I'm a player in a Deathwatch game, and I'm enjoying it. A few years back, I watched a demo of Dark Heresy, and it looked fun, but I just didn't get into the game at that time. Now that I'm looking into the other 40K RPGs, there is a daunting list of Dark Heresy books on the shelves at the FLGS.

What I guess I'm wondering is the following: If I'm interested in the core rules, Sisters of Battle, and interacting with Deathwatch at Deathwatch levels, which books should I look into, and is there anything else that is so essential to how the game have developed, it's silly for someone new to overlook that book?

... well, um, er...

Theoretically you're looking for the following:

- Core Rules (no brainer)

- Ascension (which takes the charakters from Acolytes/foot soldiers to Throne Agents/officers in the war against Heresy)

- Bloody of Martyrs (which is all about working for the Ecclesiarchy/the church and playing Battle Sisters)

However, what you have to keep in mind is that Dark Heresy is not only a different book but also a entirely different game, in terms of mood, theme, plot and character development.

In Deathwatch you play legendary heroes, bound by honour and duty, who don their shining armours and raise their mighty weapons to smite monsters.

In Dark Heresy you take the roles of Film Noir type agents and underdogs who investigate strange phenomena for whatever righteous or sinister motivation and hope to uncover conspiracies and secret plots in the Imperium. It's a completey different style of play.

And while it's absolutely possible to play Throne Agents (not lowly Acolytes, mind you!) in a Deathwatch setting rulewise, it just doesn't make a whole lot of sense. Could be fun for a short campaign, no doubt. But it would be a bit like playing Marlowe in "300".

I still recommend playing Dark Heresy because it's a great game!

Oh, I get the difference between the general play style. I've got a few friends at the FLGS that play across the different games that I've gotten the jist of things. It's more of a theoretical curiosity on my part than the desire to run a campaign mashing all of it together. Thank you for the reply!

If you're wanting an alternate career for a SOB running around with marines and remaining a SOB instead of Inquisitor or some other kind of throne agent-

http://www.fantasyflightgames.com/edge_news.asp?eidn=1888

Thank you, I had not seen that before.

Depending on the team composition a Throne agent is thematically and mechanically able to keep up with a Deathwatch kill team. And an ascended Sororitas may be lacking the raw superhuman durability of the Astartes, but they are still the Emperor's elite and the power of FAITH cannot be discounted. Simple enough for the Inquisitor to attatch a few "specialists" to a kill team, the better to facilitate mission success!

Thought for the day: Victory requires no explanation, failure allows no explanation.

My group is an ascended Ordo Malleus team and they are very rough company for villains and heretics. They have a shocking number of daemon and traitor-Astartes kills and several have earned battle honours fighting alongside loyal Astartes. Then after healing up and re-arming they can change outfits and attend the Planetary Governor's seasonal gala event with minimal problems. Also, the Magos has lived through melta-bombs, autocannon shells, krak missiles and so on... Being inside an exploding Vindicator tank worried him since he actually had to sit down in the crater and regenerate for a few minutes! The Emperor makes his servants TOUGH! We also have a rank 5 Deathwatch kill team that one of my players GMs for. Astartes win doing the unflinchingly heroic space-knight thing... Throne Agents cheat! Either way, the Emperor's Will is done.

As for books, I'd also suggest the Inquisitor's handbook. It was the first to introduce certain concepts such as special background packages, level substitutions, and so on. It also has a smorgasbord of weapons and tools, and was the first to introduce the Sisters - personally, I prefer their advancement scheme to the ones in Blood of Martyrs, but maybe it's just me .

The_Shaman said:

Well, it's a different approach that the new DH books have in common. The new careers are all a little more powerful than the original ones, which actually makes more sense to me. For instance, launching a new campaign my player characters start at rank 3 the very least. And I don't cling to the equipment rules either, I don't know any GM who does.

@ShadowFighter88 - well, they start with some prety nice armor in IH as well - carapace body armor and mesh cowl. Still, power armor and bolter at level 1 - get serious, guys . Heck, I thought the hospitaller carapace was pushing it (and imo it does), but power armor at level 1?

Yeah, but still - at least if the IH Sister takes the carapace armour and mesh cowl, that's just covering her head and body. Even if you take the BoM Sister's power armour away she's still got the armoured robe those guys in the afore-linked video mentioned which gives her AP3 all-round (except for her head, I expect).

EDIT:

Well, it's a different approach that the new DH books have in common. The new careers are all a little more powerful than the original ones, which actually makes more sense to me. For instance, launching a new campaign my player characters start at rank 3 the very least. And I don't cling to the equipment rules either, I don't know any GM who does.

What's wrong with the equipment rules, anyway?

Screw Dark Heresy, go for BlackCrusade! As far as I can see, it does have the better rules.

I actually try to change one of my groups to BC and will offer BC to the other one once their DH characters reached 8th rank.