[Deathwatch] Completely new to the whole system, have mucho questions.

[AnonymousPepper]

So my Pathfinder GM is also a gigantic fan of Warhammer, and he's decided he wants to run a Deathwatch game on our spare days.

He was apparently a huge fan of the old Space Hulk game, and intends to run a Space Hulk adventure in the Deathwatch system. What I know of it so far is that he plans to drop us in Termies right off the bat, and I know he's a semi-rules-loose but very challenging GM (as in, in our 3.PF game, we're a bunch of super-high-op tryhards and we're still at severe risk of dying every week) who's not afraid of buffing the crap out of whatever we're fighting to keep things even, so this game's not going to be a walk in the park..

I was looking to roll up an Apothecary, probably using the Knights Inductor (my preferred image of Warhammer trends more on the Ciaphas Cain side, to be honest) as written out on that wonderful site we call 1d4chan, and here we run into my problem: almost all of my experience is with a completely different system - D&D 3e, with a smallll smattering of D&D 4e and Shadowrun 5e, and an aborted Exalted 2e game. I've got decent fluff knowledge of the setting, 'else I wouldn't have considered it, but I have absolutely zero mechanical know-how.

The rolling for stats and everything is easy enough. The d10 and d100 rolls and tests, for character creation and for gameplay, are simple enough.

What I don't understand at all is the talents system, the advance system, and the requisition system, in general. Like, I need a full explanation of these, if that's not too much trouble; the stuff's just... alien to me.

Specific questions from me include things like whether or not you can take cross-specialty talents, how the skill section on the character sheet works... heck, the whole character sheet's kind of confusing.

And then onto the question of, how can I best make an apothecary to suit the party and the scenario? I'd prefer not to completely screw things up with my total lack of system mastery.

If it helps any for helping me make this guy, he's at WS36 / BS51 / S38 / T44 / Ag41 / Int49 / Per43 / WP50 / Fel42; I've included the Knights Inductor background bonuses of +BS +WP.

So clearly what I'm trying to go for is a survivable healer that's also good at being shooty. I think. But beyond the starting stats, I've no idea how to make it happen whatsoever, and that's something I'm rather uncomfortable with.

[Gwyn chan 'r Gwyll]

I know talents and advances and stuff like that, I think, but not requisition.

Basically, you don't just gather up XP to go up a level and instantly gain a bunch of stuff.

Rather, you gather up XP to SPEND on advances within your rank or those below you. So you can either save up for big jumps in power, or more likely just continually grow rather than suddenly "go up a level".

After you spend enough XP, you gain access to a higher "tier" of more advanced powers. Skills are included as something you "buy" when you can. On the sheet, I believe skills you just check off whether you're trained, and then check or otherwise note how many +10s you got on top of that, which you buy with your XP as listed in the various ranks.

[ghanjrho]

Alright, I'll handle requisition.

You do not have a WBL in Deathwatch. Instead, each mission comes with a requisition value, with more dangerous missions granting more requisition. Each player gets the req value to spend as s/he sees fit, whether on their own gear or another player's(for example, you could give the Devastator some points to let him grab a Lascannon, or help the Assault get a Thunder Hammer). Now, you do get some default gear, based on your Specialization (Devastators get a Heavy Bolter, Assaults a chainsword and jump pack, etc). There's also an Advance (Signature Wargear) that lets you add some piece of equipment to your default loadout (which you always get).

Now, what you can choose from is limited by your Renown. If you want the best gear, you need to prove yourself to the Deathwatch first. Your Renown is increased by successfully completing missions and secondary objectives.

As a general note on gear, find the errata online. USE IT. A lot of the weapons in the book are in need of balancing, especially the Heavy Bolter. Also, it clears up some wording issues, but still. You definitely want it for the revised gear table.