WH40k: Dark Heresy - d20 / Pathfinder Conversion

Here is the humble beginning of my attempt to convert Warhammer 40k: Dark Heresy to d20/Pathfinder rules.

Here is my attempt to convert Home Worlds. Since they a essentially the "races" of Dark Heresy, I treated them as such.

Any comments or suggestions are greatly appreciated. Especially concerning any potential balance issues among the "races". I am not a rules guy, so there may be significant things I have overlooked.

Home World Conversion (Google Docs)

Marking to follow. =)

Made few tweaks to the Homeworld section after working on the Skills.

I am well into converting skills, should have something to post in a couple days.

Cool! There are a couple fan sites and at least two sci-fi products I know out there that have done the sci-fantasy route by giving their own version of what D20 Modern -> Pathfinder rules would be for skills synergy. I'll be curious to see how you group them.

To be frank, the main reason I've acquired a number of the Dark Heresy and Rogue Trader books was primarily for the reason you described above. I love the flavor(s) of the setting, but I prefer to play with d20/OGL/PF rules as I'm more intimately familiar with them to the exclusion of most others.

Good luck! =)

Here is the Skill section.
I tried to do a straight conversion of the DH skills but a lot of them are superfluous in d20, so I combined them with other skills or left them off completely. There are a couple of skills that need fluff conversion and I haven't decided how I want to handle the Craft skill yet. DH uses Trade, Tech-Use, and Chem-Use for Crafting. I can't decide if I want to roll the Crafting into those skills or keep 'em separate like in d20/Pathfinder.

Any feedback or suggestions are always appreciated.

DH Skills Conversion(Google Docs)

On to Feats. This will be tougher since DH uses Talents for both Class Abilities and "Feats". Pretty much going to have separate the talents and assign them to specific classes and then have some general feats, I guess.

Why don't you mirror talents to how Paizo does the Traits system?

Have you had a chance to look at the Skills conversion? Any thoughts? Do you think I missed any critical skills? How do you feel about the Interrogate and Carouse skills. I felt they were covered by other rules in d20 (like Bluff, Diplomacy, and Intimidate for Interrogate or Fort saves for Carouse). What about that Command skill, do you feel that it's necessary?

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Why don't you mirror talents to how Paizo does the Traits system?

That could work for some of them but a lot of them are probably too powerful for Traits, they are either on par with Class Abilities or Feats. Eventually, I would like to add traits and maybe archetypes, but that would be much further down the road.

I was considering mirroring how d20 modern does classes, where each class gets Talent Trees that they can choose from in addition to Feats. Obviously some of the "general" talents (like Skill Focus type Talents and Weapon Proficiencies) will turn into general Feats.

There is a LOT of overlap between the DH class talents, so I am going through the list of Class Advances to see which Talents are unique to each class (The only class that I noticed off the bat that has its own distinct Talents is the Tech-Priest.) This will help define what each class can do.

Then I will pick either a Pathfinder class (with requisite flavor change for their abilities) or a d20 Modern class that's similar and use those as a template.

d20 Modern might make more sense though since it uses 10 level classes and all the ones in DH are all 8 levels (until you move on to Ascension classes). Talent Trees wil also allow for the different paths in the Advances trees.

Also, I recently got the Starship Troopers RPG (Thanks Paizo holiday clearance) and might borrow some class ideas from there as well. I think the classes are going to be the hardest part. I want them to fit into d20 but the DH flavor has to stay.

As always, suggestions or advice are welcomed.

Some additional thoughts on DH classes:
If I were to convert them to Pathfinder classes, which do you think would be the best fit?

Adept - knowledgeable scholars - Maybe a non spell-casting Bard variant

Arbitrator - Investigators and lawmen - feels like Paladin or Inquisitor (non spell-casting variants)

Assassin - Skilled Killer - Rogue feels right for this, but Monk or Fighter could work too. This one's tough.

Cleric - Priests, diplomats, and leaders of men - Non-spellcasting Cleric (how that would work, I'm not sure) or perhaps Cavalier.

Guardsman - Warriors, Soldiers, and Brawlers - Fighter

Imperial Psyker - Psychic - Hmm, reflavored Sorcerer, Witch, or Psion

Scum - Thieves and Outcasts - Rogue

Tech-Priest - Keepers of mysterious technology - Reflavored Alchemist or Wizard (think Techo-Mages from Babylon 5)

Decided to go with the following Pathfinder classes (10 levels)

Adept - Bard.

Arbitrator - Inquisitor (non spell-casting variant)

Assassin - Monk

Cleric - Paladin

Guardsman - Fighter

Imperial Psyker - Sorcerer

Scum - Rogue

Tech-Priest - Alchemist, bombs will be technological attacks, mutagens will be the result of augmentics they have installed.

I am just working on reflavoring and shuffling around some abilities. I was trying to do Feats/Talents first and realized that without classes, it was pointless.

The Archetypes, are really cool when you reflavor some of them. My favorites so far are the fighter archetypes. Archer becomes Rifleman, Crossbowman becomes Sniper... etc.

I've done a lot of work on classes. The feat list is tentative at this point. The ones in red might be eliminated or folded into class abilities. I haven't decided on skill points/class or starting hp. I have a friend of mine running the numbers to see if the classes are balanced. There is still a lot of work to do converting the weapons and armor and psychic powers (decided to keep the psychic powers mechanic the same since I don't like power points all that much, but I might change my mind if I get my hands on the Dreamscarred Psionics book).

Google Docs link

Just letting you know I'm still lurking in the background even if I'm not much for commentary. But I'd strongly recommend for you to pick up the DSP book so it does a bit of the work for you and you can add to it whatever you deem missing.

Just letting you know I'm still lurking in the background even if I'm not much for commentary. But I'd strongly recommend for you to pick up the DSP book so it does a bit of the work for you and you can add to it whatever you deem missing.

Snow day boredom has lead to: Psionics Unleashed = Purchased. It may be an ice age before I get a hard copy but PDF is in hand. :)

Urizen, could you recommend other threads or forums where I might be able to get some additional commentary? As it is right now, I am just making this up as I go along and having feedback from people with more experience than I (especially the mechanics) would help a lot. I haven't figured out if there is just no interest in a conversion like this, or this thread is just not showing up in the right places. I have tried to seed it into some other threads with little effect.

I was fortunate to get one of my group members who loves to do number crunching to go over the material, so it should help a lot. I don't know if I'm making this much harder than it needs to be or not. I really just want to make sure that I get the 'feel' right without reinventing the wheel.

Urizen, could you recommend other threads or forums where I might be able to get some additional commentary? As it is right now, I am just making this up as I go along and having feedback from people with more experience than I (especially the mechanics) would help a lot. I haven't figured out if there is just no interest in a conversion like this, or this thread is just not showing up in the right places. I have tried to seed it into some other threads with little effect.

I was fortunate to get one of my group members who loves to do number crunching to go over the material, so it should help a lot. I don't know if I'm making this much harder than it needs to be or not. I really just want to make sure that I get the 'feel' right without reinventing the wheel.

I know there are folks on here interested in sci-fi, but it's more of a matter whether they want to do any of the leg work. There was this one guy on here that did his own rewrite of Gamma World to conform with Pathfinder Rules and I dare say it's quite extensive.

You may get similar audiences over at the Piazza or EnWorld if you want to stretch out a bit, but it doesn't mean they'll necessarily head back to here for reference.

I only wish I could channel my boredom / unemployment to put in an effort like you're attempting to do. I purposely bought any/all of the Dark Heresy (and Rogue Trader) books specifically in the hopes that I could do some sort of Pathfinder conversion justice from its crunch & numbers. =)

I know there are folks on here interested in sci-fi, but it's more of a matter whether they want to do any of the leg work. There was this one guy on here that did his own rewrite of Gamma World to conform with Pathfinder Rules and I dare say it's quite extensive.

You may get similar audiences over at the Piazza or EnWorld if you want to stretch out a bit, but it doesn't mean they'll necessarily head back to here for reference.

I only wish I could channel my boredom / unemployment to put in an effort like you're attempting to do. I purposely bought any/all of the Dark Heresy (and Rogue Trader) books specifically in the hopes that I could do some sort of Pathfinder conversion justice from its crunch & numbers. =)

Thanks for the ideas and support.

Do you know where I could find the Gamma World conversion? It might be helpful for what I am trying to do and my search-fu sucks.

I know what you mean about channeling effort. I have been toying with doing all of these big projects in my head for quite some time. Usually, I start them, work on them for awhile, and then forget about them. I decided to do this project to see if I could force myself to stick to something and complete it for once. I picked Dark Heresy conversion because I have players that are not interested in learning other rules system other than d20. We are currently playing a d20 modern post-apocalyptic game and it's been going well, but I just really, really love the 40k universe right now. I have been reading all of the novels I can get my hands on, and I know I could really have fun running a Dark Heresy game. I could try to find another group, but they are few and far between here and I really like playing with the people we have.

So, I plan to keep plugging away at this until I come up with a satisfactory result. Something that combines the awesomeness of Pathfinder with the feel and fluff of Dark Heresy. I will continue to post progress here as I go along.

Do you know where I could find the Gamma World conversion? It might be helpful for what I am trying to do and my search-fu sucks.

My search-fu was successful only because I knew who the author was. Here.

I know what you mean about channeling effort. I have been toying with doing all of these big projects in my head for quite some time. Usually, I start them, work on them for awhile, and then forget about them. I decided to do this project to see if I could force myself to stick to something and complete it for once. I picked Dark Heresy conversion because I have players that are not interested in learning other rules system other than d20. We are currently playing a d20 modern post-apocalyptic game and it's been going well, but I just really, really love the 40k universe right now. I have been reading all of the novels I can get my hands on, and I know I could really have fun running a Dark Heresy game. I could try to find another group, but they are few and far between here and I really like playing with the people we have.

So, I plan to keep plugging away at this until I come up with a satisfactory result. Something that combines the awesomeness of Pathfinder with the feel and fluff of Dark Heresy. I will continue to post progress here as I go along.

I'm kind of the same as are your players; I really have no interest to branch away from the d20/OGL. Sure, it's not perfect, but I'm familiar with it and enjoy it. I've picked up a couple of the WH40K omnibuses (Dan Abnett comes to mind) and I believe there are only two out there by Sandy Mitchell that are Dark Heresy specific, but I've yet to read them.

The best analogue I can tie in with Pathfinder's Golarion is calling it 'Hellknights in Space'. ;-)

Thanks for the Gamma World Link.

Further progress on Classes. Changed Adept and Psyker over to Psionics Unleashed and decided to give actual hit dice and went with Defense Bonus from d20 modern to account for having no magic items. I still might do the Armor as DR, but I haven't decided yet, still crunching numbers.

Google Docs

I am still working on this but have been busy lately.

No rush. I've been busy enrolling myself into spring quarter after being out of school for 20 years. :)

P.S. Did you see FFG is set to release Black Crusade?

Haven't read your conversion yet so it may be covered.

How are you going to deal with the gritty nature of 40k, pathfinder-like hitpoints would take away the grittiness of it all IMHO.

And I love Dark Heresy for the grittiness and the excellent damage chart ;>

This is a big endeavor....play DH and while I can play with the rules...they are very poorly organized in places...and welll very 'thick' to read. So good luck on this.

A couple of suggestion...alot of them require looking for out of print d20 varients...but with the internet it might be doable.

1) For the leathality of the system that Darkjoy mentioned...you could look into the Games of Thrones D20 game...where character had very low HPs. I don't know how exactrly well the rules work(never brought it as 50$ was alot of money for me back than)...but it might inspire you.

2) If you can look up a old(oddly enough) Fantasey Flight D20 system game called Dragonstar...which was pretty much D&D in space with hi-tech. Their are rules for various weapons and other hi-tech. Again not saying you should neccessary use them but they could inspire you.

3) I disagree with Assassin being Monk per se as one of the career paths in not really all that Monkish...actualy what I would do is creat new class borrowing using a class as a basis with borrowing from others. I don't have the time now but I see if I can come up with a example of what I mean later. If you don't get what I am trying to say.

No rush. I've been busy enrolling myself into spring quarter after being out of school for 20 years. :)

P.S. Did you see FFG is set to release Black Crusade?

Good Luck with school. I went back after a long absence (admittedly it was Community College) but it seemed WAY easier than it was when I first went to college (at a state school). My wife is taking master's courses after being out of school for about 7 years, and it's not difficult per se, but it's a LOT of group work and writing of papers.

Yes, I am very excited about that particular fact, if it is handled well (which I have no doubt it will be), it will be awesome.

Although, now Fantasy Flight and Paizo are competing for my money. :)

Haven't read your conversion yet so it may be covered.

How are you going to deal with the gritty nature of 40k, pathfinder-like hitpoints would take away the grittiness of it all IMHO.

And I love Dark Heresy for the grittiness and the excellent damage chart ;>

I agree.

I plan to keep the hps low, you get Con score at first level and then a fixed # of hp (1, 2, or 3 dependent on class) + Con bonus per level thereafter. Right now the documents show both options, but I plan to stick with the low hps. The Starship Troopers d20 game does this, and I like it.

I am also keeping Armor as DR and using the Dodge and Parry rules from the Conan RPG.

The critical effects charts are also staying, but I may adjust the insta-kill effects.

When in doubt, I have been mimicking spell effects for a lot of the stuff.

This is a big endeavor....play DH and while I can play with the rules...they are very poorly organized in places...and welll very 'thick' to read. So good luck on this.

A couple of suggestion...alot of them require looking for out of print d20 varients...but with the internet it might be doable.

1) For the leathality of the system that Darkjoy mentioned...you could look into the Games of Thrones D20 game...where character had very low HPs. I don't know how exactrly well the rules work(never brought it as 50$ was alot of money for me back than)...but it might inspire you.

2) If you can look up a old(oddly enough) Fantasey Flight D20 system game called Dragonstar...which was pretty much D&D in space with hi-tech. Their are rules for various weapons and other hi-tech. Again not saying you should neccessary use them but they could inspire you.

3) I disagree with Assassin being Monk per se as one of the career paths in not really all that Monkish...actualy what I would do is creat new class borrowing using a class as a basis with borrowing from others. I don't have the time now but I see if I can come up with a example of what I mean later. If you don't get what I am trying to say.

One thing that has made the conversion easier is that the system is very similar to Pathfinder/d20 to begin with.

1) & 2) Thanks. I will have to see if any of my group members have those books for inspiration. I have been using the Conan RPG, d20 modern- Darwin's World, and Starship Troopers as inspiration in addition to Pathfinder.

3) When I started this, the Ninja wasn't available, so monk seemed to fit because of the whole 'temple' aspect of the class. I did steal things from the Assasin and some other classes to convert the Monk to Assassin, and plan to work the Archetypes to allow for the different temples (Zen Archer would easily translate for Vindicare Asassins). I may just split it into different classes completely, if it seems to fit better.
Having just read the NEMESIS Horus Heresy novel, I know a LOT more about the different assassin temples than I did before.
Vindicare - Perfect marksmen
Eversor - Shock & Terror tactics
Culexus - Anti-psychics
Callidus - Changelings & masters of disguise
Venenum - Poisoners
Vanus - Intelligence gatherers & master strategists

Once I get through the Weapons and Armor (which I am working on now), I plan to revisit the Classes and the Homeworld options to clean those up and try to get everything together in one document.

Good Luck with school. I went back after a long absence (admittedly it was Community College) but it seemed WAY easier than it was when I first went to college (at a state school). My wife is taking master's courses after being out of school for about 7 years, and it's not difficult per se, but it's a LOT of group work and writing of papers.

Yes, I am very excited about that particular fact, if it is handled well (which I have no doubt it will be), it will be awesome.

Although, now Fantasy Flight and Paizo are competing for my money. :)

Retook a pair of competency exams Wednesday afternoon and got placed into more advanced classes as a result, so I'm feeling good ... until I get hit with the course-load that comes with it. :P

And keep up with your current project. :)

Here are the weapons and weapon quality docs.

Google Docs

PS: I am going to consolidate all of these into 1 document soon.

When I started going through the Psionics Unleashed powers to narrow down the ones that I wanted to include in my conversion, I was unable to find a database or spreadsheet that had a list of all the powers, so I ended up creating my own. I posted it over to the Dreamscarred Messageboards and here under the Psionics Unleashed Product Discussion. It was rather a pain to compile but will help with the conversion process.

Keep it up! In the meantime, I've noticed that there's a lot of other 3PPs that are beginning to use DSP's psionics in their own products, so that's a good reputation on their behalf that others are making use of their update of the 3.5 materials plus their own take. A good example of the OGL being put to good use with mutual collaboration. :)

Keep it up! In the meantime, I've noticed that there's a lot of other 3PPs that are beginning to use DSP's psionics in their own products, so that's a good reputation on their behalf that others are making use of their update of the 3.5 materials plus their own take. A good example of the OGL being put to good use with mutual collaboration. :)

I find this development very exciting. I look forward to see what they come up with.

I'm kind of getting stuck a bit on the DH Conversion. I'm taking a little break to try to decide how to proceed from here.

I need to revisit the Homeworlds and Classes and pare down both the Feats list and the Psionic Powers. I'm pretty happy with where I am with the Skills, as I think they cover all the necessary bases.

I am not very happy with the Tech-Priest class or the Assassin, the Tech-Priest isn't where I want it to be at all and is likely uber weak. It should fill the 'tinker' role and be the master of technology and related lore. I think I need to put more of the Alchemist into it, just turn the bombs and discoveries into tech-related effects. I think that might work out for the best in the long run.
I based the Assassin on the monk, but might hold off and switch it to the Ninja if that makes more sense in the long-term.
I also feel like the Cleric needs to have the Mercies stripped out (because they really don't fit the fluff) and replaced with either something from the Cavalier-side to inspire allies or from the Ranger Favored Enemy skills (since Hatred is a Cleric Talent in DH). I'm pretty happy with the rest of the classes, just have to do some playtesting at some point to see how viable they are.

I totally rewrote the Cleric using the Battle Herald prestige class as a template. I felt this was a better fit after reading the fluff. They are commanding and persuasive warriors on the battlefield, spreading the word of the Emperor to their enemies as well as the masses and inspiring others with their rhetoric. I am a little concerned that this version might be a bit overpowered due to the prestige class being two levels ahead of a standard class, but I reduced the BAB and a couple other features to try to balance it. I may end up having to tweak some of the bonuses after playtesting, but that's a while off yet.

I spent some more time on the Assassin and am sticking with the monk chassis for the time being but putting in some Assassin abilities (like rogue abilities) that will be a combination of different powers from the Assassin prestige class, the beta ninja, and probably the barbarian if they make sense. Still pondering this one.

I am going to attempt the tech priest next, I think.

Google Docs Link

Schweet! And thanks for the link.

Unfortunately, this project is going on hold for awhile. I just joined a new 3.5e game in addition to running my own d20 modern one, so I will be focusing on those for a while. I really want to come back to this in the near future though. I think I am really close on where I want the classes to be. Perhaps once I get my hands on Ultimate Magic and Ultimate Combat, I will find the pieces that I need to complete this.

Good luck!