Only War: The Forsaken

Game Master Eradico Pravus

Welcome to the OOC thread for Only War! (Beta version)

Discussion for regimental and character choices, party make-up, and character creation will happen here.

Looking forward to it! --Eradico

Okay cool. Looking forward to it!

It ought to be interesting.

Awesome. Just a quick question Eradico, where in the beta pdf of Only War did you find the information on where FFG plans to set the campaign in the WH40K universe? I know you had mentioned the spinward edge of the Calixis sector, and I figured they had to put it somewhere close in relation to the other campaigns...

...I've an idea if it is close enough to certain a world in the Malfian sub-sector.

Rook, check out page 35 for starters.

From the section, "WHERE IS THE REGIMENT FROM?"

"...Closer to home, numerous worlds suitable for raising regiments of soldiers
within the Calixis Sector are described in the DARK HERESY
rulebook and its supplements, and any of those worlds could
reasonably be sending troops into the Spinward Front."

From the section, "WHY WAS THE REGIMENT RAISED?"

"...With regiments hailing from the Calixis Sector and
other regions close to the Spinward Front, the war beyond
the Periphery could well be the entire reason the regiment
exists—a threat so close to home cannot easily be ignored."

I'd add that it would not take much justification to include regiments from anywhere in the galaxy. I'm open to your idea, regardless Rook! :)

How is the character creation in Only War? Is it path based like most of the previous games or is it more open ended like Black Crusade?

I do not own Black Crusade (yet) so I cannot truly answer. There are 12 specialist templates with "suggested" advances, so at first glance it looks similar to Dark Heresy/Deathwatch. But then each specialty also receives certain "Aptitudes" which makes the gaining of skills in certain areas easier, which to me looks like it affords *some* flexibility.

For example the Weapons Specialist's listed aptitudes are: Agility, Ballistic Skill, Fellowship, Fieldcraft, Finesse, Weapon Skill.

Which seems pretty wide open. The Engiseer and Medic are more pigeon-holed.

Rook?

================================

An interesting concept (which is admittedly pretty vague in the Beta rules) is that each character also rolls for a comrade NPC. I'm not sure what this means. Does the heavy weapons gunner have a side-kick to carry ammo and clear jams? Does the Sarge have a radioman by his side? I don't even know if/how you roll stats for them and what sort of skills/traits/talents/attacks they get. But I'll keep an eye on the FFG forums. There's a lot of discussion going on right now.

OK, I found where there is additional info for comrades. It's actually pretty cool. The medic is assisted by a corpsman, the sarge has a vox operator, the priest has a curate, the sniper has a spotter. Comrades are important to the character--the comrade is not simply a nameless red-shirt. The comrade is ran by the GM but I would expect each player to help develop the persona of the comrade as well as the nature of the player character/comrade relationship.

I have to say, in a face-to-face table top game, running multiple players with comrades could potentially bog down play pretty quickly. But hopefully with Rook helping with a wiki, it will be manageable.

I had a chance to read it at my local store were there is a small group of [long rant] in the end they were playing with Elyisian Drop Troops and had already vehicle rules for Valkyries and Tauros which I only got the Tauros sin I literally stole it from those [ranting part].

Any how, I think i would be an Operator so I can drive IG vehicles.

Sample regiment:

Phobos 16th Regiment
Cost:

Tauros & Tauros Venator:

Wow, Deiros. You sure can do a lot with just a peek at the rules! :)

Looks great for a reconnaissance regiment.

Eradico, I'm working on some preliminary ideas/logo art for the wiki, I should be able to run some ideas by you for tomorrow for color scheme and page formatting through email or here. I figure I'll template things on the current wiki's for our other campaigns with an 'Imperial Guard' feel/motif.

I'm zonked from work tonight (but was able to update Sons of Jericho), and should have more for you tomorrow (including the Oremor Affliction updates).

Deiros, that is awesome, talk about cranking out the fluff!

I'd just like to run an idea by the rest of you after some thought and conferring with Eradico:

Should we design our own regiment, with input from everyone here over the next several days as a collaborative process? I'd be happy to moderate, since I have the Only War pdf with the steps for unit creation. I feel this would give us a all a hand in the creation of what our regiment is about with regard to flavor and history.

I'm really open to where the process would lead us, but I have to at least propose a common thread between our campaigns---what if the regiment we created originated on Oremor?

*Lurking lurker de-lurks*

I've got the PDF as well and I've touched base with Eradico on the possibility of being an extra bit of cannon fodder if there is room... but even if the group is full I'm interested in being involved and supportive so I can get up the learning curve for probably running my own Only War PbP in the future.

So if anyone who doesn't have the PDF has any queries - feel free to ask and I'll respond when I can.

*Lurking lurker moves into the shadows once more*

I don't mind creating a whole Regiment as long as everyone agrees with it so we are all happy.

That was just an example of how to present the Regiment according to the rules and the respective fluff added to "explain" our regiment rules.

I took a VERY long peek at the Regiment creation part. I still don't know fully well how to create a character lol.

The Phobos regiment is actually a canon regiment that did fought in the 13th crusade, but there is nothing mentioned about them really except for the mention that they were present.

Other Important regiments left out:

I'm really open to where the process would lead us, but I have to at least propose a common thread between our campaigns---what if the regiment we created originated on Oremor?

Love this idea and would like it if you facilitated the Regiment creation process.

Ellipsis and Catman, let me know if you'd like to join. Would like it if you did but understand if you don't have the time or inclination for yet *another* PbP campaign.

Mark Sweetman--Congratulations. You've been drafted into the Imperial Guard! Look forward to a brief life and a violent death while serving the glorious Imperium! :)

Duty roster so far:

Bal
Lorm
Rad (Commissar)
Rook (Sergeant)
Deiros (maybe an operator, depending on regiment type)
Mark (Rookie/Cannon Fodder) Just kidding. Well, maybe. ;)

I'm interested. Do you mind giving me a list of the specialties so I can choose? I will probably buy the book so I am not crazy about shelling out for a pdf as well.

*Salutes* "Reporting for the futile charge at the defences sir!" and a genial hello to all others in attendance. Many thanks to Eradico for taking a creepy stalker on board :P

Radavel is used to ordering me around at any rate - he's my Rogue Trader in another PbP here on the boards.

Specialty Choices:
Guardsmen: Heavy Gunner, Medic, Operator, Sergeant, Weapons Specialist
Support Specialists: Commissar, Ministorium Priest, Ogryn, Ratling, Sanctioned Psyker, Storm Trooper, Tech-Priest Enginseer

*Salutes* "Reporting for the futile charge at the defences sir!" and a genial hello to all others in attendance. Many thanks to Eradico for taking a creepy stalker on board :P

As I told Mark already, that's how I got started with Rook. Lurkers unite!

Radavel is used to ordering me around at any rate - he's my Rogue Trader in another PbP here on the boards.

Great. The only difference is that as Commissar he'll also have a pistol pointed at the back of your head.

I think with that roll-out I'm going to lean towards a Weapons Specialist (with a close combat bent). While it would probably make a pretty fearsome Ogryn, I'd prefer to RP something with a few more grey cells :)

For Regiment Creation, there are essentially 5 primary choices to be made - and a budget of 12 points. The choices (and point costs) are:
Home Worlds and Origins: Death World (3), Fortress World (3), Highborn (3), Hive World (3), Imperial World (1), Penal Colony (2), Penitent (3), Schola Progenium (3)
Commanding Officer: Bilious (2), Circumspect (2), Choleric (2), Fixed (1), Maverick (2), Melancholic (2), Phlegmatic (1), Sanguine (2), Supine (1)
Regiment Type: Armored (4), Reconnaissance (3), Drop Troops (3), Hunter-Killer (3), Light Infantry (2), Line Infantry (2), Mechanised Infantry (3), Siege Infantry (2)
Training Doctrines: Close Order Drill (2), Die-Hards (3), Favored Foe (3), Fieldcraft (4), Hardened Fighters (2), Iron Discipline (3), Sharpshooters (4)
Special Equipment Doctrines: Augmetics (2), Chameleoline (3), Combat Drugs (2), Demolitions (3), Scavengers (3), Warrior Weapons (3), Well-Provisioned (3)

Then the final step is to spend an allocation upgrading the standard regimental equipment loadout (ie. Laspistol -> Lascarbine)

Based on Rook being interested in being an Operator, I'd suggest that the regiment choice is either Armored (Leman-Russ), Recon (Walker or Transport), Hunter-Killer (Walker or Hellhound), Mechanised (Chimera); as those all include a vehicle in their regimental equipment.

Oremor IG that sounds interesting we even have already a traitor IG chaos worshipping legion XD, and our hated enemy the Tyranids plus all the other plushy softies like orks and tau.

Rook is going for Sergeant as far as I remember.

I was the one going for operator ^^ someone has to be the Valkyrie pilot or driver.

You are correct Deiros... Must be the Chaos corruption insidiously working on my noggin... apologies.

For Regiment Creation, there are essentially 5 primary choices to be made - and a budget of 12 points. The choices (and point costs) are:

Home Worlds and Origins: Death World (3), Fortress World (3), Highborn (3), Hive World (3), Imperial World (1), Penal Colony (2), Penitent (3), Schola Progenium (3)
Commanding Officer: Bilious (2), Circumspect (2), Choleric (2), Fixed (1), Maverick (2), Melancholic (2), Phlegmatic (1), Sanguine (2), Supine (1)
Regiment Type: Armored (4), Reconnaissance (3), Drop Troops (3), Hunter-Killer (3), Light Infantry (2), Line Infantry (2), Mechanised Infantry (3), Siege Infantry (2)
Training Doctrines: Close Order Drill (2), Die-Hards (3), Favored Foe (3), Fieldcraft (4), Hardened Fighters (2), Iron Discipline (3), Sharpshooters (4)
Special Equipment Doctrines: Augmetics (2), Chameleoline (3), Combat Drugs (2), Demolitions (3), Scavengers (3), Warrior Weapons (3), Well-Provisioned (3)

Then the final step is to spend an allocation upgrading the standard regimental equipment loadout (ie. Laspistol -> Lascarbine)

Based on Rook being interested in being an Operator, I'd suggest that the regiment choice is either Armored (Leman-Russ), Recon (Walker or Transport), Hunter-Killer (Walker or Hellhound), Mechanised (Chimera); as those all include a vehicle in their regimental equipment.

If someone could please email the what effects of the different choices are. I would appreciate it. I know I was planning on rolling up a sniper. Which could double as a cavalry scout if you guys were leaning toward an armoured company.

FYI, the initial adventure ups the ante considerably with enemies if the player characters belong to an armored unit. From a GM perspective I'd prefer to stay away from that particular unit-type. But whatever the group wants is fine by me. It's your funeral. ;)

Restating what Mark posted above, here's what each squad receives in its standard "kit" w/regard to vehicles. Similar substitute vehicles are permitted at GM's discretion:

Armored - One Leman Russ Battle Tank
Reconnaissance - Sentinel Scout Walker OR Chimera Armored Transport
Drop Troop - none
Hunter-Killer - One Sentinel Scout Walker OR Hellhound Support Tank
Light Infantry - None
Line Infantry - None
Mechanized Infantry - Chimera Infantry Fighting Vehicle (IFV)
Siege Infantry - None

Assuming you choose a regiment type *with* a vehicle, yup Deiros, you've got dibs on Operator. That said, choosing a squad type that does not load out with a vehicle does not necessarily preclude vehicle use, depending on the mission.

EDIT: Deiros, I might add that the Operator comes with a skill set that will allow him to prove his mettle outside of his vehicle as well.

Bal, give me some time and I'll address your preference for a human (non-ratling) sniper. Either we will make some tweaks to the weapons-specialist template or house rule the ratling sniper template. It should be easy enough to start a character with some options for marksmanship and/or stealth.

Rook, looking at table 2-1 (p. 26), how would you categorize Oremor?

Nice to have you on board, Mark! Welcome to Paizo's hidden WH40K RPG community!

All (counts on fingers looking around a sparsely populated room) um, something-teen of us!

Don't worry we more than make up for our quantity with our quality.

I already like you a ton because you saved me from summarizing the regimental creation rules in a post, heh.

So, who is up for creating our regiment?

First order of business would be a concept, do we go with something whole-cloth from scratch, or did you guys want to work on developing a regiment of guardsmen from Oremor?

Let's put it to a vote. Although I am partial to developing the Oremor idea, I am equally intrigued by something completely fresh and new (the pre-defined Maccabian Janissaries are pretty sweet, too).

Okay cool Eradico.

Rook-I would be cool with helping create the Oremor regiment. My question is this regiment already a part of a military campaign. Or will this story be directly linked dealing with the containment of 7th Legion incident or part of the 1st dealing with locking down the Hive for security?

Welcome Mark, totally spaced welcoming you earlier.

Eradico, I would probably say the best category describing Oremor would be Penal Colony, although you could make the argument for Hive World for some regiments, or even a combination of the two for individual character's origins.

Bal, I'd say that any of those three could be an option. Everyone in the Oremor Affliction campaign has a sense of just how badly events are trending for the planet's populace. A Hive World legion like the Oremor 1st or 2nd might be veterans of fighting civil strife in Orcut VII or Fulcus Prime, while The 3rd through 6th or 8th through 19th Legions could be the survivors of the 7th Legion 'quarantine' from one of the other Unduz plantation colonies. Alternately, one of these higher numbered legions could have been offworld in the Spinward Front fighting the whole time, none the wiser about what is occurring at home.

Whichever course we took, I would say the campaign should take place on the Spinward front, some time after the events of the Dark Heresy campaign (but with the aftermath hanging over our regiment, the survivors).

One thing worth noting is that the penal legions in charge of security for Oremor's claustrums (plantation penal colonies) are comprised of both free citizens and 'emancipated' prisoners, some being more reformed than others, which does suggest an interesting seed for roleplaying conflict.

More basic info on Oremor is here, if Mark is curious: Oremor.

Chiming in, guys. Eradico, I assume a Commissar is still needed.

What rolls do we need to make? I don't have the Beta release yet.

If we're using the penal legion option then I'm sure the combat drugs will be in there somewhere hehehe

A distant relative to Llyriel by any chance Rad? =)

Like to hear what other people would like to go with. I know I initially wanted to be a Vostoryan, but if we want to link all the campaigns I am all for it.

Perhaps. But since his parents died while he was a child and the schola refused to disclose the other particulars of his background, one can never be sure. Gene screening might be in order :-)

Rook, I think Penal Colony works well and it affords some nice bonuses to the players. Just think Hive-Gangers in camo gear!

This reminds me of the troops under that Major Rawne, second in command of Commissar-Colonel Gaunt.

I am home after a 12 hr shift. I will try and figure a character out, but like I said before, I am waiting for the book, therfore I will not buy the PDF. I know that Balfic knows this, but the release date for Warhammer 40k 6th ed. is this saturday.

Lorm, we can worry about rolling up characters after we choose/create a regiment. Maybe just consider what type (in general) of character you'd like to play and then me, Rook, and Mark can help more with specifics.

Mark listed the different types up above (cut and pasted here w/edits added):

Guardsmen: Heavy Gunner, Medic, Operator [Deiros], Sergeant [Rook], Weapons Specialist [Bal, sniper/infiltration and Mark, close combat/assault]

Support Specialists: Commissar [Rad], Ministorium Priest, Ogryn, Ratling, Sanctioned Psyker, Storm Trooper, Tech-Priest Enginseer

EDIT: As a side-note (this helps address a question Ellipsis had), each character type has "suggested" advances. Near as I can tell from my cursory/partial reading of the rules there is more flexibility in choosing one's advances than in DH or DW. Mark or Rook, let me know if I'm in error.

Penal Colony is good with me. I'd suggest probably Toughness and Agility as the two characteristics to get the 3 point bump.

Regiment type options and effects:

My mechanical preference is for Mechanised, as we get upgrades on our base weapon, grenades and a transport as part of our regimental equipment.

Radavel - character creation is 2d10+20 down the line with a single re-roll.

Lorm - what sort of character are you interested in playing? - I can fish out the targeted info to assist.

Eradico / Bal - looking over it, I'd think that a re-skin of the Weapons Specialist would probably be easiest to custom a sniper. Change the weapons choice to long-las or sniper rifle and change up the skills a little. The Weapons Specialist still has aptitudes in the right places to make skilling one up as a sniper fairly easy.
My Weapons Spec will be taking a melta most likely, so there won't be much overlap in role :)

This reminds me of the troops under that Major Rawne, second in command of Commissar-Colonel Gaunt.

That is a great comparison.

Eradico - there is ultimate flexibility in choosing your advances, the system is probably closest to Black Crusade.

The way it works is thus:
Each character has 'Aptitudes' which are used for determining the XP cost of advances. eg. the Weapons Specialist gets Agility, Ballistic Skill, Fellowship, Fieldcraft, Finesse, Weapon Skill.

Each characteristic has a secondary aptitude attached to it as well. eg. WS has a secondary aptitude of Offense; BS has Finesse.

Each skill also has two aptitudes attached to it. eg. Dodge has Agi and Defence.

Any character can take any advance - but it is much cheaper to take the advances that your character has aptitudes in.

For example a Simple Weapon Skill advance costs 100xp if you have both aptitudes, 500xp if you only have one aptitude or 750xp if you have zero.

So you get to choose to advance any characteristics / skills and in any order - they are just much more expensive if you lack the aptitudes for them.

Okay cool, works with me.

As for Regiment. My vote would be Hunter Killer or Recon. Considering how much Jungle there is on Oremor.

Mark, thanks for the write-up on Aptitudes. Skimmed through it but forgot about it! Isn't it nice to know your GM has such attention for detail? :)

I'd think that a re-skin of the Weapons Specialist would probably be easiest to custom a sniper. Change the weapons choice to long-las or sniper rifle and change up the skills a little. The Weapons Specialist still has aptitudes in the right places to make skilling one up as a sniper fairly easy.

Rook, Mark, what about the following changes at creation for Bal? Does it break the character?

Weapons Specialist ("Sniper Sub-group")

Aptitudes: Substitute Perception for Weapons Skill

Starting Skills: Substitute Awareness OR Stealth (choose one) for Athletics OR Survival (choose one)

Talents: Substitute Deadeye Shot for Lasgun Barrage

Equipment: Substitute Long-Las OR Solid-Projectile Sniper Rifle (choose one) for Flamer OR Shotgun OR Melta (choose one).

Radavel wrote:

This reminds me of the troops under that Major Rawne, second in command of Commissar-Colonel Gaunt.

That is a great comparison.

Does this mean that the Commissar gets to run the scam?

I don't like the Penal legion option since it doesn't help to loose our "income" by half.

I would still pick Imperial World since there are agri-worlds in Oremon (I think) and this saves us some important points for the rest of the options to create a regiment.

Imperial World
Cost: 1
Characteristics: +3 Willpower and +3 to any other.
Skill: Common Lore (Imperial Creed), Common Lore (Imperium) and Linguistics (High Gothic)
Blessed Ignorance: -5 penalty to Forbidden Lore (Int) Test.
Kill the Mutant: Hatred (Mutant)
Starting Wounds: No change.

I am not very knowledgeable of Oremon except for what the wiki says.

Now the only thing I see is that the worlds we have access too are
Fortress, Hive, Imperial or Penal.

I rather have Imperial Words or Fortress World.

Imperial World is a bit more flexible stat wise, gives average importance skills with regards of common knowledge that any imperial citizen knows and that includes the penalty do to the ignorance in forbidden knowledge and a nice talent to fight mutants. Not to mention it costs 1 point.

If you guys want to spend points let's get a Fortress World and we get pretty nice stuff.

Characteristics: +3 Ballistics, Willpower, Toughness
Skills: Common Lore (War), Common Lore (Imperium), Common Lore (IG)
Hated Enemy: Hatred talent vs. (pick one of our choice), but we are a bit zealous and we take Ordinary +10 willpower test to not go bonkers over it.
Combat Doctrine: Nerves of Steel or Sprint.
Bred for War: Loyal to a fault Challenging +0 Willpower test to go against regulations.
Starting Wounds:Normal.

Recon in the tradition of Gaunt's Ghosts :-)

Will we be playing something like Necropolis?

I don't like the Penal legion option since it doesn't help to loose our "income" by half.

From a meta-game perspective that is a concern, *BUT* I think the apparent drawback of reduced "income" will lead to some *GREAT* role-playing opportunities. Your squad will have to do some scrounging, haggling, or outright stealing in order to properly outfit your unit.

Plus I think it perfectly matches the flavor of the Oremor campaign. Can't you see Savalos Thul with a sharp haircut and a las-rifle, bitter that the other IG units from upper-crust worlds get all the shiny, new stuff?

Reminds me that the U.S. Marines get older, crappier equipment compared to the other branches but still get the job done. Adapt, improvise, overcome!

The loss of req within the Penal Legion could be offset by taking the Mechanised Regiment option (where you get a vehicle, decent main weapon upgrade and grenades without needing to buy them). The upgrade to lasgun and addition of grenades is worth more than the loss of req under Penal Legion.

Imperial World is also a solid choice, due to the points it frees up more than anything else as it allows for better choices later.

Fortress + a regiment with a vehicle would be six points, which means there's only six left for the final three choices, which means there's less flexibility.

For the benefit of those lacking the PDF, the basic regimental loadout is:

Recon in the tradition of Gaunt's Ghosts :-)

Will we be playing something like Necropolis?

Missions can be all over the board. Hopefully after we finish a couple of introductory adventures then FFG will produce some adventures before the end of the year.

Rook, Mark, what about the following changes at creation for Bal? Does it break the character?

Weapons Specialist ("Sniper Sub-group")

Aptitudes: Substitute Perception for Weapons Skill

Starting Skills: Substitute Awareness OR Stealth (choose one) for Athletics OR Survival (choose one)

Talents: Substitute Deadeye Shot for Lasgun Barrage

Equipment: Substitute Long-Las OR Solid-Projectile Sniper Rifle (choose one) for Flamer OR Shotgun OR Melta (choose one).

Looks about right to me.

I'd be interested in playing a Storm Trooper; after all, someone has to keep Rad safe from all you ruffians. How does the regiment choice/character creation work for support specialists, who would generally be from a different world?

Rolls

I suppose an Operator would be nice to have but I got very good physical things and not so much smarts.