Profit/Wealth/Requisition System in Dark Heresy

By Soverayne, in Dark Heresy House Rules

I always felt the wealth system in dark heresy seemed, how do I say this, absolutely absurd. As an inquisitor's acolyte you supposedly have access to near endless resources for doing the emperor's will but you have trouble buying weapons let alone buying ammunition. Bolt ammo is very very expensive when your firing 3 round bursts.

In the entire book of dark heresy it talks about the resources available to inquisition agents. Now, I know you are just accolytes and I'm not saying you should all be given lascannons and rocket launchers with unlimited abundancy and access to tanks...however, you'd think the inquisition could pull a few strings to make sure their agents had ammunition for their stub revolvers.

Even in the Rogue Trader book, page 324, underneath "The Inquisition" and I quote, "Although no longer able to call on the nigh-limitless resources of the Inquisition, the Rogue Trader will still wield considerable powers and influence." I thought Rogue Traders were better off than Inquisitors but apparently its a step down. Now, I understand this is for FULL inquisitors but accolytes should experience some measure of benefit for this. After all, what inquisitor sends ill equipped agents into the field.

My proposal is a profit system like rogue trader, although maybe not the same one. Afterall the system would work best with a scale of 0-150 just like in Rogue Trader but an accolyte will never have the same wealth of a 'mighty imperial ogranisation' which is 150 where the rogue trader scale stops. Likely 150 in accolyte terms equals around 70 in rogue trader terms. Which I think is a good transparency.

I have the rules fleshed out but don't want to post them until I get some feedback on them. Am I daft or correct? Any thoughts, ideas, comments?

I would be interested to see what you have come up with.

Personally I do not dislike the current "wealth" rules for Dark Heresy as much as you though it seems it could use a tweak or two. I am however very interested in the way that the Rogue Trader profit rules emphasise the organisation - that the acolytes indeed are part of a vast hierarchy. As opposed to just any old player character killing and looting his way towards that power armour.

I've been playing with the idea of using the rules in Dark Heresy during adventures and the rules for Rogue Trader during down time but since I currently have no group to play with I haven't given it a lot of thought.

Regardless I think there's a lot to be had with the profit mechanic from Rogue Trader and find it a refreshing innovation among all the BRP mechanic.

There was much discussion about this in another thread shortly after Rogue Trader hit the shelves. While I agree that the wealth system in DH is rather poor, since the Acolytes are working for one of the most powerful and resourceful organizations in the Empire, I think some others had better ways to handle it than to import the profit system from Rogue Trader, IMO.

One of those was to simply have their Inquisitor hand out 'mission-appropriate' gear at the start of each assignment.

Another was to have their Inquisitor occasionally gift them with 'specifically-requested' gear as a reward for successful service.

Yet another was to have the Acolytes find some of their fancy gear (or credit chits) on vanquished foes ... loot.

Personally, I intend to use a combination of all these methods, a little here and a little there. And, if the Acolytes perform well, I might even let their Inquisitor help out on some of those pesky Inquiry checks to even find the gear, or alternatively, give them an advance on their 'pay' to acquire something they really want.

Out of curiosity - what makes you prefer those way to handle the issue rather than using the Profit mechanic? Do you see anything in particular about Profit that would make you hesitate to port it to Dark Heresy. I ask because to me, Profit seems to fit like a glove, if slightly modified.

Thanks.

I suppose for me, it just seems that the RT profit mechanic was designed to handle wealth on a grand scale, as a result of successful trade endeavors. I don't see Acolytes spending much time and energy doing such things ... and, they don't have the resources in any case. The Inquisition wouldn't help fund it. They have better things for their operatives to be doing. Granted, this is all just my take on it. There is probably no mechanical reason you couldn't scale it down and make it work. I guess I am just more comfortable with what I think seems more realistic in this particular setting ... even though I'm not a stickler for realism. It just seems to fit my play-style, as well as that of my fellow players. I hope that answers your question. happy.gif

Sister Cat said:

I suppose for me, it just seems that the RT profit mechanic was designed to handle wealth on a grand scale, as a result of successful trade endeavors. I don't see Acolytes spending much time and energy doing such things ... and, they don't have the resources in any case. The Inquisition wouldn't help fund it. They have better things for their operatives to be doing. Granted, this is all just my take on it. There is probably no mechanical reason you couldn't scale it down and make it work. I guess I am just more comfortable with what I think seems more realistic in this particular setting ... even though I'm not a stickler for realism. It just seems to fit my play-style, as well as that of my fellow players. I hope that answers your question. happy.gif



Fits mine too. Acolytes are generally too far removed from their inquisitor or 'The Inquisition' in general to expect any help from them unless specifically required (and even then...). An inquisitor (or his interrogator, more likely) is likely to simply say "Suck it up Princess" without batting an eyelid. Being able to make do with a terrible situation is good grooming materialin an acolyte.

So maybe when the party/acolyte in question has a viable means of acquiring some form of 'business' beyond what s/he earns alone (getting a bit of a name in inquisitorial circles, being a reasonably respected member of a cult/organisation where you could pull strings, or maybe owning a business?), they would be eligible for a smallprofit factor instead of spare change.

But to me that's all roleplaying and GM-Fiat, not something I would actively incorporate mechanically beyond the occassional "Yeah, [X group] can cover that one for you."

The Hobo Hunter said:

But to me that's all roleplaying and GM-Fiat, not something I would actively incorporate mechanically beyond the occassional "Yeah, [X group] can cover that one for you."

Exactly. gui%C3%B1o.gif

However, if your (OP) group's play-style is different, and you can make it work, by all means have at it. I wouldn't want to accused of being a 'RP-Snob'. gran_risa.gif

Thank you for the comments and clarifications. You have me convinced. If anything I shall use the Profit factor as a great reward for once an acolyte truly becomes a trusted agent of the Inquisition, possibly an Interrogator.

If anything I shall use the Profit factor as a great reward for once an acolyte truly becomes a trusted agent of the Inquisition, possibly an Interrogator.

And funnily enough, a modified profit system is exactly what Ascension will provide. cool.gif

Cifer said:

If anything I shall use the Profit factor as a great reward for once an acolyte truly becomes a trusted agent of the Inquisition, possibly an Interrogator.

And funnily enough, a modified profit system is exactly what Ascension will provide. cool.gif

Nice. happy.gif And, at that level of play, I can see the characters starting to have such access to the vast resources of the inquisition.