Starting heretics can automatically succeed on a number of acquisitions equal to their Infamy Bonus at character creation as long as the penalty is -10 or less. Since the average heretic is going to have 20~ Infamy, that's two acquisitions.

An item gains a +10 to the acquisition for being a single item. Very Rare gives a -10.

Can a player acquire a Power Sword or a Plasma Gun, then? A human Power Fist? Light Power Armour? Hell, you can grab 1,000 Lasguns!

This seems crazy to me!

I can practically be Cypher at character creation with this!

If you compare it to some items with which characters start game from archeotype it isn't broken at all. CSM start with power armour, bolt weapons, renegate starts with power weapon, sorceror with froce blade/staff etc. This is quite high level game, unlike DH where starting guardsman barely knows with which end of the gun he should shoot.

Yeah, I don't see the problem either. Black Crusade is "higher" rank (disregarding the rules differences) than, say, Rogue Trader. And in Rogue Trader, you get a single item as long as the Acquisition is 0 or less.

Extremely Rare Availability in Rogue Trader is -30.
Single Quantity is +30.

So that's one Extremely Rare item per person.
Or, since Significant Quantity (5,000) is -20, and Common Availability is +20, that'd be 5,000 Lasguns.

Or you could go for the option of outfitting your entire retinue: Why not 5 Heavy Bolters?

But you get the picture.

And Black Crusade is even higher than that, so I don't see why this'd be a problem.

I'm not seeing the problem either. It's not like you'll be able to overthrow the Imperium armed with sticks and stones…

Fgdsfg said:

In RT you can only take the single item option for you free starting Acquisition. This means that you cannot have one member take 5 suits of carapace, another take 5 heavy bolters, another take 5 sets of special ammo, another take 5 force fields, and finally another take 5 of something and then they all share everything.

HappyDaze said:

This man knows what he's talking about. The starting acquisition represents some important and probably powerful item that your character aquired for himself though his life. It not like all the PCs were always part of the same group that they form now so it would be highly unreasonable for soem guy to have 5 heavy bolters. Rather he'd probably have one really good quality heavy bolter.

HappyDaze said:

 And its also the same in BC, so I don't really see the point in crying about this. Granted, with the right combination you can start with a Terminator armour, but then again that is something that I would as a GM say a big NOPE to, unless it fitted the campaign we were playing.

 Terminator armor isn't that big a deal, really. The extra AP it offers is rather handily offset by the lowered movement and reduced dodge it comes with, and while the ability to wield certain weapons more effectively is nice, that's only a good thing if you got the weapons, which you probably don't. And even if you do, still not that terrible.

Asoral said:

How can you do that? Terminator suits are Near Unique. You can't even get regular Power Armor normally, you have to settle for Light PA unless you're a Space Marine.

According to the FAQ, Ancient Warrior applies to Legion Armour as well. So…

Near Unique: -50
Single Item: +10
Ancient Warrior: +10
Pride (Wealth): +20

-> -10 and thus eligible.

Also, I agree with Reverend Mort. Termi Armour works only within very specific circumstances - a head-on, brutal, no-holds-barred, no-movement, straight-up combat. If the heretics have to be stealthy, forget it. If they need to be quick, forget it. If they have to get through a slim passage (that can't be widened by judicious application of terminator arms), forget it. So if a character wants to "waste" his one special acquisition on a very situational, if powerful, piece of gear: Have fun with it!

One of those little flaws in the free-form system, that things occasionally line up like this and make for interesting syngergies.

But like Reverend Mort and Cipher said, Terminator Armour is so situational that it's not gamebreaking in this instance, like such stacking sometimes can be.

 I don't see any problem with a character having access to one of almost anything in the book. In fact, i believe in a more free-form approach, following the skill and talent allocation: Allow them to exchange gear for equivalent rarities (pending gm approval, of course). A character should be well geared, because otherwise a heretic of his stature would not have lasted very long!

Being able to min-max stack your character, so that you are potentially OPed at character creation IS a problem though. Not the inherent flexibility of the free-form system.

But I'm constantly getting the feeling around here that I'm the only one who's ever played anything by White Wolf, and thus, most of the people talking about how great a free-form system is (or how publishing one set of main core rules, with every 'splat'/gameline building off them, like the nWoD, would be better).

Because I am quite experienced with their games, and because of that I know just how catastrophically a free-form system can break down. It really isn't always a case where it's better in every way, than the mean ol' restrictive level-based system.

No, Blood Pact, you arn't the only WoD player on here.  And I agree that both free form games and level based games are good.  But also speaking as a GM that has run many different game with many different systems, all I can say is that every game has a way to be broken.  And it's the GM's job to nip it in the but.

However, back on topic, I can see why some people would say that the accquisitions at char-gen can be over powered.  But I don't feel that way.  Look at the whole terminator armour thing.  To get better than poor craftsmenship you need to use the Pride of Wealth, and then use both of your other accquisitions to just equip the armour with weapons.

Also, as a side note: it's a bit of a grey area as to if you can take multiple item of the same type.  I know that you can in BC, as an example is someone doing just that to get a limited supply of demo charges (you don't get a limitless supply like in RT)

Blood Pact said:

I'm a long time nWoD player (it was my first RPG actually), and I still think it's better than level-based stuff. With freeform systems, all you need to do as a  GM is set your own limits for what is suitable to take at char-gen, be it skills at a particular level, or items/weapons/etc, but you are free to make characters with any combination of skills you want. With most level/class based games I know, the only way to really work as a character is to min-max and have dump stats you don't increase because your character will never be as good as other people in it. You are pigeon-holed into a role, unlike with free-form systems.

This isn't even taking into account that, generally, with level-based games, in my experience, players have the stats/class come first, and the characterisation later (which is restricted, often, by what class you chose). Free-form games allow you to make up a character, with a unique backstory, and be able to make him without being restricted by 'rogues are for sneaking and trap-finding' (which is reinforced by the mechanics) and the like.

So yea, in my opinion, free-form games are inherently more customisable, and therefore better in pretty much every way, over class/level based games.