Rules Q&A

[Cadet Commissar]

Manius, Thanks, I'll pass that on.(It wasn't me that was interested)

The Rules for Commissars don't appear to allow them to take any melee skills other than combat knife, is this intentional?

[Manius]

No, that's an error. It should be the same as per Sanctioned Psyker and say "Sword Use"

Thank you for spotting, I'll add it to the list of changes to be made

[Cadet Commissar]

No Problem. Same section but these two sentences contradict each other "Commissars have FOUR Points to choose spend" and "Suggested Ruling: May replace BW stage 2 with BW Stage 1 and receive an additional point bringing the total to 4 points"

So the question is do commissars have 3 points to spend making the first sentence in the wrong or is the 2nd wrong and should say 5?

I have a feeling its the 2nd, as the exact wording appears at the beginning of each character type. I'll send the Cadets Charicter in a few days, as these were the only two problems I spotted with that section.

[Manius]

Ok. You have found one of the errors that has now been corrected in Ver.IV of the Core Rules.

I’m toying with the idea of suspending this Mechanics Test until Ver.IV is proof read and published as some errors are clearly confusing players (which, errors are prone to do) and we don’t want that really.

…opinions?

[john]

Yep suspend it for a couple of weeks then restart it after weve had a chance to read them through.

[shadowwolf]

Hi
Under the Imperial Guard free skills, you have Battle Weapons Tier 2 (pistols, SMG & automatic rifles/Las-gun)
Isn't this the Tier 1 weapon list, if they get Tier 2 weapons shouldn't Bolters be listed also.
Later under special characters and Elites, the description changes to Battle Weapons stage 2 (pistols, SMG & automatic rifles/Las-gun), but is the same list and the Imperial Guardman, this runs through the Grenadier, Lietenant, Commissar and PDF and Chaos cultists.
Shouldn't these all be Tier 1 or should they all be Tier 2 and include Bolters.
Why don't the Sanctioned and Rogue Psykers get Psykic level One as a free skill.
I'll leave it at that or you'll have an essay on here to read.

[Manius]

Tiers have been stepped down. There are four basic Tiers now (including melee weapons as well).

Tier Zero covers Semi-Auto pistols and combat knives only.

Tier Zero is effectively a free Tier level as we've decided that the 40k universe is SO deadly that even a juve or housewife can effectively use these types of weapon.

This allows Tier One to cover Rifles and Swords.

[shadowwolf]

So are you saying that theres only four Tiers now.
Tier 0 Combat knives and pistols.
Tier 1 las-guns and slug throwers and unpowered swords.
Tier 2 Bolters and powered swords
and So on.
or are they two seperate Tier listings for Ranged Weapons and Melee Weapons.
Either why could it be possible to use the same title throughout the rules, it'll cause less confusion in the long run.

In the new rules will there be more balance in the Eldar character class as at the moment it's pretty weak.
My Reasoning
Eldars are the most Psyhic race, their is psyhic reactive, the crystalls they use in the lasers are psykicly grown, yet they recieve no powers under the current rules, also the Orc gets toughness 2 extra hits and Great strength melee does double on one handed weapons for very little effort from a player, a rubber jaw and green spray paint, the eldar gets the Farseer thought nice to get a extra hit against ranged attacks and Aspect Supply, hold on I can only use it if I have a phys rep of eldar armour, bit harsh, I have to shell out or make a suit of armour to get the race advantage.
I can see why but every other character class and special gets almost twice as many freebe skills or advantages against the eldar.
Also as the most likely eldars the players are likely to meet are either Rangers or Harliquins why is scout a two point skill on there list when it's a Tier one skill on the open skill list.
I'm only looking for some balance as I'm tempted to play an eldar character.
Thankyou and look forword to the new rules version.

Shadowwolf

[Manius]

Shadowwolf – Good comments.

Amalgamating Tiers for Melee and Ranged weapons seems to make sense. I’ll look at that in more detail as I don’t really want to make the descriptions too complex which they may become if I merge descriptions of melee and ranged weapons.

There are Four Tiers of weapon use now, correct but there allocation isn’t generic.

Tier 0 is free for all – all races as well.
Tier 1 Melee is restricted to officer classes OR by “trade down” of Tier 1 Ballistic.
Tier 2 is only available for specialists/officers etc.

Eldar –

Looking at Eldar its not that bad if you look in detail vs. a human or Ork.

Ork “advantages” are based around Melee. We’re using semi or full auto weapons in the system – each round deals one point of damage so if you hit an Ork as he charges you with a burst of 5 rounds he’s down just the same.

Ork vs. Eldar in hand to hand…as depicted in the table top game…is balanced, the ork is stronger and tougher but the Eldar can dodge damage remember and this applies to melee just as much as ranged combat. (rule reworded in Ver.IV)

Eldar can purchase Tier Two melee weapons for only One character point – not available for other races as a single point anymore (two points for Orks and Stormtroopers, not available at all for other humans).

However, the main advantage Eldar players have is the ability to use heavy weapons without having to be prone! This means the amount of firepower they can put down is truly staggering (if they have the ammunition to expend).

Psychic rules – Eldar have not been accommodated fully in this manner yet. I didn’t wish to bog the rules down too much and I felt that a true Farseer rule set needed to be in a supplemental volume at a later date. They have too much depth to include in the core rule really, likewise, Orks are only really accommodated on a basic level as well.

The core rules allow the production of extensive human combatants but also allow a “peek” at rules for other races to a level where they can be represented at a competitive level but not up to the detail that human ones can.

This will, eventually, be addressed but I want us to fully test all this before I write too much.

Open Skills Vs. Core Skills –

I am considering changing this set up. This will involve moving Open skills into core lists and making Open skills only attainable by use of LSA points.

This is another refining phase I want ideas upon before committing myself on.

I acknowledge there are imbalances when this is looked at now that need correcting before I release Ver.IV though.

[shadowwolf]

Thankyou Manius
I think I'll stick to human for now until the Eldar rules are fully written.
I don't see a problem with the descriptions for amalgamated Tiers for Ranged and Melee weapons.
If the format is kept the same as in Vers.3 the first thing in the rulebook is the weapon Tiers, so in the character class lists you'll only have to say you get Tier 1 Ranged weapons or Tier 1 Melee weapons and without any differculty you can find what that means.
Not like some rulebooks where you have to flip backwards and forwards to find all the answers.
I will hold for the Vers. 4 rules for now.

[Manius]

Well, Ver.IV rules continue to evolve. Noteworthy changes so far:

Further to Shadowolf’s comments I have amalgamated the “free” character skills on the character build descriptions. They now read (for example) “Melee & Battle weapons Tier 0 – 2”.

Minor enhancements to Eldar basic stats (discussed previously).

Full rule distinction between Frag and Krak grenade use and effects.

Vast swaths of stuff around OOC personal safety such as use of naked flames, use of melee weapons, personal protection equipment etc.

A large addition detailing the difference in the system between Marshalls and Referees as well as there responsibilities and areas of control. This is completely new, I do not believe anyone has viewed this yet.

Code of Conduct and complaint procedures.

In and Out of Character explained.

Items such as NPC available “powers”, Tier 4 powers, Eldar Farseer character list and development chain, Ork “H’officer” character list and development chain will all be included as part of two separate supliments which will be started once we have a final lock-down and sign-off of the Ver.IV Core Rules set.

Also, let us not forget that I personally want us to hold an event “this year”. When and where this will be depends on completion and sign-off of Ver.IV rules, location and negotiation with a suitable site and then completion of plot writing for the event.