Hello Deathwatch fans!
This week marks the first designer diary for the Deathwatch RPG , in which I discuss roleplaying a Space Marine and the styles of play offered by Deathwatch. Enjoy!
Hello Deathwatch fans!
This week marks the first designer diary for the Deathwatch RPG , in which I discuss roleplaying a Space Marine and the styles of play offered by Deathwatch. Enjoy!
Sounds great, especially sending the Deathwatch as ambassadors. I hope they do a better job than the Imperial Fist in the Codex Tau.
Also I have to say that I like the artwork, that relic blade looks wicked. I wish I could get that for a miniature. But isn't it a little bit weird that the first designer diary about the Deathwatch has an artwork with a Chaos Space Marine?
Sounds like you guys have some good ideas on how to make this game more than just a shooting gallery. Awesome.
One of the first challenges that needed to be met was to identify and emphasise the elements of a Space Marine’s personality and bring that into the game. The Space Marines are elite warriors, amongst the deadliest in the galaxy—but that is not the entire story. Roleplaying as a Space Marine presents a unique test: Space Marines are more than human, larger-than-life figures more akin to the heroes of the Trojan War and the Odyssey than to Inquisitional Acolytes or a Rogue Trader and his companions. Some Space Marines are epic individuals who will risk all for a matter of honour, others are philosophers and tragic figures, full of passion and regret. However you choose to interpret these ideas, it is important to note that the Space Marines chosen for the Deathwatch are nuanced, complex characters.
Thats what has sold this game for me.
Been in to 40k since the original Rogue Trader, stopped playing a couple of years in to 3rd ed for the Wargame, but always wanted a game that was gow i read the books, which is why i've emphasised the bold bits, its how i saw them.
If they can pull this off in the main rule book, then it should make it easier to convince my TT group to play "brain washed battle lunatics on frother drugs" as one of them put it.
Clearly that player doesnt get it much..
So, that player thinks all Space Marines are World Eaters?
Lyinar said:
So, that player thinks all Space Marines are World Eaters?
yeah pretty much. sad thing is, the players a real rules lawyer til things dont go his way and he screws a dice roll or three.. then he just sulks and misses a few sessions. i think he's castigating his dice for letting him down in front of others.. always funny.
"Emissaries , envoys and assassins" was really well said. Not all DH missions involve straightforward charges into enemy lines bolters blazing. That is what the "regular" Astartes are for.
Next week the Chapters! Can´t hardly wait
.
An interesting read. It is good to see that the developers share a lot of my concern to how to make a Space Marine into an interesting character and how to design adventures for them that is more then aim shoot kill.
Sister Callidia said:
An interesting read. It is good to see that the developers share a lot of my concern to how to make a Space Marine into an interesting character and how to design adventures for them that is more then aim shoot kill.
This is like gospel. Glad to see they are not skimping on the role playing portion of "role playing game".
As for the shooting:
So a Cadian, an Astartes and a Vindicare are drinking and challenge each-other to a shooting contest....
And the judges die of old age, still waiting for one of them to frickin' miss something!
It's a bit disappointing that from the language of the preview that there will actually be defined chapters. I was hoping for something like generic backgrounds where you can plug in one of the canonical chapters or make your own through a set of backgrounds like DH or RT. One of my players was hoping to create a Dark Angel who also has a secondary mission to hunt down, kill or interrogate the known Fallen Angels in Jericho Reach, and trying to hide such antics from his squad and also the Inquisition.
Veroldindir said:
It's a bit disappointing that from the language of the preview that there will actually be defined chapters. I was hoping for something like generic backgrounds where you can plug in one of the canonical chapters or make your own through a set of backgrounds like DH or RT. One of my players was hoping to create a Dark Angel who also has a secondary mission to hunt down, kill or interrogate the known Fallen Angels in Jericho Reach, and trying to hide such antics from his squad and also the Inquisition.
Just because they are going to define the Chapters, doesn't me you can't write up your own. Besides, the art clearly shows a Dark Angel marine.
Veroldindir said:
It's a bit disappointing that from the language of the preview that there will actually be defined chapters. I was hoping for something like generic backgrounds where you can plug in one of the canonical chapters or make your own through a set of backgrounds like DH or RT. One of my players was hoping to create a Dark Angel who also has a secondary mission to hunt down, kill or interrogate the known Fallen Angels in Jericho Reach, and trying to hide such antics from his squad and also the Inquisition.
So I take it he's a member of Deathwing then? Otherwise he shouldn't know about the Fallen.
Atheosis said:
Veroldindir said:
It's a bit disappointing that from the language of the preview that there will actually be defined chapters. I was hoping for something like generic backgrounds where you can plug in one of the canonical chapters or make your own through a set of backgrounds like DH or RT. One of my players was hoping to create a Dark Angel who also has a secondary mission to hunt down, kill or interrogate the known Fallen Angels in Jericho Reach, and trying to hide such antics from his squad and also the Inquisition.
So I take it he's a member of Deathwing then? Otherwise he shouldn't know about the Fallen.
That's a very good point! The chances are quite high though if he is seconded to the Deathwatch, that at some point he may have received Terminator honours within the Deathwing, and found out about the Fallen because we are assuming perhaps that these marines are veterans rather than just out of Scout training. It can be a little ambiguous, as I think the qualification for Deathwatch duty is that the skills of the marine have strayed in the direction of usefulness within this role. It sounds like Dark Angels will definitely be included in any case...
Oh, I guarantee Dark Angel Deathwatch members will have the opportunity to have been inducted into the Deathwing depending on the player's wishes...
Think it through - the Deathwatch doubtless serves a double purpose from the Dark Angels point of view; members of the Deathwing have a unique chance to gather intelligence for their chapter and doubtless have orders to surreptitiously search for any and all information that could lead to one of the Fallen - which would lead to awesome roleplaying opportunities as they decide just how far they can trust their new squad... FFG would be foolish to not allow for this, and my man Ross is no fool.
However, the Deathwatch also represents a unique opportunity for the Inner Council (that's it right, Inner Council?) when they get one of those "troubling" marines. See, some of their brothers are very true to the geneseed of Lion El Johnson: honorable to a fault. When one of those brothers also greatly excels, its a problem for them: Ezekiel and the Inner Council decide that the marine will never accept the dark truths of the Deathwing, yet they cant refuse to acknowledge his courage / tenacity / general bad-assness. What to do? Can't snub the brother forever... let's pack him off to the Deathwatch! It's an honor, a great honor! Yeah, that's the ticket!
Course if I was running the game, the DA character
not
in the Deathwing would be the one that stumbled upon some very unusual secrets of his chapter because
that
is where the conflict gets to its most intense.
I'm really glad you guys decided to keep the three-game concept put forth by Games Workshop via Black Industries and I think you've done a better job realizing that vision than was done under them. I spoke to William King about this recently and he said this was the original vision for any Warhammer 40,000 rpg as it was discussed in the '80s.
Keep up the awesome work and I can't wait for Deathwatch.
Can't wait for this, august is so far away...