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I was pondering things (as I do), and I began thinking about what each level of each stat means. We know that S3, T3, and I3 is a basic human soldier. I think that many people don't really understand the differences between each level (like the difference between S3 and S4, or T4 and T5, etc). This might be a bit... pointless, as this is more fluffy than anything, but feel free to chime and correct me or add something. I was not sure on where to put this, as YMDC and Proposed Rules did not seem to fit what I'm attempting here. All the stats go from 1-10 and are spoiler'd to make this a bit more manageable.
Starting with Weapon Skill-
Spoiler:
1- You have no skills with weapons, or even your fists. If you're attacked in close combat, you can do nothing but slap them wildly. 2- You have a basic understanding of how to swing your fists and kick something, but if you were to enter combat, you'd probably lose. 3- You have training (probably military training) in CQC, and are competent enough to hold your own against most opponents 4- You have advanced training on CQC techniques, and have spent years training intensely and have spent much time proving your skills in live combat. 5- Your training and goes beyond most normal boundaries into the realm of over-achiever. 6- Where others are satisfied with their skills, you are not, and your near-superhuman skill reflects that, having many spent years in battles and even more time in training. 7- Only the most intense training can make you break a sweat, and in the heat of battle, your skills outshine all others 8- Only the superhuman can achieve this level of skill, honing it in both training and battle over several dozens of years 9- You are a demi-god of stabbing things in close combat. 10- Are you sure you're human? I don't think you are. If you are, good job: you're better than everything ever.
Ballistic Skill-
Spoiler:
1- Guns? What are guns? 2- You can hit the broadside of a barn, but just barely. While you can hit a target, your groupings are large. 3- You have training (probably military training), and are fully competent with a gun. 4- You have advanced training, and have spent years training intensely and have spent much time proving your skills in live combat. 5- Your training and goes beyond most normal boundaries into the realm of near-superhuman. 6- Where others are satisfied with their skills, you are not, and your skill reflects that, having spent many years in battles and even more time in training. 7- You practice day in and day out, basically living on the firing range, practicing with every weapon you can. 8- Only the superhuman can achieve this level of skill, honing it in both training and battle over several dozens of years 9- You are a demi-god of shooting the dickens out of things with any weapon you find 10- Are you sure you're human? I don't think you are. If you are, good job: you're better than everything ever.
Strength-Using deadlifting as a base for strength (it utilizes almost every muscle in your body)
Spoiler:
1- A child-can deadlift ~5-30 lbs. 2- Adolescent. You can do push-ups, a pull-up or two, but not much more.-can deadlift ~31-90 lbs 3- Full grown adult. You can do a couple dozen push-ups and several pull-ups, but you aren't by any means "strong." -can deadlift ~91-200 lbs 4- You're strong. You can bench a pretty large bench with several more benches on it. This is the equivalent of modern-day powerlifters-can deadlift ~201-1100 lbs 5- You're really strong. Not only can you bench more benches than before, but you can also maybe throw on a table. A big mahogany table. -can deadlift ~1101-1800 lbs 6- Holy crap how are you this strong. This is not attainable without being severely enhanced biologically or with mechanical assistance, or with a large, heavy weapon -can deadlift ~1801-2790 lbs 7- What? You can lift a car over your head and throw it? Good for you. -can deadlift ~2791-6090 lbs 8- Well, shoot. If you're this strong you either have a Power Fist or you simply aren't human. -can deadlift ~6091-9000 lbs 9- You are a demi-god of picking things up and putting them down. -can deadlift ~9001-19,000 lbs 10- Are you sure you're human? I don't think you are. In fact, I'm 100% sure you aren't. Why? Because humans can't punch tanks into the stratosphere. -Can deadlift 19001-30000 lbs
Toughness-
Spoiler:
1- A child. You get slapped, you cry for ten minutes. 2- Adolescent. You can take a hit, but not well, and you bruise easily. 3- Full grown adult. You can take a hit and keep kicking. Whether you work in the upper Hive City or you're in the military, you, at the very least, don't cry like a wuss when you get stabbed. 4- You're tough. The only thing that can put you down is something strong, or something really lucky. Getting stabbed? Eh. Get shot? Ouch. 5-You're either made of metal or you've been fighting all your life. A stiff backhand with a Power Fist is the only thing that really sends you reeling. 6- Well, at this point you aren't human. Maybe you have combat stims a-flowin' or maybe you're a rather large Tyranid monster. Either way, only the strongest and most powerful weapons or beings can put you down. 7- Getting shot with anything less than a large-caliber weapon is like getting tickled. Lasguns? Don't make me laugh. 8- By this point you're nigh-indestructible. Barely anything can hurt you with any reliability, and those things are few and far between. Unless you're fighitng Space Marines. 9- You are a demi-god of not dying. I guess that means you're almost immortal. 10- Your enemies might as well kill themselves, because they certainly aren't killing you any time soon.
Wounds- I would appreciate feedback on this, because this is hard to do properly. Keep in mind that high W value usually corresponds with a high T value, like most large Tyranid creatures.
Spoiler:
1- Standard human. Lose a limb or get stabbed in a vital organ, and things aren't looking good for you. 2- You are highly resistant to pain. Whether through training or sheer not-giving-a-crap, you have the capacity to fight on, even if you have sustained a usually fatal injury. 3- You are tough beyond most normal people. Whether through training, magic or SCIENCE!, you refuse to go down, even if severely injured. 4- You're either magical or SCIENCE! is on your side, because this is just unnatural. And awesome. Only the most powerful and over-killy weapons can put you down in one go. 5- It's official: you're magic. SCIENCE! only goes so far, and this is it. Getting shot in the face means nothing to you. 6- Your average Tuesday consists of both getting gravely injured and not caring. By "gravely injured" I mean "shot with a meltagun at point-blank range." 7- Ok, this is getting ridiculous. Most vehicles can't take this kind of abuse without getting damage, yet you're bouncing along like Railguns shoot bunnies rather than solid projectiles travelling at mach 90. 8- This is 8 times you can get stabbed in the heart. 8. You're also probably about 100 feet tall by this point. 9- You just can't die. Lascannons might as well shoot rainbows, because you probably also have armor or skin a foot thick and made out of either magic or SCIENCE! or some weird combination. 10- Can you say "super-huge mega-bio-titan?" I can. Because you're about twice as big as a Heirophant, and give nary a damn when shot with anything less than a Titan-mounted super-weapon.
Initiative- A high I value also tends to correlate with a high WS value, like most Eldar or Dark Eldar Elites or HQs.
Spoiler:
1- I'm sorry to say, but you have the reaction time of a sloth. You have no option but to let the enemy wail on you before you can even throw a punch. 2- Again, you're slow. even children can punch faster than this. 3- You're about normal, assuming you're a human. 4- You've trained. You're swift and agile, able to hit others before they hit you. Most of the time. 5- You are very highly trained, probably in some sort of martial art. Most humans do not get beyond this without the help of SCIENCE! or magic. 6- You are either not human or have some sort of help in attaining your level of speed. You can dodge blows with ease. 7- Most Eldar aren't this fast, yet you jump around the battlefield like a Harlequin. Actually, you probably are a Harlequin. 8- You hit things before they even know you're there. Normal people can't even perceive your movements, much less protect against them. 9- You're a demi-god of speed, and your only real opponents are the best Harlequins or Dark Eldar, and dodging slow things like bullets or laser beams is no problem. 10- When you're fighting, you generally can't be seen, mainly because you're too fast and made of some kind of magic. Or you've trained for millennia and have some sort of assistance.
Attacks- A high A value also tends to correlate with a high I and WS value, like most Eldar or Dark Eldar Elites or HQs. This is essentially the same as Initiative, because how many attacks you can make depends on both your skill and your speed. You cannot separate this out, because this relies more on the two previously mentioned values than anything else. High A=WS+I, for the most part. Not directly, of course, but taking them into consideration helps understanding why things attack like they do, and why barely any models in the whole of 40k have any base attack value higher than 4.
Leadership-
Spoiler:
1- You're scared of anything that moves and some things that don't. You lead about as well as a tree. 2- You're scared of anything that moves. You lead about as well as slightly larger tree. 3- You're scared of most things that move. The only people you could possibly lead are people you've known for years, and by people I mean trees. 4- You jump when a friend taps you on the shoulder. You couldn't lead a line to the lunchroom without breaking under the pressure. 5- You snap like a twig under the pressure of having to decide between paper or plastic. 6- You are indecisive and like having your decisions made for you. 7- You have a mind of your own, but leading anything more than a few men is beyond you. 8- You are capable of leading units, but anything larger is too much to handle. 9- You're level-headed and work well under pressure. You generally aren't scared of anything. 10- You have the capacity to lead an army. Nothing scares you.
There we go. The Save value is, well, their armor, and I think we can all figure that out. Again, this is for anyone, especially those trying to create custom characters. I think rules should be backed up and represented by the fluff of whatever model or unit the rules are for, even though that doesn't always happen in 40k. As much as I like the Rule of Cool, it generally doesn't translate well into game terms without costing hundreds of points. This is to help with that.
This message was edited 3 times. Last update was at 2012/02/23 02:11:47
