[OW/X - Tau]: Operation Fireknife (OOC & Discussion)

[Mazer Rackham]

++ ONLY THE GREATER GOOD IS WORTH WAR ++

ONLY WAR/XENOS: TAU CAMPAIGN

+++ OPERATION FIREKNIFE +++

"That the races of the galaxy do not understand their peril - or worse, choose to ignore it, demonstrates the fact they are at war with themselves. We succumbed to that barbarity long ago, and saw it for what it was. The ideas of the individual should be one of public good, of municipal service, yes indeed, the Tau'Va - and all that it entails. It is better that the brave few give their lives, so all of us may stand to greet the dawn once more."

Aun'Vre Bork'an Lo'Shasanna Alcat'aa, Sage of Borkan, Speaker of the Ancient Truths.

Introduction:

So what is Operation Fireknife, other than something that would cut butter really well? Well, I'm glad you asked, Prisoner #442 Category Infrared Threat Level, let me explain.

Simply put, this is a One-Shot in the framework of Only War, with Character Profiles from Rogue Trader, with gunfights from Deathwatch. If that's a mouthful, don't worry, all you need is a few D10's, the will to play the Tau race as you perceive them, and a willingness to engage in a narrative heavy, crunch-light campaign. I would suggest if you haven't already, that you take a look at The Die Hards, an OW game set up by our own Commissar Molotov, which gave us a little more of the human element in the RPG Nook, and now, we're going far far from that.

In more ways than one.

This is the opportunity to actually do a first on this Board, as there has rarely if ever been an RP campaign dedicated to a Xenos race - I am sure we've seen a few Tau or Kroot explorers here and there, but we have the blessing of the forum to write about factions we hardly understand or see - because it's from the human perspective.

So what kind of challenges do we face? These are an alien race after all, how do we understand them? How do we roleplay something not really meant to be that deeply explored? Well there are some books (a good Deathwatch one actually) which show that Tau are just like us, having the same hopes and dreams, the same bitterness when their ideology comes up against the might of an Imperial STC iron boot.

In short, there's nothing to stop us doing this.

Execution:

After some discussion, I've settled on building our characters from the Rogue Trader templates, if our players do not have access to them, don't fear, we'll build them in this thread before porting them over to the Character Thread for easy access for everyone.

So, why are we using Rogue Trade profiles for a game about great big phalanxes of Imperial Guard? Simple: Rogue Trader characters are tougher than Only War ones, by about 5,000xp in starting skills and talents, so you as a player can be a bit more handy in a scrap. Similarly, Tau are squishy, and so the Companion rules from Only War will allow mistakes, heighten drama, and allow me to twist the emotional knife every chance I get. Regimental bonuses will be brought in as well, to further flavour our Characters.

Essentially, this RPG: Kill Team, so we need to make allowances.

There will be a rules framework, since we have to have some kind of arbitration to resolve the encounters our intrepid Tau face, but it's not going to be terrible cumbersome, since I fly by the seams of my trousers anyway, and I'll likely just ask for a dice roll. On that subject, I don't care how you roll your dice - Orokos, Roll-A-Die, the real deal on a table top - it's not an issue. I mean you can cheat if you like, but there's no winning a Roleplaying game, so just let the numbers come up, and if they aren't great, just adapt your story. Chances are, failing is actually better than success.

The only real caveat is that this is a 24hour forum, and it will e a PBP (play-by-post) game and we will have to be patient as people turn up to post. Another thing we have to consider is when people don't post after a good period things can get bogged down or stale. As GM, I would advise that I will have to move the game on at some point for the benefit of the rest of the players - if you can, please let me know what the trouble is, real life happens, and we understand.

This is a game, life comes first.

If you're new to PBP games, or this forum in general, just a couple of pointers:

This is my GM voice, in which I will impart instruction and information I think is pertinent, such as when I call for tests.

This is an Out-of-Character voice, that you should all use for when you are doing things which are not narrative, such as rolling tests, asking quickfire questions or speaking to me directly as a PC to GM.

Look here!

You should try to spoiler any of your tests to keep them separate from your narrative and so a casual reader (and your GM!) can get the feeling for your post through your own words and turn of phrase without having to decipher hieroglyphic algebraic formulae! And it should all be in OOC Green.

I only got one typo there!

How we roll the tests and such will become apparent through play.

Rules Modifications:

In the FFG books, there are many rules, and his one is mine: I will, can and do change rules to make the game more enjoyable or accessible for my players. When I do this, I will try at all times to act consistently and in good faith in order to keep things smooth, fair and even. We will also add special rules to Characters, Equipment, Weapons and Adversaries in order to "Make it Work". Extra rules will be contained in the Character Thread OP, so that you can refer to them whenever you like.

Setting:

TBD

Location:

TBD

[Steel Company]

Interesting, what's the plan for this one?

[Trokair]

Mazer is thinking of doing a Deathwatch - Only War hybrid game with the players as Tau.

 

Initial discussion here, as a follow on from a discussion some time back about doing some non human games.

[Mazer Rackham]

Pretty much. 

 

The operation name and structure is all open to change we can debate here, as well as where we want to have it etc.  When we've wrangled it and got a bit more direction I can pop our IC and character threads open for posting as well.

 

Don't anyone be put off posting, ideas to help this and enrich it are always useful.

[Machine God]

I know that this may seem like a cop-out but can we play Gue' Vesa?

[Mazer Rackham]

I haven't ruled it out, and would easy enough to shoehorn one in, so I don't see a problem as long as you don't mind being snarked at in Tau...

[Trokair]

I know that this may seem like a cop-out but can we play Gue' Vesa?

May I ask if there is any particular reason you would prefer to play a human?

[Steel Company]

Sometimes people find it easier to get invested in a character they can relate to. Or perhaps they just really like the idea of Humans that serve the greater good?

[Trokair]

Oh I get that, I was just wondering, if it was Tau in particular that Machine God did not think he would enjoy playing, then there could be other options besides humans. Such as some of the other auxiliaries/client species. A Demiurg, Kroot, Vespid, Tarellians, Formosian, and so on and so forth, as some have very little details it could even open up more possibilities as to how to play a character.  

Edited December 20, 2021 by Trokair

[Necronaut]

Xenos filth! Good luck with this, MR -- I'll be keeping an eye on it!

[Mazer Rackham]

Xenos filth! Good luck with this, MR -- I'll be keeping an eye on it!

 

That was only a matter of time! 

 

Cheers Necro. 

 

Oh I get that, I was just wondering, if it was Tau in particular that Machine God did not think he would enjoy playing, then there could be other options besides humans. Such as some of the other auxiliaries/client species. A Demiurg, Kroot, Vespid, Tarellians, Formosian, and so on and so forth, as some have very little details it could even open up more possibilities as to how to play a character.  

 

I think a Kroot could work, especially if there was some shaper interaction, so the characters could talk, or a Vespid communion helm, but a Tau/Gue'Vesa team I think would prove an interesting dynamic - does the Ooman regret his choices?  If he had one?  Are the Tau any better or worse than the Imperium?  etc

 

He'd have a companion as well, so it would be comfortable enough, and would even tie in to my proposed plot....

[Commander Dawnstar]

Was going to put this in the previous thread but your post about moving here went up while I was making changes.

 

As for the campaign setting, that's completely open for discussion as well.  4th Sphere or anything around then.  I don't know if the players want the time frame up to date, or historical, or what.  Sky's the limit.

 

So the thing to bear in mind about the T'au is that the Spheres make for nice neat eras in terms of tone and theme:

• 3rd Sphere: Optimistic and expansionist. Mainly characterised by Shadowsun's big push that took a lot of Imperial space in the gulf and new tech like Riptides and Ghostkeels.
• 4th Sphere: Post-Great Rift period of great uncertainty. Fleet travels through the Warp into uncharted space. Discovery and new hope tainted by isolation, cruelty and xenophobia.
• 5th Sphere: Age of new trials. Have to confront xenophobic T'au and the consequences of their actions, terrifying threats like the Death Guard, and the Imperium's literal miracles of faith.

Obviously you don't have to lean into these, but if there's a particular atmosphere you're looking for then it could make a lot of sense to pick a Sphere to match.

[Mazer Rackham]

Thanks Dawnstar, that's good stuff.  I'm swotting up on all the fluff, and this is a big help to bring me up to speed.

 

Much appreciated, gives us options - and I like options.

 

What would people like their characters to get up to?  Do you want it 3 mins to midnight (more horror, more combat) or thin it out a bit to allow for a balanced game with plenty of opportunity for RPing?  I'm thinking we're wrangling stuff out in Session Zero...

 

I've got a plot that can scale up or down, so it really is player driven here in scope, and once we get down some ideas we can go forward.

 

EDIT: I'm currently specc'ing out the Pulse Blaster.  Tau firepower with a side order of whoop- well you know how it goes.

Edited December 20, 2021 by Mazer Rackham

[Machine God]

Perhaps this Gue'Vesa is an Ork Fighter that got cut off behind enemy lines due to an expansion. Maybe a captured Elysian Drop Trooper, the edges of the Imperium and Tau Space move about and Water Caste envoys spread the word of the Greater Good across borders...

[Mazer Rackham]

Very true - and if a prisoner, the soldier may have ended up in one of the lovely Ta re-education camps and thinks, well, they aren't so bad...

 

I've updated the Character Creation to maybe help with a bit of flavour.  If you want an Ork fighter specifically, we can work something out.

[Trokair]

What I have for Shas'ui Monat is up, all very basic so far.

 

Mazer, how much balancing detriment will Monat need to carry for the build I have in mind?

Edited December 21, 2021 by Trokair

[Mazer Rackham]

Looks good Tro, nice example.

 

Well the detriment is going to come from the gear, as we discussed.  Overheating guns inflict the damage they roll on the arm you fired with unless you drop it, but your Battlesuit has the weapon as a hardpoint, so by RAW, it would burn your arm, well, raw in a few rounds.

 

Instead of this, it powers down one random system (for a turn, not for good).  D3, 1 = Jetpack, 2 = Stealth field, 3 = Suit Sensor Suite (so no dark sight etc).

 

What do you think?

 

A Tau Battlesuit pilot is an advanced specialty by the book, but as you might guess, I couldn't care less, so go ahead and update your profile and your equipment as agreed with me in the other thread. (XV 16, experimental Rail Rifle etc etc).

Edited December 21, 2021 by Mazer Rackham

[Necronaut]

EDIT: I'm currently specc'ing out the Pulse Blaster. Tau firepower with a side order of whoop- well you know how it goes.

@MR, if memory serves, the full T'au arsenal is specced out across a variety of sources (Rogue Trader T'au Character Guide, plus an array of Deathwatch Books, including Rites of Battle among others).

Edited December 21, 2021 by Necronaut

[Commander Dawnstar]

I'm pretty sure the Pulse Blaster wasn't added to the range until a couple of years after the last Deathwatch book.

[Necronaut]

Ah, fair enough. I didn't realize that one had not been specced out properly. Sorry! Edited December 21, 2021 by Necronaut

[Black Cohort]

I would be interested in playing some kind of auxiliary, probably either Kroot, Demiurg or Nicassar.

[Beren]

Likewise, I quite like the idea of playing a Kroot.

[Xin Ceithan]

Think I‘ll skip this one for now.  There is just too much  reading up to do atm. 
Might throw in a companion idea or two - seems that is more my line of contribution recently

 

Edit: Typo. Out you go!

Edited December 21, 2021 by Xin Ceithan

[BadgersinHills]

I'd like to play perhaps an Eldar mercenary of some sort but I don't mind being a Tau if needed. A grim horror setting seems interesting! 

Edited December 21, 2021 by BadgersinHills

[Mazer Rackham]

Kroot shouldn't be a problem...I'll pull a profile from somewhere (I don't have the RT book, but I think there's profiles in Only War I can hijack).

 

@Badgers, welcome back the Nook my friend, an Eldar might be a bit of a squeeze for this, but could I tempt you with a Tau Pathfinder, perhaps?