Agents of the Holy Ordos

Game Master TheLastGhost

OK I completely messed up my rolls...
Using the rolls I had correctly...

WS 20 + 6 + 1 = 27
BS 25 + 4 + 10 39
S (-) 20 + 5 + 6 + 4 = 29
T 20 + 3 + 3 = 26
Ag 20 + 6 + 7 = 33
Int (+) 25 + 2 + 8 + 6 = 39
Per 20 + 4 + 3 = 27
WP (+) 25 + 7 + 5 + 4 = 37
Fel 25 + 6 + 2 = 33
Inf 20 + 6 + 5 = 31

Reroll Int 2 => 8 25 + 8 + 8 = 41
Reroll Fel 2 => 2 no change
Reroll T 3 => 6 29

WS: 2d10 + 20 ⇒ (5, 9) + 20 = 34
BS: 2d10 + 20 ⇒ (8, 3) + 20 = 31
Str: 2d10 + 20 ⇒ (10, 8) + 20 = 38
Agi: 2d10 + 20 ⇒ (5, 1) + 20 = 26
Tou: 2d10 + 20 ⇒ (2, 5) + 20 = 27
Int: 2d10 + 20 ⇒ (6, 10) + 20 = 36
Per: 2d10 + 20 ⇒ (2, 10) + 20 = 32
Wil: 2d10 + 20 ⇒ (3, 8) + 20 = 31
Fel: 2d10 + 20 ⇒ (6, 7) + 20 = 33
Ifl: 2d10 + 20 ⇒ (4, 4) + 20 = 28

Just to begin with I guess I'll get the main rolls out of the way before work.

I will use one of my reroll dice on the 2 perception roll. I know I want to do at least that much in this moment.

Per Reroll 2: 1d10 ⇒ 2

:D Okay, then rerolling the Agi 1 and BS 3.

Agi Reroll 1: 1d10 ⇒ 5
BS Reroll 3: 1d10 ⇒ 3

Hey, 1/3 actually rolled a different number. Neat!

Just checking regarding said talent - is that from the background or the planet, role, etc combination? Since a few backgrounds give unique traits as opposed to talents.

I think I got all three since the role also gives me the Psyker elite advance (for which I actually have to roll the corruption, I think, as Venatalia isn't sanctioned).

Corruption: 1d10 + 3 ⇒ (5) + 3 = 8

Kind of torn: Part of me wants to play an Astropath (I fell in love with Rogue Trader's Astropath Transcendant back in the day), but I don't wanna step on the toes of the other psyker applicants too much. Another idea I had was maybe a germophobic Chirurgeon from the Astra Militarum or a battle-leadery-kind of Tech-Priest.

I hate being so indecisive >_<

I am only speaking for myself here, mind, but I'm personally more than happy to swap things around on my end, in the event I get picked and there's overlap. I wasn't certain which role wished to pursue until I chose to pick a Psyker pretty much out of the blue (or, you know, purple) - I'd be more than happy to change mechanics to a Seeker (with a bigger lean on almost preternatural insight/vision), Hierophant with a silver tongue or even a Sage or an Ace, as I am mainly going for insightful, knowledgeable and social.

Moreso, even with psykers there's the same thing TheLastGhost was saying of niches and different character vibes - an overzealous pious pyromancer or a deceptive underworld biomancer have little overlap with a soul-bound astropath or whatever the Warp I'm trying to do - psyker powers and specialisations are not cheap in DH!

I should probably ask first, GM: Do we have permission to use the alternate homeworlds presented in the back halves of the supplemental books (like Gregorn, Hrax, Snope's World, etc.) as homeworld options, with the understanding that they may not factor too directly into the story given the game is set in the Calixis Sector from 1E rather than 2E's Askellon Sector? Or would you rather have potential players stick to the more generic ones?

So it looks like we have a mix of psyker, a hierophant, and something else. I seem to have rolled strong combat stats and can swap two stats around to have points in pretty much anything. Perhaps I should make something in more of a tanking role? Since I am new to the system I am willing to take requests. I can make about anything and be happy.

Oh, looks like I goobered my rolls as well.

Alright, much as I like the dakka in 40k I have resolved myself to make a brick s@#@house of a character, so going to roll with a Feral World background as I like the aesthetic of it. Head canon is they were picked up by their background group for being such a physical specimen.

So looking at this I could swap Wil and Tou to make an absolute beast of a toughness character. Any advice on making a proper tank? Using the CB an Adeptus Sororitas Crusader sounded lik a good option.

Let me mull something over. I'm less familiar with Dark Heresy than Deathwatch, but Rogue Trader did give me the bug to play a 40k RPG again.

My live group(s) have actually been playing Wrath and Glory, which is definitely worth a look. It's a much rules-lighter way to play 40k but without going too deep into being just "storytime". It plays a lot like the wargame (10th edition specifically) in terms of combat, but has an actual skills system and such to back it up.

As we already have a bunch of Psyker applicants, I'd probably think about rolling up a Tech-Priest of some kind.

Some more rolls:

Emperor's Blessing 5+:: 1d10 ⇒ 3 Nope. 3
Wounds: 7 + 1d5 ⇒ 7 + (5) = 12
Divination: 1d100 ⇒ 34 Heresy begets Retribution. Increase this character's Fellowship or Strength characteristic by 3. Reduce his Toughness or Willpower characteristic by 3.

Character Creation Updates
I am feeling generous, so if it is helpful, you may swap a second set of Characteristics to better fit the concept of your character. In addition, I am increasing the starting experience to 2500 xp.

Lion Cleric / Talents from Background
I hear your question about some of the Backgrounds that grant a trait, so I thought I would do another once over:

As we can see, quite a broad spread with no real consistency. Regarding the two traits involved - by itself, the Mechanicus Implant trait is purely fluff, with no in-game benefits. Only once experience is spent to gain future abilities does it serve a purpose by allowing a character to qualify for certain talents. The Sanctioned trait, on the other hand, increases a psyker's power level by 1, which is very significant. So, I will stick with all Backgrounds granting 3 talents (2 weapon proficiency + 1 "revelant talent"), with the exception of 'Astra Telepathica' IF the character is also gaining the 'Psyker' elite advance (which triggers the addition of the Sanctioned trait), in which case they only get 2 Talents from their background.

Archpaladin Zousha you can definitely use one of the specific homeworlds you mentioned. They have some fun flavor, and let's face it, with warp travel, you can be from literally anywhere.

SqueezeMeNow the option of a sororitas crusader would definitely build a melee character, though I do want to mention there is another applicant currently working on a feudal world sororitas crusader (not that you both can't apply with the same). If you want to go primarily as a melee character, a few other good backgrounds to consider are Imperial Guard, Adeptus Arbites, or Mutant. Any of those would pair well with either the Warrior or Assassin role, depending on what feel you wanted the melee to have. Another thought off of Mutant would be Fanatic, grants Offense and Toughness aptitudes and can spend Fate to gain Hatred talent against specific foe.
* Imperial Guard Warrior - classic tough-as-nails grizzled sergeant
* Imperial Guard Assassin - deep stealth specialist operator
* Adeptus Arbites Warrior - interplanetary police swat officer
* Adeptus Arbites Assassin - interplanetary police "problem solver"
* Mutant Warrior - tribal hero "blessed by the god-emperor"
* Mutant Assassin - twisted survivalist who learned to maximize his gifts
* Mutant Fanatic - hates self as warp-touched mutant, devoted to proving worth to the emperor through service
Just some ideas. Also, four of your characteristics were supposed to start with "2d10 +25", so you essentially have +5 to add to for characteristics.

APPLICANTS (FINISHED)
The Lion Cleric - Venatalia Rey'a'Nor - Quarantine - Rogue Trader - Mystic (or possibly seeker,

APPLICANTS (In Progress)
Tara Ravenheart - Frontier - Outcast - Desperado
Simeon - Forge - Mechanicus - Sage
BigRig107 - Feudal - Sororitas - Crusader
Trawets71 - Voidborn - Astra Telepathica - Mystic
Wanderer82 - Feudal - Arbites or Ministorum - ???
Spazmodeus - Voidborn - Administratum - Heirophant
SqueezeMeNow - Feral - melee?? (possibly Sororitas - Crusader)

APPLICANTS (Interested)
Phillip Gastone
Archpaladin Zousha
Storm Dragon - techpriest?

I am still looking at wrapping up recruitment in a week and a half. Everyone who has expressed interest, could you dot in with how your applications are coming?

Ah, I confused our other Sororitas applicant for our applicant who left! I could certainly turn my character toward more of a damage dealing character. Is there much in the way of utilizing will as a non psyker? If I wasn't utilizing toughness as much my character has equal chance of making use of will.

It looks like the arbites can use their willpower for the sake of intimidation and interrogation, so that would further their "scariest person alive" personal goal. I'll keep looking at possible builds. Looking like it might be better to make them a ranged weapon user that can go melee when appropriate?

I am still trying to work out specifics. As I mentioned in my PM, I am debating between still going Arbite or switching to Ministorum, and being either a battlefield preacher/chaplain or a confessor. There are too many options.

Just can't get a handle on the rules so I will pass.

Sorry to hear that, are there any questions you want answered about the rules set?

TBF these old FFG RPGs are extremely dense and hard to learn in a short timeframe.

Edit: I should probably roll my stats. Let's see what they say before picking my "tagged" stats.

Characteristics:

Weapon Skill: 2d10 ⇒ (4, 10) = 14

Ballistic Skill: 2d10 ⇒ (10, 10) = 20

Strength: 2d10 ⇒ (3, 5) = 8

Toughness: 2d10 ⇒ (7, 9) = 16

Agility: 2d10 ⇒ (5, 4) = 9

Intelligence: 2d10 ⇒ (10, 7) = 17

Perception: 2d10 ⇒ (7, 3) = 10

Willpower: 2d10 ⇒ (2, 5) = 7

Fellowship: 2d10 ⇒ (10, 4) = 14

Influence: 2d10 ⇒ (1, 1) = 2

The Strength and Agility scores definitely leave much to be desired, as does Influence. Hm. But everything else is pretty damn good.

I would like to reroll the 3 in Strength first.

Strength: 1d10 ⇒ 9

Then the entire Influence roll.

Influence: 2d10 ⇒ (6, 7) = 13

Much better for a Tech-Priest of some sort.

I think I will "tag" Intelligence, Weapon Skill, Ballistic Skill, and Strength most likely. I'm gonna see if you can put together an Electro-Priest in Dark Heresy because I don't remember if they have any of the mechanics needed for that.

I may have to copy someone else's homework to format a proper character.

Highborn
WS: 2d10 ⇒ (4, 8) = 12
BS: 2d10 ⇒ (4, 7) = 11
Str: 2d10 ⇒ (9, 1) = 10
Agi: 2d10 ⇒ (8, 5) = 13
Tou: 3d10 - 9 ⇒ (9, 6, 4) - 9 = 10
Int: 2d10 ⇒ (10, 1) = 11
Per: 2d10 ⇒ (4, 1) = 5
Wil: 2d10 ⇒ (1, 10) = 11
Fel: 3d10 - 2 ⇒ (5, 2, 10) - 2 = 15
Inf: 3d10 - 6 ⇒ (9, 6, 10) - 6 = 19

reroll 1 in Wil: 1d10 ⇒ 5
reroll 1 in Per: 1d10 ⇒ 10
reroll 1 in Str: 1d10 ⇒ 6

Hmm, very well rounded.

Literally every stat over 30, but nothing over 35. Interesting.

WS: 20 + 12 = 32
BS: 20 + 11 = 31
Str: 25 + 15 = 40
Agi: 20 + 13 = 33
Tou: 25 + 10 = 35
Int: 20 + 11 = 31
Per: 25 + 14 = 39
Wil: 25 + 15 = 40
Fel: 20 + 15 = 35
Inf: 20 + 19 = 39
Highborn
Adeptus Ministorum
Seeker

wounds: 1d5 ⇒ 2
emperor's blessing: 1d10 ⇒ 10

Okay, finally made my decision.

Homeworld: Hrax (Feudal World)
Background: Adeptus Astra Telepathica
Archetype: Mystic

And will be taking the Astropath Elite Advance. I'll do the actual rolls this afternoon when I'm not posting from a phone.<_<

[dice=WS]20+12

[dice=BS]20+11
[dice=Str]25+15
[dice=Agi]20+13
[dice=Tou]25+10
[dice=Int]20+11
[dice=Per]25+14
[dice=Wil]25+15
[dice=Fel]20+15
[dice=Inf]20+19
Highborn
Adeptus Ministorum
Seeker

You can swap a pair of stats and put that +19 I failed to notice somewhere with a 25.

Here is my psyker. He is a work in progress. Bachu

Veegees wrote:

[dice=WS]20+12

[dice=BS]20+11
[dice=Str]25+15
[dice=Agi]20+13
[dice=Tou]25+10
[dice=Int]20+11
[dice=Per]25+14
[dice=Wil]25+15
[dice=Fel]20+15
[dice=Inf]20+19
Highborn
Adeptus Ministorum
Seeker

You can swap a pair of stats and put that +19 I failed to notice somewhere with a 25.

Yeah I might swap influence and weapon skill.

Oh are we allowed to shuffle stats around? I thought we were rolling in-line.

You can do 2 swaps by the looks of it.

Yes, I'm allowing you to flop two sets of stats now. Later today I will compile the original character creation rules with the in thread updates, and put them on the campaign page. I love seeing some people interested in this recruitment!

divination: 1d100 ⇒ 98

Even one who has nothing can still offer his life.

When this character burns Fate threshold to survive a lethal injury, roll 1d10. On a
result of 10, he survives whatever grievous wound would have killed him but does
not reduce his Fate threshold.

I forgot all the other stuff you have to roll for lol.

Hokay.

So:

Home World is Forge World, which provides:

Intelligence: 1d10 ⇒ 1 - Int stays the same.

Toughness: 1d10 ⇒ 9 - Tgh increases to 18

Fellowship: 1d10 ⇒ 3 - Fellowship is reduced to 7. Yowch.

Fate Threshold: 1d10 ⇒ 4 - Fate remains at a 3.

Wounds: 1d5 ⇒ 3 Character has 8 wounds.

Background is Adeptus Mechanicus, which requires no rolls.

Role is Warrior(?)

Now that I know we cans wap a couple of stats, I'll probably switch my Weapon Skill and Ballistic Skill, as I want to be more melee oriented.

Archpaladin Zousha here, rolling stats:

WS(+): 3d10 - 1 ⇒ (1, 2, 8) - 1 = 10
BS: 2d10 ⇒ (7, 8) = 15
Str: 2d10 ⇒ (4, 5) = 9
Agi: 2d10 ⇒ (10, 1) = 11
Tou: 2d10 ⇒ (8, 9) = 17
Int(-): 3d10 - 9 ⇒ (5, 7, 9) - 9 = 12
Per(+): 3d10 - 7 ⇒ (8, 7, 9) - 7 = 17
Wil: 2d10 ⇒ (4, 9) = 13
Fel: 2d10 ⇒ (1, 9) = 10
Inf: 2d10 ⇒ (8, 5) = 13

What's my next step with the rerolls and switches? I'm angling for a "battle-astropath" kind of character, if that helps, the kind of guy who says "I never bought into the notion that my body needs to be weak for my mind to be strong."

The extra-swole Biomancer-specced Psyker has always been one of my favorite archetypal characters.

Still workin on my Sororitas Crusader! Should have her done by tomorrow evening, if all goes to plan.

I just realized you asked for next steps, not just encouragement lol. You'd want a good Weapon Skill; WS determines your melee attack rolls, so re-rolling that 1 is a good idea.

Strength also determines your melee damage, so I would simply swap that with one of your better rolled stats

Willpower determines your Psyker abilities, so you'd probably be best swapping that with your Perception; Will should be your highest ability score as a Psyker, regardless of other specialties.

These three plus Toughness should probably be your primary starts that start at 25.

Archpaladin Zousha here, rolling stats:

What's my next step with the rerolls and switches? I'm angling for a "battle-astropath" kind of character, if that helps, the kind of guy who says "I never bought into the notion that my body needs to be weak for my mind to be strong."

While obviously I want to avoid 'rolling the character for you', I'd recommend the following:

- Use a reroll for that 2 in the Weapon Skill, the 1 in Agility (Melee characters do appreciate speed), and the 1 in Fellowship.

- After that the two swaps should do what the Storm Dragon suggested, getting Weapon Skill, Strength and Toughness high up, with Willpower or Agility being the fourth to round things up.

- At that point, you should have your Role selected, as some Divinations give extra talents based on what you have. There are a few options here:
-- The Crusader is my recommendation, they're strong and convicted, the option to spend a Fate Point to avoid Fear, and the Knowledge aptitude.
-- A Fanatic or a Hierophant has a more social bent instead.
-- Warriors are straight up combat only (but the option to fully dedicate to psyker abilities is still there), the Penitent is a more crafty type.

- After that you roll for your Fate Threshold, Wounds and Divination, and add your freebie Aptitude.

Once that's all done, there's 2500 XP to be spent on advances, but I think that's a question for later.

-----------------------------][----------------------------

@TheLastGhost - I'm going to add a set of mechanics for a Seeker instead, and let you choose which one you prefer more if you end up selecting me. I think they'd both fit with my idea of my character!

EDIT: Has been added and both sheets are now up to 2500 XP.

I may have to copy someone else's homework to format a proper character.

If you'd like, you can copy mine mine, it's just a notepad document I play around with, but I think the bold, italics and smaller texts help visibility.

Here it is for quoting purposes:

- At that point, you should have your Role selected, as some Divinations give extra talents based on what you have. There are a few options here:

-- The Crusader is my recommendation, they're strong and convicted, the option to spend a Fate Point to avoid Fear, and the Knowledge aptitude.
-- A Fanatic or a Hierophant has a more social bent instead.
-- Warriors are straight up combat only (but the option to fully dedicate to psyker abilities is still there), the Penitent is a more crafty type.

Waitaminute! Don't you need to be a Mystic to be a Sanctioned Psyker out of the box? You gotta be a Sanctioned Psyker first to take the Astropath elite advance. Don't get me wrong, Crusader WOULD fit his personality more accurately, but I don't think there's a talent or anything that allows for a non-Mystic Psyker to get Sanctioned after character creation...

Nope!

You may purchase the Psyker advance for 300 XP, and then the Sanctioning comes from the Adeptus Astra Telepathica *background*, not role, in the shape of the Tested on Terra background trait.

(at least that's my understanding, GM might correct me here.)

So it's just that Mystic grants you Psyker FOR FREE that makes it attractive, but you don't have to be one to have the other?

Wow, looks like we have a lot of potential psykers in the mix. Maybe the Inquisitor is a little more radical than I had intended...

Archpaladin Zousha The Astra Telepathica Background grants the following contingent trait:
Tested on Terra: If the character takes the Psyker elite advance during character creation, he also gains the Sanctioned trait (see page 138).

To become a psyker, you need to take the Psyker Elite Advance. This can be gained by spending 300 XP, or by taking the Mystic role at character creation (which grants it for free).

So, you could become a psyker in the following paths:
1 - Astra Telepathica Background + Mystic role = sanctioned psyker (Psy lvl 2)
2 - Astra Telepathica Background + any other role + 300 XP = sanctioned psyker (Psy lvl 2)
3 - any other background + Mystic role = rogue psyker (Psy lvl 1)
4 - any other background + any other role + 300 XP = rogue psyker (Psy lvl 1)

Storm Dragon you can definitely take talents to utilize and embrace your various implants and such, I'm not sure if it would get to the level of an electro-priest.

Last Cleric I am happy to consider both versions of your character as we move into the decision making process.

Everyone keep up these great concepts!!

From what I could tell there are Traits for Electoos and all the stuff you'd need to be an Electro-priest, but they're only available at GM discretion. Would you mind if I drew up a modified Tech-Priest background that gave access to those Traits?

Ok I think Bachu is done. Please let me know if there are any issues.

ANNOUNCEMENT I have consolidated the updates to Character Creation onto the Campaign page. Please review if you have any questions.

Archpaladin Zousha You rolled a '1' in WS, Agi, and Fel. I would recommend rerolling those three dice. Then you can swap 2 rolled totals with two others. Finally, you have +5 to add to four characteristics.

SqueezeMeNow Arbites can definitely build into solid combat tanks that are also strong interrogators. And yes, being able to do both ranged and melee is wise. Remember, Cover is your friend.

Storm Dragon are they available as traits, or talents?? Please send me a PM with the details and I will review.

Trawets71 at a quick glance, Bachu looks complete. I will do a more thorough review soon.

APPLICANTS (FINISHED)
The Lion Cleric - Venatalia Rey'a'Nor - Quarantine - Rogue Trader - Mystic OR Seeker
Trawets71 - Bachu - Voidborn - Astra Telepathica - Mystic

APPLICANTS (In Progress)
Tara Ravenheart - Frontier - Outcast - Desperado
Simeon - Forge - Mechanicus - Sage
BigRig107 - Feudal - Sororitas - Crusader
Wanderer82 - Feudal - Arbites or Ministorum - ???
Spazmodeus - Voidborn - Administratum - Heirophant
SqueezeMeNow - Feral - melee?? (possibly Sororitas - Crusader)
Veegees - Highborn - Ministorum - Seeker
Storm Dragon - Forge - Mechanicus - Warrior?
Archpaladin Zousha - Feudal (Hrax) - Telepathica - Mystic or Crusader??

@GM: I'm dumb lol, they're not separate traits they're just the sub-Traits included in the Mechanicus Implants Trait. So everything I want is already provided, no homebrew needed.

Just need to figure out if I can get some approximation of Electrostatic Gauntlets.

Edit 1: oh, Luminen Shock and Luminen Blast will do that for me, neat.

Edit: Did you say 1e material was kosher? From what I can glean, The Lathe Worlds has some Electro-priest themed talents that synergize with the other Luminen-related Talents.

This is Tara Ravenheart, dotting in with my avatar. I don't have everything filled in yet, but wanted to get the basics in the page.

Storm Dragon Dark Heresy 2e is essentially the 1st edition game rewritten into the Only War ruleset. So while things from Lathe Worlds will need some (possibly significant) conversion, there are many options in the Only War books that will work seamlessly.

The most of the "techpriest" talents in Only War core rulebook made it into the Dark Heresy 2e core rulebook. However, there are quite a few more options in the supplements "Hammer of the Emperor" and "Shield of Humanity" that will likely help with what you are looking for!

Wounds: 1d8 + 5 ⇒ (3) + 5 = 8
Influence: 20 + 2d10 ⇒ 20 + (7, 5) = 32

Ptah 7-Kappa is nearly updated, just have to sort out gear. I'll be posting his sheet shortly.

And here we are!

Ptah's background and answers to questions from a previous game he was in are in his profile.

Coming back to this after being sick for the past few days, I know a handful of inquisitors are known for holding alien races such as Eldar among their agents. Is that something that would fit here, or would I be better served sticking to the Sister idea I had earlier?

I don’t even know if Dark Heresy has rules for non-humans, actually. Figured I should at least ask!

Or was I thinking of Rogue Traders, hmm.

Speaking frankly, I want to keep it to non-xenos (I see that Ravenor love). I would definitely encourage you to move forward with the sister crusader.

Alright, will do! Appreciate it. Should have her done tonight or tomorrow, just in time!