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Deathwatch: Mark of the Xenos is finally listed as ON THE BOAT. So early May?

I tend not to believe that section of the website. I mean, it had Black Crusade 'At the Printers' just after it was announced, and I know that that wasn't true.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
And now the announcement of what could be the greatest book FFG has ever made. Ever!

FFG wrote:
Who Can You Trust?

Announcing The Church of the Damned, an adventure for Dark Heresy



Around us is darkness and sin. We slip as one ever further into hell. If one could arrest our slide to damnation, but doing so would cost more lives than you can comprehend, is it not right to take that step. Appalling though the price might be, is it not our duty?
—Pronouncement of the First Synod of the Maledictor’s Hand

Investigating corruption within the Ecclesiarchy itself is as delicate as it is dangerous, but when an influential leader is suspected of heresy, you and your fellow Acolytes will uncover an ever-deepening conspiracy that could spell the end of the entire Calixis Sector...

Fantasy Flight Games is pleased to announce the upcoming release of The Church of the Damned, an adventure for Dark Heresy!

The Church of the Damned is the second adventure in The Apostasy Gambit, a Dark Heresy campaign that takes a cell of Acolytes from investigating the tragic history of a warped Cathedral to crusading against a conspiracy within one of the Imperium’s most vaunted organisations. While The Church of the Damned continues the events started in The Black Sepulchre, it also includes starting points to be played on its own or as part of your own campaign.


Deadly Mysteries

Dark Heresy’s lead developer took the time to share his thoughts about The Church of the Damned:

By now Black Sepulchre is in the hands of players. I’ve gotten a chance to talk to a few groups who have already played through the adventure and they all have the same question... “What’s next?” The cheeky answer is “Part two; it’s a trilogy!” but the question really dives deeper than that.

Black Sepulchre has a few big moments and ends on a Sector-shaking cliffhanger. Players are dying to know what comes next, where their Acolytes go from the events in Black Sepulchre. Obviously I can’t give that away, it would spoil the surprise, but I can discuss a few teasers.

Dark Heresy is a game of investigation, and while there is plenty of action to be had, the core experience is one of mystery and conspiracy. Church of the Damned sees the Acolytes embracing that role and leading an investigation into the heart of one of the Imperium’s most powerful organizations. Witnesses must be questioned, information researched, and crime scenes examined.



Of course, there is a good deal of combat too, with a variety of new and familiar foes. Hair raising, skin of your teeth, knock down, drag out combat. This may be the deadliest adventure we’ve ever written. Don’t expect to save the entire Calixis Sector and come away with all your fate points... or limbs!

The Maledictor’s Hand, a secret group of fanatical extremists, manipulates the Imperium from the shadows. You and your fellow Acolytes must hurry to stop their dark plot before it’s too late. But who can you trust?

Look for The Church of the Damned on store shelves in the third quarter of 2011!

Third quarter... that's far too long.

Hope the book is not about traitor Sororitas.
At least we see new Penitent Engine art.

H.B.M.C. wrote:
And now the announcement of what could be the greatest book FFG has ever made. Ever!

Not going to lie.

"Black Sepulchre" has me quite on edge to read what's next.

Kroothawk's gonna be disappointed methinks

OMG i want to play this game! It looks so awesome! I must learn how to play it! LOL!

Welcome to the party.

Kroothawk wrote:Hope the book is not about traitor Sororitas.
At least we see new Penitent Engine art.

Penitent Engines are weapons of the Ecclesiarchy, yes? And therefore not directly 'sister related'.


[UPDATE]::

TTGN wrote:Upcoming FFG releases...

Early May 2011
DW05 Deathwatch: Mark of Xenos

July 2011
DH14 Dark Heresy: Church of the Damned

So July for the greatest book in 40K RPG history, but we get the (sure to be) awesomesauce Mark of the Xenos in the meantime.

I've only read about half of Black sepulchre thus far, and have been quite impressed by the overall concept and design, it's the first adventure I've seen which genuinely seems to be playable at different levels of power/experience.

One or two slight reservations about ..a certain element of the story and time, but it's certainly not impossible, and this may well be explained or covered a bit future on.

Does remind very much of Mr. Counter's work for the WFRP range he did.

H.B.M.C. wrote:I tend not to believe that section of the website. I mean, it had Black Crusade 'At the Printers' just after it was announced, and I know that that wasn't true.

That may be true, but my experience for every book is that once it shows On The Boat I find it in stores a 3-6 weeks later.

Finally! The Purjerer is here!!!

A Twisted Abomination

A preview for Mark of the Xenos, an upcoming Deathwatch supplement

Greetings, Deathwatch fans!

This week, we take a look deeper into Mark of the Xenos, the upcoming supplement for Deathwatch. If you are just hearing about this amazing book, make sure to check out the overview as well as last time’s preview of the vicious Dagon Overlord!



A Space Marine’s Nightmare

Mark of the Xenos is filled with vile xenos and insidious adversaries for GMs to challenge their Kill-teams. This week’s preview features a particularly diabolical antagonist: Magos Phayzarus. Created by Andrea Gausman, this heretical Magos of Samech hungers for that which is most precious to the Space Marine: his Progenoid glands, holders of the chapter’s gene-seed. Phayzarus has re-forged his body into a twisted abomination of metal and flesh for the singular purpose of hunting Space Marines.

Magos Phayzarus is a great tool for GMs to strike fear into the hearts of even the fearless Space Marines. With cunning traps and plans, Phayzarus will do anything to feed his addiction, dissecting the Battle-Brothers he has bested and eating their precious Progenoid glands. Phayzarus is just one of the many treacherous adversaries found in Chapter II: Radicals and Heretics.

Read more about Magos Phayzarus (pdf, 1.1MB), available for download on the support page, and be prepared for his insidious traps!

Stay alert for your chance to study the enemy, and look for Mark of the Xenos in the second quarter of 2011!

I've been really quiet about this book so far simply because of NDA's (you have no idea how many times I've wanted to jump into the threads at the FFG website and correct all the speculation that they're getting wrong!!!), and as it's not out yet I can't say any more (so please don't ask me) but given this preview is out I have to say that out of everything in Mark of the Xenos, Phayzarus is without a shadow of a doubt my favourite new adversary.

I love Tyranids, and we all know I love killing Tau, but despite all the new Tau and 'Nid things in this book, the Phayzarus entry is the thing that I love the most. I read his entry and my head spins with potential campaign/mission ideas.

Y'all a gonna love this book.

But's all I'm saying until we get other previews.

There's no new Chapters detailed, are there?

We know you can answer that at least

Well... it's an adversary book, like The Creatures Anathema, so no.

VIOLATED NDA, INQUISITORIAL KILL TEAMS ON THE WAY!

Anyways...


Is "Creatures Anathema" worth buying?

Yes, it is!

I want these books, i love these books! I am out of money!

H.B.M.C. wrote:I've been really quiet about this book so far simply because of NDA's (you have no idea how many times I've wanted to jump into the threads at the FFG website and correct all the speculation that they're getting wrong!!!), and as it's not out yet I can't say any more (so please don't ask me) but given this preview is out I have to say that out of everything in Mark of the Xenos, Phayzarus is without a shadow of a doubt my favourite new adversary.

I love Tyranids, and we all know I love killing Tau, but despite all the new Tau and 'Nid things in this book, the Phayzarus entry is the thing that I love the most. I read his entry and my head spins with potential campaign/mission ideas.

Y'all a gonna love this book.

But's all I'm saying until we get other previews.

So you're under NDAs now?

... I'm reading the preview, and now I have ot wonder if FFG is retconning how marine implants work again.

Since the progeonoid is the 18th gland put in, wouldn't that mean that none of the other implants work in the intrim? Particularly say, the ones that are required to work before it's implanted?

That is the one that starts the process and activates the other organs

There's a new bit up about MINIONS for Black Crusade.


I'd do a big post about it but I can't figure out how to select text on this goofy Mac.

Black Crusade, an upcoming roleplaying game that offers players a new perspective on the conflict between the Imperium of Man and the forces of Chaos, will hit shelves in the third quarter of 2011. Today, we’re pleased to present a preview from Owen Barnes, one of the writers for Black Crusade. Among other contributions, Owen wrote about minions, and their place in a Black Crusade campaign. Thanks, Owen!

Say hello to my little friend

What would a champion of the Dark Gods be without followers to do his bidding? I’m not talking about the mewling hangers-on or floating skulls that follow Inquisitors around, or the legions of crewmen which maintain a Rogue Trader’s vessel; I’m talking about the weird, the wondrous and the down right terrifying entities which a Heretic can bend to his will. With this in mind, it seemed only right that players in Black Crusade should have the chance to take dedicated minions for their characters, whether they were daemons, rogue psykers, traitor Space Marines or pretty much anything they could think of.

To make this happen we have created rules for Minions. Minions are followers which are acquired by taking one of the Minion talents (bought with experience like other talents). The really cool aspect of Minions, however, is that a Minion talent doesn’t represent a specific Minion, such as a fallen Acolyte or death world carnivore; instead it sets a power level ranging from lesser (the weakest kinds of Minions) to Greater (the most powerful). The player then gets to create his Minion based on its level of power, making it into whatever he desires.

Minions are created in a similar way to characters, though given their diverse nature they follow their own set of rules. In essence when a player takes one of the Minion of Chaos talents for his character he builds his Minion by selecting characteristics, skills, talents, traits and equipment dependant on its level of power. This means that if he wants it to be a beast in close quarters fighting, he could put lots of points into Strength and Weapon Skill, choose skills (like Evasion) which will help it in close combat, choose talents (like Frenzy) to further enhance its abilities and traits (like Unnatural Strength) to really make it a force to be feared. Because Minions can be created using all the skills, talents and traits in Black Crusade (including psychic powers) they can really be anything, limited only by the points provided by the talent used to create them.

If you want something done right...

Minions differ from NPCs in that they are completely under the control of the player whose character they belong to, rather than being controlled by the GM. In this way, they are an extension of the player’s character and he can choose their actions, reactions and responses just as he would for his own character. This can be useful in combat situations where a Minion will work closely with its master enhancing his attacks and providing reliable support where even other Heretics might leave him to pursue their own glory. Players can even create Minions with this kind of support in mind, such as a heavy weapon mutant to lay down stubber fire while they charge in or a diminutive servitor with the sole purpose of following its master into melee to ward off attacks with its shield arms.

Minions can also be useful outside of the combat arena and players can create a Minion to cover a weakness in their character or a gap in his skills or abilities. For instance if a Heretic is fearsome in combat but lacks social skills, he might employ a sycophantic envoy with a honeyed tongue to do his talking for him or broker deals with merchants and warlords. Equally, if a Heretic lacks academic or scholastic learning he might carry with him a cogitator core with a powerful but tainted machine spirit to answer his questions, giving it a violent shake if it gets out of line.

While Minions are under the control of the player (and while in the presence of his character will generally do exactly as desired) they do still have minds of their own (or at least what passes for a mind in the case of servitors and the like). This means that if the player sends them off on their own or his character becomes incapacitated and cannot give them orders they might not do exactly what he wants. To reflect this, every Minion has a Loyalty score equal to its master’s Fellowship (plus or minus various modifiers). In situations where a Minion is not in the presence of its master, the GM makes a roll against its Loyalty. If this test is passed, all is well and the player can control the Minion (or it completes its task as instructed). If it is failed, however, the GM takes control of the Minion and chooses what it will do. While this doesn’t mean the Minion will turn on his master or work against him, it does mean it will almost certainly ‘get it wrong’. For example, a Heretic sends his tainted murder servitor to assassinate a rival in a crowded settlement, but it fails its Loyalty roll: there will be murder, but the odds of the target being among the dead are no longer certain.

Menagerie of Chaos

Heretics can have more than one Minion if they take the Minion of Chaos talent more than once. Minions can even be improved by upgrading the level or the talent and giving the Minion more points to spend on characteristics, skills, talents and traits. In addition, when a Minion dies, or is discarded by its master, the character does not lose the Minion of Chaos talent and can (when appropriate to the story) acquire a new Minion to take its place. All of this means that with a few talents the Heretic can surround himself with a core of loyal followers more devoted and specialised than any number of NPC followers or hirelings.

There are also numerous talents which will enhance a character’s Minions or give him more options when using them. Talents like Ancient Warrior and Demagogue will improve the Loyalty of Minions while Unholy Devotion allows a player to transfer hits from his character onto his Minions as they leap into the path of bullets and sword blows. My favourite Minion-related talent has to be Betrayer. This talent allows a Heretic to ‘burn’ a Minion rather than a Fate Point to save his life. The details are left to the player and the GM but one can imagine a Heretic bartering away one of his trusted followers to a cannibal tribe or using their body to seal a breech in void ship’s hull to save his own skin.

Overall the Minion rules reward creativity and allow players to create pretty much any kind of follower they can imagine, which is only just and right given the capricious nature of Chaos!

Don't forget the pictures!









Seriously, what is going on in that second picture?

sonofruss wrote:That is the one that starts the process and activates the other organs

Yeah, except that doesn't work, because the others are supposed to be up and running for years in some cases before the Progenoid is put in, since it's the last thing before the black carapace. So it can't 'start' them, because it's not in their bodies, and it doesn't control the others, because they have to be working already when it's not in their bodies.

BaronIveagh wrote:

sonofruss wrote:That is the one that starts the process and activates the other organs

Yeah, except that doesn't work, because the others are supposed to be up and running for years in some cases before the Progenoid is put in, since it's the last thing before the black carapace. So it can't 'start' them, because it's not in their bodies, and it doesn't control the others, because they have to be working already when it's not in their bodies.

Simply put: the reason the Omnophagea not be working for the Magos without a Progenoid to consume is because he's missing everything else that a Space Marine would usually have.

@ Noisy_Marine My bad.

Kanluwen wrote:

BaronIveagh wrote:

sonofruss wrote:That is the one that starts the process and activates the other organs

Yeah, except that doesn't work, because the others are supposed to be up and running for years in some cases before the Progenoid is put in, since it's the last thing before the black carapace. So it can't 'start' them, because it's not in their bodies, and it doesn't control the others, because they have to be working already when it's not in their bodies.

Simply put: the reason the Omnophagea not be working for the Magos without a Progenoid to consume is because he's missing everything else that a Space Marine would usually have.

Except that Omnophagea is one of the first 8 implants put in. It would have to be able to function without most of the rest of them. He should be eating the biscopia, which is what releases the hormones that allow the others to work, and is implanted shortly before the Omnophagea.

BaronIveagh wrote:

Kanluwen wrote:

BaronIveagh wrote:

sonofruss wrote:That is the one that starts the process and activates the other organs

Yeah, except that doesn't work, because the others are supposed to be up and running for years in some cases before the Progenoid is put in, since it's the last thing before the black carapace. So it can't 'start' them, because it's not in their bodies, and it doesn't control the others, because they have to be working already when it's not in their bodies.

Simply put: the reason the Omnophagea not be working for the Magos without a Progenoid to consume is because he's missing everything else that a Space Marine would usually have.

Except that Omnophagea is one of the first 8 implants put in. It would have to be able to function without most of the rest of them. He should be eating the biscopia, which is what releases the hormones that allow the others to work, and is implanted shortly before the Omnophagea.

Before the implants are ever placed in, there's more done to the marines. There's chemical therapies, hormones, etc.

Basically: it's vague enough that we have no clue why/how it would work outside of it.

Hell, it might be simply that he's more machine than man which means there's organs missing from him.

Kanluwen wrote:
Before the implants are ever placed in, there's more done to the marines. There's chemical therapies, hormones, etc.

Basically: it's vague enough that we have no clue why/how it would work outside of it.

Hell, it might be simply that he's more machine than man which means there's organs missing from him.

I have creation of a space marine in front of me. According to this, the only thing added is the implants and extensive hypnoindoctrination. The biscopia is (surprisingly for GW) clearly stated to be the hormonal basis for the other implants. A progenoid only serves to incubate the next batch of implants (in the form of stem cells, maybe?) and some chapters remove both of them from the Marine when they mature. If being a machine was the problem, how would chapters like the Iron Hands exist then?

It's plenty creepy to have a cyborg hungering for parts of your brain, but if I wanted to lift part of Gunnm for a campaign, there are better bits to steal then the brain addicted cyborg that gets stronger from eating brains.

BaronIveagh wrote:

Kanluwen wrote:
Before the implants are ever placed in, there's more done to the marines. There's chemical therapies, hormones, etc.

Basically: it's vague enough that we have no clue why/how it would work outside of it.

Hell, it might be simply that he's more machine than man which means there's organs missing from him.

I have creation of a space marine in front of me. According to this, the only thing added is the implants and extensive hypnoindoctrination. The biscopia is (surprisingly for GW) clearly stated to be the hormonal basis for the other implants. A progenoid only serves to incubate the next batch of implants (in the form of stem cells, maybe?) and some chapters remove both of them from the Marine when they mature. If being a machine was the problem, how would chapters like the Iron Hands exist then?

Do the Iron Hands replace their internal organs upon induction? All we really have on them is that they replace a lot of their limbs with cybernetics, not the internals.

It's plenty creepy to have a cyborg hungering for parts of your brain, but if I wanted to lift part of Gunnm for a campaign, there are better bits to steal then the brain addicted cyborg that gets stronger from eating brains.

There's no doubt about that.

We'll agree that it's a cool character, but with some oddities then?

LOL The Warp Did It.

This is why we can't have Mechanicus armies. They ruin everything! Always gotta break stuff!

Once again, NDA prevents me from revealing anything. All I will say is that minions are easily my fav part of Black Crusade.