Need Help Understanding Dark Heresy

[Brom]

So I'm new to the Dark Heresy setting. I'm really excited, but I'm trying to get a hang of it. I have a few premises I just want to confirm and a few things I'm totally lost on.

My character is here. No one was able to point me to a website with Heresy that would be like Myth-weavers, so we're writing sheets here.

http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=178568

Firstly, is this an inaccurate assumption? I'm a fan of D&D and Star Wars RPG and am experienced with those systems.

Scum = Rogues
Clerics = Bards
Adepts = ?? Bardlike in knowledge skills.
Assassins = ?? I guess ninjas? Monks (but not bad)?
Guardsmen = Fighters
Arbiter = Ranger
Psyker = Wizard
Tech Priest = Wizard, after a fashion. Closer to Artificer?

Secondly, I have no idea how skills work (how you get them, what you expend to get them, what class has what skills, what the skills are good for, how a skill check works)

Ditto with talents. Closest I can tell, they're like Feats.

Would really, really appreciate some help. I LOVE Warhammer and want to break into warhammer RP, but for the life of me I can't figure the system out as is. The reading is confounding me.

Also, would love the names of other Warhammer books, particularly any that have rules for playing and running games as Astartes.

[Daisuke1133]

The careers don't really have good analogues with D&D but you're close enough, I suppose.

Skills, Talents, and Characteristic (Ability) Scores are all gained/Increased by spending your experience points. Level-ups happen as a result of these expenditures. Classes are nominally restricted to the Skill and Talent advances on their Advance Schemes, but you can branch out with alternate Career Ranks and by taking Elite Advances.

Skills work as follows: Skills are tied to various the Characteristic Scores, save Weapon & Ballistics Skill which are only used for attacking and parrying attacks (Weapon Skill), and this score is the target number you have to roll under to succeed at whatever task you are attempting.

You're not far off with the talents=feats description, though the Talents are generally a fair bit more useful and stay useful throughout your characters continuing adventures.

Please tell us if you need to know anything else.

[Brom]

Okay. How do I determine how much XP it costs to raise a skill? Do skills work 1-100 like characteristics? How much can I raise a skill as a first level character?

...What should I think to do as a first level Feral World Guardsmen headed for sniper? Is Agility important to me?

What should I buy?

I think just seeing/hearing how it's done to start will give me an idea of the process and I can self-teach from there. I'm reading on it still./

[Daisuke1133]

It says right on the Advance Scheme how much an advance costs. These costs will sometimes vary from career to career and sometimes from rank to rank if you're using alternate career ranks.

The skills test of your characters score in the relevant Characteristic. For example to succeed on a Dodge test you would need to roll under your character's Agility Score on a d100 roll.

On the subject of a sniper Agility and Ballistics Skill will both be important so that you can stay hidden and so you can hit, respectively. On the subject though why a Feral Worlder for a sniper? They get a bonus to Strength and Toughness so they make better melee fighters than snipers, but either route is acceptable for a character. The career path you want to use is the scout path.

Weapons with the Accurate Quality will be a good idea, so starting with a Hunting Rifle will be to your benefit.

[Brom]

Will I advance so fast into marksman/sniper that my starting weapon couldn't be switched out to something more tailored to my specialty later on?

[Daisuke1133]

XP gain is determined by the GM, so you'll only advance as fast as your GM wants you to. Also there are a number of different weapons and weapon upgrades, and specialist ammo if you are using Solid Projectile or Las weapons. As a Guardsman, your character will have one of the lowest salaries in the game so get used to the idea of depending on the kindness of strangers, stealing, or looting dead enemies for equipment you want (not stuff to sell mind you) and ammo.

[Zen Master]

XP gain is determined by the GM, so you'll only advance as fast as your GM wants you to. Also there are a number of different weapons and weapon upgrades, and specialist ammo if you are using Solid Projectile or Las weapons. As a Guardsman, your character will have one of the lowest salaries in the game so get used to the idea of depending on the kindness of strangers, stealing, or looting dead enemies for equipment you want (not stuff to sell mind you) and ammo.

I always figured guardsmen simply requisitioned what they need. Of course, that's entirely open to opinion and interpretation, but in my book? When the guardsman buys the skill for launchers, he marches down to the armory and requisitions a grenade launcher and a mix of frag, krak and blind grenades.

My reasoning is that there really isn't any point in playing a guardsman if you're not a walking arsenal of things that go bang and kill or maim in unpleasant fashions.

Frankly I consider the guardsman (when properly geared) to be the wizard of the group. He has crowd control, buffs (well, mainly self-buffs in the form of combat drugs), and AOE and single target damage.

[BrainFreeze]

Also, would love the names of other Warhammer books, particularly any that have rules for playing and running games as Astartes.

You need to pick up the Deathwatch book.
Deathwatch on Amazon

[Sir Swindle89]

You need to pick up the Deathwatch book.
Deathwatch on Amazon

And no it's not balanced on the same level as Dark Heresy