I saw someone post wanting details about the Deathwatch GM Kit. I was lucky enough to get one at Gen Con (they had sold out of the core book by Sat). So here is some info about the GM Kit.

Panel Layout
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| | | | |
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| Panel | Panel | Panel | Panel |
| | | | |
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
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The fold out screen is very sturdy and has some nice images facing the players of space marines on 2 smaller panels on panel 1 and 4 with 1 extra large center panel on 2 & 3.

Inside the screen are the following tables:

• Panel 1: Test Difficulty (chart), Hit Locations (chart), Critical tables (chart), Weapon Craftmanship (chart), Cover Types (chart), Renown (chart), Scatter Diagram (picture)
• Panel 2: Combat Actions, Weapon Qualities
• Panel 3: Melee Weapons, Combat Difficulty Summary, Weapon Jams (rules), Two-Weapon Fighting r(ules), Using Weapons Without Talent (rules), Unarmed Combat (rules), Damage (rules), Fatigue (rules), Stunned, (rules) Lightly Damaged (rules), Heavily Damaged (rules), Blood Loss (rules)
• Panel 4: Semi-Automatic Weapons (rules), Full Automatic Weapons (rules), Suppressive Fire (rules), Pinning (rules), Multiple Hits From Semi and Full Auto Fire (chart), Movement (chart), Armour (chart), Hordes (rules)

The GM Kit Book is a paperback book 31 pages long
Page 1 - 23: Contains a short adventure called Shadow of Madness that takes place on a planet called Baraban near the Canis Salient in Jericho's Reach.
Page 24 - 27: Contains information on 6 NPC's with background info and adventure hooks
Page 28 - 31: Contains information on Mission Building which discusses Location, Objectives, Enemies, Obstacles, Assets, Choices, Component Synergy

I hope this gives you some idea of what is inside the GM Kit. Feel free to ask questions if you have any.

Later,
Nick

How different is it from the DH or RT Gm's screens, because those are very very similar and to be honest, if you have one, you don't need the other. To be honest, I could care less about the adventure or the 2 or so pages of 'GM stuff'. I'm more concerned about buying a screen I already have two of.

That's the biggie for me as well.

I avoided the Rogue Trader one once I learnt that the screen was basically the DH GM Kit V2.0 and that the Planet Generator was lame.

Is this one more than a copy-pasta affair and is it actually relevant to Deathwatch GM's?

BYE

I don't own either the DH or Rogue Trader GM Kit screens so I can not say how close they are.

There are a few things in the charts and rules printed on the screen that would be Deathwatch specific but if you can live without those then I would say skip this if you have the one of the other 2 screens.

Nick

Steeljaw said:

What can you say about the scenario without giving away spoilers? What's the mission the players get assigned to? (Heck, what's the mission of the scenario in the core rulebook?) I'm trying to develop a feel for what assignments the players get sent out to.

Alex

as far as i can see, the differences to the RT version is extended starship actions replaced with horde rules, and the ranged weapon summary on page one replaced with full critical hit tables as opposed to a reference.

Print out the required information and use a paper clip to attach it to the screen. Alternately use a bulldog clip that has been greenstuffed to look like a daemon glaring out of the warp into the souls of the players. Either way, probably a bit cheaper than buying multiple copies of broadly the same thing.

Well, unless you want to, of course.

Kage

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WARNING MINOR SPOILER INFORMATION ON THE GM KIT ADVENTURE !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The mission involves the kill team going to the planet Baraban in Jericho Reach to investigate (and potentially acquire) a xeno artifact. Along the way the team will fight Kroot, Tau, and Vespid.

Vespid hey?

So there are stats for them and their guns?

Ok, now I am buying this.

BYE

A Vespid Stingwing to be exact but yes it has stats for their them and their guns.

I don't know what stats the core book (waiting like everyone else to get mine) has but the GM Kit has information and stats on several vehicles as well.

• Tau Manta
• Deathwatch Land Speeder Storm
• Thunderhawk Gunship
  

Thunder... hawk?


Ok. That settles it. The GM screen could have a misprint and just be a direct copy of the Dark Heresy one and I wouldn't care.

I must own the book that comes with it.

BYE

Steeljaw said:

The core book as vehicles rules? Same as RT into the storm expansion?

crisaron said:

I have no idea if the DW core book has vehicle stats or not. I do not own RT or DH so I can not comment on what is in those source books. I was just mentioning what vehicles the GM Kit has stats for.

Steeljaw said:

Are they full stat-blocks, or rough write-ups for their use as GM tools ("a Thunderhawk/Manta flies by, this is how much damage it does...")?

N0-1_H3r3 said:

it does SPLAT no more Space Marine fo YOU!

N0-1_H3r3 said:

Only the Thuderhawk and Land Speeder have full vehicle stat blocks. The Tau Manta only lists all the weapon systems and facing for each.

Here is a quote about vehicles in the GM Kit book:

"Future supplements will introduce more robust rules for using vehicles as part of your Deathwatch game. However, ships, and transports are integral to a Space Marine's duties, and adventures such as this one may call for the presence of a vehicle. You can use the following simplified rules should vehicles become part of a battle."

Some short vehicle rules follow that.

Steeljaw said:

Ah, so it's got a simplified set of the vehicle rules. That solves that conundrum.

N0-1_H3r3 said:

Into the storm from RT will have extended rules on vehicles so they will probably iron out the issues for DW release of the extension.

crisaron said:

Oh, I know about the full rules - I wrote a fair chunk of Into the Storm , so I've seen the full vehicle rules from there already. I was more wondering about the inclusion of vehicles in the DW GM's Kit, when the inclusion of the vehicle rules weren't something announced as part of that release.

I bought the Dark Heresy screen, and I could take it or leave it. The book that came with it is indispensable. It has rules for poisons, which I felt should have been in the core book, and a Xenos generator (with sentient and non-sentient options.) If Deathwatch follows in the same vein, I will never use the screen (after all, who needs a huge list of all the guns when they're included in stat blocks for NPC's and written on sheets for PC's) but I look forward to reading that book.

You're right - you don't need the weapon chart - but this one apparently has the Crit Charts. That's more useful to me. Then again, I use my DH screen all the time. I find it useful.

If only it had the Psychic Phenomena and Perils charts as well.