Hi everyone - great forum you all seem to have hear, hope I don't tread on any toes by asking stupid questions!

I've been an on/off player of 40K, SpaceHulk, Epic & BloodBowl for years and I recently saw a bundle of Dark Heresy books on ebay. I managed to get the core rule book, GM screen and booklet, Inquisitors guide, Purge The Unclean & a character folio all for £40

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Anyway - I have some relatively committed players (5 definite) , an evening free and I'm ready to go. We ran the free download, concerned with The Shatters the other day and had a great time discovering all the rules, someone managed to make a promethium grenade out of a snow globe, much hilarity ensued.

However before I jump in with GMing properly I have some worrying questions to ask so I don't come unstuck if I am asked myself.

1) I must say I am getting a little confused about skills. I understand that anyone can test on a basic skill at half their attributes if they don't have it, and advanced skills are only allowed to be tested if they have that skill. However - how do you determine if a test falls under a specific skill?

Related - filling out character sheets with said skills is also very confusing, why is low gothic already on there etc. ?

2) I'm planning on starting up our first multi session game with the scenario at the back of the core rule book. It can directly follow the trip to The Shatters, and seems nice and basic. The book says 4-5 play sessions of 4 hours each, and try as I might I couldn't see 4 hours of things for people to do in each session. How much am I, as GM supposed to add / take away / tweak in these things? I'm really starting out green so any help and tips are appreciated!

3) Combat - we had a few fights in the intro game and I think I've got the process down now, when we played we didn't use a map, I sketched down a rough plan in front of me (behind the screen), I told the players what they saw, where people where, and then worked out the movement, ranges, charges etc. myself and kept the narrative going by just talking. Is this the best way to go? especially with a new GM and players that are quite new to RPGing in general?

Any and all feedback / ideas is really appreciated, I'm sure some of these things have been asked bfore and sound daft but I'm really grateful of your thoughts and advice!

Cheers

Miles AKA Inquisitor Tetsugaku of the Ordo Hereticus

1. Thats mostly up to the GM (the descriptions in the book is a good start), but remember that you can also test directly against an attribute. If a character needs to do something related to strength that you don't think fits under any skill then just do the test directly against strength instead. Always test against the full value of the attribute, and then assign bonuses or penalties depending on how difficult the task is.

Example (with reservation for me having fogfotten an existing skill): One of the characters, an assassin, is trying to run across a rope spanning a chasm. There is no skill directly linked to balance acts of this sort so you ask the character to roll against his agility instead. If he is trying to do it at a windy night you might want to make it more difficult by applying a penalty of -30 (or something).

2. I agree, I don't see the story in the book spanning 12-16h. But it will depend a lot on what you characters do and how much you flesh things out. Do what feels best and add as much detail as you think your players will appreciate, there is no "correct" length to play a scenario at.

3. Depends on your style. Personally I like to keep things a bit more informal, so I don't use a map and strict placements. Imo it helps to keep the combat flowing and makes it easier to do interesting things instead of just standing still and shooting. Just do whatever feels best for the group.

Tetsugaku-San said:

Hi there,

1) However - how do you determine if a test falls under a specific skill? Why is low gothic already on (the sheet) etc. ?
This is the job of the GM > to judge. It is you and your common sense that determines what skill is to be roled and if any skill check is needed of if it simply happens. It is best to safe skill roles for dramatic situations (where failure means something bad will happen and/or some-one simply does not have the time/the possibility to try it again)
Low Gothic (and some other skills) simply are on the sheet because every character is going to have them, no matter what. It simply spares you and your players some effort.

2) How much am I, as GM supposed to add / take away / tweak in these things? I'm really starting out green so any help and tips are appreciated!
Players tend to fill a lot of the time on their own: with playing out what their figures due, with out-of-game discussion what they should do next etc.
Have a look around in the forums or on the website of "DarkReign" and you will find a lot of help/ideas other players provided for any given adventure.

My contribution to "Rejoice!" from PTU is:
http://rapidshare.com/files/357446201/Rejoice-RevV02.pdf.html

3) this the best way to go? especially with a new GM and players that are quite new to RPGing in general?
Did it worked out? Was it fun for all of you? Did everyone felt cosy with how it was going? Then, you did everything right

Tetsugaku-San said:

Welcome aboard, mate.

1) how do you determine if a test falls under a specific skill?

There is no strict rule to determine the exact skill or stat to test against a particular in-game situation, because it is impossible to predict all situations. So it falls to you decide which is skill or stat is applicable. Usually, it is obvious: one wants to bypass a lock: a Security test, or one tries to find something - a Search test, etc.

2) The book says 4-5 play sessions of 4 hours each

You wouldn't believe how time-consuming tabletop RPGs are. Is till can't believe it myself, actually, however a 4 hrs session is not a long one, especially if you are starting out with the system. Players will be asking questions, following their own leads, fighting enemies (my longest combat took three sessions to resolve), interacting with the NPCs, go shopping (this alone could take an hour or more), etc.

3) Combat .

There are a few approaches to depict combats.

One is narrative (as you do), where characters imagine a distance between themselves. This is easier to run, but it does eat away the effect of the weapon's range and movement of the characters. Basically, this reduces a tactical element in the combat but makes it easier to run.

Second one is a tactical map : you take a squared sheet or a chalkboard and draw the combatants there before everyone's eyes (I use Excel program for that purpose). It takes longer to resolve each situation, but is very satisfying in the long run as a lot of tactical elements come to life (like hiding behind an obstacle, measuring range, outflanking somebody, etc.). Players who enjoy weapons (DH is really full of them) will like combats on a tactical map.

Hope that helps.

However - how do you determine if a test falls under a specific skill?

In the end it comes down to knowing what the skills do and using your best judgement. As GM, you should familarize yourself with each of the skills, at least well enough to know what broad areas they cover. I sometimes find it helpful to have a copy of the skill list on hand, so I can look it over and remind myself which skills might cover which actions.

Related - filling out character sheets with said skills is also very confusing, why is low gothic already on there etc. ?

Just write in the advanced skills a character has in the advanced skill side of the sheet. Put a check mark or x or whatever in the box next to the skill name to show it is trained. As has been said, Low Gothic is on the sheet because all PCs speak Low Gothic.

How much am I, as GM supposed to add / take away / tweak in these things?

As much or as little you feel comfortable with. Use you best judgement. BTW, the answer to almost all GMing question is: use your best judgement.

As GM, you have to think on your feet. Players will do things that you never thought of. They will explore avenues not covered in the scenario and take actions not covered in any rulebook. As GM, you need to be able to run with it, let them try and improvise the results. If it sounds daunting, sometimes it can be but it can also be a lot of fun.

Combat

Here's what I do: I sketch out the "battlefield" on a piece of paper, or ideally a dry erase board, noting where all the combatants are and any important terrain features, and put that out where everyone can see it. That way everyone is clear on where things (and people) are in relation to each other. I update the map as everyone moves around, gets taken out of the fight, etc. That's what works best for me and my group. If you have something different that works for you and your group, run with it.

Above all, have fun.

Example (with reservation for me having fogfotten an existing skill): One of the characters, an assassin, is trying to run across a rope spanning a chasm. There is no skill directly linked to balance acts of this sort so you ask the character to roll against his agility instead. If he is trying to do it at a windy night you might want to make it more difficult by applying a penalty of -30 (or something).

Since it hasn't been mentioned yet: Always hand out bonuses.

A test with no modifiers is considered Challenging, and for good reasons: A starting character has perhaps a 40% chance to make it if it's about his favorite skill and attribute. If it isn't, his chances may sink below 15%.

So... hand out bonuses. Your Scum is trying to pick a lock? Good for him.

That door is a little on the flimsy side - give him +10.

His lockpicks are of good quality - give him another +10.

His player describes how he methodically tries to get a feel for the lock, taking his time, before he actually goes for it - and another +10.

All the other questions seem sufficiently answered. So I am just going to throw in my two cents into the proceedings for question 2.

I agree with Egalor. RPG games take time. Personally I run other games and I always have a 6 hour session. Start at 6pm end at midnight. This time is required for my group and my own sanity. First off, in the book it says how many hours are sudgested that normally includes the average time for set up and clean up. For me I always forget something. Dice, Pens, Books, that requires me to hunt them down wherever we happen to be playing. This takes time. I am a last minute DM. I find it difficult to prepare maps ahead of time so I set them up on the fly at the location. That is not only my own fault but I blame my players for this as well. My group... they are a special bunch....

Whether its distractions, group tension between players, one of them being overly sensitive and bursting into tears which causes the socially inept of the group to be unsure of the protocol for tears and such and leaves it up to me to smooth it out but I dont know her very well so anything I do could be seen as harassment... That sort of thing... Or just running around mucking things up. This also takes time. And finally there is the clean up.

When all is said and done you are looking at 1hour of set up /clean up, 1 hour at least of shinnanigans and other such things occuring, and then maybe 4 solid hours of play time.

I do not know how serious or friendly your group is towards eachother, but the majority of the groups I seem to play with are goofy and always find a way to derail campaigns or find themselves at a stand still while they work out some minor detail. This colours my experience a bit.

And that is my two cents.

Cifer said:

True that, I sometimes tend to forget just how hard a check without bonuses is in Dark Heresy, The first time we played the characters where supposed to use a terminal requiring a tech use roll. The best character had something like 15% at succeeding

Honn said:

Their are some instances (like "using a terminal the way it was inteded to be used without any negative outside influences") where I simply rule that "owning the skill" is enough. Likewise, someone is not going to check for "Speak Language (Low Gothic)" all the time.

Thanks very much everyone - I really appreciate you taking the time to answer my questions, definitely going to make things a lot easier when we play next weekend!

I suppose the very best form of education is learning on thejob, so armed with all this advice I think I'll dive in with as much gusto as we did with the demo game, people certainly seemed to enjoy that so I had better live up to our great start.

I'm encouraged byt the fact that 80% of the rules I made up on the pspot are reflected almost exatly when I come to find the actual rules in subsequent readings of the core rules.

Thanks very much again - I'll keep reading and posting here to pick up more tips and info

CHeers