Warhammer 40K: A Rogue Trader Styled Campaign Part 2: Rules

This is the second part where I awkwardly smoosh together rules from both Rogue Trader and 2nd edition 40K into something resembling a playable game by also taking stuff from later editions.

And then jamming a simple RPG system into it.

I am a very silly person who seems to like wasting time on these sorts of things...

Updated 22 March 2013

Rules and Rules Changes:

Initiative/Turn Order:

At the start of each encounter (when appropriate) each player rolls a D6 and adds their characters' Initiative value to this roll. The GM does the same for whatever opposing forces (OpFor) are in the mission if any. Ties are rolled off.

Going in order of highest to lowest each Player and each GM unit does their Move and then Shoot Phases in order. After all players and OpFor have taken their turns, Close Combat happens as one gigantic melee then everyone may make Rally checks at the end of the turn.

(This does mean there can be multiple units charging and then getting charged in return.)

Movement:

As in 2^nd ed rulebook.

Shooting:

As in 2^nd ed rulebook.

Overwatch: When going into Overwatch you will not be able to fire until the next FULL turn. So if you go into Overwatch you may NOT fire until the next turn begins. (This keeps players from going on OW when they win initiative and just camping all day long.)

Close Combat:

As in the Assault Phase section of the 5^th or 6^th edition rulesbook. (5^th ed minibook is pages 36-45.)

Changes to the rules from said book:

The To Hit chart is the one from Rogue Trader.

As this is RT/2nd edition, units are not allowed to shoot before charging.

Weapons with the Parry ability may cause a reroll of an enemy attack die thrown against them but only once per weapon with this ability per Close Combat phase.

Psychology and Morale:

As in 2^nd edition outside of the Close Combat rules.

Psionics:

As in Rogue Trader. (Pages 48-52)  Will and Cool are considered to be the model's Ld value.

Post Game Sequence/Advancement

After a mission has been one or lost the GM may decide it is time to have a Post Game. (Some missions may be multiple battles or may have a win/loss effect which keeps the adventure going and thus these following events will not happen yet.)

The sequence is as follows:

1: Roll for survivors and injuries.

2: Roll for scavenge.

3: Use Destiny Points if mission failed or Player Character is dead.

4: If won, get an Experience Point plus 2d6 Requisition Points and D10 Force Points.
4a: It is HIGHLY recommended that each mission also have some sort of Requisition Point bonus.  Probably 10-20 a mission.

5: If 5, 10, 20, 40, or 80 Experience Points have been attained, the Player Character levels up.

Rolling for Survivors:

For each lost model, players roll 1d6 against Toughness. If this roll is higher than the model's Toughness or a 6 the model is Dead and must either be replaced with Requisition Points or done without until more RP has been earned. If the roll is equal to the model's T they are “Injured” and unavailable for the next mission plus lose any purchased equipment except for Armor or their default weapon.

A Player Character who suffers a Dead result loses a Destiny Point instead.

If the Players lose the mission and the GM decides they have a chance to possibly recover their fallen, the D6 Survivor Roll is instead D6-1.

For vehicles the damage result will show if it is possible to recover and repair it. If the damage result that took it out clearly shows it to be a destroyed wreck it cannot be repaired. If it was merely disabled in a manner that could be fixed, it will be unavailable for the next mission and will cost D6x5 Requisition Points to repair it.

Scavenging:

Scavenging when allowed after a mission gives the winning Players a chance to recover anything useful off of the corpses of the fallen. Roll under each Player Characters' INT with a 2D6 roll. If this roll is under the INT they find D3 useful items at the GM's discretion.

(Such as Wargear, special weapons, ect. An Imperial or Eldar campaign clearly wouldn't allow the recovery of Chaos wargear to be used by the players.)

Use Destiny Points: A Player Character who has died MUST spend a Destiny Point. If a PC has lost a mission they also lose a Destiny Point. If a PC has no more Destiny Points, the Character and his or her forces are removed from the campaign and a new Character and unit must be generated by the player.

Victory Goodies:

If the Player was on the winning side he or she gains 1 Experience Point, 2D6 Requisition Points, and 1D10 Force Points. Depending on the mission and GM fiat, there may be additional rewards.

Character Advancement:

After 5, 10, 20, 40, and 80 Experience Points have been earned (keep running total. EP does not reset upon advancement.) the Character levels up with the following rewards:

5: 10% increase in Force Points (go by current value). 1 Special Ability. 1 more Destiny Point.

10: Becomes a “Hero”. +1 WS, BS, S, T, W, I, A. 1 more Destiny Point. May now have 2 Wargear Cards. (L2 Psyker if capable)

20: 10% increase in Force Points. 1 Special Ability. 1 more Destiny Point.

40: Becomes a “Mighty Hero”. +1 WS, BS, W, I, A, LD, INT. 1 More Destiny Point. May now have 3 Wargear Cards. (L3 Psyker if capable)

80: 10% increase in Force Points. 1 Special Ability. 1 more Destiny Point.

Special Abilities

When a PC earns a Special Ability, he rolls on the chart. If a result rolled is one they already have, the PC instead earns 40 Requisition Points, 15 Force Points, and an extra Destiny Point.

1: Fearless: PC and any squad he is attached to now never have to fall back and pass any Morale check automatically.

2: Feel No Pain: The PC upon losing his last Wound in combat ignores the wounding hit on a 4+ provided the Strength of the attack is not double his Toughness.

3: Fleet of Foot: The PC may move an extra D6” when alone, or when with a squad it is D3”.

4: Furious Charge: The PC gets +1 I and S when they charge into Close Combat.

5: Preferred Enemy X: The PC may choose an enemy type/race/faction. They now may reroll 1 missed hit in Close Combat each Close Combat Phase.

6: Stealthy: The PC is -1 to hit in Ranged Combat provided he has Cover.

7: Tank Hunter: The PC now adds +1 to her Armor Penetration Rolls, and adds +1 to his squad's AP rolls if attached.

8: Wide Deployment: Any unit the PC is part of or joined now has their Squad Coherency increased by 1”.

9: Infiltrator: The PC and any unit she is part of or decides to start the mission attached to may either start 2d6” further into the battlefield, or may start “Hidden” if behind cover in the normal Deployment Zone.

10: Agressive Commander: When rolling for Turn Initiative at the start of a mission the PC rolls 2D6 and takes the highest.

11: Warp Resistant: The PC is considered to be +1 to their Ld for all Willpower checks against Psychic effects hostile to them.

12: Protector: The PC may reroll her Death result after a mission, or if he had 1 Wound remaining or more at the end of the mission he may make the first Death result rolled on his troopers be ignored.

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Well, this is pretty much it currently for my rules.  Its juuust enough to add some depth and flavor while taking the 40K rules I like best.  It generally doesn't look like it will work for any sort of non GMed game but for what I have in mind it will do nicely.

I may add or modify rules as I go though.