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Author Topic: Black Crusade - Character Creation This Sunday?  (Read 7878 times)

Cthulhu

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Black Crusade - Character Creation This Sunday?
« on: May 07, 2012, 12:12:07 pm »

So, I've been doing some preliminary stuff for a Black Crusade Campaign.  Before I go much farther though, I'd like to get an idea of whether or not I'm going to have enough people and if they're going to be up to it.

Black Crusade's the fourth WH40k RPG, finally letting you be Chaos.  The game has options for Chaos Space Marines and regular Human heretics, but I'll probably only allow one Chaos Marine to keep the game from becoming a combat slog. 

Chaos Marines are obviously way better at fighting than pretty much anything else, start out with kickass equipment, and all of that.  But, they don't start with as much XP to spend, they don't have very good skills, and they're just generally not as useful outside of combat unless you build them to be social (And then you're neglecting their combat).  Plus, you're eight feet tall and obviously a Chaos worshiper, so you can't exactly infiltrate polite society.  Chaos Sorcerers also have a lower Psy Rating and are considered Bound (Meaning they've been conditioned as Space Marine Librarians to hold back when using their powers, and can't fully unleash them like Unbound psykers), as opposed to Human Wyrds, who have higher Psy Rating and are Unbound.

Humans aren't as strong in combat but they start with more XP, better skills, and are more likely to be able to infiltrate society and undo the Imperium's works from within.

So, the actual content of the campaign.  This is the main reason I'm gauging interest.  It's a more open-ended format.  Chaos guys don't take well to authority unless that authority figure is a Big Crackling Birdman, so for the most part you'll be making your own goals and I'll be creating scenarios wherein you can attempt to fulfill those goals.

That means you need to know at least a good amount about Warhammer 40k and the setting.  If you had the books (Using whatever means you have, from money at the store to means we won't discuss) that'd be great.   You need to be able to think about what your warband needs, find a way to get it, and post it in the thread between adventures, preferably as soon as possible so I have time to set things up.  You'll also need to secretly give me a personal goal, through PMs.  This would be something your character wants that isn't necessarily in line with what the group wants as a whole.  We can discuss this through the PM if you're not sure.  It should be some kind of opportunistic thing.  You'll see an example in the example mission.

So, for example.  Let's say the warband agrees it needs a ship.  I come back with some options.  1.  Your seers have scryed that a fully functional voidship recently emerged from the oceans of Furia (An ocean planet in the warpstorm known as the Screaming Vortex.  Stuff like that pretty regularly bubbles out of the water, and nobody knows where it comes from), and is currently being fought over by scavenger tribes.  2.  A powerful warband in the Ragged Helix (A series of asteroids ranging from moon-sized to barely big enough for a few people, with atmospheres of varying survivability and linked by strange invisible bridges) constructs warships from their base on one of the asteroids, and gives them to anyone who can complete the strange and usually unconscionable tasks they ask in return.  3.  Rumors of a derelict ship in the Koronus expanse are circulating.  If it still works it could be a great boon, but you'd have to find it, reactivate it, and deal with whatever's on board...

Let's say the warband decides on option 3.  The goal is to obtain the ship.  Secondary objectives that would need to be completed would be something along the lines of:  Determine where the ship is.  Obtain passage to it.  Secure the bridge and determine if it's salvageable.  If it is, figure out a way to clear the rest of the ship (WH40k ships are gigantic, like several kilometers of 3-dimensional maze gigantic).   Obviously it wont' be as simple as that, maybe another group also has its eyes on the ship, or maybe the ship is possessed, who knows?

Then your character decides on a personal goal.  Let's say you're playing a Wyrd who's obsessed with hoarding forbidden knowledge and keeping it all to yourself.  You decide your goal is to raid the ship's data vaults, take everything interesting, and delete it all behind you so no one else can have it.  You'll get Infamy (The measure of your character's power and influence) for succeeding, but there may be information on there your allies want, and they won't be happy if they learn of your deeds...

That's how an adventure in Black Crusade would work.  Each character has his own goals, but the penultimate goal for the warband in general (Your characters lead a warband, if that wasn't obvious) is to grow in enough power to raise a massive army of Chaos Warriors and lead a new Black Crusade against the Imperium.  For the most part the flow of the campaign itself will determine how that goal is resolved.  There are also hard-coded rules for character fates.  If you reach 100 corruption points (Which are gained for a variety of different things) your character's lifetime in terms of the game is complete.  If your Infamy is high enough (Probably 90 for our campaign), then the Chaos Gods will make you into a Daemon Prince.  At least that's how the game works.  I'll probably require more of you, some kind of actual task you need to complete to be worthy.  If your infamy isn't high enough though, the warp energy coursing through you turns you into a mindless Chaos Spawn, and the person you once were is effectively dead.


I'm gauging interest because this campaign requires more from the player than just showing up every session.  You need to know what your character wants and you need to know enough about the world to figure out how to get it.  You'll need to post in the forum and PM me about what your character wants to accomplish.  And you'll need to show up to every session or as close to that as you can get.

If that sounds like something you like, and you like the idea of being a servant of the Dark Gods, then post here with interest.  Maybe talk about character concepts you'd like to try.  I'll post what may or may not be the initial premise of the campaign, and what I'll expect from character submissions (In case there's more than four or five)

The characters will probably begin as members of the Shattered Skull Corsairs, a pirate warband.  From their base on Ill Wind, a desolate, little-visited planet near Port Wander, you attack and pillage wayward ships going to and from the Koronus Passage.  The characters themselves aren't leaders, but they're respected and feared enough that they'd each individually be in the running for leadership if something happened to the Warlord (And if they joined up no one could contest them, but can they trust each other for that?  Chaos is its own worst enemy...).  When the campaign starts the Corsairs have just waylaid and destroyed an Imperial Frigate on a solo mission, dragged part of its hull to the surface of the planet, and are partying their asses off.

If the campaign begins proper, there'll be four or five slots for characters, and a waiting list if people die (People will die).  I'll expect a character sheet (Plain-text will probably work as long as it's legible.)  You'll need to know how to make a character, which will require some form of access to the core book.  You should also consider and post (You can PM if you want it to be a secret, but I'd rather  you be open about it) your character's backstory, how he turned to Chaos, how he joined the Corsairs, perhaps how he became a prominent member, what he wants to accomplish, and what his main goals are.  There's information for helping you decide most of that in the books.

If there's anything I forgot I'll edit this post.

Oh:  The game would probably be on IRC.  I may or may not also have a private maptool session open for resolving private rolls and stuff.
« Last Edit: May 09, 2012, 01:26:01 pm by Cthulhu »
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Cthulhu

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Re: Black Crusade - Gauging Interest
« Reply #1 on: May 08, 2012, 12:10:38 am »

I just read over this and realized it's kind of a mess.  I might reorganize it later.  For now, here's a concise summary of what the campaign will be.

THE CAMPAIGN WILL BE:

Four or five characters, all Chaos worshipers.  Maximum 1 Traitor Legionnaire, the rest must be human heretics.  They begin as followers, but can expect to quickly become leaders of their own Chaos Warband.  This can be either a cooperative thing, with all the players leading together (There are means by which trust can be assured, even between Chaos worshipers, but we'll cross that bridge when we get to it.), or a Rogue Trader style situation where one player is a leader and the others are trusted advisers. 

The players will have goals for the warband, decided amongst themselves (Probably some variation on "Destroy the Imperium") and personal goals.  These can range from apotheosis into a Daemon Prince, amassing a vast army, hoarding obscure knowledge, magical power, or forbidden technology, or simply carnage for carnage's sake.

Based on these goals and what they believe the warband needs, the players will set their own goals before a session (Preferably well before).  This could range from obtaining resources, attacking rivals, striking against the Imperium, whatever you can imagine.  If the goal decided is vague I may introduce more specific options for accomplishing the goal, and the players can choose that.  The game will be played over IRC with a dicebot.
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EagleV

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Re: Black Crusade - Gauging Interest
« Reply #2 on: May 08, 2012, 04:46:18 am »

I got trough your wall of text!

Anyway. I might be interested, but I'm not really at home in the WH40k universe other than playing Dawn of War and occasionally witnessing a tabletop. Are there any good reads you'd recommend to get a feeling for the setting, and for chaos in particular? I'm looking for something new to read anyway.
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micelus

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Re: Black Crusade - Gauging Interest
« Reply #3 on: May 08, 2012, 04:47:38 am »

It seems interesting, but what time exactly would these games be?
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Ghazkull

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Re: Black Crusade - Gauging Interest
« Reply #4 on: May 08, 2012, 07:59:22 am »

I would be in for it, depending on the time, and if possible i call dibs on heretek :D
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Riccto

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Re: Black Crusade - Gauging Interest
« Reply #5 on: May 08, 2012, 09:07:52 am »

Time is a factor but I am interested.
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Cthulhu

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Re: Black Crusade - Gauging Interest
« Reply #6 on: May 08, 2012, 11:39:14 am »

I'm very used to Sunday at 10PM GMT, but my schedule is very flexible right now.

As for world info, the Black Crusade rulebook has a slew of info about Chaos and about the setting.  The Chaos Space Marines and Chaos Daemons rulebooks for tabletop 40k are also good for learning about Chaos.

There's also the 40k Fluff Bible, which has info on just about everything.

Basic info about the area of space you're in, there are four main sections.  The Calixis Sector is way way up in the Galactic Northwest, and is a pretty well-populated sector with lots of places to pillage.  There's so much to say about the Calixis sector I won't bother saying it all.  One thing to worry about though is there's a huge Inquisition presence in the Calixis Sector, mainly because every once in a while an enigmatic black object called the Tyrant Star shows up in a planet's sky and the whole planet goes completely fucking nuts. Riots, murder, civilization entirely collapses while the Tyrant Star is in the sky.  The Inquisitors want to find out what it is.  Maybe you could find out what it is...

Nearby is a series of Great Warp Storms, which destroy most ships passing through (Ships must enter the Warp to travel faster than light.  The Warp is a sort of dark mirror to the real world.  The emotions of sentient creatures are reflected in intelligent and almost always malevolent forms in the Warp.  If you've seen Event Horizon, it's exactly like that.), unless they travel through a small passage.  Past that is the Koronus expanse, a huge wilderness region where anyone can strike it rich.    There's lots of cool stuff for Chaos in the Koronus expanse.  Lost treasure, savage feral world barbarians, xenos technology, and something, a very long time ago, guttered out massive swaths of stars in an instant, dooming the worlds within to a frozen death.  If an enterprising Chaos Worshiper were to discover the source of such power and harness it...

Slightly off the "beaten path" so to speak, of the Koronus passage is a xenos gate, allowing instantaneous travel across the galaxy to a place where any Khorne worshiper would love, the Jericho Reach.  The Jericho Reach was lost thousands of years ago, and the Imperium is caught in a massive crusade to retake it.  Three salients continually grind millions of Imperial citizens to pulp against Tyranids to the north, heretics and Traitor Space Marines in the center, and Tau in the south.  If you can smuggle yourself through the Warp gate and out of Imperial influence, you can find all kinds of conflict in the Jericho reach.

The fourth place, the main place, is similarly within the Koronus passage.  There's a place filled with thousands and thousands of frozen, exsanguinated corpses, so many ships have to plow through clouds of them to get around.  If you make the proper obeisances, and your own generous additions to the cloud of bodies, you can pass through a mysterious warp-passage that leads to a hole in reality, the Screaming Vortex.  Named for an omnipresent anguished wailing psykers can hear when nearby, the Vortex is a place where the Warp bleeds into reality, basically the Greater Calixis Area's Eye of Terror.  There are a ton of different places in the Screaming Vortex, all of them completely Chaosed Up, and any warlord powerful enough to unite all the various factions within would have a full-on Black Crusade on his hands and could plunge the Calixis sector into glorious anarchy and war forever.
« Last Edit: May 08, 2012, 12:03:00 pm by Cthulhu »
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EagleV

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Re: Black Crusade - Gauging Interest
« Reply #7 on: May 08, 2012, 12:33:11 pm »

... lots of places to pillage ... the whole planet goes completely fucking nuts ... civilization entirely collapses ... intelligent and almost always malevolent forms ... frozen death ... massive crusade ... grind millions of Imperial citizens to pulp ... thousands and thousands of frozen, exsanguinated corpses ... anguished wailing ... full-on Black Crusade ... glorious anarchy and war forever ...

Okay, this made it definitive. I'm in.
10pm GMT, on sundays, sounds good to me.
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Third, stop listening when you should be fighting.

Ghazkull

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Re: Black Crusade - Gauging Interest
« Reply #8 on: May 08, 2012, 01:21:01 pm »

bit late but fuck it im a student, not that i actually have something useful to do on mondays XDDD

i'm in
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Riccto

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Re: Black Crusade - Gauging Interest
« Reply #9 on: May 08, 2012, 07:32:26 pm »

10pm gmt / 5pm est on sundays works great
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Re: Black Crusade - Gauging Interest
« Reply #10 on: May 08, 2012, 07:35:06 pm »

Oh yes! I'm in, although looks like people have beat me.
I actually have the books, and a character I've been wanting to use somewhere.
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Re: Black Crusade - Gauging Interest
« Reply #11 on: May 08, 2012, 08:20:30 pm »

I'd be up for this as long as we start somewhere between Friday afternoon and Sunday night :)
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Criptfeind

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Re: Black Crusade - Gauging Interest
« Reply #12 on: May 09, 2012, 08:01:32 am »

I would also like to express interest in this if it starts.

Edit: Also I would like to be a human Psyker if there are no objections.
« Last Edit: May 09, 2012, 08:30:09 am by Criptfeind »
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Cthulhu

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Re: Black Crusade - Character Creation Session This Sunday?
« Reply #13 on: May 09, 2012, 01:25:23 pm »

Alright, I'll probably run it then.  I might make a new thread for it or just use this one.  We'll also probably have a session for making characters where I'll provide the materials needed to do so and people can make characters together, for better synergy.

Until then, here's the 8 character types available, and some info for helping you pick one.  Remember, only 1 Chaos Marine in the group.

Chaos Marine Archetypes:

Champion:  Most Chaos Marine warbands are led by a Chaos Champion.  Champions tend to have better gear (Especially status symbols like power weapons and ancient armor) and their skills are geared more toward interaction than others, but still not as much as a human demagogue, and they still can't infiltrate polite society.  Champions can come from pretty much any walk of Spess Mehren life, but must be consummate leaders and tacticians, so positions of leadership are more fertile ground for Champions to spring from.  Chaos Champions tend to be highly ambitious, and are the most likely archetype to seek Daemonhood and leadership of a Black Crusade.

Chosen:  Chosen are consummate warriors and professionals.  While all Chaos Marines are proficient in a ridiculous variety of killing implements, Chosen turn their use into an art form.  They're the pure combat class of the pure combat race.  Chosen can come from anywhere, but tend to be extremely ruthless and hard-boiled, even more so than most Chaos Marines.  Chosen usually don't aspire to anything fancy, the only mark most Chosen want to make on the world is a bullet hole.  There are always exceptions though. 

Forsaken:  Forsaken have, for one reason or another, broken all ties with their former allegiances.  Maybe they were expelled for some transgression, maybe they threw a hissy fit and destroyed their own legion, maybe they simply work better alone.  Whatever the reason, Forsaken are very resourceful and adept at working without support.  Forsaken tend to be very pragmatic, there's no room for sanctimony when you're alone in a violent universe.  They're the most likely to acknowledge that human heretics are better at some tasks than Legionnaires, and are more likely than most to align themselves with non-Marines, if only temporarily.  Their goals can be pretty varied, but they usually don't make good leaders.

Sorcerer:  Sorcerers are Chaos Marines with sorcerous power (Who knew?!)  The vast majority were originally Space Marine Librarians, which presents them with interesting opportunities and drawbacks.  On one hand, the condition and psychoindoctrination they underwent as Loyalists made them more resilient and less likely to rip a hole in the universe or something, it also fettered their abilities.  Sorcerers are incapable of the wild, unrestrained power of a potent human psyker.  Sorcerers rarely lead, but they rarely acknowledge leadership either.  This makes them somewhat problematic in a warband.  They may go along with orders when it suits them, but ultimately they're only in the warband because it furthers their own goals.  Most sorcerers aspire to greater magic power.  Sorcerers can't worship Khorne.

Human Heretics:

Apostate:  Apostates are the cult leaders and crazy demagogues.  Most can put up some kind of fight but their real strength is in turning people away from the Imperium.  Also, unlike many heretics, they're adept at insinuating themselves back into the Imperium.  most have a background in the Ecclesiarchy or bureaucracy, and are thus uniquely suited to causing untold amounts of damage.  The Imperial bureaucracy is so choked and tangled that a clever mole can make millions of Thrones worth of manpower and material disappear without anyone the wiser.  Apostates often aspire to leadership and power over people.  Their goals are similarly selfish but, due to their humanity, are more likely to have a personal grudge against the Imperium and work to undo it with even more zeal.

Heretek:  Science is a joke in the Imperium.  The galaxy is in a technological dark age, picking through the ruins of a greater society and fusing superstition and science to a degree that would make Carl Sagan do backflips in his grave.  Anyone who thinks "Maybe we could do better if we got rid of the chanting and praying and started rigorously analyzing things" is lobotomized and turned into a servitor drone.   Unless they escape, or they were never part of the Adeptus Mechanicus.  Most Hereteks are one of the two, though all player Hereteks bear the trappings of the Mechanicus, whether they were originally a Techpriest or were taught by one.  Hereteks often aspire to great technological feats.  Sometimes this means real science, developing and advancing.  Sometimes it means recovering and utilizing archaeotech from the Dark Age of Technology.  Sometimes it means fusing Daemonic essence with machinery to make obscenities against sanity and reason (Now the techpriests don't sound so bad, huh?).  Whatever it is, it usually has to do with technology or scientific knowledge.

Renegade:  Remember how I said the Imperium sends millions of people to the Jericho reach to die alone on a forsaken battlefield light years from home?  Some people see the meat grinder before it takes them, rebel against the Imperium that made them expendable, and swear allegiance to gods that will give them a chance at glory.  That's where renegades come from.  Most come from a military background.  Hard-bitten veterans, quartermasters sick of seeing happy, gung ho recruits day in and day out and knowing they'd be dead in a month, rebel admirals, whatever the case, renegades are soldiers with a personal vendetta against the Emperor.  While you're free to make your renegade whatever you want, most of them want little more than to watch the Imperium burn.

Psyker:  Psykers are humans with the gift of psychic power.  While most human psykers are spirited away to Terra to be indocrinated and bound, taught to fear and hate their power, heretic psykers are unbound, free to bend reality as they see fit.  Because of their raging power, they tend to go out like firecrackers, shining bright for a brief time but quickly burning themselves out.  Those that can master themselves can become horrendously powerful.  A PC psyker may have somehow escaped the Black Ships, or been born on a world forgotten by the Imperium, or been taken in by a proper heretic.  Human psykers tend not to have lofty ambitions.  Like I said, they burn fast and bright, and most live accordingly, in the moment.

There you go.  That's all 8.  Like I said, one Chaos Marine, the rest must be humans.  You can make a character now if you know how, but we'll probably have a session soon to make characters.  This Sunday, perhaps?
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adwarf

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Re: Black Crusade - Character Creation This Sunday?
« Reply #14 on: May 09, 2012, 02:09:02 pm »

Like all those, I'll probably play as a Renegade
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