Hi!

New on this forum and somehow canot find the search buttom, so let me know if there is a topics about psykers.

I am a bit confused with the Psy rules in the book.
It is just me or the Psy is weak and strong in the same time in this book.

Dmg powers:
You can easily do 90 dmg at rank 3 (5 pr+3+1from talent*d10), or just 9, how can any GM balance this?

Number of power:
We have some nice powers, but only 6 power after the first 3 at rank8? I think it is a bit small pool.

Sustaining psy power: As far as i remember in Rogue trader it was free (maybe I missed something).
With this half action rule, no psy can sustain anything and have a full actions (move with the group, use full attack, use any psy power with full action manifest time). The psyker lose lot of options in combat because of this.

Psy weapons: I think those are too good, have a possibility to get 5-6d10 (very lucky roll against normal opponent) non soak able dmg is very high. My problem is how big the random factor is here, very hard to balance the NPCs because of this.

Dark templar psy resistance: It is one of the most overpowered talent in the game. For 1 less temporary fait point they gain 70-90% (rank5 with tacticks) resistance against all psy? It is better than anything what the Psykers have, and it is a "passive" skill.

Psy hood: can a psyker wear this under the helmet? If not this makes them very vulnerable I think. And i think this should be a basic item for the librarian. This is the only thing what makes them do their job (defend others against psykers)

Thx for your time to read this.

Bcsordas said:

the general fluff is that the hood is built into the helmet or surrounds him bit like a colar raised up over the back and sides of head so he can feasably wear helmet

Ok, so a few things i have some questions about, where did you get the numbers for the force weapon? It does 1D10+2 with an addition for pen and damage depending on the psy rating of the librarian. So yes it gets powerful, but not overly so.

Also the Black Templar, Dark templar are from starcraft, have to pass a willpower test to nullify that, however i would not say it is overpowered, it is a willpower test to resist the effects of the ability, it may be opposed i cant remember at the current moment. Either way, he needs decent willpower to rely on it.However if it really bugs you hit him in the head with a bolter round.

The psykers ability to do so much damage is off put by their limitations, such as they have to spend a half action to sustain the powers. Perils is also something they need to keep in mind, last night our Rune Priest disappeared off the board for 7 rounds against traitor marines, you can bet they are gonna be a lot more careful.

Hope this helps!

Hesporos said:

There's more to the Force Weapon then just adding one's PR to its damage and penetration.

From Deathwatch page 155;

• " ... when a Psyker damages an opponent, he may, as a Free Action, channel psychic force and killing will into the blade. This requires a Focus Power test using Opposed Willpower. For every degree of success, the force weapon's wielder deals an additional 1d10 Damage, ignoring the victims Armor and Toughness Bonus. "

This is the RPG mechanic which attempts to emulate the ability of Force Weapons from the TT - being able to potentially kill any opponent outright. This aspect of force weapons is carried over across all three games; though the mechanic vary slightly in each.

Add to that the benefits of the Psy Power Might of the Ancients , which would add again the Psyker's PR to damage and penetration, and Librarians can get pretty butch. But then, they should be.

-=Brother Praetus=-

Dark templar psy resistance: It is one of the most overpowered talent in the game. For 1 less temporary fait point they gain 70-90% (rank5 with tacticks) resistance against all psy? It is better than anything what the Psykers have, and it is a "passive" skill.

Um... how do you arrive at the 70-90% chance?

Other than that, it's a fine talent - exactly as long as you've got no librarian in your group, in which case you'll probably need all the anti-psyker abilities you can get. If you do have a psyker and he likes supporting his buddies, well... have fun with your 30-10% chance of benefiting from it. Free healing, teleporting, immunity to fear, ability sharing by Paragon,...

Bcsordas said:

Your right, this is tough to balance. You could try making it 1D10+3+1*PR. Then the damage is a little more predictable because its based on a fixed number (Librarians Psy Rating) rather than a random dice roll.

Thx for the replys.

Dark templar resist: start wp 55, 20 advancement, 10 resis psy talent, 10 or 20 from dark templar defensive tacticks. So technically it is around 105 full buffed.. It is not a oposit roll, so no matter how powerfull the psyker he just laugh, walk inside the inferno without harm, ignoring force barriers (well maybe not, this part is not clear), ignoring psy weapons. No matter it is 100 or 1 enemy psy the power works more than once in one turn. A rank 8 psyker will run from this guy, (maybe it is ok all need a counter and psy is powerfull).

Yes they loose the healing and buffing, but only a ultramarine psyker can heal, so not likly the team will have one. Sligt disadvantage to not have positive buffs i agree, but who cares if i can walk into 20 chaos sorcerer and just kill them as slowly as i wish, and there is realy no powerfull buff in this game anyway. (stat buff is unimportant, i canot see why should i usy the psy stats when i can raise all inportant for myself, so can work without the psy).

My most serious problem is with the half action to sustaining psy power. This makes all buff techically useless. Why shoudl I loose half actions to have a small buff, and have greater risk to trigger baaaad thing when i use psy.

I think this rules makes or breaks the psykers. Half action is just to much.

Powerfull combat psyker: might of the ancient dmg and penetration buff, st buff from dark angels, or some defensive buff against ranged, or the wolf spell. All very usefull and powerfull. But you loose: movement (no way you will hit any smart enemy who can and move away, all the time (acrobatic talent), multi attack, charge, any psy power with full round action, if someone graple you, then you loose all your power what you had because you canot sustain it (except if you free yourself in the first round).

I am not sure what to do with this rule, if i let them sustain as free action, they become powerfull, if not they are weak...

Dark templar resist: start wp 55, 20 advancement, 10 resis psy talent, 10 or 20 from dark templar defensive tacticks. So technically it is around 105 full buffed.. It is not a oposit roll, so no matter how powerfull the psyker he just laugh, walk inside the inferno without harm, ignoring force barriers (well maybe not, this part is not clear), ignoring psy weapons. No matter it is 100 or 1 enemy psy the power works more than once in one turn. A rank 8 psyker will run from this guy, (maybe it is ok all need a counter and psy is powerfull).

Ah, so what you're really saying is that a Black Templar who sinks 20 points into his starting wp stat (which will help him almost only against psychic opponents), spends two cohesion points on a tactic that will likely only benefit himself and buys talents and stat advancements for between 4000 (cheap WP advances) and 10000 XP (expensive WP advances) and does not currently suffer from Fear effects is almost immune to psy effects while being near enough to his squad mates that they can be affected by them. Yeah, I think that's fine.

Yes they loose the healing and buffing, but only a ultramarine psyker can heal, so not likly the team will have one. Sligt disadvantage to not have positive buffs i agree, but who cares if i can walk into 20 chaos sorcerer and just kill them as slowly as i wish, and there is realy no powerfull buff in this game anyway. (stat buff is unimportant, i canot see why should i usy the psy stats when i can raise all inportant for myself, so can work without the psy).

Firstly, you lose Gate Of Infinity pretty much for the entire team as they can't take you with them. Secondly, enemies who have 20 chaos sorcerers will generally also have a few non-psychic mooks as well. And thirdly, "raising all important stats" for yourself costs quite a few XP if you want to be prepared for all eventualities.

It's a valid strategy, but it certainly has its drawbacks as well, like the huge opportunity costs.