musungu
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Posts posted by musungu
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Either we're thinking of a different inquisitors( I'm thinking of a not baddie one ) or you just spoiled something to me
I should stop reading these forums until I've read all w40k books (haha). But the idea is still great for a shoot first, ask later KT. That's really gonna be a pain in the ass for them!Sorry, hasn't thought of that. I'll be more careful in the future, promise
The spoiler is fairly minor, won't ruin the book, and I'm not saying which, no, sir -
There actually is an official method, see the screen in the GM's Toolkit: there's a Multiple Hits from Semi and Full Auto Fire table on the third page.
EDIT: Ehh, I replied without letting what I read sink in. So what Kshatriya said.
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As for the original topic: in one of the Cain novels, the baddie Inquisitor has a displacement field, which was a short-range teleport, activating automatically when the holder was shot. It is not that clever, but one might use the idea when in a pinch.
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In FFG's version of the setting, the Deathwatch is merely allied to the Inquisition, rather than being a part of it, so unless the group has houseruled this part of the background, an Inquisitor would not have command authority over the player characters.
I really, really hate this fluff change. A lot.
If a DW superior orders the Kill-Team to cooperate with or refer to Inquisitor So-and-so in some matter, then it is an order, period. How the DW leadership and the resident Inquisitor plays it out before reaching a conclusion needn't concern mere Battle-Brothers. That said, I do miss the opportunity to have an obnoxious Inquisitor with absolute authority pushing the team to its limits, like in the short stories.
Oh incidentally you might try the old reverse psychology. Just have the Chaos Sorcerer walk camly towards them arms wide laughing saying 'Yes YES! Shoot me Shoooooot Meeeee!'.
PCs can either take him in for questioning which would be the obvious thing to do.
OR
If they call the Sorcerers bluff and kill him then congratulations they have completed the final part in a Chaos martydom deamon ritual opening a door to the warp. Throw a Great Unclean One and a dozen plauge bearers at them for their troubles. The next group might decide to ask questions first.
If I recall it correctly, the legendary Adept Grendel routinely massacred Chaos cultists in the middle of a ritual, only to make Khorne mightily pleased, and send in a higher-tier daemon
The image of a sorcerer taunting the team to kill him using the high-pitched cultist voice from DoW (Yesss, they come! THEEEEY COOOOME!) is something I just have to see in action. I shall name the Khornate Daemon something beginning with Q in gratitude for providing the inspiration -
You can always rely on NPC Dark Angel Epistolary Zadkiel from the Jericho Reach supplement, p. 20. for plot hooks. A Deathwing veteran in the Deathwatch is perfect for relaying orders and assigning secret objectives, not to mention throwing his weight in to have the Kill-Team sent to some place of interest.
As for the experience angle, every other Black Library novel focussing on Chaos drops hints how ten millennia in the Warp feels like no more than a few centuries have passed, so a Fallen needs not be a Chapter Master Dante-level fighter. Some more experience than a thin-blooded pup - absolutely, but at the price of a seriously messed-up head. The amnesia thing in this sense is actually quite clever. Huh.
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i have looked but before i hit rank 4 what skills and talents that would be good to acquire before becoming a chaplain
First, roleplay an opportunity to meet up with your local Chaplain for guidance. Let the GM set you up. You'll have to be an apprentice for some time, so better start early. Second, see Brother Vigilant for a pre-written NPC Chaplain in the Jericho Reach supplement, p. 78.
My Black Templar plans to be a Chaplain too, so what I'll suggest for him is the following list:
- Willpower. Insane amounts of it. Goes without saying.
- Forging the Bond (Rites of Battle, p. 226). Let him learn to cooperate with others' styles and beliefs.
- Litany of Hate. Needs no explanation, but - depending on your Chapter - might not be available for you. Talk with the GM.
- Common Lore (Adeptus Astartes) and Forbidden Lore (Adeptus Astartes) as high as possible, seeing that he'll have to guide Battle-Brothers from other Chapters:
"A Deathwatch Chaplain must become not only a righteous warrior but also a scholar of the Primarchs and of Chapter histories originating in the very birth of the Imperium. Thus, when a Deathwatch Battle-Brother stands at the brink of despair or impotent rage, the Chaplain will know the right liturgies and catechisms to speak, and which Chapter heroes or legendary battles of the past to cite that will inspire the warriors of the present." Rites of Battle, pp. 106-107
What I also plan is to make some of the Chaplain advances available earlier, specifically the Lore-related advances and maybe Intimidate, to make the apprenticeship feel like a process, rather than a magical level-up.
The idea of a Chapter Serf is neat, and might be a good idea flavour-wise, but I guess it can wait after donning the helmet and cape for the first time.
Otherwise, talk to the GM, and see what he has in mind. You can probably draw up a neat character development path with him.
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if the fire rate is high enough, you'll find it hard to adjust fire on target before the burst is over, I guess.
Apart from that, it's really bad to make adversaries easier to kill in DW. In all missions I have GM'd, I had to work hard to challenge my players in combat. They have it easy enough already.
Alex
I wholeheartedly second that. I wrote this up in some thread earlier, but I guess it's worth repeating: my players felt Parry and Dodge should be an Opposed test to have the crunch do justice to a perfect attack with multiple DoS, so I decided to indulge them and play-test it; as luck had it, against Genestealers. The combat took forever, as Genestealers are awfully hard to beat in WS and Ag, especially by Level 1 marines. To make work Dodge or Parry as opposed tests, you probably have to port some other 40K game system over, because this modification in itself is not working well in DW crunch, at least according to my experiences.
The fact is the skill of the attacker should play just as an important roll as the skill of the defender. Combat is fluid. It's not I look at your bullet flying at me and jump out of the way. It's I see you pointing your gun and attempt to move. A trained attacker will take that into account or attempt to when making the shot and adjust.
While that is true, I feel the experience of the attacker is better represented by choosing the appropriate combat action and gear (and having the skills and talents), and not, somehow, intrinsically "knowing" how the enemy will move or react. That is why we have actions such as Aim and Feint, and a kilometre-long list of specialist gear.
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Every psy power has an "Opposed:" entry. If set to "Yes", targets resist with Willpower unless stated otherwise in the description.
Alex
Oh this makes more sense.
In short if there is "opposed" in the description, there is a willpower roll with a +10 due the resist talent?
yes, that was what I tried to communicate. I have the tendency to go overboard and type walls of text when trying to be exact, sorry
I'm not at fault, my university is -
That I do understand.
I was puzzled on the chance to roll to resist.
The manual do not specify any condition in where the player can use this ability, nor the psychic powers for the matter
I don't think it gives you a chance to roll for totally ignoring the effect of a psychic power. It would be a brutal buff. So no extra rolls for my players, at least
What I have in mind as possible areas of application are those powers, where you have to take an opposed test (Telepathy powers, certain Chapter powers like Fear of Darkness or Mind Worm, or in case of the baddies, Wind of Chaos), or when the description of the power explicitly mentions a willpower test, like Bolt of Change. When the text mentions a different test as a result of a psychic power, like the Space Wolves' Living Lightning forcing an Agility test, I'd add the +10 to the test too, and describe how the character has a few nanoseconds more than his mates until the power takes effect, thanks to his natural resistance or years of training.
Think about Resistance (Cold) for example. The guy having the trait has a better chance to survive in the void in a breached suit, because when everyone rolls for Toughness, he has the best chances. On the other hand, if a slab of ice falls on the kill-team's head, I don't see how his trait is relevant
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So ... in short let's say that if a spychic power in a way or another affects the mind or the body of the marine (not a simple direct damage), he should have the roll?
Well, the way I understand it, if the psychic power calls for a roll, he gets +10 to it (while others roll without modification). Resistance does not give extra opportunity for a roll, but if you must have one, it gives you better chances to succeed.
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But this is why I like DW: it's a veritable art to be learned. Just as the marines hone their skills of 41st millenium warfare daily.
So instead of sweating blood while trying to learn the billion rules of a fun but (slightly) buggy game system, we're the adepts of an arcane art? I like how you spin your words, sir.
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"Psychic Powers (Mental/Body)"
IE: Resistance against powers that mess with your mind and body but not actual damage ones.
The Strong Minded talent overlaps significantly with your narrow interpretation. On the other hand, a broad interpretation, following the same line of thought, would overlap with Abhor the Witch, rendering one of those redundant.
My interpretation is this: When having the Resistance: Psy Powers trait, the character gains +10 to Willpower tests, whenever he would otherwise be allowed to take the test anyway. So no extra opportunity to take the test, but bonus when occasion for test occurs.
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Critical damage is cumulative, so you don't roll - if you exhaust your Wounds threshold, the additional amount of damage is Critical. If you're out of wounds and suffer 5 Rending damage to the head (after applying all modifiers), the character's gonna suffer effect 5 from Table 8–22: Rending Critical Effects - Head. Of course, if the GM is creative enough, the effect can be described differently (although I wouldn't modify the crunch too much on a whim).
That said, cards and other tools are always cool to have, so why not.
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In DW, since you have to play SMs, chapter choice strongly determines every other opportunity, so I second what SonOfDorn said: a Salamander could be the solution. They actually live with their families/clans, when they're not in a war, and they're quite protective of the regular Imperial citizen. Or, indeed, pick a Space Wolf - they cheerfully ignore any and all social conventions and outside authority, while fighting hard & drinking hard, like a good barbarian should. Take ranoncles' advice and point your player to the Space Wolves books - the stories are in the form of a single large flashback, and the framing parts are painful to wade through, but the main arc is quite enjoyable and makes a SM easier to relate to.
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See Rites of Battle p. 108 for prerequisites: Wp 45+, Fel 40+, Rank 4 or above, 3000 XP. Your wargear will be replaced, so if you want to lug your favourite heavy weapon around as a Devastator, prepare to buy Signature Wargear / spend the requisition - or talk to your GM.
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The main problem is that 40K is, as we previously established, bolter porn. There's generally no operational strategy visible, just the usual grimdark "Guard goes in, fights a battle of attrition" approach. Which is fine, don't get me wrong, I immensely enjoy it, but to credibly introduce modern military doctrines is quite some work and in an RPG focussing on a <10 team, mostly unnecessary. I'd rather read an account of Chaplain Grimaldus growing as a person to handle responsibility than an analysis of how combined arms theory was employed in the Battle of Helsreach - although the success of a mass amphibious action by orks from submarines still tested my suspension of disbelief. Darn the history major, darn!
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Sound advices in using hordes, I wholeheartedly agree. We're not yet at the point where basic combat is no more challenging - the gaps in the players' knowledge of their own abilities more than make up for the inexperienced GM (myself) -, but these tips would enrich the experience if done correctly.
As for Battlefield Conditions, it is quite a challenge to write up the plethora of possible battlefield effects ranging from the simplest caveman tactics of a feral world to the sophisticated Tau flying armoured suit tactics, and I feel in most cases the work is just isn't necessary, when a sufficiently prepared GM could take care of the inventory of modifiers. I'd rather welcome a Battlefield Conditions Generator template assisting in the compiling, where I could summarise all the modifiers in place. You know, terrain, cover, technology, weather, movement and perception modifiers and suchlike.
As possible pre-written Battlefield Conditions, Trench Warfare was a good idea as it's quite specific. For others, Urban Combat is a must as house-to-house fighting is decidedly not an unusual background for a DW mission. I'll try to think about the possible mechanics and post it here if I've got something. A few others which come to mind are Thin Red Line (extra damage to attacker when charged frontally, vulnerable against flanking or superior weapon range, possibly reduced blast effect - ultimately impractical but colourful, should teach players the value of manoeuvres, basically a tutorial mode), or Uphill Battle (movement and cover punishment for party charging up).
I'm thinking about introducing artillery support for the baddies next time - the plan is to employ spotters, and killing the spotters eliminates the effect for about d5x10 minutes, while they're being acknowledged as lost, and replaced by the next team of unlucky guys. Such simple mechanics do not warrant a separate Condition, but could be combined freely with other modifiers.
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Yeah, P.G. Wodehouse is cool - my high school English teacher was the translator of several of his novels to my native mumbo-jumbo, so first I started to really like his writings, then (after about two years of translating stuff about bloody Blandings as housework) begun to utterly loathe him, then crossed the line again to find out he is good.
So the idea is to introduce not a tailor, but a valet? I can already picture it on the character sheet: Follower: Chapter Serf (Valet, lesser, 300XP) - who will do anything, provided it has nothing to do with fish.
A combination of Jeeves and Willikins (the valet of Commander Vimes in Terry Pratchett's Discworld) could work well. Admittedly, that would be a low move, and I'd need to re-read all the novels to play the NPC well, but I recognise a fine joke when I see one.
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I like the idea of Space Marines having personal tailors that literally have these conversations with the Battle Brothers.'If not for the Emperor then for Sartorial Excellence!'
Man, I was laughing so hard. Thank you. And the funny thing is, those tabards and whatnot are actually made by someone. Probably a chapter serf - a member of a tailor family for generations. So basically there's nothing to prevent a shifty, subservient tailor stereotype saying those exact words. After all, somebody has to know which type of textile allows the easiest cleaning of Ork blood
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Extended care says you start to heal critical damage first. I look at healing this way: using first aid, the Apothecary heals what he can, and stabilises the rest, meaning the critical damage won't get worse. Our SM can then shoot himself up with some battle drugs to ignore the effects when in a pinch. When playing out extended care, the medic will take care of the serious stuff first, starting the healing at the crit.
And, while it's not relevant to Healing, don't forget that SMs have True Grit (Core, p. 36 & 128), halving critical damage, and, when in Power Armour, may use the Bio-Monitor & Injectors (p. 161), ignoring critical damage for 6 times, each for d10 rounds.
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"And they can only dodge one bullet (hit) per DoS, if I recall it correctly."
More, due to Unnatural Agility.
Hold on, let me understand this. Dodge in Core Rulebook, p. 238-239 says "When Dodging an area effect weapon (such as a flamer), a successful Dodge Test moves the character to the edge of the area of effect, as long as it is no further away than the character’s Agility Bonus in metres. If the character would need to move further than this to avoid the attack, then the Dodge Test automatically fails." Since the diameter of the heavy flamer's cone is, like I mentioned, over 16 metres (not much, but over), the quoted part means a MotX Genestealer (Agility bonus 8, unnatural included) cannot be allowed to dodge as a reaction - or, rather, takes it and fails it automatically. The Agility test, described at the Flame effect, still applies. Or is this Ag test the allowed reaction, and no extra Dodge may be allowed? How does it play out?
Moving on to the full-auto fire, basically the Unnatural (x2) Agility (core, p. 136) gives a +10 bonus to the Ag test. Since Dodge is not an Opposed test, it cannot count towards the DoS too, right? Or am I missing something here?
Otherwise I agree, our HERO OF THE IMPERIUM might not be the most unbiased narrator, and bolter porn is bolter porn
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Genestealers are weird. In space hulk missions they're portrayed as unstoppable terminator-killers, but whenever encountered as part of a cult (like the first Ciaphas Cain novel, or Final Sanction), they're killed, well, not exactly without effort, but significantly more easily. But anyway, here's my math:
First, the diameter of a heavy flamer's cone at 30m is a bit over 16m, so if the size of the corridor/doorway/wherever they are is smaller, that should be a hefty dodge bonus reduction for the 'stealers. Second, on open ground the obvious weapon is the heavy bolter. Its range is 150m, so that's at least 3 rounds until they can close in (the MotX version charges 24 and runs 48 metres). If the critters keep running in a straight line towards the player, I'd give at least some bonus for the shooter, because the baddies don't use their agility to evade, so that adds one or two additional rounds, too. And they can only dodge one bullet (hit) per DoS, if I recall it correctly.
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Yeah, just think about the endless possibilities! Like, playing out, how they got all those relics! Sleight of hand is a must
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Bonus renown is not necessarily a terrible idea, but he shouldn't get bonus XP just for not taking a weapon.
I agree, so I didn't award any extra XP, just some renown. He got the XP by convincing the Forge Master to get a new one (the fate of the original weapon is intentionally left murky). I liked the earlier suggested idea of the chapter denying the artefact because of a previous disagreement with the DW, but it occurred to me that Mordigael is a Blood Angel, and I judge heavy politics is still too early for the group. I will introduce the storyline of the old sword when the player familiarises himself more with the 40K setting, and has enough insight to debate the planned plot hook with me.
Librarians can get Blood Lance at Rank 1?
Yeah, it has no prerequisites, besides being a Blood Angel, in RAW. My player bought it as one of his Rank 1 powers. It's basically Smite, minus the area effects (it rather travels in a straight line), but with Toughness bonus not reducing damage. Overall, it's a bit more colourful than Smite, so I like it.
I should stop reading these forums until I've read all w40k books (haha). But the idea is still great for a shoot first, ask later KT. That's really gonna be a pain in the ass for them!
The spoiler is fairly minor, won't ruin the book, and I'm not saying which, no, sir 
Kill Stopping
in Deathwatch Gamemasters
Posted
I'll check it. I volunteer myself willingly, in order to freak my players out more efficiently. May the Emperor watch over me
And yes, Slaneesh might work. Khorne is the obvious choice, of course, because MOAR BLOOD always works with him, but the intense pleasure of dozens of faithful cultists getting killed reaching Slaneesh and getting his/her attention might also be justifiable indeed. I don't see Tzeench and Nurgle react in a similar way.