Another Character Home Brew that we are testing for home games. If you play with it, let me know what you thought.

So the first iteration of the Librarian was too good: iF you get the relic that lets you use power cards to always generate a 6, it ruins the game.

Here is a more balanced version based on our thoughts: but I really wouldn't mind your ideas too.

I will note: the idea behind this character- is that he is more of a psyker and less of a straight up beat stick like the Space Marine Cap.

In the fluff, those who use psychic powers are more likely to be corrupted by the warp-but being a space marine he is less likely than others. Thus, we gave him the higher than average threshold, but this corruption will activate.

His level progression is similar to the SM Cap- but more willpower and less strength, while his bottom set is normalized because some of us are OCD and want a pattern.

The librarian v2.

He was played at the same time as an ultramarine and his growth was a little faster than the ultramarine. We were playing the Chaos Spawn of the rift homebrew scenario.

The librarian finished with level 12 at 9 strength, 12 willpower and 6 cunning and 3 relics (Hammer of +2 battle rolls, Nameless blade and Hectius Storm). The ultramarine finished with level 10 and 12 strength, 6 willpower and 4 cunning and 2 relic (a +3 strength and a +3 cunning relic).

Throughout the game, the librarian got some crazy amazing mission combos: For example, at turn 13, the librarian resolved the Bombard ability on Fortress world for his mission (m1), he then drew a new mission which was "kill an eldar". He then used the reward from the previous mission to have another turn, where he killed an eldar trophy of battle value 6 completed his brand new mission (m2). He then turned the trophy to move from level 6 to level 7 where he drew a completed mission (m3). He then turned the 3 completed mission for a relic and drew a new mission card (m4). All in 1 turn which meant that he probably progressed a little faster than normal.

However we felt that by level 8 he had strong strength and willpower and good cunning. The Ultramarine at level 8 had strong strength, good willpower and weak cunning. The librarian was able to encounter more enemies that he could kill than the Ultramarine could because, for the librarian, both strength and willpower were options for combat.

In my opinion, I would reduce the strength of the librarian perhaps from 4 to at least 3. This way, he would be at strength 6 by level 8 and at least willpower 9 which makes for a very good rounded character still able to use 2 attributes to fight. Add a relic or two, and you are sorted. Starting at strength 4 felt a bit high in our opinion.

His power was a little bit of a problem especially when he got to 3 power cards at level 5, and then he was using power cards left and right to win combat and replenishing his power cards after winning every combat. With the relic Hectius Storm (treat any power card as a 6), he was a monster in both strength and willpower combats.

We really liked the "gain a power for passing a skill test". This happened 5 times during the game and didn't feel too overpowered. However, with the combat wins, it did feel like he was gaining a lot of power cards, especially as he was also gaining power cards when going up a level (level 1, 5 and 9). I would prefer his power if it was restricted to drawing a power card only "when winning a skill test", somehow this feels more thematic as he is not supposed a beast of combat.

Also, we felt that the +1 for battle roll ability made him look like he was trying to be a space marine, but he was too weak. Many of the relics offer combat bonuses, so getting +1 doesn't make that much of a difference.

Perhaps he should receive a +1 for skill test. This would make him quite good in the inner tier where every points count (and combat bonuses offer no substantial advantage) This would also make him feel more like a different character than just a space marine in disguise.

Finally, I would change his life from 5 to 4. I know he is a space marine, but his stat line is already quite good. The Ultramarine can get away with it because his willpower and cunning are so low, he is likely losing life early in the game. If the librarian has 4 for both strength and willpower, he is less likely to lose 1 or 2 life early on. In our game, I don't think he was ever below 4 lives all the way through mid game.

So, in summary, we felt he was a good to very good character. Our changes would be:

-1 to his strength, -1 to his life, the +1 bonus to skills tests instead of combat and his special ability changed from "draw a power card when you win a battle or successfully test a skill" to "draw a power card when you successfully test a skill".

Our 2 cents.

Many thanks Lord Aries for these awesome homebrews by the way.

I found draw a power card when win a battle or pass skill test to be too much power card drawing. I already dislike the psyker.

I played librarian like guillaumetexas suggested 3/4/1/4. Kept as 1 battle bonus (not skill). Then upped it to 2 power cards from 1 when pass a skill test (not when win battle). Thought just 1 power card for passing a skill test to be too weak of an ability since you prob wont come across that many skill tests in a game. Certainly not compared to number of battles.

Seemed good until ...

Turned out to be rather strong in the inner tier (3 skill tests there) with scenario Lost Flagship (lots of skill tests).

Librarian won the game. But was mostly random luck with completing missions. Had a relic and was still level 0.

Maybe just accept the fact that this incarnation of the Librarian is strong in the inner tier.

Thanks for all your work on Home Brews, Lord Aries.