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[Silhar]

If you run with thieves,
then you die with thieves...

Greetings!

I know, I know my last attempt at Dark Heresy PBF here on Chaosforge was, well, rather miserable, badly mastered and lacking dynamics.
Maybe I even wasn't a good player (apologies especially to Malek for that Hackmaster incident, completely my fault - and Xander, for being far too passive in his PBFs).
I would be proud to say that that was then and now is now, not that anybody cares, but why not give a solid proof instead?

From what I see, at the moment Chaosforge's PBF board isn't the most popular one. Some Dwarf Fotress thingy, Doom: The Adventure and Malek's Hackmaster (forgive meee...).
What I would like to do is try and fill this gap, maybe not entirely, but at least make some traffic out there. And, who knows, maybe, just maybe it will happen to be awesome?

(This is where I tread to the point.)

Recently I had an idea for a Dark Heresy campaign. For those unfamiliar with the game I can supply with required materials, but some surface knowledge of the Warhammer 40.000's universe would be required in order to carry on. If you don't have any, don't worry - the materials would have it all, but it is not the smallest piece of text ever written...

The thing is set on a Hive World of Malfi. As seen in Core Rulebook, Malfian Nobility is a bunch of self-absorbed pricks, endlessly plotting against each other. Somehow, Lord Governor of the Calixis Sector manages to look in another direction if something brutal occurs, but this time one of the Noblemen gets accused of financially supporting the local rebellion. The consequences are grim - The Inquisition kicks in and starts the investigation. The air suddenly smells with fire, steel and rotten guts.

How do you delve into such individual's deepest secrets without alarming his peers that they should expect Imperial Inquisition?
This is where you happen to be. The Inquisitor hires a bunch of worst bastards he could find (preferably members of Scum profession, but some others will be tolerated) to get into, blend with and gain support of one of the most numerous criminal organizations of the Underhive, because rumor has it that the leader of the pack is - completely coincidentally, of course - planning on a heist, right in the hypothetical rebel's mansion.

Of course, you are most probably going to die trying, for the Underhive is a really bad place to live in...

There will be some intrigue, some more violent shootouts, and - most of all - some moral dilemmas for those who just buy this kind of stuff. What's the difference between the Crime Lord's attack dog and the Inquisition's attack dog, anyway?

(Hold on, we're almost at the point!)

Do I see anybody willing to participate?

EDIT:
Some useful links:
Shortened combat rules: http://forum.chaosforge.org/index.php/topic,5588.msg49380.html#msg49380
An unusual approach to acquiring skills: http://forum.chaosforge.org/index.php/topic,5588.msg49458.html#msg49458

[LuckyDee]

I have to say it sounds really great; a friend of mine recently got me a copy of the Dark Heresy RPG rulebook, but I haven't read it yet, being too absorbed in Vampire Dark Ages and Requiem at the moment. I would really like to get a feel of it, but:

* I'm completely new to PBF. It smells like RPG, which I've been playing for over 15 years now, but minus the chemistry of face-to-face narrative. I'm afraid it'll be a weak substitute for a great game concept.
* I don't have a lot of game time, which at the moment gets spent on either DoomRL or Vampire. I get to be online on the forum a lot, but - I think - not for long enough to really appreciate an RPG campaign.
* What happens if I can't join in for a day/week/whatever? Do I have a character that will be missing/presumed dead? Or is there just 1 protagonist controlled by all players? (the latter option then being difficult to stomach if you're used to playing fleshed-out characters).

I'm intrigued, but don't know what to think or expect. Convince me, I'd say.

[Klear]

OK, I confess I didn'T read the whole OP since I don't have the time right now, but I think I'd be very interested in this - I haven't ever played anything Warhammer 40K related, but I recently (few months ago) got intrigued by the setting and a few wiki binges reading all kinds of stuff about the lore lead to me reading the whole Eisenhorn trilogy, then the Ravenor trilogy. Then all the Gaunt's Ghosts books (there 14 of them? Wow... that's 20 books I've absorbed already). Now I'm beginning with the Horus Heresy series.

So... I guess by this time I'm pretty well versed in the setting, and would love to use this knowledge. I'll read the whole OP later and give you my definite answer, but you can probably count me in.

[Silhar]

I have to say it sounds really great; a friend of mine recently got me a copy of the Dark Heresy RPG rulebook, but I haven't read it yet, being too absorbed in Vampire Dark Ages and Requiem at the moment. I would really like to get a feel of it, but:

* I'm completely new to PBF. It smells like RPG, which I've been playing for over 15 years now, but minus the chemistry of face-to-face narrative. I'm afraid it'll be a weak substitute for a great game concept.
* I don't have a lot of game time, which at the moment gets spent on either DoomRL or Vampire. I get to be online on the forum a lot, but - I think - not for long enough to really appreciate an RPG campaign.
* What happens if I can't join in for a day/week/whatever? Do I have a character that will be missing/presumed dead? Or is there just 1 protagonist controlled by all players? (the latter option then being difficult to stomach if you're used to playing fleshed-out characters).

I'm intrigued, but don't know what to think or expect. Convince me, I'd say.

Ok, let's go by the order of appearance.

1) PBF is a substitute of regular role-playing, but definitely not a weak one. Maybe there's no, as you called it, chemistry, because all we do is write and there is no real interaction between players themselves, but such form of playing narrative games gives you more time to carefully plan your actions - and describe them better. Instead of excellent acting, you may enjoy building up some decent narration and brush up your writing skills.
2) If you stick to an average of three-four responses a week (writing each taking approximately from five to fifteen minutes, depends on how many previous posts you have to read), it is going to be okay. I think you might just find it rewarding enough.
3) Each player has his own character, as in regular role-playing, whose actions, feelings and thoughts he describes. If you get lost for a while, there will be no problem with slowing down or halting the gameplay until you are ready to catch up again. All you have to do is to tell me that you will be missing for some time. Of course, the longer you'll not be there, the slower will the game roll forward, which means it can die due to lack of interest. After all, it is the responsibility of all the participants to keep it being fun.

Did I answer every doubt of yours?

OK, I confess I didn'T read the whole OP since I don't have the time right now, but I think I'd be very interested in this - I haven't ever played anything Warhammer 40K related, but I recently (few months ago) got intrigued by the setting and a few wiki binges reading all kinds of stuff about the lore lead to me reading the whole Eisenhorn trilogy, then Ravenor. Then all the Gaunt's Ghosts books. Now I'm beginning with the Horus Heresy series.

So... I guess by this time I'm pretty well versed in the setting, and would love to use this knowledge. I'll read the whole OP later and give you my definite answer, but you can probably count me in.

Woohoo, it seems you know WH40k better than I do! :D
I'd be happy to count you in. Do you need a rulebook or something?

I think I can sustain up to six players, with four being a sensible average. Of course, the hard sleepers may join up later.

[Klear]

OK, I'm in, if you'll have me. I'm studying whatever I can google that has to do with Dark Heresy rules, right now I'm messing around with this - that might be useful for all of us, right?

Woohoo, it seems you know WH40k better than I do! :D
I'd be happy to count you in. Do you need a rulebook or something?

Yes, please. While I might have read a lot of WH40K books, I know nothing about the roleplaying game. I think I can learn it pretty fast if you give me something to study.
I don't have a lot of experience in playing pen and paper RPGs, but you can count on me to think little about using the rules to my advantage and rather roleplay my character even if it means a quick death for him.

Scum profession sounds about right for this kind of job, though I was wondering if I could be some sort of an imperial psyker to make things interesting? I'm thinking of a low-level psyker who's been so far avoiding the Back Ships as best as he can. Perhaps I've accidentally ran into the Inquisitor (oops!) who decided he could be... utilized for greater good rather than killed outright. Such peculiar situation would make it easy for me to understand my PCs motivation, though I guess it depends on the character of the Inquisitor (does he have a name?) if he'd allow such a thing.

[Silhar]

I have not yet decided who'll be your Inquisitor. Probably making one up rather than picking someone from the rulebook.
Unsanctioned psyker? I totally love this idea. Feel free to roll one up using a regular psyker set of rules, then I'll look it up and tell you what there is to change.
(Of course, don't take the Sanctioning Effect roll. No Sanctioned Psyker trait for you!)

I won't mind if you use Inquisitor's Handbook, if you want to. Also, there was a fine fan-made Eldar Outcast set of rules which I'll probably upload along with the rest of materials. But please, no more than one pointy-eared wierdo per party...

Things a-uploadin'. I'll send you some links soon.

[Klear]

OK, I came up with this:

http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/dha-show.php?charnum=40096

I cheated and rolled until I got a high willpower, thinking that a weak-willed unsanctioned psyker would get shoot on sight sure as sure. Luckily since I didn't read the full rules yet, I wasn't tempted to try to get some overall amazing stats and just picked what seemed right and left the rest to chance.

Since I have no imagination and therefore stick to what I know, I based physical appearance on the Tanith, deciding that my character left the world before its destruction and wondered the galaxy since, perhaps not even knowing what happened to it. I definitely don't want to play some angst-filled emo who keeps crying for his lost homeworld. The destruction happened in the 40 700s, though, so I'm not sure it's the right period in which we are playing. I guess it can be easily explained by warp shenanigans. Also, I see I've rolled my age without thinking about it, maybe I should be somewhat older to have wondered throughout the galaxy for some time.

Stuff that may need changing: Rank - Sanctionite, Sanctioned Psyker trait, psykana mercy blade and sanctioning brand, though some of these could be perhaps provided by the Inquisitor upon my recruitment.

[Silhar]

Okay, do like this:
Rank stays as it is. Its only function is to display your current experience level.
You don't get: Sanctioned Psyker Trait, Sanctioning brand.
You get mercy blade handed to you by an inquisitor, just in case you had to kill yourself. Not a shiny Psykana one, just a rusty knife worn on the neck by a kind of leather belt.

Gain +5 to Willpower score (the unsanctionites must have some guts to survive that long) and Forbidden Lore (Warp) (Int), but as a handicap...

Unsanctioned Psyker
Trait
They say a psyker unprotected by blessings of Holy Terra is a gate to the realm of daemons. And they are right.
You have not been embraced by the Emperor's guiding arm, nor have become a subject to sanctioning rituals.
This means every time you use a psionic power, you have to roll an additional die. Its result is not added to the power roll's result, but it matters for purpose of invoking psychic phenomena...

Also, you get only 200xp for your character creation instead of regular 400xp.

[Klear]

You get mercy blade handed to you by an inquisitor, just in case you had to kill yourself. Not a shiny Psykana one, just a rusty knife worn on the neck by a kind of leather belt.

Nice. I'll consider that being remarkably lucky. I can't wait to start the game.

Edit: I'm going through this right now. If I need to read anything else, just say so.

[Silhar]

Looks like the complete rulebook made online. Didn't read through it all, but looks legit.

Not sure when we start. I'd like more volunteers first. Two or three would do.

Ah! And paste the character sheet in this thread once you're done. Spoiler tags might come in handy.

[Klear]

I'm not entirely sure how/how much to spend XP for talents/skills, I only figured out increasing characteristics. Additionally: since I already have Psy Rating 1, should I choose two minor psychic powers now? Also - the list doesn't show the description of most of those, so I guess I'll need a more complete rulebook.

Another thing - I don't think I should get the same income as Sanctioned Psykers, unless the Inquisitor will be so nice as to give me some money each month. I went ahead and rolled for Scum Income, since that sounds like my source of income up to this point. I got scheme, 32 thrones/month.

[LuckyDee]

Did I answer every doubt of yours?

I must admit you do know how to plead your case. The discussion going so far sounds interesting enough - I still have Necromunda lying around somewhere, so I'm (more or less) familiar with the background, and I've always been looking for a good sci-fi RPG (so far I've played Warhammer Fantasy, Vampire (the Masquerade and the Requiem, embarking on Dark Ages) and half a dozen stories without platform). If Klear's attitude is anything to go by (ie forget the rules, play the character), I think you can have a pretty solid group of players, too.

Biggest issue for me would be time: I have a fulltime job, a girlfriend and 2 kids to keep happy and other social obligations to fullfil, so to speak. When things get going again, I'll have my weekly Vampire evening Saturdays, and any time I have to spare would currently go to DoomRL. Speaking from experience, however, if you get a compelling story going, it's not that hard to choose not to spend my time elsewhere (Doom in this case).
Needless to say, unless you plan on starting a year from now, I'll definitely not be able to brush up on the rules and backgrounds, and will have to make do with what I know (although I've been told that as with their tabletop counterparts, the rules for Fantasy and 40K RPG are similar).

If you can live with an (initially) casual approach, you can count me in.

[Silhar]

I'm not entirely sure how/how much to spend XP for talents/skills, I only figured out increasing characteristics. Additionally: since I already have Psy Rating 1, should I choose two minor psychic powers now? Also - the list doesn't show the description of most of those, so I guess I'll need a more complete rulebook.

Another thing - I don't think I should get the same income as Sanctioned Psykers, unless the Inquisitor will be so nice as to give me some money each month. I went ahead and rolled for Scum Income, since that sounds like my source of income up to this point. I got scheme, 32 thrones/month.

As for spending xp, each profession has charts for each rank some further in the rulebook. It'll be uploaded in two hours since my upload speed... well, sucks on ice. As soon as it's ready, I'll supply you with a link.

Good job with the income, that's just what I planned to advise you.

I must admit you do know how to plead your case. The discussion going so far sounds interesting enough - I still have Necromunda lying around somewhere, so I'm (more or less) familiar with the background, and I've always been looking for a good sci-fi RPG (so far I've played Warhammer Fantasy, Vampire (the Masquerade and the Requiem, embarking on Dark Ages) and half a dozen stories without platform). If Klear's attitude is anything to go by (ie forget the rules, play the character), I think you can have a pretty solid group of players, too.

Biggest issue for me would be time: I have a fulltime job, a girlfriend and 2 kids to keep happy and other social obligations to fullfil, so to speak. When things get going again, I'll have my weekly Vampire evening Saturdays, and any time I have to spare would currently go to DoomRL. Speaking from experience, however, if you get a compelling story going, it's not that hard to choose not to spend my time elsewhere (Doom in this case).
Needless to say, unless you plan on starting a year from now, I'll definitely not be able to brush up on the rules and backgrounds, and will have to make do with what I know (although I've been told that as with their tabletop counterparts, the rules for Fantasy and 40K RPG are similar).

If you can live with an (initially) casual approach, you can count me in.

Hey, nice to hear that!
Since you don't have much time, we can do it another way.
Ponder for a while and decide what kind of a character would you like to play and I'll make a sheet for you. I can also explain shortly what does what so that you would know, what abilities does your character posess. I can take on myself the development of your character and all the dice rolling, so that you could concern yourself with role-playing only.
I'm completely okay with you approaching it as casually as you need to.

(Actually, I planned to start in about two, three weeks. I've got maturity exams results to fix, because I didn't make the grade last year. No hurries, no worries.)

[Klear]

As for spending xp, each profession has charts for each rank some further in the rulebook. It'll be uploaded in two hours since my upload speed... well, sucks on ice. As soon as it's ready, I'll supply you with a link.

Good job with the income, that's just what I planned to advise you.

Great. I think I've pretty much absorbed all I felt was important, I can look up details when they become relevant. I have just one more question for now - fate points are supposed to be replenished each game session. How long will that be in our case? (game time, preferably) I'd like to know how often I can spend these.

Here's my unfinished character sheet. I'll spend my XP and think of changing my possessions later. I'll probably lose the axe in favour of something, since I have a feeling this character doesn't like getting his hands dirty in close combat (unless going around without a melee weapon is a Very Bad Idea).

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Name:      MkLear
Homeworld:   Hive World (Tanith)
Gender:      Male
Career:      Imperial Psyker (Unsanctioned)
Rank:      "Sanctionite"
Start Package:   None

WS:      33      BS:      37
S:      27      T:      20
Ag:      36      Int:      30
Per:      40      WP:      44
Fellowship:   42      Wounds:   10

Fate Points:   3      Thrones:   55
Insanity Pts:   0      Starting XP:   200
Corruption Pts:   0

Build:      Wiry      Skin Color:   Fair
Hair Color:   Black      Eye Color:   Brown
Age:      45

Quirk:         You have tattoos.
Hive Class:      Ganger Scum
Divination:      A suspicious mind is a healthy mind.

Traits: Accustomed to Crowds, Caves of Steel, Hivebound, Wary, Unsanctioned Psyker

Basic Skills: Tech-Use (Int) (Caves of Steel)

Advanced Skills: Speak Language (Hive Dialect) (Int), Speak Language (Low Gothic) (Int), Psyniscience (Per), Invocation (WP), Literacy (Int), Trade (Soothsayer) (Fel), Forbidden Lore (Warp) (Int)

Talents: Melee Weapons Training (Primitive), Pistol Weapons Training (Las)

Gear: staff, rusty knife (mercy blade), quilted vest, tatty robe (Poor Quality Clothing), Psy-Focus (nalwood talisman), axe, deck of cards, compact las pistol and 1 charge pack

Special Qualities: You have a Psy Rating of 1.

Family: None

[Silhar]

I plan on dividing our tale into a few chapters. Fate points get replenished at the beginning of every chapter. These won't be long - let's say every major quest or scenario twist gives your FPs back.
 
It is not a bad idea to keep the melee weapon handy, but if you get your combat tactics right, it might not be that necessary.