Farseer Faenyin wrote:
Deathwatch you are pinholed into a boring as hell Space Marine, you will quickly find this boring once you get through a few combats and some of the upgrades. Anybody who enjoys immersing themselves into the character will not find much joy in Deathwatch.

 H.B.M.C. wrote:

 Farseer Faenyin wrote:
Deathwatch you are pinholed into a boring as hell Space Marine, you will quickly find this boring once you get through a few combats and some of the upgrades. Anybody who enjoys immersing themselves into the character will not find much joy in Deathwatch.

The old "You can't RP in a game about Space Marines" chestnut, as much a load of nonsense today as it was the day Deathwatch came out.

Inquisitor Jex wrote:
I started my own Dark Heresy campaign with a few extras to make it less about looting bodies for ammo and such.

1- give'em a few basic skills/talents to help'em out. nothing too horrible, keep it in setting.
2-give them access to an armoury where they can borrow weapons and gear. The GM got final say (via the quartermaster) on what can be taken. They bring it back, good. They loose it or destroy it, it's taken off their pay.

http://dark-heresy.wikispaces.com/i-school

My players started with the agent training, after a few missions I opened up the rest. It is not game breaking or anything, but a few useful skills, limited weapon training, a few talents for flavour at first, the rest well, you got to control the down time.

I would recommend Dark Heresy at first, the careers paths are 'listed down' and easy to follow so there's less bookkeeping as to who can buy what at which cost à la Only War, where the starting career you pick don't really matter as it is free form character development.

Inquisitor Jex wrote:
Hey feel free to lurk about when the game's going. We don't mind a crowd.

 jbsnv wrote:

Inquisitor Jex wrote:
Hey feel free to lurk about when the game's going. We don't mind a crowd.

if you need a specific char for deathwatch just let me know ill set one up for you

 TheAngrySquig wrote:
It depends a lot on what kind of playstlye you want. If you want Investigation-style games where the main focus is on figuring out some deep secret and then fighting, go with DH. If you want Adventure-style games where the main focus is finding and claiming new things in the name of the Emperor(or something else) then go with RT. If you want Action-style games where the main focus is on fighting, go with BC or DW. I haven't played only war so i really don't know what it's like.

Personally, I like Black crusade the best because of it's lack of career-specific talent trees. Basically, you can buy any talent or skill at any time as long as you have the XP and the prerequisites

 Lynata wrote:
[...]
I think it's pretty close to the ideal system, at least as far as character advancement is concerned. They made some weird calls for character creation, such as the Commissar essentially taking his or her profile from the regiment the other PCs are membes of, rather than always using the Schola Progenium background, [...]

Manchu wrote:Are they detailed in the corebook?

Valhallan Ice Warriors

"Onward, to victory!"

Approximately ten thousand years ago, the lush garden world of Valhalla in the Ultima Segmentum was hit by a massive asteroid, plunging the planet into nuclear winter and transforming its fertile plains and large forests into endless ice wastes, only scarcely interrupted by patches of dark forest surrounded by deadly tundra. Its population, whose numbers had been severely depleted during the cataclysmic event and in the ten years thereafter, finally retreated underground, erecting vast subterranean shelters that slowly expanded into gloomy, sprawling cities. What little life remained was carefully cultivated by the survivors, who resorted to growing nutrient slimes and algae in gigantic vat-pools heated by thermal stills.

However, the true test of Valhalla's population came when a damaged Ork spacefleet, thrown off-course by a freak Warp storm, arrived in the system. Detecting traces of the recently finished resettlement, many thousands of hungry Orks landed on the world in a search for battle and food. Mobilising every man, woman and child against the invaders, the defenders barricaded themselves, knowing full well that they would either have to make their stand here or face certain death. Their stiff resistance eventually purchased their engineers sufficient time to collapse the main access tunnel, thus dealing a nigh-fatal blow to the invaders and allowing the Valhallan people to turn the tide. After destroying the Orks on their own world, the regiments of Valhalla joined with other forces of the Imperial Guard, determined to rid many other worlds of the hated greenskins.

Valhallan culture prides itself on camaraderie as much as on the resilience of its people. Resourcefulness and the ability to improvise are valued traits in a society plagued by continuous material shortages. The soldiers of Valhalla often bear a grim and fatalistic worldview, but are passionate about their friends and family. Discipline in the Valhallan forces is harsh, but even though the Commissariat has officially imposed strict penalties against such breach of protocol, the trade of equipment, sometimes against nothing but the promise of return or favors of equal value in the future, could never be fully eliminated as an established custom amongst the regiments.

The Valhallans have mastered the art of tundra warfare, being accustomed to the harsh climate as well as its effects on the battlefield. Traditionally heavy on infantry, the Valhallan regiments are surprisingly light on transport vehicles such as the ubiquitous Chimaera. Instead, it is common practice for its infantry to simply "catch a ride" on any allied vehicle driving into the same direction. A favoured tactic of Valhallan commanders is to have squads of soldiers mount Leman Russes or Hellhounds and have the tanks carry them right into the heat of battle, with the troops dismounting just before their erstwhile ride engages the enemy in order to close in on their quarry and support the precious vehicles on foot.
Many Valhallan infantry squads include a Weapons Specialist as a designated marksman armed with a M91 Mordian-Gaunt-pattern Long Las.



Valhallan Ice Warrior Regiment Rules

Characters belonging to the Valhallan 383rd gain the following advantages:

Characteristics Modifier: +3 Willpower, +3 Ballistic Skill
Starting Skills: Common Lore (Imperial Creed), Common Lore (Imperium), Linguistics (Low Gothic)
Starting Talents: Die Hard, Resistance (Fear)

Fieldcraft (Tundra): Valhallans have grown up amidst the arctic climate of their homeworld, and feel at home on any planet with a similar environment. When operating in jungle terrain, failed Survival and Navigate (Surface) Skill Tests may be re-rolled.

Blessed Ignorance: Valhallans know that the proper ways of living are those tried and tested by the generations that have gone before. Horror, pain and death are the just rewards of curiosity, for those that look too deeply into the mysteries of the universe are all too likely to find malefic beings looking back at them. Their wise blindness imposes a –5 penalty on all Forbidden Lore (Int) Tests.

Hated Enemy: Ever since the attempted invasion of their planet, the Valhallan people hold the Ork race in contempt. Even after managing to drive the greenskin infestation from their frozen world, Valhallan regiments joined up with other elements of the Imperial Guard to battle their ancestral foe throughout the Emperor's domain, having earned a reputation as tenacious hunters. All Valhallans have Hatred (Orks). However, this hatred is often so strong as to overwhelm reason and sound judgment, and Valhallan characters may be required, at the GM's discretion, to take an Ordinary (+10) Willpower Test in order to restrain themselves from attacking without mercy when confronted with Orks.

Stretched Supplies: During character creation, the GM rolls a single d10, adding +1 for each player character in the squad. The total result determines how many chargepacks are handed out to the squad, to be distributed by the squad leader as he sees fit. Furthermore, each character rolls a d5 to see what kind of headgear he is issued (see table 1-1).

Wounds: Characters from this regiment have 1 fewer starting Wounds than normal.
Standard Regimental Kit: 1 M36 lasgun and 2 charge packs, NR-40 knife, thermo-insulated flak coat, headgear, uniform, bandoleer, basic toolkit, mess kit and water canteen, breadbag, dog tags, 2 weeks' rations; 1 Hellhound Flame Tank per squad (vehicle crew carries laspistols instead of lasguns), 1 rechargeable lamp pack per squad
Favoured Weapons: Missile launcher, long las.



Table 1-1: Headgear
1-2: Garrison Cap (0 AP)
3-4: Valhallan Ushanka (1 AP)
5: Flak Helmet (2 AP)

Table 1-2: Equipment Peculiarities
Flak Coat: The Valhallan greatcoat is fashioned from several layers of ablative and impact absorbent materials covered by a sturdy coat of fur. The protection it offers against a direct hit is somewhat questionable at the best of times, but it is more effective against proximity blasts and the shrapnel of explosions. It has the advantage of being vastly cheap and easy to produce, and in addition provides the wearer with all benefits of cold weather gear.
M36 Valhalla-pattern Lasgun: A variant of the standard M36 Mars-pattern, the Valhallan version is fashioned with a wooden stock hewn from the massive, ice-crusted trees that occasionally cluster in Valhalla's merciless tundra, defying the elements in a similar fashion the Guard expects from its troops. The lasgun gains the Homeworld Materials trait, and thus confers a +5 bonus to resist Fear. It also comes standard with a bayonet mount for the NR-40 knife.