Brother Carharias said:

No, Legion/Chapter stuff is just covered by fluff, it's not covered by the rules - but since it's a classless system, you can make pretty much anything, given the right amount of XP.

How extensive is the mutation table? Is it as awesome as the Tome of Corruption one?

What are the mutation mechanics in general? Are they talents? Are they the result of getting too much Corruption?

Which reminds me: What are the mechanics of apotheosis and spawndom?

Cifer said:

If you hit 100 corruption before hitting the required amount of Infamy (dictated at the beginning by the GM), you turn into a spawn - otherwise you become a daemon prince.

I'm personally gonna try and make a character that doesn't get too much corruption - I like being mostly human.

Of course, Corruption can be useful. It can net you any of the good mutations (and the really awful ones), and Psykers need it for Corruption-based Psychic Powers.

BYE

I would like to know what mechanics from other wh40k RPGs were incorporated into BC. I have heard about Hordes from DW, anything more? and could someone be so nice to put complete list of contents? It would be very helpful

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

Introduction

-Talks about Chaos, the history of the Empire, the Horus Heresy, and the current state of affairs.

Playing the Game

-Exactly what it says on the tin. Dice, stats, how to make tests, movement, how combat rounds work, carry limits, gravity, etc. Also epic destinies (more later).

Character Creation

-Same as before. All the classes, passions, the new experience method, starting acquisition, etc.

Skills

-Contains skills

Talents

-Contains talents

Armoury

-Contains shooties and other gubbins

Psychic Powers

-Contains psychic powers, how corruption affects them, god-specific powers, exalted powers (unaligned only), the disciplines, and ritual magic.

Combat

-Tells you how combat works.

Game Master

-Typical introductory GM info. Tells you how to do experience, example styles of play, base overview of infamy and rewards, and how to create a "Compact" which is the equivalent of an Endeavor from RT. Also interaction and fear.

Corruption and Infamy

-Contains all the info on mutations and infamy and ho corruption affects things like Infamy Points.

Galaxy in Flame

-Setting locations and worlds and such. Really cool stuff.

Adversaries

-Cool enemies. Want to see a statted Necron Tomb Stalker? This is your chance.

False Prophets

-Introductory adventure. Looks fairly good.

Big thanks Hardcore Heathen! I do not see traits on your list, does it mean that there is no more traits as separate category, only skills and talents? Is that Tomb Stalker really [Previous info mentioned about Tomb Spiders]? I would like to also ask you about compatibility with other games, especially about usefulness of some supplements [like for example MoX] for BC. Is it short work for GM or nightmare to mix with other games [especially DH]?

A strange question, but one that interests me greatly: how much fluff is there on Necrons? Is it more in line with the old Codex' "undead terminators serving the hungry star vampires" or are they more like "Tomb Kings in Space" as seen in Fall of Damnos novel and TT's 5th edition core rulebook?

Mishiman said:

Conversions are really easy, there's a really big section on how to convert characters from BC to the DH, RT, and DW, and vice versa. However, the only thing that might give you a little bit of trouble are weapon stats conversions going either way, which have drastically changed (some toned down, others given a boost). For DW to BC however, it won't be much of a problem as the errata has the revised weapon stats, and also for daemon hunters, the grey knights use the revised weapon stats. But for DH and RT to BC, you'll have to use the BC list for most of your weapon conversions, similarly, some BC weapons have new abilities, so you have to watch out for balance also.

Morangias said:

Very little, actually. It's more in line with "This stuff be scary!" and ancient prophecy and they seem to hate the Warp.

Answering these in order:

1) Where are traits?

My bad. Traits are another section under Talents. I think the only other subsection in that chapter is the rules for Minion creation.

2) Is Black Crusade reverse-compatible?

Yes. As Veroldindir said, a lot of weapons stats have changed. Some have been nerfed, some buffed, and some mechanics work in entirely different ways now. (The Flame quality is now divided into Flame and Spray; Spray fires in a cone, Flame sets things on fire.) You'll have to use BC stats when converting. There's also a handy table in the book summarizing some talent/skill/trait changes, but there's stuff that goes way beyond that as far as mechanical changes. (Full/Semi auto are half actions and give different bonuses, and a host of other things have had minor adjustments).

Mixing with other games will be somewhat difficult if you're pulling characters. I'm porting Rogue Trader into BC, and we're just going to go with "chaos magic, I ain't gotta explain s**t," and let everyone rebuild their character using BC rules. Shouldn't take too long. And honestly, you could just port the characters straight into Black Crusade...but then they would be weaker than if they'd gotten to build themselves from the ground up. (RT chars are forced to pick from the rank tree and occasionally that tree blows.)

That said, in the future I'm going to be houseruling most of the Black Crusade rules into the other games. There's a lot of stuff that's just way overdue and fairly beautiful. Hell, I'm probably going to houserule the Black Crusade advance system into the previous game - BC just fixed so many things I didn't like.

3) Is that tomb stalker really [previous info on tomb spiders]?

I have no idea what you're talking about, sorry. There is a Tomb Stalker, and it is a beastly monster. There's also quite a few other 'cron units, like Immortals and Scarabs.

4) How are Necrons portrayed?

I've not really read much of the old fluff beyond what's on Lexicanum, so I can't really comment. One of the "notable NPCs" of the Screaming Vortex is a named Necron, Aetehk the Watcher. (And Dulahan is more or less right. The book is written from the "perspective" of a heretic, and even the brightest of heretics don't know much about the Necrons.)

I just thought about the races of the game. Would you be able to transfer races from DH or RT into the game and use them as race templates (Like mutants from Radicals Handbook)?

Or are the race templates for BC too different that you would have to make huge changes to old races?

Too different, I think - the xenos careers from Rogue Trader are very much tied into the char-gen system for that game, which doesn't fit with the new system in Black Crusade.

Just a quick question, for the people with copies!

Can you try to explain how the Apostate works? They're good at getting followers, I know how that could work pretty well for RP, but does it have any game mechanic that can be used? I'm also a bit unsure how infamy will work in order to get gear, both mechanic and RP wise but that's of less concern.

Are the rules surrounding launching a black crusade any good?

I am curious, what are the planets like? I heard a bit about some of them in a podcast and they sounded very interesting.

@Ghaundan

Take a look at the published apostate archetype in the news section. Essentially, you make a roll (I think it was Fellowship) and get a temporary Peer talent if it succeeds.

I read it Cifer, but I have no idea how those things work exept from what I can guess based on reason and assumptions. Let's say he tries to infiltrate a...manufactorium, so he does a test and they believe he's doing an inspection or whatever. But does it entain any specific bonuses tied to the station/rank he's managed to lie himself into? Or it it more loose, as in we RP the situation, or is there a table detailing various example organization, what rank you manage to brag about and what benefits that might entail? Let's say an apostate manages to start a cult inside a manufactorum (not a major one, so not any really high ranking tech priests) and allows for a bonus on infamy rolls on aquiring items the manufactorum produses.

It's a Peer Talent. That means you get +10% to all social Tests with those guys. Unless Peer itself got changed in BC, which I doubt.

In other words, you don't get to pull rank on anybody, just make them like you. Then, if you want to pull rank, you get a bonus, but you still get to make a Deceive Test.

Morangias said:

Ah, okay. That explains it a bit, guess I'll have to take a look at how they imaging playing in the vorex will be like. I can see how becomming best buddies with a guard can help me get in, but getting friendly with a 8" murderous bastard just sounds like take one of a prison **** scene.

We'll see, the problem with the table top game seems to be making it's return, I want to be everything! Oh well, I'll talk with some of the others and see what we all like and pick accordingly so we get a well balanced team. Our GM seemed pretty good to let everyone have their "parts" in the plot so no one felt left out, even with my horrendous combat rolls.

but getting friendly with a 8" murderous bastard just sounds like take one of a prison **** scene.

It certainly does, but then again, I did tell you, the 8" murderous bastard, how I'm pretty much head of your fanclub, although your "buddy" over there is of course a little more well-liked by the locals since he always brings back cool stuff from your raids to trade, like that plasma gun - what, you don't remember a plasma gun being in his share of the loot? That's odd, because he said... er... ok, I can see how this might get a little messy, so, tell you what: I'll be right over there while you discuss it with him...

Again, questions in order. (I'll even respond to things MILLANDSON already got, though as usual he's pretty on the dot.)

1) Can I port races from Rogue Trader into Black Crusade?

Not directly. It's certainly do-able though. Just look at the things they start with and assign an experience value for all of them. Then give them a modified starting experience value and let them advance as normal. It'll certainly be a slapdash job, but it'll definitely *work*. That's sort of the nice thing about BC - it's more or less a point buy system, so as long as you can break down previous things into point values, you should be able to transfer just about anything.

2) How do I Apostate?

Apostates start with +5 Fellowship, some nifty talents/skills, and the ability to, once per session, make a Charm/Deceive test to gain the Peer talent with an organization of their choice. So, you wanna infiltrate an AdMech Forgeworld? Easy! You're not Heretic McHereticpants, you're Mr. MechFriend! Helped out that one Magos with that one thing, don't you recall? Best of friends and all that. And, as an old friend, let me give you some advice...

3) Are the rules around launching a Black Crusade good?

No. The rules essentially say, "If one of the crazy buggers gets to 140 Infamy before they hit 100 Corruption, then they win at life." It actually recommends ending the campaign on a narrative note at that point. The book does say that you can play out a Crusade, but gives no suggestions as to how to do so. Presumably this will be in an upcoming supplement. (Though, one would think the book called Black Crusade would have rules on, well, you know. Black Crusades.)

4) How does Infamy get me gear?

Mechanic-wise it works identically to Profit Factor from Rogue Trader. The modifiers are somewhat different, but overall it's the same. Flavor-wise, it represents calling in favors, receiving tithes in an effort to keep you from ravaging the land, performing services for lords, etc etc. Essentially, you are a badass, and if people do not give you things you will take them, so they like to give you things before you begin the violent taking process.

5) What are the planets like?

Q'sal is probably the coolest. It's this world where everything runs on binding daemons into stuff to make it run - think Bartimaeus Trilogy. Essentially, at the edge of the Screaming Vortex you have a bunch of weird, sometimes cool, sometimes hilariously evil worlds. As you approach the center, you dive off the deep end of sanity and the GM is recommended to distribute LSD to the players in order to facilitate the proper frame of mind. (Not really, but the worlds do get really crazy.)

So Q'sal probably has Blenders with Daemons bound to them?

Hardcore Heathen said:

Not entirely true... there is a sidebar that recommends some very, very, very general ways to handle it. But even that comes down to a few tactics rolls and such. But yes, hopefully an Ascension like supplement has rules for a Black Crusade and continuing to kick ass as a Demon Prince.

Hardcore_Heathen, thanks for the response! Feels like I have a bit better understanding of how the Apostate will work in a group. I've only skimmed over the Rogue Trader rules regarding Profit Factor but I think I get the idea. Population density/location determines what items may be found based on rarity and then a infamy roll against a modified value based on the former.

Too bad about the Black Crusade rules, but definieatly going on my supplements wish list!

Can't wait to get that book in my hands, I haven't played a pen and paper RPG in ages, and even then we didn't play much/long. Who knows, I might give GM'ing a try, although a friend was interested in trying Dark Heresy so I might GM that.... *sigh* so much to roleplay so little time.