Hi All,

Now maybe I missed this someplace in the book but at character creation, new characters get 400 xp to spend. When this XP is spent does it go towards advancing the character to the next tier?

Tier 1 ends at 499 xp so basically a character would only need to obtain and spend 99 points to get to the next tier. Now I am still in the planning stages of my game and haven't actually run anything in Dark Heresy so I'm not quite sure how awarding xp works yet but 99 points doesn't seem like much. Seems like one could get that in a single session.

Any of the more experienced players/GMs want to chime in?

Thanks

Dennis

It isn't much, but that second rank isn't that much either, after their first mission the Acolytes lost the greenesss around their ears

First of all: they should get about 100Xp in a session. Have a look at the examples for xp awards on page 228 & 229. 100xp isn´t much.

All-in-all, the XP-Advance System in DH seems very "straight forward" for me. 500xp = next Rank. This is very different to most other RPG-Advance systems where you normally need an ever increasing amount of xp in order to get the "next level". In DH, this is only true when it comes to the attributes, which are the "meat" behind all the dice rolls. Advancements might be nice, but in the end it is the attributes the roles are made.

So, do not worry if your pc will reach rank 4 after completing 3 missions. This is completly alright if this missions where complex and involved difficult situations to overcome.

Santiago said:

That is if all the Acolytes SURVIVE their first ordeal. >XD

But thats what burning fatepoints are for, right?

//Varnias Tybalt - Techpriest with 7 fatepoints so far, because he NEVER had to burn any (unlike his Inquisitorial colleagues)

Interesting... Thanks for the tips. I look forward to running the game if I could ever find a couple more players.

I read through the adventure in the back of DH ... is this a suitable first adventure for a group? The final encounter seemed pretty deadly. Plus I was looking at the stats of one of the characters created for the mission thinking... wow, this guy is never going to hit the bad guy let alone kill him.

I'm running it now, and maby two of the players have picked up the hints of how to survive.

... but I'm counting on the deadly aspect of the finale...

drseuss620 said:

And that's what Fate Points are for. Contrary to popular belief, Fate Points aren't there just to give you free Hit Point refills, but fill a multitude of rolls.

Yes the creature is deadly, yes it can be beat with some thought put behind it, no not everyone may survive, and if they do survive not everyone may be playable, and if they are playable there is a good chance their walking away with some scars, either Physical scars, spiritual scars, or mental scars.

40k isn't about killing level 1 spiders and rats and assuming you're a hero. Its about killing a two headed beast that is part spider/part rat, which just looking at it drives most people insane, and which can with a though split your head like a melon.

Think Call of Cthuhlu more then AD&D.

Plus trust me, that first adventure is easy compared to some of the later ones they've been putting out (I'm looking at you Haarlock.)

Okay, So I have played CoC a fair bit and I understand the thought process behind that game. I guess I better just preface the game in the beginning by telling everyone... look, don't think you are going to be Bran the warrior and come in and slash everything up and stuff and be able to walk out to a cure light wounds.

Pretty much, although I don't like CoC and don't like how it manhandles the genre - I don't think the "feeble humans who will never win against the outer things" approach is quite correct for Dark Heresy. Dark Heresy is about the potential for humans to win, not about the inevitability of their defeat. On the flip side, it's also about winning against overwhelming odds, and the game is certainly all about the odds being overwhelming. So, you kind of need a "Goldilocks difficulty" for the game.

Gregorius21778 said:

1000 a session? Looking at those pages that would require over 5 very hard encounters with role playing bonuses. We typically get 250-350 a 4-5 hour session.

Gregorius21778 said:

It also isn't 500 for the next rank in RAW. The later ones reuquire 1, 2, 3 and four thousand each so yes, the cost does increase.

1000 a session? Looking at those pages that would require over 5 very hard encounters with role playing bonuses. We typically get 250-350 a 4-5 hour session.

Someone read a 0 too many in that quote.

And that's what Fate Points are for. Contrary to popular belief, Fate Points aren't there just to give you free Hit Point refills, but fill a multitude of rolls.

Yes the creature is deadly, yes it can be beat with some thought put behind it, no not everyone may survive, and if they do survive not everyone may be playable, and if they are playable there is a good chance their walking away with some scars, either Physical scars, spiritual scars, or mental scars.

40k isn't about killing level 1 spiders and rats and assuming you're a hero. Its about killing a two headed beast that is part spider/part rat, which just looking at it drives most people insane, and which can with a though split your head like a melon.

Think Call of Cthuhlu more then AD&D.

Plus trust me, that first adventure is easy compared to some of the later ones they've been putting out (I'm looking at you Haarlock.)

That merely shows you can play the game in different ways. The CoC-approach can be very frustrating and thus can easily lead to not investing too much time and energy into your characters, which massively detracts from the roleplay.

For a very productive 5 hour session, my players net 4-500 xp. For a mildly productive session they'll average half that.

Each scenario I run ranges from 300-1000 xp, though the bigger rewards usually stem from longer missions taking up multiple sessions. In general, if the time is mostly productive (not screwing around, but moving towards goals), my players probably get 100xp per hour. On average, I'd say they make half that over their blocked playtime, as they spend about half the time we play wanking ,overall.