Dark Heresy - The Heavens Call (Inactive)

Game Master JonGarrett

seeing Vasyl head to the side door Praetus moves to try to get within charging distance of the guards at the end of the ramp.

Silent Move+Stummer+modifier for distracted guards 61+?: 1d100 ⇒ 41

Lothar slowly lined up the shot on one of the guards on the ramp, in no huge hurry and then began to wait. If they spotted the scouts then this sentry would die.

As Vasyl and Praetus made quickly for the side entrance to the dropship, Erkan follows Lothar's lead and unshoulders his newly-acquired longlas. Removing the single hotshot cartridge from the receiver, he slips it into his bandolier and loads an overcharge pack in its place. Nodding to Lothar, Erkan gestures from the guardsman toward the right sentry, then from himself toward the left sentry. Finally, Erkan nodsat Lothar, awaiting his confirmation.

Lothar spots Erkan's gestures with his peripherals and nods his head slightly but keeps his sights firmly fixed on the heretic to the right.

Without any long ranged weaponry, Aenarius raised his shotgun, ready to blast any traitors who tried to close in.

Heironymous readies his las-carbine, aiming at the nearest cultist.

Praetus managed to cross the distance on silent feet, his bodyglove giving him a soft surface to move on.

The door panel seemed simple enough, a single activating rune flickering.

Has Vasyl made it to the door unnoticed as well?

Praetus draws his sword, looks over his shoulder to Vaasyl, and reaches up to activate the rune.

Vasyl readies himself to move into the transport on Praetus' activation, autogun pointed at the door.

Looks clear. But it often looks clear even when it isn't.

Lothar let out a slow steady breath as the iron sights of the longlas lingered just to the side of his targets sternum, still waiting patiently, when the time came he would send the heretic scum to the afterlife for it's just punishment.

The door opened smoothly, with little noise and a light shower of rust. There didn't seem to be anyone on the inside, either.

Praetus moves quietly up the ramp, motioning Vasyl to follow

Silent Move+Stummer 61: 1d100 ⇒ 33

'That which is unknown and unseen always commands the greatest fear'

Brother Erkan's scope finds a nice target in the form of a cross stitch on the heretic's shirt, just below his left collarbone. He took slow, even breaths as he relaxed into the position he had not taken since his time years before in the Schola.

Vasyl sneaks into the shuttle through the side door, trying to keep quiet.

Silent Move 20 + modifiers for background noise of battle?: 1d100 ⇒ 70

Silent Move 20 + modifiers for background noise of battle? Reroll: 1d100 ⇒ 51

Damn.

Vasyl barely made it across, but one of the guards did turn.

Can I have someone at the manhole make an Ordinary (+10) Agility test to duck down?

Whew.

If shooting doesn't kick off shortly, Vasyl will start moving around inside, looking for a good spot to plant the explosives he is carrying in his pack.

Agi+10(44): 1d100 ⇒ 41 success

The heretic Erkan was trained on began to turn, and having only a split second to decide Erkan opts for stealth over firing, grabbing lothar and pulling them both low and out of view for a moment.

Praetus steps to the side, allowing Vasyl to do what he needs. watching for any other traitors.

Sow the seeds of damnation and I shall reap the souls of the tainted

The guard spent a moment looking around, before returning his attention to the battle.

The heretic's attention returned to the battle, Erkan once again took aim on him, nodding to Lothar to once again target the other.

Vasyl, can I get a Demolition roll to decide on the best place to plant the explosives?

Vasyl lacks the demolition skill. Given that the demo pack was described as having a simple dial timer, could I roll trade (technomat) to best identify where to plant the pack?

Lothar takes up his position again, watching from cover and lining up his shot before waiting to strike...

Praetus looks around the cabin, the desire to punish the traitors of the Emperor of Man buzzing within him.

What does the interior of the drop-ship look like?

Vasyl, you'll either need to find somewhere obvious (the equipment itself) or roll a halved Intelligence to put the demo packs somewhere effective.

The inside of the shuttle is corroded, hot. It smells like a growing centre for plant life. Only the faint click and whirl of machinery and the occasional blinking light suggests the machine spirits that should be running this machine are present at all. And how they have been trapped in such desecrated mechanisms is a mystery.

This chamber seems to be troop transport, and is deserted. A door sits at either end. One reads, in ancient and faded Gothic script, 'Control Deck.' The other reads 'Cargo Hold.'

Understood!

Hmmm. Time to enlist some aid.

Vasyl whispers to Praetus:

"Praetus, will you scout ahead in the control deck? We have to find the heart of this thing and burn it out."

He says the last part, while giving his backpack a quick pat to emphasise his point.

Praetus nods, and creeps forward.

As he moves he sheaths his sword and pulls out a wicked looking Punch Dagger.

Once he has it in hand he attempts to open the hatch.

Vasyl keeps his autogun at the ready.

If this goes in the swamp, I'm not holding back. A few stray manstopper rounds *might* just do the job.

Overwatch: if any enemy charges out of the hatch, full auto at them with armageddon autogun, manstoppers are loaded

As the door to the command deck slides up the five Traitors manning it - including a communication centre, and several other, less obvious lecturns - turn to face the door in one smooth, weirdly co-ordinated motion. They lack the armour the troopers you've seen have been wearing, but they are carrying heavy pistols and swords.

Praetus and Vasyl get a surprise round. Depending on there actions we'll roll initative.

Well, surprise got us this far.

Over the microbead, Vasyl speaks quickly:

"SHOOT!"

And does likewise, opening up on the traitors.

Full-auto on a traitor in the largest group. Depending on DoS, he may split shots between a few traitors or leave them on one.

Target of 55/75 BS 25 + 20 FA + 10/30 range: 1d100 ⇒ 66

Fate point to reroll, FP 2 -> 1

Target of 55/75 BS 25 + 20 FA + 10/30 range: 1d100 ⇒ 5

Worth it! How many traitors were in that largest group? If they're spread far apart enough that he has to target one, that one is likely very dead.

You can hit two on either side (left and right) and the guy in the middle. It's not a huge space.

Okay. Assuming Vasyl is behind the left side of the doorway coming into the command deck, he will try for the pair on the right. So that's 3 manstopper rounds apiece on each of them. First shot on chest. And was this close range or point blank, in case I'm looking for DoS to swap in?

Damage, Pen 3, I: 1d10 + 4 ⇒ (10) + 4 = 14
Damage, Pen 3, I: 1d10 + 4 ⇒ (7) + 4 = 11
Damage, Pen 3, I: 1d10 + 4 ⇒ (7) + 4 = 11

Damage, Pen 3, I: 1d10 + 4 ⇒ (5) + 4 = 9
Damage, Pen 3, I: 1d10 + 4 ⇒ (7) + 4 = 11
Damage, Pen 3, I: 1d10 + 4 ⇒ (3) + 4 = 7

Praetus charges into the mix, Driving the Punch dagger into the arm of one of the Traitors.

Move/Attack

WP+BQ=56: 1d100 ⇒ 11

Damage Tearing: 1d5 + 5 ⇒ (4) + 5 = 91d5 + 5 ⇒ (4) + 5 = 9 Damage 9 AP3

He leaves the dagger sticking in the arm and reaches for his sword. I underestimated the size of this room

EDIT: forgot STR

As he heard the cry over the microbead Lothar pulled the trigger. A half a heartbeat after the call to arms the autogun roared into action as his longlas found it's mark and Emperor willing would end the traitor scum instantly.

Longlas 97 or less: 1d100 ⇒ 13
Damage Pen 1: 1d10 + 3 + 2d10 ⇒ (9) + 3 + (4, 9) = 25 Substitute Degrees of Success 8 for the 4. 29 Damage Pen 1 to the chest.

Heironymous also opens fire, muttering sub-audibly about meatheads and things never going to plan.

Lascarbine Semi-Auto (vs. surprised?) 69: 1d100 ⇒ 91

As Vasyl barks his command to shoot through the vox, Erkan needs no other direction, allows the last bit of breath to escape his lungs, and pulls the longlas's solid trigger... unleashing a lance of las energy straight at the head of the unaware heretic guard.

Longlas (BS, aim, accurate, red dot, short range; 40+20+10+10+10=90): 1d100 ⇒ 50 hit, with 4 degrees of success

damage(overcharge) + accurate; pen 2, location (05) head: 1d10 + 4 + 2d10 ⇒ (10) + 4 + (6, 9) = 29

The heretic on guard duty drops, his chest now mostly a large, ragged hole, thanks to Lothar's shot.

Hieronymous's shot also strikes, as the second is also surprised, but fails to drop him. The heretic guard turns to see what happened and raises his lasgun. Erkan's shot took him through the head.

Dodge: 1d100 ⇒ 98
Dodge: 1d100 ⇒ 93
Dodge: 1d100 ⇒ 73

The enemies caught in Vasyl's burst also fall. Their attempt to dive out of the way was...less than impressive, and there lack of armour not a benefit.

Parry: 1d100 ⇒ 17

Praetus' blow leaves a ragged gash down arm of one of the heretics, despite his attempt to block it with his own blade. He lashed out at the Assassin while the other remaining bridge crew member swng his pistol towards Vasyl.

Blade (Praetus): 1d100 ⇒ 59 - Miss

Pistol (Vasyl): 1d100 ⇒ 72 - Miss

I feel like these particular traitors are regretting their life choices. After that brutal alpha strike, the party is up again.

Praetus draws his sword in a Iaijutsu strike that 'Auntie' made him practice countless times.

ready/attack

Weapon Skill+BQ=52: 1d100 ⇒ 81

But the blade clips a loose crate and the strike misses.

Finish the job.

"Cut them down!"

Vasyl keeps firing, trying to bring down the traitors as quickly as possible, and using the door frame as partial cover.

Full-auto again. Depending on which traitor Praetus went for, Vasyl is either shooting at one traitor in the middle of the room, or two on the left side of the room.

Full auto 55/75: 1d100 ⇒ 32

Either 3 hits or 5 depending on range, starting on the chest. Either all on the middle traitor, or split 2/1 or 3/2 on the left-most pair of traitors. I'll roll damage for five shots just in case.

Damage, I, Pen 3: 1d10 + 4 ⇒ (5) + 4 = 9
Damage, I, Pen 3: 1d10 + 4 ⇒ (9) + 4 = 13
Damage, I, Pen 3: 1d10 + 4 ⇒ (1) + 4 = 5

Damage, I, Pen 3: 1d10 + 4 ⇒ (1) + 4 = 5
Damage, I, Pen 3: 1d10 + 4 ⇒ (9) + 4 = 13

Do the rest of us even have a line of sight on a target?

Nope, outside team is clear, for now. You can see other troops, but they're not paying any real attention to you. I was not expecting them to both explode quite so completely, given there toughness and armour.

Vasyl killed another heretic, while Praetus continued to fight the other.

To Hit: 1d100 ⇒ 56 - Miss

Preatus sees an opening and strikes with no thought of his safety.

Full Attack

Ws+FA+BQ=72: 1d100 ⇒ 80

The pooled blood on the floor causes him to slip

Ah, we're just too damn good at killing heretics. :D

Got to make the last few rounds in the magazine count. Then I switch to blade work.

Vasyl tries to gun down the remaining unengaged traitor as he empties the magazine.

Semi-Auto 45/65 25+10+10/30: 1d100 ⇒ 33

1 or 2 hits on the one traitor, starting on the chest.

I Damage, Pen 3: 1d10 + 4 ⇒ (6) + 4 = 10

I Damage, Pen 3: 1d10 + 4 ⇒ (8) + 4 = 12

Dodge: 1d100 ⇒ 37 - Fail

Distracted by Praetus, the traitor failed to dodge and went down to the gunfire.

Vasyl quickly looks around the control deck.

Can I smash this with a chair, and save myself the explosives? Or will it need the explosion? And is there anything valuable about?

You'll need to roll a Demolition check, or Intelligence halved.

Praetus retrieves his punch dagger, and tries to determine what sins he needs to repent for.

Re-drawing his sword he heads back to the 'Cargo hold' and waits for the hiver to complete his anointed task.

18: 1d100 ⇒ 51

Heyo folks. Chat amongst yourselves.

Cheers @JonGarrett for setting this up and letting us all play!

Vasyl's current status can be adjusted to suit the needs of the story. He could still be on the freighter, in transit, settling into the Underhive, whatever works best.

All shall become clear. The beggining will be In Media Res - Because if we're playing Dark Heresy we might as well use iffy Latin - but you'll be Planetside. I'll leave it up to each of you to explain why you're where you are, but there will be plenty of reasons.

Lug has been serving our Inquisitor for about a year now, which has seen him transform from a hayseed hometown hero into a world-weary young man.

I imagine that he respects and looks up to Lothar, who is an experienced veteran, whereas Lug hadn't seen much action with the Imperial Guard before being seconded.

As an arbiter away from his unit, I’d say this character must have had an official order to come here. I’d assume that he is a very new member of the enterogue

First post is up. Those of you who work for the Inquisition will have been here to investigate certain rumours, and have literally just arrived from the transport. Those of you who are not part of the Inquisition just yet will be there for your own reasons. I hopefully gave everyone a reason to be present. As I mention, regardless of which you fall into, you'll be working together shortly.

Also, sorry for the length. I tend to get wordy when I get dramatic.

@Lug Lothar isn't in service to the Inquisition, yet at least.

Thank you for the invitation.

Edit: Advice for New Players: When possible get into cover as soon as possible if you are getting into a firefight, combat is lethal and can easily drop you. Cover will really help on the locations covered. If you are a melee character try to use the cover but also running is good, it'll give them a -20 to hit you with ranged (but +20 to hit you in melee) if you need to get stuck in.

I am new to the forums, How do I add my Character?

Post in gameplay :)

Hi team, thanks for the accept JonGarrett! I realised I never finalised my equipment so I'll sort that out before reading the gameplay thread, my apologies.

Really trying to resist the urge to loot a suit of guardsman flak armor from one of the mounds of guard corpses that will likely be piling up

All fair in love and war. Mostly war.

Feel free to finish tweaking wargear now that you're more familiar with the situation you're in. Once the first fight starts, though, it's locked in.

And yes, once you post in Gameplay you'll find this game added to your campaigns tab (click your own username or my account to find the campaigns tab itself).

Another N00b question, where do I add the info for the handy stat line on Posts?

Into your class/levels line when you hit "edit profile".

I'll echo Lothar's advice on making use of cover. Even to Deathwatch space marines, cover can make a big difference to survivability.

I'll add that fire can be extremely deadly. If you go on fire, God Emperor help you because there are some brutal checks to do anything, including put yourself out. Grenades are handy, they don't need any weapon proficiency.

Under race and classes/levels

@Praetus flak cloak is only 80 throne and gives armour 3 to all, as opposed to the flak jacket at 100 which does not protect the head. Just a recommendation.

I also noticed it looks like a couple people did not include their pay for three months as JonGarrett was so kind to give us. I am happy to assist with gear choices for anyone that would like assistance. We are looking at a sustained conflict, so ammo may be important...

Tho for something different

Light flak jacket (2 armor, reduces reload time by 1/2)
Rapid reload (reduce by 1/2)

So unload your clip and reload as a free action

Vasyl probably looks quite similar to the cover figure of the Stalker game. ;)

I look like a mighty Viking! Not any characters I play, though, oddly.

OK folks, can those of you who haven't done so yet please pop your basic stats in the Class or Gender section on your profile? Something similar to Aenarius, Erkan, Hieronymous or Praetus. It makes my life a little simpler when running fight scenes and the like if I can quickly spot stuff like that.

Sorry all for the wall of text for my first post. I wrote the first half late last night, went to post it this morning and there had been six more posts, so I had to add more.

Certainly. Anything else you'd like added to the list of visible stats?

Erkan - Did you see my intro? I've seen shorter short stories than that thing. Always go for more detail when in doubt.

Vasyl - Anything you might find useful. Common skill checks that use more than you standard skills, paticular attacks, whatever. The info there is what I need, so go nuts.

Oh, and just to be clear - when I present situations like 'you can do this,or maybe this, or perhaps that' you guys are always free to take a third option. I don't mind - sometimes those are the most fun. If it isn't possible I'll explain that, but it never hurts to ask. The choices I present are simply the ones that I think will work best.

EDIT: Oh, I'll have a (basic, sadly) battle map for you guys in a bit. I'll be hearing to work in an hour a few minutes, so it'll likely be up in two or three hours time.

Never Mind, I'm quite quick. You should be able to edit the sheet - simply delete the letter marking your location and move it to a new position as needed.

If something isn't clear (or it doesn't work) give me a yell. Again, sorry it's a touch basic. Graphics are not something I do well.

Once you decide on your battle plan I'll pop you guys on and we'll roll initative.

Was Vasyl able to find any ammunition or new weapons on the way from the square? That might influence his current activities. For now, I'll assume he either hasn't picked up anything new or has stashed it for the moment.

Not yet. You haven't really been anywhere with much fighting yet.

That's fair enough. Also, my rate of posting will likely be down this weekend.

That's fine. I'd like to keep a rate of about one post a day if at all possible, especially during combat, but life happens. If it becomes an issue I'll bot you.

I'm on the map. Like I mentioned on the gameplay page, if Lug knows that he can't damage the gunship with his autogun, I'll target the nearest T. If he can damage the gunship, or can't but wouldn't know that, I'll stick with targeting that. Sorry for any confusion.

Ekran very kindly pointed out that I never rolled the 2d10 for my starting thrones. Thank you for catching that!

Thrones: 2d10 ⇒ (2, 5) = 7

As a note, I highly encourage everyone to track their rounds in their profile like I did above. Not sure how else to keep it all together.

My idea is this:

Autogun 10 Clips (14/15) Shotgun clips 7 Clips (15/12)*

Using that as an example, I bought 10 Autogun clips. I've fired 1 round. So I now have 10 Clips with one of them at 14/15. Once that hits 0, I'll need to reload, and I'll change the profile to read 9 Clips (15/15).

*When buying rounds, I went over the normal clip amount for shotguns, which is why I have 15/12.

Wow, this combat is REALLY close quarters. How low is the gunship flying? Also, the black obstacles in the battlefield, how tall are these?

I really like the map!

Also really glad to have a shotgun here. Something tells me that if the traitors turn around, having that close quarter weapon is going to come in handy.

So...let me see if I have this all straight.

Example: Turn 1
* We shoot as we described
* Traitors turn around

Example Turn 2
* Aenarius drops his autogun, pulls out his shotgun, and blasts a traitor. He does this full auto, and at point blank range
Point Blank +30 and Semi Auto+10, so BS 41+30+10 for 81: 1d100 ⇒ 67

Hits with 1 degree of success. So that is 2 hits for semi auto, and 1 hit for scatter.

Damage for all 3 hits, minus armor value 3 and TB3: 3d10 + 12 - 9 - 9 ⇒ (10, 10, 7) + 12 - 9 - 9 = 21

Is this right?

First time with this rule set, just trying to get it all clear.

Also, please tell me if I am understanding these rules correctly:

Autogun with ROF 1/2/6, Clip Size 15

Single Shot: 1 shot at +0% to hit
Semi Auto: 2 shots at +10% to hit
Full Auto: 6 shots at +20% to hit

Each degree of success means +1 hit up to ROF

BS41: 1d100 ⇒ 57

Single Shot: Missed
Semi: Missed
Full: 1 hit

BS41: 1d100 ⇒ 90

Single: Miss
Semi: Miss
Full: Miss

BS41: 1d100 ⇒ 23

Single: 1 hit
Semi: 2 hits
Full: 3 hits

----

And assuming that he full-autoed for all 3 rounds, his clip would have been down to 3 for that last shot, meaning that he can only semi-auto?

---

Sorry for all the questions. But think it would be best to clear these up now than in the gameplay thread.

Close. The only thing you missed was that, with semi-auto burst, you get an extra hit for every two degrees of success, not one.

Yeah, these are relatively close quarters, although not as much as you might think. With the relatively slow movement speed if you're doing something else it takes a while to get around in Dark Heresy.

The Gunship (actually a slightly over sized Blight Drone, for the curious) is hovering around 10ft off the ground, so it can get a clear shot at the Arbites up the steps and over the heads of its own side. It can be hurt, but you guys aren't likely to kill it. But if you annoy it enough the Precinct can pop it with a Lascannon while it pays attention to you. This is more a case of simply getting everyone used to the Fight mechanics than a real battle.

The obstacles are basically fallen rubble, so two of three feet tall. Enough to provide a little cover while being able to fire over them.

Ah, good to know. Thank you.

Ok, I have all the wounds (17) so I should probably draw gunship's fire - hopefully I can survive its attacks until they lascannon it.

Reading up feverishly on all the combat rules, but I'm likely to screw up often to begin with :)

Also I'll add much more to my info line today, including ammo as suggested.

Don't worry about making mistakes - we all learn. Remember I put a bunch of useful info in the campaign tab if you need to quickly look stuff up, and if you find you need something I can always add more.

So question on that attack roll: I'm not sure if it was +20 or +30 for size (so of course I assumed +30...), but if it is 30, that take BS to 106. Is there a max to your skill? Like a permanent miss chance?

96 and up always misses. But yes, as you are finding, modifiers are the key to working well in Dark Heresy.

Of course, there are downsides. Get close? They can charge. Full auto? How much ammo you got, because hit or miss that just chewed through a good chunk. If it's big? It'll hit hard.

Oh don't worry, I'm ready to get smashed... That's a guardsman's job.

Praetus was going to offer to draw fire, hoping for a Dodge. But I am happy to let you take the hit

I don't think it would occur to Vasyl to go for the flying monstrosity here. There are attackers he can disrupt and kill.

@Aenarius: good point, edited my entry. I'll stick to my currently used weapon, the field will only display so many characters.

Praetus was going to offer to draw fire, hoping for a Dodge. But I am happy to let you take the hit

I have 17 wounds and 3 fate, I think I'm the tank. But thanks anyhow :)

Looks like I forgot to tag that my shot (based on roll) was a head shot.

Victory!

I edited in a thought bubble for Vasyl. At least for now, he has good reason not to outright state his thoughts!

@Lug i assume you are wielding a standard autogun, which is S/3/10, meaning it can be fired on single shot consuming 1 bullet, semi-auto burst consuming 3 bullets, or full auto consuming 10 bullets. It has a magazine of 30 rounds, and does 1d10+3 damage with Pen 0 (though if loaded with a magazine of manstopper bullets as I covered in my email, it goes up to Pen 3). So after one attack on full auto, you have 20 rounds remaining. 19 now for the botted shot by JonGarrett.

By comparison, Aenorius has the armageddon autogun, which is S/2/6, 15 rd magazine, but is a little heavier and does 1d10+4 damage. A little more damage, half the capacity. Would not have been able to put on the 10-hit impressive show you rocked when you rolled that 05 to hit!

I also just realized I never rolled a Divination to start.
Divination: 1d100 ⇒ 40

Ok, now we are in the armory. In my mind, an Arbite *needs* carprace armor and a shotgun. As such...

Starting Gear: Shotgun and 12 shells, club, brass

knuckles, knife, chain coat or flak vest or mesh vest,
uniform (Good Quality Clothing), 3 doses of stimm,
injector, Arbitrator ID, chrono, pack of lho-sticks or flask
of amasec.

You then start with 50 + 2d10 thrones. JonGarrett is then giving us 3 months pay, which is 75/month for an arbite. So, 275 + 2d10. I could not find if you ever rolled the 2d10. So I will work with 275.

Sell off from above:
Shotgun (60)
Flak or [b]Mesh[b] Vest (150) - mesh vest is worth far more, so you opt for that
Club (5)
- gain 215 throne

SO, you have 490 thrones.

+7 starting, for 497

Gutter Forged Armor (350) 5AP all, -15 agility
This is the oldest, most banged up suit of armor the arbite’s have. It sustained a lot of damage when he wore it off world and hasn’t been repaired yet. Sadly, it is his. :(

80t - Ironclaw Combat Shotgun – 30 m, S/2/-, 1d10+4, 12 clip, 1 full reload, reliable, scatter

That leaves me with 77 left.

55t – mono sword

22 left now.

10 -Backpack.

Down to 12...which I’ll use for ammo.

Final result? TB 4 Armor 5 Wounds 16....agility 15.

And the party now has an arbiter who looks the part. Even if his armor is damaged enough that he’ll eventually need an upgrade.

——-

Is this all legit? And...even though I’m out of thrones can he requisition a respirator?

———————