Hi all, I'm new to Dark Heresy and plan to be a GM for some of my friends. But as I have read the core book, I never saw the stats of The Empires greatest warriors: The Space Marines. I think it's pretty boring then I can't really put them into the game. The same goes for the Chaos Space Marines, in such a huge universum it would be boring not to see a Space/Chaos marine in action. So my question to you all, is what might there stats be?

Thanks in advance ^^

Hakazu said:

There are stats for a Veteran Deathwatch Space Marine in Purge the Unclean, though he is quite skilled and powerful by Space Marine standards, IMO.

For a generic Tactical Marine, I'd suggest something along the lines of:

Generic Astartes Tactical Marine
WS BS S T Ag Int Per WP Fel
47 44 58(8) 35(6) 35(3) 32(3) 44(4) 43(4) 33(3)

Movement: 4/8/12/24; Wounds: 20

Skills: Awareness (Per), Common Lore (Imperium) (Int), Scrutiny (Per), Speak Language (Low Gothic) (Int), Climb (S), Scholastic Lore (The Astartes) (Int) +10, Intimidate (S), Survival (Int)

Talents: Armour of Contempt, Ambidextrous, Basic Weapon Training (Bolt), Die Hard, Melee Weapon Training (Primitive), Pistol Training (Bolt), True Grit, Fearless.

Traits: Hulking (conferred by armour), Unnatural Strength (x2), Unnatural Toughness (x2)

Armour: Astartes Power Armour (Head 9, Arms 9, Body 9, Legs 9; confers +20 Strength (+2 SB), included above)

Weapons: Astartes Bolt Pistol (35m; S/2/—; 2d10 X; Pen 5; Clip 10; Rld Full), Astartes Bolter (100m; S/4/-; 2d10 X; Pen 5; Clip 28; Rld Full), Astartes Combat Blade (as per Mono Short Sword; 1d10+7 R; Pen 2, or as Mono Combat Attachment; 1d10+8 R; Pen 2), 3x MkIII Frag Grenades (24m; S/-/-; 2d10 X; Blast (5)), 3x Krak Grenades (24m; S/-/-; 2d10+4 X; Pen 6)

Gear: Armour Systems (Micro-Bead, Infra-goggles, Photo Visor, Respirator), 2 Bolt Pistol Magazines, 4 Bolter Magazines

It's not strictly background-accurate (Tactical Marines, as defined by the current Space Marine codex, have already served as both Devastator and Assault Marines), but rather a fairly basic representation designed for effect more than anything else.

For comparative purposes, consider this Khorne Berzerker - depicted as a veteran of the Long War, and thus a very deadly combatant:

Khorne Berserker
WS BS S T Ag Int Per WP Fel
57 41 69(10) 43(8) 45(4) 37(3) 44(4) 42(4) 26(2)

Movement: 5/10/15/30; Wounds: 25

Skills: Awareness (Per), Intimidate (S) +20, Speak Language (Low Gothic) (Int), Climb (S), Survival (Int), Forbidden Lore (Daemons), Forbidden Lore (Warp),

Talents: Basic Weapon Training (Bolt), Battle Rage, Berserk Charge, Crippling Strike, Crushing Blow, Frenzy (can Frenzy at will), Melee Weapon Training (Chain), Pistol Training (Bolt), Combat Master, Ambidextrous, Two-Weapon Wielder (Melee, Ballistic), Die Hard, True Grit, Fearless, Furious Assault, Swift Attack, Lightning Attack

Traits: Brutal Charge, Hulking (conferred by Armour), Unnatural Strength (x2), Unnatural Toughness (x2)

Armour: Chaos-Warped Power Armour (Head 10, Arms 11, Body 12, Legs 11; confers +20 Strength (+2 SB), included above)

Weapons: Astartes Bolt Pistol (35m; S/2/—; 2d10 X; Pen 5; Clip 10; Rld Full), Massive Best-Quality Chain-Axe (1d10+17 R, Pen 4, Tearing, +10 on To Hit rolls)

Gear: Armour Systems(Micro-Bead, Infra-goggles, Photo Visor, Respirator), 2 Bolt Pistol Magazines

Thank you, N0-1_H3r3. I haven't bought that book just jet, and won't be able for some month but I might need thoese stats for my players. Have you used them?

Hakazu said:

Not these ones specifically, but similar ones - I did a Deathwatch one-shot just before Christmas with a group of pre-generated characters. They're tough and deadly, but not so much that they can't be stopped by sufficiently deadly enemies (in this case, Slaugth Infiltrators - from the GM Kit - armed with Power Blade equivalents, and a single Slaugth Overseer - from Disciples of the Dark Gods). Still, they seemed sufficiently powerful for what the stats are meant to represent, which is all I was looking for.

Okay, how large is your group? I plan to have 3 or more as I hope that will help the game. But have you used Orks or Eldars in your game? It just hit me that the Orks are simply everywhere in the Universium.

Hakazu said:

My normal group is 8-strong (all but two of them are GMs for other games, so everyone contributes to making sure things run smoothly), but I only had 4 present when I ran the Deathwatch game.

I've not yet had Orks make an appearance in my game, but the Dark Eldar showed up recently (as I'm running the adventures in Purge the Unclean), and they proved to be something of an unpleasant shock for the group.

N0-1_H3r3 said:

8? Oh, so my group might be small then? Did they have some big problem with the Dark Eldars? Sorry if I ask so much questions but as I'm newbie to Dark Heresy, I want as much advice as possible. What was there first mission, do you make they roll test often or not?

Hakazu said:

My group is on the large side - I wouldn't recommend more than 5 or 6 players for an inexperienced GM, and the only reason I've allowed a group this large is that I know I can trust my players to help keep things running (by continuing to roleplay by themselves while I deal with one or two players specifically, if the group has split up, for example). Normally, I'd limit myself to 6 players, sometimes less depending on the type of game I'm running. 3-4 is fine for most games, however.

I've run through pre-written material primarily so far. We started with Edge of Darkness, followed by Maggots in the Meat (to scare them a little; it's the scenario in the GM's Kit), then Illumination (from the Rulebook), and currently Purge the Unclean (the third adventure, Baron Hopes, begins tomorrow night), with House of Dust and Ash (from Disciples of the Dark Gods) to follow, before going freeform with the campaign and letting the group pick and choose the leads they want to follow (having already given them a wide range to think about).

With the Dark Eldar... it wasn't so much a problem as a carefully designed challenge with a little improvisation as needed. I've been GMing Dark Heresy in its current incarnation for nearly two years now (I was a playtester), and have been GMing WFRP (which is similar in many ways) for years, so I've got a lot of experience regarding how lethal the combat can be. I thus made a point of nudging and tweaking the Dark Eldar stats from Purge the Unclean to ensure that they were a sufficient threat for the group, but not so much that the group couldn't succeed (the more difficult the challenge, the more satisfying it is to triumph). It's something that each GM has to do for his own game,

Tests... only test when it's important to the story, and don't be afraid to put whatever modifier on tests that you deem appropriate (the prewritten scenarios do give difficulties, so you're not entirely without assistance in that regard).

Then I will test =) Thank you for your help, it really helped.

How about Ork stats? I want to use Orks in my mission after the players have grown some, but since I'm really bad to come up with stats of any kind I can't come up with anything for Orks, Eldar, Tau or Tyranids.

There are some nice ork rules floating around the net, but if you're willing to wait just a little bit for Creatures Anathema, you will have access to official ork rules.

Hakazu said:

There'll be Ork stats in Creatures Anathema. They were going to be in Disciples of the Dark Gods as part of the Beast House section, but (along with the Genestealer and Ambull) were moved to CA to give such established and iconic creatures a little more room.

There are Dark Eldar in Purge the Unclean, which can serve as a decent enough basis for other kinds of Eldar.

Tau... I don't know of any unofficial rules for Tau, and I know there are no official ones (the Calixis Sector is on the wrong side of space for the Tau to be a presence)

As for Tyranids... I wrote an extensive fan supplement about the Tyranids for Unearthed Apocrypha, entitled "The Great Devourer". While the Unearthed Apocrypha site is down at the moment, I've just re-hosted the supplement on my webpage, a link to which can be found in my signature, below.

I've told my frinds that you should be on FFG's payroll Nathan! Your suplements are all phenomenal!

I can wait for it. I didn't know there would be Ork stats in it, that's why I asked ^^