Re: Warhammer 40k weapons
 

Cool.

In the WH40k novels, chain weapon can chew through armor that standard melee weapons would have no effect on. On the other hand, they're usually weilded by people in power armor. I would give them more damage, an armor divisor, and the DR-reducing effects of Corrosion damage.

Again, I would add more damage.

Re: Warhammer 40k weapons
 

Power Weapons, according to the varying fluff you get from GW staff writers, are actually supposed to be empowered, monomolecularly-edged weapons. They either have a force field which is so sharp that armour is penetrated or they vibrade a monomolecular edge with a high frequency liquifying the armour of the opponent. Some power weapons are actually psychically driven, like many chaos daemon weapons.

In essense, the weapon ignores armour, it doesn't add to damage. So it wouldn't be a DR divisor, but I'd say it ignores DR entirely. Of course, you'd have to make those types of weapons extremely rare.

A power fist would add probably 2d damage as well as ignore armour.

Re: Warhammer 40k weapons
 

Oh yeah. Chain weapons of whatever type are said to do that in the books, but if you're doing what it says in the books then one Farseer would annihilate an entire platoon of Guardsmen by his lonesome.

Still, I would recommend a DR divisor of some value as well as add an extra bit of damage. Perhaps you could call it a new type of damage. Puree or something. x4 damage that gets through armour :)

Re: Warhammer 40k weapons
 

I think I would use [cr ex] as a follow up on the ammunition instead of [burn]. Note since it is a delayed explosion it is safe to assume that the explosion is internal for very nasty effects if the first damage penetrates and deals damage. Ohh and if it is an explosive I would reduce the damage since 3d would affect a radius of 6 yards (sounds a bit hefty to me), maybe down to 1d because since it is internal damage you would deal 1dx3 if it penetrated armor. See p. 415 in GURPS Basic Campaigns 4th Ed.

Re: Warhammer 40k weapons
 

A space-based, including boarding board assaults could work as Space Marines vs. Hive Fleet. There was a GW board game on that previously. Still waiting on GURPS Space 4e, though.

And of course Rogue Trader as a kind of warped Traveller.

A Horus Heresy, Chaos power-munchkin campaign would probably be fun, heroic, and dark. Similarly, an Ork inter-tribal war for power-munchkiness.

For horror/mystery, a Genestealer Cult led by a Patriach (a kind of Tyranid pre-invasion) installing itself on a human world would be good. And the Genestealer Cult corrupted by Chaos would be a double twist.


Overall, I agree, not much character development in the life of a Genestealer, or a peon Space Marine.



(all Capitalized words trademarks of Games Workshop www.games-workshop.com) :*)

Really, I'd probably just come up with original, GW-'inspired' concepts, to make a GURPS campaign divest of all GW-copyrights and trademarks. It'd be best to make a completely new game, with just enough consistency with the GW-universe in order to use the GW miniatures as is.

Re: Warhammer 40k weapons
 

And if you're adapting 40k to an RPG system, that's the source material you should be using. If you base it on the game mechanics, you'll find yourself trying to concoct a way for a lowly Gretchin to survive a direct hit from an Earthshaker shell or a Volcano Cannon one sixth of the time, and for large numbers of sticks and knives to be a match for Terminator armour. They tone things down for reasons of game balance (and especially the Space Marines, since depicting them at their "proper" power level would require either one-squad armies from the Space Marines, or absolutely colossal armies from everybody else), but the novels aren't bound by such artificial restrictions.

Re: Warhammer 40k weapons
 

Oh, and there's plenty of scope for character development in 40k, as long as you're willing to make time for it between Tyranid attacks, Ork invasions, Chaos uprising and Emperor knows what else. While, say, an Ork or a Genestealer won't have much of an individual personality, most of the kinds of characters you'd want to play as most certainly would.

Re: Warhammer 40k weapons
 

Mmm, how about giving chain weapons Armor Divisor 2 and +1d cutting damage, and Armor Divisor 5 and +2d burning damage to power weapons?
However, my champaign idea was something like "human against the universe" or something like it. ;)

Re: Warhammer 40k weapons
 

Ermmm... you do realize that balance is what you have to have in any game system, right? What I was pointing out is that the novels hyperbolize the abilities of the various factions to support the story. In game building you don't get that kind of artistic license.

Re: Warhammer 40k weapons
 

When building an RPG, you don't have to set, for instance, Space Marine stats low enough that they can be used in significant numbers without slaughtering the enemy. If the PCs are playing them, you instead give them huge challenges to match their power levels; if they're not, you use them in very small quantities, or as a cue to run like hell and not look back. Doing otherwise would be rather like putting Cthulhu in 100-point campaign and then deciding that he's too powerful for the PCs to deal with, so his powers need to be cut down to their level. It defeats the whole point; if he's too powerful for them, then either leave him out, make the PCs more powerful, or leave him in and expect the PCs to run for it the moment they realise what's happening.

EDIT: And I should also point out that there are roughly one million space marines to defend an Imperium of roughly one million worlds, and they're still able to play a significant role (not the only one, by any means, but the fact that they matter at all with such small numbers is impressive enough). Even if you ignore the novels and short stories depicting their capabilities, that still indicates that they're very, very good.