Hi there!

I've been checking for a sci-fi RPG to buy and Deathwatch caught my attention as the game perhaps most suitable for what I'm looking for. But as I await the rulebook, and I've made some searches on the forum without finding firm answers I thought I might drop a thread with some questions regards the game to those already initiated into its mysteries.

Are the rules the same between the different 40k games by Fantasy Flight Games? And would it thus be possible to rather easy pick between different supplements and still have things reasonably balanced? For example buying the Creatures Anathema to gain the rules and stuff for more enemies that can be faced by Space Marine characters and so they can get to shot at more stuff than what’s presented in the core book. Or is rule-tweaking necessary on the part of the GM for it to work? I understand that Mark of the Xenos is supposed to be a kind of “monster manual”, but I thought that I should ask anyway, as I have gotten impressions towards both yes and no, from different posts and parts on the forum.

I kind of decided for this game because I feel that it may be most suitable for one-meeting games, which are the most common types that we are playing at present at my place due to many other parts of life demanding time and energy. Thus I kind of wondered if this assumption was correct, as I feel that Dark Heresy, Rouge Trader and the coming Black Crusade might be hard to get interesting without having at least a minor campaign going on. It’s kind of sucky to play a low level servant and know that he’ll never get more powerful because you’ll not play enough games. Better then to give them a combat monster and get them interested from the get go. This isn’t really much of a question but perhaps more of a statement, but if it is wrong I would of course enjoy the correction.

How much work is it involved in making up new alien species for the characters to encounter when it comes to relatively balanced mechanics? I understand that the core book has the Tyranids, the Tau (I have a fierce love-hate relationship with this race ?), Chaos Space Marines (since I’m mostly interested in a sci-fi setting at this point and not “fantasy in space” Chaos will have to take a step back) and the possibility to use a number of different humans. This of course is a little thin and I think that it would be fun to add other famed 40k races like the Eldar (even though they are pretty “fantasy in space-ish” as well) and the ever present Greenskins, along with some species of my own creation. In some cases these relatively original and more often shamelessly ripped off from other sci-fi games and novels

More questions may follow

Thanks you for you time

The games are compatible, but the power level is different. Dark Heresy covers 8 career ranks, and then the Ascention rules cover a further 8 on top.

I'm not too sure where Rogue Trader sits, but as starting PCs own a starship, I imagine that it sits above the first 8 ranks of Dark Heresy.

Deathwatch also has 8 ranks, and these are equivelant to ranks 9-16 in DH: A starting Deathwatch character is mightier than a rank 8 DH one.

There are a few minor difference between the systems, but not really that many. Certainly the stat-line for aliens in one game will be the same as in another. DH bad guys need beefing up to be a challenge to a Deathwatch party. Additionally; Deathwatch introduces a horde mechanic, where players gun down dozens of monsters at once. Although it's easy enough just to use DH monsters and then apply the horde rules to them.

C.A. is indeed a 'monster manual', but there's a lot of great fluff and ideas for games in there too. I imagine that MoX will be the same, but keyed to more fearsome PCs.

Someone on these boards has done a great job of statting orks and is working on Eldar. Other races are pretty easy to make up if needs be. As for balance... well, start by only throwing a few at the party and ramp it up from there... That's my motto!

Siranui said:

Rogue Trader rank 1 is equivalent to Dark Heresy rank 5. The starship and its crew are, in the end, just another tool and not something that makes the characters automatically more powerful when encountered without it.

Siranui said:

Deathwatch also seems to require some additional tweaking, considering the massive change in scale and weapon power (due to Unnatural traits) compared to the other games. From what I've seen it's not too complicated, though - just add +1d10 to DH/RT character weapons and you're set. Marines will always be better fighters (though I've heard the Vindicare Assassin still does a pretty good job), but depending on the mission DH/RT characters may be able to help with their unique non-martial skills.

The ranks differ but the xp amounts and costs for advances and the like are pretty consistent between the games. Weapon damage has been maleable as well, which makes moving gear from one system to another a little tough, but it takes a second to re-balance.

My biggest gripe is the DH vs RT/DW psychic systems. I wish FFG would come out with a comprehensive conversion pdf to reconcile the two. AND yes I know they provide conversion info but I'd rather have an official document with conversions done for me, thank you very much.

DW can be good for oneshots and is fairly easy to put new characters in from module to module. There is alot of fan made material that can help either on the DH/RT/DW forums here or on darkreign40k.

Thank you all for you kind comments. Its been most informative.

The games are compatible, but the power level is different. Dark Heresy covers 8 career ranks, and then the Ascention rules cover a further 8 on top.
I'm not too sure where Rogue Trader sits, but as starting PCs own a starship, I imagine that it sits above the first 8 ranks of Dark Heresy.
Deathwatch also has 8 ranks, and these are equivelant to ranks 9-16 in DH: A starting Deathwatch character is mightier than a rank 8 DH one.
There are a few minor difference between the systems, but not really that many. Certainly the stat-line for aliens in one game will be the same as in another. DH bad guys need beefing up to be a challenge to a Deathwatch party. Additionally; Deathwatch introduces a horde mechanic, where players gun down dozens of monsters at once. Although it's easy enough just to use DH monsters and then apply the horde rules to them.

Yeah, I kind of expected that the Deathwatch Marines would be much more powerful than the more normal humans in Dark Heresy and Rouge Trader, but with just boasting the stats - or keeping in mind just how powerful the Space Marines actually are and that they are effectively superhumans, should keep it working without any jaws hitting the floor.

I was kind of most interesting to know if the rules themselves would overlapp effetively and I take it as a yes. I kind of expected that the foes from Dark Heresy, who can well stand up to a normal human, would not have much of a chance against a Space Marine. But the important thing is naturally that I can be assured that I just have to add to their numbers, give them some cleaver tactics and the Horde system, and its good to go. Rather than having to transfer mechanics between incompatible systems for long nights and lonly weekends.

C.A. is indeed a 'monster manual', but there's a lot of great fluff and ideas for games in there too. I imagine that MoX will be the same, but keyed to more fearsome PCs.
Someone on these boards has done a great job of statting orks and is working on Eldar.

That don’t look too complicated so I think I should be able to handle that. I kind of expected that Marines would be better fighters, but wanted to make sure that they all run on the same system, if not level, as each other.

The ranks differ but the xp amounts and costs for advances and the like are pretty consistent between the games. Weapon damage has been maleable as well, which makes moving gear from one system to another a little tough, but it takes a second to re-balance.

It sounds pretty ok to me. As long as it don’t involve the use of extensive mathematics I should be able to figure it out.

My biggest gripe is the DH vs RT/DW psychic systems. I wish FFG would come out with a comprehensive conversion pdf to reconcile the two. AND yes I know they provide conversion info but I'd rather have an official document with conversions done for me, thank you very much.

I’ll be sure to be mindful of this part.

DW can be good for oneshots and is fairly easy to put new characters in from module to module. There is alot of fan made material that can help either on the DH/RT/DW forums here or on darkreign40k.

Yes, it sounds nice. I’ve already made a little check on the boards and there is quite a few threads that held some very interesting information. I’ll be sure to also pay a visit to darkreign40k. There are a lot of websites with some very good and interesting information regarding the Warhammer 40k universe if one knows where to look. Thanks! ?

Marines are very capable combatants, but they do feel 'fresh off the boat' at Rank 1 (although they are still VERY good, and capable of soaking VAST amounts of punishment). With just a few thousand XP players will feel their characters are veterans.