Warhammer 40,000 RPG Imperium Maledictum reveals its cover art - exclusive
A trip to Persepolis.
Imperium Maledictum, this year’s upcoming Warhammer 40,000 RPG, has revealed its cover artwork - and Dicebreaker has an exclusive first look.
Imperium Maledictum marks the latest return to the Warhammer universe by Warhammer: Age of Sigmar - Soulbound, Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay and Warhammer 40,000: Wrath & Glory studio Cubicle 7, which revealed the new game last summer as a spiritual successor to Games Workshop’s classic 40k RPG Dark Heresy.
The upcoming RPG utilises a d100 system inspired by Dark Heresy, which is used to power encounters that lean more on investigation and exploration than out-and-out violent battles. Rather than Space Marines and warriors, players’ characters are everyday inhabitants of the Imperium’s Macharian Sector seeking to uncover its darker mysteries and political intrigue.
The newly-revealed cover artwork for Warhammer 40,000: Imperium Maledictum portrays one such corner of the Macharian Sector, depicting towering buildings on the hive world of Persepolis.
Illustrator Álvaro Jiménez’s artwork shows an Ecclesiarchy zealot - a member of the ruthlessly dogmatic Imperium state church, Adeptus Ministorum, which upholds the Emperor of Mankind as god - a human Penumbra, dubbed as a Recidivist by their criminal past or opposition to the Imperial rule, and a Savant belonging to the machine cult Adeptus Mechanicus who possesses tech-enhanced abilities.
The three characters represent potential playable creations in Imperium Maledictum. As well as making their own characters, the party of players must also pledge allegiance to a mysterious patron belonging to one of the universe’s nine factions - from the tech-religious Adeptus Mechanicus to the militaristic Astra Militarum, formerly known as 40k’s Imperial Guard.
This patron will guide the characters’ objectives during a campaign, either passively or in a more active role, as well as influencing how other inhabitants of the universe react to their adventures. In the case of the cover artwork, the characters are investigating heresy in the city - one of several such motivations a patron might have.
Imperium Maledictum is due to release a core rulebook later this month, ahead of a boxed starter set later in 2023. The core rules will be followed by a series of supplements that provide greater detail on the factions in the grimdark setting, as well as a series of free digital scenarios available online.