I got my eagerly anticipated GM Kit from Barnes and Noble's today...and was extremely disappointed. I mean really...all it is, is a rehash of the DH GM Screen with a few more weapons and the Base crew ratings. It doesn't even have the Ship Combat actions on it. Oh, its good some neat (if not regurgitated) art on it. The thin pamphlet that came with it has 4 pages of actual GM info, which are a few hastily thrown together charts. The other 23 pages are another adventure....whuppity.

Im usually very happy with FFG, but it seems like they have really been cutting corners on the RT stuff. The GM Kit definitely is not what I thought it would be. If you have a DH screen, I suggest you just use that and save your $20, unless you really need a new adventure.

Thanks for the input! How's the NPC cship creation charts though. Any info on lighter ships, or Eldar/Ork for that matter?

Thx again, helpful still if negative.

Some Yu'Vath ships (The Void Wasp, The Whisperer), some new ships for the Imperium (The Hand of Redemption, which is a cruiser, and system ships, which are for inner system non warp travel) and som rules on Yu'Vath ships.

System Generator is juct 4 small tables: Star, Celestrial Objects, Inhabitants and Stellar Secrets, there are better system generating systems for free online at varous sites and for various games.

Same goes for the adversary starship generator. Hull tupe, essential components, weapons, additional components. It saves you about 10 minutes.

The adventure looks pretty good (especially compared to Maggots in the Meat) and has some new stats in it (Statues of Dark Lament) and some interesting locations.

If you are interested in the Yu'Vath then get it. If you dont have the Dark Heresy screen, then get it. If you are a completist, get it.

I would give it a 3 out of 5.

Kaiohx said:

Your purchase is apparently defective, because mine came with the Extended Action table for ship combat. And I'd hardly call an adventure of that quality and reusability "cutting corners," much less when included with the awesome system generator which has provided several sessions through a few minutes effort. The only thing I was disappointed with was the ship generator, which, as noted, was a fraction of the total purchase.

I've gotten GM kits that provided far, far less than this one, and I've never seen anything short of a full-fledged Dungeon Master's Guide or the like that provided more. I don't know where you've been picking up your GM material, but its clearly got a better selection than my FLGS and Amazon.com combined.

I ran the adventure last night for my group.

I'm happy to report that it did feel well balanced, but I should add that my group (of two) had a light cruiser and I ruled that they had the lances of the star station up and running before the final scene.

However, the approach the adventure takes with endevours is in my view completely broken. The players went straight for the throat and as they had effectively cleansed the system before attempting to complete the minor and side-quest major endevours, these became essentially trival. As a result, I would argue that in such situations, it would have been more appropriate for the adventure to present to GMs a base value to add to the party's profit factor for successful completion of the key mission, with a series of modifiers.

While the screen does list the extended actions available in ship combat, a lot more on this subject would have been good.

I really thought the screen quality was best Ive seen in along time. I hope maybe that FFG maybe come out with a pdf in the community section with the tables as a quick refrence instead of flipping through the book.

I really like the look of the adventure although I dont know if i'll run it (I think Rogue Trader is going to be a much more personal game when I do get started). I got the GM screen because I am a completionist and because I felt that the RT specific information would be useful to have on hand.

I was massively dissapointed with Maggots in the Meat which in the end boiled down to a search test and 2 tracking tests before running into near certain death when I ran it. If I had known in advance I probably wouldn't have bothered with it but I ran it on the fly when we found out we could all get together but no one had anything planned. The only thing that was good was that it introduced the Slaugth who are an enemy that my players really like and fear.

Kaihlik

Well unfotunately thistrilogy of games (WFRP 2E, DH and RT) have always been plagued with bad GM Kits and what not. Typically it is a screen, an adventure, a few charts and tables for random generated game elements and maybe a new rule, critter, map or rules summary.

It would be nice if they would add more, but that would cost more of course. But some actual GMing advice and suggestions would go far, be they for the setting or just how to run a game with neat tricks and nick nacks. For example, they could have beefed up the Dark Heresy GMs kit with the vehicle apocrypha, the time line and the home-world and career charms.

But that is neither here or there, it just seems that overall when it comes to this type of product we will constantly get the same sort of thing, so when the space marine game comes out, its GMs kit will probably be very similar. A screen, an adventure and a few charts.

Whilst people might be complaining about these screens, they are better than the vast majority of similar items for other RPGs. I haven't seen an RPG which has bettered these yet, and would like to know of any that are of a better quality than these.

You are aware that the DM Screens that are made for D&D only contain the screen in most cases, right?

This isn't analogous to the DMG, it's analogous to one of those.

Plus, if all else fails, you can physically bludgeon your unruly players into submission with it!

I d agree, the screens are amazing. The bests Ive seen. I just think I would expect less if they called it what it is, a GMs Screen, not a GMs kit. I guess it is a kit, but I would expect more from an actual kit.

I agree that it's a lot more than most GM screen/kits offer, but I was hoping for more from the Ship/Planet generator. The module has some interesting ideas in it, but it's still just an adventure module. They're never as much fun to run as an adventure you wrote yourself.

First class on the screen itself though, I can finally stop using the Dark Heresy one covered in post-it notes.

Some extent if in the future I run RT, I fully intend to delegate a lot of responsibility to PC's to manage what they want to do, because that really is the idea of RT (at least for me) that they're not going to be spoon fed adventures, rather than the heavy work I have to put into DH adventures, which run on the basis that their boss gives them a job and they have to figure it out from there. I'd definately write/use/borrow/steal ideas for side-track adventures every now and then to break things up with some random events and some greater plot in the scheme of things when they inevitably piss someone off.

Hi there!

In parts of Germany we are still waiting for the GM Kit but in my long carrer as GM I never bought a screen because of the screen! I usually bought them because of the adventure and additional stuff, rules etc. Most of the time we edited our own tables because most of the time you´ll need only about 30% of the stuff you find on a screen but definitely need some things that are not on it!

Eg, what about the combat actions for the starship combat. Look at the tables you find in the Core Rules (p. 217). They´re good but the Extended Actions table lacks the default difficulty for the test. Does anybody know why? Well, maybe the answer to that is just 42! Only the Emperor knows! Did they correct it in the Drydock supplement? No! For 25 years I´m a player and GM but I´ve never seen a GM screen that really contained the things you need for running a game smoothly. So what to do about the Extended Actions table? Copy it an add the default difficulty and don´t wait for a GM screen to be published! The booklet that usually comes with the screen is usually worth waiting for. But according to the comments I read so far it´s not THAT good. Nevertheless most of the time the booklet is good for some adventure ideas and another bit of atmosphere which I really like in my games.

Have fun out there!

Cain out...

I think the best screen I ever saw was the 2nd Edition DC Heroes RPG GMs Screen. It wasn't just handy, it was vital to the GM.

I agree with Peacekeeper_b DC GM screen was a need tool. Graham Cain brings up the fact making your own quick reference booklets been a long honnored art for GMs. I cant tell how many quick character, combat, and party sheets I made just to have it handy. After the GM screen didnt give me a quick reference booklet, imade my own. I scanned, copy and paste, layed out and then printed, is its not pretty but it works.

Well, I don´t know the Heroes Game but I see that the GMs around the world know their job!

That´s good! After discussing the troubles of the RPG market with my local dealer it´s good to see that their are quite a few GMs who don´t bother too much with waiting for rulebooks, GM screens etc. They have their own ideas and creativity!

Have fun!

Cain out...

Graham Cain said:

Made more then my far share of M Screens, advetures, handouts and other playing aids in the day.

I guess my biggest issue with the screen is that it isn't Rogue Trader really. The only thing it has from RT-specifically on it is the tiny Extended Actions chart that doesn't tell you anything of note. It doesn't have any Acquisition chart, no Item Availability modifier chart, not even a quick reference chart for ship weapons. It could have at least had a chart on it for Ship turn actions. As I said, if you already have a Dark Heresy GM screen you can take a pass on this unless you REALLY want the adventure. If you don't have a DH screen...yea, ok pick it up.

Oh, and I saw that it STILL doesn't include the stats for a hunting rifle on it.

GG.

despite my dissappointments in it overall, buy it any way. It isnt that expensive, has a decent adventure and fuels the funds for more RT goodness later on LOL.