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I'm starting to DM for my Dark Heresy group, and I have two questions:

1. How deadly should the game be? I know that combat is naturally very dangerous and unfair in this game, but quite a few DMs that I know make it really deadly, so that most people die or get critically injured early in the campaign.

2. When should I give the group access to more deadly weapons, like hellguns, plasma guns, or bolt weapons? Should they be stuck with piddly autoguns and laspistols for most of the campaign?

What is this doing in 40k discussion?

There is another DH thread here, and nobody complains about it.

And isn't DH about 40k? It would fit into both RPG discussion and General 40k.

Edit: No, you're right, I'll get a mod to move it.

I actually don't know what Dark Heresy is. Explain yourself NOW!...pleez?

Start the game off pretty easy and then get really tough. And if the players have the cash to spend ingame at the right place, give them access to the big guns. But make sure to increase the price depending on the world.

Emperors Faithful wrote:I actually don't know what Dark Heresy is. Explain yourself NOW!...pleez?

It's the 40k D20 RPG where you play as an acolyte of the Inquisition. You do stuff and burn heretics and...

Well, basically it's about playing as a Catholic Space Nazi.

It's also infamous amongst RPGs for being incredibly deadly. You can (and will) die in your first fight, with your limbs lying all over the place and your headless body running around in circles setting your party on fire because you got shot with a lasgun.

...a lasgun? Forget death rays and cyclone launchers...a lasgun?!?

your limbs lying all over the place and your headless body running around in circles setting your party on fire because you got shot with a lasgun.

I do love how dangerous a lasgun is in this game and that the standard issue IG armour is one of the best available for characters.

It's the 40k D20 RPG

just to be pedantic, it's a D10 game.

So basically a guardsman is badass?
No power armour? Power anything?
So you could easily blow up a facility with a sharp, pointy stick? Sounds hectic!

Power Armour and Power Weapons are in there, they're just rare, expensive, and stupidcrazypowerful.

I don't think it's been said yet...you're not a space marine. Space marines are almost game-breakingly powerful, best used as boss encounters or 'run-the-heck-away-from-that-guy' encounters. You are a guardsman (or equivalent squishy thereof, Guardsman is even a class) and a lasgun with an average roll for damage will whack more than half your HP if you don't have armor.

A bit of advice for your campaign, Cheese: Instead of mucking about with the murky-arse currency sytem all the time, you could have your players use a requisition system if they deal with their boss or other Imperial group based on in-game skill checks and scale the gear they can receive based on immediate need and plausibility, and the check results, and save the currency for in-mission stuff or black market deals. It makes it easier for our DM to keep the party liquid without trying to work out why that daemon was carrying a wallet with 53 Thrones in it (we're a Malleus retinue).

It might not work for your campaign, like if you fight all humanoids, say, Hereticus-style, it gets a bit easier. But it's less paperwork for the DM to deal with, and having DMed a couple different roleplay systems myself, that is always a good thing.

Caffeine wrote:

your limbs lying all over the place and your headless body running around in circles setting your party on fire because you got shot with a lasgun.

I do love how dangerous a lasgun is in this game and that the standard issue IG armour is one of the best available for characters.

It's the 40k D20 RPG

just to be pedantic, it's a D10 game.

To be more pedantic, it's a d100 game.

But you roll d10s. It's just you allocate one as tens and one as units and to make it easier they've changed one of the d10s to have the big numbers on them.

I'm sticking with d10 based.

I have fun with the first combat letting the players get used to the system. Then in the second round it gets ugly. The people I used to play with are the type to take advantage of every rule they can but in most groups you will only have 1 or 2 people like that.

It doesn't hurt to have a NPC in there that gets crushed in one shot to prove a point to your PCs. Nothing says serious like a laz pistol to the face.

And lets be serious. We are so used to 40K that everything that is not a space marine is garbage. But as GW says. They are made for balance in the game mechanics.

Dark Reign has a bunch of good stuff. http://www.darkreign40k.com/

On top of that they have a well done space marine build.
http://www.darkreign40k.com/downloads/career-paths/index.php

Emperors Faithful wrote:So basically a guardsman is badass?
No power armour? Power anything?
So you could easily blow up a facility with a sharp, pointy stick? Sounds hectic!

Gotta keep in mind the game is about a bunch of acolytes (Inquisitor Henchmen at 8pts each! ) investigating and fighting xenos, daemons and heretics. Not war. They even specify that the bolters are smaller and weaker than the SM variants, which are made for SM power armor-sized hands.
So yes, lasguns are actually good. Guardsmen are the shiz. Sisters of Battle are overpowered. And a single Genestealer will kill your whole party.
Don't even think about a Space Marine, it's above the scope of the game.

I wouldn't say combat is unfair though. Deadly yes, but not unfair. Unless you give them the above-mentionned Genestealer in their first game, when they all have a lasgun and no armor.

So...

1. Depends what kinda game you and your players want. I'm personally trying to go for the horror feel of the 40k universe so yes, death should be present. No need for PC death in every game but it's certainly not your vanilla cheat-the-dice RPG, otherwise you lose the whole 40k feel.

2. I'd say go with standard equipment, and let the players use their cash if they want better guns. You can always give them some gear upgrade on enemies but don't forget that means said upgrades are going to be used on them before they get their hands on it. *evil grin* Also, pay attention to what kinda characters your player have in mind. If one of them wants to be the Inquisitor's Gun Servitor (to speak in table-top 40k terms) and buys skills accordingly, it might be nice to make sure this guy gets a bigger gun at some point. Just make sure he pays for it. *evil grin... again*

Caffeine wrote:But you roll d10s. It's just you allocate one as tens and one as units and to make it easier they've changed one of the d10s to have the big numbers on them.

I'm sticking with d10 based.

You can get percentile dice. They roll for ages.
It's a percentile game, and DnD is a D20 game even though you use D2-D100 in the system.

@Cheese Elemental
If you are concerned about the longevity of the PC's, start them at a higher rank and give them access to shiny toys.
I figure that if a character is able to access particular weaponry through their character advancement then they should reasonably have access to it.
Traders do exist in the 40k universe.
If they are walking through things too easily, sick a Genestealer or a Daemon on them.