Warhammer and WH40K RPGs II: Burning Witches, Heretics, and Fate

[LeSwordfish]

Psykers and tech-preists can be lore-monkeys, but only the adept can do it without sacrificing psykery or techery.

[Drakefall]

As someone who has played an adept into high ranks allow me to chime in with my experience. Hopefully you'll find it useful, Timewizard.

I started off as a humble voidborn verispex adept, and eventually also took Magistrate as an alternative rank. Note that for some reason we never seemed to register that lore skills were investigation skills for the verispex "role your int for any investigation skills" so I actually did buy all of those tasty, tasty lores.

The Techpriest and I complemented each other very well. We shared a few lores, but mostly we worked so that whatever I didn't have, he did. I took the chirugeon rank and was the group "medic" whilst he focused on all the juicy tech and mechanical stuff. I took tech use and only really used it when he wasn't around, and he pretty much did the same with medicae, so we never really had to "fight" over who got to do the investigation thing.

Speaking of investigations, I was pretty much de facto leader when it came to them. I was the initiator, investigating any actual scenes we may have had after which I'd delegate the rest of the team to tasks meeting their respective skills. If socialising was appropriate, which it usually was, I'd send out the cleric or scum depending on who needed to be socialised with. The assassin and/or scum took care of any stealthy actions such as recon or tracking that needed to be done and occasionally stole things we needed. The arbitrator worked the official channels for information and could get us into a great many places on his badge. I'd pursue any bureaucratic or legal avenues myself, being at a disadvantage at social situations what with being a space albino, unless I had the right forms, in which case none could deny my power. After everyone had done their thing I'd coordinate the team and compile the information everyone got individually along with any info provided by any appropriate lore skills and try to figure out what heresy was going on so that we might come up with a plan to make it not go on.

I also tended to be the guy with "that weird skill that just happens to be useful in this situation." I got a great deal of mileage out of Scholastic Lore (Bureaucracy), Scholastic Lore (Judgement), Trade (Copyist) and Chem Use. Medicae was probably my most used skill after Lores, having more applications than simply fixing up cell members, but it isn't really an odd skill. Oh, and interrogation. I managed to pick it up as an elite advance and with my ginormous willpower and an excrutiator kit I was the man to make any captives sing, which proved to be incredibly useful on a number of occasions. If you can wrangle interrogation for your adept it certainly wouldn't be a waste. I also had a great variety of drugs on my person which proved weirdly useful.

As we rose in ranks, most of the other characters put a great deal of experience into combat related things and their other individual specialisations, but I found myself being able to buy a fairly wide variety of talents and skills, so I always had some way to contribute to what was going on. The verispex adept did help with always having the right skill for the job, I won't lie.

With regards to combat. At the lowest experience levels everyone was pretty equally bad, I just had the worst starting weapons, but I quickly acquired an autopistol and became suppressing fire guy. I also picked up an handcannon, mostly so I could pretend to be Dirty Harry, but I swear that gun was blessed by the God Emperor himself considering how well I rolled with the damn thing and the amount of demons it eventually killed with some sanctified ammo in it. I bought two ballistics skill advances and left it at that. Occasionally I'd blow a head off. So really, you don't need too much pimpage to be able to participate in group combats, though you won't be the star unless the God Emperor really smile on your dice in desperate moments.

Overall I'd say adepts do require a certain creative approach to problem solving, in that it behooves one to think about all the various ways they might apply certain skills with broad applications. Its also up to the player to decide what to do with any information the adept gathers via his skills. So it is more for a planny person than a spontaneous man of action.

Finally, allow me to say that I've played as an adept, an arbitrator, an assassin and a psyker in DH, and the adept was by far my favourite character and felt to me to have the most options at any given time, which may or may not be odd.

[TimeWizard]

Thanks Drakefall. If I lose my current character I might roll Adept next.

[TimeWizard]

After 14 months of playing Dark Heresy a truly crazy, unbelievable thing happened: One of our plans went of without a hitch. The party is on a newly rediscovered feudal world to tip the balance of power toward the pro-Imperium faction. Along the way we've had nothing but setbacks, murder, translation issues and all around parade raining. Last week though? Last week we succeeded in killing a Nurglite cultist leader. Here's what happened

My smooth-talking scum has the ability to speak the local language and an insatiable appetite for human blood (both byproducts of different "sanctified" Chaos potions), so he kills a Skintaker (that's what the Nurgle-cult calls themselves. Guess why) and infiltrates their camp to recon for a kidnapped Guardsmen kill-team. After impressing the tribe with my skintaking skills I discern their cultish customs and the time-table we have for freeing the prisoners. I lead the party in as though they were exotic prisoners for my master, the party Psyker. After some back and forth to get the Guards untied we obliterated the high priest of Nurgle in a suprise force barrage, blinded/deafened the cultists with some judicial flashbangery and beat a hasty retreat with some cover and some distraction (by cover I mean "Blood thirsty Sister of Battle on a penitence crusade" and by distraction I mean "a psychotic tribesman and his feral giant Boar").

It worked beautifully, so beautifully.

[Lord Raziere]

Obviously your Inquisitor will try to execute you for heresy. A plan, going off without a hitch!? In Warhammer 40,000? Clearly chaos cultist lies! Obviously what really happened is that you struck deals with demonic powers and then came back to explain your early return with the worst lie ever told, so that you can start your infiltration of the Inquisition! After all, whoever heard of COMPETENT Acolytes!?

I kid, I kid, seriously nice going.

Edit: But then again, perfection is under Slaanesh's purview, so being too good at your job COULD count as heresy....

[TimeWizard]

We're already his "Bad Company", although much to his chagrin we're the only ones who consistantly survive suicide missions.

[Kris Strife]

In my Rogue Trader group, my Commissar Turned Arch-Militant is now able to get his effective BS over 100 using single shot (house ruled it so that single shot is +10, semi-auto is +0 and full-auto is -10), his Arch-Militant ability, being in point blank range, and getting inspired by the Rogue Trader. Unfortunately, after my first time using this to finish off a boss fight, we found out that pistols, which are the only fire arm he currently uses (commissar aesthetic), don't get the point blank range accuracy bonus. I've asked the GM to house rule that they do still get the bonus, but we're wondering if that'd be really bad/unbalanced?

[Destro_Yersul]

Where does it say that pistols don't get the Point Blank Range bonus?

[bluntpencil]

They don't get a bonus in melee (0 metres), they do get a bonus at Point Blank, which is 3 metres or less, but not in melee.

[Kris Strife]

Okay, apparently that was one of our players misreading things.

[shadow_archmagi]

Yeah. NOBODY gets the point blank bonus if there's a knife in their face, and in fact, it's impossible to use nonpistol weapons in melee.

[Kris Strife]

Does using a flame weapon require the use of both the weapon class training, and the flame weapon training, or just one?

[Grim Portent]

Does using a flame weapon require the use of both the weapon class training, and the flame weapon training, or just one?

It requires the Flame Weapon Training relevant to the weapon.

[LeSwordfish]

In Only War however, yes it also requires the Basic, Heavy, or Pistol training talents. (They changed it)

[Kris Strife]

In Only War however, yes it also requires the Basic, Heavy, or Pistol training talents. (They changed it)

What about in Rogue Trader? I have Basic (Universal) and Pistol (Universal) already. I'm mostly wondering if Flame Weapon Training gives me all the Heavy Flame Weapons.

[Destro_Yersul]

What about in Rogue Trader? I have Basic (Universal) and Pistol (Universal) already. I'm mostly wondering if Flame Weapon Training gives me all the Heavy Flame Weapons.

Flame Weapon Training, which is a Universal talent, gives you access to all non-exotic weapons with the Flame special quality. Page 98, core book.

[Kris Strife]

Flame Weapon Training, which is a Universal talent, gives you access to all non-exotic weapons with the Flame special quality. Page 98, core book.

Yes, I know, I've read it. I'm just wondering if it's redundant with Pistol Weapon Training (Universal) and Basic Weapon Training (Universal), or if this is another point where the game is silly, like it taking a full round to fire a pistol in each hand.

[Destro_Yersul]

Flame weapons are not covered by the Universal groups for pistols or basic weapons. Flame (Universal) and Heavy (Flame) would be redundant with each other, though.

[Kris Strife]

Flame weapons are not covered by the Universal groups for pistols or basic weapons. Flame (Universal) and Heavy (Flame) would be redundant with each other, though.

Ah, thanks. Are there heavy flame weapons other than the Heavy Flamer?

[Destro_Yersul]

Not that I'm aware of. There might be something obscure, but if there is I can't find it.

[shadow_archmagi]

A Heavy Plasma gun with the Starflare Vents modification would be, I believe.

[Arutha]

Does a reaper auto cannon count as a legion weapon?

[Hiro Protagonest]

So I want to get the books for Only War (...at some point). Any books recommended outside the core ones?

[Kris Strife]

So I want to get the books for Only War (...at some point). Any books recommended outside the core ones?

Shield of Humanity has Ogryn options, and you know you want to play an Ogryn squad.

[Tychris1]

Does a reaper auto cannon count as a legion weapon?

No, sadly it does not for the purposes of Ancient Warrior. Though Chaos Space Marines and Humans can both use it.

[Elurindel]

What do people think of Black Crusade? Most of the time I see references to Rogue Trader and Dark heresy here, but little of my favourite heresy-fest. I always found that it combined the best balanced parts of all the systems and is just plain fun as long as you remember that you're not there to team-kill.

[dupersudi]

I rather like it, I always try and apply to recruiting BC games. Probably it and RT are my favorites. The alignment stuff is about the only thing I have a problem with.

[Tychris1]

Yeah, it's one of my favorite systems.

[Destro_Yersul]

My personal opinion on BC is that it's fun as a concept, but I don't like the classless system, and it's less fun to GM than Dark Heresy because you can't tempt the players to fall to chaos, since they already have.

[TimeWizard]

I rather like it, I always try and apply to recruiting BC games. Probably it and RT are my favorites. The alignment stuff is about the only thing I have a problem with.

you mean that you're Team Evil?

Anywhoo, has anyone got experience with DH's Adeptus Sororitas? I was given the GM go ahead to roll one if my character dies. What's best about them? Worst? are alternate ranks worth it? What kind of Gear do you need?