40k Rpg: How to created balanced combat encounters? Help.

[Cmdr Shepard]

Greetings Brothers and Sisters,

I recently started a Rogue Trader campaign and we started with the Rulebook adventure. When the team reached the part were you meet the pilgrim ship (I'm sure those familiar with the game will ricognize it ) I, as GM, decided to expand the encounter.

Since the team's Rogue Trader, who is my character (my group is small so I had to take that mantle ) is an iquisitor who was granted the Warrant of Trade after a series of contrast with the Ecclesiarchy (I will save you the details, let's say it was better for him to travel to the Halo Stars ) I decided it would have a good idea featuring a battle for the control of the ship.

The plan was to play an infiltration styled mission. The explorers get in kills some enemy, gain control of the ship mainframe and... mission complete.

However being it my first made mission I had some problem in making it balanced. Since I gave to our level 1 characters a good collection of highly quality items and a powerful ship to represent the Inquisitorial origins of the Rogue Trader I decided to make the encounter difficulty equal to the high quality weapons they had.

Since this is my first 40K rpg experience I have been a very "understanding" GM so as soon as the team started the adventure on Port Wander I gave them the chance to make a number of acquisitions attempt. The team ended with acquiring, for example, A Best craftmanship Plasma Pistol and best craftmanship Thuderhammer for my Rogue Trader and other high quality items for the others.

So I thought I should have increased the difficulty of the raid on the pilgrim ship scenario. However things turned out much more difficult than I thought.

we boarded the ship with my Rogue Trader, an Explorator and an Archmilitant (every one with high quality weapons).

I decided to use the NPC from Dark Heresy, Blood of Martyrs to represent the Ecclesiarchy fighters on the ship.

Until we faced waves of Covenant cultist and Red Redemption cultists (in the end we killed 15 of them) all was even two easy.

Than I decided to send Arcoflagellant and things went very bad. Even though I made them to pass an awareness test to left the "shielded pods" where I put them. They nearly killed my entire team.

The Archmilitant was forced to burn a fate point to escape death and the Explorator risked to suffer critical damage.

In the end we prevailed (thanks to 3 Righteous furies from Explorator's bolter and the Rogue Trader's hammer) but it was a nightmare (I even had to spend a fate point for rerolling fear test!)

So my question is: Do you have any suggestion on to balance the combat encounters to the power level of the charatcers?

Thank You for your assistance.

[blackoption]

Balancing encounters is part experience and part deviousness of the GM.

 

understand that your players will gain experience and become better in combat encounters. (some might even start min/maxing, which can be reallllllly annnoying)

 

Dark Heresy NPC's are likely to be butchered by anything other than Only war or Dark Heresy Characters. On the power scale, from lowest to highest it goes: Dark Heresy, Only War, Rogue Trader/Black Crusade, Ascension/Deathwatch.

 

If you can, pull your your NPC's from the appropriate source books, otherwise you may have to upscale or down scale accordingly.

 

Alternatively, i've seen a couple of DM's outright wing encounters.  They don't look up stats at all... instead they scale it by how difficult they want the player's to have. I've seen two GM's do this regularly, but they were also two of the best GM's in the hobby shop I went to at the time.

[Cmdr Shepard]

Balancing encounters is part experience and part deviousness of the GM.

 

understand that your players will gain experience and become better in combat encounters. (some might even start min/maxing, which can be reallllllly annnoying)

 

Dark Heresy NPC's are likely to be butchered by anything other than Only war or Dark Heresy Characters. On the power scale, from lowest to highest it goes: Dark Heresy, Only War, Rogue Trader/Black Crusade, Ascension/Deathwatch.

 

If you can, pull your your NPC's from the appropriate source books, otherwise you may have to upscale or down scale accordingly.

 

Alternatively, i've seen a couple of DM's outright wing encounters.  They don't look up stats at all... instead they scale it by how difficult they want the player's to have. I've seen two GM's do this regularly, but they were also two of the best GM's in the hobby shop I went to at the time.

 

I heard Dark Heresy NPC are the weakest and so I thought to use them for level 1 characters. I thought the encounter would have been too easy but those arco-flagellants were actually quite strong, especially with their powerblades. Unless they have been somehow FAQed

For the next time I'll use NPC from the proper sources, I just used the ecclesiarchy NPC for fluff/narrative purposes...

[Black_Sky]

You must also remember that as a gm, you are fully capable of fudging die rolls (behind the screen, book, whatever). this is the only situation in which I can condone cheating. As a gamesmaster you are building a story, not trying to kill the players, just to challenge their wits. Nothing is more frustrating than to lose half the team to what should have been an average encounter. This could be due to the players rolling abysmally low or the npc's rolling the third maximum dmg roll in a row.

[Cmdr Shepard]

You must also remember that as a gm, you are fully capable of fudging die rolls (behind the screen, book, whatever). this is the only situation in which I can condone cheating. As a gamesmaster you are building a story, not trying to kill the players, just to challenge their wits. Nothing is more frustrating than to lose half the team to what should have been an average encounter. This could be due to the players rolling abysmally low or the npc's rolling the third maximum dmg roll in a row.

 

That a very good advice. Since I'm a "veteran", a sort of ;), of standard 40K I tended to consider the dice rolls final. However I see the difference between the two systems. As you said in RPG we build a story, not trying to kill the players. Honestly when I saw things very going badly I just allows characters to reroll some failed dodge/parry failed rolls. I also decided to consider the arco-flagellant "three attacks with one of its weapons" a single attack for the purposes of parry/doge. I remebered the talent wich gives a character two attacks instead of one is considered one attack for the purposes of dodge/parry so I decided to use the same rule for the lightning attack without even checking the rulebook.

I'll find a way to award the Archmilitant with a bonus fate point in order to reacquire the one he decided to burn.

 

In the end it was an encounter worth to be told but I was very surprised to see how deadly an Arco-Flagellant is. I was familiar with the tabletop one but the RPG one is a beast.

Conside the poor Archmilitant (who is a melee dedicated character with about 50 WS and a Best Craftsmanship power sword, 50 T) was slaugthered with ease.

The Explorator was amazing. He got something like 3 Righeous Furies with his bolter. He killed an Arcoflagellant in a volley of mass reactive shots ;)

 

Honestly the view of my Rogue Trader who charged a damaged Arco-Flagellant killing it with his thunder hammer before dealing the death blow the the other who was about to deal critical damage to the Explorator was priceles ;)

[blackoption]

Black_sky has a valid point.  GMing is not about killing the players it is about the story. That being said, a good story is a challenging one.  I told my players I was intentionally trying to kill them to motivate them to play smart (and i did kill off a few of them).  But I always allowed new characters to come in.

 

Back on topic... Level 1 NPC's for dark heresy are ants compared to level 1 Rogue Traders.  You'd want level 5 DH to face off level 1 Rogue Trader characters.

 

But don't worry about almost killing your characters now... both you and your players are gaining experience with this system.  In time, your players will come to know what works and what does not in combat.

[Cmdr Shepard]

Black_sky has a valid point. GMing is not about killing the players it is about the story. That being said, a good story is a challenging one. I told my players I was intentionally trying to kill them to motivate them to play smart (and i did kill off a few of them). But I always allowed new characters to come in.

Back on topic... Level 1 NPC's for dark heresy are ants compared to level 1 Rogue Traders. You'd want level 5 DH to face off level 1 Rogue Trader characters.

But don't worry about almost killing your characters now... both you and your players are gaining experience with this system. In time, your players will come to know what works and what does not in combat.

I'll follow your advices.

Since both of you are very polite I'd take the chance to ask you another quick question on the balance issue.

We are about to complete the Plunder the Righteous Path endeavour and I'd like to reward players with something more than Protfit Factor and XP, namely I'd like to give players some rare artifcat found on the vessel itself.

I was thinking to use the Treasure generator from Stars of Inequity. Fluff-wise I should allow a good numbers of rolls since that ship should be filled with tons of Archeotech goods and artifacts.

So my dilemma is: keep the rolls to one per player/character or going with more (like for example the "Archeotech cache" from the same book)? If the players starts to get very good gear I could match the enemies to the power of their own equipement.

Thanks for you help...

[blackoption]

Gear/ equipment is a method of rewarding players, but understand that the better the gear is, the more powerful your players become (and the more your NPC's become mooks)

 

There are many different methods to rewarding characters.  When i had my Deathwatch game, I rarely rewarded them with gear, but instead deeds and honors. For a Rogue Trader, consider including a way to track the character's reputation (both good and bad) on top of profit factor. 

 

But, I would be remiss if I didn't mention that the rewards can be an adventure all to itself.  In my campaign's first mission, they recovered (most of the) components for a sacred power sword, but they were unable to use it until they retrieved (and figured out) vital components and bits of information about the sword.  When they did finally complete that quest line (3+ levels, 4 characters KIA, and 8 months later) the had earned an epic weapon in the fight against chaos... (although amusingly/frustratingly, they decided to lock the blade up in the chapter's armory after concerns over the blade's purity and they had some concerns that it my be a heretical weapon).

 

I personally prefer a "breadcrumbs" method of relinquishing gear to players, particularly if they are master crafted/ artificer equipment.  (I also had a habit of making my own relic level weapons)

[Cmdr Shepard]

Gear/ equipment is a method of rewarding players, but understand that the better the gear is, the more powerful your players become (and the more your NPC's become mooks)

There are many different methods to rewarding characters. When i had my Deathwatch game, I rarely rewarded them with gear, but instead deeds and honors. For a Rogue Trader, consider including a way to track the character's reputation (both good and bad) on top of profit factor.

But, I would be remiss if I didn't mention that the rewards can be an adventure all to itself. In my campaign's first mission, they recovered (most of the) components for a sacred power sword, but they were unable to use it until they retrieved (and figured out) vital components and bits of information about the sword. When they did finally complete that quest line (3+ levels, 4 characters KIA, and 8 months later) the had earned an epic weapon in the fight against chaos... (although amusingly/frustratingly, they decided to lock the blade up in the chapter's armory after concerns over the blade's purity and they had some concerns that it my be a heretical weapon).

I personally prefer a "breadcrumbs" method of relinquishing gear to players, particularly if they are master crafted/ artificer equipment. (I also had a habit of making my own relic level weapons)

This is a very narrative way to reward players

The reason I thought about rewarding players with gear is the human charatcers suffer heavy damage with ease. DW characters start with unnatural strenght/toughtness but a lucky hellgun burst is able to strip most level 1 RT charatcers of their wounds (it happened to an arch-militant charatcer in my group).

Beside sometimes I found very fluffy to find relics and not only profit from exploration. Why selling all the relics you find when you can keep a few for yourself.... I know it's the collector part of me who is speaking ;)

What method do you use to create your own relics?

[blackoption]

Mostly my imagination.

In all seriousness, Relics are still standard gear that is maybe 10-20% better then the standard equipment. However, what I do when I make a relic is give it a buff or an ability that is useful/helpful to the one's wielding/owning it.

For example... When a tactical marine character had purchased the "signature wargear" talent to the point where he could select a mastercrafted bolter, I gave his character a narrative choice after I created three templated abilities that would be useful. However, I would not tell him outright what the special rules were for the weapon when he is making a choice, instead I gave his character a discription of the look of the object and how it physically compared to others of its type.

I.E.: After disinguishing himself as a noted marksman for the chapter for the third time, Brother X was taken to the weapon vaults and presented with three bolters.

Brother X picked up the first bolter and noticed that (besides the obvious excellent craftmanship) that the bolter had a golden inlay depicting a scene from the seige of terra. In high gothic the name "Righteous Retribution" was marked behind front sight post and that the muzzle was shaped into the mouth of a screaming eagle. (Besides being a mastercrafted bolter, the weapon gained the sanctified and felling (4) qualities vs. daemonic opponents, however traitor legionaries would gain hatred against him for carrying a weapon that reminded them of their defeat)

With reverence, Brother X returned the first bolter to its case and picked up the second bolter. Also of excellent craftsmenship, the weapon had a rail mount underneath the main barrel that could attach one of two underslung combi-attachments in the case. (this weapon, obviously, is a combi weapon that could be set up as either a combi plasma or a combi flamer.) The name inscribed along its barrel was "Adaptive Punishment".

Finally, Brother X came to the third, mat black bolter. Its workings berift of all design and honor, but still revealing it to be an extremely lethal of weapons. An extendable stock and adjustable sight matched up with a removable muffler at the front of the barrel. (this bolter came with a silencer and, after a turn of adjustments, make single shot attacks as if it were a stalker pattern bolter.) The case is engraved with the words "All must face his silent judgement".

This one particular player spent 30 minutes agonizing over which bolter he would take based off of the descriptions alone. After he made his choice, I would give him the additional rules for what the bolter could do (in this case, all the info in the brackets).

But I always used the established hero weaponry as a basis for what was powerful vs too powerful.

[Cmdr Shepard]

Very interesting ideas I'll try inspiration from them in the future. It is a very "cinematic" way to create unique relics. For a couple of times I used the Treasure generator from Stars of Inequity in my RT campaign but we ended with several items without any particuar meaning. We all wanted the Power Armour with the indestructible trait but we got only several power axes and body gloves ;)

I thinking about a scenario to make the palyers acquire such valuable relic. It has to be a challanging scenario since the reward is very high...

I'm creating a endeavour where one of the objectives requires the exploration of an ancient ruin... perhaps it is a good reason to create some relic... not the Power Armour with the indestructible trait, though... I think it's too early to give players a so powerful piece of equipement...

Also one more question about powerful vs too powerful. I was reading through the talents chapter of RT rulebook once more when I noticed you actually need an Exotic Weapon training for each exotic weapon, not for each category (melee, ranged etc). So I was thinking about using the Elite Advance concept to reward players with the training in a particular exotic weapon.

For example: the team acquired a archeotech or xeno weapons during their explorations and they want to master that very weapon, so I could create a small scenario. If they complete it they acquire the knowledge require to use the weapon without penalties. What do you think? Too power given to the characters?

Thanks for your help.

[blackoption]

That is the way I'd handle that situation. However, it is often the gear, not the skill, that makes and item powerful.

 

And as GM, you do have ways to handle items that are too powerful in a players hands.  Rival organizations could always notices such an item/object and do their best to destroy/steal it.  If the item is deemed heretical (wrongly or not), the players could also attract attention from the authorities (in this case, the inquisition, Astartes, or other Imperium level organizations).  While rogue traders have freedom, they does not mean they are free from accountability.

[Cmdr Shepard]

That is the way I'd handle that situation. However, it is often the gear, not the skill, that makes and item powerful.

 

And as GM, you do have ways to handle items that are too powerful in a players hands.  Rival organizations could always notices such an item/object and do their best to destroy/steal it.  If the item is deemed heretical (wrongly or not), the players could also attract attention from the authorities (in this case, the inquisition, Astartes, or other Imperium level organizations).  While rogue traders have freedom, they does not mean they are free from accountability.

 

I'll follow your suggestions. I'm also thinking about using the rival organization plot device for handling the "misfortune" mechanics. In few words the character will have the chance to solve the matter before losing profit. If the are extremely successful they may even profit from the misfortune itself. ;)

However I'll use the device for significant acquisitions, like a starship or planetary wide operations. Featuring the intervention of a rival organization who steals a single bolt pistol is not very epic.

However some criminal scum may try to ambush the players and steal their goods. Footfall would be a perfect place for such scenes ;)