Dark Heresy Revamped : Chapter I - Playing The Game

Today we've got my changes to Chapter I of Dark Heresy 2nd Edition, as well as my reasoning behind said changes.

Rules Alterations :

Characteristics (P.21) :

•  The Influence characteristic is removed, no longer being a core Characteristic.

Degrees of Success and Failure (p.24) :

• Degrees of Success and Failure, once accrued, are spent by the rolling player or the GM in order to elaborate on the effects of a characters roll for good or ill. This for the most part replaces modifiers to a Test that are applied due to
• Degrees of Success are used to improve the effectiveness of a roll, such as allowing attacks to be more accurate or deal more damage, and skill attempts to be made faster or with greater efficiency
• Degrees of Failure are used to apply consequences to a characters actions, such weapons jamming or misfiring when used, or failed skill attempts to causing a character to damage their tools or worsen the circumstances they've attempted to improve.
• These "Expenditures" of Degrees of Success / Failure are referred to as "Benefits of Success" and "Consequences of Failure".
• For the exact details of Benefits and Consequences with regard to particular rolls see Chapter III : Skills, Chapter VI : Psychic Powers, Chapter VII : Combat, and Chapter VIII : Narrative Tools.

Taking Your Time (New Rule) :

• When not under pressure, threatened or distracted a character who needs to make a Characteristic or Skill test may choose to "Take Their Time".
• The GM has the final word as to whether or not a character is able to "Take Their Time" with regards to a Characteristic or Skill test.
• Instead making a D100 roll they instead treat the test results as if they had rolled a 50 on the dice.

Design Notes : 

So I've not changed a huge amount with regards to this chapter, as the core mechanics of Dark Heresy (and indeed the other 40k RPG's) are pretty damn solid. Here's my reasoning behind what I HAVE changed though.

The removal of the Influence characteristic is due to me regarding it as a statistic that is not directly linked to a character, in that it isn't an ability inherent to them unlike their physical and mental prowess. To me Influence is closer to Subtlety or Profit Factor, being a statistic that changes regularly over the course of gameplay as it is accrued, used, and lost. Influence has not been removed entirely from my revamp of Dark Heresy, but it has been substantially altered, something I'll go into detail about when I get to Chapters V and VIII.

The alteration of the rules for Degrees of Success / Failure are inspired by the Momentum / Consequence system from the 2d20 System used by the Mutant Chronicles RPG. This alteration makes the game a little more dynamic, by allowing players to decide how they benefit from their rolls after making them, instead of having to "front load" themselves with penalties whenever they want to do something special like making a called shot. Likewise introducing Consequences to their actions makes the effects of failing a roll more dramatic and interesting than "you've missed" or "you fall down the cliff", simultaneously making failure a far less binary result. One of the effects of this alteration is the effective elimination of "Optional Modifiers", such as for making a Called Shot, though bonuses and penalties due to circumstances, environment and equipment do still apply.

The rules for Taking your Time are a variation on the rules for Taking 10 from Dungeons and Dragons/Pathfinder. While page 24 does state than in situations where there are no real consequences for failure or success characters should simply be allowed to pass tests, this doesn't account for variations in ability between characters. For example a climb up a rockface may be no challenge at all to a fit and athletic character, whilst a less physically capable one would struggle to accomplish the climb. I decided on 50 as the dice result for Taking your Time due to the human average for most characteristics being 30-40, meaning that such characters taking their time should automatically pass tests with a difficulty of Routine (+20).

So that's Chapter I. If you've any thoughts on what I've written so far I'd love to hear from you, whether in the comments or by email so don't hesitate to get in touch and share your comments and criticisms. Next time I'll move on to Chapter II : Character Creation.

Until Next Time
Happy Gaming
Michael