Hi!
As we were playing ,I as a Moritat Assassin , I found myself wondering : is the Moritat background/Reaper class underpowered or is it just the way I play?
My character will only use primitive (obviously mono'd) swords and doesn't use a Great Sword. But still ,even though I do not use the "best" weapons available because they wouldn't fit the character ,it still feels like Moritats are missing something: they have little abilities that make them better in combat ,the Bloody Edge and The Reaping are nice ,but that's about it .Compared to other classes with ,for example ,Crusing Blow or Deadeye Shot ,it's not much. Also ,the Assassins Career allows players to upgrade their Strenght only at very high XP costs. Actually ,most classes have a badly done characteristic advances table : Arbitrators ,Assassins ,Tech-Priests require 500 to raise their Strenght ,Psykers need 250…
Anyway ,these are but some of the problems I have encountered. AM I missing something or is this class really underpowered? And in that case ,what could be done to rebalance it?

Thanks,
B.Kaedran

I'd say you're trading in long-term potential for a short-term boost to melee capability.

Gaining tearing on all blades is very sweet, but as you say, when other gain powerweapons you'll be falling behind.

As a Moritat player, I can indeed confirm that Moritat are underpowered. The Bloody Edge gives you a truly crippling disadvantage by making the vast majority of available weapons (including some very useful ones) unavailable to you, to allow you to have Tearing on bladed weapons. And if the FFG devs are to be believed, you do not gain Tearing on many high-end weapons, such as power swords, despite their ostensibly having an "edge". The Reaping is situational at best, and one successful Parry will ruin it for you; it's not really worth it. If you're playing another class or a non-Moritat assassin, the lack of Tearing on your melee weapons can be compensated for by buying a chainsword (and even then, you can probably survive without it anyway). If you ask me, Assassins should be snipers; if you want to go melee, don't be an Assassin, play a Guardsman instead. At least the Guardsman will also be able to pack a grenade launcher.

Where do they say power swords don't count?  I don't think the errata mentions it and as far as I can tell the trait itself makes no mention of power weapons, one way or the other.  As GM of my group any moritat using a power sword (or power axe for that matter) would still get tearing.

I can't recall an offical ruling, but it is well established that with power weapons it is not the actual blade (or hammer or whatever) that hits the target and does damage, but the surrounding power field.

You're not really cutting with a blade as much as delivering disruptive force through some sort of conductor/delivery mechanism. 

Which is why many people feel that the moritat wouldn't use them.

Personally I like the moritat, and would allow their players to use power swords for mechanical balance reasons alone.

to counteract that a bit we included the following: 

Moritat Reaper (Rank6+) gets the following talents Talents einfügen: Crushing Blow (100exp), Flesh Render (200exp) (Black Crusade), Preternatural Speed (200exp) und Blade Dancer (300exp) (Only War/Black Crusade).

The Reaping follows the rules of Whirlwind of Death from Only War.
 

Darth Smeg said:

This is a query, not a recrimination:

Aren't the Moritat essentially Luddites when it comes to combat?  It doesn't seem as if they disdain the impersonal nature of ranged assassination, but it seems their real beef is over the influence of technology.  Skill over technological advantage, yes?  I suppose it's for every player to determine if a Moritat would find it acceptable to combine skill and technological advantage.  Purists versus Practicalists, as it were?

Also:  I am shocked, shocked I say, that you like luddites.  Infathomable.

As I've interpreted them they don't have a problem with technology. Rather it's their worship of bloodletting and thus edged weapons that is reprsented by The Bloody Edge.

IH p. 31: The Moritat disdain many modern weapons as crude and spiritually unfullfilling, prefering instead the sacred edge of the blade.

(Emphasis mine)

It's a religious thing, as they are a Death Cult.

Which is why they can use bows and crossbows, their weapons need to have some kind of edge and draw blood. But they also are allowed to use nonlethal weapons for missions, which adds to their versatility. And if you take Vogue's excellent suggestions, it gives Moritat a sizable power boost when they need it the most.

Don't forget some of the advantages of Moritat, blades are perfectly silent compared to a chainsword or even a supressed autogun.

They are a challenge to play and you have to know what you are getting into, but they can be amazing, just know your limitations and talk to your GM first to see what he will and won't allow

one advantage is that you can get the best quality weapons for way cheaper (there's a weapon that you can get as best for 40 thrones, and is really easy to find), and also becouse of this, you will always have +10 more hit chance than the others. Also Lathe upgrade later on might balance the thing a bit.

also, you could concentrate on ranged moritat instead. using the composite bow can get really deadly as it is an accurate weapon, being naturally silent too.

The fact that any poor blade becomes tearing in their hands makes them very deadly in many missions where a swordsman whose sword has been taken away would be disadvantaged.

We must remember that dark heresy is not about waging war but mainly about uncovering conspirations, which is hard to do with a humming power sword creating a blue/red/whatever halo of light around it during the night; or a screaming chainsword in a library.

vogue69 said:

?? on the Flesh Render, does the Reaper have to training with Chain Weapons?

Only to edged weapons I would assume, so blades, axes, etc.

About Moritat and Chainswords, I have no clue, on one hand it gets tearing, but weighs more and is louder, so it is a bit moot to start with and then on top of that, well, it doesnt fit with the sacred "edge" of the blade and doing a perfect cut, but it does let out blood, it just is modern and makes a mess of it and doesnt benefit from their junk

Give the Moritat a Great Weapon and some special Knifes form the Handbook for assassination duty.

Great Weapon:

Damage: 2D10+2

Penetration: 5

Special: Unwieldy, Tearing, +10 WS, Sanctified, Toxic (Let the Assassin apply self crafted Poison on the blade)

To me such a weapon is pretty much viable for any "primitive" Combatant. He can not parry but he he is still able to dodge. Roleplay this as if he would save the sharpness of the blade because it could become dull if he parrys to much. Also a moritat is no Stormtrooper, he is an ASSASSIN and thanks to tearing he is pretty much the only assassin that can hope to deal enough damage in melee with a silent blade weapons to kill an enemy instantly (especialy with swift and lightning attack later on).

The moritat is an early power boost and his restrictions were pretty obvious, nobody that has atleast some decent experience in DH should be shocked by the fact that a moritat is limited. But hello, this is ROLEPLAY. And Roleplay even means that you have to take some disadvantages. If the benefits become later on neglectable and you are unhappy with that it is not the fault of the system but of you. And what does prevent you from breaking from the moritat or their oath? If this assassin can see that his teammates are more efficient in any matter and even are better assassins than him why does this guy not wonder about his believes? Or did you create a wannabe combat monster with an intelligence of 21…

The Dark Heresy Rules of Armor and TB are in favor of less but more powerfull attacks.

Two primitive one handed weapons with 4 attacks can not compare to a great weapon with 3 attacks, even more for the -10 penalty in melee on your rolls.