Dark Heresy & Black Crusade

[Lodovico]

I'm new to RPG's and I am looking to sink my teeth into a few games atm. A friend of mine is easing me into RPG's via a game called Shadowrun, however I have a greater affinity for the 40k universe and have had my eye on Dark Heresy and Black Crusade for some time. I am wondering if anyone has any experience with either and what they might have to say about either game. I am also going to say I am leaning more heavily toward Dark Heresy than Black Crusade.

 

I also tend to spend most of my time alone so if anyone has anything to say about solo play I'd greatly appreciate that, thank you.

[Olis]

Are you looking for advice as a player or a GM?

[Lodovico]

More as a player.

[Olis]

Ok... As a GM I'd definitely recommend you try to play with fun in mind (obviously). I can't help with the solo play or Black Crusade but I can make suggestions on Dark Heresy. Don't be afraid to suggest hare-brained plans and plots - these tend to be far FAR more entertaining than deadly, seriously roleplaying and thinking up proper plans. Of course, this kinda requires you to have a GM who'll allow this but I don't think it's much of an ask. When it comes to finding out things (environment, NPC's, GMPC's, the plot) - it pays to ask questions. Granted the GM might have to wing it but it helps you build a picture of the game. The clearer the picture, the more memorable events will be. Last piece of advice - DON'T FORGET TO USE YOUR FATE POINTS! :)

[Something Wycked]

I've only played one game of Black Crusade just yet, while I have a lot of Dark Heresy under the belt. They're similar in some ways and completely different in others.

 

The similarity I see is in the mixture of power levels; the Dark Heresy acolytes are very "low power," kind of like the minor cultists in Black Crusade, while the enemies the GM can introduce in Dark Heresy might get up to the level of the Chaos Marines in Black Crusade.

 

The general feel of both games is completely different. Black Crusade, on the surface, is much more about corruption, freedom, and stealing power, while Dark Heresy is more about duty, order, and intrigue.

 

That said, each game is what you make of it; nothing would stop you and your group from playing characters in Black Crusade who are "heretics" but are actually working for the Imperium's interests, and you could just as easily play characters in Dark Heresy who are actually Chaos cultists.

 

Both games are really not designed for solo play- I've yet to find a pen & paper RPG that is compatible with solo play. I think the closest you could get is rolling up a few characters and then writing a story about them.

[Lodovico]

Thank you for the input fellas. (You are fellas... right?)

 

I have a pretty decent imagination so I can probably put together some kind of solo story for me to play. I ended up purchasing Dark Heresy with a B&N gift card so it should be arriving in the mail at the end of the week if I'm lucky. Do any of you guys know any good websites that support Dark Heresy or RPG's in general?

 

I plan on purchasing maybe one or two other RPG's tomorrow/today when I hit up a FLGS. (I just really need to stretch my mind after finishing school so I'm kinda going crazy with RPG/board games atm and trying to find some that can do that [such as the Conan RPG, the Dresden Files, and Arkham Horror which I have been eying recently]).

[Olis]

Thank you for the input fellas. (You are fellas... right?)

 

Last time I checked, yeah. Wait a sec...

 

:tu:

 

Yep. I'm a fella.

 

Do any of you guys know any good websites that support Dark Heresy or RPG's in general?

 

Try exploring here. There are various archived threads that would be of great help and there is even a very helpful Dark Heresy character generator. :D

[Lodovico]

Good to hear! ;)

 

And thanks! I'll be checking that out quite a bit!

[Olis]

No problem. ;)

[Something Wycked]

Do any of you guys know any good websites that support Dark Heresy or RPG's in general?

There are forums here and there that allow you to play RPGs online, such as this one. Note: I'm not endorsing that site, it was just the first one I found while searching ;)

Edited December 27, 2011 by Something Wycked

[Chaplain ChonkE]

A friend of mine is easing me into RPG's via a game called Shadowrun...

 

I had to have a little chuckle at that. Shadowrun is not the game that comes to mind for ease :)

[Warp Angel]

I've got nobody local to me who wants to play any of the Fantasy Flight Warhammer 40,000 rpgs.

 

Dark Heresy is a low-powered, Inquisition based/detective style game.

Rogue Trader expands on the system with a mid-power, Explore and Trade style game.

Deathwatch (don't have the Black Crusade stuff, but have flipped through it) focuses on the higher-end, mostly combat and fighting.

 

But all three games can be played in any style that you want and synergize nicely into a balanced game when you advance your "lower" game characters up in experience to match the "higher" game characters.

 

The books are worth it for the fluff, honestly, even if (like me) you never get to play.

[Olis]

The books are worth it for the fluff, honestly, even if (like me) you never get to play.

 

I didn't get to play either, until I started rpg night at the club. I sympathise, brother. The books most definitely are worth it for the fluff, though. :huh:

[Lodovico]

A friend of mine is easing me into RPG's via a game called Shadowrun...

 

I had to have a little chuckle at that. Shadowrun is not the game that comes to mind for ease ;)

Oh really?? How so? (Then again... I did spend a good 6 hours building my first character lol!)

 

 

I've got nobody local to me who wants to play any of the Fantasy Flight Warhammer 40,000 rpgs.

 

Dark Heresy is a low-powered, Inquisition based/detective style game.

Rogue Trader expands on the system with a mid-power, Explore and Trade style game.

Deathwatch (don't have the Black Crusade stuff, but have flipped through it) focuses on the higher-end, mostly combat and fighting.

 

But all three games can be played in any style that you want and synergize nicely into a balanced game when you advance your "lower" game characters up in experience to match the "higher" game characters.

 

The books are worth it for the fluff, honestly, even if (like me) you never get to play.

Where do you live?

 

And yeah I took a look through Deathwatch (haven't had a chance to browse Rogue Trader yet) and I'm think of picking up their rulebooks (along with Black Crusade). They look great and like you said, the fluff is definitely worth it alone. Besides, I think a good imagination can go a long ways. Once I get how the system works I was thinking of trying to put together a solo adventure (I do that with every game I get).

[Warp Angel]

Where do you live?

 

Northern end of metropolitan Detroit.

[Preston]

To my mind, Black Crusade is a fairly good game, I have some experince in it, but I am nothing of a good player, I play just for fun and don't chase good results, anyway - it just helps me get rid of the stress.

[Something Wycked]

Welcome to the B&C, Preston! :P

 

That's what RPGs are for- to enjoy yourself and de-stress! And what better way to do it than let loose as a follower of Chaos? :D

[Techmarine Data007]

Just because I think it bears stating. Dark Heresy can be, and often is, a very lethal game. Characters will die. Sometimes so badly that their gore will injure other characters. Not to discourage you, at all. Just be prepared, as you aren't really playing a heroic level character, till you get into Ascension.

[asphodel]

Howdy! I hope 1 month isn't serious threadomancy...I just wanted to address the solo-ing bit, since you seem to have gotten plenty of good feedback on everything else.

 

I'm in a similar situation, where there aren't a ton of players around, and scheduling is a nightmare, so I've been trying to figure this out for a while and had a test-run today (which was primarily combat-oriented since it takes a lot more time to work out an investigative/social scenario). These are some of my thoughts on soloing:

1 - it's possible to play solo! but...

2 - you'll have to keep things a little simpler (more simple?) than you might prefer, or else it can get very unwiedly, very fast

3 - you need to roll the dice a little more than you might otherwise; where a player would probably roleplay through an interaction, you'll probably have to roll and then roleplay it

4 - this is going to sound nuts, but I find it most effective to speak out loud - just like you would if you weren't soloing since it forces you to roleplay more

5 - random encounters/events/etc. are really important to keeping the game interesting

6 - basically, act like you would act if you were playing or GMing, depending on the circumstance; give your PC(s) a lot of flexibility but don't be afraid to go hard on them, and challenge your GM

7 - be very clear about what your PCs should and shouldn't know; this is going to be critical if you want to do an investigative or pre-made adventure like the ones put out by FFG, and it'll no doubt take some of the fun out of it, but I think you can still randomize things quite a bit.

8 - everything takes longer, even if you're intimately familiar with the rules, you still have to refer to your character sheets and GM notes, etc. And since you can't exactly ask anyone else to do that for you...

9 - IMO, it's better to go with more than one PC, which I know is probably really counterintuitive (see item #2) - my reasoning for it though, is that despite the added headache of roleplaying 2 PCs plus NPCs and the GM, is that you're more likely to try and boost your one, loner PC but if you've got a couple in play you won't be as irritated when one of them bites the dust. It's also a good way to create tension without having to rely too much on NPCs (though I guess you could consider one of the PCs to be your PC, and the other an NPC)

 

Err, that's my take, at the moment. YMMV.