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Warhammer 40K: Dark Crusade semi-implemented as a tabletop army building resource hoarding RPG  [RSS] Share on facebook Share on Twitter Submit to Reddit
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Made in ca
A Skull at the Throne of Khorne




The Warp

Greetings, all. The title says it all. This is version 0.6 (Beta).

Any and all thoughts and criticism is greatly appreciated.

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Rules of War:
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BASICS:
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-There are rolls in this game. There is no crit fail or crit success, just failure or success on a roll.

-A roll is simple: 1d10 + characteristic + skill + any extra modifiers.
--To succeed on a roll, a character must roll 7 or above.
--If players are rolling against each other, the highest roll wins.

-All factions are available for chosing.
-Every player designs the leader of the army, or uses one from 40k cannon.
-Players using the same faction or of similiar interests interests can work together or against each other (Be it secretly or openly).
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CREATING CHARACTERS:
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A player can only have one character per war. They can move characters between wars if it seems possible they'd be involved in the conflict, but the 1 character per player limit still remains.
-If a character dies AND the army is destroyed, then the faction is out of the war. Otherwise, if the army is still alive, then replace the lost leader with a second in command (if any). Tyranids are special in that no matter what, their leader will be back.

-Characters have their own character sheet. It looks like this:

[Name]

[Characteristics:
Battle Prowess: 0
Cunning: 0
Leadership: 0
Willpower: 0]

[Health: 0
Armor: 0]

[Skills: ]

[Spells (if any): ]

[Honor Guard: ]

[Equipment: ]

--Characters all have a name.

--Characters have a set of characteristics about them:
---Battle Prowess determines their personal ability on the battlefield as they command their army.
---Cunning determines intelligence and cleverness, including obtaining information about things themselves or through agents
---Leadership determines your ability and the amount of people you can command. The amount of active armies you can command in one battle is equal to leadership * 3. All players start the game with three field armies, whose make up is unaffected whether the character has the needed buildings for these units or not. Costs still apply for units above tier 5 (more on that below).
---Willpower determines how well the character can resist the effects of the warp, or how well they can use the warp as a weapon (psykers only).

-Health and armor are determined by battle prowess, with health being = battle prowess, and armor being = to half the battle prowess (rounded up) + armor equipment as deemed by fate (the gm), ranging from +1 to +5 armor.
--Each time a character is hit and damaged by an attack, they lose 1 health. If they lose all health in a battle or from another event, they die (or are simply removed for a while, as in the case of Tyranids and Necrons).
--Armor gives a penalty to attacks against the character, potentially saving their life and making them harder to kill.

-Skills are used to determine the bonus a character recieves when doing something, as stated before. Skills must be slighty broad, such as 'Power Weapons +3' or 'Territory +2' or 'The Dark Gods +4'.
--Equipment is self explanitory. Gives opportunities for roleplay as well as possible extra modifiers if approved by fate (the gm).
--Spells are for psykers and high power tyranids only. Such characters start with three spells determined between them and fate (the gm). These powers cannot be something that can earn a decisive victory immediately in an engagement. Such powers are only available in relics, which is extremely difficult to obtain.

-Honor Guard is created via spending requisition points equal to [Honor Guard's Tier * Amount of Units * 10]. They are a one time purchase, meaning they don't need upkeep. Furthermore, the number of honor guard you have with you can add bonuses to combat while on the battlefield equal to the number of honor guard present, and if you were to ever die, one of the honor guard will sacrifice themselves to save you.
--You can only have a maximum number of honor guard equal to your leadership.

-Characters are created using the following method:
--Assign a Name
--Assign 12 points between the following: Battle Prowess, Cunning, Leadership, and Willpower. No characteristic can be higher than 5 at the start of the game. None can be 0.
--Assign what health and armor scores the character has.
--Assign five skills to the character. Two at +3, two at +2, and one at +1.
--You cannot start the game with any honor guard (unless porting character from an older war).

-Characters can advance through accumulating what is called 'War Points'. War points are earned in the following manner:
--Attacking and taking over a territory from a hostile force = +1 War Point Gained
--Defending your territory from a hostile force = +1 War Point Gained
--Completing Vital Objectives to the war effort = +3 War Points Gained
--Destroying another player faction = +5 War Points Gained

-Characters can spend their war points in the following manner:
--Increase a characteristic by 1. This requires spending war points equal to [current characteristic score +1]
--Increase a skill by 1. This requires spending war points equal to [current skill score +1]

-Characters can also spend war points in a different matter, regarding rolls:
--Characters can spend 1 war point to add +2 to a single roll.
--Characters can spend 1 warpoint to reduce another single character's roll by -2.
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HOW TO PLAY:
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The game is turn based. Each player takes turns deciding what to do. Each turn is divided into 6 phases:
--Phase 1: Requisition Gain Phase (Ignored on the first turn of a war for every player, as they just either made planetfall or are getting ready for war. Starting requisition points is 300, and all players start with three field armies).
--Phase 2: Upkeep Phase (Ignored on the first turn of a war for every player, as they just either made planetfall or are getting ready for war).
--Phase 3: Spending Phase. (Where players spend requisition.)
--Phase 4: Troop Movement Phase. (Players can move an army one territory per turn.)
--Phase 5: Attack Territory Phase. (Players can attack territory to conquer it. They can only do this once per army per turn.)
--Phase 6: Final Notes Phase. (Notes to any other allied players, banter with enemy players, or notes to fate (the gm). Last minute spending can be done in this phase before it goes to the next player's turn.)

Note: Times moves differently between stages. Normally I set it to being two weeks at least, to as far as a month, to represent the slow building of forces and movements for the war effort.
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REQUISITION:
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Every player starts with 300 requisition points and three field armies. Each territory they control gives a variable amount of requisition from +20 to +50. All player start on territory that gives +30 RP per turn.
--RP can be obtained through conquering more territories or by completing tasks vital to the war effort. Requisition awarded as deemed by fate (the gm).
--There is a requisition upkeep, which must be paid at the start of every player phase equal to [[# of Armies Active + # of Territory Held] * 5]
---An army is considered active if it is not holding down a territory and is still poised to attack another territory. It takes a full turn to set down an army into a territory or raise it out of territory, making it active. You cannot raise an army from a territory and have it move at the same time.
---Territories can be held down by placing a Battalion in the territory, thus placing a defensive force in the likely case of an attack.

Note: While settled armies do not require upkeep, they DO require requisition to flow through the region as per the supply lines rules below. If they are cut off from supply lines, the settled army loses units equal to [Distance from nearest friendly territory they are cut off from * 100] per turn. If the commander is attached to the army, it instead looses units equal to [[Distance from nearest friendly territory they are cut off from * 25] - [Leadership * 50(-5 per turn not being connected to a complete supply line)]] per turn.

--To keep upkeep payment and requisition gain stead, a character must have supply lines. Supply lines is represented by territories being connected together, all having to lead to the main base of the army. If an army is cut off from supply lines, they start to lose a number of units equal to [[Distance from nearest friendly territory they are cut off from * 50] - [Leadership * 50(-5 per turn not being connected to a complete supply lines)]] per turn if the leader character is attached to the army. If the leader is not attached to the army, the army loses units equal to [Distance from nearest friendly territory they are cut off from * 50] per turn.

--Requisition can be spent as such (Once requisition is spent, the items/units requested are gained the player's next turn.):
---5 Requisition for a Fireteam
---10 Requisition for a Squad
---40 Requisition for a Platoon
---80 Requisition for a Company
---120 Requisitoion for a Battalion
---160 Requisition for a Brigade
---220 Requisition for a Division
---280 Requisition for a Corps
---360 Requisition for a Field Army
---1-200 Requisition for personal equipment, depending on rarity.
---50 Requisition for one piece of information on a region.
---100 Requisition for a spy network in one territory, which feeds information to the commander regularly.
---300 Requisition for a spy network across three territories, collaborating information to give greater knowledge to the commander regularly.
---500 Requisition for a very deadly (and maybe doomed) assassin. Can bypass honor guard and thus kill other leader depending on how it plays out.
---50 Requisition for a platoon of mercenaries of a similar race and faction (for example, eldar hiring eldar crosaires). 150 Requisition for a platoon of mercenaries from a different faction (for example, a chaos hiring ork freebootas).

---Buy building addons (Depends on the faction chosen). Unlike other requisition purchases, these happen immediately. Some examples:
----20 Requisition for a Medical Building (Recovers troops from losses, saves about 1/4 of lost number of units per turn in battle. Can save the Commander's life through a roll of 1d10 + commander's willpower + 2)
----25 Requisition for a Watchtower Buildings (Has a chance to detect enemy forces attempting to infiltrate the territory equal to [[1d10 + Leadership of person who put them there] - [1d10 + Cunning of commander of infiltrator forces]])
----30 Requisition for a set of Turrets (Gives a bonus to defense during a battle: When defending a territory from enemy forces, gain +2 to territory advantage roll). Subsequent payments only add +1 to territorial advantage rolls. If the turrets are destroyed, the defending forces lose the bonus.
----35 Requisition for Mines (Gives a bonus to defense during a battle: When defending a territory from enemy forces, gain +2 to territory advantage roll). Subsequent payments only add +1 to territorial advantage rolls. If the mines are destroyed or otherwise all expended, the defending forces lose the bonus.
----5 Requisition for support banners (Such as the WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH ork banner buildings. Gives a bonus to the army, adding +2. Only one banner counts towards adding a support banner bonus.)
----40 Requisition for Strong Walls (Gives a bonus to defense during a battle: When defending a territory from enemy forces, gain +3 to territory advantage roll. If the walls are destroyed, the bonus is also lost.)
----100 Requisition for an Advanced Harvesting Site. Increases requisition revenue from the area by +10. This can be done up to a total requisition gain of +60 requisition gain per territory.
----50 Requisition for a Vehicle Building. Necessary to access purchase of Artillery and Armor vehicle unit types.
----75 Requisition for an Air Vehicle Building. Neccessary to access purchase of Avian vehicle unit types.
----60 Requisition for an Advanced Bunker's Building. Neccessary to produce Specialists (Tier 4 and Higher) unit types.
----150 Requisition for a Heavy Vehicle Building. Neccessary to produce Heavy Armor (Tier 6 and Higher) unit types.
----250 Requisition for a Titan Bay Building. Neccessary to build Titan unit types.

NOTE: The reason I include prices for buying fireteams and other low ends of the army structure is because it gives flexibility for when a character is designing their army. Furthermore, the 'Records of Blood' doesn't just hold major wars; it also has records of wars between gangs in underhives and inquisitorial purgings of a heretical planet at war with the imperium (that is too valuable for exterminatus). I even had in mind to include stories of adeptus mechanicus expeditions going to battle against strange xenos for their tech, or even small party conflicts on death worlds as they fight for survival.
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BASIC ARMY STRUCTURE:
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-1: Fire Team. A Fire Team is comprised of 2 units, one being the Team Leader.
-2: Squad/section: Variable depending on faction (see below)
-3: Platoon. 4 Squads
-4: Company. 4 Platoons
-5: Battalion. Four Companies
-6: Brigade. Three Battalions
-7: Division. 5 Brigades
-8: Corps. 3 Divisions
-9: Field army. Two Corps
-10: Army Group: Composed of 3 Field armies.

-Unit Types:
--Infantry: Common Footsoldier. Requires no buildings to produce.
--Specialists: Uncommon Footsoldiers (Tier 4 and higher) Requires Advanced Bunkers Building to produce.
--Avian: Requires Air Vehicle Building to produce.
--Navy: Requires access to a port to the sea, requires a Naval Vehicle building to produce.
--Cavalry: Requires no buildings to produce.
--Artillery: Requires Vehicle Building to produce.
--Armor: Requires Vehicle Building to produce.
--Heavy Armor: Requires Heavy Vehicle Building (Tier 6 and Higher) to produce.
--Titan: Requires Titan Bay Building to produce.

-Loyalty of the army will depend on the faction chosen. Some armies are loyal to a fault, such as the tyranids, while in others you will have some plotting to overthrow you, such as in the chaos armies. Check the battles section for rules on morale loss and breaking rank.

-Faction Squad Sizes:
--Space Marines: 4 Space Marines, 1 Space Marine Sergeant OR 9 Scout Marines + 1 Scout Sergeant
--Imperial Guard: 14 Guardsmen, 1 Sergeant
--Chaos: 4 Marines, 1 Aspiring Champion OR 14 Cultists, 1 Aspiring Cultist Champion
--Ecclesiarchy: 9 Sisters of Battle, 1 Sister Superior
--Tyranids: 14 Gaunts, 1 Tyranid Warrior
--Eldar: 9 Eldar Warriors, 1 Eldar Exarch
--Necrons: 4 Necron Warriors
--Tau: 14 Tau fire warriors, 1 fire Sergeant OR 14 Kroot warriors 1 Kroot Shaper
--Ork: 14 Ork Boyz (Melee or Ranged), 1 Nob OR 19 Grechin gits and 1 Runt.
--Dark Eldar: 9 Dark Eldar Warriors, 1 Dark Eldar Sybrite
--Adeptus Mechanicus: 9 Vanguard Skitarri and 1 Alpha Skitarri OR 9 Ranger Skitarri and 1 Alpha Skitarri
--Genestealers: 14 Cult Guardsmen, 1 Cult Sergeant OR 9 Genestealers, 1 Genestealer Alpha

Note: Some of the more astudious will notice that the amount of space marines in a full field army is quite ridiculously 7860 units, including scouts. To keep this lore friendly, it is assumed that its an amalgamation of chapters working together in the war, like in the war of armageddon, under the character's leadership.

-When designing your own factions and determining squad size, determine as such:
--Are the units Tier 1? Then have the squad compose of 14 units (tier 1) + 1 leader unit (tier 2) OR 15 units (tier 1) in the squad.
--Are the units Tier 2? Then have 9 units (tier 2) + 1 leader unit (tier 3) OR 10 units (tier 2) in the squad.
--Are the units Tier 3? Then have 4 units (tier 3) + 1 leader unit (tier 4) OR 5 units (tier 3) in the squad.

Note: The difference between a squad with a leader and a squad with no leader is that a squad containing a leader are organized and work towards the objectives given to them. Squads without a leader can be amalgamated into great masses by the army commander and change tactics at the behest of the main commander. The main difference is control, basically; if the commander were to go down while his troops contain sergeants, they have a less chance of breaking ranks since they still have a second in command to follow. If its simply a horde when the commander falls, then it is likely they will break rank. More on that later.

-Units are split into tiers. There are ten tiers. Each tier can be considered the unit's battle prowess total for consideration of combat between them and characters. Here are examples to demonstrate tier levels, using the Imperial Guard as an example:
--Tier 1: Imperial Guardsmen
--Tier 2: Specialist Regiments such as Krieg, Catachan, and Cadians
--Tier 3: Leman Russ Tank
--Tier 4: Bassilisk
--Tier 5: Specialist Units such as commissariat and psykers
--Tier 6: Thunderbolt
--Tier 7: Baneblade
--Tier 8: Marauder Bomber
--Tier 9: Scout Titan
--Tier 10: Titan

-When buying units, tier's 1-5 is accesible at no extra cost (if given buildings required are available). Units in tier 6-10 will cost [Unit's Tier Number Squared * Army Hierarchy (determines number of these units character is purchasing, starting from fire team) + 200]
--For the purposes of balance, only one tier 9 and only one tier 10 unit can exist in a faction's full army at any given time.
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BATTLES:
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-Battles occur when two opposing armies (or even squads or any some such) meet during the Attack Territory phase or Troop Movement phase, thus resulting in a battle.

-Battles START with the following phases:
--Deployment Phase: Determines what units are deployed for the battle.

--Force of Numbers Phase: Determines the bonus or penalty each side gets for facing superior or lower numbers. Basically, compare ratio (4:2 or 2:1, for example). Minus the larger group's ratio number from the smaller group. That's the bonus/penalty the sides recieve accordingly. Player Character Leaders are unaffected by the force of numbers modifier.

--Territorial Advantage Phase: Determines the territorial advantage the groups recieve, depending on who is leading them. Roll 1d10 + cunning + any appropriate skill. Divide the result by 3 (round up), and the new result is the bonus each side recieves from their respective territorial advantage. Only applicable during large skirmishes.

--Battle Phase: Both players describe the initial actions of the army as they begin the fight. Each rolls a 1d10 + leadership + relevant skill + Force of Numbers + Territorial Advantage (if applicable) + lowest tier unit in army + highest tier unit in army (For example, if you have guardsmen and space marines in the army, add +1 for guardsmen's tier 1 and add +3 for the space marines tier). The results determine how effective the initial tactics are.

--Events Phase: Basically the 'build a conflict' that the two (or more) players work to figure out. The event could be the commanders meeting in face to face combat, the sudden use of a hidden weapon, an assassination attempt during the battle, the environment shifting, or one of the specialists units being under attack. So long as its interesting, and both agree to play out how their armies react, it's good stuff.

--Resolution Phase: Fate (the GM) determines which side is getting the upper hand and which side is losing. Reduce number of combatants as appropriate to previous battle and event phases. Recalculate force of numbers and territorial advantage. Determine if either side will retreat or if both will continue the fight.

-An army can break rank/morale through the following test:
--When the commander is killed and the army squad make up is composed of units and leader units, then the army looses units equal to [500 - [Squad Leader Unit Tier * 100]].
--When the commander is killed and the army squad make up is composed solely of units with no leader units, then the army loses units equal to [[500 * Lowest Unit Tier] - [100 * Highest Unit Tier]].
--When half the current army number has been destroyed, the character must roll [1d10 + Leadership + Any Relevant Skill] to keep units from breaking rank and fleeing. If the roll fails, the army loses [Normal Squad Unit Tier * 100].

--The following factions do not require morale rolls or have special rules regarding morale rolls:
---Imperial Guard army using tier 2 units of their faction never break, as those are usually catachan, krieg, and cadians, who are known in lore for having an iron will, and as such their bravery inspires the rest to stand ground and hold the line.
---Space Marines, Tyranids, Necrons, Adeptus Mechanicus, and Ecclesiarchy do not break rank or morale. They will fight to the last unit or until ordered to retreat.
----If the Tyranid leader is killed in battle, all other tyranid forces in the territory become feral, and begin to fight inwardly, having lost the psychic presence that guided them.
---If an Ethereal is present to lead the Tau, no units will break rank. If the Ethereal dies in battle, the entire army loses morale and breaks rank.
---If a Warboss is present to lead the Orks, they lose only 1/4 of the normal units that would normally break rank.
---If a Chaos Lord is present to lead the forces of Chaos, they lose only 1/4 of the normal units that would normally break rank.
---If a Daemon Prince is present to lead the forces of Chaos, 1/4 of the lost units have their souls eaten by the Daemon Prince, allowing the prince to recover all their health. The remaing 3/4 of the units who would break rank remain in combat. The next time units would break, they chose not to instead of facing the wrath of their master.

-Battles CONTINUE with the following phases:
--Battle Phase: Both players describe the tactics of the army as they continue the fight. Each rolls a 1d10 + leadership + relevant skill + lowest tier unit in army + highest tier unit in army. The results determine how effective the tactics are.

--Events Phase: Basically the 'build a conflict' that the two (or more) players work to figure out. The event could be the commanders meeting in face to face combat, the sudden use of a hidden weapon, an assassination attempt during the battle, the environment shifting, or one of the specialists units being under attack. So long as its interesting, and both agree to play out how their armies react, it's good stuff.

--Resolution Phase: Fate (the GM) determines which side is getting the upper hand and which side is losing. Reduce number of combatants as appropriate to previous battle and event phases. Recalculate force of numbers and territorial advantage. Determine if either side will retreat or if both will continue the fight. Return to battle phase and repeat until one, some, or all sides surrender, retreat, or are annihilated.
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Again, any and all thoughts and criticism is greatly appreciated.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Whoops! Something I forgot to change: In the battle section, in regards to force of numbers, the modifier is [higher ratio - lower ratio]. The result is the positive FON modifier for the larger army, while the lower army gets the same modifier but as a negative.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2018/09/07 05:20:04


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