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seeking aid to develop 40K RPG rules for Genestealer Cult PCs
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<blockquote data-quote="OGIHR" data-source="post: 7171660" data-attributes="member: 6879245"><p>No need to apologize for having those "brevity" skills which I admit that I lack. </p><p></p><p>And you are correct that my interpretation does diverge pretty far from canon; but when canon overlooks the prospect that a super-genius intellect (with a proven talent for creative genetics including retroviral adaptation of indigenous biospheres to meet its nutritional needs) could understand the basic principles of agriculture, I choose to wear that divergence as a badge of pride. </p><p></p><p>The Brethren of The Maw Which Feeds, both those born to it and those "enlightened" by the Kiss of their Patriarch, actively believe in enriching the life-system of their world. Both because their Patriarch wants to provide his Overself with the richest possible harvest, and because his children believe that a richer more vibrant life system is good for everyone living on their world. Benefits in both the short term and long term, as their Patriarch measures such things. And benefits to both the Brethren and their neighbors, as his children measure them.</p><p></p><p>Case in point: Metraxinaar Secundus is a Frontier World, with abundant flora and fauna, and their Patriarch has utilized his inherent ability to analyze the biochemical properties of any biomass he ingests, allowing Kissed chymists and medicaes to develop all sorts of medicinal compounds from the indigenous flora and fauna, both for export to the neighboring Agri-World of Metraxinaar Primus, but also to improve the health of the humans within their world's life-system. </p><p></p><p>But many of those fauna are quite dangerous, which encouraged the human population to accept the policy of allowing "the unsightly" (obvious hybrids and other mutants alike) to live so they can risk getting eaten by a bear while gathering roots and berries, rather than forcing any "proper" humans to risk their's. Which once again benefits both the Cult and their world as a whole, since hybrids with better-than-human speed, strength, and senses are far more likely to survive a bear trying to eat them. Especially if that bear's ancestors were recipients of the Patriarch's Kiss (no specified limitation to human victims), and so the "bear" recognizes the hybrids as its Brethren. </p><p></p><p>So yes, there will be times when the PCs are called upon to do villainous things, like ambushing an enemy who isn't expecting to be classified as an enemy. But there will also be plenty of times where their actions are benevolent in both intention and result. Eventually, if the game lasts long enough, the Hive Fleet will come, to liberate the people of Metraxinaar Secundus from the cycle of constant wars on multiple fronts demanding new regiments of troops tithed for Imperial service every few years. And to reward the Brethren's generations of loyal service by making them immortal. In a fashion. </p><p></p><p>They won't be heroes, because they're too willing to kill innocent bystanders. But they're not villains either, because they feel a moral obligation to enrich their world as a whole, and thus do far more charity benefiting the least-fortunate than their world's Imperial-loyalist government would ever be comfortable with.</p><p></p><p>I should also point out that despite using Only War as the rules base, the characters themselves won't be affiliated with the Imperial Guard at all, instead being employees of the Field Security division of the Safety Directorate of Metraxinaar Outland Infrastructure Limited, the Cult's primary business front. MOI Ltd is a construction company that specializes in fortified roadways through and secure compounds deep in the wilderness, where the various subsidiaries handle the "medicinal resource processing" business that bankroll the Cult's operations, while the parent-company is less overtly profitable due to the expense of secretly training and equipping a paramilitary force to protect the Cult's interests. </p><p></p><p>The Maw Which Feeds has always steered clear of infesting the planetary government or garrison, in part due to the ease of secrecy in the outlands, and in part due to their Patriarch's self-loathing for the parts of his own psyche which were engineered to understand and tear down the Orkish society native to the world of his spawning (before the IG's retreat in the face of an Exterminatus order brought him to Metraxinaar Secundus). </p><p></p><p>The Patriarch despises bombast to such a degree that he never speaks using his own voice. Instead, he uses his brood-telepathy to place truths directly into the minds of his children, and using them as mouthpieces in those rare occasions when he has words for outsiders to hear. He is the Silent Conductor, and none of his children wear the uniforms of the Imperial Guard. </p><p></p><p>------------------------------</p><p></p><p>In terms of the rules for this game of mine, I've mostly been looking at the Aptitudes, which are the permission-traits used to determine how expensive a given gameplay-trait is to buy with a given character's XP. There's one Aptitude directly associated with each of the nine basic stats (WS, BS, Strength, Toughness, Agility, Intelligence, Perception, Willpower, and Fellowship), then nine for broad areas of skill which aren't strictly tied to a specific stat (Offense, Finesse, Defense, Psyker, Tech, Knowledge, Leadership, Fieldcraft, and Social), plus a General Aptitude that everybody gets. Each possible XP-purchase item gets linked to one of the first set of nine (or is declared General), and one of the second set (or is declared General there). If you have zero, one, or two of the relevant Aptitudes, that determines how much if any discount you get on the XP costs. </p><p></p><p>We should all know by this point that Genestealer Hybrids come in four generations from initial infection to the rise of the Magus. From least-human/most-bestial to most-human/most-sociable, before the fifth generation produces Purestrain Genestealers and the Hive Fleet sets it's course for the planet in question. And I want all four hybrid generations to be available for PCs (but not the Purestrains, because they're just a little too inhuman, both in mentality and in their lack of proper thumbs / vocal cords), with the choice of generation having an impact on the character's stats (both up front and over time).</p><p></p><p>Starting stat value adjustments by generation can easily be adapted from the existing rules for Ogryns/Ratlings in Only War and Eldar/Kroot/Orks/Tau in Rogue Trader, but I'd like the Aptitudes mechanic involved as well. I figure that all generations of Genestealer Hybrids should have Aptitudes for Perception and Agility, because Genestealers are designed for superhuman senses and reflexes. Well, not so much the reflexes with the Aberrants, but it holds otherwise. </p><p></p><p>The first generation of Hybrids are the most bestial / least able to pass for human, so I figure they'd get the player's choice of either Strength or Offense (for their bestial ferocity). The second generation grows more cunning, so they'd have the choice of Weapon Skill or Fieldcraft (to better thrive in hazardous conditions). The third generation grows more human, and would have the choice of Intelligence or Fieldcraft. While the fourth generation is the most able to pass unnoticed within human enclaves, giving them a choice of Fellowship or Knowledge. </p><p></p><p>This way, all Genestealer Hybrids will be both uniformly genestealer-ish and diversely talented in other areas based on the combination of generation and character class. I will need to retool the character classes a bit to account for each PC already having 3 Aptitudes before the class is applied (since each class in the Only War corebook gives out 7-9 Aptitudes), but that shouldn't be difficult. </p><p></p><p>The Only War core rulebook includes 5 classes for normal Guardsmen (Sergeant, Medic, Heavy Gunner, tech/vehicle Operator, and the Weapon Specialist for a vanilla soldier who's good with his chosen variety of rifle) and 7 classes for Support Specialists (Commissar and Storm Trooper for those allowed to attend a proper military academy, Ministorum Priest and Tech-Priest Enginseer for those educated by a sanctioned branch of the state religion, and the Ogryn, Ratling, and Sanctioned Psyker for those with variant genetic makeups). All of the Guardsman classes are appropriate for 3rd-4th generation Neophyte PCs, and the Sergeant is appropriate for 1st-2nd generation Acolytes with minimal retooling. But the Weapon Specialist and Heavy Gunner require significant retooling to fit the melee focus for an Acolyte, while their inhuman hands would prevent them from mastering the skills of the Medic or Operator. And none of the Support Specialist classes fit the Genestealer Cult without heavy retooling to bring the feel of the alien to them.</p><p></p><p>Since the Support Specialist classes get half the up-front discretionary XP budget of a Guardsman class (in exchange for beginning the game with capabilities that no Guardsman could ever buy with XP), they should be reserved for truly off-the-wall talents that preclude filling any normal role in the unit. Translating the Sanctioned Psyker over to the Magus and the Ogryn over to the Aberrant (in the unlikely event that someone wants to play as an Aberrant) should be pretty easy. But mapping the Primus, Acolyte Iconward, and Metamorph promise to be much trickier. And I'm still figuring out how to do it. </p><p></p><p>So, anyone. Questions? Comments? Lynch mobs?</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="OGIHR, post: 7171660, member: 6879245"] No need to apologize for having those "brevity" skills which I admit that I lack. And you are correct that my interpretation does diverge pretty far from canon; but when canon overlooks the prospect that a super-genius intellect (with a proven talent for creative genetics including retroviral adaptation of indigenous biospheres to meet its nutritional needs) could understand the basic principles of agriculture, I choose to wear that divergence as a badge of pride. The Brethren of The Maw Which Feeds, both those born to it and those "enlightened" by the Kiss of their Patriarch, actively believe in enriching the life-system of their world. Both because their Patriarch wants to provide his Overself with the richest possible harvest, and because his children believe that a richer more vibrant life system is good for everyone living on their world. Benefits in both the short term and long term, as their Patriarch measures such things. And benefits to both the Brethren and their neighbors, as his children measure them. Case in point: Metraxinaar Secundus is a Frontier World, with abundant flora and fauna, and their Patriarch has utilized his inherent ability to analyze the biochemical properties of any biomass he ingests, allowing Kissed chymists and medicaes to develop all sorts of medicinal compounds from the indigenous flora and fauna, both for export to the neighboring Agri-World of Metraxinaar Primus, but also to improve the health of the humans within their world's life-system. But many of those fauna are quite dangerous, which encouraged the human population to accept the policy of allowing "the unsightly" (obvious hybrids and other mutants alike) to live so they can risk getting eaten by a bear while gathering roots and berries, rather than forcing any "proper" humans to risk their's. Which once again benefits both the Cult and their world as a whole, since hybrids with better-than-human speed, strength, and senses are far more likely to survive a bear trying to eat them. Especially if that bear's ancestors were recipients of the Patriarch's Kiss (no specified limitation to human victims), and so the "bear" recognizes the hybrids as its Brethren. So yes, there will be times when the PCs are called upon to do villainous things, like ambushing an enemy who isn't expecting to be classified as an enemy. But there will also be plenty of times where their actions are benevolent in both intention and result. Eventually, if the game lasts long enough, the Hive Fleet will come, to liberate the people of Metraxinaar Secundus from the cycle of constant wars on multiple fronts demanding new regiments of troops tithed for Imperial service every few years. And to reward the Brethren's generations of loyal service by making them immortal. In a fashion. They won't be heroes, because they're too willing to kill innocent bystanders. But they're not villains either, because they feel a moral obligation to enrich their world as a whole, and thus do far more charity benefiting the least-fortunate than their world's Imperial-loyalist government would ever be comfortable with. I should also point out that despite using Only War as the rules base, the characters themselves won't be affiliated with the Imperial Guard at all, instead being employees of the Field Security division of the Safety Directorate of Metraxinaar Outland Infrastructure Limited, the Cult's primary business front. MOI Ltd is a construction company that specializes in fortified roadways through and secure compounds deep in the wilderness, where the various subsidiaries handle the "medicinal resource processing" business that bankroll the Cult's operations, while the parent-company is less overtly profitable due to the expense of secretly training and equipping a paramilitary force to protect the Cult's interests. The Maw Which Feeds has always steered clear of infesting the planetary government or garrison, in part due to the ease of secrecy in the outlands, and in part due to their Patriarch's self-loathing for the parts of his own psyche which were engineered to understand and tear down the Orkish society native to the world of his spawning (before the IG's retreat in the face of an Exterminatus order brought him to Metraxinaar Secundus). The Patriarch despises bombast to such a degree that he never speaks using his own voice. Instead, he uses his brood-telepathy to place truths directly into the minds of his children, and using them as mouthpieces in those rare occasions when he has words for outsiders to hear. He is the Silent Conductor, and none of his children wear the uniforms of the Imperial Guard. ------------------------------ In terms of the rules for this game of mine, I've mostly been looking at the Aptitudes, which are the permission-traits used to determine how expensive a given gameplay-trait is to buy with a given character's XP. There's one Aptitude directly associated with each of the nine basic stats (WS, BS, Strength, Toughness, Agility, Intelligence, Perception, Willpower, and Fellowship), then nine for broad areas of skill which aren't strictly tied to a specific stat (Offense, Finesse, Defense, Psyker, Tech, Knowledge, Leadership, Fieldcraft, and Social), plus a General Aptitude that everybody gets. Each possible XP-purchase item gets linked to one of the first set of nine (or is declared General), and one of the second set (or is declared General there). If you have zero, one, or two of the relevant Aptitudes, that determines how much if any discount you get on the XP costs. We should all know by this point that Genestealer Hybrids come in four generations from initial infection to the rise of the Magus. From least-human/most-bestial to most-human/most-sociable, before the fifth generation produces Purestrain Genestealers and the Hive Fleet sets it's course for the planet in question. And I want all four hybrid generations to be available for PCs (but not the Purestrains, because they're just a little too inhuman, both in mentality and in their lack of proper thumbs / vocal cords), with the choice of generation having an impact on the character's stats (both up front and over time). Starting stat value adjustments by generation can easily be adapted from the existing rules for Ogryns/Ratlings in Only War and Eldar/Kroot/Orks/Tau in Rogue Trader, but I'd like the Aptitudes mechanic involved as well. I figure that all generations of Genestealer Hybrids should have Aptitudes for Perception and Agility, because Genestealers are designed for superhuman senses and reflexes. Well, not so much the reflexes with the Aberrants, but it holds otherwise. The first generation of Hybrids are the most bestial / least able to pass for human, so I figure they'd get the player's choice of either Strength or Offense (for their bestial ferocity). The second generation grows more cunning, so they'd have the choice of Weapon Skill or Fieldcraft (to better thrive in hazardous conditions). The third generation grows more human, and would have the choice of Intelligence or Fieldcraft. While the fourth generation is the most able to pass unnoticed within human enclaves, giving them a choice of Fellowship or Knowledge. This way, all Genestealer Hybrids will be both uniformly genestealer-ish and diversely talented in other areas based on the combination of generation and character class. I will need to retool the character classes a bit to account for each PC already having 3 Aptitudes before the class is applied (since each class in the Only War corebook gives out 7-9 Aptitudes), but that shouldn't be difficult. The Only War core rulebook includes 5 classes for normal Guardsmen (Sergeant, Medic, Heavy Gunner, tech/vehicle Operator, and the Weapon Specialist for a vanilla soldier who's good with his chosen variety of rifle) and 7 classes for Support Specialists (Commissar and Storm Trooper for those allowed to attend a proper military academy, Ministorum Priest and Tech-Priest Enginseer for those educated by a sanctioned branch of the state religion, and the Ogryn, Ratling, and Sanctioned Psyker for those with variant genetic makeups). All of the Guardsman classes are appropriate for 3rd-4th generation Neophyte PCs, and the Sergeant is appropriate for 1st-2nd generation Acolytes with minimal retooling. But the Weapon Specialist and Heavy Gunner require significant retooling to fit the melee focus for an Acolyte, while their inhuman hands would prevent them from mastering the skills of the Medic or Operator. And none of the Support Specialist classes fit the Genestealer Cult without heavy retooling to bring the feel of the alien to them. Since the Support Specialist classes get half the up-front discretionary XP budget of a Guardsman class (in exchange for beginning the game with capabilities that no Guardsman could ever buy with XP), they should be reserved for truly off-the-wall talents that preclude filling any normal role in the unit. Translating the Sanctioned Psyker over to the Magus and the Ogryn over to the Aberrant (in the unlikely event that someone wants to play as an Aberrant) should be pretty easy. But mapping the Primus, Acolyte Iconward, and Metamorph promise to be much trickier. And I'm still figuring out how to do it. So, anyone. Questions? Comments? Lynch mobs? [/QUOTE]
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