Only Astartes (Quick and dirty Only War conversion)

By ScooterinAB, in Deathwatch House Rules

Posted at

I'm a big fan of the more open advancement scheme presented in both Black Crusade and Only War (the latter being more useful). I'm also a fan of Space Marines not being completely wooden (yes, Codex Astartes, standard tactics, blah blah. They are too one dimensional). I also like Scouts and the options they can bring to the table, but don't like that only Space Wolves use them.

I'd like to present some quick and dirty rules for using the more open character advancement rules of Only War with Deathwatch.

What're You Wearing?

The first thing to decide is whether you are a power armored Space Marine or an experienced Scout. Scouts here are not fresh neoophytes, but experienced squad members and sergeants, complete with all of the Space Marine implants. They are also a little bit more open regarding skills and talents, but don't have access to every Specialty. The difference here is how they are armed and how they have trained. This is further explained in the Specialties section.

Battle-Brother

As Deathwatch Rulebook. Note that you do not gain Deathwatch Training, Forbidden Lore (Xenos), or Common Lore (Deathwatch).

Starting XP: 1500

Scout

Starting Skills: Awareness, Ciphers (Chapter Runes), Climb, Dodge, Common Lore (Adeptus Astartes, Imperium, War), Concealment, Drive (Ground Vehicles), Literacy, Navigation (Surface), Scholastic Lore (Codex Astartes), Silent Move, Speak Language (High Gothic, Low Gothic), Tactics (Choose one), Tracking.

Starting Equipment: Astartes Scout armour, Stalker pattern bolt pistol, 3 Astartes frag grenades, 3 Astartes krak grenades, Astartes combat knife, repair cement, one Chapter Trapping.

Starting XP: 2000

Specialties

Apothecary

Battle-Brother Aptitudes: Fieldcraft, Intelligence, Knowledge, Perception, Weapon Skill, Willpower.

Assault Marine

Battle-Brother Aptitudes: Agility, Fieldcraft, Finesse, Offense, Weapon Skill, 1 other (undecided) .

Scout Aptitudes: Agility, Fieldcraft, Finesse, Offense, Perception, Weapon Skill.

Scout Equipment: Astartes chainsword, Astartes shotgun.

Devastator Marine

Battle-Brother Aptitudes: Ballistic Skill, Defence, Offence, Perception, Toughness, 1 other (undecided) .

Scout Aptitudes: Agility, Ballistic Skill, Defence, Fieldcraft, Offence, Perception.

Scout Equipment: Astartes heavy bolter, something else .

Librarian

Battle-Brother Aptitudes: Intelligence, Knowledge, Perception, Psyker, Weapon Skill, Willpower.

Tactical Marine

Battle-Brother Aptitudes: Defence, Fellowship, Leadership, Offense, Perception, Willpower.

Scout Aptitudes: Agility, Fellowship, Fieldcraft, Leadership, Perception, Willpower.

Scout Equipment: As Battle-Brother.

Techmarine

Battle-Brother Aptitudes: Intelligence, Knowledge, Strength, Tech, Toughness, 1 other (undecided) .

What do you guys think? The end goal here is to explore single-Chapter games, more representative of the kill teams presented in the novels and the original 40k rules. I like the idea of facing other, non-Xenos threats, but the "letter of the law" has the Deathwatch pretty much only fighting Orks and Tyranids. I also feel that more open advancement and single-squad play actually lets the characters do other kinds of missions, rather than just purging the galaxy with your bolters all the time.

Posted at

Looks good to me - I'd just throw in two suggestions:
The Scout being a "sub-class" of the normal Specialties rather than being a Specialty all by itself seems unnecessarily convoluted, and in some cases even a bit weird. Perhaps you could simply de-couple him from all the other classes and establish the Scout as its own Specialty? This would also make them more versatile and support your argument of them being veterans. The players can still custom-specialise into a distinctive role (sniper, close combat specialist, …) simply by choosing the appropriate equipment and buying the appropriate skills/talents. For Aptitudes, those of the "Devastator Scout" seem to fit best.
You also seem to be missing Battle-Brother Equipment, as only starting gear (of which I would remove the Scout Armour, by the way) and the stuff for Scouts is listed in your post.
Secondly, if you dislike the Deathwatch's focus on alien threats, why not make it a Chapter-based game? True, you'd lose the ability to have the various player characters come from different Chapters, but the stories might be more interesting as they allow involvement in the Chapter's own history.
Alternatively, you could simply invent your own quasi-Deathwatch that has a broader array of tasks - perhaps an ancient covenant of a few Chapters that have vowed to protect some specific region of space to which they all have some historic connection (crusade?) but that is far outside their own Chapter fiefs (perhaps on the dangerous fringes of or even beyond official Imperial space), where they had to pool their resources as they did not have sufficient manpower to do it on their own. Fast forward a few centuries or millennia and it has become tradition to send a single Marine from each Chapter as a representative custodian, basically a team of marshals that goes around checking out various planets, investigating threats, all the time having the ability to mobilise reinforcements from their Home Chapter should the enemy be too powerful. Needless to say, that's a last option, and the players will generally be expected to solve stuff on their own - possibly using local forces, such as a "militia" of sorts that is sworn to help the Astartes. It'd all be very frontier-like, away from overt Imperial influence…
Just an idea, of course. ;)
PS: "Single Chapter games" wouldn't exactly be representative of the original 40k rules, at least if you're referring to the Deathwatch. However, perhaps it has been represented in such a way in various novels - for better or worse, there are a lot of discrepancies between the sources. Pick what you like most, just like the official authors do.
Should you be interested in GW's original fluff on the DW, just give me a poke. I can PM you links to backups of some White Dwarf articles or archived pages from their website that deal with this subject. Good luck with your game!
Posted at

Thanks for your quick reply and feedback.

Battle-Brothers start with normal gear. I have it in my notes, but took it out so I'm not openly distributing printed rules.

I decided to keep the Scouts at a high level rather than make them a separate Specialization because I didn't want them to be tacked on. Codex chapters first train Marines as Scouts, then move onto Devastators, Assault Marine squads, and finally Tactical squads in order to pass on a variety of skills. Those who show a knack for one or another migrate back to that sqaud, but aren't confined to it. Scouts here are full Astartes that chose to stay as (or return to being) Scouts. They have undergone much of the same training as other Astartes, rather than being a separate entity. They are free to rejoin the ranks of their power-armored Battle-Brothers, rather than forever being a Scout. They are also free to requisition power armor, as needed, just like how normal Marines can requisition Scout armor.

As for a single chapter game and/or broader tasks, that's the idea. It is, however, largely separate from these rules. The only change from putting this into a full Deathwatch game is starting XP, which is easy enough to change.

As for the "original rule," I meant both army composition and the original Kill Team rules for 40k. There's nothing official (or largely needed) for the Deathwatch in tabletop.

Posted at

Oh, I didn't mean separating the Scouts as lower level: just as another specialisation, with exactly the same XP as fully-fledged Battle Brothers! I would have perhaps even labeled them "Veteran Scout" or "Scout Sergeant" or something to further highlight their status as beyond-rookie. No switching armour around (neither for BB's) - their advantage would have been that they are sneakier and more versatile, able to skill into several areas of expertise instead of being as focused as normal Marines. Essentially a jack of all trades, but a master of none. Except for sniping, that is. The normal Marines instead would be tougher (due to PA) and more apt at direct combat, a combination of melee and close range firefighting. Though the Scouts could perhaps receive a different "sub-tree" for close combat as well; something with their shotguns. I would have probably solved that by using or creating two talents for sniping and shotguns respectively, and let a Scout player pick one when he begins play…

It's entirely a matter of interpretation and preferences, though! If you like the greater amount of classes and the greater availability of equipment more, go for it.

Oh, and I was referring to the Deathwatch as well, of course. The kill-team rules for the tabletop, as well as the Index Astartes article from White Dwarf, and the stuff from GW's Inquisitor RPG. But from what it sounds like you've already read the TT kill-team article at least. I just got confused as your first post sounded as if said material would propagate a single-Chapter DW. :)