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Blatifagus

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Posts posted by Blatifagus

  1. Posted

    ak-73 said:

    Normally Blatifagus would be right. However, the DW Marines are supposed to be veterans or otherwise highly qualified already. I think they are granted much more independence than chapter marines. As such I suppose that they are allowed to choose their own loadout unless they demonstrate repeat inability to do so reasonably at which the good ol' Watch Captain is going to take over.

    Alex 

    Yes I play it just as you say. Deathwatch is a special breed of Marines. The team goes through the planning and discuss the equipment they might need to succeed. The planning phase is half the mission after all :)

    But as you say there Alex: repeat "offenders" would get the evil-eye from the Commander.

  2. Posted

    Siranui said:

    Blatifagus said:

     

    1. Unbalanced weapons loose that trait
    2. Balanced weapons gain +1 to damage
    3. Unwieldy weapons loose that trait and gain Unbalanced. But beware! If you fight with a Thunderhammer two-handed (without a Storm Shield) you are as affected by the concussing effect as your opponent!

     

     

     

    Not a bad approach. As for +1 damage being a bit 'meh', I'd perhaps recommend giving a +5% parry modifier rather than a damage bonus. The extra hand offers more control, not more power.

    I was thinking that the hammer's and axe's handel lend itself well to widely spaced hands andthus increased control of the weapon, where as the sword's hilt doesn't improve the balance of the sword if wielded in two hands. You'd be able to put more force into the blow with a two-handed grip on a sword though. Admittedly that's true with a topp-heavy hammer or axe as well, but that increase (the "meh" +1) is already kind of included in the +2 i give axes to begin with. They hit with more force but are harder to wield as per their design.

    (I beg your pardon if my reasoning is gramatically flawed and hard to follow. English is not my native language)

  3. Posted

    ak-73 said:

    Ahem in old Rogue Trader 40K it was a Level 2 Psy Power with which you could make one enemy piece of gear go malfunctioning. It could be anything from a gun to an entire vehicle. And all that just for a few Psy Points. At a very good range (20 inches or so?). Yeah RT 40K was quite unbalanced.

    Alex

    Ah! I stand corrected. The old table top Rogue Trader. I'm not geared towards multi-processing game terms today it seems.

    You are ofcourse correct.

  4. Posted

    I haven't personally encountered this behaviour in my players (yet... in this game), since most of them are 40k aficionadi, but as staded in this and other threads throughout the forum, the Astartes wargear are sacred! The Astartes (and not to mention the Quartermasters) wont treat their equipment as mere tools. They are holy relics handed down through the millenia to safeguard the human race from the horrors of the galaxy and beyond. You wont see any moslem remove the Black Stone from Kaaba just because it would be more accessible and convenient would you? It's simply not done since it would be a blasfemy. Same thing with wargear. There are things you can do according to tradition and procedures and there are things you could but wont since it's simply wrong to do it.

    The requisition rules are just a RP-mechanic to let players customise their characters a bit. How it (probably) works "for real" is that the Marines get briefed on the mission then handed their gear. No choices. No bickering. No "I think I'll go with twin stormbolters with chainsword attachments, motion predictors and auxiliary grenade launchers on this mission. Throw in a jump pack as well. Thanks." Nope. They just take what they're given, say a prayer to the Emperor and make the best of what they got.

    With Signature wargear it's a different story. That (single) piece of equipment is the marine's own and he can do what ever he want with it (within reason, se above) to personalise it. And he will treat it as an intimate friend and maybe even the only lover he'll ever know.

     

  5. Posted

    ak-73 said:

     

    Ah, that reminds me of the good old Jinx Psy Power... what was it... level 2 or level 3? Fun but totally imba.

     Alex

     

     

    IIRC it's a minor power obtainable at the very start of the Psyker's career.

    Extremely useful tool to tell power hungry and over-'borged players that they're not invincible.

    Overpowered? No not really. But the really fun thing is that a frightened nascent psycher child could potentially hold an entire kill-team frozen in their malfunctioning power armour while they slowly suffocate (their helmets wont open to let in air since they're... malfunctioning) unless someone make that "impossible" strength test to move and remove his helmet and show the poor kid that they ARE human underneath their frightening visage.

    I've also used it to teach a psychopathic techpriest (one of my players who always, always, start down that path no matter what) a harsh lesson in humility.

  6. Posted

    I house-rule axes (when not on the lists) to have +2 damage compared to swords and Unbalanced instead of Balanced.

    I also have a house-rule that states that when fighting two-handed with a one-handed weapon the following apply:

    1. Unbalanced weapons loose that trait
    2. Balanced weapons gain +1 to damage
    3. Unwieldy weapons loose that trait and gain Unbalanced. But beware! If you fight with a Thunderhammer two-handed (without a Storm Shield) you are as affected by the concussing effect as your opponent!

    @Santiago - I gave the Thunderhammer the same "double the SB" trait as the Power Glove. I felt it was ridiculous without it.

  7. Posted

    (Warning! This post may contain sarcasm.)

    I've always imagined the Codex Astartes as a single book written by "Robot Girly-Man" himself.

    To me it's like a mix of The Art of War, Regulus Benedicti (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rule_of_Saint_Benedict) and the Junior Woodchucks Guidebook.

    Hundreds of pages on every tactical possibility? Not very practical in the field or even for teaching recruits. A vast reference library of essays and in-depth-analysis with contributions from thousands of veterans will most certainly exist in every Chapter-house, but it's not The Codex.

    But who am I to say. GW is throwing "book physics" out the window on a regular basis. Take the Grey Knights' Liber Daemonicum for example

    "The Liber Daemonicum (aka Libra Daemonicus1) is the Grey Knight Chapter's sacred book of battle rituals. It contains prayers, rituals, litanies, funeral rites, and Chaos lore collected from the Librarium Daemonica, the repository of dangerous knowledge pieced together by the Ordo Malleus over the millennia. Each Grey Knight fights with a copy of the book displayed in a beautifully decorated ceramite case fastened to his breastplate or hanging from a chain around his neck. It contains exactly 666 words." (from Lexicanum)

    At first glance it looks like your average mighty tome of lore. Prayers, rituals, hymns, funeral rites and lore on the forces of Chaos! Lots and lots of information. But then you read "...exactly 666 words". WHAT? Thats not a tome! It's a friggin' pamphlet! The Grey Knights are the 42nd millenium version of the Jehova's Witnesses armed with the latest issue of The Watchtower! (no disrespect for any Witnesses reading this intended)

    So... If you want your version of the Codex Astartes to house several hundred pages of advice on every single tactical eventuality, complete information of every aspect of the Astartes heraldry and life within a single (non electronic) book that every marine can carry around in a belt-pocket, feel free. It wont break the canon.

  8. Posted

    N0-1_H3r3 said:

    It's worth remembering that the Deathwatch in the Jericho Reach aren't part of the Achilus Crusade; their goals, duties and objectives are often beneficial to the Crusade, but that doesn't prevent the Deathwatch having an agenda that may clash with the intent of part or all of the Crusade.

    A Kill-Team's duty is to the Deathwatch; whether or not that benefits the Crusade is irrelevant.

    True. The Deathwatch may have an agenda and plans for the planet of their own in conflict with the crusade. In that case the Deathwatch marines will ofcourse follow the DW orders and not that of the crusade. But the marines (players) would by necessity know of that agenda beforehand. It'd have to be a direct order/briefing stating that they have to "oppose" the forces of the Imperium (but not necessarily why though).

    But then again this is a RPG played to have fun and tell stories of our own. The GM may use whatever elements of narative he/she chooses to spin the tale. I was just being anal about the brainwashing of the Astartes. :)

  9. Posted

    As stated above, the Aurans might be prime some specimen of humans and would seem to be "wasted on mere Imperial Guard" enlistment. But so is the Catachans and the Cadians.

    Nah. This is an example of 20:th century white-man guilt about the various native tribes exploited and opressed in the name of [name of ruler/religion] or "progress". The Imperium has no such guilt and neither does the average Marine.

    As a player I can't help getting sympathetic feelings for the Aurans but would my character (the rock-hearted, fanatical Black Templar that has been involved in three Extermitaus "treatments" and slaughtered millions of humans in his crusade to eradicate heretics) even pause to think twice about this one backwater planet no matter how pastoral it might be?

    If a crusade of the Imperium is in need of resources the Marines will help said crusade to obtain them and Emperor **** anyone who gets in their way.

  12. Posted

    Agreed.

    And besides... The Imperium isn't politically correct in any way.

    • It is ruled by an all powerful junta (in the name of an allegedly divine dictator) that treat the citizens like natural resources.
    • There are NO female Marines!
    • Racism is a way of life and a highly priced (nay, essential!) personal trait

    I can go on and on. But the point is that anything non-demonic that's not human is food or fertilizer.

    I wouldn't give the marines insanity for eating their foes. Not even for eating humans.

    Eating anything touched by the Warp on the other hand...

  14. Posted

    ... and I would say "No". The shriek isn't a power that controls or clouds the mind.

    You wouldn't be able to Compel a genestealer or to Dominate it. Nor would you be able to use See Me Not against it. But the Telepathic Shriek I would allow (unless the characters are under the Hive Fleet's "shadow" ofcourse)

  15. Posted

    Honn said:

    Now this question isn't quite as stupid as it sounds :)

    I know how Requisition works in general (or so I think, I have just read it once), but I noticed that starting characters will hardly be able to get any gear save for what they start with because of the Renown-requirements. Yet you still will have somewhere around 70 Requisition each in most missions. What does a Rank 1 Marine actually spend all that Requisition on? A truck full of extra Heavy Bolters? Or is the answer simply "nothing" untill the character gainst some more Renown.

    Yes, the simple answer is "nothing".

    But specialty ammo and the odd pieces of gear will ofcourse be requisitioned. Probably nowhere near 50 though.

  17. Posted

    Eventhough it doesn't explicitly say so in the RAW I'd say that they are restricted to one shot.

    p. 147 say that the plasma weapons on maximum setting "requires a short time to replenish the plasma back to firing levels" and that they get the Recharge and Overheats qualities.

    The Recharge quality states that a weapon can only fire once every other round, so I'd say that two shots in one round is a no-no.

     

  18. Posted

    Bilateralrope said:

    Do you really need to describe exactly what he looks like ?

    If I was in your position I'd just describe him as an Ultramarine librarian. Maybe mention that he follows the codex* closer than anyone else they have seen in Deathwatch. If that isn't enough, ask them what they think he should look like after he shows up.

    *It must be noted that the entire structure of Deathwatch has major differences to the codex. To the point that I'd say that the Deathwatch is the chapter with the most variations from the codex astartes.

    Yes. I do "need" to describe him in great detail. It's all part of the larger plot. This character will make frequent apperances in the campain and (without giving out to much information in case my players will read this) when I describe the details of his gear I'll make some subtle changes that the players might notice. Those changes will ofcourse have a meaning.

    I, and one of the other players (that are our groups other GM), like to use these kind of "Sherlock Holmes" type of clues in the missions. Sometimes they get noticed and sometimes they don't. The dice are usually reserved for do-or-die moments in our games.

  20. Posted

    ItsUncertainWho said:

    My view is that a standard attack can be either a full round or half round action, some attack actions just taking longer to execute than others. 

    Making a full auto attack into a half action, thanks to suspensors, should not magically make a full auto attack something different than a normal attack and allow a psychic power to be used in the same round. That's just silly.

    I understand and I agree. A full autoburst takes just as much time and concentration to execute no matter how many gravplates you strap onto your peashooter. The Half action thingy is just to show that you now can take a Move action as well. Kinda.

    ItsUncertainWho said:


    K is just being difficult and exercising his inner munchkin.

    Yes. We all got one of those, don't we?
    It has to be fed and taken out for a walk once in a while if we want to keep it.

    But back to the OT.
    I'm not convinced that the Focus Power action should be equal with the Standard Attack action. Because it doesn't make any sense!

    In DH it might (kinda) make sense because most powers take the same amount of "time" to execute. But in DW we now have some powers that are Free actions to activate. Short and Long-range telepathy for example. Why wouldn't a librarian be able to use it while shooting? It's even explicitly written that those powers are Free to sustain so it's virtualy effortless and roughly the same as a regular conversation.

    And it's a Focus Power (free)action to utilise a Force weapons special power, but if a Focus Power rolls equal a standard attack you can't use it.

    You see what I mean?

    I'm not concerned that the librarians will be overpowered if they can shoot and cast "spells" at the same time. The whole concept of marines is overpowered! It's what makes this particular RPG so cool! How often can you START as one of the mightiest heroes in an entire GALAXY!?

    And to finally answer the good Kommisars original question: No. I wouldn't allow a librarian to cast Smite while shooting full auto with a heavy bolter (telepathy would be OK though) since Full auto is a Full action originally. The "extra" half action is reserved for Movement only!

    That's how I rule things in my campain anyway, and NO amount of forum arguments will EVER sway me! gui%C3%B1o.gif

  21. Posted

    decPL said:

    ItsUncertainWho said:

     

    I have to disagree.

    ...

    You cannot use more than one of these types of actions in a round.

     

     

    Any chance to quote any Deathwatch rule behind that or refer to the specific page? Not that I'm saying it doesn't make sense, I'm just wondering if it's RAW.

    No. No chance for a quote, since it's not in the book.

    But p. 236 do say that you can't make the same action twice (standard attack, knock-down, move...) in the same turn and that the subtypes (attack, melee, concentration...) "don't do anything in of themselves".

    There's nothing in the RAW that say that you can't make two actions with the subtype attack in the same turn (i.e. you can Feint and make a Standard attack in the same turn!)

  22. Posted

    ak-73 said:

     

    Lexicanum:

    "Sergeants, Captains and Librarians have different versions to identify their status. Those awarded with the Crux Terminatus often wear smaller versions when they fight in power armour, often hanging them from banners, weapons and belts. It is also usual for them to paint this symbol onto the knee or shin plates of their standard power armour."

    I have checked WD 129 and confirm the last statement - although it might be outdated.

    Furthermore:

    "A Terminator captain is among the most highly skilled and experienced warriors humanity has ever produced. In recognition of their achievements, these Marines are allowed the honour of wearing a distinctive badge that incorporates fragments of the Emperor's armour."

    Alex

    Ah, I see. I've missed that only captains get the relic ones.

    But still... All sources say that on the Terminator Armour the Crux Terminatus (be it the standard stone, silver or relic one) is located on the left shoulder.
    While wearing his regular power armour, the marine is free to wear the symbol as a pendand, belt clasp, banner, paintjob, piercing or not at all as he please though.

  23. Posted

    As i read the RAW it works like this:

    There are four types of actions (p. 236) you can make in a turn. Full, Half, Reaction and Free.
    You can take 1 Full action or 2 (different) Half actions and 1 Reaction each turn (and one or more Free actions at GMs aproval).

    There are a bunch of subtypes that "... don't do anything in of themselves, but they are used to clarify what a character is and is not allowed to do in a variety of special cicumstances." 
    For example:

    • You can't charge if you can't move since that Full action (type) have the Movement subtype.
    • You can't use the Grapple action (Half or Full type) if you're not in Melee (subtype) range
    • You can't use the Aim action (Half or Full type) if you can't concentrate (Concentration subtype)
    • And you obviously can't use any action that has the Attack subtype if you don't have a target to use it on!

    A Standard Attack action is of the Half-action type with the Attack and Melee or Ranged subtypes (table 8-1 on p. 237)
    This means that you can use this action once in a round, on an opponent that are within your weapons striking range.

    In the same round you can use the Knock-Down action (a different Half action) if you have a target (Attack subtype) that is within melee range.

    And you can also, in the same round, use the Focus Power action to use Long-Range Telepathy, since it is a Free action.

    Therefore a Librarian is absolutelly able to Smite a foe while shooting another, but he can't use psychic powers at all while shooting anything on full auto since that's a Full action. He can't even sustain psychic powers since that requires a Half action.

    I hope that I've been able to clear this up a bit.

  24. Posted

    I just noticed a piece of artwork in the rulebook (p. 314) that shows a Stormwarden librarian blasting a bunch of orks with... smite or something.
    Anyway... His left arm is clearly the ornate left arm of the Deathwatch and his right shoulder sport the chapter heraldry. His chest have the horned skull, but his armour looks blue? Or is it just lighting effects since the arm looks golden?

    On a second note... I'm not really comfortable with the Crux Terminatus badge moving around. It's not just an honor badge, it's a holy relic with a piece of the Emperors armour. Not just some medal to flaunt. But that's for the actual Crux on the Tactical Dreadnaught Armour, not the simulacrum to wear on your regular suit, mind.

    If a Deathwatch terminator armour is primed (which I'm partly sceptical about since the suits are something the chapters most likelly WONT lend to the DW concerning their scarcity/sanctity) I'd say that although the left arm/shoulder is ornamented and silverplated the Crux Terminatus is right there on the left shoulder and the Deathwatch heraldry sported on the chest (to leave the original Chapter heraldry untouched as per the regulations)

  25. Posted

    gruntl said:

    With the RAW each RF will then allow another attack roll to be made that can add an additional hit. And since also these attacks can be RFs the final conclusion is that there is no upper limit to the damage done on hordes (which is true for all damage rolls in DH/RT/DW).

    Nope. Not so.

    p. 245 states that "[a natural 10] calls for a second attack roll that is identical, all modifiers included, to the original attack. If that second attack hits, the attacker may make an additional Damage roll and add it to the Damage total."

    That means that although you make another attack roll, you don't land an additional hit.
    The damage is unlimited, but the number of hits aren't.

    Therefore: Even though a lascannon have the potential of truly ridiculous amounts of damage against xenos as per the RAW (Deathwatch training gives auto RF), it's next to useless against hordes since it only hit one ork (for, say 245 points of damage to the ork but only 1 damage to the magnitude)

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