Warhammer 40k RPGs General (Warhammer Fantasy RPG can come too)

[The Glyphstone]

Mark of the Xenos has Deathwatch-scale Tau weaponry, I'd suggest taking that and scaling it down to RT-level.

[Slylizard]

Mark of the Xenos has Deathwatch-scale Tau weaponry, I'd suggest taking that and scaling it down to RT-level.

That'd be the ideal angle to go with, but if he's on a budget as he said then that book may not be an option and a quick n nasty homebrew would do the trick.

Originally Posted by MachineWraith

Why do you say single shot? I thought the pulse rifles in 40k tabletop were rapid fire.

Oh they were too weren't they? I played CSM and Eldar so never really paid too much attention. Well that gives them a fire rate somewhere between lasguns and bolters (both can rapid fire), but given their power I'd say full auto would be out of reach, so maybe s/3/- like a lasgun then?

[The Glyphstone]

If we're using tabletop as comparison, pulse rifles have longer range than bolters, hit harder with a similar degree of armor penetration, and roughly equivalent rate of fire.

But I just checked Into The Storm, and it has canon RT-level pulse rifle stats.

Basic, 150m range, S/2/4, 2d10+3 E, Pen 4, Clip 36, Reload Half, Special Gyro-stabilized, Weight 8kg, Very Rare.

Gyro-Stabilized means the weapon never counts as being fired at further than Long Range for accuracy penalties.


The Tau's whole shtick is having really, really good guns, after all. ITS also has Pulse Pistols, Pulse Carbines, Kroot Hunting Rifles, and Krootbows in the 'guns what Tau have' category. Considering it also has the rules for playing Ork Freebooters and Kroot Mercenaries, it's definitely the #1 book to buy once you can afford it if you want xenos in your RT squad.

[MachineWraith]

Originally Posted by The Glyphstone

If we're using tabletop as comparison, pulse rifles have longer range than bolters, hit harder with a similar degree of armor penetration, and roughly equivalent rate of fire.

But I just checked Into The Storm, and it has canon RT-level pulse rifle stats.

Basic, 150m range, S/2/4, 2d10+3 E, Pen 4, Clip 36, Reload Half, Special Gyro-stabilized, Weight 8kg, Very Rare.

Gyro-Stabilized means the weapon never counts as being fired at further than Long Range for accuracy penalties.


The Tau's whole shtick is having really, really good guns, after all. ITS also has Pulse Pistols, Pulse Carbines, Kroot Hunting Rifles, and Krootbows in the 'guns what Tau have' category. Considering it also has the rules for playing Ork Freebooters and Kroot Mercenaries, it's definitely the #1 book to buy once you can afford it if you want xenos in your RT squad.

Oh. I had posted the stats on it earlier, but having read the legal blurb in the book figured I wasn't actually allowed to, so removed it. Was I mistaken?

A warning about the xenos classes: it may have been more of a "differing levels of optimization" thing, but my brother and I played a Kroot and an Ork, respectively, and were overpowered combat monsters. I think my mekboy ended up with something like 21AP, and dual-wielded power klaws while jetpacking. I know RT is supposed to be overpowered by definition, but I felt I should warn you a bit.

[The Glyphstone]

Originally Posted by MachineWraith

Oh. I had posted the stats on it earlier, but having read the legal blurb in the book figured I wasn't actually allowed to, so removed it. Was I mistaken?

A warning about the xenos classes: it may have been more of a "differing levels of optimization" thing, but my brother and I played a Kroot and an Ork, respectively, and were overpowered combat monsters. I think my mekboy ended up with something like 21AP, and dual-wielded power klaws while jetpacking. I know RT is supposed to be overpowered by definition, but I felt I should warn you a bit.

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So just posting that line, you would have been okay.

As for the xenos, I'd say 'differing optimization'. I read at least one campaign journal where the Explorator character had built up to where he could take krak rockets to the face with only superficial damage. If you only judge characters by their ability to take names and chew bubblegum in a fight, the Kroot Merc and Ork Freebooter can be overpowered, but that's inherent in the game - if your GM is doing it right, your combat craziness is balanced by your social pariah status and effective slave contract to the Rogue Trader...you can legally be shot if you're out in public without him and don't have a Sanctioning brand, and even if you do, it'll be really hard to find anyone willing to interact with you, so the normal human members of the crew are the powerhouses in the part of the game that truly matters IC - arranging the opportunities to earn money.

[Dimestoretiamat]

Originally Posted by The Glyphstone

If we're using tabletop as comparison, pulse rifles have longer range than bolters, hit harder with a similar degree of armor penetration, and roughly equivalent rate of fire.

But I just checked Into The Storm, and it has canon RT-level pulse rifle stats.

Basic, 150m range, S/2/4, 2d10+3 E, Pen 4, Clip 36, Reload Half, Special Gyro-stabilized, Weight 8kg, Very Rare.

Gyro-Stabilized means the weapon never counts as being fired at further than Long Range for accuracy penalties.


The Tau's whole shtick is having really, really good guns, after all. ITS also has Pulse Pistols, Pulse Carbines, Kroot Hunting Rifles, and Krootbows in the 'guns what Tau have' category. Considering it also has the rules for playing Ork Freebooters and Kroot Mercenaries, it's definitely the #1 book to buy once you can afford it if you want xenos in your RT squad.

Does it count as exotic? Or just basic?

[The Glyphstone]

It's under the Xenotech Exotic Ranged Weapons table, so I presume they require an Exotic Weapons Training talent to use. They're 'basic' as opposed to 'pistol' or 'heavy' for weapon size.

[shadow_archmagi]

Originally Posted by MachineWraith

I'm involved in a Rogue Trader game right now, as the ship's ex-Navy pilot. Between my piloting and our gunner's shooting, the two of us have racked up the highest kill count for any campaign of any system we have ever played before. Basically, through skills, talents, and decent character building, we've rendered the -40 to checks for orbital bombardment trivial.

Our GM is scrambling for reasons for us to not just nuke the site(s) from orbit. After all, it's the only way to be sure

I think this exact scenario is why the book puts such an emphasis on roleplaying a glory-hound and throwing caution to the wind. The reason you don't nuke a site from orbit is so that you can cut your way through with a power sword, laughing and trading barbed comments with the enemy! Appearances are everything.

Pragmatism is the bane of adventure, as far as my character's concerned.

Originally Posted by The Glyphstone

It's under the Xenotech Exotic Ranged Weapons table, so I presume they require an Exotic Weapons Training talent to use. They're 'basic' as opposed to 'pistol' or 'heavy' for weapon size.

Holy crap, that thing is *brutal.* I'm definitely going to have to pick one up for my RT when I get the chance- My first Exotic Weapon is definitely going to be those forearm power blades. Balanced Defensive means +25 to Parry, which is getting into the "Ha! Ha! I'll never take damage from a sword!" territory. (I also asked my GM if once I found the darn things, I could have them integrated into my armor so it looked like my character was just hardcore enough to block power swords with his arms.)

I was *looking* for a high powered sniper type weapon, though. They seem to be super sparing in their use of the Accurate quality though.

[jaybird]

Originally Posted by The Glyphstone

Basic, 150m range, S/2/4, 2d10+3 E, Pen 4, Clip 36, Reload Half, Special Gyro-stabilized, Weight 8kg, Very Rare.

For reference, against my Rank 3 Dark Heresy team, I dropped the Full Auto ability, dropped damage to 2d10, and removed Gyro-Stabilized. Still routinely dropped half my party to critical wounds each combat when against approximately even odds (7 Acolytes against 2 Fire Warriors and 2-3 Kroot). Be careful with these guys.

[The Glyphstone]

Originally Posted by jaybird

For reference, against my Rank 3 Dark Heresy team, I dropped the Full Auto ability, dropped damage to 2d10, and removed Gyro-Stabilized. Still routinely dropped half my party to critical wounds each combat when against approximately even odds (7 Acolytes against 2 Fire Warriors and 2-3 Kroot). Be careful with these guys.

It's scaled for Rogue Trader-level combatants, so that makes sense. Rank 1 RT's are supposed to be balanced against Rank 5 DH characters.

[shadow_archmagi]

So, apparently there are two popular rogue trader maps- one black and white from the inside cover that lists distances, then then there's also a larger, full-color map from inside the actual core book that has color-coded stars but no distances scale on it.

Community thoughts?

[Cikomyr]

Sorry for this question out of left field, but you people seems to be quite knowledgeable of the Dark Heresy rules.

How does Righteous Fury and Rending combine? Do I reroll a single d10 or I reroll 2? What if, in my initial roll, I got 2 10s?

Playing an Eviscerator Weilding Berseker Viking Cleric, and the question do came up regularily.

[GolemsVoice]

How do you guys deal with monthly income, by the way? Do your players actually have to WORK for it, or is it just guaranteed? How much of the MI goes to just living costs?

[Andrewmoreton]

Originally Posted by shadow_archmagi

So, apparently there are two popular rogue trader maps- one black and white from the inside cover that lists distances, then then there's also a larger, full-color map from inside the actual core book that has color-coded stars but no distances scale on it.

Community thoughts?

As far as I can tell from the new Navigator book travel times and distance are only very loosely related what matters most is if there is a well charted quite route through the warp available. Distances in normal space are much less relevant

[Andrewmoreton]

Originally Posted by GolemsVoice

How do you guys deal with monthly income, by the way? Do your players actually have to WORK for it, or is it just guaranteed? How much of the MI goes to just living costs?

For Dark Heresy I completely Ignore it, the characters work for the Inquisition and get issued what the inquisition thinks they should have. For requests I use a version of the influence system from inquisition. I only use cash when they are cut off from inquisitorial resources and have a limited budget in which case the cash available will depend on their cover more than their origins

[Andrewmoreton]

Originally Posted by Cikomyr

Sorry for this question out of left field, but you people seems to be quite knowledgeable of the Dark Heresy rules.

How does Righteous Fury and Rending combine? Do I reroll a single d10 or I reroll 2? What if, in my initial roll, I got 2 10s?

Playing an Eviscerator Weilding Berseker Viking Cleric, and the question do came up regularily.

The way I play it is that if either dice comes up 10 then you roll to confirm RF , if it is confirmed then you only roll one dice going forward. If you roll 10 on both dice I would give you 2 chances to confirm RF , and if they coth confirmed I would let you roll 2 damage sets and pick the best one i.e (10,2 and 10.10.4 ) I would let you pick the big one
I had not considered any other interpretation , which does not mean I am correct

[Slylizard]

Originally Posted by Andrewmoreton

As far as I can tell from the new Navigator book travel times and distance are only very loosely related what matters most is if there is a well charted quite route through the warp available. Distances in normal space are much less relevant

Dead right. In fluff terms, ships have entered the warp and taken hours to get to places that have taken others months. In even rarer occasions ships have entered the warp and exited before they entered (yeah, time travel).

So really in game terms, time spent traveling in the warp is at plot-speed.

[Cikomyr]

On a scale of 1 to 10, how broken do you feel the book "Blood of the Martyrs" is?

[Andrewmoreton]

Originally Posted by Slylizard

Dead right. In fluff terms, ships have entered the warp and taken hours to get to places that have taken others months. In even rarer occasions ships have entered the warp and exited before they entered (yeah, time travel).

So really in game terms, time spent traveling in the warp is at plot-speed.

Thats how I tend to work it. I would/will probably make it a little bit more predictable when my players are actually in command of the ship . But if I do produce a map it will more be along the lines of boxes representing a star system with lines representing know travel routes with travel estimates (more of a rail map than a terrain map)

[Andrewmoreton]

Originally Posted by Cikomyr

On a scale of 1 to 10, how broken do you feel the book "Blood of the Martyrs" is?

I don't recall anything in it causing me problems, but as it came out halfway through a campaign it was not heavily used

[Cikomyr]

Originally Posted by Andrewmoreton

I don't recall anything in it causing me problems, but as it came out halfway through a campaign it was not heavily used

You have some Faith talents that allow, among others:

- Bonus 1d5 damage on all attacks for you and allies, and Righteous Fury on 9 and 10
- Give Unnatural Strenght, -2 to AB
- Give +1d10 damage on flamers, -10 penalty to dodge said flamer. Daemons take extra 1d10 (so a basic flamer will do 3d10 damage vs Daemons)
- Extra 1d10 damage on Rending weapons, 2 AP vs Daemons
- Grant immunity to allies vs Daemonic Presence

All of these can be done at will. Requires either a Half Action or Full action to activate, and last for the entire encounter's duration.

[Andrewmoreton]

Originally Posted by Cikomyr

You have some Faith talents that allow, among others:

- Bonus 1d5 damage on all attacks for you and allies, and Righteous Fury on 9 and 10
- Give Unnatural Strenght, -2 to AB
- Give +1d10 damage on flamers, -10 penalty to dodge said flamer. Daemons take extra 1d10 (so a basic flamer will do 3d10 damage vs Daemons)
- Extra 1d10 damage on Rending weapons, 2 AP vs Daemons
- Grant immunity to allies vs Daemonic Presence

All of these can be done at will. Requires either a Half Action or Full action to activate, and last for the entire encounter's duration.

None of that was used, but I actually recall the faith powers as not being worrying at all. None of the above would be even a minor problem for me to allow in a game

[Maugan Ra]

The Faith powers are strong, yes... But they all require a Fate point be either spent or burnt to activate them. That's a strong limiting factor right there, believe me.

[Cikomyr]

Oooooh... I totally misread the rules there.

Nevermind!!

[Andrewmoreton]

Originally Posted by Maugan Ra

The Faith powers are strong, yes... But they all require a Fate point be either spent or burnt to activate them. That's a strong limiting factor right there, believe me.

I thought that was the case but I hadn't had time to check the books, I think this is why I did not think it was broken

[Maugan Ra]

Yeah. Honestly, it's really limiting. I'm way too reluctant to spend fate points on temporary buffs when I know I'll screw up a dodge roll shortly and really need the points.

Unless it's my friend Dan, who in the years we have gamed together, has never had a fate reroll turn out better for him. Well, it might have once. Otherwise, it's 'throw the belt of grenades, botch, get it wrapped around your own torso' sort of thing.

[shadow_archmagi]

What ship components are must-haves? (Besides the orbital bombardment cannon and the Tenebro Maze)

[Fearan]

I highly recommend Warpsbane Hull for much more safer travels. And there is the incredibly cheesy Teleportarium+Murder-servitors combo

[Smeggedoff]

Heck yeah teleportarium.
Our ship battles have generally devolved to flying rings around other ships shooting a dark cannon at them while anyone without something to do teleports over and tries to set something on fire. (although in the last fight I rolled to cause implosions a lot more than usual, which is less damaging than you'd think)

Something else that has been pretty precious is the Repulsor shield, which as well as negating penalties for flying in particle fields, seems to be the only way of getting 2 shields for a sub cruiser ship.
(If I read it right anyway, do let me know if I'm wrong or it's been errata'd)

[jaybird]

Originally Posted by Cikomyr

On a scale of 1 to 10, how broken do you feel the book "Blood of the Martyrs" is?

There's some pretty obvious power creep with Lathe Worlds, and looking back you can see the trend, but honestly, it'll be fine in a game where your Guardsman is using a Red Dot Autogun with Manstoppers. The only book I would have real problems with in a game is Lathe Worlds - look at the Crimson Guard FFS