Hi,

I'm about to start (I think) a Deathwatch game as GM. Being an old CoC guy, I like my insanity and corruption. Now the problem for me here is that, outside of Perils of the Warp, it's pretty hard for Killer Robots er Space Marines to actually get any going by the rules. It's going to take some time to reach any of that cool Primarch's Curse stuff.

So my question is, in what kinds of situations have you given out IPs and CPs in Deathwatch? What do you think is fair?

Its definitely a bit weird in DW.

I would tailor the IP gains to each particular chapter. An Ultramarine would gain IPs for realizing his actions are against the codex, or realizing that the codex has "failed" in some particular regard. A BT would gain IP for allowing himself to have too much contact with a psyker. A Dark Angel could gain IP from the paranoia that someone outside the chapter may know his secret. A Blood Angel could gain IP really from just excessive bloodshed, as the curse sets in over time.

Really, many of these ideas are just offshoots from the Primarch's curse as well, but the intent here is to slowly raise IPs over time, as they reach the levels of the curse. The idea being that they don't just hit the threshold, and bam, Primarch's curse kicks in.

As far as corruption, that almost purely is an aspect of warp taint. Never hand out CPs for anything other than something involving the warp, some technology using the warp, daemons, pyskers, sorcerers, and the like. Forbidden tomes and such may be able to cause them, but that falls in with warp tainted things. Realize, in a Tau (or even Tyranid), themed game, CP is probably fairly difficult to gain.

Personally, I tend to preface all IP/CP gains with a toughness or willpower test, and if that is failed, a gain of 1d5, or 1d10 IP/CP (sometimes adding in a bit more just to make it rough enough). I do prefer having it semi random, so players cannot metagame the effect and determine that is safe to go in, because its "only 3 IP." Sometimes I don't use the toughness or WP tests as those do start to get pretty easy late game, and some sources of IP/CPs are just that strong.

I like to script in little choices that result in increase IP/CP. As an example ammo is low do you take rounds off the plauge marines you have just killed? I like the idea that being force to act agaist their nature casues the marines to loose it. I have awarded the most IP for using the `I eat you and get you memories' ability (the name escapes me) , espeacilly if the target has just died in a very violent way or they're very strange Xenos. Players always get to make a willpower check to aviod though. Anybody else do this?

As far as whats fair I think its important to let the players know what there in for. I have seen people get up set when they get large amounts of IP/CPs and aren't expecting it. I have played in game where the GM has awarded us high 10+ IPs in one go for somthing that we had no control over and `no saves.' I know that 40K is grim and dark but it still a game and GM need to avoid being arbitrary. If your players are up for going mad make sure their characters make the choices that lead to their demise.

bogi_khaosa said:

The problem is this: marines live for centuries. It would be unusual for a marine to go from totally pure to chaos renegade within 5 years of play, I think. At least the system isn't build towards that.

CoC does model this probably: the closer you get to insanity, the faster you spiral downwards. In 40K RP, the more insane you get, the more resistant you become to further insanity. Appropriate for the setting where insanity is a form of protection and strength. But for corruption points the CoC principle should be applied.

Marines should be very resilient to Corruption. But if a marine has some bad luck and gets exposed to a very corrupting influence and accumulates like 10 points at once - such an unusual event should carry the danger of catching the marine in a downward spiral. Once you breach a certain threshold you should start to be it real danger to get further corrupted.

(I once posted the sketch for a temptation point system here based on the christian deadly sins but it wasn't fully developed.)

Also I think Marines should start with 1d10-1 CP/IP (or so) each.

Alex

Basically, Insanity and Corruption aren't meant to play as big a role in Deathwatch as they do in other 40k games. DW isn't just "40k with a more militant bent", it's 40k on epic level. You're a living hero of legends, genetically modified, having undergone decades of indoctrination and hypno-training, all for the sole purpose of fighting for humanity where actual humans would fail. It makes sense that things that'd make an Imperial Guardsman damaged for life are of little consequence to the Angels of Death, otherwise their very existence becomes kinda pointless.

Morangias said:

Agree 100%.

In the case of Insanity Points it's tempting due to flavoursome Primarch's Curse but you're right.

In the case of Corruption Points, I see it a bit differently. Marines can and do fall.

Alex

ak-73 said:

Oh, they do fall, but it's harder for them to fall than for the rest of humanity. In return, their fall leaves a much greater impact on the galaxy.

As I've heard people come out against it before, I'll add to this is that I like how Corruption is handled for Marines currently. Since I just can't find anything about sprouting armpit tentacles, because you accumulated too many Corruption points, that fits the theme of playing a warrior demi-god. And think it should stay that way and leave inflicting mutations on your players as something for 'special' occasions.

The discussions above about Insanity are spot-on, it has to be tailored to the chapter.

As for Corruption, simply showing them easily available, but heretical, means of power can inflict corruption. If they actually use the Xenos tech, the impossibly shard (read: Chaos) sword, or read the log entries of a Chaos Marine to find out where the rest of his horrible allies are, they're going to take way more corruption (if they fail the roll).

Also, I'm totally using the corruption-point based advancement from Black Crusade with my Space Marines. Corruption, instead of granting malignancies, will grant them awesome powers and let them channel elemental chaos - which will give them more corruption points and more awesome power. Of course, any sensible or noble marine would never use such blasphemous power, even to save the lives of his beloved battle-brothers, and would watch them die horribly one by one rather than use the power which could save their lives in an instant. In this case, they get Insanity points instead. I think "damned if you do, damned if you don't" scenarios are a great way to introduce insanity, corruption, and morality into a DW campaign.