Rulebook Ruminations: Dark Heresy Edition!

Howdy folks!

It's time for another game to start here at the Wargate, with our first World of Darkness game in the new edition having ended a few days ago. We'll talk more about that later, because today I'll be talking about some rulebooks we'll be using starting this Sunday!

Yes, it's time for Dark Heresy! We've used the basic rulebook before, but this time we'll be using the careers out of the main rulebook instead of stand-ins for space marine career paths. We've got a lot more players and plenty of miniatures, so we're going to be quite ready to throw down some game this weekend. But what books will we be using this go around?

The main Dark Heresy rulebook has a lot going for it, and despite what you might read on various boards around the net I think this is a fantastic volume. I've had mine since release, but I don't 'review' any books until the Wargate has a call to use them. I've already gone over a lot of the characters in other recent posts so I won't populate this post with a lot of that mumbo-jumbo. I'm going to speak for a moment about mechanics, instead.

Anyone familiar with the way Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay, 2nd edition is run will be at home in the game. A few things are different to account for differences between the universes, but after a few rolls you'll be back into the swing of things in no time. Skills, Characteristics, etc. all use the same systems as that game, and advancement is also similar. A little time before the game spending experience and you'll have that down pat too - in many ways advancement is easier than Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay - a lot of the career paths are straight lines in many places, with one or two alternate ranks and the final ranks branching out into two forks, one of which your character will follow.

Combat has a few differences, but these are minutiae dealing with bonuses for autofire, cover and so forth. Mosty the differences are in nomenclature rather than function, so I'm fairly certain everyone will be comfortable with this and we'll be able to teach new players even quicker.

We'll also have the Inquisitor's Handbook on the table! This is a great reference when creating and advancing your character as it contains new Homeworlds, the Adepta Sororitas career, and a horde of alternate ranks. Alternate ranks are like prestige classes. A lot of the material is centered on the Calixis Sector, which is the default setting for the game. However, we'll be in the Mardannon Sector, the area of space the Wargate has been waging war in for the last six years. This means that there may be availability issues with some Alternate Ranks, but we can definitely find the Mardannon equivalent to whatever it is. There will also be special Mardannon Alternate Ranks that may become available to your acolytes during the game.

Most of the Inquisitor's Handbook is chock full of gear, but I have to take a moment to talk about this. It's not going to be open season with this book, like with the Old World Armoury. There are going to be all sorts of restrictions on what you can get. The gear in the Inquisitor's Handbook is divided by planet type, so here's the deal. If you are on that sort of planet, availability is as listed in the book. If you are not on that sort of planet, I'll just tell you right now that's a fat chance. Depending on the gear you are seeking, there might not be an availabilty roll made - that's just how it's gonna be. So suck it up - there's plenty of gear wherever you are, I assure you.

So, Dark Heresy is gonna roll into full swing and not be just a myth. Either of these books are invaluable player aids, and I highly advise anyone interested in such a thing to pick up at least the basic rulebook, which retails for like $50, but can be had for as low as $30 new if you shop around.

So until next weekend, remember this always: The Emperor Protects!