Debriefing

By vogue69, in Game Mechanics

How do you handle the debriefing? Let's say your troops did something heretical or they ran from opponents, sold gear for drugs or learned some psy-powers during the mission.

How do you decide if they get away with it?

vogue69 said:

How do you handle the debriefing? Let's say your troops did something heretical or they ran from opponents, sold gear for drugs or learned some psy-powers during the mission.

How do you decide if they get away with it?

Depends on A) how much proof they left behind. If they left no traces of their actions then they're golden. If the Comissariat suspects them they will investigate and if they can prove it or are sure enough that they don't care about solid proof then you go to B) your group's playstyle. If they like WH40K fluff and actually did all that crap it's BLAMMING for everyone who doesn't have a Fate Point to spare, and using a Fate Point would represent anything from an extremely merciful Comissar deciding to inflict an extremely cruel and unusual punishment instead of the mercy of a bolt round to the back of the head, or the guys getting transferred to a Penal Legion. If they aren't that fans of fluff you could do away with the BLAMMING threat and just punish them as you see fit if they get found out.

isn't the debriefing with the commissars an interrogation? Should they roll deceive tests vs the commissars scrutiny? Or resist with Willpower vs Interogation so they don't collapse and admit to everything?

how the hell should anybody know, if a psyker learns new powers from the warp, and why would he tell that to the commissars?

vogue69 said:

isn't the debriefing with the commissars an interrogation? Should they roll deceive tests vs the commissars scrutiny? Or resist with Willpower vs Interogation so they don't collapse and admit to everything?

how the hell should anybody know, if a psyker learns new powers from the warp, and why would he tell that to the commissars?

I don't think that every squad is interrogated by a comissar after every mission. There might be some sort of questioning when a squad survives something that they really shouldn't or something out of the ordinary occurs but I don't think that there's the resources avaiable to question every guradsman returning form a mission.

vogue69 said:

isn't the debriefing with the commissars an interrogation? Should they roll deceive tests vs the commissars scrutiny? Or resist with Willpower vs Interogation so they don't collapse and admit to everything?

how the hell should anybody know, if a psyker learns new powers from the warp, and why would he tell that to the commissars?

That depends on the Comissars. If they have suspects they will indeed interrogate them. If the Comissars are only probing with simple questioning then yes, its Decieve vs. Scrutiny. If things get serious and there's an actual interrogation it's Interrogation vs. Willpower to not spill the beans.

A Psyker learning new powers isn't a crime, unless those powers were learned from a Daemon, a blasfemous text or something equally heretical. If that is the case, the Psyker should be wary not of the Comissars, but of other Psykers in his regiment which might correctly identify the power's dark nature and denounce him.

Another thing entirely is if a regular Guardsman spontaneously gains psychic powers. If this was intentional on the Player's part then he deserves whatever he gets. If it was involuntary, say the result of a mutation, the GM should seriously ask the player wether he understands the impications of what has happened to him and wether he would want to spend a Fate Point to avoid such a fate. Successfully living as a hidden psyker would depend on how subtle he is with his new found powers. If he gives clues, such as unnatural things happening around him, showing inhuman insight or causing mild psychic phenomena then the Comissars will investigate in earnest. If found out he will be either executed, sent off in a Black Ship if one is available (which usually isn't) or, if he's incredibly lucky, requisitioned by an Inquisitor. Regardless, he would be out of the campaign. On the other hand, if he starts shooting green lighting out of his ass then he doesn't need to wait for the Comissars. Everyone around him will either be fleeing for dear life or shooting him on sight.

vogue69 said:

How do you handle the debriefing? Let's say your troops did something heretical or they ran from opponents, sold gear for drugs or learned some psy-powers during the mission.

How do you decide if they get away with it?

I would do whatever makes for an enjoyable story for everyone.

As JuankiMan said, if your group enjoys the 40K fluff AND if the group would find the process engaging, then "debrief" them. If the debrief would complicate things and players are at risk of losing their characters (and the players don't want that to happen) then gloss over it, or go easy on them. It is not necessarily about appropriate cause and effect, it's about what the group thinks is a good outcome for the 4 hours they spent RPing.

yeah it's more about letting them get away with murder, because the debriefing isn't covered in the book. Nontheless the book points to it at various sections, for example page 163 top right, or under "Wrap-up", page 260 (Why the hell would they admit to acts of treason?).

vogue69 said:

yeah it's more about letting them get away with murder, because the debriefing isn't covered in the book. Nontheless the book points to it at various sections, for example page 163 top right, or under "Wrap-up", page 260 (Why the hell would they admit to acts of treason?).

It isn't covered in the book because debriefing is a pure RP activity that requires no rules whatsoever. And this is the Imperium. A very devout or puritanical Guardsman might confess his crimes out of guilt knowing full well that his abosultion will be posthumous. The Emperor sees all and you don't want to be on his bad side, do you?

@vogue69

(Why the hell would they admit to acts of treason?)

I don't know your players, but mine semi-regularly blurt out things they really, really shouldn't. "And then we heroically ambushed the Ork waaagh-boss by collapsing the building onto him!" - "Would that be this building over here on the map? The one marked 'Martyrers' chapel'? The one you told us before was already ruined when you got there?" - "Er… oops?"

Also, why would it be easy to get away with murder just because the debriefing isn't covered by all sorts of rules? It should be relatively clear what it involves: You talk about what happened on the mission. If your debriefer finds anything suspicious (or your story doesn't mesh with the ones your squadmates tell), he's going to ask follow-up questions. If you have to lie, you do what you always do: Roll Deceive versus Scrutiny, difficulty depending on the lie. If it gets bad enough and the whole thing turns into an outright interrogation, you roll Willpower vs. Interrogate.

Could you please restate the problem?

Cifer said:

@vogue69

(Why the hell would they admit to acts of treason?)

I don't know your players, but mine semi-regularly blurt out things they really, really shouldn't. "And then we heroically ambushed the Ork waaagh-boss by collapsing the building onto him!" - "Would that be this building over here on the map? The one marked 'Martyrers' chapel'? The one you told us before was already ruined when you got there?" - "Er… oops?"

Also, why would it be easy to get away with murder just because the debriefing isn't covered by all sorts of rules? It should be relatively clear what it involves: You talk about what happened on the mission. If your debriefer finds anything suspicious (or your story doesn't mesh with the ones your squadmates tell), he's going to ask follow-up questions. If you have to lie, you do what you always do: Roll Deceive versus Scrutiny, difficulty depending on the lie. If it gets bad enough and the whole thing turns into an outright interrogation, you roll Willpower vs. Interrogate.

Could you please restate the problem?

Yeah I get the whole roleplaying thing but that would mean getting one player at a time into another room with you and letting them reiterate the story. that seems a bit over the top. I guess I will stick to the deceive vs scrutiny stuff.

Tough luck for all the lying min max guardsman with 20 fellowship :) they better behave.

vogue69 said:

Cifer said:

Yeah I get the whole roleplaying thing but that would mean getting one player at a time into another room with you and letting them reiterate the story. that seems a bit over the top. I guess I will stick to the deceive vs scrutiny stuff.

Tough luck for all the lying min max guardsman with 20 fellowship :) they better behave.

Depends on your group. Having private conversations with players is a great GM tool, specially when you're relaying information that the player himself doesn't want the rest of the group know. It develops a delicious sense of paranoia that can lead to very interesting RP opportunities, which is something a simple Decieve vs Scrutiny check cannot hope to accomplish. Not to say you shoudln't make them roll, but a good rehearsed story agreed upon them all might give bonuses while an inconsistent mess will apply penalties.

Additionally, as the debriefing happily always happens at the end of the story, you can just debrief via email between sessions.