BL discontinues both warhammer RPGs

[Feil]

If you don't mind paying full price, buy from Neal at thewarstore.

http://www.thewarstore.com/Warhammer40KRPG.html

You'll get your product, and you support a pretty cool guy's store rather than some monolithic corporation.

[Zablorg]

Monolithic corporations are funny though.

[Bob the Gunslinger]

I'd honestly be surprised if they don't let someone like Green Ronin pick it up. That'd be like saying no to free money on the IP.

I don't know if this means anything, but according to Borders' customer-use search engine, the publisher of Dark Heresy is Green Ronin. Dark Heresy was listed three or four times in Borders Search, ranging from 45.99 to 49.99 in price. All editions except for the Green Ronin 49.99 version were listed as "not yet published" with the GR version listed as "on its way".

So, maybe Green Ronin has already picked it up? Or are they just distributing it?

Of course, I ordered one while I was at it.

[Imperial Overlord]

It's probably an error. Green Ronin did a lot of the work on WFRP and WFRP books carried both Green Ronin and Black Industry's logo. Dark Heresy just carries Black Industry's. Green Ronin also has its hands full this year as it is rolling out A Song of Ice and Fire RPG complete a new set of game mechanics designed entirely for it.

EDIT: although, now that I think about it, this year is covered for releases for Dark Heresy and they'll have the core books done for Fire & Ice by summer so its not unthinkable for them to pick it up under the right conditions.

[Brother-Captain Gaius]

Woo, got my book earlier than expected. Me and a couple friends made some characters and started bumbling our way through the starter adventure in the back of the book.

I have to say, the game definitely kicks my ass at this stage. I don't have any experience with WFRP, so apart from Shattered Hope, Dark Heresy is totally new to me. We've done an excellent job of butchering the rules and stumbling along blindly so far despite a reasonably thorough perusal of the book beforehand on my part.

I'm pretty impressed with it though, Black Library's silliness aside. It's practically a sourcebook for the Imperium in general (albeit with a focus on the Calixis Sector) in addition to its RPG rules. It's a shame that it looks like I'm ultimately going to need to create a lot of new rules for my group though: First on the slate looks like a 2nd tier of content revolving around attaining Interrogator or equivalent status, and some full blown Space Marine material after that. Don't get me wrong, the low-level investigative theme DH has going is great, but without the additional supplements we were promised we're on our own for exploring other aspects of the 40K universe.

[Zablorg]

You know what would be cool? A fucking Ork RPG. UNLEASH THE POWER OF WAAAGH!!!

[Brother-Captain Gaius]

Yeah, rules for Orks are on my to-do list.

What's struck me as odd about the combat rules so far, though, is a lack of positional bonuses. They went so far as to make penalties for being "prone" after getting knocked down, but any kind of benefit to lowering one's stance is curiously absent in a combat system that also includes overwatch and suppressive fire. I'd've thought there'd at the very least be a prone action that gives you a bonus to Ballistic Skill tests and a penalty to any enemy trying to shoot you.

[SylasGaunt]

IIRC isn't going prone mentioned in the bracing action? There's a difference between dropping to your belly and getting knocked on your ass afterall.l

[Raj Ahten]

Yes! I was able to acquire a copy of Dark Heresy at the Borders, of all places. Exepensive, but definitely looks like it is worth it. Any idea when we could start some online play (I am currently without a normal gaming group of any sort after I moved back into Northern Virginia )

[Imperial Overlord]

The Inquisitor's Handbook, due out in June, will apparently include some rules for advanced careers.

There aren't much in the way of stance modifiers for ranged combat (although their are rules for things like pinning and overwatch), but the system makes that kind of thing easy to wing. There are a fair number of stance modifiers for melee.

[white_rabbit]

I love the psychic rules, lots of classic 40k psyker stuff in there, very characterful.

As far as background information, sourcebook style stuff I'm also very impressed, a lot of effort was put into it all I feel, although theres a lot of stuff basically jacked from Inquisitor, this could be pretty helpful given you should be able to transfer a lot of the Inquisitor stuff straight across.

If only I had a group to play with any more, I could playtest with, y'know, other people instead of just laughing about the frankly bonkers critical injury charts.

Energy weapon critical damage location:Head. 9 superheated by the attack, the targets brain explodes, tearing apart his skull and sending chunks of mean flying at those nearby, the target is no more.

10 As above, except the targets entire body then catches fire and runs off headless 2d10 metres in a random direction, anything flammable ,including characters must make an agility test or catch fire.

10+ Impact criticals on an arm, In a rain of blood, gore and meat, the targets arm is removed from his body, screaming incoherently, he twists about in agony for a few seconds before collapsing on the ground and dying. As the arm is removed it is smashed apart by the force of the attack, and bone, clothing and armour fragments fly about like shrapnel, anyone withing 2 meters takes 1d10-8 impact damage.

explosive 9: The target ceases to exist in any tangible way, entirely turning into a kind of crimson mist, you don't get much deader than this, except......Explosive Head 10:As above, except such is the unspeakably appaling manner in which the target is killed, any of the targets within two metres must make a willpower save or flee

Interesting to read that the Imperium apparently has "billions of inhabited worlds" making its different types of gun as well, on the very first page I read.

[Zablorg]

So what's it like being an inquisitor? Does their motto "Innocence proves nothing" come into play?

[white_rabbit]

So what's it like being an inquisitor? Does their motto "Innocence proves nothing" come into play?

You aren't technically an Inquisitor in the games basic concept, you are Inquisitorial minions, i.e. the various mooks picked up during the Inquisitors career to do his bidding. I.e. anyone with useful skills, tech-priests, psykers, assassins, guardsmen, arbiters etc.

So you've not quite got the muscle of a full Inquisitor, which I think is the point, one of the players can't simply declare he's taking control of the planet or something like that!

[Connor MacLeod]

If only I had a group to play with any more, I could playtest with, y'know, other people instead of just laughing about the frankly bonkers critical injury charts.

Energy weapon critical damage location:Head. 9 superheated by the attack, the targets brain explodes, tearing apart his skull and sending chunks of mean flying at those nearby, the target is no more.

10 As above, except the targets entire body then catches fire and runs off headless 2d10 metres in a random direction, anything flammable ,including characters must make an agility test or catch fire.

10+ Impact criticals on an arm, In a rain of blood, gore and meat, the targets arm is removed from his body, screaming incoherently, he twists about in agony for a few seconds before collapsing on the ground and dying. As the arm is removed it is smashed apart by the force of the attack, and bone, clothing and armour fragments fly about like shrapnel, anyone withing 2 meters takes 1d10-8 impact damage.

explosive 9: The target ceases to exist in any tangible way, entirely turning into a kind of crimson mist, you don't get much deader than this, except......Explosive Head 10:As above, except such is the unspeakably appaling manner in which the target is killed, any of the targets within two metres must make a willpower save or flee

Interesting to read that the Imperium apparently has "billions of inhabited worlds" making its different types of gun as well, on the very first page I read.

Those are genuine critical hit charts? Oh boy...

[SylasGaunt]

Okay my copy is on the way and I've had a look at some of it. Made a test character today using random rolls and ended up with a 6'9" void born albino tech priest.

Seems kinda odd that the tech priests don't have options of las weapon training but they start with las weapons.

And yes those critical hit charts are loads of fun, though the poor impact damage weapons don't get some of the hugely messy high ranking criticals that the energy and explosive weapons get.

[Brother-Captain Gaius]

Okay my copy is on the way and I've had a look at some of it. Made a test character today using random rolls and ended up with a 6'9" void born albino tech priest.

Seems kinda odd that the tech priests don't have options of las weapon training but they start with las weapons.

And yes those critical hit charts are loads of fun, though the poor impact damage weapons don't get some of the hugely messy high ranking criticals that the energy and explosive weapons get.

Huh? Tech-Priest starts with Basic and Pistol Las proficiencies.

[SylasGaunt]

Whoops, indeed you're right. That's what I get for trying to write and flip pages like that. Oh well lucky for me then.

Can't wait to really start teching him up and maybe get some mechadendrites. Also debating whether to go for a creepy kind of speaking like Chef Alfonso from Metalocalypse or something maybe like Glados from Portal in that perpetually calm, soft and artificial voice.

Oh and power weapons are nasty things in there.. great armor penetration and that whole thing where they have a 75% chance of destroying any non-power weapon they parry.

[Ford Prefect]

Those are genuine critical hit charts? Oh boy...

They are amongst the best things I have seen. It even tops the 'turned into a spawn!' thing that always pops up when you're playing as Chaos.

[Imperial Overlord]

Yeah, those are part of the critical hit charts. They took the WFRP ones and turned up the gruesome.

We got ambushed by xenos tonight. They started off by shredding our vehicle's engine(we were on a jungle road) with guns that fired two foot long steel spikes. Then the dude in power armour attacked from the front while his fifteen xeno buddies laid down sheets of fire from the jungle.

Our one and only krak grenade was put to good use and did 90% of the job in putting down power armour boy (he had a titanic shock maul), which left us fighting the fifteen camoulflaged xenos, a xeno psyker, and another power armour shock maul xeno.

We burned three Fate points to live (seven man group). I got a corruption point by making the first peril of the warp roll for a psychic power (I was momentarily displaced in time). The xeno shooters died comparatively easy. The power armour guy ate our shotgun, autogun, and las rounds like they were candy and was responsible for all three Fate points being burned before we brought him down in a storm of massed gunfire.

It turns out our GM was aiming for a capture and dropped a ton of xp on us.

[Brother-Captain Gaius]

Hot damn, just got down finishing the pre-prepared adventure in the back of the book. I don't want to spoil anything for anyone doing it or who has an interest in doing it, so I'll just say it was fucking epic the way it went down. It was pure 40K on a stick. Especially since it was just a two-person group with a third PC co-played by me (GM) and one of the players (I made him and do his stats while the player actually plays him during the game). We've got a much better grasp of the rules now so things went much smoother, too.

SPOILERS for Illumination:

I felt some pity for the group since they were only two guys with three characters, so since Tech-Priest Hastus stabilized Brother Lamarck, he later joined in the final battle with the daemon. The Scum, Charles "The Mongrel" Dekko (a stunted, gimpy-legged and Unremarkable 55-year old void-born) had completely lost his (good) leg earlier from being next to the bomb used by the Voicers in their attempt to destroy the corrupted cathedral, so he was hobbling about on one foot the entire time. As they entered the cathedral, Trooper Wollsey Piers (my Guardsman) fell under the enthralling spell of the daemon, despite using two Fate Points, one for the original WP test and another after being spurred on by Brother Lamarck's holy chants.

Dekko originally stood by the doors as Piers and Hastus moved toward the Skae-thing and attempted to disrupt the ritual. The players spent about 10 minutes debating the situation and how to proceed, and started by executing one of the poor, entranced congregation members. Then they tried shooting Aristarchus to further lack of effect as the daemon toyed with them and leisurely began attacking Hastus. Finally Hastus (with a battlecry of "Poke 'em inna eye!!!!" of course) pulled his knife and managed to hit the daemon's eye, and my description of the hit clued them in to that being the thing to do. Brother Lamarck burst into the room later that turn, gravely wounded but screaming his devotion to the Emperor. The daemon wounded Hastus slightly before turning its attention on the aquila-clutching Lamarck, eventually slaying the priest in a violent fountain of gore (18 critical damage sucks for whoever gets hit with it).

All the while, Charles Dekko, the session's MVP, charged forward each round clutching his eagle feather charm and, by the Emperor's grace, passing his Agility tests each time to remain on his single foot. It took him four rounds of Ag tests to finally charge into hand-to-hand combat with the Skae-thing, and with a spluttered curse purged the daemon with a single shot from his autopistol into the creature's remaining eye.

The players later praised Brother Lamarck's martyrdom and buried him underneath the cathedral's aquila statue, using his lasgun and aquila pendant as a grave marker, acknowledging that saving him earlier so they could assist them in the final battle probably saved all their lives and the planet at large.

Due to Dekko's heroism and duty to the God-Emperor of Man, the Inquisition saw fit to furbish him with a replacement bionic leg.

[Feil]

Illumination snip

Awesome

EDIT: is this the sort of adventure that could be used as a side-quest without too much difficulty? I want to run a campaign of my own devising, but I've heard nothing but praise for the pre-written adventures in the book and on the webpage. (Still waiting for my copy to finish shipping.)

[white_rabbit]

Its the fucking endtimes for Black Library I think, Abnett let slip on his blog that Marc Gasgoigne has been canned.


So much for them concentrating on the fucking novels!

[Aaron]

I hope they have a fire sale before they go under.

[Zablorg]

Naaaah.

They're gone. GW are probably trying to divert the cash into the only thing they know how to do well. The models.

[Brother-Captain Gaius]

EDIT: is this the sort of adventure that could be used as a side-quest without too much difficulty? I want to run a campaign of my own devising, but I've heard nothing but praise for the pre-written adventures in the book and on the webpage. (Still waiting for my copy to finish shipping.)

Sort of. It took us two sessions to get through, but then we're lazy bastards who spend half the time fucking about with bullshit anyway. It can be tied directly into Shattered Hope if you want, and the ending (whether or not the PCs succeed or get annihilated) has several natural lead-off points for further adventures of your own devising. It's an excellent way to just get everyone accustomed to the rules and help everyone learn the game, since it's a lot less work for the GM. With a little work you can "genericize" the whole thing or adapt it specifically to your Inquisitor.