This may sound stupid but it's not perfectly clear to me so I'll ask anyway

First of all, do the penalties/bonuses apply to the Characteristic or the Roll? From what I understand they apply to the characteristic. So when I call a shot to the head and I have a BS of 43, I roll and try to score under 23.

And that leads to my next question. Is there a min/max for the characteristic being tested (after applying the bonus/penalty)?

I know that the max bonus/penalty can be +-60 but after applying that can a check be made against a characteristic of above 100 or below 0?

I know that both the "above 100" and "below 0" sound stupid as they denote an automatic success and failure but a -20 or 120 characteristic can add additional degrees of success or failure.

Also while we are into this, If I make a shot with a weapon, my BS with all the bonuses is 100, and the roll is 96 I know that it Jams but does it fire that last bullet?

If theoretically someone reaches (with bonuses) his WS or BS to 100+ every shot is a success?

Stupid questions I know but I'm kinda confused right now

Elesthor said:

Firstly, yes the penalties apply to the Characteristic.

You are correct that the max + is 60, but that can take you chance of success above 100. this does come into play when calculating the degrees of success.

AFAIK a jam means just that. no bullet is fired, it is a fail regardless of the starting characteristic.

Hope that helps

96-100 is always a miss even it the gun does not jam.

Storhamster said:

But melee weapons wont suffer from this?

Except an Eviscerator!

Storhamster said:

May I ask where is the RAW to that? I cant seem to find it

Elesthor said:

DH core rulebook pages, 196, 128 and 129.

Weapon Jams in the combat chapter, page 196:

"... To represent these unfortunate occurences, an unmodified result of 96 to 00, in addition to being an automatic miss, also indicates that the weapon has jammed..."

In the black box named Weapon Craftmanship on page 128:

"Best: ... Rangged weapons of Best craftmanship never suffer from jamming or overheating. If a roll would result in either of these occurences, simply treat it as a miss instead ..."

Under the quality Reliable on page 129:

"... If a Reliable weapon Jams, roll 1d10 and only on a roll of 10 has it in fact Jammed, otherwise it just misses as normal... "

I see. Thank you!

"Except an Eviscerator!"

But why having Ranged weapons miss on 96+ even if they dont jam and not melee ones too? (except the evisc that may hit yourself instead)

Also whats your opinion on negative and above 100 tests?

Elesthor said:

I rule that 96-100 is always a catastrophical failure regardless of whether it´s a WS-test, BS-test or skill-test. If you roll 96-00 when attacking with a melee weapon you it, trip break it or any other suitable effect.

However, in our group a roll of 01-05 is a perfect test and gains you the highest possible success for that action. That means that the attack may only be dodged by another perfect test, you do +2 damage, or you manage to perfectly lure your way past the guards guarding the Emperor himself.

So negative tests always have the chance of a perfect test, which would probably look like mind-boggling luck or the Emperors intervention to any onlookers. Likewise test above 100 can roll 96-00 and fail, and it´s good for getting many degrees of success.

I always require a test if the situation is challenging, when trying to pick a door in a gunfight for example. On the flipside, if the same trained character would try to open that door under calm and less stressful condition I give him a huge bonus to the test (around 30+).