In our Campaign our Rogue Traders are getting a Deathwatch team attached to their ship so the issue of a Death Watch Watch House being installed on our vessel came up!

A Deathwatch Watch House on a vessel is not just a glorified Troops barracks.

It is a temple of devotion and worship.

It is a martial training arena to allow the battle brothers to train together and combine the might of each of their chapters.

It is a sensorium that records eveything for the Deathwatch.

It is a hanger and garage for the vehicles of war.

It is a terrible Library for brothers to study the doom of the enemies of mankind.

It is a medicae facility to treat the heroes of the Imperium and to dissect the enemies of mankind.

It is a prison and stasis specimen storage for the vile, tainted and foul.

It is a vault for the sacred artifacts, arms and armour of the Deathwatch.

Above all - it is a restricted zone to all but the Deathwatch.

A Deathwatch Watch house on a Rogue Trader vessel can only house up to 10 battle brothers - each with their own suites for their indiviual requirements, followers and servitors. The Garage with contain a Rhino and Bikes. The Hanger will contain a Storm Raven and a Caestus Assault vehicle.

Component requirments: 2 Space, 1 Power, 2 SP.

That's a pretty small Space to fit that much stuff in it, no?

Sounds good. Mechanially, I'd probably make the component take up +1 power and add the following items:

Angels of Death: The expertise of the Adeptus Astartes in rapid assault warfare is second to none. +10 to all opposed command tests for Hit and Run attacks. This component grants +50 achievement points to Military objectives.

And They Shall Know Know Fear: Knowing that the Angels of Death watch over them is a huge boon to the morale of any mortal crew, be they captain or rating. The ship gains +1 permanent Morale.

For They Are Fear Incarnate: Any successful Hit And Run attack made against a Xenos vessel or a vessel with Xenophillious crew suffers an additional 2 Morale damage.

Without access to the books to double check, that seems pretty fair for 2s/2p/+2SP

Errant said:

It's half a Barracks - which is for hundreds, if not thousands, of troops and hardware.

This is for 10 Marines - Maximum!

professor_kylan said:

-2 Power looks good.

I hadn't given much thought to the bonuses it would provide the ship - other than the chance for the characters to play both Deathwatch and Rogue Trader. I would be loathe to give too many bonuses as the Marines are not at the beck and call of the Rogue Traders... They fight when they want/need to fight.

I like aspects of your sugestion, but I might think on it some more.

I wouldn't include the morale bonus as Marines share the bejesus out of most humans and they do mean that a Rogue Trader isn't able to indulge in some of the more criminal/profitable activities.

It's overly complicated - which I don't like... Our group are adding this componant to allow Deathwatch characters to play along side Rogue Trader characters.

Here's an update:

DeathWatch Watch House

Space 2, Power -2, SP 2

Suffer not the Xenos to Live : The Rogue Trader may not deal with any Xenos and no Xenos (excepting specimens) may be allowed on the vessel (eg. Kroot or Ork mercenaries, etc). The Rogue Trader suffers -250 Achievement points for any Criminal Objective involving Xenos.

Deathwatch Machine Spirit : The Machine Spirit of the Watch House ensures the security of the fortified outpost and gathers all data from the Auger Arrays for transmission to Deathwatch Command. In addition to coordinating the automated defences of the Watchhouse, the Machine spirit provides extensive tactical information to the ship's defenders. The ship gains +20 Command tests when defending against Hit & Run attacks.

Faithful unto Death : If breached the Machine spirit will anihate the Watch House to protect it's secrets. The If the ship is taken, this componant explodes - the ship takes 2d5 damage to Hull integrity and a componant of the GM's choice is set on fire.

I'm thinking of deleting these last two:

Know Thy Enemy: The Rogue Trader may gain advice from the Deathwatch on various Xenos. +10 Forbidden Lore: Xenos

Angels of Death: If the Deathwatch choose to participate (GM's choice) in any Hit And Run attack made against a Xenos vessel or a vessel with Xenophillious crew - the Xenos suffer an additional 2 Morale damage.