Hey, has anyone tried porting a Ratling into a DH2 game? I haven't GM'd a game (or even played!) yet so I am unsure about balancing issues.
If we get rid of Regiment creation rules, they pretty much can be taken strait from the book; they have one extra talent and two fewer skills than the average DH2 player before XP which I figure might even out. What they miss out on are bonuses. Also, they recieved 300 fewer XP points during character creation in OW. Should I keep this? Or did that only make sense because of benefits in that system.

Although that is really only for an ex-IG ratling. I was thinking another route would be to deconstruct the Ratling class, and have a character creation (restricted though, no sanctioned psykers or Techpriests, for ex.) with an "elite advance" at the end. I love the idea of a smarmy little fink working as a low-hive medicae, skimming and watering down drugs for the black market. Selling the patients extra painkillers because the ones they were rationed were watered down. Making the corpse-starch they serve at the caf taste good somehow--so good that the night shift supervisor is loathe to report him.
What do you guys think?

PS. I know it's uncommon to see Ratlings in the Imperium outside of their own worlds and the IG, but I want my made-up sector to have a lot of Ratling diaspora. I just can't get enough of the little bastards!

And Ogryns, although they might be too limited intellectuelly to contribute much in an investigation. Ofcourse, maybe an actual PC ogryn could be "exceptionally" smart, like those that received "Biochemical Ogryn Neural Enhancements", which still would make them below average intellectually wise compared to a normal human counterpart. Having abhumans sounds good. I imagine they would come from a select few planets, maybe specific homeworlds of the already existing general homeworlds during character creation.

I think if you were going to have them as ex IG ratlings you could probably use them straight out of Only War but probably just ban comrades and comrade abilities and possiblythe advancement system for every 2,500xp (can't remember what it's actually called off the top of my head).

For Non-IG ratlings probably working ratling in as a background choice would be my option. I suggest background other than elite advance because I figure in the bigoted Imperium there's not likely to be much chance of them working in any Imperial organisation much the same way as you find with mutants (though they don't suffer quite the same level of discrimination). I figure the Imperial Guard is the one exception because the Imperium is happy to feed almost anyone into the meat grinder for their cause.

I would have to look at it closer but you could probably use the Ratling options in OW as a starting point to tailor the starting package for the ratling background in DH2.

I guess putting their race in as part of a "Background" fixes the fact that they can't take part in any Imperial Organization.

I could see the inquisition not wanting what they would consider "sub humans" in the mix, and it would certainly draw attention during an investigation. I'd still like to have the option though.

A ratling sniper would be a good, (can't remember the name, one of those things you spend reputation on as backup)

Reinforcement Characters.

I'm not sure the 'Inquisition' would care at all about having Ratling agents; individual Inquisitors (of a Puritan bent) probably would, though.

Yeah, so Mutants are fine, but Ratlings (whom I believe are more accepted than Mutants by Imperial society) can't?

Maybe... just maybe Ratlings "require" a pack - and thus do not do well "alone" - maybe this was gene bred into them, who know - but... but I think I like this rational now that I've shared it with ya LOL

As a GM I put a Ratling into the retinue of a Radical Inquisitor opposing the PCs. He made a great overwatch kind of character.

~ alemander

Yeah, coming up with a Ratling Background to represent their capacities/usage in the wider Imperium seems like a smooth decision. Ogryn would be amusing as well >.>

Every inquisitor needs a good marksmen... as well as a cook.

Ratlings are mutant filth - accepted by some abhorred by others... LOL

Beyond using them as-is without a Regimental Background, which seems fairly balanced, more-or-less for straight porting, each also has a homeworld option in Shield of Humanity for making more varied abhuman characters (like a Rattling who doesn't want to be a sniper, and wants to be a Chimera driver instead, for example), so all you'd need to do is take Ogryn World or Rattling World in place of the typical DH2 homeworld options if you wanted a bit more variation to CC, allowing your abhuman to use DH2 backgrounds and roles without having to have ever been part of the guard.

You'd still need to use the OW core book for generating Wounds and Fate Points (as they don't seem to be covered by homeworlds in OW like other games), or you could house-rule it slightly by say... taking the Ogryn World as is, and adding to it the Death World aptitude, fate point roll, and wound generation. The same for Rattling World, by using Imperial or Garden World for homeworld aptitude, fate points, and starting wounds, but everything else about their unique homeworld options as-is.

Both homeworld options cost extra xp (using the formula from OW, 500xp for Ogryn World, and 300xp for Rattling World), so that would need to be kept in mind as well.

Just some additional options worth considering.

Four d10 minus two lowest for ballistic skill?

Maybe... just maybe Ratlings "require" a pack - and thus do not do well "alone" - maybe this was gene bred into them, who know - but... but I think I like this rational now that I've shared it with ya LOL

I'm pretty sure other than their "comrade" ratlings in Only War do quite well in all human regiments.

Ratlings are not allowed in certain establishments by Imperial Creed they can wait outside in the alley LMFAO

I know this post is older, but this topic became relevant to our group.

While rolling up characters for a 'next-generation' Rogue Trader game (using Dark Heresy 2 rules), one of my players decided he wanted to play a ratling who wasn't in the Guard, and we came up with a simple solution (simpler than what I mentioned above).

Each abhuman race has a homeworld option in Shield of Humanity. Unlike pretty much every other 40k rpg, OW homeworlds don't generate wounds or fate points. The specific abhuman homeworlds seem to act almost entirely as racial templates more than anything else, so that is what we used them as, and turned them into character creation elite advances.

Using the formula from OW (which I believe I mentioned above), Ratling world cost 300xp. It modified his characteristics, traits, and a few talents to turn his character into a ratling, and that was it. His full character creation path was Penal Colony-Outcast-Assassin-Ratling World as an Elite Advance, and he seemed balanced to me.

In the event anyone was still interested in the topic, I figured I'd contribute to it once more.