I'm new to Dark Heresy - really a "new returner" to pen and paper rpg's altogether (played a good bit of Rifts/Vampire the Masquerade a good many years ago but am just getting back into it) - and have a few questions regarding some of the rules. Since I'm the most experienced of my group with rpg's, I'm GM'ing (scary thought that I'm the most experienced) and have to learn the rules well enough to explain them to people new to the experience completely.

First: The issue of cover wasn't a big one in Rifts since most weapons would blow any cover you were behind to pieces. So, how exactly is cover used? It says that a part of your body is always sticking out; why? If I were hiding behind a wall preparing to shoot, my leg wouldn't be dangling out. Instead, I would await my turn, use a half action to lean out and the other half action to fire. Once leaned out, I'm now exposed so does someone shooting at me have to fire a called shot? My understanding from reading the description is this: If someone shoots at you whilst you are behind cover, they roll as normal. If they randomly roll the hit area that happens to be sticking out from behind the wall, roll damage as usual; if not, they roll damage and subtract the AP from the damage (if over the AP of the cover) and apply the remaining damage to that body part in addition to subtracting 1 point of AP from the cover. How far off am I?

Second: Where can I get tactical maps to use for these scenarios that are fitting to the setting of Dark Heresy?

Third: Is the cover destroyed once the AP reaches 0?

Last: Does body armor (flak vest, etc...) work the same way as cover, essentially?

My apologies for sounding like an idiot, but learning a new system on your own is a bit tricky, especially when it varies so much from your home base (Palladium Megaverse). As a side note, I love the setting and the game play seems to be very cool, I can't wait to actually learn it well enough to send my group on a mission Thanks for any help you care to provide.

Drumsev said:

The way I've ruled it (less a house rule and more an interpretation) is as follows:

When firing at an enemy in cover, you need to first determine if there's any of the target visible. If there is, roll to hit as normal. If not, but you know an enemy is there (and the enemy is still in that location - if he's not there, you can't hit him no matter how hard you try), you suffer a -30 penalty for firing at an unseen target.

If you hit, determine hit location(s) normally, and roll for damage. Any locations behind cover get the cover's AP value as additional protection, as described next.

As both Cover and Armour apply separately, subtract the attacking weapon's Pen value from the AP values of both the cover and the target's armour (remember, this isn't a permanent effect; damaging the cover is resolved in a moment), and then subtract any remaining cover and armour points (along with the target's Toughness Bonus) from the damage rolled. If this still results in damage, apply the effects immediately to the target. Otherwise, the cover and/or target's armour have stopped the attack.

If the attack did sufficient damage to get past the cover's AP (whether or not it got past the target's TB or Armour - if the cover has AP8, and you deal 9 damage, you won't have significantly hurt the target, but you've still; dealt more damage than the cover's AP), reduce the AP by 1 (Personally, I've house-ruled this to reduce cover AP by the attacking weapon's Pen value, minimum 1, so that more powerful weapons like Meltaguns can burn right through cover without much effort).

If the cover's AP reaches 0, it's no longer useful as cover. Bits of it might well be left, but for all intents and purposes, it's destroyed.

Drumsev said:

In that it reduces damage on a 1:1 basis, yes. Essentially, cover is like an extra layer of armour provided by the terrain. However, there aren't inherently any armour destruction rules (though a couple of critical results cause armour damage, IIRC)

So, because it's always easier this way, an example:

Investigator Zuriel is pinned down in the doorway of a building by a narco-gang. Squeezing himself against the wall behind the door frame, Zuriel is completely concealed, but can't easy escape without exposing himself to enemy fire.

Speaking of enemy fire, the gang opens fire again. As they can't see Zuriel, but know that he's still there, they suffer a -30 to hit , but because they're at close range (+10) and firing on full-auto (+20) with their autoguns , they're attacking at their basic BS. 5 of them open fire, needing a 30 or less to hit . On e of them hits, potentially hitting Zuriel in the body twice.

The doorway Zuriel is hiding behind is fairly flimsy, only being made of the same sort of scavenged wood as the rest of the building, providing 4 points of AP to Zuriel as he presses in behind it. Each autogun shot deals 1d10+3 damage, and Zuriel is only wearing a light concealable flak vest (2AP, Body) beneath his shirt as he was going about incognito at the time. The first shot deals 9 damage, punching through the wood and slamming into Zuriel's flak vest, still hitting hard enough to hurt, but not enough to leave any lasting effects - after subtracting 4AP for the wall, 2AP for his armour, and his TB of 3, Zuriel takes no damage... from this attack. However, the wooden wall is splintered and damaged by the shot, reducing it's AP to 3 for the next shot.

The second shot deals 11 damage, again to the body. Subtracting 3 from the damaged wall, 2 for Zuriel's armour, and 3 for his own Toughness Bonus, Zuriel still takes 3 damage, as the bullet punches through his armour and grazes across his side. He's still on his feet with plenty of fight left, but another few rounds like that and he's done for. Worse, the wall has become shredded by the continued onslaught, reducing it's AP to 2.

Zuriel, seeing no other option, pokes his head out and opens fire with his shotgun, hoping to bring down one of the gangers. He does so with a well-placedblast, but notices to his dismay that a pair of the gangers are setting up a battered old Heavy Stubber.

He ducks back inside, but knows that it won't help. The rest of his team better reach him soon, or he'll be going home in a bag...

The Heavy Stubber opens fire. Having spotted Zuriel popping out a moment ago, and able to see him partially through the ragged holes in the wall he's hidden behind, it's got a 60% chance of hitting... and lands 3 rounds on the Acolyte. A Heavy Stubber has a Pen value of 3, allowing its heavy rounds to rip clean through the remains of the wall and Zuriel's armour alike. Zuriel attempts to dive clear of the soon-to-be-former wall, hoping to avoid the hail of heavy bullets, and succeeds, but only just, avoiding one of the shots but being hit by the other two. The shots deal 14 and 7 damage, respectively, reduced to 11, 4 by Zuriel's Toughness Bonus. The first removes the rest of his wounds, the second slams into his torso and cracks several ribs, almost causing him to black out as he grunts in pain.

Help better come quickly... another shot, and he'll be face to face with the Emperor...

I'm also a new GM (because I know English better and have a good memory). I whant to khow, if some part of big cover (for example, wall) has destroyed, does it mean that 1 metre (of sq. metre) of the obstacle is destroyed? I ask because we play on the tactical map.