Dark Heresy, a role-playing game set in the grimdark universe of Warhammer 40,000, often features the sprawling, labyrinthine environments of Hive Cities as central locations for its campaigns. Hive Cities are gargantuan, self-contained urban environments that tower miles into the sky and plunge deep into the planet’s crust, housing billions of souls within their towering spires, massive manufactorums, and teeming slums. They are the epitome of the Imperium’s industrial might and social stratification, where the wealthy and powerful live in relative luxury high above, while the poor and downtrodden toil and struggle in the oppressive depths.
A Hive City is a microcosm of the Imperium itself, a place where the extremes of wealth and poverty, power and subjugation, are starkly visible. The upper levels, known as the Spires, are home to the aristocracy, high-ranking members of the Adeptus Terra, and influential Rogue Traders. These spires are resplendent with gothic cathedrals, luxurious estates, and the headquarters of powerful trading houses. Life here is privileged, but also fraught with political intrigue, as the wealthy vie for power and influence in the shadow of the Imperium’s oppressive laws.
Beneath the Spires, the Hive City descends through layers of industry and habitation, each level growing progressively more decrepit and dangerous. The mid-levels, or “Mid-Hive,” are the domain of the working class, where vast manufactorums churn out weapons, armor, and other goods to fuel the Imperium’s endless wars. Life here is one of endless toil, where servitude to the Imperium is enforced by the iron hand of the Adeptus Arbites and local enforcers. Gangs often control large swathes of these levels, and their turf wars can be as deadly as any battlefront.
At the very bottom lies the Underhive, a sprawling, lawless region where the dregs of society eke out a brutal existence. Here, the Imperium’s influence is weak, and survival depends on cunning, strength, and the favor of the right gangs or cults. The Underhive is a breeding ground for heresy, where the light of the Emperor is dim, and whispers of dark gods and forbidden knowledge can lure the desperate and the damned. It is here that Inquisitors often find their quarry—heretics, mutants, and other threats to the Imperium hide in the shadows, making the Underhive a perilous hunting ground.
In Dark Heresy, a campaign set in a Hive City provides a rich and complex environment for storytelling. Investigations can take Acolytes from the opulent courts of the Spire, through the sweat and grime of the Mid-Hive, down into the dark and deadly depths of the Underhive. Every layer of the Hive offers different challenges—whether it’s uncovering a conspiracy among the nobility, dismantling a cult in the manufactorums, or surviving the deadly trials of the Underhive. The Hive City is a character in its own right, a living, breathing entity where billions live, work, fight, and die, all under the oppressive gaze of the Imperium and the constant threat of Chaos.