A few key points:

1) While I appreciate that everyone loves a good Deathwatch game, this thread is not open to the general public. In order to maintain continuity, if you want to play please PM me and we can talk about it. We already have a decent roster of players, organized in a previous thread.

2) To the Players: We are striving to have fun! If you have issue with me or with another player, lets take it up off-line via PM so that things don't get cloudy with OOC issues in the play thread.

Characters:

Character creation is rulebook general, with no differences. Either method presented in the book is valid.

In the other thread I presented guidelines for submitting characters. Please follow those guidelines here.

A tip to survive me as the GM- for the first few missions I run, I put you all through something I call the Honeymoon. Its a get to know you time, and typically it lasts 2-3 missions as we all get used to the game and style. After that you may have to be creative to survive. I run a lot of unorthodox missions with odd creatures, so be on your toes and don't hesitate to use Squad Mode abilities. And don't forget what Solo Mode is good for either. If you have questions please ask, as sometimes I get excited and forget to describe things completely.

Dice rolls are honour system. Not saying anyone is going to fudge the rolls, but if I notice a strange amount of really good rolls you may notice the enemies and challenges getting a bit tougher.

Name: Cornelius

Demeanor: Gregarious

Past Event: I wrote my own

Specialty: Apothecary

Chapter: Ultramarines

WS: 42

BS: 50

S: 44 - 20 from power armor - 64

T: 45 - 5 from chapter bonus - 50

A: 36

I: 45 - 5 from chapter bonus - 50

P: 50 - 10 enhanced senses (sight and hearing only) - 10 auto-senses (sight and hearing only) - 70 for sight and hearing

WP: 37

F: 47 - 5 armor history (Space Marines only) - 52 for Space Marines

Wounds: 23

Fate: 3

Tactics: Void Combat

Speak Language: Tau

Medicae

Chem Use

Specialty Talent: Guardian of Purity

Deed: Protector of the Chapter (Talented: Medicae, Scholastic Lore: Chymistry, +10 kill markers for completing an objective involving the recovery or handling of gene seed)

Armor History: Mk V elements (right arm) +5 fellowship with Space Marines

Edit: I should mention that my armor is Mk VII

I'm pretty sure that's everything.

I took the liberty of writing my own past event/background information.

Brother Cornelius is an apothecary of the Ultramarines 5 ^th company. The bulk of his combat experience has been against Tyranids, Tau, and chaos cultists. Cornelius was once part of a squad sent to parley with the Tau to arrange a temporary cease-fire to focus on the extermination of a Tyranid splinter fleet. The parley went without incident and the ceasefire agreement was made, but on the return trip the transport was thrown off course by a genestealer saboteur. The genestealer was eliminated but not before he killed the ship’s navigator.

Between the sabotage and the loss of our navigator, we were lost in space, but apparently the Tyranids knew where we were because it wasn’t long before one of their hive ships showed up. Our squad and the crew fought as well as we could with the limited firepower our ship had, but it wasn’t enough. The Tyranids boarded. As my squad held off the invaders, I dragged dead and wounded away from the fray firing shots from my bolter whenever my hands weren’t busy tending to the wounded or removing the progenoids of those who fell. We managed to repel the first wave, which bought the crew enough time to prepare the escape pods and rig the ship to self-destruct. Those who remained of my squad salvaged whatever gear we could and bid farewell to the captain, who had chosen to stay with the ship in order to ram it into the hive ship before detonating the reactor. The explosion either damaged or distracted the enemy enough to allow for our escape. We drifted through space for months until our distress signal was finally answered by a Rogue Trader vessel.

The mysterious disappearance of my squad after the parley had lead to an escalation of the conflict between the Tau and the Imperium, but with news of our survival and the true cause of our disappearance, a cease-fire was reached and attention was turned towards eliminating the Tyranids.

Moral of the story: Nids are smarter than they look.

Name: Pluvius
Chapter: Ultramarines Chapter Demeanour: Honour the Codex Personal Demeanour: Stoic
Rank: 1
Specialty: Devastator Marine Past Event: Tyrannic War Veteran
Armour History: To Forget is to Forgive. Forget Nothing (Tyranids)

Wounds: 21/21
Fate: 3/3

WS 40
BS 50 starting + 10 experience purchases (intermediate) + 5 from Ultramarines = 65
S 40
T 50
AG 30
INT 45 + 5 from Ultramarines = 50
PER 40
WP 50
FEL 30

Solo Ability: Favoured Son (pg218)
Devastator Ability: Immovable Warrior (pg77)

Hatred: Xenos Tyranids (comes from armour history)

Resistance: Cold (experience points)

Tactics: Defensive Doctrine

Pluvius was late for the Tyrannic War, serving only in the last 6 months or so. However, it was quite enough time for one to develop a certain loathing for an enemy, for Pluvius lost his a friend in the field when there was but one more week before victory would be claimed. It was really not that big of a mission: Escort a convoy of trucks hauling bolter ammunition through a relatively secured zone. Lictors were believed to be cleansed from the planet at this time, so imagine the surprise when his pal,another devastator marine by the name of Artera, was ended with a decapitation from behind.

Pluvius was always a stoic person, even before he began the training procedures, but Artera was the man he spent the most time with during their adventures as scouts. Often they would kill time on a long night watching the flanks for 'gaunts by laughing it over how they ever completed any of their scouting missions at all. In one second, all of those memories were rendered irrelevant by an enemy that shouldn't have even existed. Pluvius himself was almost ended during that mission; his armour torn into four or five seperate pieces, his body pressed to the limits of an Astartes. With extensive attention from the apothecaries, he managed to don his late comrades armour with full intent on lashing out. He was later approached to join the Deathwatch after tales spread of how he beat a Lictor to death with it's own talons. Pluvius signed on without hesitation. Granted, most of the legend has been so wildly twisted that even he has forgotten how he won that battle. Indeed, sometimes Pluvius wonders if perhaps he was allowed to escape solely for the purpose of being hunted again. The strange howls in the nights tend to reinforce the theory that maybe the Lictor is still out there, waiting for Pluvius to be alone for but a fleeting moment...

Your calculations on damage reduction are correct, but it's best not to add armor and toughness together since Pen will negate armor but not toughness.

You start with one type of tactics as a trained skill for free.

Ach! PG 36 lists dodge, among other things, as a trained skill at the start. Don't buy it from the Rank 1 general table. If you did buyit (looking at you Frosty) take your exp back and use it for domething else.

There, I changed it to Resistance: Cold. These character sheets are rather confusing what with all the natural bonuses we get for being Spess Mehreens. So we start off with Dodge as trained, yet it's not filled in already?

Yeah. The master list is pg 36. Its misleading because it appears on the advances chart and its not coloured on the character sheet.

Name: Cladius

Chapter: Ultramarines

Chapter Demeanour: Honour the Codex

Personal Demeanour: Studious

Rank: 1

Renown: 8

Specialty:Tactical Marine

Advanced Specialty: Tyrannic War Veteran

Past Event: Crusade of One

Armour History: Mark IV "Maximus" Armor [AP 7/9 +15 Fellowship with Marines]: Mark VI Elements (Left Leg) [+5 Agility], Gauntlets of Xirions [+10WS, +5 Fellowship with anyone Loyal to the Imperium, AP: 7 Arms], A Fury Like Lightning [+5 Agility and +1 Initiative.

Wounds: 21/21

Fate: 3/3

WS 42 Base +10 from Gauntlets of Xirion=52

BS 45 Base +5 from Ultramarines=50

S 44 Base +20 from Power Armor=64

T 49 Base +5 from Ultramarines=54

AG 46 Base +10 from Power Armor History=56

INT 46 Base

PER 44 Base +10 from Heightened Senses and +10 from Auto-senses=64

WP 47 Base

FEL 50 Base +5 from Gauntlets of Xirion +15 from Mark IV "Maximus" Armor (with Marines only)=70

Solo Ability: Favored Son

Tactical Marine Ability: Bolter Master

Tactics: Recon and Stealth

Experience Spent 1000/1000

Tyrannic War Veteran (1000): Gain Hatred (Tyranids), Chainsword, one magazine of Hellfire Rounds as Standard Issue, and 1d10 Renown.

Deed:

Price of Victory (-1 Fate Point): Gain Master-Crafted Left Arm (+10 Strength, +2 Toughness), and Master-Crafted Respiratory System (+20 to resist airborne toxins and gas weapons. Undetectable by scans and work as a full life support system, and +2 Toughness).

Experience Spent 1000/1000

Tyrannic War Veteran (1000): Gain Hatred (Tyranids), Chainsword, one magazine of Hellfire Rounds as Standard Issue, a Chainsword, and 1d10 Renown.

You listed chainsword twice. Do you have 2 or is that an accident?

Typo. Thank you, see what happens when I do not proof read.

A couple of questions:

Can my Narthecium be used as a weapon and if so what are its stats?

What kinds of fun drugs can I administer?

What is my medicae bonus and how much does a successful first aid heal?

If I recall correctly, the Narthecium grants +20, and I get +10 from being talented, so would that be +30?

Yes the Narthecium can be used as a weapon stats are listed in the Narthecium entry in the core book under Wargear.

As for Drugs they are under drugs in the Core rulebook.

And yes you have your bonuses written correctly.

Currently working on approving characters. I will edit this post to answer questions and announce approved characters, or to ask for modifications where needed.

For those keeping track in real time, Cornelius is all good.

Frosty, I need one more +5 stat on Pluvius for being an Ultramarine. Once I get that Pluvius is good.

Cladius is good. Davin, is the -1 fate point included in his profile already or not?

Actually, it is the Reductor that has weapon stats. Pg 176 of the core rules. Drugs you will find on pg 172 of the core rules. First Aid heals damage equal to your intelligence bonus.

I will put together the librarian tonight and launch mission 01 briefing for our band of black and blue brothers.

Yeah the -1 Fate point has already been deducted from his profile. Back story will be coming tonight or tomorrow morning.

The narthecium doubles the amount healed though, and I only heal 1 (which gets doubled to 2) on critically injured targets.

Also, I can get another +10 to medicae by wearing a diagnostor helm, which I will certainly do.

I found the drugs, but I can't tell if I have to requisition them or if there are some that are standard issue. That Genophage looks nasty. I'll have to craft some of that at some point.

The medicae rules are kinda fragmented and scattered thoughout the rulebook, and some of them seem to be copied straight from rogue trader and don't really apply.

I still can't find the weapon stats of the reductor.

In other news, apparently the True Grit talent reduces critical damage by half, rounding up. My previous group definitely overlooked that.

Drugs need to be requisitioned. Cost is for a 10 dose pack. Reductor is 1d10+2 no strength bonus.

Librarian Stats:

Name: Cletian
Chapter: Ultramarines
Chapter Demeanour: Honour the Codex
Personal Demeanour: Calculating
Rank: 1
Specialty:Librarian
Past Event: Endured the Waagh!
Armour History: Pauldrons of Fury, A Fury Like Lightning [+5 Agility and +1 Initiative.

Wounds: 23/23
Fate: 3/3

WS 44 Base, +5 Simple advance - 49
BS 39 Base
S 41 Base, +10 Pauldrons of Fury, +20 Power Armour - 71
T 42 +5 from Ultramarines, -47
AG 38 Base, +10 MKVI armour, +5 Armour History - 53
INT 45 Base
PER 45 Base +10 from Heightened Senses and +10 from Auto-senses - 65
WP 45 Base, +5 Ultramarines - 50
FEL 37

Solo Ability: Favored Son

Tactics: Assault Doctrine

Skills purchased with EXP: Forbidden Lore: Warp

Talents: Rite of Sanctioning

Psychic powers: Augury, Iron Arm, Smite

PR 3

NOTE- because he is an NPC, anyone can ask Cletian to perform a task (IE- can you give me a reading for our next mission? Can you jump in front of that rampaging genestealer?)

Upon rereading the equipment/drugs section I found that none of the drugs are really all that useful when weaponized. Genophage only works on a specific individual for which it must be tailor-made.

The reductor also has a pen of 10, but without the strength bonus, my combat knife is still better. Oh well, I'm now a lot more familiar with the capabilities of my equipment should the situation ever arise that I need to get creative with them.

OOC- the date is slightly later than setting norm. Specifically it is 16 years after setting norm.

Frosty, still need your other +5 for being an Ultra

IC-

==MISSION BRIEFING, MISSION 01==

886.832.M41

Aboard the Deathwatch Strike Cruiser Hunter's Vigil

The Strike Cruiser was 8 days out of Erioch, bound for the Canis Salient. It bore only a dozen Deathwatch marines. All were destined for the Watch Station at Andronicus in response to an increase in Tyranid activity in the area. The predations of Dagon had moved ever further coreward, and only the might and sacrifice of the Deathwatch had kept it from spreading more than it had.

At this time four battle brothers, Ultramarines all, are summoned to a briefing room. They are met by the Watch Captain, Josiah Kasblane, and Imperial FIst of over 300 years service, and an astropath. There is no greeting. Kasblane is a man of few words and not given to conversation. He gets straight to business.

"Three weeks ago, Lord Commander Ebongrave signed a peace treaty with the Tau, believing in his paranoia that this will keep them to their own worlds. In those three weeks a rogue group, calling themselves the "Spear of the Light" has arisen and taken claim for several terrorist strikes, mostly toward the spinward side of Tau space, particularly in the Skapula and Andronicus systems. The Spear of the Light has been disavowed by Tau government, who state that military action against these rogues will not precipitate a state of war. Not that I particularly care what the Tau say.

"You four are to identify this Tau group, particularly their hideout and any leaders. There has been a recent spike in activity on Andronicus 3. We have a listening post there that went silent 28 standard hours ago. You will take a Thunderhawk, insert on Andronicus 3 and ascertain if the listening post was sabotaged as well as record any information that the listening post still has. Then, if opportunity permits you will launch a clandestine raid against a Spear outpost, if one is revealed to be in proximity to the listening post."

OOC- Now is the time to ask Kasblane questions.

Mission requisition: Each of you has 50 requisition to spend. Any unspent requisition goes into a communal pool that anyone can draw from. The Vigil has a fully stocked armory.

OOC: There, I updated the character sheet with the +5 on Intelligence. The only question I have before spending requisition is how does weapon training work in Deathwatch? I want to grab a missile launcher and anti-vehicle munitions if I can (or some krak grenades at the very least), but I'm not sure if I have the ability to actually use them. I'm off to work now, so I'll check back tonight and make any other fixes as necessary and spend the requisition.

IC: Sir, do we have any intel' concerning how the Tau will be involved during our operation? Specifically, how many tag alongs must we babysit today and do we expect armed resistance from them planetside?

OOC- You have the Astartes Weapon Training, which means if it isnt exotic you have proficiency. Frag and krak missiles are issued with the launcher, and you have 3 frag and krak grenades as standard issue.

IC- "We believe the Tau are active on the surface, but we do not know in what strength. In order to avoid the need for a babysat specialist your team will receive a special data-slate that can access and display the information you need."

IC - I roll forbidden lore: xenos and get a 17. How familiar am I with how the Tau operate both on and off the battlefeild. Specifically, do I know about their tendency toward unwavering loyalty? (Not sure if this should be OOC or IC. Picked IC because it's something my character is doing).

"Sir, by Tau do you mean the xenos themselves or those who sympathize with them?

OOC - Can an Elucidator help with interpreting an alien language if I know that language?

In that case I will grab an Astartes Missile Launcher for 10 and the other 40 surplus requisition I'll dump into the communal pool. I'm guessing "explosives... lasts the duration of the mission" means unlimited missiles.

OOC- You are familiar enough with Tau to understand their leadership heirarchy, particularly the role of the ethereals. You are also familiar with splinter groups like the Farsight Enclave.

An Elucidator will do little to help, but it will help.

Missiles will last the duration of the mission unless you go absolutely crazed and start blasting away at everything.

IC- "All evidence indicates that the attacks are being conducted by actual Tau soldiers, supported by mechanized and battlesuit elements. Current information indicates a large splinter group, numbering multiple hunter cadres spread through the Andronicus system."