Hey all, I've been working on converting Drama Cards to work with Rogue Trader (and for the most part the other FFG 40k systems). I've got about 90% of the cards converted, but I'm looking for some help acquring appropriate art. The hardest part is the fact that 40k art tends to be very serious and focused on victory, so art featuring failures or more lighthearted matters is harder to find. I've attached a list of cards I'm still trying to find art for. Feel free to post art here, Thanks!

Cheat
Coldcock
Coward's Tactics
Deus Ex Machina
Did I Just Say That Out Loud
Did You Hear That?
Distraction
Dodge!
Dramatic Exit
Drastic Recovery
Escape
Eureka!
Freedom
Hang On!
Hijack
Hit The Deck
Kick Down The Door
Knockback
Let Me Show You How It's Done
Low Blow
Luck
Madness
Martyr
Mistaken Identity
Narrow Escape
On The Run
Parry!
Riposte!
Rocks Fall
Rouse
Safe Haven
Saving Grace
Scatter!
Second Thoughts
Self-Sacrifice
Shame
Sidestep
Stomping Grounds
Stop Them, You Fools!
Strife
Sudden Fascination
Surprise
The Enemy Of My Enemy
The Game Is Afoot
The Gazebo Effect
Unstable Environment
Unstoppable
Vengence!
Well Rested
What's That, Girl?

In addition, I pulled some cards because the effects were too specific to 4e, so they didn't convert well. I'm looking for ideas for:

5 Copper

3 Silver

4 Gold

4 Platinum

I quite like this idea, but based on a cursory image search I have to agree that it'll be hard to find art.

How exactly do these work?

Well the basic idea is that each player would earn them for doing well, good roleplaying, or whatever. I've also seen each player getting a hand at the beginning of each session. I think that might destabalize the game a bit too much. What I'm thinking is treating them almost like Fate points. Each player gets a hand limit of 1 to start can earn bumps to his limit for doing things like providing a detailed character background, bringing/painting his own figure, etc. Players can still earn bonus cards for that session for the usual reasons. The cards themselves range from simple bonuses or rerolls to major plot shifts or feats.

Here's what I have so far. I've marked those cards that still need art, and those that I've felt can not be converted from the 4E system. I'm open to suggestions on everything.

Card Backs

Copper Cards

Silver Cards

Gold Cards

Platinum Cards

Whoop, got the Gold Cards link wrong.

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/22951904/Rogue%20Trader%20Cards/Gold%20Cards.pdf

Based on what ive read up on these i feel you should remove Fate points from your game if you include them - they become too powerful otherwise, giving players too many avenues to avoid failure and garuntee success on certain actions.

I've thought about that, and I was thinking about allowing players to spend a Fate point to draw a card or burn one to add to thier hand limit. That, combined with setting rarity levels (Copper would have more copies in the deck than Platinum) I think you could mitigate a lot of that imbalance. I'd keep the hand limit very low, like 1-2 per session, as well. If anything I think it makes Fate Points more useful since they are pretty much used as just rerolls anyway.

I found a DH version of the Drama cards a while back and have been using them in RT for over a year.

Players get to draw half their fate points(round up) in cards at the beginning of each session. Usually 3 cards.

Copper and Platinum are free to play whenever you like (GM discretion).

Gold and Silver cost a fate point to play.

It works for me, and it means people have to think about whether they want that re-roll or wounds or to play a cool card.

~T

Interesting. Do you remember where you found them? I remember checking this forum, dhonline and dakka dakka, didn't see anything.

Honestly, no idea.

I've had them since 2010.

40kDramaCards.pdf 52mb

I believe it's a beta, so if you can expand on it, sweet. I'll use your cards instead :3

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B3ZLJSb7NSXuRXFBczRHdGx2SWM/edit

PantsCommander said:

Far from re-rolls though aren't they? Adding bonuses to rolls before you make them, squeezing an extra degree of success out of a successful roll, recovering wounds urgently… I cant see any reason why i would voluntarily trade off my fate points for cards that have very situational uses. If i want to do an awesome riposte in combat then rather then relying on a random card to come up that i can play to say i have done so, i will build a character with counter-attack, a high parry ability, use balanced weapons, roll well and then narratively describe what my character does with such a roll.

Far too much line blurring between roleplaying and rollplaying lately…

I see what you are saying, but as far as Fate goes, I've only ever seen people use them for rerolls. Adding +10 ahead of time doesn't make sense to me probablistically (granted I haven't done the math), and the healing thing hasn't come up yet because, at least with my group, anything that puts them in danger seems to be things that can one-shot them. Granted having a Psyker with Bind Wounds does take a lot of the danger out.

I don't see how these cards would affect roleplaying vs rollplaying, though. If anything the argument that Fate points are more useful mechanically leans more toward the rollplaying side of things. To me the argument seems to be more of a "you should have to earn that riposte", which is a fine argument to make, even if I disagree with it slightly.

This sounds like a realy good idea as it will add far more than the simplw numbers game of the fate point system, and should inject more roleplay, rather than the coutious numbercrunching my players tend to aproach combat with. Since i have found most players dont play big heroes but the exact oposit.