This is just a small house rule that I use in all games that I run. Though I think that it is very appropriate to Deathwatch. I will warn you that it is partially a buffing mechanic and partially a way to get players into what their characters are doing. So your mileage may vary based on how powerful you like your PCs to be.

The Rule of Cool

At any time a player may describe their characters action in dramatic detail and gain a bonus to a single roll based on that action. Originality counts and a repeated description does not garner a bonus.

Warning: Graphic details to follow.

Example: Brother Bjorn of the Space Wolves is charging a horde. "I break out in front of the Guardsmen line, howling at the top of my lungs. Ripping my chainsword out of its sheath as it roars to life. I leap into the traitor horde, lashing left and right with my chainsword, punching a traitor in the face as I cut another down." Such a description of the action that Bjorn is taking would certainly garner a bonus. The bonus to his Weapon Skill or damage for this attack would depend solely on the GM's discretion. The GM should follow up his players descriptions with the effects of their actions in equally dramatic details. Following up on Bjorn's attack assuming he succeeds, "As you leap into the fray you land on a traitor, crushing him beneath your boots with a sickening crunch. Screams echo around you as your chainsword howls in delight at their deaths. One traitor tries to sneak up on, but you notice him just in time to punch him turning his face into an unrecognizable pulp."

End graphic details.

I use this rule to reward players for doing something awesome and dramatic. It has no mechanical effect other than the bonus to a roll of the players choosing. It must be used immediately and cannot be saved up. I've personally found that this gets players out of the habit of, "I shoot the horde" and the GM out of "Ok, he takes 5 damage." Which in my opinion can be a little dull.

This has gotten to the point where if I forget about it, my players will say "Wait! Don't I get to describe what I'm doing?" or if I forget to describe what their action does, "So, what happens!?"

I realise that Marines are already incredibly powerful and that another buffing mechanic may not be all that great, which is why I keep the bonus low. A +10 or for a really great description a +20. In my experience its gotten my players much more into their characters and into the game itself. I hope that it will do the same for some of you as well.

Very cool idea!! This would be a great exercise for some of my players to flex their "creativity muscles." Though as far as bonuses go I personally wouldn't give them as big of a boost as you do. I'm going to shoot for a simple +5 which is just enough to give reward players without unbalancing combat.

I too especially love this idea. It is very good for new-to-rpg players, as it helps them develop their story-telling abilities and encourages them to be descriptive in their actions. I played a game similar to this tonight, encouraging my players to use the highest detail possible when describing what they were doing. It was the most enjoyable session we've had yet.

Yes in such a game I would allow for "stunt" bonusses.

+5% I charge the horde with my blade slashing left and right killing my enemy (at least some effeort)

+10% My eyes harden as I charge the heretical horde, my blade hits true as scores of heretics go down (grafic)

+20% My hair bristles in the wind and the ground trembles, the white snow becomes red with blood as the countless enemies fall to my blade and black like soot where my mighty flames purify the land (grafic + terrain)

+30% Everybody on the table goes WOW....that's cool (I would also that person +1 Renown)

I've seen the same sort of 'cool' bonus in the form of XP. In DH our GM would dole out instant XP bonuses if you did something that made the game more interesting or really within your character. They were minor, in the grand scheme of things (30, maybe 50) but it made everyone else at the table so jealous they started looking for things they could do to contribute, impress, etc.

I like this idea a lot too, give bonuses for the folks that just really get into it, giving a scaling bonus for cool factor? Thanks for the tip, anything to get the players animated now and again!

Charmander said:

Funny. The first thing I thought of when I read the OP was to combine it. A small (+5%) to the roll and a small XP bonus, rather than a large bonus to a roll. It would give an immediate reward as well as a longer term one.

I'd be inclined to give xp bonuses if the player described out something that penalized the Test rather than gave a bonus. Basically making it a raise where the harder you make it on yourself, the bigger the payout if you succeed.

I absolutely recommend the rule of cool to everyone. My group's been doing it for a few years and it works a treat for us.

I will be running with a heavy Rule of Cool theme in my Deathwatch campaign, both because our Dark Heresy campaigns have become mired in minmaxing and optimizing, and because I feel that there are few better venues for Rule of Cool than Deathwatch.

If my players can justify something with the Rule of Cool, they will get bonuses, either to their dice rolls or to their available actions.

For example the Space Wolf Assault Marine that charges a Tyranid Warrior may be allowed free grapple attacks or something similar, as I feel that is the way a Space Wolf should fight.

I actually did tone down the bonuses to a +5 or a +10 for something really awesome. +20 was just too much, my players were stomping stuff they weren't supposed to.

As to giving out xp, I prefer not to hand out xp unless all the characters are going to get it. I've played in games where the GM handed out xp based on how well you did in combat and on other rolls. In the end, we ended up with some characters that were twice as high in levels as others, and the GM was forced to throw huge encounters at us to challenge the higher level characters. This tended to kill off the lower level characters as well. Ever since I've always prefered to keep all my players at the same amount of xp.

I can see how some players would love getting an xp bonus over an immediate bonus to a roll though.

I recommend declaring the action simply - and then following with a description once you see your DoS. Nothing more annoying to me than someone spending five minutes describing their 'way cool' attack only to discover he missed. Needless to say, I don't go for the rule of cool stuff because giving bonuses for hamming it up just grits at me, especially if the character is determined to have failed the action anyway (and, in the WH40K lines, that happens a lot). It would be different with a FATE game, but that's not the style i want with DH/RT/DW.