Planets

Feral and Feudal Worlds
These are worlds into which the Imperium has not seen fit to introduce most modern technology, although medical technology is often an exception to keep such worlds' labor productivity high. Feral worlds are defined by a planetary population living in hunter-gatherer or early agricultural societies and having technology equivalent to Earth's Stone Age or Bronze Age cultures. Feudal worlds are somewhat more technologically advanced, having usually progressed as far as to discover gunpowder, and having more widespread and advanced farming. Feudal worlds are often similar to Terran societies in the Late Middle Ages or the Renaissance periods. Generally, worlds of either of these classes will have little direct interference from the Imperium and low planetary tithes.

Imperial Governors of feral and feudal worlds will generally live on a space station in orbit, only descending to the surface to deal with heresy and mutation.


 * Feudal Worlds
 * These planets are populated by folk who have lost access to all but the most basic of technologies and maintain Iron Age or early Gunpowder Age societies. Farming, simple machines such as pulleys, windmills and the like are known, but propelled flight, automatic weaponry and powered vehicles are likely to be rare or non-existent. These worlds are often said to be the most politically harmonious of all the planets of the Imperium, because their peoples know their place.

For examples see: Fervious, Sisk.


 * Feral Worlds
 * These worlds are populated by tribal peoples largely living without the assistance of maintained technology or even agrigulture in some cases. This may be due to an ancient failed colonisation project, religious preferences, cultural choice, harshness of the environment or some other reason. Feral world populations may be aware of the Imperium's existence in some fashion but are unlikely to know much more than something about a large group of distant people living among the stars. These planets are frequently unsuitable for later colonization, either due to the circumstances which drove the natives feral or because the natives themselves actively resist new people settling on their lands. People of feral worlds can range widely in culture, from Grox-hunting Stone Age tribes of ancestor worshipers to wild-eyed, post-apocalyptic road warriors, fighting endlessly amongst the toxic, sand-strewn ruins of their civilization. Many Space Marine Chapters prefer to recruit from feral worlds, since such environments tend to produce better warrior-quality men.

For examples see: Dusk, Fedrid, Volonx.

Forge Worlds
Forge World is an Imperial term for the numerous planets that are directly controlled by the Adeptus Mechanicus. All have in common that they are completely dedicated to the manufacture of the various machines and devices of the Imperium, the pursuit of and preservation of (ancient) scientific and technical knowledge and the worship of the Machine God. Because of the Adeptus Mechanicus' monopoly on technical knowledge and expertise, the Forge Worlds are the Imperium's primary source of all kinds of hardware: from farming equipment to war machines such as tanks, aerospace fighters, or even Titans. Ancient pacts between the Adeptus Mechanicus and other worlds and institutions of the Imperium oblige the various Forge Worlds to supply other planets and the various military arms of the Imperium, such as the Imperial Guard.

The surface of a Forge World is normally completely covered in massive factory complexes that stretch across the horizon. Its ecosystem has been completely destroyed. The air is saturated with toxic gases and rivers flow with toxic runoff from factories. In many cases, even seas and oceans have been purposefully evaporated to make room for more factories. However, the sheer industrial output benefits the Imperium as a whole.

While there are hundreds of Forge Worlds in the Imperium, the most important is Mars, home of the Adeptus Mechanicus' political and spiritual head, the Fabricator-General of Mars; and the Imperium's first Forge World. Other Forge Worlds include Ryza, known for its advanced plasma technology; Gryphonne IV, home of the Legio Gryphonnicus; Agripinaa, a primary supplier of Cadia; Phaeton, manufacturer of the Leman Russ main battle tank; and Urdesh, major Forge World within the Sabbat Worlds. Of all the Forge Worlds only Trebor caters exclusively to the industrial needs of Cadia. One of the most sought-after creations from Trebor is its version of the Vanquisher Cannon, which is the most powerfull of all the Vanquisher Cannon variants. During the Dark Age of Technology, the two empires of Terra and Mars co-existed, to the mutual benefit of both. Trebor was colonized from survivors of colony expeditions from both Terra and Mars after they were lost during a Warp storm. This forced both colonies to combine thier knowledge and build the most technologically-advanced of all Forge Worlds. Trebor was discovered by Commissar Yarrick during the Second War for Armageddon. As a result Trebor has sworn its alligence only to Commissar Yarrick and Cadia.

Forge Worlds are mostly independent from the rest of the Imperium and have their own armed forces. Each of these worlds is home to one of the Titan Legions, supported by legions of Skitarii, the Adeptus Mechanicus' cybernetically-enhanced soldiers.

For examples see: The Lathes, Belcane and Fortis Binary

Hive Worlds
The Imperium’s most populous worlds are its hive worlds. The populations of these planets are so great that the people live in huge urban arcologies, truly immense, self-contained, many-layered structures that reach high into the sky, each housing billions of individuals. Hive worlds often provide much-needed industrial labour, their manufactoria producing mountains of war material and other goods to meet the Imperial tithe's demands. Most hive worlds started out as relatively hospitable places but have become severely polluted, the areas outside the hives reduced to ash wastes or radioactive desert by the never-ceasing industry of the great cities. Equally dangerous can be the hives themselves. The crime-ridden, poverty-stricken areas, almost always found in the most polluted and decrepit lower levels of the under-hive, are home to violent gangs, criminals and assorted scum as well as mutants and heretical cults who hide there from the authorities. It has been said that the sacrifice of over a million Imperial soldiers is worth "one day's hive world production" in weapons and armour.
 * Population
 * Perhaps even more valuable is what at first glance seems to be a byproduct of the monolithic hive city's design. The population of any given world approximately doubles every 100 years. With each hive housing between 10 - 100 billion people and 5 - 20 hives per planet the sheer number of Imperial citizens on a hive world is staggering. And each of those citizens is a potential soldier for the Emperor's already unmatchably vast armies. Hives manufacture far more than mere steel and silica; they are vast factories for the most useful possible resource, people. Almost every recruit into the Imperial Guard from a hive world will already know how to handle a gun. Hive worlds also serve to populate newly discovered planets. Imperial citizens are gathered from various hive worlds (willingly or unwillingly) and shipped off to distant colonies first discovered by the Mechanicus' Explorator fleets.


 * In common with most other Imperial worlds, hive worlds are often based on a very obvious class system, with a ruling noble class and a bureaucratic middle class, although with populations so tightly packed there always develops a lower working class that often fuels violent street gangs. As can be expected, the upper classes are situated in the affluent upper areas of the hive, whilst the middle classes are situated in the middle areas,and the working classes are packed together in the lower areas. The very bottom sections of a hive city are often areas where the underclasses and criminals are sent to be forgotten about and obvious anarchy rules.

Some extensively developed hive worlds do not even consist of various enclosed arcologies surrounded by wasteland, jungle, ice, or plains. These hive worlds are completely urbanized and stacked with hundreds of layers of arcologies, covering the entirety of the planet, effectively becoming an ecumenopolis. Holy Terra is an example of this type of "super hive world".

For examples see: Scintilla, Baraspine, Fenksworld, Malfi, Prol IX, Tranch, Vaxanide, Medusa V, Armageddon, Holy Terra (where the whole planet is one hive), Necromunda and Verghast (from the Gaunt's Ghosts novels).

Cardinal Worlds

 * Cardinal worlds are Imperial planets ruled directly by the Ecclesiarchy and are completely dedicated to the worship of the Immortal Emperor according to the tenets of the Cult Imperialis, with Imperial sanctuaries potentially covering entire continents. Aside from being a center of the Ecclesiarchy's power and a destination for countless pilgrims of the Imperial Cult, they also serve as a base of operations for many orders of the Adepta Sororitas. One example is Ophelia VII, whose spiritual significance in the Imperial Cult is second only to that of Holy Terra.

Shrine Worlds

 * These worlds are dominated by the religion of the Imperial Cult and acts of devotion to the God-Emperor of Mankind. It may be that these places saw the birth of a famous saint or formed the battleground for a particularly important war. Often studded with temples and shrines, these worlds are frequently controlled by the Ecclesiarchy and may form training grounds for members of their Adeptus Ministorum and the Adepta Sororitas. There are also the dark mirrors to these places of Imperial devotion - fallen worlds where the heretical cultist inhabitants offer up ceaseless prayers to the Ruinous Powers of Chaos. These places of obscene sacrifices and bloody rites are not suffered continued existence for long by the Imperium. A shrine world can also be considered to fall into another category, for example Hagia is an agri-world while Herodor is a hive world. They will have a strong relationship with the saint connected to the planet in question, such as being the world of his/her birth or death or the site of a major miracle.

For examples see: Drusus Shrine World, Hagia and Herodor.

Cemetery worlds

 * Somewhat akin to shrine worlds are the cemetery worlds, where large areas of the planet are given over to care for the dead. Cemetery worlds may mark the site of a huge battle, or they may be covered in gigantic mausoleums each dedicated to a particular Imperial noble family. In contrast rare cemetery worlds may be covered in fields of endless modest plots containing the remains of the inhabitants of a nearby hive world.

Pleasure Worlds
Otherwise known as paradise worlds and sometimes as garden worlds, these holiday worlds are the playgrounds of the Imperial nobility. They tend to be of outstanding natural beauty and the population of such worlds are dedicated to pampering the important visitors they receive. Pleasure worlds are often very cultured places, and many have sections of their populace dedicated solely to producing works of art or music. Casino complexes, opulent restaurants and huge ballrooms are often found on such worlds. There is a darker side to pleasure worlds, particularly those who cater to the tastes of the more depraved guests they receive and pleasure worlds often host one or more cults dedicated to Slaanesh, the Prince of Pleasure. Some pleasure worlds contain large developing cities and other major settlements.

For examples see: Reth.

War Worlds
There are a great many worlds in the Imperium that can be classed as war zones. The Imperium is constantly at war and in those wars whole planets can burn. Massive campaigns can envelop dozens of star systems and hundreds of worlds, many of which are utterly devastated by orbital bombardments and artillery in planet-spanning battles that last decades. Long-term war zones are hellish places where death comes quickly. The Imperium can field truly immense armies of millions of men, grinding their way across a devastated planet and reducing cities to rubble. Mercenaries flock to such places, hoping to leave soon after with their ships loaded with pay and loot. Deserters and escaped prisoners form bands of pirates, preying on any starships unable to defend themselves or they roam the war-torn planets in feral packs stealing and killing. The Administratum sends colonists from overcrowded worlds to populate war-torn worlds after the fighting has ended but the bureaucratic wheels of the Imperium grind slowly and a world can lie devastated for centuries before any effort is made to resettle it. These places can be some of the most ghastly in the Imperium, with ravaged environments, cracked planetary crusts, burnt-out cities and plains covered in the bones of the fallen.

Dead Worlds
These worlds have minimal, even non-existent, life traces or biospeheres. This results from ecological catastrophe, devastating internecine war, Imperial or alien intervention or due to no known attributable cause. Dead worlds often occur naturally, as the unforgiving conditions of the universe mean the majority of planets are uninhabitable. Some, however, have been created in the long history of the Imperium by catastrophic events, including an Exterminatus order or a successful Tyranid invasion.

Ironically, some planets classified as dead worlds have been settled by various groups specifically for their properties. For example, several Space Marine fortress-monasteries are located on dead worlds because of their harsh conditions, desolation and defensive opportunities.
 * Tomb Worlds
 * Tomb Worlds are worlds that have Necron stasis tombs located on them (usually beneath them). Such worlds are often devoid of all life, the only known exceptions being Lorn V and Kronus. Dead Worlds that appear to be naturally occurring are often Tomb Worlds for the Necrons.

For examples see: Klybo.

Agri-worlds
Many planets in the Imperium, such as Forge Worlds and hive worlds, are completely incapable of sustaining the sheer number of people who live and work on them. To feed these people, as well as the vast armies of the Imperial Guard, many planets have been completely transformed into giant farms. Most of these planets have populations of less than 100 million people and possess only a few major cities. These farming planets, in their own way, are as vital to the Imperium as its hives. These planets are given over entirely to the production of food, which hive worlds cannot produce in sufficient quantities to keep their huge populations from starving. Many a world has whole continents given over to livestock or fields of crops. Some agri-worlds are covered in oceans teeming with fish and a few are far stranger - worlds covered in edible fungus, scoured by swarms of nutritious insects or are gas giants whose upper atmospheric layers are home to flocks of flying creatures. A few planets are used solely to provide clean water to nearby hive worlds. Agri-worlds are sometimes ruled directly by the Administratum, to help ensure that their produce is grown and harvested with maximum efficiency.

For examples see: Iocanthus, Dreah, Orbel Quill, Siculi, Spectoris.

Civilized Worlds
A civilized world is a planet whose development has been allowed to happen (for some time) "naturally", without any specific purpose to fulfill. These worlds are generally self-sufficient in terms of food-supply and have varying manufacturing and industrial capabilities. Many may be equivalent in culture and population levels to 21st Century Earth.

For example see: Gudrun and Volistad

Death Worlds
Planets which are too dangerous to support widespread human settlement are called death worlds. Types vary from world-wide jungles that harbour vicious carnivorous plants and animals to barren rockscapes strewn with volcanoes and wracked by ion storms. These worlds are near-impossible to colonize by humans. Nonetheless, many of these worlds have large human settlements, which are notable for the strength and self-reliance of their people. Many of the people of these worlds are inducted into the Imperial Guard, or recruited by the Space Marines, a fact which is often the sole reason for the continued habitation of those worlds. Some harbour rich mineral, vegetable, animal or gaseous resources that are of such value to the Imperium that a small human settlement will be maintained despite all the dangers.
 * Death Worlds and the Tyranids
 * It has been theorized by Imperial biologists of the Adeptus Mechanicus that many death worlds are the result of seeding by ancient advance fleets of the Tyranids. Many of the monstrous creatures inhabiting these worlds, such as the Kraken of Fenris and the Catachan Devil have many features in common with Tyranid organisms, and may in fact be descended from them. Left behind by the Hive Fleets that seeded these worlds and then moved on, these Tyranid species lost access to the Tyranid Hive Mind and so degenerated into unintelligent yet vicious animal species.

For examples see: Karrik, Catachan and Fenris.

Mining Worlds
These worlds are rich in one or more of the raw materials required by the Imperium's manufactoria and Forge Worlds. The people of mining worlds are likely to be slaves or penal workers of the Adeptus Arbites who live out their lives mining and transporting massive quantities of metallic ore, rock, minerals, frozen gases or some other useful or precious substance. Mining worlds tend to be rather inhospitable places, and many do not even possess a breathable atmosphere, though a few may support a greater variety of life and support developed cities and even city hives.

For examples see: Sephiris Secundus, Landunder, ND0/K4, Soryth.

Developing Worlds
These worlds are split into geographical areas with widely varying levels of advancement and culture. Depending on the prevailing governments, these might be countries, states, power blocks or tribal homelands. It may be the case that higher levels of technology and wealth are concentrated around original colonisation sites. Other planets might exhibit gross variations in culture due to environment, with areas weak in natural resources being similarly weak in terms of military power, economic muscle and so on. Some planets preserve a great divide due to ancient tribal taboos, religious notions or plain old-fashioned habit. A great many worlds of the Imperium fit into this broad category, but no two are alike in the way they realise these divides.

Quarantined Worlds
The existence of these planets is rarely made obvious but there are many of them throughout the Imperium. Travel to these worlds is forbidden except for the most well-informed and heavily armed expeditions, and even then only with a very good reason. Death worlds, alien empires or planets where the creatures of the Warp have broken through into realspace are all examples of quarantined worlds, as are planets wracked with plague. Some worlds are quarantined because no one can fathom the origins of what has been found there, be it mysterious artifacts or ancient alien cities - it is thought better to live in ignorance of what lies on such worlds than risk it becoming a threat. Other worlds are quarantined because every expeditionary mission there has failed to return. Planets are often quarantined by the pronouncements of Inquisitors, especially if they have uncovered some Warp taint or xenos infestation that cannot be cleansed. Many quarantined worlds possess great resources that would be extremely valuable to the Imperium if they were properly explored and exploited, but there are enough tales of ancient horrors awoken on sinister alien worlds that few adepts would try to defy a planetary quarantine.

Frontier Worlds
These worlds have only recently been discovered by the Imperium by Adeptus Mechanicus Explorator fleets or Rogue Traders and are home to a relatively small number of colonists. The Administratum may not have even had sufficient time to fully explore the world and set up an Imperial planetary government. Frontier worlds can be a refuge for those who want to escape from the repressive Imperial regime (for a time at least), though they can also be a destination for those who want to escape its justice too, and have a reputation for lawlessness and crime as a result.