I'd seriously doubt if 'filling pages' has ever been a concern for the teams working on each book. Just look at The Lost Dataslate - we had so much stuff it wouldn't all fit in the book. There's no shortage of ideas. Plus I think 'balance' in a game like this is quite different to a game like 40K, Warmahordes, or any other GM-less game. In those sorts of games you play against one another using rules. No one ‘controls’ the game. In a game like Dark Heresy there’s one person controlling it whilst the other people play with that person (and with one another). It’s not a competition, and there is no ‘winner’ or ‘loser’ in the traditional sense. That’s not to say that balance isn’t important, but some of the onus for that balance falls on the GM’s shoulders.

LC1984 said:

I will answer what I can, but please keep in mind that I cannot give official answers to rules questions. I can only give my opinion of what I’d do personally.

1. & 2. Oddly enough of the things in the New Skills/Talents section, those two were not written by me (I did all the new Luminem abilities). Generally speaking though I’d make the +10 and +20’s available every other rank. So if you can get one at Rank 3, then I’d have +10 at Rank 5 and +20 at Rank 7. If there aren’t enough ranks to do that, then I’d put the +20 in the last rank. As for cost? Depends on the initial cost. If the first is 100xp, then I’d make the +10 200xp and the +20 300xp. If the first was 200xp, then I’d make the +10 the same cost, and the +20 300xp. If the first was 300xp, I’d make ‘em all 300xp.

3. You’re right. A Lascannon would be a little crazy. As a GM I’d make you take a Toughness Test every time you fire as the enormous power usage drains your Potentia Coil.

My thoughts on their appearance is that they were essentially standard fire-arms, but connected directly to the user via bundles of cables and maybe the odd bracing here and there. Imagine an M16 that’s hard-wired into your arm. You can move it around and hold it by various grips, but it’s connected to you. You could drop it, but it’d drag behind you. The only way to remove it is to disconnect it from its power source (usually a Potentia Coil). The exception to this is of course the Lathe-Las Blaster. That replaces your forearm (from the elbow up, including your hand).

4. I’m not sure about those ones. They do appear to be holdovers from a BC-style profile. That’d be one for an errata I’d say. If it were me I’d just convert them across where appropriate, or ignore them where it didn’t work properly (like with Parry).

I’m not sure what those weapons are based on, but I imagine the Myrmidons to be immense Terminator-esque figures armed with massive heavy weapons that they alone can carry due to their own bulk. The Aurora cannon does sound like an energy weapon, IMO.

5. I wouldn’t say anything. Only War is a different product line to Dark Heresy, and if you want to port abilities between the two games that’s up to you and your players. OW and The Lathe Worlds were written at different times, and I did not write the Talents section of OW (Combat and Vehicles/Vehicle Profiles were my sections). I don’t think there’s any ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ way to move the abilities between games, just as long as you and the rest of your group agrees.

I hope that answers some of your questions, but again remember that this is simply how I’d do it. If you want official answers to these questions from the fine folks at FFG, you’ll need to E-mail them directly. |

BYE

Mainly looking for another opinion and partially a guideline for my GM :) But thanks for the answers. Do you know who I can ask for more background information concerning the Myrmidons?

For the Luminen Talents I'll will have to take a look then, because we are already using a combination from the different rulebooks.

And meh for the appearance of integrated weapons, I was hopeful to get my Dlakhu Lasgun (and the Melta, the Steelburner, the Powerfist,…) integrated, so that it doesn't stand out too much (not that it makes much of a difference with a beefed up Mechanicus Secutor :))

Integrated =/= Hidden.

It just means that it is integrated with you. It's still a rifle.

BYE

LC1984 said:

And that's why I asked. It certainly was an idea, that such a weapon could look like the weapons of Iron Man/Robocop (Blaster/pistol integrated into armour/cybernetics), I mean, that is the meaning of integrated. One thing which I cannot understand then, why is there a need for the Lasblaster to replace your arm?

My first guess was, that the weapon was too big to be discretely integrated. But now, after the information, that the weapons are only getting a direct connection to the potentia coil, it seems wrong. The connection is used so that the weapon can replenish its consumed energy directly out of the coil, so that only the connection must be capable of delivering the energy needed.

Surely the connections needs to be as thick as a forearm, but it's difficult for me to fathom why a cable connection cannot be used (like Devastator Marines with Lascannons)?

@Fgdsfg as my character is already a Magos Militant I kinda lost the battle to look harmless or friendly. But my hands/arms/mechadendrites are so full of weapons, that the "integrated" part seemed to be a nice solution to repack my armament ;)

 My interpretation is that to a degree, integrated weaponry is more to do with the underlying religious/spiritual ethos of the Adeptus Mechanicus than practical concerns. Yes, there are benefits to integrated weaponry, but replacing one's arm with a weapon is more about expressing a statement of devotion to the Omnissiah. You are saying that you are a living weapon, a loyal servant of the Adeptus Mechanicus. It's a roleplay thing more than just a game mechanic thing.

Lightbringer said:

A nice thougt, never looked at it that way. Now I need more arms for more armament. What a coincidence that our next destination will be a forge world.

Edit: Is it only me, or are the PM at the moment not working? It seems that I cannot write any?

I've only been able to send PM's to people I've added to the friend's list. It's a weird way of doing things, but this board software is very strange.

BYE