A Knocking Afar

[Trokair]

A Knocking Afar

 

Welcome to the Out of Character and General Discussion thread for the ‘A Knocking Afar’, an Eldar themed Dark Heresy RPG rule based mini adventure. 

 

I have created a series of Eldar Character that are good to go as is or can serves as a template for more customisable characters if you so desire.   

 

Available are:

• Guardian – Can be styles as either Storm Guardians or Guardian Defenders, or as a generalist
• Ranger
• Dire Avenger
• Striking Scorpion
• Howling Banshee
• Fire Dragon
• Dark Reaper
• Swooping Hawk*
• Wrap Spider*
• Warlock*

 

*Please note that these three are a tad more complex to play than the others and I would prefer if they are in the hands of more experience players, that said, if you want to play one of these, even with no experience, then we will make it work.

 

Ideally the player team will consist of a good mix, with only one of each Aspect present. However don’t let that stop you playing what you want; we can always make it work even if everybody want to play the same sort of character. A Team of Scorpions and Banshees might excel in some areas and struggle in others compared to a balanced team.  

 

This game is designed with new players in mind, so if you have no experience with play by post RPGs, or RPGs in general, or Fantasy Flight Game’s series of 40k RPGS or whatever really, and want to give it a go then welcome.  

 

 

The Game

 

Our game will start on the minor Craftworld of Dandrame, which is currently hosting a multi Craftworld cultural exchange festival, with visitors from many of the major Craftworlds, Corsairs, Exodiets, a Harlequin troop is due to put on a show in a few days time and all sort of other Eldar from across the Galaxy.

 

This game will use the Dark Heresy (1^st edition) rule set as a base, with a few modification as needed to make it work with Eldar character, and a few modification to make it easier for everybody. The game itself has a fairly set path, and is intended to be a short game with a fixed goal and tight(ish) pacing.

 

My intention is to start mid to late June /early July (date to be determined) and to have a main game post go up once a week (provisionally Fridays) that moves things along. As such players should ideally be able to commit to one post a week minimum. This can be as little as a placeholder post that just sets out what you want your character to do so that everybody knows, and you can fill it out later once you have time.

 

Obviously we all have lives and will be unavailable form time to time, that’s fine, and if it is going ot be for an extended stretch just let us know so we can work around that.  

 

 

Changes from Dark Hersey Core

 

In sort, several mechanics have been taken out of this to make it easier for new players and less book keeping for myself for this trial game.

 

• Experience – progression in this game will not be via Experience Points, in large part because Eldar dont have any progression trees or lists of EXP spends. Instead at the end of each segment of the game I will offer each player a number of choice from a list of potential upgrades.   
• Critical damage for non players – if you see a skill, ability or whatever that deals with critical damage on non players ignore it
• Ammunition – while counting your remaining ammunition and such can be fun and lead to tension and such in game play for this game you will have all the ammunition you need. The only thing you need to vaguely keep track of is your weapons current clip count, as reloading will take time if it happens to be in the middle of combat. Most weapons either have large ammo count per clip so it is unlikely to come up, or a very low count which should be easy enough to keep track.
  One use items, such as grenades, however do have a strict count and when you are out you are out.
• Cary capacity, weight of items and gear, jumping distance/height, pushing strength etc  are all not applicable as long as no one abuses it. So no you cannot carry an armouries worth of weapons, but equally I am not going to quibble if you are a half kilo over that your character should be able to lift.   

 

 

Customising your Character

 

Once you have selected your character type from the list above and I have given you access to Google doc folder with all the character sheets please have a look at your chosen pre-generated character. If you are happy to play as is then let me know.

 

Otherwise you can make the following customisations:

 

• Character name and home Craftworld, all pre-made characters have a name and are from Dandrame. Your character can be from any Craftworld, and this is a purely narrative choice in how you want to play the Character
• Previous Paths, you can list one previous path that your character has been on. This is again for primarily narrative and character role playing purposes. For example it could be a the first path the character trod and was formative to their nature, or the most recent and there is some residual mentality bleedover, or in the case of an Outcast, perhaps this is the path that made you reject elder society.
  Guardians may instead choose up to three past paths, with the first listed being the characters current civilian path when they are not on duty as Guardian Militia
  The Paths are any job or role you can reasonably picture an Eldar doing in Eldar society, you are not limited to named paths (as most of them are military or adjacent as the source is a war-game after all) and can invent your own.
  I may grant some small bonus, skill, trait or gear to go alongside with any chosen previous path to help along with the narrative/role-play of your choice. These are unlikely to affect the game, but will help you further customise/differentiate from the template.
• Description – free for you toll fill is you wish
• Stats, if you wish you can generate entire new stats, in order to do so set one of your stats to 30, two to 25 and the rest to 20. Then add 2d10 to each. You may reroll one set of 2d10.
• Strands of Fate – if you wish to engage with this we will have a private conversation to work it out.
  Basically you can select something that the seers have foreseen as being a crucial point of the characters fate. This can be as grand as saving the Craftworld or as mundane as baking the perfect soufflé. While this might inform your role-playing of the character and is unlikely to manifest during the game, if it dose it will have profound effects on your character for the rest of the game.
• Equipment option, some of the characters have a ‘or’ choice in their starting equipment, pick one. Additionally any player may present a case of why your character should have any additional equipment, if it seems in character and appropriate you may get it (possibly as a trade or a cost!)

 

 

There is probably other things I need to say at this stage, and I’ll come to it when I remember or you guys point out the massive flaw in what I have said so far and haven’t seen.

 

 

So, who is up for a Eldar Adventure?

[Mazer Rackham]

[Machine God]

@Trokair - No thank you.

 

I liked the Archeotech game. Eldar just don't do it for me, they are the Xenos that I know the least about. 

 

 

 

[Black Cohort]

Currently I think I am most interested in either a Ranger or a Fire Dragon

[Trokair]

2 hours ago, Machine God said:

@Trokair - No thank you.

 

I liked the Archeotech game. Eldar just don't do it for me, they are the Xenos that I know the least about. 

Fair enough, each to their own. 

 

 

1 hour ago, Black Cohort said:

Currently I think I am most interested in either a Ranger or a Fire Dragon

Welcome aboard, plenty of time to make your choice still.

[Trokair]

8 hours ago, Mazer Rackham said:

 

N..N...No..o

Ladies and gentlemen, we have our resident magic pyromaniac.  Keep anything flamable away form Mazer.

 

 

Party members so far:

• Warlock (with Fire Dragon history)
• Ranger/Fire Dragon TBD

Edited May 19 by Trokair

[A.T.]

I don't think i've read any Eldar 40k fiction, aside from a short bit in the old sisters of battle book where a striking scorpion is mocking the crudeness of the Imperiums equipment and fails to notice an immolator driving straight towards him...

 

How would you write a character in the mindset of a space elf. Difficult to think of a good reference point.

[Trokair]

That is a good question, and I don’t have a good answer.

 

Eldar are often described as Arrogant by ‘human’ sources in universe, but I am inclined to think that while they might be a bit, it is mostly a mindset shift and result of a species that lives far longer, has a higher standard of living and isn’t repressed by its own government. The lessons of the Fall was painful for elder society and they have tried to learn the lessons so as to not be doomed to repeat it. That said a certain edge of elitism vs human makes sense as longer lives, better education and so on can lead people to think they are naturally better than others.

 

However, most of what we see in fluff is Eldar interacting with people/society that they consider primitive. I would think that when interacting with each other they are cordial and normal in the way of modern normal human interactions. Yes some individual might dislike each other and argue and so on but as a society things are okish.

 

Perhaps apply a feudal mindset, with Eldar as the ‘aristocracy’. When interacting with other Eldar they are equals. While humans, orks and so on are the ‘peasantry’ that have the be ruled over for their own good/put down for rebellion ... etc  

[Mazer Rackham]

1 hour ago, A.T. said:

How would you write a character in the mindset of a space elf. Difficult to think of a good reference point.

 

It's a good comment. I, personally, will be looking at the Asari from Mass Effect. They don't mean to be condescending, it's just how they are...but not all the time, and they have their own religious practices and rituals.

 

The real problem is going to be the 'inner voice' work without repeating 'And she thought this in a moment, because Eldar are super fast thunkers.' It's going to be placing hooks into the character background to anchor around and find the familiarity with. A lot of Eldar novels I've read are by Gav Thorpe, and they're not bad, but it's essentially Craftworld Hills 40k210 - which reflects a little of what Tro said above.

 

With themselves, Eldar are just...Eldar.

 

I did go into some mad rambings, here - you probably saw.

 

Thoughts?

[Lysimachus]

I think I might give this one a miss, too.

 

I'm just not sure how I'd go about playing an Eldar... the only thing that came to mind was playing as a Corsair, to allow him to be a little more 'free' in his thinking... but I think I'd just end up trying to play one of the Iron Gods? 

 

 

Plus, when Necro has had his turn, I really want a go at Mazer's solo player game! 

 

...I may have already statted a WS+Ravenwing Stormbringers Biker up to start of Rank 6... (Rank 5 was where I could pick up the Assassin Strike Talent, for proper hit-and-run style tactics!)

 

[Evil Eye]

Nice! I'm on board- probably going Striking Scorpion (they are my favourite aspect).

[Trokair]

1 hour ago, Lysimachus said:

I think I might give this one a miss, too.

 

I'm just not sure how I'd go about playing an Eldar... the only thing that came to mind was playing as a Corsair, to allow him to be a little more 'free' in his thinking... but I think I'd just end up trying to play one of the Iron Gods? 

 

While there are no non-craftworld options this time, I think a Corsair might be on the cards for the next game down the line (assuming this one works out as intended).  

 

 

1 hour ago, Lysimachus said:

Plus, when Necro has had his turn, I really want a go at Mazer's solo player game! 

...I may have already statted a WS+Ravenwing Stormbringers Biker up to start of Rank 6... (Rank 5 was where I could pick up the Assassin Strike Talent, for proper hit-and-run style tactics!)

 

:D I think a few of us have been eyeing up some 'intereting' builds to try out for the fun of it. 

 

 

51 minutes ago, Evil Eye said:

Nice! I'm on board- probably going Striking Scorpion (they are my favourite aspect).

 

Welcome aboard, and thus there where three. 

 

 

[Akylas]

Any room for a Dark Reaper?

[Mike Zulu]

@Trokair I would be keen to play the Dire Avenger. Always a solid choice for me in any genre.

 

7 hours ago, Mazer Rackham said:

 

It's a good comment. I, personally, will be looking at the Asari from Mass Effect. They don't mean to be condescending, it's just how they are...but not all the time, and they have their own religious practices and rituals.

 

…

A lot of Eldar novels I've read are by Gav Thorpe, and they're not bad, but it's essentially Craftworld Hills 40k210 - which reflects a little of what Tro said above.

 

I do see some comparison to the Asari. For example, their Maiden/Matron/Matriarch philosophy would give them the same long-term outlook on the galaxy.… The games do skew your perspective via interactions with Asari that are more or less outcasts (Liara: “pureblood”, Samara: mother of 3 Ardat-Yatshi, Aria: “underworld” boss.)

 

I did somewhat like Gav Thorpe’s depiction of Eldar, emphasising the mix of verbal and body language; peace-time vs war-time activities; emotional expression and suppression with the war-mask. I did find the Exarchs’ speaking in haikus a bit tiresome though…

[gideon stargreave]

I won’t be able to play. But do you mind if I share some minis I did for this very idea? It might serve as inspiration 

[Trokair]

5 hours ago, Akylas said:

Any room for a Dark Reaper?

There is indeed, welcome aboard. 

 

4 hours ago, Mike Zulu said:

@Trokair I would be keen to play the Dire Avenger. Always a solid choice for me in any genre.

Great, welcome aboard.

 

4 hours ago, Mike Zulu said:

I did find the Exarchs’ speaking in haikus a bit tiresome though…

No worries there, that particular custom is not practised on Dandrame, mostly because I would suck at writing any dialogue if it was the case. 

 

1 hour ago, gideon stargreave said:

I won’t be able to play. But do you mind if I share some minis I did for this very idea? It might serve as inspiration 

Feel free. :D

[Mazer Rackham]

4 hours ago, Mike Zulu said:

I do see some comparison to the Asari. For example, their Maiden/Matron/Matriarch philosophy would give them the same long-term outlook on the galaxy.… The games do skew your perspective via interactions with Asari that are more or less outcasts (Liara: “pureblood”, Samara: mother of 3 Ardat-Yatshi, Aria: “underworld” boss.)

 

I did somewhat like Gav Thorpe’s depiction of Eldar, emphasising the mix of verbal and body language; peace-time vs war-time activities; emotional expression and suppression with the war-mask. I did find the Exarchs’ speaking in haikus a bit tiresome though…

 

Yes, can't disagree with this.

 

I do know what Thorpe was driving at with his haikus, where the language of the Eldar is as much about performance as it is linguistic speech. Looking at the Halrequin's Masque, for example, the subtle nuance of poise gives the appropriate inflection to the word, and thereby meaning.

 

To my pea-brain, it's similar to the differences in Irish, Scottish Gaelic and Welsh (for example) where there are three different words for something each with appropriate application in context. Whilst that's exceptionally fatiguing to make work in an RPG, because it's almost all show-don't-tell and we need to get across what we're doing quite simply, I think as long as we grasp those concepts as flavour text we should make a good fist of it.

 

Thoughts?

 

PS. Dire Avengers FTW.

 

4 hours ago, Akylas said:

Any room for a Dark Reaper?

 

Welcome to the Nook, Akylas! I have a feeling a long-range death-dealer might come in handy...

 

1 hour ago, gideon stargreave said:

I won’t be able to play. <snip>

 

A shame, but we dig it. Welcome to the Nook, regardless.  I'm sure no-one would object to seeing your work.

 

11 hours ago, Evil Eye said:

Nice! I'm on board- probably going Striking Scorpion (they are my favourite aspect).

 

Yes, and I know why....

 

 

[Machine God]

@A.T. - I think that you meant to post in this thread and not A Time of Reaving IC. 

 

 

 

 

[A.T.]

Yes indeed.

 

Might pitch in for a Warp Spider if I can figure out how to actually frame a character such as a seer seeking escape behind the mask always seeing a web of different outcomes, all true yet contradictory....

[Trokair]

1 hour ago, A.T. said:

Yes indeed.

 

Might pitch in for a Warp Spider if I can figure out how to actually frame a character such as a seer seeking escape behind the mask always seeing a web of different outcomes, all true yet contradictory....

 

The one word of caution regarding a Warp Spider is that the jump generator has a chance of outright killing the character if pushed for extra travel distance.  Just something for you to be aware of. 

 

[Mazer Rackham]

Saoirse is pretty much built, now. I just have to delve into all the pysker stuff and get familiar. 

 

I've got a few days.

 

*Proceeds to get lost in the warp.*

[Trokair]

If you haven't resurfaced by mid June we can send out a search party.

[Trokair]

So Far our team of potential adventurers looks like this:

• Saoirse Firebright – Warlock – Mazer Rakhem
• Ranger/Fire Dragon TBD – Black Cohort
• Striking Scorpion – Evil Eye
• Dark Reaper – Akylas
• Dire Avenger – Mike Zulu
• Ialandranth Veilseeker – Warp Spider – A.T.

 

[Mazer Rackham]

IIRC @Necronaut was looking at a Fire Dragon, too?

[Necronaut]

@Mazer Rackham @Trokair thanks for thinking of me, but I am spread rather thin and will not be able to commit to this.