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View Full Version : Player Help Needing help with Dark Heresy 1st Ed. Tech-Priest.



FatherRaven85
2017-02-28, 12:30 AM
I just started playing in a 1st Edition Dark Heresy campaign for the first time. I ended up rolling a tech-priest, and I was looking for a good build to make. I have the core book and The Inquisitor's Handbook available, with potential additions from other books on a case-by-case basis. I like the idea of the Mechanicus Secutor a lot. Here's my stat line:

WS 30
BS 35
S 35 (Unnatural 2x)
T 33
Ag 28
Int 38
Per 33
WP 40
Fel 24

I took the Divine Light of Sollex background, Forge World background, and rolled for the Hideous Strength Major Mutation from my Divination. My GM has already said that he will allow The Flesh Is Weak from The Lathe Worlds. Any suggestions? Thanks in advance.

Chijinda
2017-03-03, 04:52 PM
Nobody so far? Geeze.

Alright then, let's see what I can do. I don't have a lot of experience with Lathe Worlds, my group primarily uses the Inquisitor's Handbook and Core Rulebook, but let's take a look here.

Your toughness is disappointingly low, (35 would have been great), which is a shame, because along with Arbitrators, Tech Priests are one of the best tank careers in the game. But I suppose you more than make up for it with that Unnatural Strength (how did you get Unnatural Strength btw?).

Intelligence is one of the Tech Priest's easiest to raise stats, and along with Tech Use this makes them THE best Tech users in the party. I would honestly say if you're not maxing Tech Use and Intelligence as a Tech Priest you're doing it wrong.

You have Unnatural Strength so you're pretty good on Strength for pretty much the rest of the game. Tech Priests don't have the characteristic advances or talents to make amazing melee fighters, unlike Guardsmen or Assassins and they don't get broken weapons like Force Swords like Psykers do, so I wouldn't invest too heavily in Weapon Skill or Strength.

Get your agility up to at least 30 though, as an Agility Bonus of 2 is NOT going to cut it.


Overall? You're looking like a reasonably well balanced combative Tech Priest, that can hold your own at any field of combat whether ranged or melee. Definitely work on getting at LEAST 40 Toughness though, and if you can get over 50 Intelligence and Toughness that's excellent, as your augments give you free armor. You'll be the smartest tank on the battlefield, and woe betide your foes if you actually can get some working technology.

Ultra4Life
2017-03-05, 11:38 AM
Pretty much second everything above.

My two thrones: When I make tech-priests I tend to prioritize characteristics as follows: Intelligence= Willpower> Toughness> Ballistic Skill> Strength> Weapon Skill> Perception> Agility> Fellowship.

Logics

Intelligence lets you do tech-priest stuff and if you're playing a Tech-Priest you should have high Int. If you're interested in playing a cybered up soldier, look at Crimson Guard instead.

Willpower powers tech-priest stuff that I like. If your GM allows stuff from the Lathes Worlds it's at least as important as Int in my book - at least for how I play my TPs. If not, it's still about as good as toughness (Willlpower rolls are so common I recommend a high WP for every character ever).

Toughness because not dying is fun and it allows for more mechadendrites and additional carrying capacity.

Ballistic Skill so that while not dying you can make things die. An invincible character who can't hurt anything is as useful in a fight as an adamantium wall. When's the last time someone willingly shot a wall in your games? If you don't want to fight fine but I still like being able to contribute when bullets start flying (Incidentally your BS is fine, just against making it like a 20).

Strength because of carrying capacity. My TPs end up carrying a stupid amount of gear, I like being able to actually carry it.

Weapon Skill because running out of ammo is bad and swords are cheap. And with a decent strength you can hurt things fairly well with it.

Perception is bleh to me as a TP. Invest in Skills over this.

Fellowship is last because of N/A. A social tech-priest is certainly fun, but most are not social tech-priests.


Other than that with playing a tech-priest my advice boils down to this: Stereotypes are your friend. Unsurprisingly tech-priests work pretty well when you play them as obsessive borderline kleptomaniacs bent on hacking off their legs and replacing them with cybernetic ones. Plus on civilized worlds tech-priests blend into the background. Yeah, everyone notices the guy in a red cloak but no one cares to pay attention because everyone knows how unfriendly they are, and how they're likely doing something important to making sure everyone gets to keep breathing or something of that nature.

EDIT:

Oh and Agility Logics: Ninja flips are not the tech-priest's strongsuit. And with what I said about everyone noticing the red cloaked guy (who may or may not be billowing smoke, beeping, and has a light-bright for a face) stealth isn't super great for them anyone. Not getting hit is nice, but increasing dodge will help you more than agility. Plus a lot of tech-priest stuff in various 40k rpgs hurts your agility, so just look ahead and see if anything you're taking hurts your agility. Take that into account and so long as your agility is at least 20 (i prefer 30, but 20 is doable especially if you shoot guns to make things blood become external) after penalties it'll work out.

Chijinda
2017-03-05, 10:26 PM
In addition to the above, it's worth noting as well, from a roleplay and campaign perspective, that the Adeptus Mechanicus is not particularly welcoming to many outsiders, but they ARE generally pretty trusting as one of their own. If the Mechanicus have a heavy presence in your campaign, and you're playing a Tech Priest, take FULL advantage of that. The Adeptus Mechanicus are unquestionably one of the most powerful allies you can have in the entire Imperium, and as a Tech Priest you are in the perfect position to secure their aid.