Rogue Heresy Death Crusade Chargen

Character creation consists of only a few simple steps, which you perform one by one. Some of the options available to you in the advanced steps depend upon the choices you make on the previous steps.

The character creation contains the following steps:

Choose your character's Race.
- Optionally, modify that Race choice with a Template.
Choose the Faction your character belongs to.
Determine the Starting Archetype of your character.
Choose your character's Backgrounds.
Determine the acquisition method your character is going to use.

Race

Your character's Race is the first thing you have to select.

This basic supplement only offers baseline Humans as a race player characters may come from, but further supplements will greatly expand on that. The race chosen can be further modified by applying a Template to it, if you wish, which represents your character belonging to one of the multitudes of humanity's subraces, such as gregarious ratlings, or noble Navigators, whose solitary gift makes warp travel possible. The skills, talents, traits and wound numbers of the Templates normally replace those found in the base Race description.

The combination of race and template determines your starting skills, talents and traits, wounds number, your character's starting attributes, as well as the amount of experience you get to spend at character creation to further customize your character.

Once you've chosen your race and template, it's time to determine your character's starting attributes. There are two ways to go about this: rolling randomly, or point-buy. If using random generation, roll two ten-sided dice nine times, writing down the sums of the numbers rolled on the dice. You also have an option to reroll those nine rolls, taking the second result set instead of the original one. Then, add the resultant numbers to the attributes of your choice, their basic value determined by your race and template choice. If using point-buy system, assign 90 points between the attributes of your choice, with no less than 5 and no more than 20 points assigned to each attribute.

Example: John and Jane decide to make their player characters. John chooses a baseline human, while Jane decides to play a ratling. John thinks it best to determine his character's attributes randomly, and rolls 2d10 nine times, getting a line of 6,2,4,8,7,10,3,11 and finally 13. That's way below average, so he chooses to reroll, now getting a line of 12,19,16,8,11,10,17,15 and 18. Since he's playing a human, he'll be adding those roll results to base attribute values of 25 around the board, getting a final attribute line of Weapon Skill 44 (25+19), Ballistic Skill 42 (25+17), Strength 43 (25+18), Toughness 37 (25+12), Agility 41 (25+16), Intelligence 36 (25+11), Perception 40 (25+15), Willpower 35 (25+10) and Fellowship 33 (25+8). Jane prefers point-buy, and spends the 90 attribute points, adding them to Ratling basic scores, and getting an attribute line of Weapon Skill 25 (20+5), Ballistic Skill 50 (30+20), Strength 25 (20+5), Toughness 40 (25+15), Agility 50 (30+20), Intelligence 30 (25+5), Perception 35 (25+10), Willpower 35 (25+10) and Fellowship 35 (30+5).

Human

Your character is one of the uncountable teeming masses of baseline humanity, and much of your personality is determined by your homeworld culture and personal background.

Starting Skills: Common Lore(Imperium)[Int], Common Lore(choose one)[Int], Linguistics(Low Gothic, Homeworld Dialect)[Int], Trade(choose one)[Int]
Starting Wounds: 10 + Toughness Bonus
Experience: Human Characters can spend 1000 experience points on advances during Character Creation.

-----------------
WS    = 25+2d10
BS    = 25+2d10
Str   = 25+2d10
T     = 25+2d10
Ag    = 25+2d10
Int   = 25+2d10
Per   = 25+2d10
WP    = 25+2d10
Fel   = 25+2d10 
-----------------

Template

Abhuman(Ogryn)

Your character is an ogryn, a human colonist forever changed by the generations his predecessors spent on a high-gravity world. His strength and endurance are as legendary as his stupidity.

The vast majority of ogryns are Militants.

Cost: 400 exp.
Starting Skills: Common Lore(choose one), Linguistics(Low Gothic)
Starting Talents: Hardy
Starting Traits: Size(Hulking), Unnatural Strength(+3), Unnatural Toughness(+3), Abhuman (-10 to Fellowship-based Tests against baseline humans who are sufficiently devoted to the Imperial Creed)
Starting Wounds: 15 + Toughness Bonus

-----------------
WS    = 25+2d10
BS    = 25+2d10
Str   = 35+2d10
T     = 35+2d10
Ag    = 25+2d10
Int   = 15+2d10
Per   = 25+2d10
WP    = 25+2d10
Fel   = 15+2d10 
-----------------

Abhuman(Ratling)

Your character's ancestors lived on a abundant planet, where food and resources were aplenty. Generations of inbreeding during the Age of Strife made them short and frail; but also gregarious and optimistic.

Cost: 400 exp.
Starting Skills: Common Lore(choose one), Charm, Deceive, Sleight of Hand, Stealth, Linguistics(Low Gothic)
Starting Talents: Peer(choose one)
Starting Traits: Size(Scrawny), Abhuman (-10 to Fellowship-based Tests against baseline humans who are sufficiently devoted to the Imperial Creed)
Starting Wounds: 7 + Toughness Bonus

-----------------
WS    = 20+2d10
BS    = 30+2d10
Str   = 20+2d10
T     = 25+2d10
Ag    = 30+2d10
Int   = 25+2d10
Per   = 25+2d10
WP    = 25+2d10
Fel   = 30+2d10 
-----------------

Abhuman(Afriel Strain)

Your character belongs to a rare breed of artificially created abhumans named Afriel Strain, bearing in his genetic code the fragments of the inheritance of the some of the greatest Imperium's heroes. Characteristically albino, pale and possessing colorless eyes, Afriel Strain abhumans are whispered to bring bad luck.

The vast majority of Afriel Strain humans are Militants.

Cost: 400 exp.
Starting Skills: Common Lore(War, Imperium), Common Lore(choose one), Athletics, Linguistics(Low Gothic)
Starting Talents: Iron Jaw or Ambidextrous
Starting Traits: Abhuman (-10 to Fellowship-based Tests against baseline humans who are sufficiently devoted to the Imperial Creed), Unlucky (when spending a Fate point, roll a d10; on a roll of 8 to 10 it is lost without any effect; you still can't use additional Fate points for the test on which you spent the first one), Blood of the Great Ones.
Starting Wounds: 12 + Toughness Bonus

-----------------
WS    = 30+2d10
BS    = 30+2d10
Str   = 25+2d10
T     = 30+2d10
Ag    = 30+2d10
Int   = 25+2d10
Per   = 25+2d10
WP    = 25+2d10
Fel   = 25+2d10 
-----------------

Blood of the Great Ones
All Afriel Strain humans carry within them the genes of the greatest heroes of the Imperium. Roll a d10 to randomly determine what were your progenitors famous for, or choose an option with your GM's consent. Whenever using the skills or talents gained from this trait, treat any Very Hard(-30) or harder tests as one step easier.
1-2) Great General. Gain Command and Tactics(Tactica Imperium) skills.
3-4) Great Negotiator. Gain Charm and Deceive skills.
5-6) Great Orator. Gain Master Orator talent.
7-8) Great Tech-Priest. Gain Tech-Use and Trade(Technomat) skills.
9-10) Great Warrior. Gain Dodge and Parry skills.

Navis Nobilite Scion

A mysterious breed of stable human mutants rumoured to be created by the Emperor himself, Navigators bind the very fabric of the Imperium together, guiding its ships through the Warp with the guidance of Astronomicon. Your character is one of this secretive kin.

Though most of the scions of Navis Nobilite are reared as Navigators from birth, there are exceptions to every rule.

Cost: 400 exp.
Starting Skills: Common Lore (Navis Nobilite), Psyniscience (Per), Linguistics(Low Gothic)
Starting Traits: Warp Eye, Navigator Lineage, Navigator Mutation
Starting Wounds: 10 + Toughness Bonus

-----------------
WS    = 25+2d10
BS    = 25+2d10
Str   = 25+2d10
T     = 25+2d10
Ag    = 25+2d10
Int   = 25+2d10
Per   = 25+2d10
WP    = 25+2d10
Fel   = 25+2d10 
-----------------

Warp Eye
A navigator's Warp Eye allows him to see into the maelstrom of Warp, and it also lets him use unique Navigator Powers. See RTCore, page 179.
Navigator Lineage
All navigators belong to one of the Navigator Houses. See RTCore, page 176.
Navigator Mutation
Depending on the navigator's Lineage, he may begin the game with a number of Navigator Mutations. See RTCore, page 182.
The Eye is Open
A navigator is a living window into the warp, a fact mercifully mitigated for his own soul’s and sanity’s sake by the effects of the Navigator Gene that allows him to perceive the warp’s mind-blasting truth in a unique way that allows his human mind to deal with it. As a result he does not suffer Corruption Points from Warp Shock, although he can acquire Corruption Points normally by other means.

Novitiate

Your character has had a great honour of being chosen as one the Space Marine Novitiates, having no doubt passed tests most grievous at the very dawn of his life. Many more await him before he will be able to join the ranks of his chapter as a Space Marine.

Starting Skills: Awareness, Athletics, Dodge, Common Lore (Adeptus Astartes, Imperium, War), Intimidate, Literacy, Linguistics(Low Gothic), Navigation (Surface), Stealth
Starting Talents:
Starting Traits: Chapter Initiate, Rites of Selection.
Starting Wounds: 15 + Toughness Bonus

-----------------
WS    = 25+2d10
BS    = 25+2d10
Str   = 25+2d10
T     = 25+2d10
Ag    = 25+2d10
Int   = 25+2d10
Per   = 25+2d10
WP    = 25+2d10
Fel   = 25+2d10 
-----------------

Chapter Initiate
Your Novitiate belongs to one of the Space Marine chapters, and enjoys its support and the rigorous training it provides. While it has little mechanical effect as of now, you should be aware which Chapter it is.
Rites of Selection
All of the Space Marine Chapters have their own Rites of Selection to determine who is worthy of joining their ranks. See DWRitesOfBattle p.9.

Faction

The Faction your character belongs to makes principal difference in his life: whether he serves the Humanity or only himself, whether he venerates the Emperor or considers him little more than a throned corpse, it all comes down to the faction your character calls his own.

The two Factions whose struggle sculpts the face of the Galaxy are the Imperium and the Chaos.

Imperium

Belonging to the Imperium means serving for the good of all, always aware of your place in life, and looking to do your duty.

Characters serving the Imperium choose the world they call home, since it largely shapes their experiences in life, and plays a vital role in determining their path in life.

Homeworld

Your character's upbringing upon his homeworld determines many of his abilities, skills and talents, as well as giving him unique traits as the very nature of his birthplace works itself into his bones.

Feral World

Starting Talent: Heightened Senses(Any one)
Starting Trait: Rite Of Passage - Survival[Per] Skill Tests are one step easier for a Feral Worlder in any environment reminiscent of his homeworld.

Hive World

Starting Talent: Unremarkable or Technical Knock
Starting Trait: Wary - Hive Worlders gain +1 to Initiative and do not treat dense crowds of people as Difficult Terrain.

Void Born

Starting Talent: Resistance(Cold) or Resistance(Heat)
Starting Trait: Charmed - Whenever a Void Born spends a Fate Point (though not if he burns one), roll a 1d10. On the roll of a natural 9, the Fate Point is not lost.

Forge World

Starting Talent: Technical Knock or Peer(Adeptus Mechanicus)
Starting Trait: Fit For A Purpose - Forge Worlders gain one bionic or implant system as appropriate for chosen Archetype or Trade Skill(determined by GM).

Schola Progenium

Starting Talent: Iron Jaw or Peer(Ecclesiarchy)
Starting Trait: Tempered Will - Willpower Tests with a difficulty above(and including) Very Hard(-30) are one step easier for Progena characters. Thus, for example, a Hellish(-60) Willpower Test will become Punishing(-50) and so on.

Serving the Imperium

Rules on Devotions, Fear and Damnation, Corruption and Insanity go here in brief

Chaos

Serving Chaos is the path of unbridled ambition and worshipping the darkness that is always looking to consume your very soul.

Homeworld and predetermined paths of Imperial servitude mean little to the servants of Chaos, so they choose Prides, Disgraces and Motivations instead.

Prides

A list of prides goes here

Disgraces

A list of disgraces goes here

Motivations

As list of motivations goes here

Serving the Dark Gods

A brief overview of the compacts, Alignments and corruption goes here

Archetype

Archetype is in the broadest sense your character's profession, his specialization in life, and the path he's set to follow.

ADEPT

Characteristics Bonus: +3 Int, +3 WP

Bonus Starting Skills: Awareness, Common Lore(Any two), Scholastic Lore(Any three), Forbidden Lore(Any two), Inquiry or Commerce, Inquiry(+10) or Commerce(+10), Security or Logic

Bonus Starting Talents: Total Recall, Light Sleeper or Unremarkable, Polyglot or Mimic, Weapon Training(Primary or SP)

Special Ability: Cyclopaedic Learning - Choose one Lore Skill(Common, Scholastic or Forbidden) which the character already has. From now on he counts as having the Mastery Talent for that Skill, even if he does not have the prerequisite Skill Rank in that Skill.

ARBITRATOR

Characteristics Bonus: +3 Fel, +3 WP

Bonus Starting Skills: Awareness, Inquiry, Awareness(+10) or Inquiry(+10), Common Lore(Any two), Scholastic Lore(Imperial Warrants), Command or Intimidate, Command(+10) or Interrogation, Scrutiny, Dodge or Parry

Bonus Starting Talents: Peer(Underworld or Enforcers), Air of Authority or Takedown, Rapid Reload or Quick Draw, Weapon Training(Primary, SP), Weapon Training(Bolt or Shock)

Special Ability: Imperial Authority - Whenever clearly presenting any authentic sign of authority(Arbites Sigil, Enforcer's badge etc.), Arbitrator gains a +10 bonus on all Interaction Skill Tests, and scores one aditional degree of success on such Tests, as long as the insitution the Arbitrator represents holds any sway in surrounding region.

ASSASSIN

Characteristics Bonus: +3 Ag, +3 BS or WS

Bonus Starting Skills: Awareness, Dodge or Parry, Dodge(+10) or Parry(+10), Acrobatics or Athletics, Deceive or Sleight of Hand, Deceive(+10) or Security, Tech-Use or Medicae, Stealth, Stealth(+10) or Scholastic Lore(Chymistry)

Bonus Starting Talents: Ambidextrous or Unremarkable, Sure Strike or Deadeye Shot, Catfall or Sprint, Meditation or Frenzy, Weapon Training(Primary), Weapon Training(SP or Throwing), Exotic Weapon Training(Any one).

Special Ability: Honed Skill - Whenever an Assassin deals Critical Damage, with normal attack or due to inflicting Righteous Fury, he deals and additional amount of Damage equal to half his WS or BS Bonus.

CLERIC

Characteristics Bonus: +5 WP

Bonus Starting Skills: Common Lore(Imperial Creed), Linguistics(High Gothic), Scholastic Lore(Any one), Charm or Command, Charm(+10) or Command(+10), Medicae or Forbidden Lore(Any one) or Scrutiny, Parry or Trade(Any one)

Bonus Starting Skills: Air of Authority, Unshakable Faith, Inspire Wrath or Iron Discipline, Hatred(Any one) or Peer(Ecclesiarchy), Weapon Training(Primary or SP), Weapon Training(Chain or Flame).

Special Ability: Inspired Sermons - When dealing with the faithful of the Emperor, Clerics can affect double the number of listeners(after accounting for any other Talents with similar effects) with their speeches, and gains a +10 bonus on all Interaction Tests.

GUARDSMAN

Characteristics Bonus: +3 WS, +3 BS

Starting Skills: Common Lore(War), Athletics, Navigate(Surface), Operate(Surface), Command or Stealth or Athletics(+10), Dodge or Parry, Survival or Tech-Use

Starting Talents: Weapon Training(Choose any four), Nerves of Steel, Catfall or Combat Sense, Double Team or Marksman, Jaded or Quick Draw

Special Ability: Life is War - Guardsmen receive a +10 bonus on Willpower Tests to resist Pinning, and also a +10 bonus on Tests to resist Stunning and gaining Fatigue.

IMPERIAL PSYKER

Characteristics Bonus: +3 Int, +3 WP

Starting Skills: Psyniscience, Forbidden Lore(Psykers), Deceive or Intimidate, Dodge or Parry

Starting Talents: Psy Rating 2, Up to 500 exp worth of Psychic Powers chosen from Divination, Telepathy, or Telekinesis Disciplines, Weapon Training(Primary), Weapon Training(SP or Las), Warp Sense or Warp Lock

Starting Traits: Psyker

Special Ability: Scholastica Psykana Failsafes - When determining Psychic Strength, Imperial Psyker counts as Bound. In addition, if the Psyker ever rolls a result on the Perils of the Warp Table that would result in him being possessed, he must make a Challenging (+0) Willpower Test. Success means his conditioning activates, and he kills himself with whatever weapon he has at hand (or his Psykana Mercy Blade). The Psyker may still permanently burn a Fate Point to avoid death; if he does so he does not count as having suffered any of the listed effects from his Perils roll

SCUM

Characteristics Bonus: +5 Fel

Starting Skills: Awareness, Deceive, Charm or Commerce, Deceive(+10) or Stealth, Sleight of Hand or Scrutiny, Charm(+10) or Commerce(+10), Dodge or Parry,

Starting Talents: Ambidextrous or Unremarkable, Sprint, Paranoia, Mimic or Orthoproxy, Weapon Training(Primary, SP)

Special Ability: Shady Dealings - Scum may add +5 to any Income Test roll when purchasing goods or services, or when trying to bribe someone.

TECH-PRIEST

Characteristics Bonus: +5 Int

Starting Skills: Logic, Common Lore(Tech, Adeptus Mechanicus), Tech-Use, Dodge or Parry, Tech-Use(+10) or Security, Forbidden Lore(Any two), Linguistics(Techna Lingua)

Starting Talents: Die Hard, Technical Knack, Mechadendrite Training(Weapon or Utility), Weapon Training(Primary), Weapon Training(SP or Las), Weapon Training(Plasma or Bolt), Weapon Training(Shock or Power), Armor-Monger or Weapon-Tech, Lesser Cohort(must be servitor or servo-skull) or Chem-Geld

Starting Traits: Mechanicus Implantsi
Special Ability: Binary Chatter - When determining Loyalty of servitors or other cybernetic constructs as Followers, use Tech-Priest's Intelligence rather than Fellowship. For the purposes of obtaining servitors or other cybernetic constructs through Lesser Cohort, Cohort or Greater Cohort Talents, Tech-Priest may substitute his Intelligence for his Fellowship if this would allow him to meet the prerequisites of these Talents.

Backgrounds

Backgrounds are one of a kind traits and stories of the past that set your character apart from his peers, making him truly unique among the uncountable masses of his Race, Faction and Archetype.

Mind Cleansed

Cost: 200 exp
Bonus Starting Skills: Deceive[Fel]
Bonus Starting Talents: Jaded
Bonus Starting Traits:
- Imperial Conditioning - Mind Cleansed gain a +10 bonus to resist Fear or any attempts to control or possess their minds(psychically, chemically or otherwise).
- Failsafe Control - Relevant NPC may trigger an effect similar to Compel Telepathy Psychic Power targeting the Mind Cleansed. The "Imperial Conditioning" Trait does not affect the character's chances to resist this effect.

Noble Born

Cost: 200 exp
Bonus Starting Skills: Linguistics(High Gothic)
Bonus Starting Talents: Excessive Wealth, Peer(Nobility)
Bonus Starting Traits: Vendetta - Noble Born gain the Enemy(2) Talent. The nature of these enemies are left to GM to define.

Untouchable

Cost: 500 exp
Prerequisite: The Character may have no other package, talent, trait or similar that grants psychic, faith or warp-based powers or abilities, both during creation or later development.
Characteristics Change: The Untouchable's Fellowship Characteristic is reduced by -10, and the Character suffers a -10 penalty on all Interaction Skill Tests.
Bonus Starting Traits:
- Psychic Blank - The character may never gain Psychic Powers, Pure Faith, Sorcery or related Talents.
- Psychic Invulnerability - An untouchable is completely immune to Psychic Powers, psychic energy and effects directed against them (as well as warp powers, possession, sorcery, Corruption from warp shock, and so forth) Also, he cannot be detected by means of Psyniscience or similar abilities — powers of this type directed at their person, even though successfully manifested, simply fail. Powers in whose wider areas he is caught simply fail to affect him — although they may affect other people normally, subject to their disruption effect.
- Psychic Disruption - All Psychic Powers and abilities manifested in the character’s immediate area (a radius equal to the Untouchable’s Willpower Bonus in metres) have their associated Focus Power Test difficulty increased by -20. In addition, the effective Psy Rating of Psychic Powers successfuly manifested in this area is reduced by a number equal to Untouchable's Willpower Bonus.

Thy Name I Keep

Acquisition methods

At this final character creation step you and your GM determine the acquisition method your character is going to use. The mechanics presented in this basic supplement are:

Funds. Funds represent the small amount of Imperial Thrones or other currency (for example, planet-specific one) your character might possess. The vast majority of the Imperial citizens use Funds for their day-to-day lives; similarly, most player characters are paid in Funds, and acquire goods by spending Funds.
Profit Factor. Some of the Imperial citizens, like wealthy merchant lineages or Rogue Traders, possess immense amounts of Funds and other resources. Rarely, however, can those riches be put into use all at once, as pulling them often takes time. That kind of wealth is represented by Profit Factor, and only the most monetarily powerful of the Imperial citizens use it for their acquisitions. Tests are made against it, but unless a test is failed catastrophically, Profit Factor is not reduced by that.
Renown. In some of the Imperial organizations, such as Space Marine Chapters, monetary wealth matters little, and an individual’s worth is judged by his peers upon his previous achievements. Renown is used to determine what a character finds available to him in the gilded vaults, and is never reduced by acquisitions.
Influence. Peers of the Imperium such as Inquisitors use Influence to get their way in the labyrinthine political structures of the Emperor’s domain. While Influence is non-material, unlike Profit Factor or Funds, it has no less tangible effects on what a character finds available to him. Tests are made against Influence, but unless a test is failed catastrophically, it is not reduced by that.
Infamy. Heretics care little for anything but the favor of the Dark Gods. That favor, as well as the regard of their blasphemous fellows, is represented by Infamy. In the darkest reaches of the Galaxy, where Emperor’s light does not shine, Infamy is the only way to acquire what is needed except for barter.

It is important to understand the vast difference in scale behind the various acquisition methods, despite them being abstracted in a similar way. Funds represent miniscule amounts of money, only fit for procuring items available to more or less general public, or purchasing puny favors. Profit Factor, on the other hand, is an abstraction for the vast riches holdings, mines and cartels produce, sums of money unimaginable for the users of Funds used to acquire relics, ship components, whole armories of weapons, or units of mercenaries. Renown and Influence represent subtler possessions, primarily the reputation a character has forged for himself among his peers and the general opinion on him among those who have real power in their hands. A Space Marine or an Inquisitor have little need for Funds because most common Imperial citizens are happy to hand over their possessions and their very lives to those staples of the Imperial might. Finally, Infamy does not even represent the favor of mortals, but rather Gods, towards their followers.
Normally, trivial purchases which require Funds and not some other acquisition method should be automatic for the wielders of those other methods; but should you find yourself inclined to track such dealings closer, it is possible to convert Influence, Profit Factor or Infamy into cash, of course – whether by anonymous banking accounts set by the Inquisition for its members, or by monetizing a tiny fraction of the assets a Rogue Trader owns. A Trivial (+20) Test against Influence, Profit Factor or Infamy provides a character with 100 Funds.

A single character can of course have more than one acquisition method. For example, a Radical Inquisitor infiltrating the realms of Chaos might have both Infamy and Influence, and a killmarine adventuring as a part of a Rogue Trader team might have both Profit Factor and Renown.