I haven't seen the actual rules yet, as there is no local gamestore selling WH40K stuff, and there is no purchasable pdf out, to my knowledge, but in regards to this being treated as a jump pack, aren't Scourges capable of actual flight?

I am fairly sure they are.

What are you thinking, Plushy, like +5 Agi -5 T and Jump Pack rules? Seems fair enough.

HappyDaze said:

They don't - the touch of the Warp wreaks a spiritual toll upon the Dark Eldar, representing the long-term effects of having their souls slowly devoured by Slaanesh. Corruption increases the number of Pain Tokens a Dark Eldar character must accumulate to gain additional Fate Points, and potentially worsens the consequences of going without Pain Tokens for a protracted period. They don't gain the normal penalties for accumulated Corruption, though they do still take Malignancy Tests as normal (just with a different outcome for failure), so they do benefit from the Dark Soul Talent.

The Corruption rules are meant to tie into the Power From Pain rules. I'm not sure how I'd work them for Craftworld Eldar, though I would still have them subject to Corruption (though with ready access to Armour of Contempt rather than Dark Soul - a small but fitting distinction). My initial inclination is to give Craftworlders (and similar - Corsairs and Exodites) rules for Soulstones in place of Power From Pain - in essence, a rule to represent their metaphysical nature. Not sure what at this point.

Seeten said:

I'd say give it rules like an integrated Jump Pack with the Flyer trait to some level, and then maybe cost them a permanent Wound.

There are currently two sets of stats for the Splinter Cannon. In most ways they are identical, but there are some differences:

The Splinter Cannon from Hostile Acquisitions lacks Tearing, weighs 10kg, includes the Auto-Stabilised Trait, and is Near Unique.

The Splinter Cannon from The Soul Reaver has Tearing*, weighs 15kg, and is Rare (or Very Rare if it includes the Auto-Stabilised Trait).

In almost every way (except weight), the Splinter Cannon from The Soul Reaver is superior. Is this an intentional upgrading of the Splinter Cannon?

* In addition to the main weapon listing, the Venom vehicle lists a mounted Splinter Cannon and it has Tearing as well, so I don't believe that inclusion of Tearing is an error.

OK, after seeing the Availability modifiers for getting Dark Eldar gear outside of their enclaves, I do note that the Splinter Cannon from The Soul Reaver becomes Unique (without the Auto-Stabilised Trait) - if available at all - in most situations. This means that the one from Hostile Acquisitions must be the "cheap export model" - although it having the Auto-Stabilised Trait as standard is a bit odd.

Oddly enough, since that doesn't seem to work backwards, the Kabalite Warrior's starting Power Sword is harder to obtain in a DE settlement than an Agoniser would be… At least he starts with the Talent to use the Power Sword but not the Agoniser or we'd really have to question his shopping habits.

HappyDaze said:

Not odd at all, actually! Kabalite splinter cannons have a funny fluid core that basically uses some physics shenanigans to make them easy to port around.

Plushy said:

No, the funny part is that the Auto-Stabilised Trait is a standard feature of the otherwise inferior weapon (the one from HA that I call the "cheap export version", but it's an optional upgrade for the superior model (the one from TSR). It's like having power steering a standard feature on the basic model of an automobile, but it's an extra you have to select when getting the luxury model.

My in-game explanation will be that the splinter cannon from Hostile Acquisitions is a lighter model made exclusively for hand-held use. OTOH, the splinter cannon from The Soul Reaver is a heavier model (50% heavier) firing larger splinters that fragment on impact (providing Tearing). It is primarily intended for use in vehicle mounts, but can optionally be equipped for hand-held use (giving it the Auto-Stabilised Trait and a higher Availability). Does that make sense of the existing differences?

I kind of miss the Hail of Splinters weapon quality from PtU:Shades of Twilight. All of the splinter weapons in that adventure had Tearing when fired full auto. Then again, those weapons weren't Toxic.

Remember that I've not seen the final version of Soul Reaver, so I can only comment based on my manuscript… I wrote both versions, but the version in Hostile Acquisitions was written before the current Dark Eldar codex was available. I made changes to those rules when adding the weapon to the armoury in Soul Reaver to reflect the way they worked in the wargame, but I don't know if those changes survived playtesting and editing.

Well, since my copy of the book is going to take a bit longer to reach me than I had earlier thought, time for a question I'd forgotten earlier.

Among the other vehicles, are there stats for fighter craft, like the Razorwing from the codex or their void fighter (assuming it's different)? My Saim-Hann descended Kabalite needs to upgrade to something even faster than a reaver jetbike at some point.

Yes, the Razorwing is included.

Every Kabalite Warrior starts with a "translator unit" but I can't seem to find any write-up of just what this does. Is it listed in one of the books? If not, what are it's limits?

HappyDaze said:

****, blast it, and a whole extra suitcase full of ****.

That's a great big pile of fail on my part - I forgot to write it up.

Long-story-short, the purpose of the translator unit is simply to allow the Kabalite Warrior to communicate with the rest of the group. No self-respecting Dark Eldar would ever lower himself to learning the crude languages of prey species, so they can't (by themselves) speak Low Gothic. The translator unit allows the character to communicate with other characters speaking Low Gothic - no more, no less.

Thanks for the translator clarification. I note Low and High Gothic are available to buy at first rank - maybe a later addition? I actually like that. Certainly not every Dark Eldar will be inclined to learn them, but it's good to have options since characters will vary. There could be a variety of motivations for speaking with humans directly.

N0-1_H3r3 said:

Niqvah said:

Added after the fact - they're not in my manuscript.

The idea was drawn from Jes Goodwin's concept art of the Kabalite Warriors that was up on the GW website - notes on the images point out translator units (which appear on the models, mounted on the breastplate of their armour) and explain that Dark Eldar are loathe to degrade themselves by learning the languages of lesser creatures.

Would it be possible for DE to obtain higher craftsmanship versions of the translator units that covered other languages? High Gothic, Ork, Kroot, Tau, Stryxis, Techna-Lingua, etc. could, in theory, all be learned from captives and historical records might even allow for the Necrontyr tongue.

I'd say that it isnt about quality, but software, right? You probably just need a little data crystal or whatever they use with the required language on it.

Put the crystal in and voila?

Seeten said:

I don't think I've seen any WH40K tech that follows such a real-world example. It might make sense to us, but I don't think they "have an app for that" or ever really will.

They're Eldar. I doubt they think of it as 'software' the way we do. Hell, it's possible the translator uses the lobotomised psyche of a human to reinterpret the data a transform it into a medium the user understand. Getting it to translate other languages would be a matter of implanting it with similarly 'treated' souls of other races.

I've decided that if I want to use my translator for other languages, then I need to track down a member of that species and extract the speech centre of their brain, for a Haemonculi to analyze, and install.

I am a little curious on the political ranks within a Kabal.

I know that half-born Warriors are on the bottom and are typically led by Sybarites. Next up are the Trueborn led by Dracons. Finally, at the top we have Archons. I have read where the society is a twisted meritocracy where those that have power are those who have seized power and lived to enjoy it. This does make me wonder about one step of social mobility - the rise of the half-born. There have been examples of half-born that take on the rank of Archon. Obviously they can never hold the rank of Trueborn since this 'rank' is given by blessing of birth (literally), but can they hold the rank of Dracon? Can a talented and capable half-born (likely a Sybarite by the time this would become a possibility) ascend to lead a band of Trueborn?

I ask because while it says that Trueborn form units of their own, noting in the texts on a Dracon states that they come only from the ranks of the Trueborn. Does it make sense to have a proven half-born leading a band of Trueborn as the Dracon?

HappyDaze said:

For the purposes of this discussion, yes. However, the warriors of a Kabal - even the half-born - are still of fairly high standing in their own right. To be given the opportunity to embark upon realspace raids is a significant mark of status.

HappyDaze said:

As I see it, the ranks of Sybarite and Dracon are nominally parallel, though hideously uneven in standing - in either case, both represent the leader of a small band of warriors. Dracons are considered more significant because they're Trueborn. but that's more a generalisation borne of expectations (the Trueborn are regarded as higher status because they're Trueborn and thus represent a privileged elite in the first place) than anything else - they're the ones with wealth and power to begin with.

That in mind, I imagine that individual Sybarites and Dracons vie for standing and superiority within a Kabal continually - an unending political arena where blackmail, extortion and murder are fair game so long as you can survive the reprisals. Promotion-by-assassination is a common means of improving one's personal standing, but the higher you get, the more dangerous the consequences of such acts. In that regard, any sufficiently powerful Dracon or Sybarite could push to become Archon… but the trick isn't reaching that rank, it's surviving long enough to take advantage of it. Trueborn, being raised to politics and having better access to resources, are more likely to attempt and succeed in these power grabs.

N0-1_H3r3 said:

Would you allow an accomplished half-born to attain the rank of Dracon and lead Trueborn in battle in your games?