General Information/Questions

[dudronia]

Over the next couple of days I plan on posting quite a bit of information related to the 40K system. Posts will include things such as skills, traits, equipment etc. I'll also post information on how the system is actually run, as it's not a D20 system. Any general questions related to the system can also be posted here and I'll do my best to get them answered in a timely manner.

[dudronia]

The system that will be used is either the Dark Heresy rules, or Rogue Trader. Here is the description given on the back of the Dark Heresy Core Rulebook.

You are an Acolyte in the service of the Emperor's Inquisition. You stand in the front line of a great and secret war where your duty is to hunt out the foul stench of heresy, the vile alien, and the twisted influence of Chaos. You will tread where others fear, venturing to distant planets, ancient space hulks and the unsavoury depths of the hive cities.

You will never know fame nor reward, yet if you stand resolute your deeds will be whispered to the God-Emperor of Mankind and your name will be revered for millennia.

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And the description off of the Rogue Trader Core Rulebook.

You are an Explorer, part of a proud dynasty of privateering merchant princes known as Rogue Traders. You are empowered by an ancient warrant of trade to seek out profit and plunder amongst unexplored regions of space. You will discover forgotten mysteries, find lost human worlds, and behold sights never before seen by human eyes.

You must survive the dangers of space, not only the threat of vacuum, cold, and deadly radiation, but the things that lurk int eh dark void between stars that Man was never meant to find.

I think it should be noted that both of these games run off the d10 system, and not the traditional d20 that systems such as Dungeons and Dragons operate on. All this really means is that instead of having to roll six different dice for different situations, the only dice rolls would consist of d10's. This is something that I could describe in better detail if anyone is interested.

Another huge difference is the danger factor, particularly in Dark Heresy. In DH taking on an Ork in combat is a sure way to end up dead in the service of the Emperor. You control just a simple human being trying to destroy the forces of chaos. I'm sorry but you wouldn't be able to control a Space Marine, the only way one would show up is if the DM was controlling it as an NPC. It really falls on the players to come up with ways to survive. Equipment is also key as, quite frankly, you'll start with crap. All that being said it's still tons of fun, and a great role-playing experience if you can get into it and have a basic understanding of the 40K world.

Rogue Trader is like the older brother of DH. In RT you control the characters on a Rogue Trader ship, which are basically pirate ships that are in the good graces of the Imperium. Your job is to travel the far reaches of space and do a variety of things, such as establishing trade routes, retrieving old technology for the tech-priests of Mars, or taking an entire sub-sector back from Xenos control. The characters in RT are much stronger than those in DH and are much better equipped; they are also allowed a lot more leniency than an Acolyte would receive, as a typical RT would be allowed to trade with Xenos and even use their technology, so long as it was for the betterment of mankind, and the Rogue Trader himself would do it if it filled his coffers with money.

I can't think of anything else offhand, but if you have any questions after reading this feel free to post and I'll do my best answer them for you.

[dudronia]

The character classes are as follows. For the sake of copyright laws I'll offer up my own descriptions, but they'll be heavily influenced by the book.

Dark Heresy classes.
Adept-An adept is a scholar, and their main use is in the gathering of information. They suffer poor combat stats, but are great to use in more "role-playing" situations. They will also be key to understanding texts found whilst on missions.

Arbitrator- They are a law-keeper, but not actually on any specific planet. Instead they travel around the universe and offer judgment on people as they see fit. They are best suited in a combat role, although ranged or close combat is up to the player.

Assassin- In my opinion the most fun class to play, because their character progression allows a great deal of versatility. They can be either petty killers, or someone that has relieved the greatest training possible from the greatest Assassin Orders or Death Cults around, but either way they excel in combat roles.

Cleric- These aren't clerics in the traditional sense, and their main goal isn't to mix healing with combat. Instead these are the brave souls that spread the word of the God-Emperor to the uneducated masses. They travel the systems attempting to convert those that don't believe, whilst destroying those that are deemed corrupted by Chaos.

Guardsman- A guardsman is the backbone of the Imperial army. Billions of men and women from millions of different planets all fill this role across the galaxy. Not all of them have joined of their own free will, as there are many legions that are made up entirely of criminals, sentenced to death by being on the front lines.

Imperial Psyker- A Psyker is rare breed. They are the people that are able to use powers, such as reading minds or shooting bolts of energy from their hands. This comes with a price however, as every time they use the power there is a chance that a daemon is laying in wait and uses the open doorway of a Psyker to come into the real world.

Scum- Exactly what they sound like. They are the lowest members of society, usually consisting of thugs and criminals. There isn't a person better suited to investigating the shady underworld of a city, or talking the group out of a sticky situation. If you need someone to pick a lock or forge a signature, these are your guys.

Tech-Priest- These guys seek to uncover the technology that has been lost for years. They are human, but as time goes by they replace more and more of their body with metal and machine parts. Hailing from the forges of Mars, these are the people you want if a machine won't work, or there is some never before seen technology sitting in a cave somewhere.

That's a list of classes and a rough idea of what each one is capable of. Here soon I'll get the Rogue Trader classes posted.