I also do not use modifiers. I give my players either -60, +0, or +60. Other modifiers appear like once per session? I prefer putting some amount of DoS required to pass, and ignore modifiers. My players hate me for that.
Well, they have every right to do it.
I tend to make power level scale too fast - my players died like 3-4 times in whole Prologue (1 year of playing), 6-8 times in Act II (Also a year) and around 12 times in Act II (Still playing, only 3 months passed).
I also tend to use Hordes way too much and have to stop myself from doing it.
I used to give too small amount of xp, but fortunately, I doubled it recently and everything seems fine.
I also do not use modifiers. I give my players either -60, +0, or +60. Other modifiers appear like once per session? I prefer putting some amount of DoS required to pass, and ignore modifiers. My players hate me for that.
I'm a little surprised they're still playing with you.
(I'm one of his players) Because he created an amazing plot, and he's keeping track of like 8 sessions in the same universe and timeline with diffrent players in each session that affect each other and he slipped like 3 times over 2,5 years of play (with an average of about 2 sessions per 3 weeks). Not the "better to have a poor GM than none" scenario either, since he's not the only GM in the group.
Also, hordes thingy is new, He didn't use them at all before act II.
Character deaths being a problem are less indicative of a GM's skill and more of how whiny his group is, tbh. There's nothing wrong with sicking gene stealers or Tau on freshly generated characters. If anything, it means they have to adjust their approach and be smart.
Well, if you give them possibilities... Like explosive barrels standing on genestealer path or 20m wide chasm between them and players...
In Only war? Really remembering the Comrades and trying to rp them as all different. As for "bonuses" , that is something, after 4 40K campaigns, I am just getting decent at. If a GM forgets to add +10, +20 or so on for simple tests, the system can be one of the biggest "whiff" games out there. It takes some practice.
Probably for me it's description. I tend to miss out describing as I am thinking about what is gonna happen next. I've done a lot to work on my prepping and to get my group to participate to add creativity by letting them bring ideas for lore and what not about their regiment. I've luckily learned this from also being apart of many games from many GMs, all ranging from too much detail and depth in a campaign to the exact opposite where they run it on the spot and have no idea what they are going with ahead of time. I am wanting to be in the happy medium. Also I keep forgetting important talents and skills in affect, I need to write those down on a sticky note on my screen...
I cannot have a conversation with myself to save my life. If a player talks to an NPC, that is easy for me, but when two NPC's are required to talk to each other, it is the hardest thing ever, even if I know exactly what each is supposed to say.
I have two other problems, that often work together. The first is that I believe anything 40k should involve a lot of death. Especially player death. I know my players don't really want me killing of their characters every 2 sessions, but I cant help but feel that they probably should. The second is that I pull punches way to often. As soon as my players start to show any signs of dissatisfaction with a situation or combat, I pull back and nerf it to the ground. The problem these two is that it has ended up with the players ending up inches from death, but never dieing. Over, and over again. Even in situations where they really should have died by all accounts.
Generally fights that ALMOST result in PC death are the best ones in most cases
Generally fights that ALMOST result in PC death are the best ones in most cases
Not if it happens all the time and no one ever dies. I am guilty of this sin too.
Loathe to admit I'm not too good at making mysteries that work. They are either impossible or obvious. Sometimes I get it right but most of the time it ends with me wishing I had done some other scenario. I don't like this because a good mystery can be great...I just can't make one.