Psykers in Dark Heresy

[Brom]

I just got into the Dark Heresy RP system. I did my first GM'd session last night and I'm trying to see how I did. That's an aside, though, I'm curious about if I should allow Psykers and what general player commentary is on how they fit within balance.

[Yuki Akuma]

Psykers are fine. The game isn't incredibly balanced to begin with anyway, and none of the psychic powers are so good that another character couldn't get a similar ability with good equipment.

Also, Dark Heresy is a horror game, and the Perils of the Warp are nice in that regard.

[Brom]

Psykers are fine. The game isn't incredibly balanced to begin with anyway, and none of the psychic powers are so good that another character couldn't get a similar ability with good equipment.

Also, Dark Heresy is a horror game, and the Perils of the Warp are nice in that regard.

Not incredibly balanced? O.O

Well that's good. I horrified my players =D

Slaaneshi cultists and running into demiAstartes traitors is nice in that regard.

[Comet]

Psykers will break the game, one way or another. The heavens will cry blood, the psyker's enemies will burst into unnatural flames and the psyker's friends will suffer emotional and physical trauma that will leave them scarred for life.

Incredible fun. They do have a habit of being slight show stealers, but it's all in service of the grim style of the game. Balance is not really the most important thing to focus on, as long as everyone can find something fun to do in the game. For psykers that fun happens to be rending the rules of reality and sanity asunder in ways that can really bring a game to a halt if you can't think on your feet.

[senrath]

Also note that, until Psy Rating 3 or so, a lot of Psykers won't have all that much to contribute to combat.

[Makiru]

Also note that, until Psy Rating 3 or so, a lot of Psykers won't have all that much to contribute to combat.

Not true. I played a great debuff psyker at Psy Rating 1-2, while my friend used Unnatural Aim and an auto-fire weapon to attack a guy about 8-9 times a turn, almost always invoking the Critical Hit chart.

While psykers aren't game-breakingly amazing at low PR, they can still be pretty good with some creativity.

[senrath]

I said a lot, not all.

[Saph]

Not true. I played a great debuff psyker at Psy Rating 1-2, while my friend used Unnatural Aim and an auto-fire weapon to attack a guy about 8-9 times a turn, almost always invoking the Critical Hit chart.

Unnatural Aim is a half action and autofire is a full action. You can't do both in one turn.

Psykers are quite deadly - trouble is they're deadly to their teammates and themselves, too. The psyker in our group called up a daemon that attacked us, sent a few people mildly insane, and finally got possessed into a daemonhost. The Inquisitor had her nuked from orbit.

[Brom]

=D

That's hilarious. Reminds me of the time we had an Enchanter in our party and the BBEG took our mind controlled Ogre Slaves and cast Greater Dispel Magic.

The pieces of the Enchanter were hard to recover.

Would you guys be willing to comment on the Scum class in another thread on this page that I opened? Would be here (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=179856).

[D Knight]

yes its true Psykers can steal the show OR they can hand it over to villains with a single roll. i have had one i a game i played and it made it more of a challenge to kill the enemy first before the psykers had a chance. plus they come in hand when you question a person as long as no 9 are rolled.