Dark Heresy

[faceroll]

I am going to DM some dark heresy for a very mechanically minded friend who wants to play a level 9 inquisitor or something. I have virtually no familiarity with the system and don't want to have to read through tons of books. Anyone have a tl;dr for how the system runs so I can have them run through a space hulk?

[Lycan 01]

A level 9 Inquisitor? You want a TL;DR Quick'N'Easy guide to the top rank in the game? Sorry buddy, ain't gonna happen. I actually ran a pretty awesome game earlier, and even at level 2 we had to stop every now and then to check rules, mechanics, and weapon stats. At level 9, you've got so many skills and talents, a normal character sheet can't even hold them. My team got to level 3 today, and their already out of space on their sheets for XP advances.

Its not that the system is overly complicated - the concept is pretty simple. Roll a d100, add or subtract some bonuses, and try to get below the target number. But explaining all the rules and finer points of the game? That's just obscenely difficult to do over the internet.

And if your friend is very mechanically minded, then you've got a snowball's chance in Hell of having fun trying to run an Ascension-level game with no knowledge of the rules with him.

Sorry to rain on your parade. But you're really biting off more than you can chew with this. Its not that its a bad game or anything. Its my favorite, in fact. But you need to start small, otherwise you'll confuse yourself and never get anywhere.

[MickJay]

Most of the talents can be described in a line or two. On the other hand, if you don't know the basics of the system, then you won't be able to determine if that's actually a worthwhile thing to get.

There aren't many things that synergise, and if they do, that's usually quite obvious (e.g. two-weapon fighting, ambidextrity, independent targeting).

It's a system where, if you've got a character concept, you can usually pick the skills and talents that SOUND like they might be appropriate, and in 90% of the cases that will be right.

There are some custom character sheets which offer much more space for advanced skills and talents, pretty useful.

[faceroll]

A level 9 Inquisitor? You want a TL;DR Quick'N'Easy guide to the top rank in the game? Sorry buddy, ain't gonna happen. I actually ran a pretty awesome game earlier, and even at level 2 we had to stop every now and then to check rules, mechanics, and weapon stats. At level 9, you've got so many skills and talents, a normal character sheet can't even hold them. My team got to level 3 today, and their already out of space on their sheets for XP advances.

Its not that the system is overly complicated - the concept is pretty simple. Roll a d100, add or subtract some bonuses, and try to get below the target number. But explaining all the rules and finer points of the game? That's just obscenely difficult to do over the internet.

And if your friend is very mechanically minded, then you've got a snowball's chance in Hell of having fun trying to run an Ascension-level game with no knowledge of the rules with him.

Sorry to rain on your parade. But you're really biting off more than you can chew with this. Its not that its a bad game or anything. Its my favorite, in fact. But you need to start small, otherwise you'll confuse yourself and never get anywhere.

:(
Dang.

How similar is the ruleset to Chaosium's CoC? I have about a summer's worth of that.

Also, how challenging are the monsters vs. an optimized level 9 space nun? Will I need to mess with monster stats?

Most of the talents can be described in a line or two. On the other hand, if you don't know the basics of the system, then you won't be able to determine if that's actually a worthwhile thing to get.

There aren't many things that synergise, and if they do, that's usually quite obvious (e.g. two-weapon fighting, ambidextrity, independent targeting).

It's a system where, if you've got a character concept, you can usually pick the skills and talents that SOUND like they might be appropriate, and in 90% of the cases that will be right.

There are some custom character sheets which offer much more space for advanced skills and talents, pretty useful.

I'm GM, so that's not really an issue for me.

[Aroka]

How similar is the ruleset to Chaosium's CoC? I have about a summer's worth of that.

No. It's a different game by a different company, one with its own rules systems that it uses (in one form or another) in all its games. Why would it be anything like CoC?

[Lycan 01]

:(
Dang.

How similar is the ruleset to Chaosium's CoC? I have about a summer's worth of that.

Also, how challenging are the monsters vs. an optimized level 9 space nun? Will I need to mess with monster stats?

Its actually quite similar, in that it uses the same basic D100 mechanics and skill systems. But there are lots of bonuses and situational modifiers, and your attributes and skills are managed way differently. Lets say you have a base Ballistic Skill of 35, and want to shoot a cultist. Well, you have to roll against that 35, plus or minus lots of mods. +10 for close range, +10 for aiming, +10 if you have a laser sight... If you're lucky, you'll have about a 50 to 70 percent chance of success on your average ballistics test.

I've gotta say, CoC is probably the easiest system to transition from to Dark Heresy.


Okay, first of all, its not "space nun," its Battle Sister. Second of all, there's no such thing as an optimized Battle Sister. They've got like... 4 career paths, and soooooo many options with each path. Battle Sisters are THE expert class. The rulebooks actually say that you shouldn't let newbies play Battle Sisters, and that GM's should be careful to even allow them since they're so powerful.

The monsters? Heh, most monsters could eat a top rank Battle Sisters with one or two lucky dice rolls. Likewise, she could trounce some of the toughest monsters with the right weapons and checks. There are just so many variables. Have her fight a room full of normal cultists and maybe a Psyker, and she could easily walk through them casually eviscerating them with a 2-handed chainsword, ironically called an Eviscerator. Throw her against an Unbound Daemonhost by herself, and you've have yourself some Chunky Space Nun Salsa.



If you're going to try and learn the system, I'd suggest just buying the rulebook. Its a bit pricey, but if you enjoy the game it'll make up for itself over time. Like I said, its probably one of my favorite systems, and I actually ran a game with a new group earlier this week. So much fun. There was a duel between a cultist brute with a chainsword vs. my GF's katana-weilding Battle Sister. She dodged all his attacks, then cut his arms off and took his sword as a trophy.

[Talkkno]

It seems what you are looking for is Dark Hersey Ancension, which let's you play a Inquistor and their cadre.

[Lycan 01]

Which still needs the Core Rulebook.


Seriously, just see if the guy wants to help pitch in and get the rulebook. Its not a game you learn overnight. Even with the rulebook, it took me awhile the learn the game. My first few tries GMing were [b]terrible[/i], and the results were not pretty.


Sorry if it seems like I'm trying to scare you out of the game. I'm not. Dark Heresy rocks. I just don't want you to bite off more than you can chew, and never look at the game again. (I did that with Shadowrun. )

[Psyx]

"Also, how challenging are the monsters vs. an optimized level 9 space nun?"

Oh; so he's gone right for the most broken character class in the game, then?

"Will I need to mess with monster stats?"

Yes.

You'll need the base rules and Ascension. At least. And Sisters Sororitas are in the Inquisitors handbook.

This is a hard game to jump into at that level, especially as it needs a bit of rules tinkering to start with.

I've been running it for a year, and there's no way in hell I'm letting my players get to that kind of power level, as it just gets ridiculous and very tricky to balance combats. Add a PC psyker to the mix and you've just created a nightmare.

***

I think your players might be under the misapprehension that DH is some power trip game. It's not; it's more like CoC in its aims (with a higher survival chance!), and much better geared towards low-level stuff where a minor demon is a horror that can't be tackled head-on. I'd possibly look at Rogue Trader instead... or Deathwatch. Yeah: Wait for Deathwatch and let them play Space Marines. Those games worry less about horror and more with applying massive statistics, masterworked powerswords and resources to every problem, which is what it sounds like they want.

[Yuki Akuma]

My advice: say "no, you're starting at rank 1 because I have never GMed this game before you jerk".

[gdiddy]

My advice: say "no, you're starting at rank 1 because I have never GMed this game before you jerk".

This. 100x this. Over and over in a dimension that consist of only this.

[Aroka]

My advice: say "no, you're starting at rank 1 because I have never GMed this game before you jerk".

You should never start running a completely new game at power levels higher than default starting level, in general. Bad idea - you'll be even more overwhelmed by your own unfamiliarity. This is especially true if one or more players seem to know the game better.

[Psyx]

^Good point.

I think if my first experience as a player or GM of d20 3.5 was to be asked to run an epic game, I'd probably end up pretty narked off, and I'd never touch the game again.

[faceroll]

Ran a one-shot. Went fine. Only had two players. They survived an encounter with 12 genestealers and an ambushing lictor, but had to burn fate. Neat mechanics, overall.

Would play again, A+++.

[Kaun]

Ran a one-shot. Went fine. Only had two players. They survived an encounter with 12 genestealers and an ambushing lictor, but had to burn fate. Neat mechanics, overall.

Would play again, A+++.

wut!?!

[Lycan 01]

Well iddn't that cuuuuuuute...

BUT ITS WRONNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNG!!!!




Old cartoon references aside, yeah, something's not right here. HOW on Earth did that work out? I mean, did they have Power Armor and Storm Bolters and 57 Fate Points?

[Talkkno]

Well iddn't that cuuuuuuute...

BUT ITS WRONNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNG!!!!




Old cartoon references aside, yeah, something's not right here. HOW on Earth did that work out? I mean, did they have Power Armor and Storm Bolters and 57 Fate Points?

Given how easily we blasted threw waves and waves genestealers, to the point where they'll might as well be gaunts, I'm not surprised.

[Lycan 01]

Yes, but we were a team of 4-5 fighting only a few at a time. This was 2 players versus 12 Stealers and an ambushing Lictor. Statistically speaking, there's no way they could have survived more than a few rounds of 2 vs 13, Burnt Fate included. Now, if it was one or two Stealers and once, and the Lictor by itself, I can see them winning easily. But the way he said it seemed like they all attacked at once...