Well, the differences between characters are what you make of them. An arbitrators can act like an awesome riot shield and shock prod wielding 40k paladins or he can be an investigative Sherlock Holmes. There is a lot of overlap between classes, but within a class you really have the ability to define how you want your character to be.
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No-QuarterNothing To FearBut Fear ItselfRegistered Userregular
edited February 2008
I had heard (probably on this thread) that they were doing supplements for the Adeptus Astartes and Xenos. I look on the Black Industries website and it has 3 more supplements (a quest book, a player expansion, and chaos) and apparently the chaos one will be the last product the company does.
What's the story here? I like this game (just got the book, great buy) and want to see more of it.
The website has it right: BI is closing up shop after those three books are made, leaving everything else undone
several people on the Rpg.net forums are working on homebrews and compiling them; one guy is already starting on a Tyranid fan-supplement.
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UtsanomikoBros before DoesRollin' in the thlayRegistered Userregular
edited February 2008
There were going to be 'sequel' core books focusing each on rogue traders and Space Marines, some 18 months apart following DH, but we wont be seeing those unless Games Workshop starts up an RPG printing branch again.
In March there's going to be an Inquisitor's Handbook featuring Adeptus Sororitas careers and advanced acolyte careers, but that seems to be about it for new player-character material.
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No-QuarterNothing To FearBut Fear ItselfRegistered Userregular
There were going to be 'sequel' core books focusing each on rogue traders and Space Marines, some 18 months apart following DH, but we wont be seeing those unless Games Workshop starts up an RPG printing branch again.
In March there's going to be an Inquisitor's Handbook featuring Adeptus Sororitas careers and advanced acolyte careers, but that seems to be about it for new player-character material.
GW is mind-bogglingly stupid sometimes. "Hey! Let's do the Fantasy RPG first! That way we can focus on a smaller fanbase and compete with DnD! After that let's do 40k which has a gigantic following and a cooler background to work with! Then let's shit the bed and not even finish the 40k supps after doing numerous useless Fantasy ones!"
Still doesn't mean I don't love 40k. At least, the 40k where bitches get Exterminatused for seeing a Chaos icon.
I dunno, I find the scale of the setting to be better conductive to the system's style of roleplaying.
Dark Heresy makes the point that the players' acolyte characters will literally know nothing of Chaos, and even has a quoted block of text where Horus' name has been censored.
It also lists the various traditions between barons & serfs on one planet, such as demanding his peasants to break into dance on days of important events whenever he passes by, whether they've heard of the event yet or not.
Or that one feral planet is ruled by one man who is king because he owns a lasgun and is therefore magically powerful.
Or that one should generally be prepared to be lynched or stoned for arriving on a planet where they look strange and unnatural in the locals' eyes.
I finally picked up the book yesterday, and noticed a few details like the censored Warmaster's name. That is exactly the kind of stuff 40k books have been missing for years. I can't really stomach the miniatures game any more, but it looks like Dark Heresy may be a way to get back into the universe.
We played our first session yesterday, we just played through the Demo session to get everyone into it (we're all relatively new to RPGs)
Its REALLY awesome. I'm playing a Tech Priest sent to spy on the inquisition and confiscate and Forbidden tech. Starting out with a Mono Edged Great Weapon (my Mechanius Axe) is pretty sweet.
We played our first session yesterday, we just played through the Demo session to get everyone into it (we're all relatively new to RPGs)
Its REALLY awesome. I'm playing a Tech Priest sent to spy on the inquisition and confiscate and Forbidden tech. Starting out with a Mono Edged Great Weapon (my Mechanius Axe) is pretty sweet.
My group just finished that scenario. Dark heresy is possibly the only game where you can throw a molotov at a deamon.
You're damn right it is. I'm just hoping that the people I'll be DMing for are willing to put a modicum of thought into their characters before we play...
My party is the most rediculously out-of character party out there.
Our tech priest has failed three tech rolls in ONE session, EXCLUDING wrecking our ATV flatbed and NOT KNOWING HOW TO CHANGE THE TIRE. Though he seems to be the most oddly good with a weapon, having rolled within the single digits for all his hits and an easy third of all his shots hitting the head.
Our Scum is the slowest but toughest out of all of us, and she was able to interface tech the Priest couldn't and change the tire. Don't ask how, but the priest ALWAYS rolls in the 90's for his tech stuff.
I'm an arbitrator with the worst. Possible. Aim. Ever. And bad aim + shotgun doesn't work when others are around.
Our psyker has the highest WS out of all of us, and the lowest Intellect.
Our Assassin has the second lowest agility, and the third lowest WS. Though his strength is through the roof.
---- It makes me cackle every time.
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Librarian's ghostLibrarian, Ghostbuster, and TimSporkRegistered Userregular
You're damn right it is. I'm just hoping that the people I'll be DMing for are willing to put a modicum of thought into their characters before we play...
Who are you DMing for? You know if I got into it I would have a 50 page long back story about my character and have every piece of fluff fully implemented by game stats and items.8-)
Damn it, I'm going to have to get this game, aren't I?
You're damn right it is. I'm just hoping that the people I'll be DMing for are willing to put a modicum of thought into their characters before we play...
Who are you DMing for? You know if I got into it I would have a 50 page long back story about my character and have every piece of fluff fully implemented by game stats and items.8-)
Damn it, I'm going to have to get this game, aren't I?
Dude you can totally play. We're gonna be playing at a buddy of mine's dorm room who lives on south campus (whenever we get around to playing).
You're damn right it is. I'm just hoping that the people I'll be DMing for are willing to put a modicum of thought into their characters before we play...
Who are you DMing for? You know if I got into it I would have a 50 page long back story about my character and have every piece of fluff fully implemented by game stats and items.8-)
Damn it, I'm going to have to get this game, aren't I?
Think of it as the smallest, fluffiest, most kitted out combat patrol of Warhammer 40k you've ever seen. I know that you were recently thinking about making a 500 pt addon to your guard army, and a big part of that would be an Inquisitorial command squad with the Inquisitor, 2 sages, two bolter servitors, and a veteran guardsman. They would occasionally join your army and tear things up, in the way only an Inquisition squad can. Just think of all the awesome adventures they have when they aren't attached to your guardsman army.
Strike the first rune upon the engine’s casing employing the chosen wrench. Its tip should be anointed with the oil of engineering using the proper incantation when the auspices are correct.
Strike the second rune upon the engine’s casing employing the arc-tip of the power driver.
If the second rune is not good, a third rune may be struck in a manner like unto the first. This is done according to the true ritual laid down by Scotti the Engin-Seer.
A libation should be offered.
If this sequence is properly observed the engines may be brought to full activation by depressing the large panel marked ‘ON’
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Der Waffle MousBlame this on the misfortune of your birth.New Yark, New Yark.Registered Userregular
edited May 2008
Rise from your gwave.
If only because we don't have a general DH thread... But, some house-rule ideas ahead.
Reading Eisenhorn, It pretty much struck me that the gap in skill between an inquisitor and the skills of his retinue was not quite as drastic as the tabletop codexes have lead me to believe. Of course, they are tremendous badasses in both fluff and rules, but they are still (for the most part) only human.
Which lead me to consider the current career system, which is fine for the actual development, but feels a bit on the ridiculous side when the book pretty much says that once you reach the end of your career paths, you just might be considered for a promotion to the rank of interrogator, but only if you've been nice.
Contrast this with the aformentioned series of books where a good majority of the inquisitors, psychic powers aside, seem to probably be around half-way through a given career path. The main difference being the amount of clout an inquisitor gets.
Which is, of course, leading to my point here, and this is something that would probably not work with many groups; keep a PC's rank within the inquisitorial heirarchy seperate from whether or not he's finished his career path. And by this, I mean if a PC sufficiently proves theirself worthy, allow them to be promoted to the position of full inquisitor if the story can accomodate it.
Now, as this said, this might not work for many groups, since the players might not appreciate one of them being made an "alpha" player. But certain others, where a player tends to fall into a leadership role, especially one that you can trust not to abuse the ability to call down exterminatus, is what I had in mind.
Now, most of this stuff pretty much falls under Rule 0, but what I had in mind are some minor mechanics to represent some of the benefits that come from the position of being an Inquisitor. Namely, a set of elite advances, or a number of bonus advances given based on the general level of experience.
UtsanomikoBros before DoesRollin' in the thlayRegistered Userregular
edited May 2008
The issues with the career levels are mostly a matter of labeling and emphasis in the core rule book, which does a fine job of representing the lower levels of the Inquisition.
Besides the fact the book's rank names are not actually equivalent to the relevant career's rank (a rank 4 Guardsman may be a Corporal according to his background, and if he moves up to Captain while working exclusively in his cell he's still a Corporal), the game so far has emphasized on starting characters with only 400xp, just before their 2nd rank. This makes for very uninitiated and inexperienced 'new recruits' according to the Inquisition chapter of the book, more or less unmonitored fodder for some minor task. The middle ranks represent reliable agents and only the highest rank or beyond would be actual retinue material. A player character really does not have enough skills or knowledge to be useful to the Inquisition until these later ranks; it doesn't make sense for them to be assigned as their lord's bodyguard or initiated as Interrogators before the advanced ranks.
Which brings up the issue of advanced and Interrogator careers being absent. DH seems to intend on the group's Inquisitor being left out of the adventures and avoid the undesirable 'awesome NPC' role, but to my knowledge we don't yet have a supplement for such ranks even if we wanted to play in such a powerful position. Maybe the Inquisitors Handbook does, I can't recall what all is included as my US copy seems to have been delayed for shipping/release.
The Inquisitors Handbook is out in Europe, and apparently doesn't have anything about becoming an Inquisitor in it. It does have the Sororitas Career, an advanced Character creation thing, and a shit ton of new guns (Graviton guns! Woo!), but no Interrogator career.
Now that the general Dark heresy thread is back, I have a question. Does anyone have links etc or just general advice/suggestions on running an effective Horror themed scenario that is genuinly scary or at least fairly tense. So far all the adventures I've run seem to have followed the same pattern of: Step 1: Investigate. Step 2: Discover shocking truth. Step 3: Murder.
The Inquisitors Handbook is out in Europe, and apparently doesn't have anything about becoming an Inquisitor in it. It does have the Sororitas Career, an advanced Character creation thing, and a shit ton of new guns (Graviton guns! Woo!), but no Interrogator career.
In your opinion, is it worth the buy or should I save the money for another RPG book?
I don't actually have it (Australia and all), but from what I've heard it sounds worth it. Another Career, a heap more stuff to customise your character, a metric fuckton of new guns, stuff that sounds like prestige classes, more fluff and background. I'll be buying it as soon as it comes out here (It might be already, but I can't find a copy).
Now that the general Dark heresy thread is back, I have a question. Does anyone have links etc or just general advice/suggestions on running an effective Horror themed scenario that is genuinly scary or at least fairly tense. So far all the adventures I've run seem to have followed the same pattern of: Step 1: Investigate. Step 2: Discover shocking truth. Step 3: Murder.
The included campaign in the core rulebook is a nice read about something that gets creepier as it goes along. And the way it's set up, nothing is explicitly told to the players - it's expected they figure out how the pieces fit together.
The Inquisitor's Handbook has a good deal of new stuff, and kinda-sorta addresses this issue. 90% of the book is either the Armory, character creation, or prestige classes. There is a very small section that talks about the life of a Acolyte, including Alter Egos, Contacs, Deep Cover, and First Among Equals. Keep in mind that it talks about them, and doesn't give any rules.
First among equals talks about Primes, the leaders of an acolyte cell. The book remains ambiguous on it though. Just that typically the Prime will be the person who most pleases the Inquisitor. So it could be whoever did best in the last mission. Or whomever acted most like the Inquisitor (a cautious Inquisitor would favor cautious behavior, a firebrand would support whoever smote the most heretics, etc.) They also mention that the Prime changes frequently, especially so if the current Prime is doing a bad job. The benefits are that a Prime gets to have more say in what the group does, and will be gifted whatever artifacts the Inquisitor lets the acolytes have for a mission (IE, he gets to carry the rosette). Right before it mentions that Primes are the ones who get to carry rosettes, it also mentions that "An Acolyte may even impress his master so much that he is granted a title within the Inquisition, perhaps becoming an Interrogator with the right to bear the Rosette." Basically, it mentions something, and then completely contradicts it in the next passage. :x
As for purchasing the book, it almost seems more like an player handbook than a DM rulebook, which is odd considering the name. The new equipment along with character creation/advancement rules outweigh pretty much everything else in the book. Unfortunately there are no new psychic powers. T_T
@Mous: Remember, the Acolyte's in DH are not meant to be the retinue of an Inquisitor. The people he surrounds himself with personally would be Interrogators or people just as poweful as his Interrogators. And in the DH book it describes how a person who had fully progressed through his Career Progression could then begin to be considered for the rank of Interrogator. The PC's in the game, being Acolytes, are the people who work for the people who work for the people who are in the Inquisitor's personal retinue. Yes, I didn't accidentally type that three times on accident.
Remember, the Acolyte's in DH are not meant to be the retinue of an Inquisitor. The people he surrounds himself with personally would be Interrogators or people just as poweful as his Interrogators. And in the DH book it describes how a person who had fully progressed through his Career Progression could then begin to be considered for the rank of Interrogator. The PC's in the game, being Acolytes, are the people who work for the people who work for the people who are in the Inquisitor's personal retinue. Yes, I didn't accidentally type that three times on accident.
I kind of got the feeling that it wasn't anything to do with power level, but it was more like a nobility thing. Some people are just born with the "right stuff" to become inquisitors and hunt down chaos. Everyone else is just a tool to be used. So even though an acolyte reaches the pinnacle of human achievement, they're still lower ranked than the lowliest Interrogator. Bringing up Eisenhorn again, he became an inquisitor at the age of 24, and Ravenor wasn't much older when he got his Interrogator position. By contrast, Harlon Nayl/Midas Betancore/Amos/Elizabeth all served with Eisenhorn for a hundred years. Hell, Eisenhorn even gaves Ravenor some of his acolytes when he made Inquisitor rank (and those acolytes had been serving since long before Ravenor ever showed up). Sure, age doesn't denote skill, but these guys were also at the pinnacle of human ability.
Also, it wouldn't really surprise me if a fully vetted Acolyte cell is better than all but the highest ranked Inquisitorial retinues. I mean, a squad of max rank acolytes seem like they could easily out do Amberley Vail and her retinue. Or the standard 40k tabletop Inquisitor retinue. Although my guess is that only an Inquisitor Lord would be in a position to have acolytes of that are that skilled in his service.
Remember, the Acolyte's in DH are not meant to be the retinue of an Inquisitor. The people he surrounds himself with personally would be Interrogators or people just as poweful as his Interrogators. And in the DH book it describes how a person who had fully progressed through his Career Progression could then begin to be considered for the rank of Interrogator. The PC's in the game, being Acolytes, are the people who work for the people who work for the people who are in the Inquisitor's personal retinue. Yes, I didn't accidentally type that three times on accident.
I kind of got the feeling that it wasn't anything to do with power level, but it was more like a nobility thing. Some people are just born with the "right stuff" to become inquisitors and hunt down chaos. Everyone else is just a tool to be used. So even though an acolyte reaches the pinnacle of human achievement, they're still lower ranked than the lowliest Interrogator. Bringing up Eisenhorn again, he became an inquisitor at the age of 24, and Ravenor wasn't much older when he got his Interrogator position. By contrast, Harlon Nayl/Midas Betancore/Amos/Elizabeth all served with Eisenhorn for a hundred years. Hell, Eisenhorn even gaves Ravenor some of his acolytes when he made Inquisitor rank (and those acolytes had been serving since long before Ravenor ever showed up). Sure, age doesn't denote skill, but these guys were also at the pinnacle of human ability.
Also, it wouldn't really surprise me if a fully vetted Acolyte cell is better than all but the highest ranked Inquisitorial retinues. I mean, a squad of max rank acolytes seem like they could easily out do Amberley Vail and her retinue. Or the standard 40k tabletop Inquisitor retinue. Although my guess is that only an Inquisitor Lord would be in a position to have acolytes of that are that skilled in his service.
Well, I wasn't referencing pure ability exactly, but rather rank combined with length and severity of service. While you are in the Inquisitions employ, you are not actually on the way to becoming an Inquisitor. You are being employed by the Inquisition, and although you [i/can[/i] be on the way towards becoming an Interrogator and then Inquisitor, that is not de facto. Experience can help with that (ie, getting to the end of your career progression), as can, as you say, being born into or brought into it by others.
It is also important to remember, when making comparisons. that Eisenhorn was released at the same time as the Inquisitor game; this was deliberate. It's very difficult to make comparisons between that series and this game because a lot of the people that Eisenhorn brought into his retinue were very, very skilled (ie, well along their career progression in game terms) before they were brought into his retinue.
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UtsanomikoBros before DoesRollin' in the thlayRegistered Userregular
edited May 2008
Eisenhorn and Ravenor were also products of the Schola Progenium; handpicked (primarily for their psychic potential) and trained personally as their lords' successors. It's rather different than the Inquisitorial agents who begin their careers in other agencies, and their Inquisitorial rank versus skill probably wouldn't mesh the same. It's not too unlike the Commissariat cadet system, and I'd consider looking at the Arbitrator and Sororitas careers as inspiration for characters of either profession, and start them off as rank 4-6 for a mid level adventure in closer contact to their Inquisitor.
Then again I think a lot of the charm of Dark Heresy is the characters aren't in close contact with their masters, and the players shouldn't understand the institutions they're serving nor the forces they're fighting against. That is why there's so many knowledge and lore skills of relatively common groups and subjects available to learn.
Eisenhorn and Ravenor were also products of the Schola Progenium; handpicked (primarily for their psychic potential) and trained personally as their lords' successors. It's rather different than the Inquisitorial agents who begin their careers in other agencies, and their Inquisitorial rank versus skill probably wouldn't mesh the same. It's not too unlike the Commissariat cadet system, and I'd consider looking at the Arbitrator and Sororitas careers as inspiration for characters of either profession, and start them off as rank 4-6 for a mid level adventure in closer contact to their Inquisitor.
Then again I think a lot of the charm of Dark Heresy is the characters aren't in close contact with their masters, and the players shouldn't understand the institutions they're serving nor the forces they're fighting against. That is why there's so many knowledge and lore skills of relatively common groups and subjects available to learn.
Well, after running a few one shot scenarios over the last couple of weeks, Dark Heresy has been declared a great success by the group I'm running it for. That said, I feel I'd like to move onto something a little more meaty than adventures that take only a single session to get through.
So, a campaign beckons. As much as I'd like to do a Geanstealer Cult, I think most of the players are expecting them to show up some time soon. Thus, sprung from my fevered imagination (As well as reading all of The Walking Dead in 2 days) comes an appropriate idea: Plague Zombie Outbreak!
The plan is as follows: have the Acolytes shipped in to investigate a sudden blight of the food production of a reasonably important planet, only to have them caught in the ensuing food Riots. Soon, people start falling to disease and before long total chaos erupts, followed shortly by the living dead.
The general mission of the Acolytes will be to A: Not get eaten Alive. B: Discover how the plague was introduced. C: Escape the doomed Planet.
Of course. This is easier said than done. I've got a lot of planning to do. Any input and suggestions are welcome. Now, what I'm thinking for a general time Line is the following:
1: A preacher of Nurgle (In disguise obviously) arrives from off world. he quickly gains a small following and sets about getting his followers to infiltrate various branches of primary production.
2: All sources of food are struck down by virulent blights.
3: Planet calls for aid.
4: Acolytes arrive.
5: Food Riots! Bodies start going missing, sowing even more districts and suspicion. Cannibalism etc.
6: First diseases reported on humans. This pathogen quickly spreads among the population.
7: Mass hysteria among the population. Total breakdown of Law and Order.
8: The dead rise.
Now, the big question is what the Acolytes should be doing during all this time. I think that after arriving, they should meet with various specialists/people in charge, then visit the food production areas in an attempt to track down the source of the disease. When the riots break out, they have an opportunity to look for Agitators, and possibly even capture or follow one. Once the diseases start spreading to the population at large, they are likely to be dragooned by the authorities to help clean up the mess and maintain order. Of course they will still have an opportunity to investigate the sites where the first instances were recorded. Ideally, this should allow them to have a decent idea of where the diseases are coming from, so, just as they go to investigate, ZOMBIES! Thus, they have to survive the horrible Charlie Foxtrot and figure out whats going on.
If you're looking for something to do, here's an idea: a follower of nurgle is going to need assistance if he's going to do his father's work. The first thing he's going to try to do is contact chaos cults that are already on-world; the same cults that local authorities have been already tracking. Have the Acolytes get some information from the local Arbites/PDF, and track down some of these cultists.
Information stemming from the wtfpwning of these initial cultist newbs could give clues to the bigger plot, perhaps.
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What's the story here? I like this game (just got the book, great buy) and want to see more of it.
several people on the Rpg.net forums are working on homebrews and compiling them; one guy is already starting on a Tyranid fan-supplement.
In March there's going to be an Inquisitor's Handbook featuring Adeptus Sororitas careers and advanced acolyte careers, but that seems to be about it for new player-character material.
GW is mind-bogglingly stupid sometimes. "Hey! Let's do the Fantasy RPG first! That way we can focus on a smaller fanbase and compete with DnD! After that let's do 40k which has a gigantic following and a cooler background to work with! Then let's shit the bed and not even finish the 40k supps after doing numerous useless Fantasy ones!"
since, you know, WFRPG is pretty goddamn awesome.
It's the better setting, when you get down to it. More contrast, more stuff jacked from history, more proper dark humor, and more skaven.
And Dan Abnett didn't rape it all to hell.
Still doesn't mean I don't love 40k. At least, the 40k where bitches get Exterminatused for seeing a Chaos icon.
I dunno, I find the scale of the setting to be better conductive to the system's style of roleplaying.
Dark Heresy makes the point that the players' acolyte characters will literally know nothing of Chaos, and even has a quoted block of text where Horus' name has been censored.
It also lists the various traditions between barons & serfs on one planet, such as demanding his peasants to break into dance on days of important events whenever he passes by, whether they've heard of the event yet or not.
Or that one feral planet is ruled by one man who is king because he owns a lasgun and is therefore magically powerful.
Or that one should generally be prepared to be lynched or stoned for arriving on a planet where they look strange and unnatural in the locals' eyes.
Its REALLY awesome. I'm playing a Tech Priest sent to spy on the inquisition and confiscate and Forbidden tech. Starting out with a Mono Edged Great Weapon (my Mechanius Axe) is pretty sweet.
My group just finished that scenario. Dark heresy is possibly the only game where you can throw a molotov at a deamon.
Anyway, I just got the book last night.
Holy shit is pretty much all I can say.
Our tech priest has failed three tech rolls in ONE session, EXCLUDING wrecking our ATV flatbed and NOT KNOWING HOW TO CHANGE THE TIRE. Though he seems to be the most oddly good with a weapon, having rolled within the single digits for all his hits and an easy third of all his shots hitting the head.
Our Scum is the slowest but toughest out of all of us, and she was able to interface tech the Priest couldn't and change the tire. Don't ask how, but the priest ALWAYS rolls in the 90's for his tech stuff.
I'm an arbitrator with the worst. Possible. Aim. Ever. And bad aim + shotgun doesn't work when others are around.
Our psyker has the highest WS out of all of us, and the lowest Intellect.
Our Assassin has the second lowest agility, and the third lowest WS. Though his strength is through the roof.
---- It makes me cackle every time.
Who are you DMing for? You know if I got into it I would have a 50 page long back story about my character and have every piece of fluff fully implemented by game stats and items.8-)
Damn it, I'm going to have to get this game, aren't I?
Dude you can totally play. We're gonna be playing at a buddy of mine's dorm room who lives on south campus (whenever we get around to playing).
Think of it as the smallest, fluffiest, most kitted out combat patrol of Warhammer 40k you've ever seen. I know that you were recently thinking about making a 500 pt addon to your guard army, and a big part of that would be an Inquisitorial command squad with the Inquisitor, 2 sages, two bolter servitors, and a veteran guardsman. They would occasionally join your army and tear things up, in the way only an Inquisition squad can. Just think of all the awesome adventures they have when they aren't attached to your guardsman army.
Also...
If only because we don't have a general DH thread... But, some house-rule ideas ahead.
Reading Eisenhorn, It pretty much struck me that the gap in skill between an inquisitor and the skills of his retinue was not quite as drastic as the tabletop codexes have lead me to believe. Of course, they are tremendous badasses in both fluff and rules, but they are still (for the most part) only human.
Which lead me to consider the current career system, which is fine for the actual development, but feels a bit on the ridiculous side when the book pretty much says that once you reach the end of your career paths, you just might be considered for a promotion to the rank of interrogator, but only if you've been nice.
Contrast this with the aformentioned series of books where a good majority of the inquisitors, psychic powers aside, seem to probably be around half-way through a given career path. The main difference being the amount of clout an inquisitor gets.
Which is, of course, leading to my point here, and this is something that would probably not work with many groups; keep a PC's rank within the inquisitorial heirarchy seperate from whether or not he's finished his career path. And by this, I mean if a PC sufficiently proves theirself worthy, allow them to be promoted to the position of full inquisitor if the story can accomodate it.
Now, as this said, this might not work for many groups, since the players might not appreciate one of them being made an "alpha" player. But certain others, where a player tends to fall into a leadership role, especially one that you can trust not to abuse the ability to call down exterminatus, is what I had in mind.
Now, most of this stuff pretty much falls under Rule 0, but what I had in mind are some minor mechanics to represent some of the benefits that come from the position of being an Inquisitor. Namely, a set of elite advances, or a number of bonus advances given based on the general level of experience.
Any thoughts?
Besides the fact the book's rank names are not actually equivalent to the relevant career's rank (a rank 4 Guardsman may be a Corporal according to his background, and if he moves up to Captain while working exclusively in his cell he's still a Corporal), the game so far has emphasized on starting characters with only 400xp, just before their 2nd rank. This makes for very uninitiated and inexperienced 'new recruits' according to the Inquisition chapter of the book, more or less unmonitored fodder for some minor task. The middle ranks represent reliable agents and only the highest rank or beyond would be actual retinue material. A player character really does not have enough skills or knowledge to be useful to the Inquisition until these later ranks; it doesn't make sense for them to be assigned as their lord's bodyguard or initiated as Interrogators before the advanced ranks.
Which brings up the issue of advanced and Interrogator careers being absent. DH seems to intend on the group's Inquisitor being left out of the adventures and avoid the undesirable 'awesome NPC' role, but to my knowledge we don't yet have a supplement for such ranks even if we wanted to play in such a powerful position. Maybe the Inquisitors Handbook does, I can't recall what all is included as my US copy seems to have been delayed for shipping/release.
Rock Band DLC | GW:OttW - arrcd | WLD - Thortar
Now that the general Dark heresy thread is back, I have a question. Does anyone have links etc or just general advice/suggestions on running an effective Horror themed scenario that is genuinly scary or at least fairly tense. So far all the adventures I've run seem to have followed the same pattern of: Step 1: Investigate. Step 2: Discover shocking truth. Step 3: Murder.
In your opinion, is it worth the buy or should I save the money for another RPG book?
The included campaign in the core rulebook is a nice read about something that gets creepier as it goes along. And the way it's set up, nothing is explicitly told to the players - it's expected they figure out how the pieces fit together.
Rock Band DLC | GW:OttW - arrcd | WLD - Thortar
Well after months of delay I have started again working on my Black Templar army {I was too lazy to go buy glue}
First among equals talks about Primes, the leaders of an acolyte cell. The book remains ambiguous on it though. Just that typically the Prime will be the person who most pleases the Inquisitor. So it could be whoever did best in the last mission. Or whomever acted most like the Inquisitor (a cautious Inquisitor would favor cautious behavior, a firebrand would support whoever smote the most heretics, etc.) They also mention that the Prime changes frequently, especially so if the current Prime is doing a bad job. The benefits are that a Prime gets to have more say in what the group does, and will be gifted whatever artifacts the Inquisitor lets the acolytes have for a mission (IE, he gets to carry the rosette). Right before it mentions that Primes are the ones who get to carry rosettes, it also mentions that "An Acolyte may even impress his master so much that he is granted a title within the Inquisition, perhaps becoming an Interrogator with the right to bear the Rosette." Basically, it mentions something, and then completely contradicts it in the next passage. :x
As for purchasing the book, it almost seems more like an player handbook than a DM rulebook, which is odd considering the name. The new equipment along with character creation/advancement rules outweigh pretty much everything else in the book. Unfortunately there are no new psychic powers. T_T
I kind of got the feeling that it wasn't anything to do with power level, but it was more like a nobility thing. Some people are just born with the "right stuff" to become inquisitors and hunt down chaos. Everyone else is just a tool to be used. So even though an acolyte reaches the pinnacle of human achievement, they're still lower ranked than the lowliest Interrogator. Bringing up Eisenhorn again, he became an inquisitor at the age of 24, and Ravenor wasn't much older when he got his Interrogator position. By contrast, Harlon Nayl/Midas Betancore/Amos/Elizabeth all served with Eisenhorn for a hundred years. Hell, Eisenhorn even gaves Ravenor some of his acolytes when he made Inquisitor rank (and those acolytes had been serving since long before Ravenor ever showed up). Sure, age doesn't denote skill, but these guys were also at the pinnacle of human ability.
Also, it wouldn't really surprise me if a fully vetted Acolyte cell is better than all but the highest ranked Inquisitorial retinues. I mean, a squad of max rank acolytes seem like they could easily out do Amberley Vail and her retinue. Or the standard 40k tabletop Inquisitor retinue. Although my guess is that only an Inquisitor Lord would be in a position to have acolytes of that are that skilled in his service.
Well, I wasn't referencing pure ability exactly, but rather rank combined with length and severity of service. While you are in the Inquisitions employ, you are not actually on the way to becoming an Inquisitor. You are being employed by the Inquisition, and although you [i/can[/i] be on the way towards becoming an Interrogator and then Inquisitor, that is not de facto. Experience can help with that (ie, getting to the end of your career progression), as can, as you say, being born into or brought into it by others.
It is also important to remember, when making comparisons. that Eisenhorn was released at the same time as the Inquisitor game; this was deliberate. It's very difficult to make comparisons between that series and this game because a lot of the people that Eisenhorn brought into his retinue were very, very skilled (ie, well along their career progression in game terms) before they were brought into his retinue.
Then again I think a lot of the charm of Dark Heresy is the characters aren't in close contact with their masters, and the players shouldn't understand the institutions they're serving nor the forces they're fighting against. That is why there's so many knowledge and lore skills of relatively common groups and subjects available to learn.
Yes. This.
Love Dark Heresy.
So, a campaign beckons. As much as I'd like to do a Geanstealer Cult, I think most of the players are expecting them to show up some time soon. Thus, sprung from my fevered imagination (As well as reading all of The Walking Dead in 2 days) comes an appropriate idea: Plague Zombie Outbreak!
The plan is as follows: have the Acolytes shipped in to investigate a sudden blight of the food production of a reasonably important planet, only to have them caught in the ensuing food Riots. Soon, people start falling to disease and before long total chaos erupts, followed shortly by the living dead.
The general mission of the Acolytes will be to A: Not get eaten Alive. B: Discover how the plague was introduced. C: Escape the doomed Planet.
Of course. This is easier said than done. I've got a lot of planning to do. Any input and suggestions are welcome. Now, what I'm thinking for a general time Line is the following:
1: A preacher of Nurgle (In disguise obviously) arrives from off world. he quickly gains a small following and sets about getting his followers to infiltrate various branches of primary production.
2: All sources of food are struck down by virulent blights.
3: Planet calls for aid.
4: Acolytes arrive.
5: Food Riots! Bodies start going missing, sowing even more districts and suspicion. Cannibalism etc.
6: First diseases reported on humans. This pathogen quickly spreads among the population.
7: Mass hysteria among the population. Total breakdown of Law and Order.
8: The dead rise.
Now, the big question is what the Acolytes should be doing during all this time. I think that after arriving, they should meet with various specialists/people in charge, then visit the food production areas in an attempt to track down the source of the disease. When the riots break out, they have an opportunity to look for Agitators, and possibly even capture or follow one. Once the diseases start spreading to the population at large, they are likely to be dragooned by the authorities to help clean up the mess and maintain order. Of course they will still have an opportunity to investigate the sites where the first instances were recorded. Ideally, this should allow them to have a decent idea of where the diseases are coming from, so, just as they go to investigate, ZOMBIES! Thus, they have to survive the horrible Charlie Foxtrot and figure out whats going on.
Thoughts?
Information stemming from the wtfpwning of these initial cultist newbs could give clues to the bigger plot, perhaps.