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Blurty for Imperium.
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| Thursday, September 2nd, 2004 |
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Finally, the Genestealers are up on the Yahoo group, the first non-human NPCs I've written for Imperium. You can find it in the Additional Files folder. Oh, and there's also my tentative background for squats, post-Tyranids, in the Miscellaneous Folder. (You can destroy a civilisation, but you can't eat an entire species when it's spacefaring, not without swallowing up the other million worlds in the Imperium.) |
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Yes, in .pdf format. Because of the filesize limitations of Freeservers, I've started a Yahoo web group.  Click to join imperium_40k Once you've joined, head over to the Files page and download everything in the Imperium Corebook folder. The stuff in Additional Files is completed stuff that forms part of an incomplete chapter. Once the chapter's complete, it'll be put up in a single compilation .pdf. There's also an incomplete cover and contents page in there, listing the page numbers of the chapters already posted in .pdf format. |
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| Monday, August 23rd, 2004 |
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There's finally a character sheet online. I've linked to it from the front page, and it's available in both Word and .pdf formats. Although I do have virus scanning on my own machine, remember to scan all downloads, just in case... |
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| Wednesday, August 18th, 2004 |
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Right, an explanation: Six months ago (more or less), I and my housemates lost the internet at the old house (long story, vanishing housemate, unpaid bills). We've moved house since then and been able to set ourselves up in a new house. So anyway, what's happened with Imperium? Not much, to tell you the truth. (Smog & Mirrors, my intended-for-publication RPG has taken up most of my time. The rules for that are about 75% done, and the background's maybe 25% complete. I'll probably playtest it sometime within the next six months to a year.) But Imperium: The Genestealer Bestiary is finished (apart from a few bits), and will be posted ASAP. I'm also trying to get Adobe to work so I can make .pdf files of everything. Top priority is the character sheet, because the one on the website really doesn't work that well. Bear in mind that I'm now juggling two part-time jobs, planning a Cthulhu Dark Ages campaign, working on Smog & Mirrors and writing several fiction pieces. |
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| Saturday, September 27th, 2003 |
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Yes, that's most of it. What's missing? Citizen backgrounds - I will get around to these eventually. Bestiaries - so you have to wait or improvise non-human/abhuman NPCs. I've got a half-complete Chaos bestiary, but I'm holding it back until I've come up with rules for stuff like Daemons, Chaos gifts, that sort of thing. Currently in the works is the Genestealer Cult list, which shouldn't take long. I've got stats sorted for the Patriarch and the Purestrains - you don't want to meet this in a park on a bright summer's day, let alone in a dark alley. Hmm, I think that's about it. Give me a shout if there's any dead links or "I'll do this later" pages. And now I'm going to relax. Or invent stats for Genestealer Magi, one or the other. |
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| Saturday, September 20th, 2003 |
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All that, plus the Maritime and Politician career scales have been given backgrounds. Tomorrow, I'll come up with rules for force weapons (Inquisitor has the basics, but they need converting across to Imperium's combat system). Speaking of which, I'll get started on the GM's handbook, and stick the combat system in there. If I can, I'll add the WFRP-based non-combat system as well, although I think it needs a redrafting first. I'll also be taking some time off eventually so that I can get a few days work in on my novel. I met a friend the other day, who said that another friend (whose opinion on these things I greatly respect) said it contained the best sex scene he'd ever read. That reminded me that I hadn't touched the novel for over three months, thanks to this other labour of love. Imperium isn't going to make me any cash. A novel (potentially) could. I'm unemployed with a £10,000 Student Loan. See where I should be placing my priorities? |
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| Thursday, September 18th, 2003 |
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Everything from the Player's Handbook is online, with a few exceptions. All that's missing is the Armoury section and the Psychic Powers section. I'll get at least the first of those up tomorrow. I'm off to bed. Good night. |
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| Tuesday, September 16th, 2003 |
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Well, the first chunk of it anyway, over at http://www.imperium.freeservers.com/ . So far, we've got: Conventions of Imperium (1 page) Character generation (2 pages) Mutations (1 page) Military careers (14 pages) Coming up tomorrow, the Freelancer, Scholar and Citizen careers, plus Abilities and possibly the Character Sheet. I'll try and throw in some weapons rules as well, if I can get everything translated across to the website. Hopefully, Scholar and Citizen won't take long to get online, and Freelancer shouldn't be quite as long-winded as Military. Once the weapons are out of the way (maybe tomorrow, more likely the day or two afterwards), I'll give you the psychic rules as well. |
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| Friday, September 12th, 2003 |
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The website's up if you want to follow the link. http://www.imperium.freeservers.com There's not much there at the moment, just a rambling introduction by yours truly, that probably puts people off wanting to play more than it makes them want to keep going. I just need to finish off a few spare careers (Marines, skitarii, seamen, politicians and so on) and then I'll bung up the PC's Handbook section. Might take a few days - there's more Marines than I expected: Aspirant Neophyte (Cadet) Acolyte (Scouts, plus Librarium, Armoury and Apothecarion apprentices) Marine (the standard Battle Brother) Apothecary Techmarine Veteran (vet. sergeants, veterans, Terminators, plus higher ranking apothecaries and techmarines) Officer (captains and upwards, including top-ranking apothecaries and techmarines) Chaplain (reached from the veteran career, parallel to Officer) Librarian Codicier Librarian Epistolary Librarian Lexicanium Librarian Chief Librarian (overall, probably the most powerful PC career in the game, just below Officer or Chaplain in combat ability, and just below Alpha-Class rogue psykers in psychic ability) So far I'm down to Officer. |
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| Thursday, September 11th, 2003 |
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Well, this is what I came up with last night and this afternoon. It's rules for the gene-seed used by Space Marines, based on (but hopefully not actually plagiarising) the article in White Dwarf 247, and presumably reproduced in the first Index Astartes book. The main reason for this was that so many of a Space Marine's abilities are tied into surgery, rather than purely training, and it just seemed odd to have such a long list of abilities on the career list, with no explanation of why they were there. So now, Immunity to Poison and so on have been explained, as has the (now deleted) Adeptus Astartes Awareness ability. The secondary reason was that it was almost impossible for a player character to reach standard Marine level, assuming the character starts at Cadet and works through Scout. We're talking thousands of Experience points, with 2500 spent on Strength advances, and 1600 on Toughness advances alone, before any new abilities or other advances. A Marine is supposed to become superhuman within ten years of being recruited, rather than slowly getting like that over many years. Anyway, the first draft - excuse any crappy phrasing and stuff: The Implantation Of Gene-Seed Space Marines are created by the implantation of nineteen types of gene-seed, which greatly boost a Space Marine’s already formidable natural capabilities, as well as introduce new abilities unique to the Adeptus Astartes. With the exception of the progenoid glands (see below), all gene-seed are permanently implanted and cannot be removed without causing massive damage, and potentially disability or death, to the owner. It takes a major surgical operation to implant each gene-seed, although some phases of implantation can be performed simultaneously, assuming the Chapter has sufficient apothecaries and equipment to carry out a multiple operation. Each gene-seed detailed below must be implanted within the timeframe detailed. For the sake of simplicity, NPC Space Marines may count characteristic boosts of D10 points as being of 5 points each, as they would a normal characteristic advance. Gene-Seed Rejection Sometimes a Space Marine’s body will not accept the implanted gene-seed organs, particularly if they are defective in some way. After implantation surgery, a Space Marine must take a Toughness test. If the test is passed, the gene-seed is accepted without problems. If the test is failed, there are severe complications that cause 3D10 damage to the Marine and an additional operation must be performed to remove the faulty gene-seed. A third operation is required to replace it again. If the test is a matched failure, the Space Marine reacts incredibly badly. Not only does he take 3D10 damage, but also mutates in some way. This can be rolled randomly on the mutations tables, or it can be chosen by the GM to relate to the nature of the faulty gene-seed. For example, a character with a faulty ossmodula may develop bony epidermal plates, bony spikes jutting from his knuckles, or the fusing of bones that should remain mobile. Usually these mutations can be surgically corrected and the gene-seed replaced, by carrying out D6 major surgical operations. Should any of these operations fail, the apothecaries will decide that the extent of the mutation is beyond their scope, and the Space Marine will either be mercifully granted euthanasia or be mind-wiped for use as a study subject. Gene-Seed Failure Most gene-seed require continued chemical therapy throughout life (those that do not are noted in their descriptions). This is primarily an unavoidable by-product of implanting a score of artificial organs into the human body, which tends to dislike that kind of treatment, but it also has the beneficial side-effect of reinforcing the loyalty of the Space Marine. Should a Space Marine for any reason become separated from his Chapter, whether through desertion, captivity, exile or accident, each organ has a 5% chance of failure, tested at the start of each year. A failed organ removes any bonuses and abilities it may have granted the Marine, and causes D10 damage per day. Most Space Marines will be capable of healing the damage from one or two organs overnight, but when multiple organs fail, and battle wounds pile up, survival can become difficult for a lost Marine. Absent Gene-Seed And Non-Standard Chapters Not all Chapters have access to all nineteen gene-seed, thanks to degeneracy, Chapter tradition or genetic incompatibility. It ought to be noted that most Chapters that are deficient in one respect strive to make up for it in another, perhaps with additional training or a non-standard battlefield doctrine. Non-standard gene-seed will be explained wherever the Chapter itself is described. When creating a generic Chapter, it can either be assumed that all the gene-seed or present, or the GM could assume that there is a 95% chance that each gene-seed is present. The progenoid glands and black carapace will always be present – any Space Marine Chapter without these gene-seed is compromised beyond repair and must be disbanded. In a similar vein, Chapters without ossmodula, biscopea or haemastamen gene-seed are likely to be deemed too deficient to continue their existence. All the Marines of a Chapter will have the same types of gene-seed. Adeptus Astartes Cadet Gene-Seed Implants Phase 1 – Secondary Heart (10-14 years of age, can be combined with phases 2 and 3) This secondary heart increases the flow of blood around the cadet’s body. It also assists survival in low-oxygen atmospheres and provides resistance to traumatic injury. A Space Marine gains 2D10 points of Toughness upon the implantation of the secondary heart. Additionally, if a crippling injury result should indicate that the heart has been destroyed, the secondary heart can keep the Space Marine alive (albeit with all characteristics halved), until surgery to repair, regrow or replace the lost organ. Phase 2 – Ossmodula (10-12 years of age, can be combined with phases 1 and 3) The ossmodula has the appearance of a small fleshy tube. It manufactures hormones that induce ephiphesial fusion and ossification of the skeleton, melding the rib cage and other non-mobile bones together for increased durability. Simultaneously, other hormones cause ceramic-based chemicals in the Marine’s diet to become absorbed into the bone, strengthening it still further. A fully developed Space Marine’s rib-cage is a solid mass of interlaced bone. A Space Marine gains D10 points of Toughness at the end of each of the two years following implantation of the ossmodula. Phase 3 – Biscopea (10-12 years of age, can be combined with phases 1 and 2) The biscopea is a small, spherical, hormone-producing organ that stimulates muscle growth throughout the body. Combined with the effects of the ossmodula, a cadet rapidly becomes superhuman in appearance, even though his training is not yet complete. A Space Marine gains D10 points of Strength at the end of each of the five years following implantation of the biscopea. Phase 4 – Haemastamen (12-14 years of age, can be combined with phase 5) One of the smallest gene-seed types, the haemastamen is implanted into a main blood vessel, whereupon it regulates the ossmodula and biscopea implants and also alters the makeup of the cadet’s blood. Blood passed through the haemastamen becomes more efficient at carrying oxygen and nutrients to the rapidly expanding muscles and hormonally enhanced vital organs. A Space Marine gains D10 points of Strength and D10 points of Toughness upon implantation of the haemastamen. Modifications to white blood cell production also grant the Marine the Immunity to Disease ability. Phase 5 – Larraman’s Organ (12-13 years of age, can be combined with phase 4) Between an inch and a half and two inches in size, this dark, fleshy, liver-like organ is implanted into the chest cavity, between the hearts, along with a network of additional blood vessels linking it to the bloodstream. The main function of Larraman’s organ is to produce and store ‘Larraman cells’, which are released into the blood when pain signals and/or loss of blood pressure indicate that the cadet has been wounded. Larraman cells congeal upon contact with air, forming instant scar tissue and staunching the flow of blood. Space Marines with a functioning Larraman’s organ can take one Toughness test for each bleeding location at the start of each round. Each passed test indicates once dice of bleeding to the location has been halted. This is in addition to any medical treatment given to the injured locations. Adeptus Astartes Scout Gene-Seed Implants Phase 6 – Catalepsean Node (14-17 years of age) Marines sleep like any normal man, but if unable to do so – because of prolonged battle conditions, or torture – the catalepsean node activates. Although it does not replace normal sleep completely, it greatly increases the time for which the Marine is able to operate without complete rest by sequentially placing non-vital portions of the brain on standby. As an added advantage, it means that the Marine is at least partially alert while in catalepsean half-sleep. Space Marines with a catalepsean node can operate for up to four times as long, under battlefield conditions, without sleep, as a typical human. When they do sleep, a Marine only needs four hours of sleep, rather than the usual eight. The Marine can also recuperate damage while in half-sleep, and see, hear and so on. Awareness tests while in half-sleep do not gain any positive modifiers for any reason, even from other gene-seed. Phase 7 – Preomnor (14-16 years of age, usually combined with phases 8 and 9) The preomnor is a large organ that fits into the chest cavity, acting as a predigestive stomach that filters out poisonous or indigestible materials. Should a poison be too powerful to be completely neutralised, the preomnor’s exit closes, preventing the substance from passing through to the stomach. The poison can then be disposed of by vomiting. A Space Marine gains the Immunity to Poison ability upon implantation of the preomnor, but only against ingested poisons. Phase 8 – Omophagea (14-16 years of age, usually combined with phases 7 and 9) The omophagea is a complicated implant that is grafted into the upper spinal cord (between the cervical and thoracic vertebra) and provides one of the most bizarre of a Space Marine’s superhuman abilities. It absorbs genetic material generated in animal tissue as a function of memory or innate ability. In other words, the Marine can actually learn by eating his enemies’ flesh. This is usually taken in the form of brain tissue, but it works just as well through flesh, blood or even bone marrow, leading to several gruesome Chapter rituals. Oddly, cannibalism is more acceptable amongst Space Marine Chapters than the devouring of aliens. Many Marines are reluctant to devour the flesh of an alien or mutant, for fear of taint, but most will do so, confident in the abilities of their preomnors and their strength of will to defeat the physical and spiritual toxins. A Space Marine with an omophagea can temporarily learn the most salient recent thoughts of a victim by consuming at least a pound of its flesh or drinking a pint of blood. There is a 50% chance that each ability relevant to the victim’s life will also be temporarily passed on to the Space Marine, for a period of 2D10 hours before fading away. Additional portions allow the possibility of learning further abilities, although the probability of doing so never rises further than 50%. Phase 9 – Multi-lung (14-16 years of age, usually combined with phases 7 and 8) The multi-lung is a tubular grey organ that sits against the trachea. When the Space Marine’s body detects poisonous atmospheres, a sphincter muscle closes the trachea, forcing all breathing to be carried out through the multi-lung. The multi-lung filters out toxins without suffering damage itself, thanks to efficient toxin neutralisation and regeneration abilities. A Space Marine with a multi-lung gains +10 to any airborne poison Resistance tests. The multi-lung also allows the Marine to double Initiative during olfactory Awareness tests. Phase 10 – Occulobe (14-16 years of age) The occulobe sits at the base of the visual cortex. Although it does not in itself increase a Marine’s visual abilities, it does allow the Chapter chirurgeons to adapt and enhance the growth patterns of the eye and associated nerves. At some point over the five years after implantation of the occulobe, a Space Marine will develop the ability to double Initiative during visual Awareness tests. Phase 11 – Lyman’s Ear (14-16 years of age) Lyman’s ear completely replaces a Space Marine’s original ears, but is externally indistinguishable. It allows a degree of fine-tuning over incoming auditory data that is unrivalled anywhere else in humanity. A Marine with Lyman’s ears doubles his Initiative during auditory Awareness tests, and gains the ability to tune into particular sounds – such as one person talking in a crowded room. This works in a similar manner to the Lip Reading ability, but does not require line of sight. In addition, the Marine will never become dizzy or nauseous as a result of extreme disorientation, although the distortion of reality (as opposed to perception) will affect him normally. Phase 12 – Sus-an Membrane (15-16 years of age) This membranous organ is placed between the skullcap and the brain. It then grows into the brain tissue until completely merged. A Marine subjected to chemical conditioning and tuition can use the sus-an membrane to enter a state of suspended animation. Most of the time, this is a conscious action – for example, when trapped for long periods without food or water – but occasionally head trauma can instigate unwanted sus-an. When in sus-an, a Marine continues to heal at the normal rate (including haemastamen coagulation) as if resting for full days. Death countdowns from mortal crippling injuries are halted, although of course the Space Marine is defenceless against further attacks. A Marine cannot willingly exit suspended animation – it takes chemical therapy and direct neuro-electrical stimulation to revive a Marine using the sus-an membrane. There is no upper limit to the length of time that a Marine can remain in suspended animation, and comas lasting hundreds of years are well documented. There is a 10% chance that a Marine suffering damage to the head will automatically enter suspended animation. Phase 13 – Melanochrome, or Melanochromic Organ (15-16 years of age) The melanochrome is a hemispherical, black organ that monitors radiation bombarding the skin and does what it can, using chemical reactions in the skin, to protect against damage. Some Chapters’ melanochromes are faulty and have unusual side effects on the pigmentation of their users. For example, the Salamanders are typically black-skinned, but with blonde hair, the Blood Angels are all blonde with blue eyes and alabaster skin, while the Death Spectres are, to a Marine, pure albino. The melanochrome grants 3 additional points of Armour against all radiation attacks, including sunburn. Phase 14 – Oolitic Kidney (15-16 years of age, can be combined with phase 15) The oolitic kidney fits between the Marine’s two existing kidneys and filters blood quickly and efficiently. When used in conjunction with the secondary heart, it also performs emergency detoxification should the multi-lung be unable to handle powerful poisons. A Marine implanted with an oolitic kidney gains the Immunity to Poison ability against all forms of poison. If the Marine also has a secondary heart, he gains a +30 bonus to all poison Resistance tests. This bonus can be added onto that gained from a multi-lung. Phase 15 – Neuroglottis (15-16 years of age, can be combined with phase 14) The neuroglottis acts as an early warning system for the preomnor by detecting ingested poisons by taste alone. It offers no actual protection, although poison will usually be spotted early enough to avoid the worst effects. He can even taste certain chemicals in the air, assisting in the tracking of creatures with distinctive pheromones. A neuroglottis allows a Marine to double his Initiative during all taste-based Awareness tests, including the detection of additive poisons. He also gains a +10 bonus when using the Tracker ability to follow living creatures, increasing to +20 if the creature is wounded, frightened or in heat. Phase 16 – Mucranoid (16 years of age) The mucranoid nestles within the small intestine and secretes hormones into the colon. These hormones can be activated through chemotherapy, whereupon they cause the Marine to sweat an oily substance that cleanses the skin and forms a thin wax coating. This provides protection against extremes of temperature and even limited defence against the vacuum of space. A Marine with a mucranoid gland doubles his grace period before suffering damage from cold or heat-induced dehydration. In addition, when exposed to vacuum, the Marine only suffers a level of damage and an increase in bleeding every ten rounds. These bonuses only apply if the Marine has been undergoing the appropriate chemotherapy for at least a week beforehand. The effects of the chemotherapy remain in effect for three months after the course of treatment ends. Phase 17 – Betcher’s Gland (16-17 years of age) Working in a similar manner to a spitting cobra’s venom sacs, Betcher’s glands are implanted either into the lower lip, alongside the salivary glands, or into the hard palette. The Marine counts as having the Spit Acid mutation. This venom can also be used to burn through metal, at a rate of 10cm an hour, or faster if the Marine is actually chewing. Phase 18 – Progenoids (16-18 years) Technically two phases in one, the twin progenoid glands are vital for the continued existence of the Chapter. Each organ grows within the Marine, absorbing genetic material and hormonal information from the other gene-seed, until the progenoids develop to contain vestigial examples of each of the nineteen gene-seed. The neck gland matures and is ready to be removed after around five years, while the chest gland takes longer, requiring approximately ten years to fully mature. These times vary from Chapter to Chapter – some Chapters require many decades for their progenoids to mature, while others can manage it in a fraction of the normal time. Most Chapters re-implant Marines with new progenoids after the removal of the original ones, so as to increase the store of gene-seed and to make up for those gene-seed lost in unrecovered or obliterated corpses. It is standard practice for apothecaries to cut the progenoid from a dead Marine with a device called a ‘reductor’, in the hope that bathing it in nutrient vats to simulate being contained within a living body can save the gene-seed within each gland. Once matured, the progenoids are removed and each vestigial gene-seed within checked for mutation. Those that pass the purity screening are then stored in highly secure vaults, ready for implantation into the next generation of Space Marines. It takes one operation to implant each progenoid, and another to remove each one upon maturation. Space Marines will go to extreme lengths, even risking the loss of their own progenoids, to recover the bodies (or at least just the progenoids) of their fallen battle brethren. Phase 19 – Black Carapace (16-18 years) This is the final stage of the implantation procedures that go towards creating a Space Marine. Looking like a film of black plastic, the carapace is grown in nutrient tanks before it is implanted beneath the skin of the Marine’s torso. Within hours of the operation, the carapace tissue expands, hardens and sends invasive neural bundles through the Marine’s body. Several months later, the carapace can be drilled into and neural sensors and transfusion points installed. These provide direct links to monitoring, medical and maintenance systems within the armour, replacing the need for a harness in Adeptus Astartes power armour. Incidentally, the black carapace also provides a limited form of natural subdermal armour. A few hours after implantation takes place, a Marine with a black carapace gains 2D10 points of Toughness. 2D6 months after implantation, four more minor surgical operations need to be performed. After these are completed, all the necessary ports are present to allow the use of power armour without the need for a harness. Following implantation of phase 19, the Marine is now ready for elevation from scout to full battle brother. |
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Oh Shatner. The last few Imperium blurty updates went into my personal blog, not the Imperium one. Serves me right for not checking which username I was logged in as. Anyway: Well, that's most of the rules done. Just need to do a bit about traps, and finish off looking up the symptoms for certain diseases before converting them into rules, and everything'll be done. Bar a bit of tweaking, and a few more character careers (Shaman, Politician, Seaman, Space Marines, Skitarii and a few others). I've tried publishing something to the website (http://members.lycos.co.uk/imperium40k/), but it doesn't seem to have appeared yet. I'll give it a few hours to see if it turns up. It's just the front page, plus blank second pages. EDIT: Ignore this link - Imperium's now on a different website: http://www.imperium.freeservers.com/ Ideally, everything will be online by the start of October, in time for my next playtesting campaign, running in Michaelmas Term at LURPS. So, now the core rules are out of the way, what needs doing? Chaos. This is the priority. Lots of Chaos bits. Crunchy tables full of gifts and attributes. Customised Daemons. Bestiaries for the four branches of Chaos: Marines, Cults, Daemons and the Lost and the Damned, aka Daemon World warbands. Daemon weapons. Chaos Sorcery powers (magic in 40k, effectively, rather than the pseudo-scientific psychic powers). Possession and summoning rules. Most importantly, rules for how to summon Daemons without using psychic powers - Khornate Daemons need this. NPCs and Animals. Just generic stats for everything you'll come across. In the case of humans, this is the human statline with certain careers added - to save the GM having to do this him or herself. Animals are more specific, with all the basic animal types given in the Trading Charts - a mixture of Terran and extra-terrestrial animals - plus a few non-domesticated types. Aliens. Like I've already said, these will be bestiaries until I have the time to put the time into coming up with a full alternative character generation and advancement system that works alongside the human/abhuman/mutant system. More on abhumans and mutants. Little essays, mainly, about how I see the role of the abhuman in 40k. They're a distinct minority. Not every party should have multiple abhumans, if you're going for a typical grouping of characters. That kind of thing. This'll also be where I rationalise the continued existence of the squats as individuals, even when their culture and homeworlds were eaten by tyranids. The ratlings are also going through a bad patch, with their main planet, Ornsworld, nearly depopulated by Abaddon's invasion of the Gothic Sector. Speaking of which... Abaddon's 13th Crusade. It turns out that this summer's global Warhammer 40k campaign has left vast swathes of the Imperium in ruins. What effect does this have on the Imperial population? Well, that depends on what the GW designers do with the next edition of Warhammer 40,000, but personally, I'd say very little is going to change in the eyes of the man or woman on the street. Sure, there might be more religious broadcasts on the news networks, more PDF soldiers are drafted into the Imperial Guard, and prices rise as ships and planets stop supplying worlds with goods, but that's about it. The big stuff happens away from the home front. Vast armies of Guardsmen, huge fleets of warships, entire Titan Legions, full-strength Space Marine Chapters, might all be pouring in to staunch the bleed of Chaos into the real universe, but the only obvious sign of this is in those areas of the galaxy where the Eye of Terror is visible in the night sky. On the other hand, the secret war between the Inquisition and the cultist underground will certainly be hotting up. There'll be more bodies found in alleyways, politicians disappearing from public life and never being mentioned again, and an increase in terrorist attacks. |
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| Monday, August 25th, 2003 |
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(Damn, I hate that back button. Time to start writing this post again.) What's in the game, and what isn't? What is: A Career System Based On WFRP 70 Basic Careers for characters, split into four categories - Military - all Imperial military organisations, intelligence agencies, Adeptus Arbites, Planetary Defence Force etc. Freelancers - gangers, mercenaries and criminals Scholars - academics, priests, sanctioned psykers, politicians, nobles, Adeptus Mechanicus, Inquisitors, etc. Citizens - farmers, cultists, factory workers, Merchants' Guild, planetary law enforcement, slaves, etc. 34 Advanced Military careers, plus Space Marine and Skitarii (Tech-Guard) advanced careers, which I haven't written yet. 28 Advanced Freelancer careers 29 Advanced Scholar careers 30 Advanced Citizen careers So, that's over 200 careers, once the Marines and Skitarii are dealt with. Skipping from one career to another isn't normally difficult, although certain careers (Navigator Minoris, Space Marine cadet and so on) can only entered from character generation, thus cutting off certain careers to other characters. Abhumans get screwed over royally by being disallowed from many of the most advanced Imperial careers, although they can go into the private sector just fine. Mutants get it even worse than the abhumans. Psychic Powers Based loosely on Inquisitor's psychic system, but simplified to allow for play without miniatures. There are six disciplines of psychic powers, plus (eventually) disciplines for each of the Chaos powers. Astrotelepathy is an artificial variant of Telepathy, used by the Adeptus Astra Telepathica to communicate between worlds. Very limited in scope, but useful at times. Biomancy is all about controlling and modifying biological systems - causing wood to rot, weakening the bones in someone's body, causing their heart rate to increase, lowering their blood temperature, causing vegetation to sprout from the ground. Daemonology is based around using the warp. There's divination and seance abilities in here, as well as Daemon summoning, binding and controlling. There's also two raise-the-dead abilities, one using a fragment of warp energy to give a corpse basic instincts, while the other actually restores a soul to a body for a length of time. Of course, dying is a traumatic experience, so the character's pretty psychologically disturbed by being resurrected, and there's always the risk of accidentally creating an unbound Daemonhost... Pyromancy is a variant of telekinesis that revolves around setting things on fire. Spontaneous human combustion, fire balls, walls of flame, everything that the inadequate psyker who was bullied as a child could ever want. And a lot of psykers were bullied as children... Telekinesis is pretty much how it sounds, with various levels of control (from random poltergeist activity, to defusing a ticking bomb, right up to being able to use the temperature dial on a shower) represented by different powers. Telepathy allows psykers to read minds, send messages, take over 'meat puppets' and fry your brains with a stare. Casting a psychic power runs the risk of being attacked by Daemons, going as far as possession - something to throw a spanner in the works for any party of PCs who just wanted to read the mind of the guy with the three cups and a ball at the market... Sorcery (consciously or unconsciously using a Daemon to channel psychic energy) avoids the risk of possession - the patron wards off any rivals - but the flow of Chaos energy will eventually result in mutation, insanity, or even degeneration into a Chaos spawn. Amongst PCs, only rogue psykers, Chaos worshippers and certain veteran Inquisitors will ever use Sorcery. Insanity Rules Based on the WFRP insanity system, and heavily inspired by the tone of Call Of Cthulhu, the Imperium insanity rules mean that anyone who's going to go around killing people, getting injured, or watching cultists sacrifice someone to Slaanesh (yuck!) are going to pay for it with their psychological wellbeing. Every time a character sees or does something disturbing, and fail a Nerve test, they gain Insanity points. Get 10 Insanity points, and take another Nerve test. Fail that, and you develop something nasty. It could be as simple as chewing your nails or talking in your sleep. Or you could try and kill yourself or your friends. Or go catatonic. Or run off screaming. Or leap into action bravely, heedless of your own safety. Or you realise that your friends are actually just waiting for the opportunity to murder you. Or you start hearing voices and seeing things. What isn't: Alien PCs They're not here because humans and aliens wouldn't work together very often, and because the eldar, which people always seem to want to play, are utterly, irredeemably, alien, and cannot be roleplayed by a human player. Seriously. Eldar are not poncing elves, they're just goddamn confusing. Besides, Imperium's about humans, hence the title of the game. Humans tend to kill aliens on sight. I may eventually get around to doing rules for tau and kroot, because they're the only canon aliens who could feasibly join a party of PCs, provided the party was out on the edge of the Imperium, away from justice. The Tau Empire has its own renegade human enclaves, and could be an interesting alternative setting for Imperium. But none of this is happening for quite some time. Aliens are NPCs until everything else is written. Percentile Abilities Some skill systems work with percentile skills. Some don't. Notably, it's the ones with only a few characteristics, and only a few skills, that work with percentiles. Unknown Armies, for example. If you get something with more personal characteristics (characters in Imperium have nine), and a lotm of skills (characters in Imperium get a lot of abilities, eventually) things get a bit complicated. Take a look at the Call Of Cthulhu character sheet. In addition to the dozen or so stats at the top of the page, there's a minimum of 47 skills that have a percentile number added to them. Okay, so you'll never touch some of them, but they're there, clogging up the character sheet with numbers and sending you blind. That's why when you've got a lot of skills, keep things simple and just use a characteristic from the statline to determine how good you are at something. Rules Designed For Use With Miniatures Although I find miniatures really improve complicated combat sequences, a roleplaying game that forces people to use miniatures is doing nothing more than putting people off playing it. It's fair enough to recommend the use of miniatures, but writing rules that require them, in today's roleplaying industry, is a mistake. WFRP came from the early days of roleplaying, when it was still moving away from its roots in the wargame, so it was perfectly natural to assume that models were going to be used, but even then, there was no assumption (except in parts of the combat system). Inquisitor is a tabletop skirmish game, so every rule requires the use of models. With the combat system and psychic system being taken from a skirmish game, everything had to be streamlined to run without a tape measure or exact lines of sight. The GM can always codify distances and so on, rather than relying on resting your head on a table and saying, "I can just see his hand waving in the air. Can I shoot him?" That's it for now. Next update, by popular request, I'll explain careers in more detail. |
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| Saturday, August 23rd, 2003 |
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A few more bits. Again, some have been borrowed/stolen from elsewhere, so apologies to people. Extra Damage Okay, it can be fun, rolling a stream of 6s. It also slows things down slightly (unless your players are in the habit of rolling their dice before it's their turn to fight). An alternative could be using matching successes on to hit rolls to determine when additional damage is scored. Instead of rolling additional damage dice, just double whatever the current damage is. This doesn't alter things too much across the board, but it does make things a lot smoother. I may or may not use this in The Enemy Within, seeing how the player's feel. Since I'm reasonably fond of the original, clunkier setup for additional damage. The main disadvantage of my method is that it doesn't allow PCs to inflict 29 Wounds on a goblin, which is funny, in an "Ouch!" kind of a way. The main advantage of my method is that it doesn't allow goblins to inflict 29 Wounds on a PC, which is funny, in a different "Ouch!" kind of a way. Firearms And Armour In the real world, the invention of firearms spelt the end of the heavily armoured knight. In effect, it was the same as what's going on in modern warfare - the tank is losing popularity with many strategists, because now the infantry can take them out with anti-tank weapons. A bullet punches through armour even more efficiently than a crossbow bolt. Therefore, how about firearms knock all armour down to just 1AP, except leather which is completely ignored? It makes firearms vaguely useful in WFRP, where otherwise they're outclassed by virtually every other type of ranged weapon that they're supposed to be making obsolete. Specialist Weapon Skill Two new rules here. One is for the Specialist Weapon - Dual Weapons, which allows a character to use a weapon in each hand, without penalty (except for one being off-hand). The other replaces the penalty for not possessing the necessary Specialist Weapon skill. At the moment, WS or BS is reduced to 10, no matter what your actual characteristic. This is unfair and unrealistic. It's not that difficult to point and shoot a repeater crossbow, or to wield a two-handed sword. It is difficult, however, to wield them well. Half WS or BS instead. That way, more experienced characters are more able to use unfamiliar weapons, yet by no means competent. Surprise A rarely used rule in my experience, but WFRP represents one side in a combat being surprised by making them miss an entire ten second combat round. This is the same regardless of whether they're being attacked by Dark Elves or Zombies. Simple: Half Initiative of ambushed characters. The quick-witted may get to respond before slower attackers, but they're all still at a disadvantage. Drawing Weapons If attacked while unarmed, how about characters wanting to draw weapons must pass an Initiative test to both draw a weapon and attack with it? If the character fails, the weapon is drawn, but can't be used this round. Elves No rule (bar a re-statting) can escape the fact that elves are incredibly powerful. Their low Fate points hardly balances them. No. Instead of extra rules, just treat them like shit. These guys aren't Legolas. They're utterly alien. For a start, they're beautiful in a time when humans are warty, grimy, smallpox-scarred and smelly. That's just creepy. Treat the elf PCs like shit. Dwarf NPCs won't give them the time of day (and might even attack them, given the slightest provocation), and dwarf PCs will dislike them 90% of the time. Dwarfs Give them 2D10+20 BS, but they can't use bows or longbows. These buggers invented gunpowder, yet WFRP says they can't shoot for toffee. They can also take Rogue careers with an Initiative of 25 or higher. Halflings 1 in every 100 halflings is a warrior. Bullshit. Let them be warriors on WS 25 or higher - they're just not as good at it as humans. So, there we are. I'm tired. Good night. |
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Don't get me wrong, I love WFRP. It's a classic game. Unfortunately, that's the problem. The combat system is still on its first edition, from sixteen years ago. Some of these solutions have been suggested before, but I've tweaked most of them and I can't remember who came up with them originally. Sorry to anyone I'm plagiarising. Naked Dwarf Syndrome Chief problem is the Naked Dwarf Syndrome, whereby the damage system makes certain characters almost immune to damage (dwarfs mainly, hence the name of the problem). The current system uses the Strength of the attacker, plus a D6, minus the Toughness of the defender, with the result being the number of Wounds that the defender takes. When a character reaches 0 Wounds, he starts suffering really badly. Starting with an example of the average human, and then increasing his Toughness, as he gets hit by an average Strength 3 human with a sword (causing an average of 6.5 damage per hit): 1. Toughness 3, Wounds 7, takes 3.5 Wounds per hit, so his third hit gives him critical damage. 2. Toughness 4, Wounds 7, takes 2.5 Wounds per hit, meaning the third hit gives him critical damage (but less seriously than Example 1). 3. Toughness 5, Wounds 7, takes 1.5 Wounds per hit. That's the fifth hit giving him critical damage (to the same degree as Example 2). Tough, but plausible. 4. Toughness 6, Wounds 7, takes 0.5 Wounds per hit. This is where things get screwy. It's the fifteenth hit before he's on even minor criticals. It's highly likely that the only criticals he'll take for a while are non-fatal, extending his lifespan still further. 5. Toughness 7, Wounds 7, is where things really fall down. An average hit, from an average person, against this unarmoured character (almost always a Dwarf, because this is the top end for normal PC Toughness values), does absolutely no damage. Even after being reduced to criticals (which takes sixteen hits), chances are he won't even suffer critical injuries after being hit. In other words, you hit this character with a heavy and sharp piece of metal and he doesn't notice. He can be naked and not take any damage. Last time I checked, skin doesn't work like that. (Give this person armour, which effectively increases Toughness, and you've got a nightmare on your hands. I've done a bit of number crunching - something I'm not great at, so I might have made a mistake - and it turns out that it takes 54 hits to get this character, wearing 3 AP (plate, chainmail and shield) onto criticals (1 in 18 chance of even wounding, thanks to the necessity of rolling extra damage). So, the system's a bit broken when pushed to the limits. Very few systems are unbreakable, but high Toughness PCs tend to appear in most parties, so this is a situation that needs resolving. Clothing The Dwarf: Don't use Toughness in combat situations. It's been suggested several times before, and always comes with the proviso that it makes combat too deadly. Yeah, you're telling me. Example 1, above, takes a slightly above average hit and he's dead with a single blow. Whereas single blow kills have their place, and can be very entertaining, many PCs in WFRP are below average, and I don't want the lawyer and trader PCs dying in their first session, or being forced to stand on the sidelines of every violent encounter, trying not to be seen. Solution to this sub-problem? Increase the number of Wounds that a character has. Characters now have a total Wounds score equal to their Wounds characteristic, plus double their Toughness. W+2(T) Let's replay those examples. Without Toughness, assume everyone takes 6.5 damage per hit: 1. 13 Wounds (7+(2x3)), meaning he's on criticals by his third hit. As with the normal system, two hits reduces him to 0 Wounds. The seriousness of his critical injury is massively increased, but I'll deal with that later. 2. 15 Wounds (7+(2x4)), putting him on criticals by his third hit. So far so good. 3. 17 Wounds, putting him on criticals in three hits, compared to five under the normal rules. Ouch. 4. 19 Wounds, also putting him on criticals by his third hit (rather than a hard to swallow 15), although even one under-average dice roll gives him an extra hit. 5. 21 Wounds, the Toughness 7 Naked Dwarf feels the heat. He goes critical on his fourth hit (as opposed to 16 under the old rules). Ha, fuck him. That'll teach him not to indecently expose himself. As I can see it, there are three main problems with this modified system as it stands so far: Firstly, the higher damage-per-hit (6.5 avg, as opposed to 3.5 under the normal rules) means that criticals will be far more serious than normal, with most causing a 6+ critical, where normally it would be in the 3 or 4 range. 6+ criticals are nearly always fatal. Combat would become too dangerous to attempt, even more than the original designers intended. Secondly, and not so much a problem as an observation, but since armour effectively adds Toughness points, and a fully armoured character under the normal rules could have an effective Toughness of 6 or 7, this new system massively reduces the effectiveness of armour as well. Isn't that antithetical to the whole idea of removing the Naked Dwarf from WFRP? Surely the idea is to promote the use of armour. Thirdly, it seriously increases the danger that high-Toughness characters face. I'll tackle these one at a time. Critical Injuries: This is simple. The critical injuries table refers to the number of Wounds inflicted beyond 0 and is laid out as follows, with critical details beneath the number: 1 2 3 4 5 6+ Simply modify the column headings to: 1-2 3-4 5-6 7-8 9-10 11+ It's not exactly the same as the original setup, but it's near as dammit, as far as I can tell. Armour Armour is currently very plain in WFRP. Each layer of armour gives one Armour point. This is effectively the same as an additional point of Toughness, but only applies to the protected area of the body. But chainmail has the same effect as a shield (1 Armour point), which has the same effect as plate armour. Leather gave 1 Armour point against hits causing 3 Wounds or less). This is the best the designers could really come up with while Toughness was also reducing the damage being dished out to characters - any more variety (inevitably increasing Armour values) would outmatch the Naked Dwarf for ridiculousness. So, now Toughness is out of the way, how about this for Armour points: Plate armour or a full helm = 3 AP Chainmail or an open helm = 2 AP Leather = 1 AP Shield = 1 AP to all locations, barring occasions where the shield could not be used Using multiple armour types combines the AP of each type. So a full helm worn over a chainmail coif would have AP 5, or AP 6 if a shield was used as well. Yes, I know this puts us back up at the equivalent of Toughness 6. But you know what? I'm more comfortable with a fully armoured knight withstanding 15+ sword strokes before starting to suffer than I am a dwarf in a shirt. Plus, there's absolutely nothing to stop a Naked Dwarf putting on armour and bumping himself up to an effective Toughness of 10 (or more, if he gets his hands on magic armour). With this knight, at least we know he's not going to get much harder. Increased Danger To High Toughness Characters This is a matter of perspective. The way I see it, the danger isn't increasing, it's the safety that's decreasing. Veteran fighters are not immune to damage. They might be more used to being hurt, hence a few extra Wound points, but they still die almost as easily as a green newbie. It's their skills (WS, BS, S, I and A) that keep them alive longer than the guy they're fighting. Besides, a veteran warrior will have picked up more armour along the way, if he's any good at his job. NOTE: Tom's just pointed out on MSN that the main problem with my solution to the Naked Dwarf is actually the (uncapitalised) naked dwarf - the Trollslayer. They don't wear armour as a rule. You could argue that they're determined to die, so let them, but they are supposed to be immensely powerful fighters (and bugger all use for anything else). This needs thought. NOTE 2: Tom's also currently running various anomalous examples to test the new system, rather than just working on variations of the average. Anyone wanting to make comments and suggestions, please do so. |
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| Tuesday, August 19th, 2003 |
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Here's what I intend to use to sell my WFRP game to LURPS. Note that I'm altering certain background events in line with the current 'Chaos rising' metaplot in the Warhammer wargame. Okay, this is a first draft. It needs work, but: ---------------------------------------- The Empire is the largest and most technologically advanced human civilisation in the Old World. The printing press and the universities have advanced the cause of science far ahead of its nearest neighbours, and the cannon and the handgun have kept the Empire safe from orcish raiders. The Emperor's powers are kept in check by the Electoral nobility, meaning that the land has been at peace for decades. But in the frozen north, Kislev is ablaze. The armies of Archaon are sweeping down from the Realm of Chaos, driven by their dark gods, on a crusade to annihilate the mortal realm. Chaos warriors, beastmen and mutants clash with the Kislevite armies in defence of the only kingdom standing between Archaon and the Empire. The Emperor knows that if Kislev falls, then the Empire will be invaded not only by the mortal followers of Archaeon, but by Daemons, mutation and Chaos. His armies and battle wizards are already on the march northward, along with contingents from Bretonnia, Estalia and Tilea. The Dwarfs and the High Elves have also sent troops to reinforce Kislev, and many within the Empire believe that the line can be held. For the mobs of adventurers and mercenaries too sensible to go and fight in the north, business is good. There's lots of paid work on offer inside the Empire's borders in times like this. Law and order's not what it used to be, the roads are dangerous, and the superstitious say there are more mutants being born. Beastmen and orcs are attacking coaches on the road, and there aren't enough roadwardens to cover every route. But it's not a quest for glory, no one will end up sitting on a throne, or carrying more gold than they could possibly spend. There's no great treasures to be won. If you're lucky, you'll still be alive tomorrow. If you're very lucky, you might even be able to afford to eat. The French magazine Casus Belli once voted The Enemy Within campaign the joint best roleplaying campaign ever written. It's dark fantasy, inspired by Michael Moorcock and played in a gritty, realistic setting where any attempts to "Kill it, huzzah!" will almost certainly end in severe injury and a trip to the gallows. This isn't Dungeons & Dragons. Not every third character will be a wizard. In fact, cast a spell outside of a city, and the yokels will put you on a bonfire. Warriors aren't dashing heroes with Aquafresh grins, clad in gleaming silver plate, they're scarred, gap-toothed sociopaths, wearing rags caked in the blood of bandits. And behind everything, every noble deed, every rescued village, there's the gathering realisation that, although the Empire can hold against the enemies without, in the north, there's no one to protect against the enemy within... ---------------------------------------- |
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| Monday, August 18th, 2003 |
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Well, after inflicting roleplaying on Emilie and other non-roleplayers via my personal blog for way too long, here's a separate Blurty journal thing for Imperium If you've found this page by accident, followed the link from my RPG.net sig, or just haven't a clue about what it is I've been working on for the past year, here's a basic rundown. Imperium is a totally unofficial, fanboy-made roleplaying game set in Games Workshop's Warhammer 40,000 universe. It covers three different facets of Imperial culture in the 41st Millennium: Citizen Level - The PCs are generic Imperial citizens: adepts, hive gangers, bandits, gunslingers, law enforcement officers, that kind of thing. The general tone is low-powered, and the Imperium need not be on the party's side. Battlefield Level - The PCs are in a warzone, usually as Imperial soldiers of some kind (PDF, Imperial Guard, Skitarii, even Space Marines), but occasionally as civilians or rebels. The tone is very combat heavy, which can lead to high PC fatalities. Court Level - Up at the top end of society, playing tech-priests, nobles, military officers, politicians, crime lords, Inquisitors and so on. Pretty similar to Citizen level, in that it's a typical roleplaying setup, although the actual encounters and strategies will be a lot different. Court level is where the survivors of Citizen and Battlefield adventures end up, if they're smart. The actual system is descended from the combat system of the Inquisitor skirmish game and the non-combat parts of Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay. Why? Because Inquisitor has the better combat system, but lacks anything for character interaction outside of a few suggestions. What became apparent during the first playtesting session was that the Inquisitor system, although damn good as a miniature skirmish game with about four models a side, was too... cinematically heroic... for a believable roleplaying game. It concentrates on the big heroes and villains of the 41st Millennium - the Inquisitors, Rogue Traders, Chaos Champions - so combats are rarely fatal (even when hit by several bolter shells). The flaws of this soon became apparent when one PC (an Imperial Guardsman in a Battlefield scenario) spent about half an hour in a point-blank firefight with a rebel PDF sniper. The sniper took no fewer than five lasgun shots to various parts of the body and was still combat-capable. Finally, I took pity on the PC and let him cave the guy's head in with his rifle butt. Still, the fact remained that the system needed brutalising (isn't that a euphemism for forced sodomy?). The number of location hit boxes that each character had was cut in half, and a modified version of the critical injuries system from WFRP was drafted in. Death and maiming now came a lot more easily, as an unfortunate ogryn discovered in the next session, when he tried a heroic run at a group of Chaos Cultists, only to have his arm broken and his foot blown off. Thank the Emperor I imported WFRP's Fate point system as well. But I think the sheer deadliness of the system is appropriate to the setting. There's a quote in the 3rd Edition Warhammer 40,000 rulebook about this: To be a man in such times is to be one amongst untold billions. It is to live in the cruellest and most bloody regime imaginable... This is a dark and terrible era where you will find little comfort or hope... Forget the power of technology, science and common humanity. Forget the promise of progress and understanding, for there is no peace amongst the stars, only an eternity of carnage and slaughter and the laughter of thirsting gods. But the universe is a big place and, whatever happens, you will not be missed... Now that is a good ethos to roleplay. Screw the whole up-the-ziggurat-lickety-split approach to RPGs, where success is measured in how many small nations you conquer/liberate, screw the having to hire people to carry all your magic swords, screw the First National Bank opening a branch just to accomodate your vast wealth. In Imperium, success is measured by having a pulse. (Thanks to James Wallis and the "Yes I Sank Your Barge" story for the realisation that roleplaying is about struggle, rather than success.) More later. Right now, I'm going to write up rules for psychological disorders. (Try fighting a Daemon and coming away mentally intact...) |
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Blurty for Imperium.
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