In the Rogue Trader books, Black Crusade, etc... there were conversion notes included between those systems and Dark Heresy 1st... Am I missing something, or has there been some discussion somewhere about how to move characters from Rogue Trader, Only War, etc... into a Dark Heresy 2nd game...?
Character conversions between Dark Heresy 2nd & Rogue Trader, etc...
There isn't any official conversion mechanism, but plenty of discussion has taken place. Here are at least two topics on it:
https://community.fantasyflightgames.com/topic/122628-sqod-converting-1e-characters-to-2e/
https://community.fantasyflightgames.com/topic/113819-dh1-to-dh2-character-conversion/
~ alemander
My personal recommendation: "Rebuild" the character using solely the rules from the game you are actually going to play, by looking up equivalent classes and going from there.
The systems -- any of them -- are related, but not identical. They all have some unique rules, sometimes apply the rules differently to the same subject, and sometimes even use different stats for the same item or creature, sometimes because the games have evolved, other times because each game has its own theme and power level.
If you have a specific character in mind, I'm sure people could provide suggestions though!
For PCs rebuild in the system you want to play in. As Lynata points out there are enough differences, especially the "rate of progression" is different in different systems adding to the amount of things you need to juggle to keep it fair for the players (assuming they want it fair).
For NPCs keep them in the system they are defined in unless there are compelling reasons to move them over.
For NPCs keep them in the system they are defined in unless there are compelling reasons to move them over.
Good point; I guess the majority of game mechanics affect PCs only, and NPC profiles usually tie into things that exist in the game you are playing as well, so it should not be necessary to keep the rulebook of their original game line around.
Still, it's probably worth it taking a long, hard look at the profile, even if it's just because it may have simply been designed for a different power level (there's probably a reason that DW has different Genestealers than DH).