Thursday, September 30, 2010

Dark Heresy: My Thoughts and Ideas on the Game

dhgw-00

Hey everyone,

So I’ve gotten a little painting done this week, not enough to take pictures yet, but I’m about 10 clanrats from finishing the first part of my first commission. I’ve been having a little trouble getting hobby in this entire week, but I’m looking forward to tomorrow night. Yes, I spend my Friday Nights at college playing a Role Playing Game. I’m talking, of course, about Dark Heresy, the D&D-esque 40k game by Fantasy Flight Games. I’ve played a little bit of D&D with a small group of friends before, but we never seemed to get past the first campaign. This time, though, its different.

Our first campaign, designed to be a Six session game, ended up being a two session game. My character is a brash, upcoming young Imperial Guard Sergeant named Jake Bradshaw. I based him on the youthful version of my Company Commander, mainly to add a little bit more personality to both my Guard and the character himself. Joined with me is Kael, a Hive Worlder Scum, Tiberius, an Imperial Assassin, and Mordecai, an Imperial Psyker (played by one of my good friends). Our first campaign pitted us against a general Chaos infestation on a Hive World, which culminated in our party nearly getting killed by a Twicebound Daemonhost, which is always fun!

psyker

The game mechanics are very easy to learn, and all you need mainly as a player is a set of Percentage Dice (a Tens and a Ones). Your stats are very easy to record and see at all times, as well as see your Skill Bonuses and stat increases. For example, you take a shot with your Lasgun at a nearby cultist. With a Balistic Skill of 45, you need to roll a 45 or LOWER in order to hit. However, since you’re close to the cultist (+30), you’ll hit on a 75 or lower. The ability to know what you need to hit an enemy, keep your wits, or not fall down a ravine, is very easy to know right on the spot.

dirty_harry_hay Who doesn’t want a Chimp with a Hand Cannon?!

Your gun’s stats are also very easy to know and understand. Most damage is done using the d10+x, x being the automatic damage from the gun. You’ll also know right off the bat what kind of Gun you have, whether its reliable, effective, energy, laser, etc.

The stats for the monsters are set up the same way as the main character sheets, and therefore are just as easy to read. There’s also a WIDE variety of enemies you can run in your campaigns. Our next campaign is pitting our characters against a Feral Planet infested by Gretchin, it should be fun.

All in all, the game is extremely addicting and fun. If you really get into it (And stay devoid of LARPing) there’s no limit to where your games can take you. With my personality type, I’ve already assumed control of the party, and we’ve stayed strong through said leadership in some tough situations. Its also fun to find some old Lingo, preferably from the 4th Edition Imperial Guard codex. My friend is a Psyker, which in Dark Heresy, can be a risky character as most characters don’t trust them. Our party doesn’t know he’s a Psyker yet, but because strange stuff happens around him, I call him “Bolt Magnet”.

So I’d like to hear from all of you. Have you played Dark Heresy? Did you like it? Why haven’t you played it if you haven’t? All comments, criticisms, and ideas are welcome.

I’ll also have an additional post up tomorrow, hopefully showing a nearly finished Clanrats squad!

Granesh

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