[BC] The Blackest Heart (OOC)

[Mazer Rackham]

6 minutes ago, A.T. said:

Sanity check - would Xerxes think there was any practical chance of disrupting the purple cults operations by spiking the comms, or would he just be damaging quality gear for no good cause?

 

You could certainly attempt that without damage, given your skill level and proficiency - and you are in the comms centre.

 

Make a Challenging (+0) Tech Use Test, due to the fact that it's not that shieded a system - you're not trying to b0rk the command centre after all, just a few relay nodes, is that right?

 

Every 2 DoS = 1 Level of disruption.

[Trokair]

19 minutes ago, Mazer Rackham said:

GSC Is revealed! Don't be shocked, you knew ;)

 

 

Spoiler

 

[Trokair]

 

On a more practical note/question. How much in universe information would our character have had about Genestelers and their behaviour and the cults? I can see the Marines knowing something but the rest of us? Not so sure. I mean Tarh in particular, a Solider for most of his life, fighting primarily against the Imperium, and perhaps the occasional Orks or so. Mutation while be more common (or at least less shunned) on a Chaos held world, so he would be more used to seeing humans that a more varied from standard, so GSC might not look as xenos like to him as it would the others.

 

What I am trying to dial in on is that once he sees on up close and proper are the purple clothed cultist just a human faction with some mutation to him or would he see the xenos infestation. Obviously if papa Genesealer turns up the Xenos link will be much more obvious, but until then...?  

[Lysimachus]

A little bit of googling dates suggests that they might be a little bit better known by now...

 

680.m41 was when the first GS Cult was faced by the Imperium.

 

745.m41 was Battle of Macragge, and in the aftermath the connection between GS and nids was realised

 

Badab war ended 913.m41 (and we are at least a bit after that)

 

So several hundred years in between. I would say Marines would definitely recognise GSC, and I would have thought a Veteran soldier like Tarh might have encountered a Cult even if not the nids themselves?

 

[Trokair]

1 minute ago, Lysimachus said:

So several hundred years in between. I would say Marines would definitely recognise GSC, and I would have thought a Veteran soldier like Tarh might have encountered a Cult even if not the nids themselves?

 

 

 

Maybe, and that is in part of why I wasn’t sure. On the one hand a Solider is much more likely to know about something like this, either from having fought them, had briefings on them as potential enemies, or just chatter between soldiers trading stories and experiences.

 

On the other I think they are less likely to encounter GSC in a way that would make the common solider think that there was something problematic/unusual and not just more enemy soldiers.  My understanding of GSC is that they don’t tend to emerge and fight other armies unless forced to due to discover or imminent Nid invasion. Rebellions that need to be put down, low level fighting to keep themselves hidden for other more civil authorities sure. But extend military campaigns?  

Also on a chaos held world I imagine the GSC are less likely to take root (though some obviously do if we go by old old fluff), and with that some of the reason of why he might know are less likely. Especially as he was not an elite trained solider (with corresponding know your enemy training) but original a conscript who has survived by skill and luck (and mostly the latter I think).   

 

 

I don’t know.

 

I just think with Tarh the dived between my knowledge of the 40k realm and potential  in universe knowledge that he should/could have is possibly grater than in other character I have played before.

 

While Bardas might not have had much knowledge of xenos (or chaos for that matter) stuff in general it did not come up as drastically, and there was more of a facilitation of potential knowledge via the Inquisition if requiered. Likewise Alda will know more about the 40k universe then average other imperial citecen due to where she was trained, so as a player there is less I have to think and go 'she could not have known that at all'.

 

 

 

[Mazer Rackham]

Can't put more polish on than you lads already have really, but with regard to the GSC it's less about the when, and more about the who.

 

The assumption Marines would know GSC generally, is correct, but Xin has Forbidden Lore (Cults), and Astral Claws would have had numerous dealings with secret cults, organisations etc. Looking after anythwhere near the Maelstrom would breed a familiarity with these things. Any Marine with Space Hulk experience, or History would be familiar too.

 

Obviously, as you've already spotted Tro, perhaps the angle of mutated loonies would be the best idea for Tarh. Not entirely sure who else knows anything in detail.

 

Edited Monday at 07:39 PM by Mazer Rackham

[Necronaut]

@Trokair I should think your question can be answered in-game with a Forbidden Lore (Xenos) test or similar; Forbidden Lore (Cults) as mentioned by our GM seems appropriate too, but that's up to Mazer. If your character is ignorant of them, he's about to get some up close and personal on-the-job training.

Edited Monday at 08:26 PM by Necronaut

[Lysimachus]

I agree completely there is a lot of leeway (and much more so for mortals who arent way, way up their hierarchy!) so it could certainly go either way.

 

I might have Hagga not have fought them, but perhaps heard about them from other brethren…?

 

 

 

Anyway, @Necronaut @Xin Ceithan

thoughts for the fight?

 

 

Tactically speaking, I'm a lot more worried about this enemy at range than in CC. 2 lots of SABs per Horde means potentially 6 Hits, and while they are at 20 Mag each Hit is doing 3d10+3 Dam! (And we can't Dodge, either!)

They become a lot less of a problem once we get them down to under 20 Mag. They only get 1 SAB/shooting attack per Horde, and the Dam drops to 2d10+3.

That says to me that first we should knock each Horde down below 20, and then we should try to get stuck in?

Horde A is already down to 17 thanks to Xin’s flying boxes, so that's a definite plus! 

None of us can touch Horde C before they get at least one Round at full Mag (Ukalegon goes before them, but doesn't have any weapons with enough Range to attack them) so there isn't much we can do about that…

...Hagga or Cyrandras could maybe take a shot at them with their bolter once it is their go?

However, Horde B is also at 20 Mag and a lot closer, so I'd say we really want to target them first? With a bit of luck, we can knock a Mag or 2 off before they get to act in Round 1, and save ourselves a (potentially) sizable amount of pain?

 

 

 

nb. Not spoilered the above to try and hide anything, just done to save those not directly involved in the fight from reading if they don't want to! 

 

 

Edited Monday at 08:42 PM by Lysimachus

[Necronaut]

@Lysimachus great idea! Unfortunately Ukalegon's only ranged weapon is his melta pistol which has a range increment of 10m. 

 

I think maybe Ukalegon should either just wait (if only he had Frenzy then he could activate that), or do a run/fly/whatever makes sense movement action to close the distance and, in effect, prepare to do a drive/fly-by attack (he doesn't have Assassin Strike yet but given our rough adherence to real-world physics, he would just barrel right through the lot of them).

Edited Monday at 10:19 PM by Necronaut

[Mazer Rackham]

3 minutes ago, Necronaut said:

@Lysimachus great idea! Unfortunately Ukalegon's only ranged weapon is his melta pistol which has a range increment of 10m. 

 

Ukalegon: Have at ye, varlet!

*Freems*

Purple Scrub: *Gets a mild tan*

[Lysimachus]

Smart thinking. Yep, I think the only weapons we've got in R1 are the 2 bolters.

 

If you're going to move Ukalegon upwards, I'd say move in a bit as well, so you are under the 3rd level gantry - that will mean Horde C shouldn't be able to get an angle to target you when they shoot? (Save yourself, brother! )

[Necronaut]

Smart thinking. Perhaps at some point in the future he'll be able to find another bog-standard CSM Red Corsair whose boltgun (or other ranged weapon) he can "inherit." 

[Xin Ceithan]

 

42 minutes ago, Lysimachus said:

Anyway, @Necronaut @Xin Ceithan

thoughts for the fight?

With the bolt gun as the only thing that can reach out, I agree that we should try to cut Mob B down to size then get stuck in up close. It’s what Astartes were made for, after all 

 

[Machine God]

The Galaxy is a Big Place even in 40K. Just because the time line says 2+2 you could get a lot of 5's and 3's.

 

Warp travel is not instantaneous, sometimes ships disappear or get delayed by + or - a thousand years. 

 

Just because Macragge happened with GSC and Nids it doesn't mean that everyone knows about it. 

 

Are any of the Marines from the Ultramarines or even Ultimar Segmentum? 

 

 

 

 

[Lysimachus]

48 minutes ago, Machine God said:

The Galaxy is a Big Place even in 40K. Just because the time line says 2+2 you could get a lot of 5's and 3's.

 

Warp travel is not instantaneous, sometimes ships disappear or get delayed by + or - a thousand years. 

 

I can't argue with that, but at the same time warp travel can also be very quick. But on average, I think(?) it has been said that a ship could travel from one side of the galaxy to the other in around a year? So a few hundred years is plenty of time for info to be disseminated (if you have high enough clearance to know it, that is)

 

 

48 minutes ago, Machine God said:

Just because Macragge happened with GSC and Nids it doesn't mean that everyone knows about it. 

 

Are any of the Marines from the Ultramarines or even Ultimar Segmentum?

 

 

I'd say this is one of those situations where there is a decent chance that the information will spread. The Ultras work with lots of other Chapters and forces. They also contribute on a regular basis to the Deathwatch, and teach them about Nids. That info is filtered out to all of the Watch-Stations (particularly the importance of dealing with GSCs quickly). The Watch-Stations train the Marines that come to them, and when they go home they take that training with them? So I'd say, unless a Chapter is very insular (which admittedly some are) there is a good chance they will know about GSC within the 150ish years since Macragge.

 

 

Edited Monday at 11:38 PM by Lysimachus

[Mazer Rackham]

I think it's safe to say that whichever character didn't know of the GSC threat before, they will certainly know after.

 

If they survive.

Edited Monday at 11:51 PM by Mazer Rackham

[Lysimachus]

We need to get  added as a Reaction...

Edited Tuesday at 01:57 PM by Lysimachus

[Necronaut]

The old 97 GM roll on behalf of a player eh?

 

Edited Tuesday at 02:01 PM by Necronaut

[Mazer Rackham]

 

[Lysimachus]

I would have said it was worth spending a Inf Point for a reroll, just to avoid the jam more than anything, but you've only got 1 left... 

 

BC is a bit tight-fisted on Inf/Fate Points, isn't it? Especially when you're just starting out in a game. And there doesn't seem to be anything like invoking Demeanours+good roleplay to earn an extra one for just such an emergency?

 

I think if I was doing it, you'd start off at 1 and then you'd get +1 for each 10 Infamy you have? (Not a big difference later on, but that way, if you somehow lost your Infamy to below 10, you'd at least still get 1 InfP?)

 

 

[Xin Ceithan]

  Sums it up nicely, I guess ?! 
 

Good thing Cyrandras picked up those spare clips.. or might just have to get a bit closer in …

[Necronaut]

@Lysimachus so as you progress in BC, your Infamy score and corresponding bonus (points pool) will grow and soon you'll have the things coming out of your ears (and other available orifices). Ukalegon, thanks to his unscheduled near death experience at the hands of the Keeper of Secrets in the previous combat encounter, has had his Infamy knocked down into the single digits in order to survive, which while inconvenient (meaning he has zero Inf Points to use now haha) it just goes to show that no good deed goes unpunished by Chaos. If we succeed in this compact and the former Lamenter survives, I am fairly confident he'll be back up in the world of double-digit Infamy again following his chastening. I would probably do better to not use my character's head as a braking device, as Iscario has said in-game. 

 

As to the Demeanours issue: in Black Crusade we have Failings (your character's Pride and Disgrace -- their Motivation is not included for some reason I cannot fathom, probably an editing error). By leaning into those during play you can argue for bonuses on tests with good RP in the same manner as Demeanours are used in Deathwatch. While they're admittedly not quite as useful as being granted a bonus Fate Point to spend, depending on the RP and how you argue your character is being ruled by his passions rather than by some sense of duty or however you want to spin it, there is a level of variability to the size of the bonus with +10 being the recommended minimum value. This event is called an Incursion (by the dark gods/GM), in the parlance of the game, and the size of the bonus granted is intended to be a consensus decision reached by the GM and the other players sitting around the table (see Black Crusade p. 74). It's not a perfect system but it feels like it's supposed to be a much more grimy, gritty and gothic low fantasy affair when compared with the noble high science-fantasy of Deathwatch.

 

We are beyond the Emperor's light, our prayers answered now only by the laughter of thirsting gods!

 

 

Edited Tuesday at 04:32 PM by Necronaut

[Mazer Rackham]

*Slurps Faustian Tea*

 

If you wish, as a Free Action, one of you Marines can RP a Command Test/Appeal etc to have the remaining Red Corsair fire on a Horde of your choice, but I will promise only a BS roll as per usual, no auto-passes, but any bonuses will be applied. However, as Necro states above, if you RP it well, I will allow the benefit of an Incursion to this last gambit.

 

However, this...deal has a price: +1 Corruption for the Player.

 

The cost for the Corsair, well...

 

Up to you.

 

*Sips*

[Necronaut]

I think it's going to have to be Hagga or Rakash, unfortunately. Ukalegon is functionally a mute for the time being.

Edited Tuesday at 04:31 PM by Necronaut

[Xin Ceithan]

Tempting…  

 

Edit- would Radiant Presence go into account here ( along with RP of course )

Edited Tuesday at 04:28 PM by Xin Ceithan
Sudden inspiration