Hi ive been DM'ing d20 since 2nd ed and recently started playing 40k tabletop, when I heard about Deathwacth I got intriged and downloaded the demo adventure, so far I've read the mechanics of the system twice and cant understand some things, maybe Im missing something obvious or the demo asumes that you have played RT or DH I dont know can someone help me ?

Abilities and Skills: I understand that you have to roll under your ability to succed and thats fine for WS and BS but the other abilities are confusing, there is 2 boxes i each ability (3 in Str and T) and the numbers are single digits, now I read in the FAQ that the tihird box in STR and T is the unatural ability of the Space Marines wich makes everithing more confusing since the enhanced Str says it gives the marine a +20 to Str an in all the Marines this box has a 10.

I will reference to the Storm Warden in the bonus download, he has a STR of 10 first box, 4 second box and 9 third box, what is his STR, 10, 4 or 9? or they just forgot to put a 0 in there and it could be 100, 40 or 90? the same with the other abilities is the first box or the second box? do I add a 0 to the right of the number or if I roll perception do I have to roll under 4 first box or 6 second box?

With skills is the same problem what do I have to roll? and what basic and skilled means? do I get a bonus to my roll?

How many times can a character cure wounds using the Medicae Skill? wich leads to how much he cures? the skill says he inteligence modifier wich I know is the 10's digit of his intelligence but in the case of the Storm Warden he has a 4 and a 0.

Also if the abilities are modified in some way because the marines have some bonus I cant figure out wich box is the modified ability, the Storm Warden has a 4 in all his abilities and in all the second boxes is a smaller numer wich suggest the left one is the modified one but then you got a perception of 4,6 wich destroy this theory.

So in conclusion Im really confused and any help is appreciated

If Im missing something obvious here please forgive me.

Thanks.

I see where I was wrong they are not separate numbers, the 4,6 of perception is a 46 and the box is just telling you what the modifier is, in this case 4, but you can see why I got confused right? there are two boxes there! lol

Still the other questions remain.

Thanks.

Alagard said:

Medicae Skill is rolled like any other skill, where you get your base number of your Trait, in this case your Intelligence modifier, and add any other bonuses like using the Narthecium equipment. Also, depending on the difficulty of the task, your GM can assign a bonus. For instance, a Challenging task will give you a +0 bonus, an Ordinary task will be +10, Routine will be +20, and Easy will be +30. Without the full rules available, this may be GM's discretion.

So, to summarize the roll...

40 - +4 bonus from the character's Intelligence score. The bonus determined by the tens digit of the trait.
10 - +10 bonus for using the Narthecium equipment (again, without the full rules, this is an arbitrary number)
10 - +10 bonus for being an Ordinary task for the medic
____

60 is the target roll number.

Let's say a roll of 40 is achieved, meaning success! We then get to heal the target for points equal to the Medic's Intelligence bonus (4). Also, since he has the Enchance Healing Talent, you can restore an additional 1d5 wounds.

Apparently, you may only roll the skill once for each source of new damage.

With regards strength, you have already figured out that it is a percentage value (ie. out of 100).

So Brother Gregor has a strength of 42. Normal stats gain a bonus based on the 10's value as Alagard said. However heroes or villains with the "unnatural" bonus gain a x2 (or more) bonus to their 10's value. So in this case Brother Gregor being a Space Marine has unnatural strength (and toughness), so his bonus is (4 x2) = 8, he then gains an additional +2 strength bonus due to the assistance his power armour provides, bringing his strength bonus up to +10. His armour doesn't increase his toughness so this remains at (4 x2) = 8.

Strength bonus applies to things like melee damage, so when Brother Gregor hits something with his Claymore he does base damage + strength bonus + special => (1D10+2) + 10 + 4 = 1D10+16 Pen 2.

That is pretty good for a "knife"...

Brother Elyas-

The powerfist adds plus one to the "unnatural strength" making it x3 for a total damage of

(2D10) +((4 x 3) + 2) Pen 9

2D10 + 14 Pen 9

That brings another question, What is Pen and what does it do?

Alagard said:

Penetration is how much armor is negated with the attack.

For instance:

Target has 46 Toughness (4 TB) and 6 armor all around.

I roll damage for my attack and rolled 15 with Penetration 5:

4 TB + 6 Armor = 10

6 Armor - 5 Penetration = 1

4 TB + 1 Armor = 5

15 damage - 5 total bonus = 10 wounds dealt.

Another example:

Target has 46 Toughness (4 TB) and 6 armor all around.

I roll damage for my attack and get 15 with Penetration 8:

4 TB + 6 Armor = 10

6 Armor -8 Penetration = 0 (it never goes negative, you just negate all armor)

4 TB + 0 Armor = 4

15 damage - 4 total bonus = 11 wounds dealt.

Another example:

Target has 64 Toughness (6 TB) and 8 armor all around.

I roll damage for my attack and get 8 with Penetration 4:

6 TB + 8 Armor = 14

8 Armor - 4 Penetration = 4

6 TB + 4 Armor = 10

8 damage - 10 total bonus = 0 (it never goes negative, you just negate all damage)

No damage dealt.