Critical Mass

Weekend got away from me *sigh* I empathize with this so much. I always felt like I made it better after multiple passes but that might just be a coping mechanism for me. In terms of an update, I am in no position to start the game until after the Thanksgiving holiday. I haven't had the block of time I wanted yet to really take a look at the characters. Some of you have multiples. There is a minor concern with keywords that I was looking into before and needs to be mentioned. The character builder doesn't seem to properly depict how keywords should work for an unaligned character. Keywords are extremely significant for accessibility. At game start this is really just for gear. The builder lets you just select whatever keywords though and that isn't actually correct. This is how it should work. If you don't choose an archetype (which comes with predesigned keywords for species and faction) you must choose at the very least a species... and optionally a faction. Every species has it's own keyword except humans. This is why the bottom rule is in the core book. Ogryn and Ratlings get abhuman as a keyword and if factionless should only pick 1 additional keyword. This goes for any other nonhuman species as well. Noone should have more than 2-3 keywords at game start is the point. Also the character builder is misleading by putting keywords into categories that are themselves keywords. Scum is grouped into the Imperium category for some reason but scum is seperate from Imperium. This is very important for gear so I encourage questions or requests for clarification.

Juist want to say the kind words are appreciated. I've returned and the game is past it's first milestone. The application period has ended and those who didn't request invites should have them. I'm only just back in town and need to get my bearings but will be posting late tomorrow with better direction.

No worries thank you for letting us know. On a similar note - there are multiple things I need to address formally and I want to make sure you all know that I am going to do that. I was actually in the process of posting to that effect last night when I received a call informing me that my father had passed away. I am not going to overshare because this is the internet and the details aren't important but I have a lot going on now unexpectedly from an unexpected event. For the time being, the other OOC board is locked because I was losing track of what questions and conversations were happening between the two. There are some very important questions tabled that deserve articulated responses because I'm finding some distinct misrepresentations between the character builder and some core things I want to keep in place for this game. I need to be able to block out some time to address these things appropriately but it might not be for a few days because of RL.

I've had to think about this for a bit. Shock in my opinion is only more important than wounds if you are expecting to get hit. Of course, everyone gets hit eventually I suppose but since shock is related to willpower you are only reducing the efficacy of certain high burst dmg type range builds by trying to put points into an attribute that doesn't yield more of that burst ability. Non melee types that can negate surprise, utilize smart movement or stealth on the map, and rely on positioning and cover rules can ignore shock altogether (though 2 as a baseline is a good idea). Even the Wounded condition rule which applies +1 DN to all tests the moment you take 1 or more dmg to wounds is not that big of a deal to a stacked offensive dice pool. Also consider Wrath - it can be used as a combat action to restore rank + tier shock. Will be 1 to start with but I'm gong to rank you all up quick (full disclosure).

Assuming you mean the Augmetic talent, yes the talent is not restricted by wargear selection rules but there is an xp cost attached to the value as written and technically there is some confinement in what would be available to you based on species and overall availability. I'm not going to be a hardarse about this though. I'm more interested in seeing new things being tried and doing a proper stress test on my scenario design.

Ahh that makes sense, I had skimmed the context of it and was hyper focused on the title of it. It's not a keyword specific thing then actually, it's in the same genre as faction/species/archetype bonuses. The only difference between Cult mechanicus and Adeptus Mechanicus is that the latter is a formal faction within the Imperium. There could be arguments made for specifics but it's all just semantics in this regard. Influence is just a mechanic for reputation and to put it in a realistic perspective: not many people look for anyone tied to the Cult mechanicus because they are pretty or hold a conversation well. Much the same for those in the more formal Adeptus version. TLDR; I don't see a reason why you wouldn't still be able to have "Data is Currency" I am okay with it. I caveat that it makes some sense at least but this is a passable case. The character builder should still give you a cost and extract the proper amount of xp for taking archetype abilities. Both of those rules are separate from each other so you don't lose one for the other. You start with 110 and you would still pay 30 xp for the Tech Priest archetype ability. I'm pretty sure that's how the character builder does it but I haven't tested it in too long.

I am not certain where the "Data is Currency" bonus comes from. I know that was in the older book but I am not aware of keywords conferring that kind of bonus in this version. As to the "Innate vs Learned" rule - No I am not applying that for this game.

I'm just catching up but after looking over some of the things these are the main points I would offer. Wounds is the total number of dmg you take before you are in a dying state. Resilience is subtracted from damage taken each time. Anything remaining subtracts from wounds. Shock is actually maximum shock you can have. If you take wounds you can choose to push that damage to shock with a determination roll. If you push too many wound points to shock (more than your maximum) you become exhausted. The determination roll is often referred to in W&G games as "soak" You are effectively choosing to "soak" wound damage into shock. You start with 0 shock. When you soak wounds to the point that shock max is passed you are exhausted. Wounds can be recovered easier than shock. The exhausted condition is extremely debilitating and if caused by soaking more than your shock value you have to rest to remove it.

Kroot arguably work better in a mercenary framework than most species simply because they aren't driven by anything more complicated than survival. I've always seen them as kind of similar to Predators from the Aliens/Predators cinematic universe. The Predators whole purpose is to hunt, get trophies and become more and more advanced in the skills necessary to do either one of those things. Kroot have tribal origins but it's been framed in this new Gilead system that these tribes, or "kindred" are very few and far between. Most of the kindred have lost their shaper (shamanistic leader) and scatter for the sake of preserving themselves. This forces them into mercenary work for the most part to evolve as far as they can manage from devouring as many enemies as they can kill. The groups that allow them in become their new tribe in a sense. That's purely my view of them of course so take that as you will.

I feel like noone even read or cared about this so not changing it. What I may end up doing is moving that end date up from the 18th to the 13th so things get nicely wrapped up at the close of next weekend.

Hmmmm don't worry the crunch will come. Am I to expect no further depth to this character then?

Nevermind I was just informed I am wrong. 2018 was the Ulisses Spiel version. This game is using the 2020 Cubicle 7 rulebook version 2.1

If it is the Cubicle 7 version of Wrath and Glory you are fine. Technically the 2018 was the 2nd edition as 1st edition was the Ulisses Spiele published work that was discontinued. 2.1 released in 2020 which was just a rules errata update. A lot of my house rules are the same as the errata that was included in 2.1 and I was too lazy to emphasize that.

That's understandable. This is an open forum though so if anything can be helped by broader discussion I'd extend an invite to them just for that reason alone. I used to run Dark Heresy and Rogue Trader games a while back, played in a Deathwatch game once. I can do all of those in W&G without even approaching close to the headaches those old systems hit me with. That is the only selling point I have. Unfortunately, my experience is mostly RL groups. I hold onto a lot of positivity however that this will work in pbp for two main reasons. There is a lot of narrative emphasis in W&G that is perfect for PbP, less so in tabletop. The crunch of the system, like most systems, is in the combat and it becomes easier to understand and more fun as you go.