Board Thread:Warhammer 40k General Discussion/@comment-108.204.111.160-20170205043409/@comment-15803608-20170611053207

Here's a rough estimate.

Humans (Imperium): In the Imperium, humanity is seen as the greatest species to exist. However this does not manifest in human rights or liberal democracy. The Imperium is constantly beset upon by threats from outside, and the general policy of the Imperial Government is to value the group (in this case the entire human race) over the individual. Your Planet is not worth more than the entire Human Race, and neither are You. The right to a trial, the presumption of innocence, checks and balances, freedom of speech, democracy, and any other rights you can think of have all been long swept away. The Government has absloute rule and you have no right to demand otherwise. Of course it also depends on rulers; some Planetary Governors try to care for their people, others see their people as a source of labor and income.

From there the quality of life depends on where you life; on Death Worlds and Feral Worlds there's a constant struggle against natural elements, on Forge Worlds and Hive Worlds and Mining Worlds you work in industrial jobs without ever seeing the sun or nature, on Shine Worlds you cater to tourists/pilgrims, on Pleasure Worlds and some Civilized Worlds life isn't all that bad. Generally Crime is rampant, there is a large class divide, the rich have it better than the poor, and religion is an important part of life (you HAVE to worship the God Emperor, all other religions and atheism are both punishable by summary execution). Family dynamics are usually simalar to present Earth: if you're not clergy or Space Marine then you marry and have children and so on. In the Imperium the religious belief is that when you die, if you served The Emperor and were loyal, then you go to The Emperor's Table upon death and get to live in a sort of Heaven/Valhalla for eternity.

Orks: In Ork Worlds and Ork Waaagh's, Might makes Right. Orks exist to fight and to kill, and any Ork who doesn't/can't do the former suffers the latter fate. Orks are generally eglitarian - a Waaagh forms when one Ork is strong enough for all the others to voluntarily band behind him, and if they don't like him or think him weak then they can simply leave or try to claim power for themselves. Orks do the actual fighting, Gretchins do all economic tasks (brewing beer, farming meat, etc), Snotlings do menial labor, and the currency is teeth and scraps. Orks don't have families, romance, or sexuality: they reproduce by spores from their skin when they die. Orks don't have any deep existental fear of death because they believe in reincarnation.

Necrons: You serve your Necron Lord to the letter, because you are programmed to and can't resist even if you desired to. You kill every single living thing on your world, then you go back down and go back to sleep again.

Tyranids: There's no "people" because the entire swarm is a single organism that eats everything, uses the biomass to make more of itself, then moves to the next galaxy.

Eldar (Craftworlds): You are expected to follow a rigid Path and to keep your emotions and feelings in check, because if you delve them to their full depths it will kill you and let Slaneesh kill several others. Just like in the Imperium, Craftworlds are totalitarian in adherence to their Farseers (I don't know how Farseers are chosen, but I'm guessing it's appointment rather than election or heredity). You are expected to sacrifice even yourself to save the craftworld and the species from extinction.

The eldar believe that upon death Slaneesh eats your soul. The only way to avoid this is with spiritstones, where you live in a sort of purgatory until your souls can combine to form the God of Death who can hopefully kill Slaneesh.

Eldar (Commorragh): You are out for yourself. You have to torture and hurt others to survive, as do everyone else. Endulge your wild fantasies and live every moment as if it's your last, because when you die you don't have a Spiritstone to save you. The only way for advancement is backstabbing. If you don't like it then your neighbors will kill you for being weak. Some - like Bechareth  - leave and become Craftworld Eldar, but they are exceedingly rare.

Chaos - If you gave yourself to Chaos then neither your Gods nor your Leaders care about you more than what you can do for them. They'll throw you away when useless, backstab you when convient, and use you as sacrifice if it suits them. Apart from that you'll go insane.