Hello All
I need a bit of help with a project- seeing as I am rather terrible with balancing and mechanics.
I'd like to convert the a few things from Vampire the Masquerade to Dark Heresy.
In particular:
The Discipline " Quietus " as the forbidden rituals and rites of the Oblationist Faction.
& The three paths of Blood Sorcery:
The Path of Duat , The Hunter's Wind & Breath of Set (Weather Control)
In terms of mechanics, I want to use "Chaos Rituals" and not psychic sorcery- as I've already discussed it with the Oblationist in question and he really liked that idea (granted, I was improvising at the time but I don't want to disappoint hehe)
Quietus and The Hunter's wind would be the Priorities right now, as the player has decided on that particular path of knowledge.
In terms of mechanic, I was thinking a (Half-action?) Forbidden Lore (Oblationist) test would be required to enact the ritual, and it would be modified by three elements:
1- A previous half action scholastic lore/ Forbidden Lore (Occult/Daemonology/???) with degrees of success or failure modifying the subsequent test by +10 or -10 per degree. Choosing not to complete a ritual after this test has been rolled would immediately result in a contempt of the Warp.
2- The "Rank" of the discipline, with rank 1 being +20, rank 2 at +10, and so on and so forth until rank 6, which would be -30 (the more power higher discipline powers would take make this penalty even harsher)
3- Auspicious circumstances (Not doing the "Setup" occult lore would be a botched ritual at -20, a sorcerer would get +10, a master sorcerer +20, etc etc as per that list.)
Failure would cause a roll on the contempt of the warp table, with each degree of failure adding +10 to the result? And perhaps doubles would roll on Psychic phenomena.
Rituals would inflict 1d5+X - WP Corruption points where X is their rank.
What do people think of that?
I was thinking of instilling some sort of "prerequisite"
Forbidden Lore (Oblationist) would grant access to Rank 1 & 2 Rituals.
Forbidden Lore (Oblationist) +10 would grant access to rank 3 & 4.
Forbidden Lore (Oblationist) +20 Would grant access to the remainder of the powers.
The rituals would take X*months to research and learn, where X is their rank
Some powers are utterly useless and cannot be converted- but I have hope for the majority of them.
Let's take a quick look at Quietus, which is likely to be the most urgent:
1- Silence of Death (Scholastic Lore Occult)
Relatively easy to Cast, +20. Supernatural Silence- the Enactor draws an unholy rune on his person using his own blood (taking one unsoakable damage), which then absorbs all sounds in an area around him: what better way to conceal the screams of your daemon weapons...
Lasts an hour, don't need to change that- and for range Perhaps WP* Points of Damage Taken in meters? Or keep it 20? I'd like it to be "evolving" ritual- so, make the test more difficult to increase the range further.
2- Scorpion's Touch (Scholastic Lore Occult)
Again, easy to cast: likely the bread and butter of the Oblationist- who sacrifices his bodiliy purity to destroy both heretics and traitors to the cause. By carving a spiral wound in the palm of his hand then grasping a symbol of faith and completing a forbidden prayer, he turns his blood to deadly poison.
Perhaps the most difficult power to convert- if only because I don't want to be as "weapons coated by his blood gain the toxic quality". Whatever it does, the power should be linked to how much blood he spent [unsoakable damage taken after casting it].
I was thinking that that perhaps that the weapon would deal toughness damage, or would gain the felling quality [removing the TB of the opponent] based on the amount of blood invested? Ultimately, it could gain Toxic (X) where X is the amount of blood invested- but that would be kinda boring. Opinions?
3- Dagon's Call (Forbidden Lore Daemonology)
Ahh, what better way to eliminate a heretic than to drown him in his own impure blood? Ironic end, hoist by his own petard- hubris is the downfall of man. This power allows the Oblationist to kill virtually anyone after having touched him. I say virtually- in that some people are destined to greater things, and aren't this easily disposed of...
For the actual ritual, the Oblationist need only dab the skin of his victim with a drop of his blood, which squirms into the body of the latter almost instantaneously. Later, with ritualistic circle centered on a representation of the victim, the Oblationist sacrifices his own impure blood to bursts his victim's blood-vessels and drown her from within with her own blood.
This is the first discipline power to use Willpower points- which is Vampire's Equivalent of a Fate point. I am hesitant in applying the same cost to it in Dark Heresy, as vampires usually have 5-6 Will Power points. There should be a contested Roll with the Target, Likely WP vs WP, with degrees of success dealing damage, same as the Force Weapon quality.
How about, instead of spending a fate point- the player spends 1d10+X-WP damage per rounds maintained, where X is the number of rounds?
This mean the player gets to inflict a few unsoakable D10s in damage, but only if he passes his contested Will-power tests and is willing to keep investing his own precious hit-points.
4- Baal's Caresse [Casting this at -10] (Forbidden Lore Daemonology)
" The penultimate use of blood as a weapon" & " ...transmute her blood into a virulent ichor that destroys any living or undead (Daemonic?) flesh it touches... "
The Oblationist utters and unholy and damning curse, and slices open his tongue as penance for his transgression with a chosen blade. He uses this tainted blood to augment any weapon- perhaps even his hands.
The normal reflex is to give a weapon "Warp Weapon" Trait, but I don't think this really applies. At this point, we go with something like: the Oblationist pays (MAX TB- Let's say Six) Blood/Wounds to coat his sword with the poison. The next time he hits his target, the attack further inflicts 6 points of (non-stacking) Critical damage and looses a charge of poison, The following attack would inflict regular damage +5 (non stacking) critical. Should the weapon also gain Force or Felling [so that it can hurt the big, tough guys/daemons?]
Assuming that we went with the "Prerequisites" idea than the player would need Forbidden lore (Oblationists) +10 to be able to use Dagon's Call and Baal's Caresse, not to mention the forbidden lore Daemonology Test before it.
So are these too strong? Too weak?
I haven't posted my ideas for the other Three paths (the player chose to follow the Hunter's Winds, so I will likely address that tomorrow morning.)
What do you guys think so far?
Edited by Saldre