throwing a thunder hammer

By Hardrainfalling, in Deathwatch House Rules

one of my players wishes to develop a thor like space wolf librarian and in the long run have him throw a thunder hammer and use psyhic power to teleport / return it back to his hand (in the space wolf TT codex there is a space wolf who can do this) add a focus on lightening powers for his libby and maybe even a jet pack for flight this could be a cheesy but fun character

So can a thunder hammer be thrown ? if so with what profile?

Hardrainfalling said:

So can a thunder hammer be thrown ? if so with what profile?

At the minimum I would look at the compact trait as a guideline.

I would probably drop the stats 20% - 50% across the board, depending on your generosity, making a smaller, lighter thunder hammer more suitable to throwing. Add in either the teleporter or an anti-grav unit for the returning aspect, and I would consider pairing the weapon to either a fancy gauntlet or some type of charm/homing beacon mounted on the hand you want the weapon to return to.

RT, ITS i think, had a chain weapon that was thrown. That could be a good starting place to look at.

One thing to consider (not to be a party-pooper) is that in most versions of the thunder hammer I've seen, the hammer is attached to the marine's armor by cables. http://www.bitzbox.co.uk/product_info.php/space-marine-terminator-thunder-hammer-p-247?osCsid=rol9vm4vp1s75lr2a1asd4vd87 Obviously, as GM you can approve whatever you want. Just wanted to put that out there.

What about a Force Hammer? Although the psyker must normally be holding a Force weapon to amplify it, perhaps it could be modified to briefly hold a charge, allowing for a ranged attack? Perhaps an Eldar spirit-stone trophy would do the trick? Think of the story opportunities that could provide! He could always use telekinesis to call it back.

ItsUncertainWho said:

RT, ITS i think, had a chain weapon that was thrown. That could be a good starting place to look at.

It was called the Crimson Crown, but I don't think it returned to the thrower.

You mean Arjac Rockfist's 'Foehammer'?

foehammer was the inspiration and using telepathy rather than any teleport device to return it to hand so he starts with a normal hammer as melee and as he grows in rank in power he builds up towards a thunder hammer

i assume that a force weapon needs the libby to be holding it rather than psyically 'charge ' it and then throw it? otherwise i'd think about having a hammer shaped force weapon rather than a thunder hammer although a thunder hammer fits the theme nicely

This is the stat i would give to a force hammer , class: melee , dmg: 1d10+3 I, pen: 3, special: unbalanced,special, wt: 5, req: 25, Renown: Respected

Throwing distance of object is described p.209 in deathwatch rulebook.

It's a minor psy power in DH that allow psyker to bond an objet and make it comes in hand even at really long range like to be on planet and call his hammer whatever witch hammer right back in his hand.

So we are here talking about astartes psyker so my point is if he want a hammer coming back give it, i just can 't see why not, if a poor human psyker can do it, i think astartes could also.

You want him to pay for the power as a minor power it cost 100 exp, and even if it's a real power( right now i'm guessing) ... 200exp.

I had an Assault Marine friend that was rather fond of throwing his chainsword, while wreaking havoc with his power axe. We devised a system from one of my previous Techmarine characters to set up a mono-filament cable that would extend with the force of the Marines throw, and would retract upon the spoken word or hand movement (much akin to the Arm-weapon mounting, however I applied it so that the winch/cable mechanism was placed behind his right shoulder pauldron, and his mono-filament cable lead down the backside of his fore-arm. Later after he'd grown a few levels, he asked for the ability to be able to continue his chainswords teeth turning, granting him the ability to deal additional rending Damage over Time. Represented this as an additional 1d10 for as long as the blade stayed within the target (provided it was not ripped out or retracted.)

A small quirk that our lovely thrown-inspired Marine overlooked, was that perhaps he could have his weapon grabbed by large or heavily armored targets, and flung into the air, an Astartes Lure at the end of a Xenos fishing pole, if you will, and dealt appropriate fall damage with a chance of his cable breaking (as well as the loss of his chainblade or other chosen weapon) should the enemy pass his agility test to catch the Astartes-flung chainblade. This enemy action is opposed by the marine of course, through Strength and/or Toughness (players choice.) should he fail the opposed strength or toughness test.

And one MOAR thing Jackie: The idea of the mono-filament cable was for it to be slack with a decent amount of spare line from the marines hand/arm to his chosen target, enabling him to move freely without being jerked every which way as he would with a taught cable. This may also be prone to tangling in the feet of your foes or environment, to the Marines negative or positive outcome.

Thebigjul said:

So we are here talking about astartes psyker so my point is if he want a hammer coming back give it, i just can 't see why not, if a poor human psyker can do it, i think astartes could also.

You want him to pay for the power as a minor power it cost 100 exp, and even if it's a real power( right now i'm guessing) ... 200exp.

You're assuming that this is a power that can actually be flat out learned. I'd assume not. Astartes express psychic power through their geneseed, and are trained by the Codex or by their unique Chapter Librarium, hence why a Space Wolf can't just learn Blood Boil for example. I'd think the Astartes would need to be taught how to do this.

And no, don't give him a huge XP break on it. You're letting him throw a thunder hammer and have it teleport back to him! That's worth a lot more than 100 XP. Nothing in DW is cheaper than 200, and no psychic power is under 500. I'd set it as 500 minimum, probably 1000.

Note how DH stuff is always less expensive than DW stuff, for the same talent. It's the nature of the game: more XP awarded means it's ok for higher XP costs, and it's not like SMs have the huge advance tables of acolytes.

Theres a mini thunderhammer in the DH Lathe Worlds book which can be thrown.

In most RPG this kind of power is call a trick not even a power, in DH it is the kind of power any player with psy rating couldlearn alone.

SM don't get their magic from their geneseed, they are psyker to be recruit by the chapter and educate by the chapter Librarium.

Maybe not the thousand sons but who knows about them since the last 10000 years.

What I want to explain is this power could even be given for free to a player, what the hell, it is for the player gameplay and the fun. And don't forget that psychic power can be cancelled...

So far have fun!

foehammer was the inspiration and using telepathy rather than any teleport device to return it to hand so he starts with a normal hammer as melee and as he grows in rank in power he builds up towards a thunder hammer

i assume that a force weapon needs the libby to be holding it rather than psyically 'charge ' it and then throw it? otherwise i'd think about having a hammer shaped force weapon rather than a thunder hammer although a thunder hammer fits the theme nicely

Arjac Rockfist's "FoeHammer" has a special magnetic coupler that powers the weapon while held but releases when thrown. The "inbuilt teleport device ensures it will quickly be returned"* to his gauntleted hand (*from Codex: Space Wolves pg 51).

It should be expensive and I would almost say prohibitively so, so that not everyone who wants to be "Thor" can just pay the XP's and get it. There should be some negatives also, like it would take time to recharge before it could be thrown again, but it could be wielded in CC as a standard Melee Warhammer (without the "power" bonus). Maybe two turns or a turn and a half at least. Perhaps in stats you could add +1 to Penetration because it is a projectile (when thrown but no bonus in Melee). Try to keep things fair and balanced as much as possible. With any pluses, there have to be some negatives too. All of these things should factor into the final cost and find some way to incorporate it into the fluff or make it a Special Chapter Relic out of the Fortress Armory. Some sort of genuinely Heroic Deed or other similar action to warrant it as a reward bestowed to the Marine to "discount" the cost in XP's could be considered.

Couldn't just play a Space Wolf and track a career path to become Arjac in TDA with "FoeHammer" and the "Anvil Shield".... :blink: