I've been playing Dark Heresy for a good while, and loving it. So, when my friend sent me a link to look up some of the stuff from Rogue Trader, I instantly fell in love; I can finally play 40k without shouting 'Fer the Emprah!' every five seconds. Also, Ork pirates! Da choppiest on da 'igh voidz!

Now, I may have potentially found a game, and I'd possibly like to play an Explorator. However, I was surprised to find at a glance how low Wounds seemed. I've had some close calls in DH so far, with my 12 Wound Imperial (no Sound Constitution). My potential GM assured me that the starting gear and ease of getting better stuff evens it out, but one of my worst calls was against a Genestealer with it's 7 Pen claws, which is next to all armour in the game except for one point.

Are characters really as fragile as they seem at first glance? The average tough race, like Death Worlder, seems to have only about a 25% chance of surpassing the average Imperial worlder in DH (Toughness 35 + 1d5+2, average of 10 for the Death worlder), and at 5.5k XP equivilent, that seems shockingly weak.

Our game is currently at 14,000xp (just a bit into Rank 4), and all of our characters range from 14 to 19 Wounds except one with 22 Wounds (the 22 is an oddity on a Genetor that took Feels No Pain for a +5 Wounds). Most characters have a TB of 3, with a few at 4 and all have 4 to 6 AP. That does mean that some weapons cut right through their armour, but most of the time they are not facing instant death from one hit. When they are, spending a Fate Point to reduce the damage by 1d5 is a common thing.

THe ability for the group to quickly acess things like force fields, power armor, and specialized defensive gear like shields and parrying blades also adds to their longevity. However I have managed to almost kill a PC on three occasions.

The first is when his hellgun set an ork on fire, and it spread to the people surrounding it, followed by the hellgun toting player being run over and also set aflame.

The second was when our void master caught the attention of a heavy stubber wielding servitor and flubbed his dodge roll. It put him into crticials despite the light power armor he had on.

The latest was when a daemon with warp weapon and toxic claws slashed up the Rogue trader and brought him down to zero in one go. THen he remembered he had a conversion field and managed to not take any damage, but did blind just about everyone else that was near him.

With the tough enemies they have to fight (if the gm decides to throw them at the players) they need to make the most of the superior equipment they can get. So they should be trying to get the best armor, force fields, and implants that they can. A few things to note, things like subdermal armor and machine trait stack with the armor they wear. Also you get to decide the effects of many good and best quality implants. If you find the PCs to be fragile then some of the implants (such as black bone bracing, crainial armor, and subdermal armor) can have additional effect at better quality levels.

llsoth said:

Quoi? Where does it say this, if you don't mind me asking?

Also, to the original poster, your calculation is wrong. You calculate twice your beginning toughness bonus, +1d5. So for the purposes of your calculation, the max for a deathworlder would be 6+1d5+2, which makes a max of 13. In addition, you can buy sound constitution very cheaply at most ranks, twice per rank. So your wounds can stack up pretty quick.

As a reference, I have a player with like...8 wounds, I think and a TB of 1. (She's absolutely aces on any fellowship roll though!). Her first choice for her starting gear acquisition was a Rosarius force-shield. Even integrated it into her Ancestral Seal origin item too!

George Labour said:

Strangely enough, whenever my characters encounter a "big bad", they usually emerge absolutely unscathed, but after using a lot of fate up on dodge/parry rerolls. Meanwhile fights with "hordes" of multiple low-stat NPC's tends to wear them down into near-criticals.

Fortinbras said:

Page 152 of the core book under Bionics and Craftsmanship.

It states that craftmanship should have roleplaying as well as game mechanic effect.

As not all implants have effects listed for poor,good,best quality it would fall to the GM to determine what those effects would be.

At least until there are official rules from FFG (if they ever release such).

Ahhh, I see now. I only read that it should have a "roleplaying" effect. Good to know.

Good to know it's not as murder-tastic as I thought, then (at least not for the PCs!)

For most items good and best craftsmanship generally makes it more flamboyant and possibly more reliable unless there's other effects listed. A side effect of this is that best quality items are more likely to be allowed in certain areas. An example would be a best quality bolt pistol allowed into a dress ball as it's as much a part of your costume as that uniform the PC wears.

Conversely carrying that same bolt pistol into a downhive warzone is going to mark you as a target and or someone to keep an eye on.

Back on topic

Also I've found the same situation of 'bosses' being less threatening than hordes of individual combatants. This is why I usually use the Horde rules from Deathwatch if they have to fight more than twenty or so opponents. Non mapped gameplay is also used in such 'large' combats which permits a bit more drama and stuning than the typical grid mat with a quick sketch of the area.

But I've also made sure my players are aware of options to keep themselves going. Medicae checks, fate points to regain wounds, use of bodyguards to soak up random deths, and the various types of armor and shields they can procure. Though honestly I do this because I'm the one with the majority of the books, and thus have spent the most time reading them. That and I may also swap the GM seat with another player now and then and want them to be as aware of their options as possible.