imperium's military dogma. It’s more unique than arrogant, clueless commanders and more true to the setting. Also involved is Inquisitor Heldane, a renegade member of the Imperium’s secret police. He seeks compromise when battling nightmares, as opposed to the Imperium’s costly absolutist approach. Ironically you can write an inquisitor without a discernible motivation, as that’s consistent with their characterization as callous puppet masters willing to sacrifice others for their unknown agendas. Heldane is far removed from the events of First and Only, particularly during the otherwise strong climax. He could be written out of the book with little consequence. While it's leagues ahead of most licensed fiction, nearly every character in First and Only fits a specific archetype a little too well, though some more than others.

First and Only is not great literature by any metric but it stands above most of its genre. Outside of the occasional cliché or tired phrase, Abnett paints vivid images of hellish battlefields and largely pleasant worlds. He also gives them distinguishing features and practices outside of their physical differences. He manages to juggle constant changes in location and perspective and uses them to convey the vastness of the setting without losing sight of the story. 40K’s more iconic elements are mixed with some of the most esoteric ones, giving the story an identity while staying in line with the rest of the universe. The book even manages to have real themes about loyalty, as Gaunt manages to trust others, even after being betrayed so many times. First and Only is still licensed fiction but it manages to stand at the top of that genre, not only due to its strong writing but by marrying its own narrative with that of the larger setting.

Back in the second millennium, First and Only set the standard for Black Library. Today, most of its output is repetitive, featuring nearly indistinguishable power armored space marines fighting in equally monotonous conflicts. But Abnett’s work with Gaunt’s Ghosts proved there was a market for the more unique, meaningful stories that defined early Warhammer fiction. It also laid out a blueprint for presenting sympathetic characters while still staying true to the scale and horror of Warhammer 40K. It showed that with the right work, Warhammer 40K’s restrictive setting could handle a traditional action narrative without rejecting its identity. Future Black Library books would rarely meet the standards set by First and Only. But it at least provided them something to strive towards.

Game Master Guidance: Scheduling, the Hardest Part of Playing RPGs

As important as the storytelling and mechanical responsibilities are, you can’t have a game without players. One of the most consistently difficult parts of running roleplaying games is getting all the players together. People have busy schedules and even the simplest RPGs require a significant amount of time and effort on everyone's part. It falls to the GM to set up the game and that it happens at a t time and place that works for everyone. Getting a game together might seem like a daunting task but it’s easy enough as long as you regularly communicate with your players.

First things first, set up a dedicated channel of communication for the RPG. Individually messaging everyone or putting it in a larger group chat will only make things unnecessarily difficult. Make sure to establish with your players how long you intend for the campaign to last. They’ll need to know if they’re volunteering for a few sessions or committing to something much larger. You don’t need to know exactly when the campaign will end, you just need to have a general idea of its length. Some of the players not might be able to work with what you have in mind, so you’ll have to make adjustments accordingly. Don't be afraid to scale back or otherwise modify your plans if it will make the campaign easier to see to its conclusion.

Next, schedule the game. As the GM, you should be the one who initiates this. While this depends a lot on what the players’ schedules are like, I find one method has a lot of success. Ask everyone what dates and times they’re available to play a session. Try to do this at least a week beforehand, if you can manage that.

Hobby Corner- Ork Kill Team WIP

 

The recent Warhammer 40,000 supplement Kill Team brought me back into the wargaming fray, away from the RPG fringe I'd been dwelling on for a while. I've been running Orks, my first army. It's given me an excuse to redo some of the older figures in my collection. The mistakes and excess glue just motivates me to be creative with converting the Boyz (or so I tell myself). I intend to get them painted as soon as the finishing touches are done.


Only a few of these miniatures were built recently, though for the older ones I fixed mistakes, cleaned them up in places, and gave them new shoulder pads. I'm trying to do more with plasticard, so I used this as an opportunity to get used to working with it and making rivets. When I messed up, it just looked thematic so it was a great way to practice. As opposed to actual shoulder pads, they give them an appropriately scavenged look, as I'll be painting them as Deathskulls.

I made this figure to represent the Boss Nob. I mostly just use my leader specialists to farm command points, so I chose the bulkier but still regular sized Battlwagon gunner body. He's important but not that important When I get around to redoing my whole Ork army they'll be Speed Freakz, so I gave him a harpoon gun. It has no mechanical purpose but I thought it was a nice callback to Gorkamorka.

I'm not sure how satisfied I am with the harpoon gun itself. I had a spearhead on the rod in the quiver but it kept falling off. The brass rod is just a little to thick, so I need to take it out and make a less brittle spear. As for the gun itself, I picked the slugga with the clip that looks like a compressed gas canister. I'll probably add a crank to the side, to represent how it's reloaded. Aside from that I'm very satisfied with him and he always attracts attention on the game board.

A more recent build, this guy was also very much influenced by Gorkamorka. I wanted a miniature I could picture trying to attack a passing vehicle or deliver the killing blow to a wiped out driver. Like the rest of the kill team, the individual parts are from various Ork kits, including the Warhammer Fantasy regiment. There's a bit of a gap between the legs and the waist. I'm still considering whether to fill it in with green stuff or if it looks like cloth pushed up by the belt.

This was a conversion I did ages ago, as shown by the half finished paint job. Thankfully, I stopped so early I don't need to strip him like some of the others. The head was from a Stormboy jetpack. The right arm and shoulder pad are new additions. Younger me put the base in a weird spot but it does make the strange pose possible. He has a flailing, crazed look the other kill team members don't have.

Another conversion I did years ago but this one required much less reworking. He did need to be stripped though and you can see chunks of paint on him. Not enough to make the next paint job an issue though. Like some of the others, he definitely has a Gorkamorka influence. You can't make it out with the contrast but his shoulder pads a bit different. Besides looking more ragged, it has three huge studs. I tried to go for dynamic poses with this Kill Team, as I'm sure you've noticed by now.

Not the most exciting individual but not everyone can be the hero. I wanted to have at least one "normal" boy, if only because I have a lot of respect for the Ork Boy kit. It's nearly twenty years old now but it still does the job. This Ork has a lot of glue stains but they're not too bad. If they end up being a problem during painting, I'll try to make them off as gore stains. The apprehensive look and wary posture could be from having his mate explode next to him. Or maybe his chainsword did a better job than expected. Time will tell.

Another earlier conversion but a more competent one. I promise I'll get to drilling the gun barrels. The imperial banner head is when I thought to have my Deathskulls covered in items stolen from the battlefield and drenched in blue paint. I decided that'd be a little too distracting and impractical to do for a whole Kill Team, much less a whole army. This one I ended up not changing, as I thought it was a good look for just one boy. I haven't used Shoota Boyz much but I need more ranged capabilities and so he's been pressed back into service.

Clearly a more veteran variety of Ork Boy. An Ork Man, perhaps? Another early conversion along with one of my earlier attempts at riveting. I'm still torn as to whether the gigantic rivets distinguish them or they need to be shaved down. I'll probably reach some kind of compromise. A poor attempt at basing, though easily fixed by just filling in the gaps. With some of the other Orks I tried adding other bits to the bases but they'd fall off during play so I'm not sure if I'll go through with it.

My favorite conversion of the bunch. Also the simplest one, as it turned out. He has the devious and befuddled looks that made me pick Orks in the first place. I usually employ him as a close combat specialist, as the two melee weapons make that easy to remember. I'm looking forward to painting him, as he'll look great with the more elaborate Deathskull warpaint schemes with his ready-to-pounce look.

A Shoota Boy with a Warbiker bosspole. Another simple, recent conversion, I wanted a standard bearer look, even if it had no in-game purpose. He has the same face as the close combat Ork but the Deathskull scheme means I can just use warpaint (or the lack thereof) to differentiate them.

I'm looking forward to painting this Kill Team, though there are a few changes left to be made. I've always enjoyed painting Orks and the Deathskull scheme is a fun one. The mix of woad-like and sports fan-esque designs represents the idiosyncrasies of the faction pretty well. I have Grots and Burnaz as well but they're not converted so I'm not posting them until they're painted. Hopefully the weather will let up long enough for me to prime them.

Game Master Guidance: Using a Preexisting Setting

While one of the major appeals of roleplaying games is the creative freedom they offer, most of the prominent systems rely on preexisting settings. The most notable RPGs, specifically Dungeons & Dragons, Pathfinder, Shadowrun, and World of Darkness have built up elaborate backgrounds over their decades of releases. Some even have alternate settings and time periods in addition to the normal ones. Licensed RPGs, adapted from TV shows, movies, and more, have also been a mainstay for some time now. A new GM will find themselves surrounded by preexisting settings. Before committing to them or making your own, it’s important to consider how your choice will aid your story in some ways but limit it in others.

A preexisting setting, even a particularly loose one, will always have certain constraints. They carry a specific tone, atmosphere, and set of rules. By not making your own setting, you’ll have to adhere to certain expectations. This does somewhat depend on how well acquainted your players are with it. But even if they’re completely ignorant, the background might not be able to handle the revisions you make to it. Certain things might just stop making sense and each major change will be accompanied by countless others.

Game Master Guidance- Writing a Good Twist

In the realm of storytelling, there are few narrative elements with as high a risk and reward as plot twists. The Twilight Zone is remembered in no small part due to its great twists. And its bad ones. Similarly, M. Night Shymalan’s career has been mired by more than just bad movies, as the average viewer now sees his director trademark as being terrible, last-minute plot twists. Part of why storytellers are so committed to such a difficult concept is because when it’s pulled off, it will often elevate the work. Making a plot twist work in the context of an RPG is a challenge for any game master. But if executed properly, your players won’t forget it.

Before all else, it’s important to establish what a good twist is. It will be shocking but not unprecedented. A twist shouldn’t be too obvious nor should it come out of nowhere. With every great example, half the fun is the audience wondering how they didn’t figure it out themselves. Even a twist that’s easy to guess can still be good if presented properly. An audience can see it a mile away but if they care enough about the characters and groups involved, they’ll desperately wish they’re wrong.

Game Master Guidance: Everyone Should Have a Story

Regardless of the genre or system a GM chooses, the players are going to be running into a number of characters. The inhabitants of a given area are what stops the game’s world from feeling like an endless, formless wasteland populated only by monsters. Even if that is the setting, a few supporting characters would liven the story up a little. But since an RPG can have a cast large enough to rival any TV show or comic book, a GM has to determine which characters get developed and which ones are there to populate the world. My advice is to make sure that every character has some kind of larger narrative, no matter how small their role might be or if the players even notice it.

With so many characters to handle, it’s easy to reduce minor adversaries and allies to stat blocks. For sanity’s sake, limit yourself to fleshing out characters that speak more than two lines to the players. If a character plays a notable role in a narrative, make sure they’re more than just a plot device. Give them some sort of background or personality quirk to distinguish them. Even if your notes for them end up only being a sentence long, that’s at least better than what you had before. A good example of this in practice is James Robinson’s comics, particularly Starman and JSA: The Golden Age. Characters that show up for less than a page are often given the hint of a narrative, mainly through internal narration. Something similar is done in the newest Halloween movie, where almost everyone butchered by Michael Meyers has a modicum of personality or a defining moment before the deed is done. No matter how small these additions might be, it adds a human element the story would otherwise lack.

This may seem like unnecessary work to add to the already full plate of a GM but it adds a genuine atmosphere to the narrative. If the players pick up on it, the narrative will feel more “real,” to them, as it shows that things exist outside of the PCs’ stories. Even if the players don’t appreciate it, it will put you one step closer to a more fleshed out narrative. You’ll find it helps you develop the story, as the parts used to build it are closer to people than set pieces. However, it’s considerably more important to build up recurring characters. Defining minor characters is nice but if one of them plays a major role in the narrative, they need a personality.

Think about all the great “lieutenants” in fiction. Most people who’ve seen Total Recall probably remember Michael Ironside’s revenge driven goon, who seeks to kill Arnold Schwarzenegger’s character for unknowingly murdering his wife in self-defense. They’ll also probably have forgotten the actual antagonist, outside of his gruesome death scene.

David Gallagher's Art Brought Warhammer 40K and Fantasy to Life

                                                                  Games Workshop (Inquis Exterminatus)

 

David Gallagher is just one of the latest great artists to part ways with Games Workshop, the company responsible for the iconic wargames Warhammer 40,000, Warhammer Fantasy, and their countless other offshoots. Those games owed much of their success to their compelling, dark settings, which were fleshed out by the stunning, unique work provided by dozens of artists. David Gallagher did art for Games Workshop since the earliest editions of both Warhammer systems and left a lasting impact on each one. Games Workshop has never had a shortage of talented artists, but Gallagher offered a human image of distinctly dehumanized settings, presenting work at a level that few other tabletop game artists have managed.

As fond as I am of Warhammer in both its iterations, I’ll admit the art can blend together. It’s gothic, oppressive visions of hostile worlds lends itself to a certain level of monotony. The increasing focus on depicting the miniature kits sold by Games Workshop didn’t help matters, especially when it came to variety. This approach did give Warhammer some much needed consistency, as the settings managed to establish themselves with their signature rough, harsh artwork. Gallagher’s pieces stood out from this paradigm with his more organic, softer designs and a middle ground between the more realistic and abstract styles of his Warhammer peers.

Game Master Guidance: Someone Has to Clean Out the Stables

One of my favorite pieces of Warhammer Fantasy art ironically features one of the weakest parts of the setting. Illustrated by the immensely talented Karl Kopinski, it depicts Archaon the Everchosen, Warhammer’s dull anti-christ figure, triumphantly beseeching his dark gods while offering up the skulls of slain foes. As he surges with arcane power, anonymous hooded figures toil in the midground, restraining his demonic steed and carrying his belongings. In the background, the rest of his army waits for him to finish up. Like all great tabletop game art, Kopinski doesn’t just depict a figure from the setting. He provides a glimpse of how the world they inhabit functions and that even harbingers of the apocalypse need workers. The lesson to be learnt from this as a game master is that nothing in your stories, no matter how fantastic, should exist in a vacuum.

Even the most miraculous figures have underlings and some sort of logistics to back them up. If a spellcaster hardly ever leaves their tower, who gets the tomes and supplies needed for magic rituals? Who builds and maintains the dictatorship’s superweapons while its leaders are running the galaxy with an iron fist? Who cleans out the stables of an exemplary knight, busy earning the favor of their patron deity? Even the most alien and distant figures will have some sort of network to sustain their activities, often in the form of worker drones or even specialized organisms. A being that exists outside of whatever reality your game takes place in needs something keeping it tethered. And odds are it has a boss or servants back in whatever hellscape it calls home.

Game Master Guidance: Have Some Kind of Plan

While my first article advised against game masters having too concrete of a plan, it's equally disastrous to go in without any sort of preparation. Certain roleplaying game systems, primarily storytelling ones, are entirely reliant on improvisation and written as such. But more traditional systems are written under the assumption that you have larger plan in mind. Even the best game masters are going to need something planned, as the players are likely to notice if they’re just making it up as they go along. Outside of systems and games where that’s the point, that level of improvisation will sink any hope of building an in-depth or serious narrative. The question is, what should your plan look like?

First off have it at least partially written down. It’s easy to forget your ideas in between managing the players and shuffling books around. However, these notes should look more like a power point than a movie script. Make quick summaries of important characters' appearances and personalities. Resist the urge to write down specific lines for them, as the players will likely notice the difference between scripted dialogue and off the cuff responses.

Game Master Guidance: Adding to Your Armory

There’s a temptation to start adding your own weapons to a roleplaying game system, regardless of which side of the table you’re sitting on. In a well-crafted system, this might throw off its carefully implemented balance. In a poorly-made system, such additions might be necessary just to enjoy it. Alternatively, someone might be trying to exploit the system through their creation, at the expense of everyone else. That sort of behavior needs to be stamped out early on, as soon enough only that player will be enjoying the game. On the game master end of the spectrum, adding weaponry might be more understandable. There’s only so much an RPG book can contain, so it could very easily be lacking the weapons of war you envisioned your adversaries wielding. Alternatively, you might decide to distinguish an encounter or a whole session with a new element, something that even seasoned players won’t expect. Regardless of how complex your preferred system’s gear might be, I’d advise keeping your additions limited.

Before going on, it’s important to establish the role equipment plays in most popular RPGs. As the majority of Roleplaying Games are combat driven, weapons, armor, and similar items are unsurprisingly a huge component of the medium. For many people, how good the gear the system provides will make or break it for them. Science fiction and fantasy games have a particular obligation to provide exciting toys for the GM and players to mess around with.

Game Master Guidance: The Characters Have Five Senses- Possibly More

How you present the world and its contents to the players is one of the most important parts of being a Game Master. Besides understanding the actual plot and circumstances, the players’ sense of immersion rests on the details you present them. There’s such a thing as too much information, so it’s best to be conservative with your descriptions. Less is more, as they say. But the question is, what sort of information you should prioritize? A quick, profound way to define a scene is to provide sensory information.

Of course you’re going to describe what the characters see, that’s almost a given. But it’s easy to get so caught up in the visuals that you forget the rest. While it is important, it shouldn’t necessarily take priority. If you watch a movie, notice how much sound is used in place of actual imagery. What is implied can be just as, if not more effective than what is shown. Even if you’re just establishing what an area looks like, consider if there's any ambient noise. Do the characters hear an industrial hum, howling wind, dripping water, or the skittering footsteps of vermin? Sound can be a vital component in selling a scene to your players.

Game Master Guidance: A Map to Adventure or a Road to Nowhere?

Maps are just one of the many points of contention in the RPG community. Depending on who you ask, they’re either vital, a hindrance, or anything in between. Like most things discussed in this column, it really comes down to your personal approach. That being said, I question how necessary maps actually are. Most aspects of roleplaying happen in the minds of the GM and players anyway, so why even bother with them at all? One of my major issues with maps is that they end up being too distracting. They slowly pull the game away from the player’s imagination and trap it within the more easily quantifiable, less exciting confines of the map. I’ve also found that they just complicate combat, as it makes the player analyze the situation a little more than they should. There’s a reason one of the major points of criticism directed at Dungeons & Dragons 4^th edition stems from its perceived overreliance on maps. I just don’t think maps are a good fit with RPGs. But that doesn’t mean they don’t have their place.

The games I run end up prioritizing the narrative and social elements over the mechanics of the system. But I acknowledge every GM runs their game differently and it depends a lot on the system used. Even if I find maps to be cumbersome, a more gameplay minded groups might find them to be a necessity. They might end up needing the rigid, easily identified boundaries offered by a map. Admittedly, I find my players frequently asking for maps.

Game Master Guidance: The Curse of the GMPC

The "Game Master Player Character," or GMPC for short, is a roleplaying game faux pas rivaled only by railroading in most circles. While the game master has control of their campaign's world, they still exist apart from the party and their interactions. While a good GM will offer a cast of developed characters, these figures will almost never have the prominence of the player characters. In comes the GMPC, an apparent solution to the issue. The term has come to mean a number of different things but generally it’s a character the GM inserts into the party. On paper this might sound fine but those with first hand experience know better. The GMPC will often end up dominating the plot, pulling the story out from underneath the players’ feet and putting it solely in the GMs control.

More than the story can fall victim to a GMPC. These characters will often be created with the same rules used by the players, for the sake of fairness. What this really means is that the GMPC has all the complexity of a regular PC. Aside from bogging down combat, they’ll get advantages regular players won’t, on account of being controlled by who dictates the dice.

Game Master Guidance: Where Have All the Traps Gone?

Previously a hallmark of adventure-centric media, traps have become something of an anachronism. Movies, TV Shows, and books no long feature the death dealing contraptions that once targeted their protagonists. Even the last James Bond film lacked anything close to the iconic traps that filled previous installments. Admittedly there are always exceptions to this. But typically they center entirely around the concept, like Saw or the soon to be released, fad chasing Escape Room. The last holdout is video games but even then they're presented as a challenge to the player rather than an actual threat in the narrative. Role-playing Games are among the mediums that have largely turned their backs on traps.

Previously, traps were a big deal in RPGs. Open up an older rulebook and there’s a good chance it’ll have a section, if not a whole chapter on different traps for game masters to throw at their players. They were a hallmark of dungeon-centric games in particular, forcing characters to survive not just the area’s occupants but the environment itself. But traps have been slowly de-emphasized over the years. Now, rules for them will be consigned to a supplement, if they show up at all.

Game Master Guidance: Going Off the Rails and Embracing it

Role-playing games offer a nearly unrivaled level of interactivity. Most forms of storytelling have their narratives unfold in rigid paths that are observed by its audience. Even the most immersive video games can only offer the player a small set of predetermined options. Meanwhile, the only real limits in an RPG are set by the dungeon master, game master, or whatever term the system in question uses. Even the boundaries established by the system are only as restrictive as they are permitted to be by the group. However, the GM isn’t some kind of messianic god even in their own game. At least, not in a fun game. Regardless of how meticulously made their plans are, that narrative has to be enacted by the players first. And the players will always have different ideas from the GM, regardless of their preferred style of storytelling.

The whim of the dice can be quietly altered by a GM, if they're subtle enough, but the whim of the players is much more resilient. If you need them to be trapped in a building, they’ll hurl themselves out a window to escape. Confront them with a jungle full of foes, they’ll try to burn it down. Their general orders them to head to a fortress world, they’ll insist on stopping by a nearby frontier world first. Many GMs first instinct is to outright tell the player “no,” for the sake of their story.