[Dark Heresy 1st Edition] Psykers...

[Spectre9000]

So, I'm about to play my first game of DH 1st edition, and I'm going to play a Psyker. On a roll of a 9, I invoke a psychic phenomenon, as I understand it. Then there are Psy Ratings, which increase the number of D10's you roll. It seems like the more D10's you have, the more likely you're going to invoke a psychic phenomenon, as the more dice you roll the more often numbers will appear. This seems very detrimental, and it seems like you would want to not have a higher psy rating than you need. However, it seems like you need as high a Psy Rating as possible to stand a chance of reliably using any discipline power.

I'm trying to figure out a good Psyker build, that reduces the chances of a psychic phenomenon (or at the very least a "bad" phenomenon). It really seems to me like I'm going to be rolling for psychic phenomenon a lot, and that's... worrisome, and makes it seems like I'll possibly be more of a detriment to my party than a benefit.

Also, I want to be more combat focused, utilizing Psychic Blade (19 threshold), and Telekinetic powers in general, eventually, in combination with biomancy. So suggestions focused around that idea, would be appreciated.

[Wraith]

It seems like the more D10's you have, the more likely you're going to invoke a psychic phenomenon, as the more dice you roll the more often numbers will appear. This seems very detrimental, and it seems like you would want to not have a higher psy rating than you need. However, it seems like you need as high a Psy Rating as possible to stand a chance of reliably using any discipline power.

You have correctly identified the role of Psykers in Dark Heresy. :smalltongue::smallbiggrin:

Psychic Powers in Dark heresy, even after you account for the FAQ which fixes a significant number of badly-worded powers and overpowered abilities, are notably more powerful than the abilities available to any other class; mishap and warp phenomena are the price you pay for that, in terms of theme, fluff, and also balance.

The keys to building a good - and relatively safe - Psyker are to pick powers which will have the most effect in helping the party rather than just yourself, and to take stats and talents that mean you don't need to roll Psy dice.

The first is pretty straight forward. You could, for example, take the Chameleon power and keep yourself safe.... but all that means is that the rest of your squad are getting shot to bits.
Instead, take powers that can help anyone and not just yourself - Healing in particular is hugely valuable - or something like Weapon Jinx, which automatically takes an opponent out of the fight for a few rounds, and thus prevents someone from getting Boltgun'd in the face for a while.

This obviously won't prevent you from rolling mishaps, but at low level there really isn't much way around that so your best bet is to be as efficient as possible before that happens. :smalltongue:

As for not rolling Psy dice unless you have to, that is just fairly straight-forward min-maxing. Keep your WP bonus as high as possible and prioritise new talents like Corpus Conversion, Discipline Focus and (to a lesser extent) Favoured By The Warp, all so as to make your rolls as consistent as possible.
Similarly - try being a Hero every once in a while and earn back your lost Fate Points, and use that to offset the ones that you spend on preventing yourself from getting eaten by daemons in the first place. :smallbiggrin:

Ultimately, learn to laugh at the mishaps when they happen. Dark Heresy is not a "meat grinder" system wherein you should expect to have a new character rolled up every other session, but it is the sort of game that rewards you being careful about a situation rather than just bursting in, guns blazing all the time.
The simple fact is that Psykers need to be a little bit more careful than everyone else. That's not a bad thing, you just need to be expecting it. :smallsmile:

[Andor13]

There is a reason Psykers are hated and feared. This is because they occasionally explode. On a really bad day they explode into a storm of demons. Welcome to 40k.

Pump your WP as high as it goes, never push your powers, and remember the Warp is not your friend. Actually it's 40k, nothing is your friend, but the Warp more than most.

[Destro_Yersul]

As for not rolling Psy dice unless you have to, that is just fairly straight-forward min-maxing. Keep your WP bonus as high as possible and prioritise new talents like Corpus Conversion, Discipline Focus and (to a lesser extent) Favoured By The Warp, all so as to make your rolls as consistent as possible.
Similarly - try being a Hero every once in a while and earn back your lost Fate Points, and use that to offset the ones that you spend on preventing yourself from getting eaten by daemons in the first place. :smallbiggrin:

Corpus Conversion, post errata, is actually terrible. Make sure you know which version your GM thinks you're getting before you take it.

[Sinewmire]

You have correctly identified the role of Psykers in Dark Heresy. :smalltongue::smallbiggrin:

Yeah, this. Have you seen that Dark Heresy Flowchart? It goes something like this:

Do you have a psyker in your party?

Yes ---------> Party dies when Psyker is posessed by Daemonhost
No -------> Fight against Psyker ------^

Understand that Psykers are timebombs. Don't use powers all the time, every time you do you're taking time off the countdown.
My last Psyker died whilst idly trying to find out how many people were in a house. BAM. Daemonhost.

[Wraith]

Understand that Psykers are timebombs. Don't use powers all the time, every time you do you're taking time off the countdown.

It seems unnecessarily obvious to say this out loud, but it's actually quite important; Psykers can do other stuff apart from being Psykers, if they want to, which is what makes them so powerful.

So you're a Psyker, but you're afraid of getting mishap'd to death. So carry a really big shotgun to solve most of your problems, and only use your powers when it's going to give you the biggest reward for doing so.
Some people argue that "not using powers" misses the point of being a Psyker; I feel that they are missing the point that a character can do many things, and that Powers are just one of the things that makes you special. There's a variety of roles to play - face, healer, DPS, sneaky guy, etc - wherein powers are there to augment you and not just to be the be-all-and-end-all of your character.

Even Gandalf carried a sword, after all. Space-Gandalf probably wouldn't object to an AK, just for backup. :smallwink:


My last Psyker died whilst idly trying to find out how many people were in a house. BAM. Daemonhost.

Whereas some of my campaigns have gone completely by with little more than some spoiled food and a gun unloading itself. As much fun as the memes are, dying to daemonic possession isn't guaranteed - you only hear about it so often because of confirmation bias, and no one bothers to remember all those times that they DIDN'T mishap and get turned inside-out for it. :smalltongue:

[Grim Portent]

A low rank DH1 psyker is basically a crazy guy with some gimmicky powers and is reliant on guns and swords for the actual combat like everyone else, a high rank one starts getting relatively safer with their powers and basically transitions to being a battle psyker and throwing fireballs to immolate entire squads of gangers or cultists, hip firing heavy weapons with precog up, or providing a telepathic communications web between their entire party.

[Sinewmire]

Whereas some of my campaigns have gone completely by with little more than some spoiled food and a gun unloading itself. As much fun as the memes are, dying to daemonic possession isn't guaranteed - you only hear about it so often because of confirmation bias, and no one bothers to remember all those times that they DIDN'T mishap and get turned inside-out for it. :smalltongue:

It is guaranteed, you just have to play for a loooooooong time :smallcool:

To be fair, my character was a heretic who'd slipped his handlers after sanctioning and used his Telepathy for self-gratification. Guy used powers instead of intereaction skills, he totally had it coming.

It's not quite as dangerous as the memes would have you believe, but no other ability in the game with the possible exception of Demolitions that has such a disproportionate possibility of blowing up in your face. Your psychic powers *will* kill you once you run out of fate points, unless you are incredibly cautious. It's not so bad in later games in the series, but you can roll a LOT of 9s on your focus test, and it just takes a bad couple of rolls.

Your character could die and turn into a horrifically powerful antagonist from flipping on a light switch with his mind.

I GM'd a Rogue Trader game where one of the players was an Astropath Transcendent and she made it all the way to the end, though it was pretty close. She set her hair on fire three times.

[Floogal]

Not mentioned so far is the invocation skill.

Not worth it in battle, but if you've got a minute to spare (and don't mind looking/sounding odd to whomever is around), repeatedly trying at this until you succeed can help quite a bit. Adding 2x WP to your Power Roll instead of 1x WP will probably mean rolling one less dice.

I played a diviner for a long while, and often spent time using invocation. At the higher ranks, I was often auto-succeeding power activations of minor powers and weaker discipline powers after a successful skill roll. Still needed to roll a single dice to check for phenonema...

[Blackhawk748]

We once had a Pdyker who pretty much only used Unnatural Aim and a Shotgun. He was horrifying and very safe

[Destro_Yersul]

That got errata'd too. Unnatural Aim just gives a flat +30 bonus now, rather than counting as point blank. On the plus side, using it AT point blank means you get +60. On the downside, no more shotgun bonus damage from across the room.

[Blackhawk748]

That got errata'd too. Unnatural Aim just gives a flat +30 bonus now, rather than counting as point blank. On the plus side, using it AT point blank means you get +60. On the downside, no more shotgun bonus damage from across the room.

Honestly that makes it better but a bit riskier, as you have to get close.

[Florian]

A good Psyker build? That's one that has the power but actually can do without it to avoid headsplosion. Remember, this is not D&D where magic is safe and harmless to the user, this is Warhammer, so you must pay a price for power.

Disregard thinking in combat magic terms. Good gear and implants will get the job done the same way, rather think about what equipment can´t duplicate, like divinations.