Starting Fate Points

By dholda, in Dark Heresy Second Edition Beta

I like the fact the Fate Points are playing more important role in the game and some of the special abilities are triggered by them. In the same time I wonder why FFG decreased the number of Fate Points for the PC.

In DH Fate Points are determining by d10 role and:


1 2 3 4
Feral 1-4 5-10 - -
Hive 1-4 5-8 9-10 -
Imperial - 1-8 9-10 -
Void - 1-4 5-10 -
Forge 1-5 6-9 10 -
Mind Cleansed - 1-3 4-9 10
Noble 1-3 4-9 10 -
Schola Progenium 1-2 3-7 8-10 -

Now in DH2 we roll d5 minus modifier ranging from 1 to 3. There are different minimums. There is no d5 so we need to roll d10 and divide the result by 2 then subtract the modifier.

0 1 2 3 4
Feral (1d5-3) min 1 - 1-8 9-10 - -
Hive (1d5-2) min 1 - 1-6 7-8 9-10 -
Shrine (1d5-2) min 1 - 1-6 7-8 9-10 -
Void (1d5-2) min 2 - - 1-8 9-10 -
Forge (1d5-2) min 1 - 1-6 7-8 9-10 -
Noble (1d5-1) min 0 1-2 3-4 5-6 7-8 9-10

Why this has been change to d5? It’s beating down the PCs. They have all this cool ways of using FP but unless they are Noble or Void they have 1 FP to start with on an avarage roll. From the experience I have with 2nd so far PCs are saving this one point to remove a wound in a critical moment.

Edited by dholda

There's also the fact the feral worlders and noble born get different fate point possibilities without anything to balance out this difference with the other home worlds.

There's also the fact the feral worlders and noble born get different fate point possibilities without anything to balance out this difference with the other home worlds.

Sorry, I didn't get that. What possibilities Ferals and Nobles are getting? The only think with home worlds and FPs I've seen is in the Shrine where every time they spend they roll d10 and on 1-2 they are not reducing the FPs.

Edited by dholda

The number of starting fate points thy get is different from the other homeworlds but there's nothing to balance that difference.

There's also the fact the feral worlders and noble born get different fate point possibilities without anything to balance out this difference with the other home worlds.

Maybe they don't consider all attributes equal? E.g. feral worlders getting Strength AND toughness compared to Intelligence and Toughness for Forge World. Or maybe we just don't appreciate yet how useful Heightened Smell is in a game. ;)

On the issue of general reduction, DH2 characters are noticeably beefier at Rank 1, so perhaps it's compensation for that?

Edited by knasserII

Nobles possibly starting with 0 fate points is a serious issue in my opinion. While this was possible in DH 1 as well, it was a conscious choice of the player (choosing Dusk as your home world), not the result of a bad dice roll.

This way (on top of not having fate points in a crucial situation, thus meaning your character will die if bad comes to worst), 3 of the 8 roles provide a special ability that does absolutely nothing for a noble if you roll bad on character creation. While I agree the DM shouldn't give the players additional fate points unless they really did something to earn them, and even then the option should be used sparingly, this leaves us with the problem that nobles who roll bad, while not unplayable, are definitely at a greater risk than every other character, forcing the player to adopt a very defensive play style.

I suggested allowing feral worlders to trade one FP to a minimum of zero for +3 to one stat and allowing nobles to subtract 3 from one stat to gain a single fate point.

3 of the 8 roles provide a special ability

This is another thing that I don't like. Why don't all the roles have special ability triggered by FP? I think it would be quite cool.

I suggested allowing feral worlders to trade one FP to a minimum of zero for +3 to one stat and allowing nobles to subtract 3 from one stat to gain a single fate point.

Then what you are suggesting is to price FPs at the level of 3 creation points effectively. I'm not sure it's a good idea. If they would go with it, why should it be narrowed down only to these two home worlds?

Edited by dholda