Well, "assistance" is probably an understatement . My son has convinced me to try out 2nd edition DH with him and a couple friends but I haven't played a P&P RPG since the days of D&D 2E and Marvel RPG. After looking at the character creation rules, this one really seems different than those old school types in terms of how much character background affects things. I tried playing around with the character creator and reading the rules but I have to be honest that I'm doing this more as a way to spend time with my son and I'm personally not all that interested in learning more of the lore and rules than I need to. My hope is to just work it out as we play.

So my ask is more as to whether there is either an archive of pre-built starter characters out there that I could just chose one from, or if there any veteran players that may be willing to help a new player out with giving me a character they've created or that has the know-how to whip one up quickly for me in the character generator. Here's my general requirements in case anyone reading this may be willing to assist...

Class: Adeptus Mechanicus

Skills: Intelligence focused with some decent ballistics skill and maybe some medic skill. They want me to play the guy that builds and repairs tech gear and fights primarily at range. I'm also supposed to work towards being kind of the cybersecurity/hacker type character. He said we are using the standard point allocation approach and that I had 60 points to spend towards my stats.

Other than that, I would be open to any background world, profession, talents, etc that would overall benefit a character like this and would trust your judgement of what is best for those. I definitly appreciate the help or direction to where I could find a character. Or if there are more active forums I could post this in, that would be good to know too. Thanks in advance for the assistance!

On 12.03.2018 at 10:33 PM, oxbaker said:

My son has convinced me to try out 2nd edition DH with him and a couple friends but I haven't played a P&P RPG since the days of D&D 2E and Marvel RPG.

Eh, usually I don't do such things, but can't resist the mention of DnD... ****, I still DM Planescape and Spelljammer.

Let's start with the corebook-only, easiest way: Homeworld - Forge World, Background - Adeptus Mechanicus, Role - Sage.

Starting Characteristics: WS 25, BS 25, Str 25, T 30, Ag 25, Int 30, Per 25, WP 25, Fel 20, Ifl 25.
I suggest to maximize characteristics that you will use more often and chars that you find difficult to advance in game (the same logic I'll use for starting skills&talents), so +15 to BS, +15 to S, +10 to T, +10 to Int, + 5 to WP, +5 to Ifl

Starting Aptitudes selection: Int + Knowledge or Tech + Int, Knowledge, Per, Tech, WP. You have two douplicate that I suggest to relocate into BS and Ag.

Starting Skills selection: Operate (surface) (Awareness is far more common, someone other can take it)

Starting Talents selection: Weapon-Tech (Technical Knock is a garbage), Ambidextrous (Clues form the Crowd is useless to you, talking with people isn't your work)

Equipment selection: Autogun (far more universal than Hand Cannon), Servo-skull (counts as very useful combi-tool)

Starting XP spending: Intellect simple - 100 xp - it's your main characteristic; Tech-Use trained - 200 xp - it's your work; Medicae known - 200 xp - you mentioned it; Trade (Armourer) known - 100 xp - useful to build, repair and upgrade military equipment; Infused Knowledge - 400 xp - in fact, you get all Common and Scolastic Lore skills as "known" now.

Starting Requisition: You'll have 3 tests (Ifl 30). I recommend try to grab Augur Array (Free Action Tech-Use test to detect "tings not normally visible to human senses"), Mind Impuls Unit (must have for Tech Priest, +10 bonus to Tech-Use and Operate if connected) and Subscine Armor (stacks with other armor) implants - they all are Scarce for you thanks to Adeptus Mechanicus background.

In the end, we have:
WS 25, BS 40, Str 40, T 40, Ag 25, Int 45, Per 25, WP 30, Fel 20, Ifl 30.
Aptitudes: BS, Ag, Int, Per, WP, Knowledge, Tech.
Skills: Common Lore (Adeptus Mechanicus), Logic, Medicae, Operate (Surface), Security, Tech-Use +10 (+20 with help of Servo Skull), Trade (Armourer)
Talents: Ambidextrous, Infused Knowledge, Mechadentdrite Use (Utility), Weapon-Tech, Weapon Training (Solid Projectile)
Traits: Mechanicus Implants
Gear: autogun, monotask servo-skull (utility), Imperial robes, 2 vials of sacred unguends and, hopefully, a lot of implants.

I have some other, more unorthodox ideas, but it will take time to cross-check the books.

Hey! That is exactly what I was looking for! Thanks sooooo much Jargal! I can see it was a good call to ask for the help because some of those details I just couldn't have known without a lot of study. I may come back with clarifying questions as I try to look into the details of this build, or my group brings up anything, but this looks like a much better start than I could probably have come up with.

So thanks again and if anyone else also wants to provide either some feedback on this build or one of their own design, I'd definitely would appreciate any additional input.

OK, my group liked the character design but if you are still up for helping me to really impress them, they now say I need to come up with a good backstory of where I came from and how I came to work for the Inquisition (I guess that's who I'm working for... who knew...) . They say I only need a paragraph or so, but it would be cool if I could use a couple interesting character or location based references properly in it. Any suggestions?

10 hours ago, oxbaker said:

Any suggestions?

Do your group use setting from the books - Askellon sector?

Regardless of the setting, this character is clearly member of Adeptus Mechanicus military forces. He is too inexperienced to be member of Titans god-machines crew, and he isn't ordinary Skitarii warrior, but he is qualified enough to be member of Cataphractii armor units of Legiones Skitarii or support forces of Titan Legion (although he lacks Weapon Training talents, " A character with the appropriate Operate skill for a vehicle does not need specific weapon proficiencies to fire any weapons mounted on that type of vehicle without penalty. It is assumed that his expertise covers weapon use as well. " - Corebook, p.253) Maybe a member of super-heavy tank crew. It's unlikely that he is just have go to Inquisition with request for a job, I think it was Inquisition who asked for military-minded tech-priest, and someone from the higher rank decided that he was a suitable candidate.

Thanks again! I assume we will probably use lore from the books but I'll go with this and see what they say. Much appreciated!

Ask GM where exactly in the Imperium your game will be, maybe I will be able to add some details. I'm not too good in Askellon lore, however, I prefer old Calixis sector of 1e.

He still didn't get back to me about where we will start. But one question I had was what is the reasoning for having my strength so high if I will be focused on ranged weapons?

4 hours ago, oxbaker said:

But one question I had was what is the reasoning for having my strength so high if I will be focused on ranged weapons?

Because Weapon Skill, Strength and Fellowship are most costly to you to increase in game (first +5 will cost 500 xp), and while you can ignore WS and Fel, Strength is used not only in melee combat, but to carrying and lifting objects. Things in Imperium tends to be big and heavy, just look in the Armory section of corebook. With SB+TB of 8 you can comfortably carry 56 kg and move with the load up to 112 kg. Imagine that you're in the middle of combat and lucky enemy shot just sent into unconsciousness your comrade-in-arms (former imperial guardsmen, 90 kg without armor) who carry nearly unique Theta-pattern integration cannon (65 kg). That the worthy servant of Omnissiah will pick up first from the floor? With your characteristics you can take the cannon and then drag your comrade to the cover, and even you will be encumbered.

And just for general purpose strength tests - as a rule, running/jumping/climbing trees/forcing doors/pulling up loads and other such energetic pursuits will involve agility and/or strength tests at some point, and it's worth having one or other of them be decent so as not to be the half-crippled asthmatic at the back when the party is trying to infiltrate some dastardly heretic's base.

On ‎16‎/‎03‎/‎2018 at 8:56 AM, Jargal said:

I'm not too good in Askellon lore, however, I prefer old Calixis sector of 1e.

The Askellon's equivalent of the Lathes is a trio of forge worlds:

Cerix Magnus is the mechanicus' nominal sector capital. It's a stereotypical forgeworld - totally uninhabitable outside the forge-hives, massive forge complexes going kilometres into the crust and up into the atmosphere, you name it. It's got a reputation for field-technology - force fields, plasma weapons, Gellar fields, etc, but can produce anything it needs, as you'd expect from a primus-grade forge.

• Likely to be your home if you are a moderately 'politically connected' techpriest - i.e. you took the secondment to the Inquisition as a chance to further your own influence. Likely to be (or at least think he is) more people-savvy by mechanicus standards. Which is to say, about as good at people skills as Sheldon Cooper from Big Bang Theory.....

Selvanus Binary is "you vill do zis again until it iz perfekt! Zis vork is unacceptable!" - it only produces the highest possible quality stuff (but produces proportionately less, for obvious reasons).

• Likely to be your home if the Inquisitor wanted to get an extremely skilled if perfectionist mechanic to look after the warband's tech/base/vehicles/etc. Character is likely to be finicky and precise, und ya, ze naff german accent ist kompusory...

Core Theta has caches of totally-not-necron-weaponry-honest found on the surface, and has both some of the more obscure tech produced there and its fingers in the pies of the cold trade (totally unprovably, of course). It's where the aforementioned integration cannon is made...

• Quite possibly your home if you got dragged into working for the inquisition against your will. If you were unknowingly involved in an inquisitorial investigation tied to core theta (or just in the vicinity at the time), you might have found yourself 'volunteered'. Alternatively if your character was someone specialising in poking said recovered artefacts (look to grab forbidden lore archeotech or xenos for flavour), then he might have been picked up as an 'expert'.