Currently just finishing off writing the skills section while at work (because bored!), so will probably have that in later today. But, interest is welcome, as is current setup feedback and such.
And yes, I am aware I havn't put equipment costs in yet.
SETTING
Spoiler (click to show/hide):
It is the far future of the 41st millenium, and the galaxy is in a state of war. The end of days predicted by the Emperor's Tarrot has come to pass, as the Imperium of Man tries to stave off a bow-wave of the xenomorph Tyranids from the underside the the galactic plane. Already a growing sphere of psychic turbulence has engulfed a hundred worlds, and slowly expands like a malignant tumour, already threatening to encompas more space than the Eye of Terror. Orkish warbands, always poiling for a fight, continue to attack Imperial strong points, isolated Hive Fleets, and Chaos strongholds located nearby, reveling in the planet-wide brawls that ensue. Chaos forces themselves, while pledged to tear down the Imperium, fight a defensive war against all aliens that assail them, knowing that if they just sat back, there would be no Imperium to rule. And the Eldar, both Dark and Craftworld, persue their own agendas as they perform lightning raids against all other races, capturing some unfortunates, killing powerful leaders, and redirecting one foe into another, all in an effort to protect themselves. Even the Tau have become involved, even with their core worlds so far from the conflict, by supplying arms to unscrupulous Rogue Traders to funnel into the war effort, giving Imperial commanders less concerned with the dictates of the Imperial Creed than victory and edge. All eyes are on the swirling mass - just the way the Great Devourer wants it.
Hidden away in Ultima Segmentum is the world of Rollard's Respite. Trditionally an area of light conflict, it is here that an old threat in the guise of something new has arisen. A partially industrialised world consisting of tight-packed manufactorum cities surrounded by vast expanses of farmland, game reserves, and oak plantations, it is home to a small convent of Adeptus Sororitas and a sizeable planetary defence force. It also has a native population of Snakebite and Blood Axe clan Orks, who spend alot of their time squabbling with themselves, but also interacting with the Imperial forces, either in trade (exchanging their manual labour for food), or raids (just taking what they want). Several puntive raids have been sent into Ork terratory and wiped out large numbers of them each time, but they always come back. It has gotten to a state now that there is an unspoken rule that a single Ork is allowed to approach and enter imperial cities, but anything approaching the size of a mob is turned away with massed firepower. While the sisters actively and loudly disapprove of this, the planetary govenor is a very shrewd man, and has so far managed to convince the Sisterhood to stay their hand against any party, as the convent size would mean any military action taken would result in their swift destruction at the hands of an army a thousand times their size. Like the Ork, the Tau air and water castes engage in trade with the planet rulership, trying to expand their influence over the world so that they can add it to their fourth-sphere expansion. After the events of the Damoclese Crusade, they are more cautious than ever to keep their activities as secret as possible, having learned that the imperium may be slow to respond, but when they do it is with nearly ulimited resources. In addition, rumour also has it that warp gates exist on the world, although no evidence has been found of them, nor of overt Eldar activity.
Rollard's Respite may seem incredably progressive to some, and incredibly heretical to others, it is here that a varient xeno strain has taken root and, if successful, could spread to many other worlds, digging in and awaiting the perfect moment to rise.
It is the far future of the 41st millenium, and the galaxy is in a state of war. The end of days predicted by the Emperor's Tarrot has come to pass, as the Imperium of Man tries to stave off a bow-wave of the xenomorph Tyranids from the underside the the galactic plane. Already a growing sphere of psychic turbulence has engulfed a hundred worlds, and slowly expands like a malignant tumour, already threatening to encompas more space than the Eye of Terror. Orkish warbands, always poiling for a fight, continue to attack Imperial strong points, isolated Hive Fleets, and Chaos strongholds located nearby, reveling in the planet-wide brawls that ensue. Chaos forces themselves, while pledged to tear down the Imperium, fight a defensive war against all aliens that assail them, knowing that if they just sat back, there would be no Imperium to rule. And the Eldar, both Dark and Craftworld, persue their own agendas as they perform lightning raids against all other races, capturing some unfortunates, killing powerful leaders, and redirecting one foe into another, all in an effort to protect themselves. Even the Tau have become involved, even with their core worlds so far from the conflict, by supplying arms to unscrupulous Rogue Traders to funnel into the war effort, giving Imperial commanders less concerned with the dictates of the Imperial Creed than victory and edge. All eyes are on the swirling mass - just the way the Great Devourer wants it.
Hidden away in Ultima Segmentum is the world of Rollard's Respite. Trditionally an area of light conflict, it is here that an old threat in the guise of something new has arisen. A partially industrialised world consisting of tight-packed manufactorum cities surrounded by vast expanses of farmland, game reserves, and oak plantations, it is home to a small convent of Adeptus Sororitas and a sizeable planetary defence force. It also has a native population of Snakebite and Blood Axe clan Orks, who spend alot of their time squabbling with themselves, but also interacting with the Imperial forces, either in trade (exchanging their manual labour for food), or raids (just taking what they want). Several puntive raids have been sent into Ork terratory and wiped out large numbers of them each time, but they always come back. It has gotten to a state now that there is an unspoken rule that a single Ork is allowed to approach and enter imperial cities, but anything approaching the size of a mob is turned away with massed firepower. While the sisters actively and loudly disapprove of this, the planetary govenor is a very shrewd man, and has so far managed to convince the Sisterhood to stay their hand against any party, as the convent size would mean any military action taken would result in their swift destruction at the hands of an army a thousand times their size. Like the Ork, the Tau air and water castes engage in trade with the planet rulership, trying to expand their influence over the world so that they can add it to their fourth-sphere expansion. After the events of the Damoclese Crusade, they are more cautious than ever to keep their activities as secret as possible, having learned that the imperium may be slow to respond, but when they do it is with nearly ulimited resources. In addition, rumour also has it that warp gates exist on the world, although no evidence has been found of them, nor of overt Eldar activity.
Rollard's Respite may seem incredably progressive to some, and incredibly heretical to others, it is here that a varient xeno strain has taken root and, if successful, could spread to many other worlds, digging in and awaiting the perfect moment to rise.
GENERAL INFO
Spoiler (click to show/hide):
Following in a similar vein to Hazard's Inquisition-based 40K RP, I'm intending this one to be much more multi-cultural in scope, only with enough room on the planet for different races to not have to interact if the players don't want to. If however they do, then I'll leave it up to you how an Ork, Eldar, Tau and Human meeting would go
And yes, this is featuring everyone's favourite (or second, maybe third) galactic menace - the Tyranids. But this will not be a hive fleet descending to eat everyone, it is much more insidious than that. Or not really, if you can figure out what is going on from the start. If you can, then my storytelling skills have failed, and I'll go cry in a corner.
I do plan for this to be a more story-based narative than action-based, but don't worry! If you want to stir up trouble, feel free!
Also, due to the nature of this forum, I am willing to go along with genderising the local Orks, if it is so desired. While the are, in terms of lore, a fungus-based life form, if people want male and female Orks, then so be it.
Following in a similar vein to Hazard's Inquisition-based 40K RP, I'm intending this one to be much more multi-cultural in scope, only with enough room on the planet for different races to not have to interact if the players don't want to. If however they do, then I'll leave it up to you how an Ork, Eldar, Tau and Human meeting would go
And yes, this is featuring everyone's favourite (or second, maybe third) galactic menace - the Tyranids. But this will not be a hive fleet descending to eat everyone, it is much more insidious than that. Or not really, if you can figure out what is going on from the start. If you can, then my storytelling skills have failed, and I'll go cry in a corner.
I do plan for this to be a more story-based narative than action-based, but don't worry! If you want to stir up trouble, feel free!
Also, due to the nature of this forum, I am willing to go along with genderising the local Orks, if it is so desired. While the are, in terms of lore, a fungus-based life form, if people want male and female Orks, then so be it.
RULESET
Spoiler (click to show/hide):
I plan to have all major actions as dice-based. Combat will all happen at the same time, unless someone has either a "strike first" or "strike last" tag. However, if in combat and PC's kill an NPC with their attacks, then I will generall disregard whatever the NPC's retaliation strike was, in favour of them bleeding out on the floor. Inter-personal activities will be successful dependant on a roll, and good role-playing, speaches, and other in-character reasoning will lower the difficulty of success. Conversly, very poor reasoning, character bigotry, and other such things will raise it.
All "to do" rolls will be made on a D20 by me. I will use the below sliding scale to determine the base difficulty of an action, reduce it by the PC's appropriate skill level and gear, raise it by environmental difficulties, and that will be the number to roll equal to or higher on a D20. For example, Sniper is making a shot against a target hiding behind a bush. Standaard shot DC10, -BS of 4, -2 for aimed shot, -2 for sniper scope, +1 for bush concealment - 3+ on D20 to hit.
Diffulty chart - text version (because I wrote this in notepad)
0-cannot fail
1
2
3
4
5-easy
6
7
8
9
10-normal
11
12
13
14
15-difficult
16
17
18
19
20-near impossible
If any attempt to perform an action would result in the scale hitting 0, it is an automatic success. I *may* give a bonus result (havn't decided yet). And result that would put the scale over 20 would mean that the task is impossible and automatically fails. For example, trying to scale a smooth-sided wall without climbing gear and with both arms broken. Instant fail!!
Once success or failiure has been determined, then the results will be put up. Dealing damage is a result of an attack is a simple calculation. Attack strength (yours for melee, weapon for ranged), plus D6 is the total damage dealt. The opponent's defence is their tougness, plus armour. The difference is what is deducted from the target's health. PC's at 0 health will go unconcious, NPC's will be killed, unless I feel for story reasons they need to be kept alive.
Non-combat actions will generally be against DC10, either increased or decreased due to skills and environment.
I will need to work on an XP system later, but it is not essential for the very beginning. It will probably be based on successful actions and kills, maybe tied in to the difficulty chart for actions, and fight difficulty for kills.
For character creation, the first part of the form is self explanetory.
The stats Weapon Skill, Ballistic Skill, Strength, Thoughness and Willpower all start at 0, and you have 18 points to distribute between them. No stat can be higher than 10, no attribute can be lower than 1. Health is derived from Strength plus Toughness +3, so the minimum health will be 5.
Weapon Skill determines how good you are in melee
Ballistic Skill determines how good you are at range
Strength is your raw power
Toughness is how resiliant you are
Willpower is the strength of your mind.
You have 6 points to spend on skills. Note: some skills are not actual skills themselves, but I couldn't think of another category to put them in, so they are in here.
5 points can be allocated between weapons and armour at the costs shown on each
You have 3 "misc" items - you tell me what these are, and what bonuses you get from them
I plan to have all major actions as dice-based. Combat will all happen at the same time, unless someone has either a "strike first" or "strike last" tag. However, if in combat and PC's kill an NPC with their attacks, then I will generall disregard whatever the NPC's retaliation strike was, in favour of them bleeding out on the floor. Inter-personal activities will be successful dependant on a roll, and good role-playing, speaches, and other in-character reasoning will lower the difficulty of success. Conversly, very poor reasoning, character bigotry, and other such things will raise it.
All "to do" rolls will be made on a D20 by me. I will use the below sliding scale to determine the base difficulty of an action, reduce it by the PC's appropriate skill level and gear, raise it by environmental difficulties, and that will be the number to roll equal to or higher on a D20. For example, Sniper is making a shot against a target hiding behind a bush. Standaard shot DC10, -BS of 4, -2 for aimed shot, -2 for sniper scope, +1 for bush concealment - 3+ on D20 to hit.
Diffulty chart - text version (because I wrote this in notepad)
0-cannot fail
1
2
3
4
5-easy
6
7
8
9
10-normal
11
12
13
14
15-difficult
16
17
18
19
20-near impossible
If any attempt to perform an action would result in the scale hitting 0, it is an automatic success. I *may* give a bonus result (havn't decided yet). And result that would put the scale over 20 would mean that the task is impossible and automatically fails. For example, trying to scale a smooth-sided wall without climbing gear and with both arms broken. Instant fail!!
Once success or failiure has been determined, then the results will be put up. Dealing damage is a result of an attack is a simple calculation. Attack strength (yours for melee, weapon for ranged), plus D6 is the total damage dealt. The opponent's defence is their tougness, plus armour. The difference is what is deducted from the target's health. PC's at 0 health will go unconcious, NPC's will be killed, unless I feel for story reasons they need to be kept alive.
Non-combat actions will generally be against DC10, either increased or decreased due to skills and environment.
I will need to work on an XP system later, but it is not essential for the very beginning. It will probably be based on successful actions and kills, maybe tied in to the difficulty chart for actions, and fight difficulty for kills.
For character creation, the first part of the form is self explanetory.
The stats Weapon Skill, Ballistic Skill, Strength, Thoughness and Willpower all start at 0, and you have 18 points to distribute between them. No stat can be higher than 10, no attribute can be lower than 1. Health is derived from Strength plus Toughness +3, so the minimum health will be 5.
Weapon Skill determines how good you are in melee
Ballistic Skill determines how good you are at range
Strength is your raw power
Toughness is how resiliant you are
Willpower is the strength of your mind.
You have 6 points to spend on skills. Note: some skills are not actual skills themselves, but I couldn't think of another category to put them in, so they are in here.
5 points can be allocated between weapons and armour at the costs shown on each
You have 3 "misc" items - you tell me what these are, and what bonuses you get from them
RACES
Spoiler (click to show/hide):
If you want to be something other than human
Ork - +1 toughness, -1 ballistic skill
Tau Fire caste - +1 ballistic skill, -1 weapon skill
Craftworld Eldar - Psyker 2nd discipline is free, cannot use powered armour
Dark Eldar - Dodge gets +10%, cannot have Psyker
If you want to be something other than human
Ork - +1 toughness, -1 ballistic skill
Tau Fire caste - +1 ballistic skill, -1 weapon skill
Craftworld Eldar - Psyker 2nd discipline is free, cannot use powered armour
Dark Eldar - Dodge gets +10%, cannot have Psyker
CHARACTER SHEET
Spoiler (click to show/hide):
Name:
Race:
Age:
Gender:
Appearance:
Background:
Stats:
Weapon Skill:
Ballistic Skill:
Strength:
Toughness:
Willpower:
Health:
Skills:
Gear:
Weapons:
Armour:
Miscellaneous:
Cash:
Name:
Race:
Age:
Gender:
Appearance:
Background:
Stats:
Weapon Skill:
Ballistic Skill:
Strength:
Toughness:
Willpower:
Health:
Skills:
Gear:
Weapons:
Armour:
Miscellaneous:
Cash:
OPTIONS
Spoiler (click to show/hide):
Skills and not-skills: Each of these has a cost associated with in in brackets, along with a description of what it does. If there is anything not in the list that you would like, then make one! Generally I've stuck to a points cost of 1 point for 1 bonus, or 1 point for 2 very specific bonuses. Rename to something more specific to your race, if you like.
Fast Strike (1) - your actions happen before everyone else's actions
Dodge (1-5) - gives 10%-50% chance to dodge a melee attack
Exceptional Attribute (1) - +1 point in any stat. Can be taken multiple times
Biceps - (2) Able to handle heavy weapons without penalty, and can hipfire at -2 to hit
Stealth (1-5) - Increases the difficulty of getting detected by 1 to 5 points
Black Carapace (3) - Can use powered armour or better without penalty
Weapon Specialisation (1) - +1 to hit and +1 to would with one specific weapon
Patron (3) - +3 points to spend on gear as you are being supplied by another person or organisation
Psyker (4) - You have access to psychic powers! Choose a discipline (or message me for a generic list) to be able to use (biomancy, divination, pyromancy, etc). Furthur disciplines cost +1 extra skill point
Gear costs:
Melee:
Improvised weapon (1)
Combat weapon (1)
Chain weapon (2)
Power weapon (3)
Force weapon (3)
Power Fist (4)
Ranged:
Type:
Cobbled (0)
Pistol (1)
Rifle (1)
Heavy (2)
Ammo:
Ballistic: (1)
Laser: (1)
Explosive ballistic (2)
Flame: (2)
High Explosive (3)
Plasma (4)
Armour:
Basic (1)
Reactive (2)
Powered (3)
Tactical Dreadnaught / XV8 (8)
Tactical Dreadnaught armour comes with a power weapon and boltgun (rifle/explosive ballistics)
XV8 comes with Plasma Rifle and Missile Launcher (no penalty for using it)
Both are massively noticeable and you will attract ALOT of attention using them. ALOT!
To work out the cost of a gun, just ass the type cost and ammo cost together. Heavy Stubber would be 3, plasma cannon would be 6, pipe pistol would be 1.
Skills and not-skills: Each of these has a cost associated with in in brackets, along with a description of what it does. If there is anything not in the list that you would like, then make one! Generally I've stuck to a points cost of 1 point for 1 bonus, or 1 point for 2 very specific bonuses. Rename to something more specific to your race, if you like.
Fast Strike (1) - your actions happen before everyone else's actions
Dodge (1-5) - gives 10%-50% chance to dodge a melee attack
Exceptional Attribute (1) - +1 point in any stat. Can be taken multiple times
Biceps - (2) Able to handle heavy weapons without penalty, and can hipfire at -2 to hit
Stealth (1-5) - Increases the difficulty of getting detected by 1 to 5 points
Black Carapace (3) - Can use powered armour or better without penalty
Weapon Specialisation (1) - +1 to hit and +1 to would with one specific weapon
Patron (3) - +3 points to spend on gear as you are being supplied by another person or organisation
Psyker (4) - You have access to psychic powers! Choose a discipline (or message me for a generic list) to be able to use (biomancy, divination, pyromancy, etc). Furthur disciplines cost +1 extra skill point
Gear costs:
Melee:
Improvised weapon (1)
Combat weapon (1)
Chain weapon (2)
Power weapon (3)
Force weapon (3)
Power Fist (4)
Ranged:
Type:
Cobbled (0)
Pistol (1)
Rifle (1)
Heavy (2)
Ammo:
Ballistic: (1)
Laser: (1)
Explosive ballistic (2)
Flame: (2)
High Explosive (3)
Plasma (4)
Armour:
Basic (1)
Reactive (2)
Powered (3)
Tactical Dreadnaught / XV8 (8)
Tactical Dreadnaught armour comes with a power weapon and boltgun (rifle/explosive ballistics)
XV8 comes with Plasma Rifle and Missile Launcher (no penalty for using it)
Both are massively noticeable and you will attract ALOT of attention using them. ALOT!
To work out the cost of a gun, just ass the type cost and ammo cost together. Heavy Stubber would be 3, plasma cannon would be 6, pipe pistol would be 1.
GEAR
Spoiler (click to show/hide):
Here I have put generic categories for weapons and armour types. If you want a specific type of gear, then say so in a post, or a PM (whichever you prefer) with what you would like, and I'll either approve it, or suggest a different option.
Melee:
Imporovised Weapon: (bone mace, sharpened pole, heavy rock, someone's arm, etc). Strength +1, but 25% of breaking when used and becoming useless.
Combat weapon: (combat knife, sword, pike, mace, axe, etc). No bonus
Chain weapon: (Chainsword, chainaxe, chain glove, etc). Strength +1 damage
Force weapon: (Force axe, Force sword, etc). Strength +1, 10% to steal target's soul (psyker only)
Power Blade: (Power sword, power axe, power staff, power mace, etc). Strength +1 damage, plus ignore 1 point of armour
Power fist: (or equivalent there of). Strength x2 damage, plus ignore 1 point of armour, strikes last against aware targets.
Ranged weapons:
Ballistic: (auto pistol, stub gun, slugga, etc) can rapid fire
Laser: (las pistol, laser carbine, deff ray, etc) can recharge in sunlight, and even fire!
Explosive ballistic (bolter, ehmmm.... and other...?) +1 weapon damage
Flame: (flamer, hand flamer, heavy flamer, etc). Area of effect, ignores 1 point of armour
High Explosive (missile launcher!!) Weapon damage x2
Plasma (plasma gun, pulse carbine, etc). Weapon damage x2, ignores 2 armour points
Technically, frag missiles would come under a combonation of explosive ballistic and flame. I may need to work on them a bit more.
Cobbled together: (just add the tag to any other type of gun) Weapon strength -1
Pistol type: Weapon strength 3, short range
Rifle type: Strength 3, medium range
Heavy type: Strength 4, long range
I know there are alot of sub categories that I could go in to, but I feel it is complicated enough with weapon type and ammo type. Of course, with this combonation system, you can have a pistol-sized missile launcher - just think of it as Archeotech that you have somehow gotten hold of, recent innovation in technology, or just a missile on a pole shoved down the barrel of another gun!
Armour:
None: (your shirt, bodysuit, etc). No armour resistance.
Basic (flack, iron, bone, etc). 1 damage resistance
Reactive: (carapace, combat armour, runic, etc) 2 damage resistance
Powered: (power armour, Mega armour, battlesuit, etc). 3 damage resistance.
Tactical Dreadnaught Armour / Iridium Battlesuit / XV88 battlesuit, etc. 4 damage resistance, plus 25% to ignore 1 extra point of damage
Imperial power armour and TDA require Black Carapace to function properly. Without it, they can still be used, but with a - to weapon and ballistic skills for basic power armour, and -2 to both for dreadnaught armour due to the weight of the suits. Tau battlesuits will generally get you shot at if you are piloting one, unless equipped with a stealth system, no matter who you are. The price on these is deliberately high, as they are not available on the open market.
Here I have put generic categories for weapons and armour types. If you want a specific type of gear, then say so in a post, or a PM (whichever you prefer) with what you would like, and I'll either approve it, or suggest a different option.
Melee:
Imporovised Weapon: (bone mace, sharpened pole, heavy rock, someone's arm, etc). Strength +1, but 25% of breaking when used and becoming useless.
Combat weapon: (combat knife, sword, pike, mace, axe, etc). No bonus
Chain weapon: (Chainsword, chainaxe, chain glove, etc). Strength +1 damage
Force weapon: (Force axe, Force sword, etc). Strength +1, 10% to steal target's soul (psyker only)
Power Blade: (Power sword, power axe, power staff, power mace, etc). Strength +1 damage, plus ignore 1 point of armour
Power fist: (or equivalent there of). Strength x2 damage, plus ignore 1 point of armour, strikes last against aware targets.
Ranged weapons:
Ballistic: (auto pistol, stub gun, slugga, etc) can rapid fire
Laser: (las pistol, laser carbine, deff ray, etc) can recharge in sunlight, and even fire!
Explosive ballistic (bolter, ehmmm.... and other...?) +1 weapon damage
Flame: (flamer, hand flamer, heavy flamer, etc). Area of effect, ignores 1 point of armour
High Explosive (missile launcher!!) Weapon damage x2
Plasma (plasma gun, pulse carbine, etc). Weapon damage x2, ignores 2 armour points
Technically, frag missiles would come under a combonation of explosive ballistic and flame. I may need to work on them a bit more.
Cobbled together: (just add the tag to any other type of gun) Weapon strength -1
Pistol type: Weapon strength 3, short range
Rifle type: Strength 3, medium range
Heavy type: Strength 4, long range
I know there are alot of sub categories that I could go in to, but I feel it is complicated enough with weapon type and ammo type. Of course, with this combonation system, you can have a pistol-sized missile launcher - just think of it as Archeotech that you have somehow gotten hold of, recent innovation in technology, or just a missile on a pole shoved down the barrel of another gun!
Armour:
None: (your shirt, bodysuit, etc). No armour resistance.
Basic (flack, iron, bone, etc). 1 damage resistance
Reactive: (carapace, combat armour, runic, etc) 2 damage resistance
Powered: (power armour, Mega armour, battlesuit, etc). 3 damage resistance.
Tactical Dreadnaught Armour / Iridium Battlesuit / XV88 battlesuit, etc. 4 damage resistance, plus 25% to ignore 1 extra point of damage
Imperial power armour and TDA require Black Carapace to function properly. Without it, they can still be used, but with a - to weapon and ballistic skills for basic power armour, and -2 to both for dreadnaught armour due to the weight of the suits. Tau battlesuits will generally get you shot at if you are piloting one, unless equipped with a stealth system, no matter who you are. The price on these is deliberately high, as they are not available on the open market.
If there's anything you feel I've missed, or would like to suggest alterations, please do say so.
I'll put up a world map later. Unless it is later, and one is up already.