Do I see this correct? I can't find it anywere, not even the Reapers get it. Even Psykers get it. Is that an error? Has it been erratad' somewhere?

on another note: does the tearing special talent also count when using power weapons with a blade?

Assassins do not get crushing blow. You have to work your GM to be allowed to take it as an elite advancement.

I think there are some pretty long threads on the reaping talent and power swords (go search), and the official response is that the reaping talent works on power blades.

I think the actual ruling on that was that they get it when the power field turns off. I.e. when the weapon is treated as a master crafted sword.

KommissarK said:

I went and found the post with the info on email-ruling from FFG. You are right, power sword can be used by moritat without will power issues, but the tearing part only works when the power field is off.

FFG admits its a grey area, so you should get your GM to do a ruling on it. Maybe with a little luck you can convince him to let you have a lathe sword with slightly improved stats. :-)

KommissarK's right about the power sword thing. They can use them no problem but they don't get tearing.

I noticed the same thing about Crushing Blow. Will require an elite adance. Though if you're going Moritat/melee-heavy I don't see why you couldn't get your GM to agree.

Another solution to the Moritat problem (which works especially if you're not aimng for Ascension); petition your GM for the opportunity to buy the Cult of Blood advantage from the Death Cult Assassin career.

A best-quality mono-sword becomes: 1d10+1+SB, Pen: 3, Tearing, auto-confirm Righteous Fury. Lathe Blade: 1d10+2+SB, Pen: 4, Tearing, auto-confirm Righteous Fury. It's not a huge edge but it might allow you to stay with non-power weapons if that's your preference.

has anyone incorporated the new talents (bladedancer, hammerblow, etc.) into your job-tree? If so how and when?

Also: I have pretty much all the books, but after dark heresy they kicked out throne gelt. has anyone ever created prices for all the other equipment? like Explosive Arrows etc.

vogue69 said:

I let the assassin in my group get blade dancer at rank 7, and it has worked fine. He is moritat and at a downtime period he attended some training with some elder assassins.

Never really had the issue of explosive arrows - guess my assassin is not into that. Some gear they have are from rule books without prices, but usually it came in form of loot/reward, not purchase. When they want to purchase stuff with money I let them have at it in the original books, i.e. its pretty tough to buy other stuff for money.

reaping talent works on power weapons, but only when THE POWER FIELD IS OFF!

when the power field is on, it doesn't apply.

I think you mean the Bloody Edge talent; the Reaping talent is the Zelda spin attack that Moritat Reapers get.

Also, the no-Tearing when the power field is active seems stupid to me. It means Moritat lose their one advantage once power weapons become available, and have nothing else to make up for their weakness, which is a pretty crippling drawback. They become obsolete as soon as the party buys its first chainsword, which has Tearing with or without a Moritat wielding it.

The reasoning that FFG made behind their decision is silly, too, drawing comparisons to a marksman with a pistol switching to a shotgun later on. This didn't really seem like an apt comparison. Moritat gain Tearing with blades because they specialize with blades to the exclusion of all else, even blunt melee weapons. They know where to cut, which parts of the body spill the most blood when cut a particular way, and how to inflict the maximum amount of pain and damage with a blade. A power field should make little or no difference to the handling of the weapon. The reason FFG gave was that it's the power field doing the cutting, not the blade, but this seems irrelevant; it's still a sword being used by a master swordsman, so how does it affect the assassin's skill at inflicting maximum damage with a bladed weapon? And from a crunch standpoint, the Moritat has literally nothing else going for them. Even at low levels, they're at a disadvantage compared to a gun wielder, and once the party buys a chainsword their skills become redundant. You're basically paying 300 XP for a crippling drawback and the wonderful experience of rules-lawyering over which weapons you are or aren't allowed to use.

The entire experience has made me very bitter about my Moritat character and has convinced me against ever making another Moritat character again. Maybe I should just retire her early and make a different character.

"haters gonna hate", would suit this.

As a player you could plea to your gm to get the tearing with power weapons? In the end, everything is just a guideline, and is not needed to be followed strictly.

I've played moritat, and I was satisfied with him, even without chain and power weapons.

(and yes I meant bloody edge)

Boss Gitsmasha said:

Honestly, I chose to make a Moritat knowing full well it was the sub-obtimal choice. In fact, that's what I love best about my Moritat character. In order to get an advantage, to eliminate the advantage of most ranged weapons, I have to be cleaver and sneaky. That's fun. Charging into battle with a well-armed and armoured group of Xenos… that's not my department. If the enemy commander needs to be eliminated, however…

It has also been mentioned in dozens of threads before: a Moritat is an assassin speiclizing in bladed weapons, most of which are melee. If a Vindicare can sit 2 kilometers away and blast a target with his Exitus rifle, the Moritat chooses to get up close. Chain weapons and Power Weapons make noise (even an 'idle' chainsword should, to my mind, sound like an idling chain saw; the Power Field hums and crackles with energy). A Primitive bladed weapon does not.

You're right: in toe to toe combat with a bunch of Chaos Space Marines, the Moritat is not doing to well. But that's not what they're designed to be good at. The point of the Moritat is to allow players to play a character from a twisted, psycho murder-cult that makes less-than-ideal descisions about weapons because it's a matter of religious conviction. The Moritat package allows me to play that and have a good time doing it. And that crazy zealotry is why I only activate the power fields on my weapons when it's clear that nothing else is working. I like it that way. In that case, I'm not looking for an edge (pun intended) I'm just realizing that my preferred method of killing things won't work here.

I'll add as well that there are alternatives to Power Fields as upgrades for weapons. The Tox Dispenser is a personal favourite. (There are, again, plenty of threads where this is discussed.) Not to mention, being able to use two power swords with Blademaster, Ambidexterity, Two-Weapon Wielder, Assassin's strike, etc. Isn't exactly a crippling drawback. Even if they don't get Tearing as part of the deal.

In the end though, was there nothing you could work out with your GM to make the Moritat fun for you to play? As PnPgamer said, there's not reason your group can't decide to apply the tearing to Power weapons. I like them as FFG has ruled but if I had a player for whom it was a huge problem, I would at least consdier some alternatives.

(As to your assessement of FFG's rationale: I don't see why, as the designers of the game, they couldn't be justified in making the ruling you cited above.)

Boss Gitsmasha said:

Sad the hear that Boss GS but from when I played I have to disagree. From start onwards a mono'd great weapon is devastating. A mono'd greatweapon with blood edge is beyond devastating. Even later on it holds up against power weapons when you can lathe it.

If you didn't want to use a great weapon, that's understandable, you've saved youself the exp and cash for a chain weapon. If you can't do without a power-weapon then at least you get the option of using it unpowered for stealth kills, or against people with no armour.

Think of how much time it took a Samurai to learn how cut some-one from shoulder to groin in a single blow. Now imagine doing it first try with a lightsaber welcome to sci-fi laser swords.

Of course, that doesn't mean there was no point taking it in the first. It gives you access to the Mort Reaper and 'The Reaping' in the right circumstances can be devastating.

Of course you are limiting yourself to no guns, that's understandably a big factor but hey, Ninja. Plus a composite bow (but still the non primitive arrows are technically not mentioned but no self respecting GM should be holding you back on that).

But really, the main bonus of Moritat is, Hatred (Heresy), which is basically Hatred (Nigh All) and the bomb.

As a house rule we included the following in the reaper tree:

Crushing Blow (100exp)

Flesh Render (200exp) (Black Crusade)

Preternatural Speed (200exp) (Only War)

and Blade Dancer (300exp) (Only War/Black Crusade).

The Reaping follows the rules of Whirlwind of Death from Only War.

(we also play with the only war combat-, talent-, and skill rules.)

Face Eater said:

Wouldn't it be easier with a lightsaber? Also, the primary weapon of the Samurai, if I recall, was the bow, not the sword. Swords were only used for duelling; in actual warfare, they shot people from horseback. They even used guns for a brief period before the shogunate banned them.

Yes it would be easier with a lightsaber, haha.

For the Katana, it was their ceremonial weapon and official one, but to know if it was really their primary weapons, it is as for the knights, where specialists from here and there don't agree about the use of the sword.

On my part, I think that giving preternatural speed to assassins for an XP cost is a little cheezy when you think about the fact that this is a trait they gain in Ascension; unless you do not use ascension.

Boss Gitsmasha said:

Yes, yes it would. That point wasn't well written. I had mean't that anybody could do it with a light saber and it's difficult with even a super sharp sword.

And they did only get obsessed with only swords during the Shogunate era.