Now that I think of it, I guess the best would be to present what I have so far. 'Ere we go: Chaplain trials for the Black Templar player Trial 1: Rituals and Lore (also partly Fellowship) Quest-giver: Salamander Termie Chaplain Kotar (blatantly stolen from the cover of First Founding, because awesome picture) a) Write Litanies of Hatred for all major enemy factions. It's ready. Player seemed to enjoy creating them, so I might throw in other lists (exhort each speciality in the Kill-Team with a small speach/litany, exalt one typical deed of each Loyal Primarch or somesuch) b) Study the history of ancient heroes in the DW in Erioch and motivate the kill-team or allies with these stories during a mission - tEC background fluff will be heavily used. Trial 2: Willpower Quest-giver: Chaplain Magno Stoan, Imperial Fists (FF p. 55) a) I figured other Sons of Dorn would be the best choice to present this type of challenge, and if a Fist tests WP, there's only one way to do it: the Pain Glove. It's presented above, and still needs some fine-tuning, but for the sake of completeness: an extended Willpower test, ranging probably from +30 to -30, bonuses apply, in case of failure character gets some Insanity b) A Subplot lifted from AoLS p. 97: Adamant. The Battle-Brother must pass all Willpower Tests (of any kind) he attempts during the mission. Will be used during Trial 3. Trial 3: Exemplary Deeds Quest-giver: Chaplain Jorge Martinez, Crimson Fists (HtC, p. 59) This will be the choppy sub-plot, I'll send him after some significant enemy of the DW. Might be a Daemon to mess a bit with his WP tests (see Trial 2), or possibly someone guarding a lost relic, I still have some time to decide. Here he might earn a Mark of Distinction. So, seeing the full picture, what do you think? I'd like to hear your opinion. Edit: there's also the piece of fluff in RoB, where it says "Once a Deathwatch Chaplain takes his vows he will seldom see his old Chapter again, instead giving himself entirely to the Long Vigil and the duties of the Deathwatch." The trial probably needs to include something to highlight the weight of this choice, but I have no idea yet what it could be.

First of all, you raise good points, I didn't factor in the possibility of the characters actually failing the test. My problem with the proposed approach stems from how I pictured the trials in question: For most of the trial sequences, I have in mind a few "off-screen" tests of existing skills and talents. These trials can be taken any number of times (but, say, only once between encounters) until the character passes them. Examples: An extended Willpower test for the Chaplain in the Pain Glove, with varying modifiers. In case of failing the test, I'll chalk up a few Insanity points. An extended Crafting test for the Techmarine to create his own artificer armour (which later becomes his standard issue). I'll have to think about what happens if he fails. It's not fixed yet, but possibly an extended Forbidden Lore test for the Libby. It takes a minimal time per player to do these, and so far I generally gave out more or less the same amount of XP to players (mostly sticking to the Core's proposed ~500 XP for 4 hrs of playtime), using the Renown system to reward characters. Now, not every player goes for an Advanced Speciality yet, and the Libby still has to wait till Rank 5 to apply. I have five players, so I can't give enough limelight in the form of tests to the two aspirants ready to go in order to rack up enough XP to buy a Mark of Distinction (which is 1000+ XP at the cheapest, meaning at least 8 hours of play, one complete session, for each). I still plan a minor sub-plot as a part of the tests for each, and here to offer a MoD to the central player makes perfect sense (I've been looking for ways to introduce those, and your proposal seems to be the solution), but generally I do feel that allowing some of the advances from the AS tables can be used to represent a period of apprenticeship. Now that I gave it some thought, I'm not particularly bothered by a possible gap, I'll just think of the few advances prematurely taken as Elite Advances, with the extra cost already paid in form of the prerequisite cost of the Advanced Speciality.

You will certainly need something - a leitmotif, if you will - to establish the continuous identity of the foe, especially if you plan to make drastic and visible changes to the physical appearance. This might range from a single catchphrase or some constant physical mark to a very detailed modus operandi. For the first few missions, I assume you want to keep the players in the dark regarding the true nature of their foe, so you might want to think about how to initially present the beast. This could add some additional insight to her character (I'm also assuming you will initially keep him/her/it a relatively human-looking female, as in the book) - if the first few appearances are that of a spyre hunter, the group will assume she's driven by a relatively simple emotional package (boredom, killing for killing's sake, quest for perfection etc.), while if she impersonates an Inquisitor at first, the players will suspect a grand conspiracy and act accordingly. I'd also try to send the players down a spiral of suspicion, frustration and paranoia in the first third or so - for example, the targets they're sent to assassinate or apprehend are invariably found dead by the time they get there. That makes the case personal, and also a matter of honour. The constantly changing nature of the enemy would be, in my book, a mid-campaign revelation, after the players realised it is the same NPC foiling their plans every time, and know enough to try to arrest or ambush her. That could, in turn, make the NPC feel she has a personal stake in this all, and in the middle third she could toy actively with the kill-team, while they're shocked by the continuous change, and would be forced to utilise their contacts and assets. to gear up to the great showdown.

One of my groups recently crossed the Rank 4 threshold with some XPs to spare, and most of them are thinking about picking up an advanced speciality. I have a (Templar) Chaplain, a (Salamander) Forge Master and a (BA) Epistolary already in the pipeline, and the two undecided players are contemplating picking Keeper and First Company Veteran, respectively. The way I see it, this is too good an opportunity to ignore in order to enhance the role-playing aspect of my campaign, so I decided to go down the following route: I will let them spend the XP and gain access to certain advancements and special abilities (decided by me on a case-by-case basis), but I'll withhold most of the goodies for now. To get access to all the aspects of the Speciality, I plan to create trials (presented by the senior officers of the speciality in question), and only after all of those are cleared will the player be truly elevated from an aspirant to full Chaplain/Epistolary/whatever status. The nature of the trials revolve around three main elements. One is the prerequisites list of the Speciality: a Chaplain needs WP 45+ and Fel 40+, so he'll get a trial based on Willpower and one themed around Fellowship. The second is the personality and Chapter of the introduced NPC senior officers: to stay with the example of the Chaplain, one introduced ranking officer is a Fist, so pain gloves will feature in the players WP trial. The third is pretty much a wildcard: an amalgam of the Chapter beliefs and available background fluff for the chosen speciality - for the Chaplain it involved writing up unique Litanies of Hate (fortunately the player is fully on board and very much involved). The advantages I hope I'll get from this are more quality RP, as the players are forced to get to know and use the practices and tenets of the cult or secret society they choose, the feeling of achievement on the players' side, and to a lesser degree a multitude of plot hooks I can introduce rather easily this way. Now, after the rather long-winded explanation, my question: Did any of you use something similar? If yes, what elements, to what effect? What do you think could be a good trial for a Techmarine or a Librarian (both on the field or back in the Watch Fortress)? Do you possibly recall any background material detailing such an elevation in a Loyalist Space Marine environment? As you can see, the Chaplain route is already partially fleshed out, as I slowly compiled a rather large GW and BL reference collection - an appreciative audience does wonders, after all. I'd appreciate a few pointers or ideas regarding the other trials though, to make the process feel more vivid.

Hordes also make ranged attacks equal to the first digit of their Magnitude - IIRC there's no hard cap on this particular value. They can also make melee and ranged attacks in the same round, although I'm not entirely sure those attacks can be made against the same opponent. A Magnitude 19 Horde is still a very effective meatshield to protect the main enemies. Alternatively tarpitting the Marines also does wonders when they're in a hurry to get up close and personal with a big hitter.

What I find absolutely vexing is that there's a rules clarification guy still theoretically available, but the Errata is not updated. The game would be so much more accessible for all involved if all the known issues and typos and omissions and the like were just simply collected and made available in one document, instead of hunting down Tim's answers as quoted in herichimo's and others' comments case by frigging case. Do we actually know why FFG won't touch it? That said, I would gladly pay for a new edition with an actually useful, reworked Imperial Fists design.

It's rarely necessary to have a horde that big, although with Orks or 'nids in certain cases it might be justified. Either way, the splitting-regrouping mechanics described in MotX allow for a much more flexible approach. And the panic on the players' faces when being seriously mauled by a Horde of Gaunts is priceless

No big deal, today was an awfully slow day at work Re-reading never hurts, I still keep discovering new minor stuff after years as a GM, not to mention those rules that appear to have a different meaning every time you read them (looking at you, great big tangled mess of healing )

Is there something in particular you need the page reference of? Ork Boyz: Mark of the Xenos, p. 57 Magnitude bonus: Core, p. 360, Damage Caused by Hordes Overwhelming: Core, p. 133 Brutal Charge: Core, p. 130 Hordes in general: Core pp.359-360 More traits, tactics: Mark of the Xenos, pp. 130-136 Some elements of the Core description are subject to Errata, check p. 6 If you have any questions, ask away.

Yeah, I too have a sudden urge to sneak them into my next adventure after reading these numbers

One correction: Magnitude bonus is maximum +2d10 (see Core p.360). Overwhelming adds an additional +1d10 as long as the Magnitude is above 20, and Brutal Charge adds +1d10, but only when the horde actually charges. That's a still hefty 5d10+7 in the round the Orks charge, and goes down to 4d10+7 when they continue in melee. This damage is still quite something, but it fits the fluff, and I'd say it's also richly deserved by any character standing in front of an Ork charge and not doing much else.

As someone who had to suffer through 6 years of obligatory Latin in high school, and then some during the uni days, the words "Astra Militarum" made me discover my inner autist for the first time. Despite honestly hating all those classes and considering most of them a waste of time, the new name makes me cringe soooo hard I just want to cover my ears and sing "I can't hear you" over and over. Other Dog Latin in 40k is easy to ignore as it only comes up rarely, but the poor Guard is everywhere. It's kinda weird to discover I have actual emotions associated with the topic of Latin, but it turns out I am a weak man I fervently hope that if when the big bosses at GW decide they want to have more names they can copyright, they leave "High Gothic" alone

Mine's going strong too. It's mostly a once-in-a-month Saturday afternoon affair, so progress is slow sometimes, but we're picking up people steadily. I already have a second group created to be the guinea pigs to my GMing experiments, and I sure hope I don't have to start a third. I picked up a rather inquisitive player (engineer playing Techmarine, a tough challenge), so I'll too be definitely more active here in the future.

Mooks are annoying enough if you use Hordes smartly. Overlapping fields of fire, using covers, flanking, heavy weapons, shielding bosses - you choose.

What about the Tyranid Biomorph modifications from MotX? List them and add randomly Venom Sacs and Adrenaline Glands and the like between encounters.

It is a topic which comes up all too often in connection with DW. Of course the role-playing aspect mostly depends on what the players want from the game (yay, Captain Obvious!), but in my case it could be instigated by giving them lots of marine-on-marine interactions, mostly within the walls of Erioch. Just the splatbooks contain around 60 or so named SM NPCs, most with their own agendas, and a place where the usual beginner's toolbox of violence, threat of violence, abuse of real or perceived authority and browbeating people simply won't work. DW internal politicking can easily bring players to develop personal likes, dislikes and agendas. Now that leitmotif can be expanded to include Crusade leadership, Inquisition or other powerful entities. Case in point: Ebongrave and part 1 of Rising Tempest - my team so utterly botched the mission that they were forced to develop their characters in reaction to how they were suddenly well-known and infamous and subsequently many NPCs had strong opinions about, and plans for them. Another similar event in my other DW group, spontaneously developed in this case, led to the characters honestly wanting to off each other (Templar and Minotaur catches Flesh Tearer libby drinking blood, during a Khornate battle no less, events stop them from executing him right away, now he drags the team from battlezone to battlezone as the leader to avoid having to present the report to their Watch-Captain). This leads to high quality roleplay as they try to out-manoeuvre each other step by step, gathering allies to their cause, but also bonding during situations where cooperation is needed in order to survive. The extreme internal strife admittedly needs very mature roleplayers, but it's really fun to run. Also, it's been a while, good to be back.

I already wrote this up somewhere in a different thread, but I really like the idea of ships fusing together sideways and upside-down, with differently functioning gravity fields. Even if someone remembers to activate the magboots (thus avoiding the dreaded falling damage), it can play all kinds of havoc like unfastened objects suddenly falling "upwards" when crossing a doorway to a different ship and having the floor suddenly becoming the ceiling. Add ceiling tiles which are metal, but not exactly designed to hold the 200+ Kg of a fully armed SM, and you can have some nice surprises - including various Ag tests.

I second that.

While brain-eating is cool, I gave my players a few Insanity and Corruption points here and there after devouring the brain of millenia-old Chaos SMs. Witnessing the Emperor himself walking the battlefield during the Great Crusade: -10 CP. Witnessing everything after: +20 CP My problem is that there's this one guy who just itches to try out the Primarch's Curse and welcomes every single Insanity Point. I have to figure out something quick.

Are we talking about Saturdays in general, or the upcoming one in particular?

I'd gladly chip in, too. Where do you want go get the contributions? In the thread? Edit: Also, a vehicle's completion or death can be announced by a Techmarine voice easily - after all, he's in charge of delivering them to the battlefield and repair or salvage them, like you said. So right off the top of my head I imagine something like this: Unit_Complete1: The sacred incantations and benedictions are complete. Unit_Complete2: The venerable machine spirit is now ready to make war. Death1: The sacred machine spirit has done its duty to Him on Terra. Have you?

Lore boundaries are always kind of flexible, and it is especially so in the case of the Deathwatch, where specialist positions cannot always be filled with perfect candidates. If a player decides to roleplay being an apprentice (or just a trusted ally) to a Chaplain, Forge Master or Librarian, and he does it well, finishing a few tough mission at the NPC's behest, I might consider giving access to normally unobtainable Lore skills. Chapter Secrets are not necessarily the domain of the Reclusiam. Logically, it could just as well be be guarded by the Librarium, but ultimately it rather depends on the nature of the secret.

Space Marine melee sidearms (DW's combat blades) in Black Library materials are frequently referred to as 'gladius' - that is, a bona fide shortsword. If you introduce the weapon describing it as a sturdy shortsword instead of a flimsy-looking knife, it might help immersion. It admittedly won't change the rules, but every little help counts.

If that's what it takes for good times to be had And of course, I'm itching to try how Daemon Princes work as a horde

That goes without saying, if one of my players ever petitions for anything like this, he's in for a world of pain. But face it, subtlety is not really Deathwatch's thing, it's all about good-natured but unapologetic power gaming.