Is there a cap on the bonuses that a charcter can receive on a dice roll? I thought in WHFRPG that there was a 30% cap. Does that exist in Dark Heresy as well? Is there a page reference?

Thanks!

On page 197, the cap was listed as +/- 30%. But as of the errata, it was bumped-up to +/- 60%. In the first version, it's on page 2, at the bottom of the left columm. In the v2 errata, it's on the first page of the pdf, top of the right-hand column.

Also note that it only ever says the modifier cap is applicable to combat .

combat is +60/-60, skill use is Easy(+30) / Very Hard(-30). Generally speaking, in combat various modifiers (range, visibility, etc) are added together to find a net bonus/penalty; while with skills the GM decides how easy or hard a skill is and consults Table 7-3 to find the appropriate modifier. It's also mentioned in a couple other passages, like the section on Unnatural Stats in the IH, that bonuses don't exceed +/-30 for skill tests.

The combat cap is listed in the errata and the skill difficulty is on pgs 184-185

Hi,

i know this rule but the last time we had a playing session, i wasn't sure how that works if somebody got a skill with +20 and receives a additional +20 circumstances bonus from the DM. That would together +40. So does the player only get +30 or does the maximum +30 only applies to the circumstances bonus. So actually the players can get up to +50 if they bought the skill with a +20?

Ralph

darkwerks said:

Count the benefits of Skill Mastery and the Talented talent as part of the base value; the +/-60 cap applies to circumstantial modifiers, and neither Skill Mastery nor Talented are circumstantial (they're always in effect).

NEVER a good idea to penalize a player for having their character train up a skill that is important to their character. I count situational modifiers, equipment bonuses and so on towards the modifier caps, but NEVER a character's skills and talents. Besides, if one of my players somehow manages to engineer a situation so that they actually are at risk of hitting a bonus cap then I am quite happy to reward smart play and planning with a nice yummy easy dice roll. They have earned it.

Likewise I have seen modifiers for BAD things push a character's target number down to dreadful things like 02. I have house ruled that a character who somehow manages to stack modifiers for a roll into the negatives will auto-fail. Yes, this actually came up once.

Also in non combat situations a modifier of +40 or more can be considered an automatic success (don't ask me where I remember reading that from).

Hi,

@N0-1_H3r3 and ZillAprime i totally agree, it's the same way i ruled.

AFAIK: There is no Automatic Success/Failure Rule in DH. Except the player has more or equal 100% or 0% summarized from Skill + Circumstances.

darkwerks said:

I believe they can still fail on a roll of 96+%. There is no such thing as an absolute 100% chance of succeeding in anything, there is always the remote possibility of screwing it up.

There's an automatic success rule for Acquisitions in Rogue Trader, and an automatic failure for manifesting Psyker Powers. There are also base situational modifiers that go to +/- 70% in the RT rules, and certain rare situations in DH also potentially call for such extreme modifiers in the final equasion (namely Chaos Rituals).

Also note that the +/- 60% cap in combat applies to the final bonus or penalty only. So if you have +90% in bonuses and -70% in penalities, you end up with +20%, not the even 0% you'd have if both capped at 60% before the final math.

The only other automatic failure I'm aware of is for BS tests falling within the jam range of the weapon and firing mode being used, in which case you always fail to hit even if the jam itself is prevented somehow. I think that may be what Millandson is thinking of, but if it applies to other tests, then I've overlooked that particular rule.

MILLANDSON said:

Only when firing a gun. Jamming...

But not with any other skill use.

darkwerks said:

Fair enough. Still, it's a house rule I know a lot of people use, given that there really is no instance I can think of that, even with equipment and experience, that there is a 0% chance of cocking it up.