Trish_the_Nugg_Queen

Ok, I believe I've responded to everyone's questions, if I've missed one please let me know, and also feel free to ask more questions! I'll write up a proper list of objectives & requisition points soon. Also, to clarify OOC, the Imperator Somnium isn't intended to be a long-term thing or provide any specific mechanical benefit. Much like Horus showing up for the mission brief, it's more intended just for the '30k spectacle' of including it than anything else. Also I think my favourite thing about this setting is seeing Imperial authorities using ork names/terms. Horus saying things like 'Big Mek Krakkadakka' or 'Unda-Boss Thogzulk Skullrippa' with a straight face is just very amusing to me 😂

"You are to make planetfall via drop pod. Preliminary surface scans show the orks bear a significant aerial superiority over the Magos' compound; drop pod insertion will be the safest method, as well as allowing us to take the orks by surprise. As a secondary objective, you should find a way to clear the skies to make extraction safer. This section of the moon is reported to be the territory of one of Thogzulk's officers, by the name of Big Mek Krakkadakka." "Retrieved, if possible. If not, it is preferable to deny the device to our foe." "This will be a single mission; recover the data, and potentially the Magos, and return to base. From whence future missions for your squad will depart, I cannot say with any certainty, but the Imperator Somnium will likely be needed elsewhere." "Absolutely. Your primary objective is recovering any data on the artefact. Anything else is a lesser priority." "Resupply will be difficult, but not impossible. That said, be aware of your remaining supplies, try to conserve ammo and use the environment to your advantage. Extraction will depend on the developing ground situation, but if your squad can eliminate the enemy's air superiority, extraction will be carried out via Stormbird." "The Imperator Somnium will need to move on roughly five hours post-drop. Enemy orbital presence is negligible compared to our own firepower, though the ground and atmosphere are crawling with greenskins."

I'm fine with using divination/augury, though as others have pointed out the answers can often be vague, cryptic, or too broad to be useful. In other games (not just in DW) I've found that similar powers can be good for giving the GM a way to nudge things in the right direction in-character, so it can still be useful. I think playing out a traditional ritual for some of these rolls would be a neat RP moment 😄 Totally fine to ask! I'll respond IC in a sec since it is something important to mention. Generally speaking though, in 30k the Mechanicum are more open-minded than the Adeptus Mechanicus of 40k. In fact the majority of the Mechanicum actually sided with Horus and became the Dark Mechanicum (who are rarely represented in lore despite being a very cool concept) and the more conservative elements of their faction were too weak for the Imperium to still treat them as an equal, so they basically bought their way into the Imperium at gunpoint, by holding the High Lords hostage with an Emperor-class titan and demanding their own vassalisation (if I have the lore correct). Anyway my point, before I went on a tangent, is that xenotech and innovation and the like aren't as inherently feared as in 40k, but still treated with some caution. As for calling down aerial/orbital bombardment, I'll admit I haven't read the rules on that, but it might be something that comes up if folks would find it interesting. It would certainly give this upcoming mission even stronger Helldivers vibes lol

The primarch chuckles lightly, seeing right through Vorticar’s attempts to secure more prestige for their legion by way of having their own vessels involved in the operation. “The Imperator Somnium features a fully-stocked armoury, and drop pod capabilities, which is all your impromptu squad is expected to require.” Taking a step towards a nearby console, he brings up a holographic display of an enormous ork in mega-armour, the scrap metal from several Imperial tanks bolted or welded directly onto his body in a messy patchwork of reinforced plating. “The ork known as ‘Thogzulk Skullrippa’ has been noted as one of the most dangerous orks of the Ullanor Empire. Previously a warboss of dread renown in his own right, he has since attached himself to Urlakk Urg’s empire, styling himself as ‘Unda-Boss’. He retains a considerable following of greenskins under his command, and a degree of autonomy, which he seems to have put towards trying to find a powerful xenos artefact. The Emperor has reason to believe this artefact would be unacceptably dangerous if it fell into the hands of the orks.” The holographic display changes to the image of a grey-green gas giant; orbiting around it are three large moons, but one features a visual ping to denote its importance. “The orks call this gas giant ‘Mork’s Eye’. Of the moons in its orbit, only one has previously featured human inhabitants, primarily a Mechanicum research station. We received a message from the techpriest in charge, a Magos Valenthius, claiming to have secured information on the location of this artefact. Around the same time, a distress call was sent from the facility. You will deploy via drop pod to the surface of this moon; your first priority should be to recover the information, and secondarily, to rescue the magos.”

I’m still around! Just wanting to let you guys set the pace for the most part; we have a lot of players, and I want to give everyone the chance to respond as they want before moving forward with more plot stuff. Since Horus has been spoken to directly though, I’ll write up a reply in a bit

A set of bulkhead auto-doors open, and through the doorway steps a figure that dwarfs even yourselves; in resplendent power armour of gleaming white, with gold trim in the shape of stylised lightning bolts, Horus Lupercal strides into the room, unhelmed and wearing a relaxed smile. "Honoured Astartes, I bid you, attend me. You have all waited patiently for long enough, it is time you learned the truth of your summons here today." He looks around to each of you in turn, his gaze lingering for a moment on Vorticar, giving his gene-son a respectful nod. "As you're already aware, the Empire of Ullanor is the largest Ork realm our Great Crusade has yet faced. As Ancient Rome was once tested in the forge of battle with Carthage, so too do we find ourselves now; Ullanor will either be the whetstone that sharpens the blade of humanity, or the force which breaks it once and for all. The Imperium - and, by extension, the human race - lives or dies by virtue of our actions in the coming offensive." His smile fades to a more serious expression. "While the largest force of Astartes ever assembled marches for Ullanor Prime, we require a squad of our most elite troops, to operate deep behind enemy lines with little to no assistance, and certainly no chances for reinforcement, conducting surgical strikes to cripple the enemy's war effort at the most critical junctures. Each of you has been selected for your skill, your courage and valour; many of you have shamed your reputations in the past, yet have proven worthy of a second chance. Perhaps most importantly, you have been selected on the belief that you will cooperate most closely across legionary lines. We are all crafted from the Emperor's genetic code, brothers united in our cause. Now, more than ever, we need proof that the Legiones Astartes can work together effectively."

I'm happy to have everyone write in past tense if that's what we're deciding on 😄 You're welcome to change your mind on this as long as the sheet is updated before the squad drops planetside; that goes for any changes anyone would like to make, just let me know first I think it'd be interesting from a narrative perspective to have squad mode kick in for the first time at an appropriately cinematic moment - the odds are stacked against the squad, and regardless of cultural differences or disagreements on tactics, everyone knows the only way any of them are surviving is by trusting each other. This doesn't mean you'll all get along ever after from that point; half the fun of Deathwatch is having these larger-than-life characters butting heads but still saving the day in the end. I'm certainly not going to be restricting the group from initiating squad mode for story reasons, i.e. "You're not getting along well enough so no squad mode for you", but I do like to have a synergy between roleplay and rollplay. As for when it'd switch back to solo mode, my knowledge on the mechanics is a little rusty but I'm pretty sure there's a sort of 'cohesion area' radius around the squad leader(?) and while squad mode is active their benefits only apply to PCs within this radius

Totally fine! I'm glad you're invested enough to ask questions, actually. I think they mostly see other legions as cousins, not as closely related as battle-brothers of their own legion but still family. As for what they do in their downtime, primarily physical/mental training, maintenance of their wargear, etc. but it also depends on the legion. The Blood Angels, for example, tend to engage with art (both creating & admiring it) when they have a spare moment between combat

Not sure if there's a better way to ping everyone, and I promise I won't overuse it, but the roleplay channel is officially live! I wanted to give everyone a bit of time to interact in-character before we jump into mission briefs and action and all the rest of it. I find, for myself at least, it can take a bit of time to actually get a feel for playing a character beyond just writing up the sheet, so I like giving these opportunities for RP rather than just starting things off with "you step out of the drop pod, there are orks, shoot them"

War has come to the Ork Empire of Ullanor, in the single largest military campaign of the entire Great Crusade. Many legions have been called upon to raise their banners, with the Luna Wolves, White Scars, and Ultramarines, rallying nearly their entire host to the front. For thousands of years, the orks have been among the most dangerous and widespread of xenos threats to the supremacy of the human race, murdering, enslaving, and eating the populations of entire worlds, with Ullanor being the largest and most powerful gathering of their kind. As the Great Crusade reaches further across the numberless stars of the Milky Way, it has become increasingly clear that either Ullanor or the Imperium must die once and for all, for coexistence between the two empires is laughably impossible. Knowing this makes it all the harder to have been called away from the front, yet here you are, for you cannot forsake explicit orders, especially not those from the Emperor himself. While others among your battle-brothers fight and die for the cause on dozens of greenskin-infested worlds below, you stand in the Gothic halls of the Imperator Somnium, one of the Emperor's three shining golden flagships, waiting listlessly for further commands like a common infantryman. Around you, there are a half-dozen other astartes, all of different legions from yourself and each other; this varied group seems unusual, but you've been told nothing about your orders except to report to the Imperator Somnium. Around you, naval midship crew bustle about in carefully-decided paths to avoid getting too close to any of you, carrying documents in their arms or typing away at glowing consoles. Every so often, some of the more curious among them brave glances at you, before nervously looking away once more.

Well I suppose I should do one of these myself, I'm Trish, or Nuggs, whichever you'd prefer. I'm in my late 20s, from Australia. I've been into TTRPGs since picking up D&D 4e in high school, back in 2012, and I've been into 40k since 2017 when the Games Workshop spruiker at my local comic-con convinced me into impulse buying a Death Guard army lmao I'll admit I'm no lore expert myself, particularly not on 30k, but I'd say I still know more of the 30k lore than the average of this group, so that should serve us fine. I tend to be a forever-GM, partly because I'm usually roping friends into games they've never played before so I default to running it since I'm the most knowledgeable on the system, and partly because I'm a control freak who gets a kick out of planning campaigns (many of which don't even see the light of day). In the past I've mostly played/run D&D 5e, Vampire the Masquerade 5e, Rogue Trader, Only War, and Deathwatch, and I've also played a little of Call of Cthulhu. I mostly run my games through play-by-post, partly because I play with a lot of international folks and Australia's timezones just line up really badly for being online at the same time as other people, and partly because I have some minor speech issues and just find it easier to type than to try to keep people's attention at a table while I'm mumbling & stuttering 🙃

This thread is just for chatting OOC, once you’ve accepted the invite feel free to introduce yourselves here however you’d like!

I'm still here, and still planning to start after applications close on the 12th! Just been busy with job hunting, but I had a fairly successful interview yesterday so that could be easing up now

I haven’t made up my mind on this tbh, locking certain wargear behind renown makes it more rewarding to reach that point but it also means that if the game doesn’t go on long enough to reach those levels of renown then that’s just wargear you guys can’t get access to Good question, so in terms of lore I’m pretty sure volkite weapons are like fancy archaeotech plasma guns, they don’t overheat/explode and they shoot a much more focused beam of plasma. They’re mostly meant as anti-tank weapons on lighter targets than melta weapons would usually be used for. Targets hit with a volkite charge cause an incendiary explosion around them though, represented by the blast effect. I’ve separated the flame quality into flame and spray, another thing I’ve taken from (I think) Only War. Flame sets things on fire, while spray auto-hits, so spray can represent things like homing missiles or the vasgotox cannon that fires corrosive liquid. The spray quality will take the effects on hordes that flame normally has. Without checking the rulebook, I’m fairly sure the blast quality has a similar effect on hordes, so the volkite weapons would affect hordes in that way.