- Pronouns
- He/Him
It's still more than most people did!
WARHAMMER 40,000: ROGUE TRADER: THE CITADEL OF SKULLS (Roleplaying on the Farthest Frontiers)
- Thread starter DragonCobolt
- Start date
- Mature Sci-Fi Fantasy
It's still more than most people did!
- Location
- USA
[x] Give him his last rites
Fayhem
Definitely not an escaped SCP
- Location
- At large
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Yeah, especially when bae is decked out in full power armor.
Ryia is so fucking good at this psyker shit, I stg.
DC, can you explain something for me? I don't understand how our damage bonus got so high for wielding Aria. With Unnatural Strength x2 our SB gets us to +12, then +20 Strength from the Power Armor gets us to +14 and then a Psy Rating of 3 (I'm assuming? I don't see the Psychic Awakening talent on our charsheet but it's theoretically supposed to come automatically with the Awakened Psyker crossclass dealy) gives us another +3, taking us to +17 total. Although I see that our Pen is only 2 with Aria, so do we actually just have a Psy Rating of 2? If so then that would be +16 damage instead.
But I have no idea how we're getting all the way up to +55 from there. Where's the other +40 coming from? Is the +20 Strength from wearing Power Armor getting factored into Unnatural Strength? IMO it would make sense for it not to be, since that's external to Tine's body, but even if it is that just takes us to +16 from SB for a total of +19 instead of +17. So there's still quite the gulf there.
Anyway, our sister is begging us, we're Tine, and our faith-based abilities are explicitly predicated on our faith in our family rather than E-Money per the QM, so:
[X] Burn a fate point, work a miracle!
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Well, it's cause witchblades triple your damage.
I shit you not.
I shit you not.
[X] Burn a fate point, work a miracle!
Can we all appreciate for a moment just how hilariously overpowered Tine is? And then appreciate her power armour?
And let's face it, Tine isn't a Psyker at all. She's one of the Emperor's chosen. A Living Saint, blessed with a small measure of his divine radiance. "What this old sword? No it's definitely not of xenos make..."
Also, is Quote of the Day still a thing? Because this is definitely my quote of the day.
Can we all appreciate for a moment just how hilariously overpowered Tine is? And then appreciate her power armour?
And let's face it, Tine isn't a Psyker at all. She's one of the Emperor's chosen. A Living Saint, blessed with a small measure of his divine radiance. "What this old sword? No it's definitely not of xenos make..."
Also, is Quote of the Day still a thing? Because this is definitely my quote of the day.
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Fayhem
Definitely not an escaped SCP
- Location
- At large
- Pronouns
- He/Him
They do what. I'm sorry, I literally have to see this for myself, I'm grabbing the book.
...Huh. Okay, three things. One, the Witch-Edge weapon quality doubles your SB bonus to damage, it does not triple your damage overall. Two, you have to have the Secrets of the Seers talent (obtained by being initiated in the Path of the Seer) to use the quality, otherwise it's defunct and it's just a normal-ass weapon. Since AFAIK Aria is an Eldar Seer's soul (or the soul of a precursor to an Eldar Seer, same difference for these purposes) embedded in a witchblade and seems quite friendly towards Tine, I can see her activating the quality on Tine's behalf though. Three, the Witch-Edge quality is actually different from being a Force weapon in a rules sense so we wouldn't be adding Psy Rating to damage, though it does specify it still applies to Pen if the Witch-Edge quality is active. Which is fine, this is still an absolute win.
So, since witchblades have a base damage of 1d10+5 R (not E, due to not technically being a Force weapon), Tine's SB of +14 (if the Power Armor bonus is not getting multiplied by Unnatural Strength) or +18 (if it is getting multiplied, I maffed wrong on that before) would take that to 5 + 28 = 31 or 5 + 36 = 41. I personally feel like the Power Armor bonus not getting multiplied by Unnatural Strength makes the most sense, so that would give us a total damage for Aria of 1d10+31 R, Pen 3. Still awesome, but not quite what's on the character sheet.
Of course, I'm not the QM so it's totally fine to ignore all of that. But Tine still seems plenty murderblendery to me with """just""" that amount of damage.
As a postscript, DC can you please please please confirm if Tine has the Psychic Awakening talent and a Psy Rating of 3 or not. This is driving me crazy at this point. It would make sense to me if she does, because the timeline there would be Tine gets born a psyker with the Wyrdling mutation but isn't consciously aware of it - > Tine gets thrown off a pyramid because Ryia has Family Issues and experiences a Psychic Awakening and a consequent small boost in psychic power from being consciously attuned to it now. It's fine if she doesn't too, she's certainly powerful enough without it, I'm just saying is all.
Alectai
Speaks Words of Wisdom... On occasion
Can we all appreciate for a moment just how hilariously overpowered Tine is? And then appreciate her power armour?
And let's face it, Tine isn't a Psyker at all. She's one of the Emperor's chosen. A Living Saint, blessed with a small measure of his divine radiance. "What this old sword? No it's definitely not of xenos make..."
It's more that FFG 40K RP breaks down hilariously at high levels and turns into comedy bowls like this. But that's fine, it's funnier that way.
I'm still curious as to the logistics as to going from power armor to lewds though and how those challenges can be met. I don't normally care about lewds but I would make an exception here! For science!
- Pronouns
- He/Him
See!?
So, 40+20 = 60, 6x2 = 12, 12x3 = 36!
This still doesn't equal 55, but...it has +5, so that's 41, +2 for 43!
Also, I accidentally mathed out your strength as 80??? 8 x 2 = 16x3 = 48+5 = 53, +2 for psi-rating is 55, THAT'S HOW WE GOT IT!
Fayhem
Definitely not an escaped SCP
- Location
- At large
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Wait, what the heck? Where is that screenshot from? I'm looking in the Eldar Psychic Wargear section of The Navis Primer on my end, and that's definitely not in there and that's not what the stuff that is there says. Is that screenshot from a Dark Heresy sourcebook or something?
F0lkL0re
Officially not an Inquisitor
- Location
- Shetland
I think that may be from Lure of the Expanse.
Fayhem
Definitely not an escaped SCP
- Location
- At large
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Oh, that would make sense for why I haven't seen it if so. I've been avoiding the plot books, though DC did already finish running that one a while ago so technically I'd be safe to check it out now.
- Pronouns
- He/Him
To be fair, this is a special witchblade, it has a Farseer in it!
Fayhem
Definitely not an escaped SCP
- Location
- At large
- Pronouns
- He/Him
True. Of course, at least per the rules given in either location (Navis Primer or Lure of the Expanse), that would also be the only way Tine could make use of its special qualities at all.
Anyway, Tine's gonna be hella stronk either way so I'm not too fussed about it.
Although. DC. Can you PLEASE just confirm if Tine has Psychic Awakening and a Psy Rating of 3 or not? Just a simple yes/no would be fine, I won't push you for an explanation or argue about it or whatever if that's what you're worried about. I just. Would really like to know for sure either way, y'know?
- Pronouns
- He/Him
I think no!
Like, she's got a niche (super stronk) and the psy stuff was thrown in because she's ryia's sister, not because it's her thing.
Like, I wouldn't give Ryia or Tine super good command abilities!
CHAPTER FIVE: The Vault of Secrets (1.3)
- Pronouns
- He/Him
You pull the medicae kit you had taken off Dr. Ventris' deck and hastily put the medi-scryer next to him. But it is clear that it is too late. His heartbeat is thready and reedy and desperate, and his skin is turning gray because the cells in his outer epidermis are self destructing, as if their age had been rapidly increased. It was comparable to a late stage exposure to the outer currents of a vortex bomb with insufficient cover: Temporal eddies were tearing the very fabric of his being apart from the inside out. You could practically see the bursts of microscopic radiation that was fizzling out around his pores. And none of this had anything on his humors: The black bile was ascendant, triumphant even, as if his own body was gloating about his imminent death.
"Fuck this," you hiss, grabbing a stim. You inject it into his neck and some color returns to his cheeks. His eyes focus and he croaks.
"Rack...you're back, Rack?" he blinks. "What did I do wrong?"
Ryia whimpers. "N-Nothing, nothing, you didn't do anything wrong, Sly, oh Emperor, oh God Emperor..."
"What did I do wrong, I'm sorry..." he mumbles as you hold up the medi-scryer, your heart clenching. The black bile is getting worse, not better. Ryia starts to weep silently, squeezing his hand tenderly in her power armor's gauntlets, and you set your jaw.
"This man is not dying. Not now. Not after this! Not ever!" You reach back - not with your armored arms, but by squirming inside of your suit. The back piece whirrs, clunks, and then the entire top of the armor unfolds like a flower as you trigger the egress ritual. You swing yourself free and drop down beside the dying man, while the medi-scryer begins to blare that his heart has stopped beating - overwhelmed by bile and dissolving under the slurry of his own decaying organs. You place you palms upon his chest and glare down at his slack face, snarling. "Captain Jentan Hieronymus Slyvanta, I am the Lady-" you push your hands against his chest, trying to pump his heart, to get it to move, to push the bile to his extremities, and away from his fragile core. HIs flesh feels so thin against your hand. "-Aramanthine Vendigroth Scourge, of the House Scourge. I have fought through fleets and armies to save you for my sister, and I refuse to allow you to die on my watch!"
You grit your teeth as his eyes narrow up at you - and...
A presence fills you.
You've never felt anything like it before.
It is...
Deep.
And resounding.
Like a...
Like you have become a well, and the well is full of life. And love. And compassion. And pain. You can feel the echo of that pain, but it is deep and abiding and seemingly eternal. Tears blur your eyes and chokes your throat. You gasp and tremble and try to fight against it, for a moment.
Now now, Dear One. You asked, after all?
You don't...
You can't...
You can't begin to give name to that voice. Not booming and bellicose, not commanding and belligerent. Not arrogant. Not preening. Just the voice of a simple, quiet father. You can feel heavily creased, gnarled hands - hands worn by work, calloused by struggle seamed with scars - pressing against your palms. But through those hands, through that sacred pain, you can feel the longing to simply hold a piece of living wood and carve a wooden pet for a wry looking youth that towers over you. But not Him. Never Him.
There...
Tears stream down your cheeks as Em and Ryia gape at you - their bodies lit by golden radiance, shining from behind you. Your palms tingle and you feel the flesh under your hands grow firm and strong. The others who had been cut free from the Beacon are crawling closer, their eyes shining with the reflected glory. Even the dying ones. Except...
They're not.
Not anymore.
There, Dear One. Now, dry your eyes. You have work yet to do.
And the love, the compassion, the pain...all of it is gone. You sag and collapse back against your armor, trembling, as you lift your hands. You whimper, then cry out. "A...Ah! I felt Him, Em, I felt Him!"
"Tine, Tine, lay back!" Em says, his voice desperate, and his hands are going to your chemise. You almost have no idea why as you lay back - but the pain is back, throbbing along your chest, and then when Em opens your top, you see why: Your practical bra is soaked with blood. Your chest, your belly, is flowing with bright red and stinging pain flares across your whole body. Em, the dear, is panicking. "It's okay, it's okay," you whisper, trying to calm him, but that's not helping at all. Ryia, who is still cradling Sly - who is looking like death warmed over despite the miracle - calls out.
"What the fuck just happened?"
Em, despite your words, wipes away the blood, revealing you have a set of six scars - three of them reaching from your shoulder, across your chest, down to your belly. The other are swiped lengthwise along your belly. They're bright red and throbbing, the blood having stopped and the healing already beginning. It's as if claws had raked you, but only wounded the skin - and miraculously, your false-skin is showing the absolutely mundane scarring that a flesh and blood human would. Em picks up a bandage and begins to wrap you. You put your hand on his hand, midway through the binding.
"It's okay, Em!" you say, beaming at him. "It's His wounds!"
Em realizes it in a flash. He jerks back as if you've become white hot, then makes the sign of the Aquilla on his chest.
You have the same scars as He on Earth. The same mark left by the Claws of Horus - a shadow, a...
A stigmata.
You have a stigmata!
A blaring, wailing siren fills the air. The PA crackles. "ALL HANDS! TO GENERATORIA ROOM ALPHARIUS! NOW! NOW! NOW! NOW!"
You grin, then stand up. The pain is bearable. More than that, actually, it's invigorating.
"They felt that," you say, sliding into your armor as Em turns to Ryia.
"Ryia, take out the other-" her crossbow is in her hand before he has hit 'out' and fires on the 'other.' The explosion of the bolt shell in the plasma generatoria drowns out the rest of the sentence and smoke and flames belch along the ceiling. The whole room shakes and the freed prisoners gape.
"What...the fuck is going on?" Captain Sly asks, his voice clear, focused now. "Rack, what...where are...what are you doing in power armor?"
"Long story, old man!" Ryia says, standing up.
Your vox crackles as your helmet slams down. You can hear the drumming, the thundering of footsteps. It's as if the entire Citadel has been roused and coming. Coming for you. For a single spark of glory, that makes them all remember how far they have fallen. Jessie's voice comes in clearly, over that drumming sound. "Away Team! We read you, the teleportation jammer is down and the void shields are out! What are your orders?"
---
What are your orders?
[ ] Beam the Beacon survivors out and make for the Vault and hope the teleporter is back online by the time you get there.
[ ] Take the survivors to the Vault and beam out there once you have secured it
[ ] Shell the fort and deploy the 101st to cover your approach to the Vault and exfiltrate the survivors.
[ ] Write In
"Fuck this," you hiss, grabbing a stim. You inject it into his neck and some color returns to his cheeks. His eyes focus and he croaks.
"Rack...you're back, Rack?" he blinks. "What did I do wrong?"
Ryia whimpers. "N-Nothing, nothing, you didn't do anything wrong, Sly, oh Emperor, oh God Emperor..."
"What did I do wrong, I'm sorry..." he mumbles as you hold up the medi-scryer, your heart clenching. The black bile is getting worse, not better. Ryia starts to weep silently, squeezing his hand tenderly in her power armor's gauntlets, and you set your jaw.
"This man is not dying. Not now. Not after this! Not ever!" You reach back - not with your armored arms, but by squirming inside of your suit. The back piece whirrs, clunks, and then the entire top of the armor unfolds like a flower as you trigger the egress ritual. You swing yourself free and drop down beside the dying man, while the medi-scryer begins to blare that his heart has stopped beating - overwhelmed by bile and dissolving under the slurry of his own decaying organs. You place you palms upon his chest and glare down at his slack face, snarling. "Captain Jentan Hieronymus Slyvanta, I am the Lady-" you push your hands against his chest, trying to pump his heart, to get it to move, to push the bile to his extremities, and away from his fragile core. HIs flesh feels so thin against your hand. "-Aramanthine Vendigroth Scourge, of the House Scourge. I have fought through fleets and armies to save you for my sister, and I refuse to allow you to die on my watch!"
You grit your teeth as his eyes narrow up at you - and...
A presence fills you.
You've never felt anything like it before.
It is...
Deep.
And resounding.
Like a...
Like you have become a well, and the well is full of life. And love. And compassion. And pain. You can feel the echo of that pain, but it is deep and abiding and seemingly eternal. Tears blur your eyes and chokes your throat. You gasp and tremble and try to fight against it, for a moment.
Now now, Dear One. You asked, after all?
You don't...
You can't...
You can't begin to give name to that voice. Not booming and bellicose, not commanding and belligerent. Not arrogant. Not preening. Just the voice of a simple, quiet father. You can feel heavily creased, gnarled hands - hands worn by work, calloused by struggle seamed with scars - pressing against your palms. But through those hands, through that sacred pain, you can feel the longing to simply hold a piece of living wood and carve a wooden pet for a wry looking youth that towers over you. But not Him. Never Him.
There...
Tears stream down your cheeks as Em and Ryia gape at you - their bodies lit by golden radiance, shining from behind you. Your palms tingle and you feel the flesh under your hands grow firm and strong. The others who had been cut free from the Beacon are crawling closer, their eyes shining with the reflected glory. Even the dying ones. Except...
They're not.
Not anymore.
There, Dear One. Now, dry your eyes. You have work yet to do.
And the love, the compassion, the pain...all of it is gone. You sag and collapse back against your armor, trembling, as you lift your hands. You whimper, then cry out. "A...Ah! I felt Him, Em, I felt Him!"
"Tine, Tine, lay back!" Em says, his voice desperate, and his hands are going to your chemise. You almost have no idea why as you lay back - but the pain is back, throbbing along your chest, and then when Em opens your top, you see why: Your practical bra is soaked with blood. Your chest, your belly, is flowing with bright red and stinging pain flares across your whole body. Em, the dear, is panicking. "It's okay, it's okay," you whisper, trying to calm him, but that's not helping at all. Ryia, who is still cradling Sly - who is looking like death warmed over despite the miracle - calls out.
"What the fuck just happened?"
Em, despite your words, wipes away the blood, revealing you have a set of six scars - three of them reaching from your shoulder, across your chest, down to your belly. The other are swiped lengthwise along your belly. They're bright red and throbbing, the blood having stopped and the healing already beginning. It's as if claws had raked you, but only wounded the skin - and miraculously, your false-skin is showing the absolutely mundane scarring that a flesh and blood human would. Em picks up a bandage and begins to wrap you. You put your hand on his hand, midway through the binding.
"It's okay, Em!" you say, beaming at him. "It's His wounds!"
Em realizes it in a flash. He jerks back as if you've become white hot, then makes the sign of the Aquilla on his chest.
You have the same scars as He on Earth. The same mark left by the Claws of Horus - a shadow, a...
A stigmata.
You have a stigmata!
A blaring, wailing siren fills the air. The PA crackles. "ALL HANDS! TO GENERATORIA ROOM ALPHARIUS! NOW! NOW! NOW! NOW!"
You grin, then stand up. The pain is bearable. More than that, actually, it's invigorating.
"They felt that," you say, sliding into your armor as Em turns to Ryia.
"Ryia, take out the other-" her crossbow is in her hand before he has hit 'out' and fires on the 'other.' The explosion of the bolt shell in the plasma generatoria drowns out the rest of the sentence and smoke and flames belch along the ceiling. The whole room shakes and the freed prisoners gape.
"What...the fuck is going on?" Captain Sly asks, his voice clear, focused now. "Rack, what...where are...what are you doing in power armor?"
"Long story, old man!" Ryia says, standing up.
Your vox crackles as your helmet slams down. You can hear the drumming, the thundering of footsteps. It's as if the entire Citadel has been roused and coming. Coming for you. For a single spark of glory, that makes them all remember how far they have fallen. Jessie's voice comes in clearly, over that drumming sound. "Away Team! We read you, the teleportation jammer is down and the void shields are out! What are your orders?"
---
What are your orders?
[ ] Beam the Beacon survivors out and make for the Vault and hope the teleporter is back online by the time you get there.
[ ] Take the survivors to the Vault and beam out there once you have secured it
[ ] Shell the fort and deploy the 101st to cover your approach to the Vault and exfiltrate the survivors.
[ ] Write In
- Pronouns
- He/Him
[X] Beam the Beacon survivors out and make for the Vault and hope the teleporter is back online by the time you get there.
Taking the survivors with us to the vault is a no-go, I do not want to try to keep them alive while advancing through the fort. So it's either this or shelling and large scale advance.
I forget, did we take out the Void shields and scramblers yet?
Taking the survivors with us to the vault is a no-go, I do not want to try to keep them alive while advancing through the fort. So it's either this or shelling and large scale advance.
I forget, did we take out the Void shields and scramblers yet?
- Pronouns
- He/Him
YOu took out the generatoria, which is the same thing!
Happerry
Bat out of Hell
- Location
- Kanto
[X] Beam the Beacon survivors out and make for the Vault and hope the teleporter is back online by the time you get there.
Yeah, those survivors need to be sent to medical, not be put into a gunchase, and if it comes down to it we can probably hold the vault for a bit if the teleporters are still recharging.
Yeah, those survivors need to be sent to medical, not be put into a gunchase, and if it comes down to it we can probably hold the vault for a bit if the teleporters are still recharging.
[X] Beam the Beacon survivors out and make for the Vault and hope the teleporter is back online by the time you get there.
Fayhem
Definitely not an escaped SCP
- Location
- At large
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Fair enough! Ty for the answer.
Not... ever? Are we, uh. Going to accidentally an immortal right here.
Fucking chills tbh.
I literally had to quote this entire section. It was a physical necessity. Holy shit, man. This is a beautiful piece of writing. I love this so much.
Hm. Can Phi send some people/things in both directions? I'm not sure what the limits are on the teleportarium in that regard. Basically I'm asking because I want to know if this is a viable write-in:
[X] Write In: Beam the Beacon survivors out, beam the murder servitors and the First down, and make for the Vault and hope the teleporter is back online by the time you get there. Tell the First to carry extra reloads, just in case.
-[X] Make ready to leave a vortex shell behind when we beam the Vault (and us) out of here.
I dunno if that would make running this fight too complicated, though. Maybe the murder servitors would split off to raise havoc somewhere else or conduct spoiling attacks or something? I just think it would be fun to have the First here for this, mainly. I mean, would Xoti ever forgive us if we left them out of a fight like this?
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Here's my fandom explain for why you can use a teleporter super easily every round of Space Combat.
Teleportariums are finnicky beasts and guiding the warp-channel that brings people in and out of points requires you to have something really big and energetic to lock in on. A starship has the mainsail, their rigging, their weapons, void shields, and auspex systems, all screaming to high heaven, creating a big, easy, obvious target to lock onto, without any confusing alternative locations. Think of it like...a lightning rod. The teleportarium is less drawn towards landing people in vacuum, so it is automatically drawn towards this tiny chunk of metal.
Meanwhile, take the Citadel of Skulls. It's a lot darker - even with generatoria, the waste heat is being dumped into the planet - and it is surrounded by potential sites for the teleportarium to drop people on. So, yeah, you can trigger it every 30 minutes, but it's really hard to guide that drop into the actual Citadel - they'd instead pop down on this huge 10,000 kilometer sphere of possible landing sites (which basically means everywhere across the moon.)
Hence why you need a beacon - which would get yanked up with the peeps you teleport up.
So, those are the two restrictions: Targeting and time (it's always a 30 minute recharge)
Teleportariums are finnicky beasts and guiding the warp-channel that brings people in and out of points requires you to have something really big and energetic to lock in on. A starship has the mainsail, their rigging, their weapons, void shields, and auspex systems, all screaming to high heaven, creating a big, easy, obvious target to lock onto, without any confusing alternative locations. Think of it like...a lightning rod. The teleportarium is less drawn towards landing people in vacuum, so it is automatically drawn towards this tiny chunk of metal.
Meanwhile, take the Citadel of Skulls. It's a lot darker - even with generatoria, the waste heat is being dumped into the planet - and it is surrounded by potential sites for the teleportarium to drop people on. So, yeah, you can trigger it every 30 minutes, but it's really hard to guide that drop into the actual Citadel - they'd instead pop down on this huge 10,000 kilometer sphere of possible landing sites (which basically means everywhere across the moon.)
Hence why you need a beacon - which would get yanked up with the peeps you teleport up.
So, those are the two restrictions: Targeting and time (it's always a 30 minute recharge)