As a GM I try to play in as many games as possible, so as to see different styles or to aid other GMs in understanding what can be at times a very complex game. One I'm playing currently is starting to try my patience.
The GM used to run a RT game with a few other players in the group, before trying his hand at DH. He prefers the RT system for Psykers because he says it has less of a chance of blowing up others in the party needlessly. I disagree. Further he is seeming to combine the worst of both systems with his focus power test.
Under the DH system, powers are activated by making threshold, in a focus power test. Under RT, powers are activated by a WP roll. In his system, Psykers roll with the normal bonus of + 5 per effective Psy rating, but then have to pay a penalty equal to the threshold from the DH system.
So for example, a Psyker with a Psy rating of 4 (+ 20) & a 55 WP would normally have a base of 75, but then lose say 20 off that (55) if activating Seal Wounds. The GM doesn’t seem to realize that the Psyker in our game regularly pushes every time he uses Fire Bolt. His fettered chance to activate is a 54%, unfettered 64% and jumps to 79% when he pushes for that ability. So a player who has played only DH previously will often push if he wants things to work ‘normally’. The GM allows for Favoured by the Warp (since it is listed in the RT rulebook) but players can’t use or buy Discipline Focus or Power Wells, even though those abilities have conversions listed in the RT book.
It seems to me that when crunching the numbers, there’s a much greater chance for warp issues than in a normal DH game, especially since the Psyker players in the group are used to the standard DH system.
Imagine if you will, another example of a Psyker with a Psy rating of 1, and a 51 WP pushing to make Dull Pain work properly. Another aspect of this GM’s game is any power that has ‘healing’ effects, i.e. Healer, Dull Pain, Staunch Bleeding, Seal Wounds etc., can only be used every 6 hours with the same limitation normally only applied to ‘Healer‘. The Psyker in this example is pushing because without doing so he is unlikely to get enough OB (overbleed) levels to take away all his fatigue levels (currently at 3). The fettered or unfettered roll in this case is only 48% (51 + 5 (Psy 1) - 8 (threshold of Dull Pain). Under RT rules each OB is achieved by levels of success, not a point amount over as in DH. So the Psyker must roll a 27 or less to get rid of all his fatigue. By pushing his chance to activate goes to 63% to activate and a 42% chance of removing all his fatigue. The Psyker does have to worry about the 41% chance of ending up on the perils chart.
(But what the hell,… if he blows up half the party, it doesn’t matter anyway. If he dies, he gets to bring in a new character the nest session at the same experience of everyone else in the party. Yes, you heard right, the GM keeps everyone at the same experience level. So if someone leaves, comes back, makes a new character, everyone is equal. Disgusting isn’t it? It encourages players to play chaotically, since there is no consequence to their actions. The running joke right now is if we all die, we’ll just create RT characters.
Back to the example.)
Under normal DH rules, the Psyker with a rating of 1 & a 5 WP bonus needs a Focus power test of 8, with every 5 points over giving an OB level. In the example with 3 fatigue levels, the Psyker will need to activate the ability twice at minimum, possibly three times at maximum. Should he activate the ability with a roll of a 9, he will get an OB, which means even if he has to roll to activate it three times or more he can only end up rolling for Phenomena a maximum of twice. With a WP bonus of 5 he will need to roll a 3 or higher to activate the ability, giving him an 80% chance to activate, a 20% to fail, a 10% chance for Phenomena & a 30% chance for an OB.
Unless I’m running my numbers wrong, I’m seeing a 45% to get an OB on the first two rolls, with a 16% to get on the Phenom chart once.
Overall, I’m seeing a less than 20% to get on the Phenom chart, which then has a 26% to get on the Perils chart vs. the GM’s system which automatically will be on the Phenom chart with a 41% to land on the Perils chart, and not being sure of getting all the fatigue removed.
The Psyker shown in this example is not yet a Psyker, but will be by rank 7 as he is the party’s Adept (my character).
While I realize that all of this falls into the GM prerogative of how he wishes to run his campaign it seems to be very unfair to Psykers, yet there are no changes to the Tech-Priest, as that player, a close friend of the GM gets to run his character normally with no changes. Most GMS will agree that the Tech Priest and the Psyker are two classes the most hard to judge fairly, as neither have any real basis in a game based on Scientific fact as we know it today, but exist solely in a fantasy / sci-fi setting.
So the question I have for the community at large boils down to this:
Do you?
A: agree with me (my numbers crunching seems to make sense, the system he is using is unfair to Psykers and that I must have some passing knowledge in Scholastic Lore-Numerology)
OR
B: agree with the GM (he’s a Lawful GM, and he gets to pick the Laws, no matter how unfair they might seem)
OR
C: think the answer is somewhere in the middle.
If your answer is A or B, just note that when you post and move on. If it’s C I would like a somewhat detailed response on what you think, as while it may not be utilized by either party, I am trying to find some common ground here that is fair for everyone.
My only other option is leave the game and try to find a group of players who actually play by the rules. Wouldn’t be the first time.