How you handling them specifically? I was thinking of using them as NPCs with a little extra boost for being in Cohesion. The RAW seems to denote them as nothing more than stat boosts, and I won't have that sir!

So….ideas? Suggestions?

-J

I dunno. The comrades are there to reflect the fact that the IG works in large units and RPGs are usually played by groups of 4 to 6. So they gave everyone a shadow and *boom* your Squad is roughly the right size.

But they didn't want to bog down the game with giving everyone two full characters to play and quite rightly, that is a nightmare.

So as it is your comrade is a combination buff + ablative armour that also give us some RPing opportunities. This simplfies things greatly.

It does still leave some obvious gaps in the rules. E.G: I tell my comrade to go steal the Ratlings 'extra' rations. What happens? Answer: Whatever the GM says because there is no resolution mechanic for day-to-day stuff that comrades can actually do, but which we don't want them doing because it takes away screen time from the PCs.

For my 2 cents I'd suggest that since everyone's comrade is kind of like their kid brother, they have all your skill at -10 is they absolutely have to roll.

But I'd shy away from making them full fledged characters because then the game will probably slide rapidly into being a squad based tactics game ala necromunda or 4e D&D.

I tend to treat the comrades as NPCs out of combat/critical tasks - they whine, cause problems and arguments, lose stuff, occasionally have briliant suggestions, and generally do everything NPCs have done to PCs in every RPG ever.

In combat, each player controls his comrade as normal; they're a trained 'wingman' and have more sense than to argue when the lasbolts start flying.

I would like it if comrades had one or two skills that they could use in behalf of the squad. there are some skills like medicade, tech use, and operate that are virtually required at times for the squad to compleate a mission and it wont allways make sense for a PC to pick them up. why did the serg learn medicade,,,,umm cause we need soemone who can treat our wounds. on the other hand jimmy the vox operator having some tech use makes sense.

We've generally ruled that comrades at least have the skills given to the regiment (useful in mechanized infantry, as that means they all have Operate(Ground)).

As far as combat goes, sadly our game has almost universally taken place inside our Chimera (its just too good a source of armour to let go), so as far as comrades, they're always in cohesion, and generally not doing much. We're allowing them to provide their BS bonus to tank gunners (they somehow assist in the shooting). Beyond that, they haven't done much (haven't had a need).

I would be inclined to use them as the rules dictate, as thats what the game is built for. If you give them too much competence/life of their own, they'll suddenly start to become insanely useful (i.e. we let them drive the chimera around as we clear out the buildings).

I've given comrades a less powerful version of the standard IG soldier statline with regimental modifications though, in game, they usually work as they're written in the rules, following their buddy/PC unless specifically told to do otherwise. If they ever have to act alone I'll use the stat block and when one of them ends up getting hit I think I'll use mook rules; they can take two wounding hits, a single dose of 10+ damage will kill them instantly and any critical hits will take them out instantly as well, though depending on the critical result they might recover into a wounded state after combat is over, need medical attention to be saved or outright killed.

I've also given each a little personality to tie them to their corresponding PC and make them seems specifically like their buddy to tie into the mechanics. The weapon spec's comrade banters with him and is an even more violent person than the PC himself, the operator's one is a composed chap who responds with barely suppressed panic when the lunatic gets her hands on a vehicle, the traumatised veteran sergeant gets an naive youngster with a go-get'em attitude who he needs to look out for, etc. They largely shut up when the players are talking between themselves, though I do occasionally use them to make observations about a situation, probe a PC for a reaction or, rarely, directly question them.

I'm just treating them as full story NPCs but otherwise sticking to RAW to keep the focus on the heroes. We're using them mostly to add numbers and flavor, for the moment, like the poor bugger who got the Unlucky demeanor…and assigned to the Squad's psyker. Who is RECKLESS.

They are currently NPC squadmates in my game, and I actually do make them contribute to combat to a greater degree with some house rules.

For example, if a comrade is within support range, they may in fact fire their weapon to damage - if the player rolling to hit with weapon is is under 1/2 the WS or BS pre modifiers, the comrade in support range (if any) also scores 1 hit from their close combat or ranged weapon, respectively, at the target. This also reflects the (strength in numbers) approach of the Imperial Guard, which is a far cry from the elite force players would be in say Rogue Trader or Deathwatch.

Secondly, I modified comrade abilities a bit for most classes for you can purchase - players may switch out comrade keyword with 'another player character' if situation is applicable. So comrade abilities may also affect to/by another player character(s). This doesn't apply to orders a player may issue with a free action, just the special bonuses a player purchases with xp.

I treat them in between Black Crusade's Minions and what they tell you in the Only War beta. The lack of detailed comrade rules is actually great for me, I personally like to customize games to fit my group's playstyle.

We have decided to make our comrades along the lines of the BC minions rules (all Lesser and without Traits). This makes them equal yet lesser powered than to their counterparts while at the same time making them stand out. But that is per our group's playstyle. If we were going to have NPC shadows then darnit we are going to do it right! And we even decided to let them earn experience, half of the PCs. However, the Comrades are the same Class as the PCs and are not allowed to use the Comrade Advances. This would make them connected to the players and they care if they live or die.

- J

Jkilla41 said:

That's a rather large change from the RAW, but if your group's ok with the doubled-combat and that much more stat and XP tracking, more power to you. Have fun however you want to :-D

"Nayfin's a pretty good guy, 'n I'm lucky to have him around. He helps me kill a lot of skinny, pointy ears and he doesn't afraid of anything. He always remembers to pick up my ripper when I put it down ('cause the kernal gets real mad at me when I forget) and he's right behind me when I's gotta' get in the thick and scrap wiff those pointies. I know that he could be promted, eh, promover'd…whateva' to Sarge or Kaptin but he likes hangin' out wiff me better."

The above is why I'm actually really enjoying the Comrade system. Some players get really into using them as roleplaying aids, like the above Ogryn player (one of mine), or our Psyker in my second playtest group, who loves tormenting her poor Comrade with her reckless ways and his Unlucky demeanor. Some mostly ignore the comrade and just have them perform minor buffs as an extra playing piece. They can be as much of a character or pure redshirt as you want.

I wrote a few additional Orders for them allowing a bit more variety.
Since I was a bit disappointed in how my players handled Comrades during the first session I added a small rule to Comrades in that they themselves decide what they do each round unless the player tells them (in character) what they should do. Obviously they don't need to tell them every round
"Private Jenkins, target this Ork and fire on my command" but at least some sort of RP was enforced (in a very light manner I think) to get a bit more out of them.