Mighty Shot (3 Ranks early, and a powerful Talent)

Dual Shot (1 early, not really sure how this fits their combat doctrine)

Iron Discipline (4 early)

Master Orator (Why? Not a Water Caste, so not really appropriate)

Free Gear with certification..Where is it coming from? Drone rules are particularly broken. Free experimental power armor with one talent.

Into the Jaws of Hell (4 early, is a Rank 8 talent they get at rank 4...should they be as good of leaders as a RT?)

Probably shouldn't get such easy access to Scholastic Lore (Tactica Imperialis), as it would be Treason to teach it to them

Pathfinders get drones at rank 3 and stealth armor at rank 4. The wording leaves me to think that the player has infinite replacements 'on the ship'.

Veratile Shooter is perhaps too strong, as any accurate weapon acts as a basic weapon...including heavy and vehicular weapons

Those are some of the issues I see with it based on a quick look through. If all the player are Tau, not a problem. Otherwise it could cause problems as well as the fluff problems of there being no Tau infrastructure to supply such a character in the expanse. Tau are also less likely to be accepted than Eldar or even Orks, as they are known to corrupt worlds away from Imperial rule.

Now THIS is awesome advice. Not only is it giving helpful "how to" advice for making a PC I want, it is telling me what specifically is broken so the GM and I can work on it.

Thank you! I will take all this into account and move skills/talents around accordingly.

Lots of words, but most importantly:

Probably shouldn't get such easy access to Scholastic Lore (Tactica Imperialis), as it would be Treason to teach it to them

Veratile Shooter is perhaps too strong, as any accurate weapon acts as a basic weapon...including heavy and vehicular weapon

You, I like. I knew that thing was gonna be whack.

However, I would like to offer two points. One, if you are allowing talent purchases from Only War (as many do, though I don't, for pretty much the following reason) there is a talent just like Versatile Shooter in Hammer of the Emperor (along with a whole mess of other talents that are totally insane), so apparently at least FFG don't think it's too overpowered. Not that I'm implying anyone cares what they think.

Two, Tactica Imperialis is a strange, strange skill, and I can never quite figure out what it was intended to actually do. So far, I feel like I see it mentioned every single time tactical or strategic skill could mechanically influence a situation, and this seems fair to me. I submit to you, then, that in order for the skill to be useful at all, it can be interepreted as tactical/strategic knowledge in general, rather than as they specifically relate to Imperial forces - if you ask me, it seems unlikely that military tactics are standardized across the entire galaxy, when the makeup of the Imperium's forces differs so greatly between different places. Personally, I use it for stuff like letting players identify the protective potential of pieces of cover. In other words, it might be helpful to choose to interpret it like this, so non-human characters can actually learn tactics.

Alternatively, I suppose it could be renamed Tactica Taualis or whatever,

Alternatively, I suppose it could be renamed Tactica Taualis or whatever

Hahaha, this right here.

I was thinking it would be Tactica (Tau) or something like that - a knowledge of Tau tactics and implements of war. It could be cool with a creative GM. Put us up against the freaking Tau. Make the player (me) be clever and use this skill to "predict" what the enemy is going to do, or what the team should expect etc. etc.

If you asked me how to swim and I said, " GRRRR JUST DON'T DO IT," this would be some of the most useless advice to help you learn how to swim.

Unless the only place to swim in nearby was full of man eating fungus daemons...

If you asked me how to swim and I said, " GRRRR JUST DON'T DO IT," this would be some of the most useless advice to help you learn how to swim.

Unless the only place to swim in nearby was full of man eating fungus daemons...

Yes, but that only pertains to advice on where to/not to swim. I still want to learn how to swim, and it is my own **** fault if I jump into an acid-lake filled with Astartes AIDS riddled Nurglets. :-D

Tactica Imperialis is used for mass combat, for leading large amount of troops into battle as an alternative to Command.
See Battlefleet Koronus, it has an entire chapter on this kind of combats and possible actions (using Tactica Imperialis) that the PCs can take.

Edit: unless that Tau invests a lot of time in teaching it to the RT's troops' officers, this skill will be mostly useless for him. And considering how bad Tau sucks at close range (and most ship boarding combats involve pitched battles corridor by corridor), that's a bad idea.

Are you going to incorporate the Fire Warrior's little bouts of slightly crazy? Without their Ethereal masters, they tend to slip into weird modes, sometimes. I'm saying this assuming you already know that, but wondering what the mechanics of it might be. Some shift in how he can pay for certain stats, keeping one harder to get than typical, to keep him off center, or a rule mechanic that just says he can't keep a level head, and sort of slips into a blood frenzy, occasionally? Certainly it's controllable, or Farsight wouldn't still have forces, but it is a thing to consider, what with how indoctrinated by the Ethereals the rest of the Tau are supposed to be.

I don't think most of the people there no about the Crusade in Jericho; it's particularly hushed up for no **** good reason, so most people in the Expanse and Calixis wouldn't care a Tau from any other "filthy xenos" they might see. While I can't imagine a Tau character, what with their mindset and indoctrination joining an RT crew as a subordinate, not preaching the ways of the Greater Good, I can easily chalk that up to my own narrow vision, and such vision would as easily stop the Eldar, a race I still wish FFG had made "possible" to incorporate into crews; screw the Dark Elves! If you can hack out a story where a Tau gets to this part of space, hopefully alone, though I've seen and planned some stuff to bring them to Koronus, if I ever wanted to, for invasion, have fun with it. Don't let their "better" gear make them a showstealer, and if they play well, have a ball with it. I already like it more than any Ork character I have ever heard someone say they used, and that IS in an official FFG book.

So, I bought the $8 Tau PC guide and have made my warrior based off of that. It is very, very helpful.

As for the crazy, the backstory is that he was a part of Farsight's fighting contingent. And he does have his bouts of crazy, but it usually is when encountering certain enemies.

As it stands, he is partnered up with a Kroot ally he left with him - being a part of the Farsight enclave and removed from etherals has left them disillusioned with the Greater Good and they both want to set out to determine their own course in the galaxy. For now, it is all role playing as to his bouts of crazy. I will spitball with the GM to see if he wants to change that.

What's funny is that with my XP expenditure, I had to choose between speak language (kroot) or low gothic. I went with Kroot because it made more sense from a background perspective. So, until I earn 100xp, I will be able to understand my RT and crew through my armor's translator unit, but I won't be able to speak to anyone other than the Kroot. That should be really fun.

...Why wouldn't the translator unit work both ways?

...Why wouldn't the translator unit work both ways?

For one, that would negate the need to ever buy any of the Speak Language skills, not to mention making the role playing experience far less interesting.

While it would be easy to just say that is the case, having taught and currently teaching students of another nationality English, I have found that understanding something in another language and being able to speak it back are two birds of a very different feather.

Sure, I could just say "It works because Tau Tech," but that feels weak to me. I would much rather have the translator be a tool in which to interpret meaning rather than something that makes fluency in any language in the galaxy just a click away.

Question time:

OK, so there isn't much (any) information on Pulse weapon reloads or ammo (in Into the Storm or the Tau PC guide)

From what I understand, they use electromagnetics to project small bursts of sub-atomic plasma from the barrels. Which is ******* awesome. They have a magazine/shot capacity and reload speeds, but say nothing about reloads or availability of reloads. If I was using common sense, I would say that the weapon needs something more akin to recharges to be put in after the agreed upon magazine capacity is used up. Some little device that helps the sub-atomic reaction within the weapon occur.

My question is, does anyone have any knowledge of these devices from the fluff and their availability or if they can be "recharged" when not in use like Las Charge Packs?

Right now, I am going with the "Rule of 3" and saying that my PC has 3 reloads for both his rifle and pistol.

Translator's not worth arguing about, if your GM's allowing it then whatever but to my mind it's a cop-out.

Tau pulse weaponry creates the plasma-bolt from a ferromagnetic slug and the magic of electromagnetism, which is then fired down the rail. So you reload the weapon with more slugs and/or micro-capacitors for the firing sequence.

Contrast this with Imperial plasma weapons, which basically have a micro-reactor that creates the plasma from the compressed hydrogen in the ammunition flask. In theory any combustible material could be used for the plasma reaction in these weapons, but unless it were suitably fissile it would burn up too quick. You could probably create a plasma-blunderbuss using adamantium scraps or something though.

Ah, they do have little slugs then. OK. That sounds familiar. Any idea on availability or cost?

Rogue Trader assumes you get a supply line of the standard ammunition when you acquire the weapon, but I vaguely recall ammunition being one degree of Availability below the weapon itself in Black Crusade or somesuch. So if a pulse rifle is extremely rare, ammunition for it would be very rare. You'd be best to ask your GM how much of an interest he's going to take in keeping track of ammunition though, most GMs tend to handwave it.

Yeah, that is true. I am talking with him about it as well. I just like to get more than one opinion on the subject and this is the best place for that by far.

Thanks!

If nothing else it is 'exotic' ammunition, which is Rare. Humans could probably make copies of it without too much trouble. Worst case consider it a 'counterfeit Weapon' and apply one of the penalties. Of course, you could build counterfeit rifles for you RTs troops (just lose the Auto-Stabilized, they are still better than bolters for the most part) if you wanted.

My RT has been reverse engineering a hybrid of the Pulse Rifle mixed with standard human plasma weapons and Phased Plasma weapons. The biggest difference is that Pulse weapons create a much smaller plasma charge and accelerate it much harder. Phased Plasma weapons seem to use some other tech to increase shots and avoid overheat. He is trying to create a hybrid that could be accepted by the ad mech by using the Phased Plasma weapons as a base. Then adding barrel length and acceleration while reducing charge size. He has spent decades researching it and building different prototypes. He has a working model, but not one he thinks the Ad Mech will accept. His personal troops use it or human copies of pulse rifles when he is exploring though.

I don't think most of the people there no about the Crusade in Jericho; it's particularly hushed up for no **** good reason, so most people in the Expanse and Calixis wouldn't care a Tau from any other "filthy xenos" they might see. While I can't imagine a Tau character, what with their mindset and indoctrination joining an RT crew as a subordinate, not preaching the ways of the Greater Good, I can easily chalk that up to my own narrow vision, and such vision would as easily stop the Eldar, a race I still wish FFG had made "possible" to incorporate into crews; screw the Dark Elves! If you can hack out a story where a Tau gets to this part of space, hopefully alone, though I've seen and planned some stuff to bring them to Koronus, if I ever wanted to, for invasion, have fun with it. Don't let their "better" gear make them a showstealer, and if they play well, have a ball with it. I already like it more than any Ork character I have ever heard someone say they used, and that IS in an official FFG book.

There is a reason for there being not many Craftsworld Eldar in 40K Roleplay publications: FFG has been considering them an option for their own product line in the past. And for as long as they don't get the treatment, that option still lies on the table in my guesstimation. Conversely, the latest FFG releases probably rule out a Tau Core Rulebook for sometime.

Alex

First, I'd say that the ammo is almost impossible to find, as there are no known Tau, at least in decent numbers, in the Expanse. Because this answer is crap, I'd add to it that you COULD, either yourself, or through your Kroot friend and your Rogue Trader, attempt to make some friends with one of the local warspheres. The Kroot ARE in the Expanse, in decent numbers, and they never thought to bring their Tau maste...er, allies there, but they DID bring some Tau weaponry. If you could make the supply line with said Kroot Warsphere, you'd have the usual "maintainable ammo quantity" everyone else has, and I'd probably place the rarity at Rare or Very Rare, based on the number of Kroot, and the possible unlikelihood they are using much of their brought pulse ammo. ItS p. 120 puts the pulse rifle at VR, so Rare seems good for mags. Since you are just one guy, and the Kroot are allied with the Tau, you even travel with a friendly Kroot in tow, I don't think you would have to work too hard to arrange this. Your RT might get some benefits from them, too, just to spread the joy around.

You know, we are going to run the Twilight Crusade in order to make the introduction of the rank 1 Tau characters make sense.

I am SURE that during/after the campaign and all the workings with of the Tau that it involves, there will be justification for being able to get our hands on Tau gear. Granted, it will be rough (as the Tau PC guide does mention most tau gear is Very Rare/Near Unique).

Granted, it will be rough (as the Tau PC guide does mention most tau gear is Very Rare/Near Unique).

It also then conveniently tells you that securing trade lines with a sufficiently well-equipped Tau colony or military force will get you +20 on the test, while Shadowsun's small cadre gets you +10. There's also a talent that gets you an additional +20 when acquiring Tau kit.

I noticed the +20/+10 bit. I hadn't noticed the skill that helps out. That will make things much easier.

Has anyone mentioned the Tau Character Guide, which contains within in the rules for Fire Warriors?

Dumb question, but I had a read through and didn't spot it, but I could be wrong.

If not, then FFG recently published the Tau Character Guide, which has every variety of militant Tau career in it.

Yes, I own that.

That is what I eventually built my PC with. When I created this thread, it had not yet been released.

For those interested, I came up with this origin path option (although I'm not sure where it could fit in) which I feel is relevant to this discussion:

Gue'vesa: Unlike most races, the Tau are often willing to allow other races to join their ranks peacefully and serve alongside the Tau Empire. The explorer was one of the many humans that have done just that. As the Tau often expect their human auxiliaries to be as proficient with technology as any fire warrior, they gain the Fire Caste Weapons Training talent and the Tech-Use Skill as a Trained Skill. From their prolonged exposure to the Tau, they also gain Common Lore (Tau) as a trained skill, and at character creation, may select Tau items with a +20 bonus to their acquisition, as the Explorer did reside with them for many years. Additionally, neither the Gue'vesa nor the Tau receive the normal fellowship penalty for Speak Not Unto the Alien when interacting with each other, as both are used to interactions with each other. Their unfamiliarity with Imperial Society also grants them the Non-Imperial Trait, and their deviant beliefs and experiences grant them Enemy (Ecclesiarchy).
Cost: 400 EXP.

This allows you to run a mixed Gue'vesa and Tau Fire Warrior force.

If you can hack out a story where a Tau gets to this part of space...

...have fun with it.

15 years of RPG gaming has taught me you can hack out a story for anything.

It just depends on how much of a mary sue you end up with, when you're done explaining what you want. If the answer is "yes", to the previous, then you should probably scrap the character. And I've written a few myself, just because, including a Vampire (from Vampire) who had a famous 5th generation creator, but because we were playing regular starting characters, I had to figure out a rather complicated reason for why he was the standard 13th instead of 6th. Ridiculous in hindsight, I'm glad he never talked about his backstory ever.

So explaining why someone is the first member of their race to cross half the galaxy, when they're kinda a nobody, is one of the trickier ones to pull off without crossing the line, if you ask me.

Also, I imagine the Tau are practically the top race both the Inquisition and Deathwatch would be very keen on tracking down and killing, if they should be discovered on the Calixis side of the gate.

But don't get me wrong, it's important to have fun with things. I just often seem to find that people get caught up with their own fun that they forget that this is a group game, and aren't particularly mindful of whether or not what they have in mind fits in with the rest of the group. I wanted to play a Dark Eldar my last game, but I ended up playing the Rogue Trader instead because I didn't frickin' need to play one. And in the end, the RT I made has ended up being being more fun.