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#1 jahatch28 Nov 07, 2010 15:36:53

So, first off, in anybody knows of somebody that's already done this, let me know so I don't waste everyone's time =p 2nd off, if there are any copyright issues, eh.. so be it... So, basically I was wondering if I could re-skin D&D to fit into the universe of space marines, inquisitors, orks, tyranids, etc.. I used to play GW games about 10 years ago, and still read some of the novels, and was inspired by the idea of mixing the Inquisitor game, the new Deathwatch RPG, and my favorite table top RPG D&D.... So, basically, my thought was that your basic Tactical Marine would be a slightly over-buffed human defender type... start off with your basic array (or let players buy stat points as normal) but the Marine would get +2 Str and +2 Con (instead of just +2 to one stat), you'd get +2 to all saves (+1 to all as human, then +1 to all as basically a paladin).  HP and Surges would be as defenders. Now is where we get a bit outside the balance of 4e and start mixing stuff which may mess up the power levels, but hey, that's why it's called playtesting: All marines would get Toughness as a bonus feat, all would basically get Dwarven Resilience to use their 2nd wind as a minor, and basically they'd also get the Dwarven Encumbered Speed if they were wearing Power Armor/aka Platemail. Additional starting powers will be more based on the racial encounter powers from other races but will depend on the chapter of SM that you take... examples - Ultramarines will get the Human +4 bonus to a roll Dark Angels will get something like the dwarven resist pushing/pull/slide by 1 or the Goliath Resist 5 for a turn Blood Angels will get the 1/2orc extra damage on a hit or maybe the Shifter Longtooth racial Space Wolves will get either some racial bonus to perception and initiative or the Razorclaw Shifting racial ability or something like that to give each PC some variation since armor and bonus stats will be similar. Now, picking powers becomes an issue... and I think what I see in Essentials makes more sense.. attacks are going to be more basic melee or basic ranged modified by the type of weapon or even some type of stance ... and what I was thinking was that at-wills and encounters will be more based on the weapon and less that class/race involved... so, a chainsword will be more like a +2 attack vs AC doing d8+str damage with the brutal 1 attribute as a basic attack with maybe some encounter ability to do a cleave or something... a powersword would be more like a +3 attack vs AC doing d8+str damage with high crit and maybe some parry ability a poweraxe would be more like +2 att vs AC, d10 dmg and brutal 2 a powerfist would be +2 att vs AC, 2d6 dmg, Brutal 1, Defensive 1 or something similar.... and of course, since the game will likely have a lot more ranged attacks than your basic D&D game, there will be things like frag grenades that would be +2 attack vs AC or Ref?, Burst 1, Range 6, 1d6 damage or something... bolters would have a basic attack but also some sort of semi-auto or full auto burst attack or something like that... plasma weapons would have brutal and high crit, but also house ruled critical miss/jams or something like that... Now, I was also thinking of making different types of marines, like assault marines that would be more based on the Striker Template, or Apothecary or Techmarines based on Leader Templates, and maybe a Librarian or Devastator based on Controller Templates... I also wanted to have the option of PCs making Inquisitors that would be less robust than the Marines (change the ability score bonus, not auto toughness, not necessarily have to be wearing Power Armor) but they would instead have more utility like powers or racial powers based on the Deva or Githzerai with saves bonuses to Will and access to some more esoteric equipment or combinations of equipment... My concern at this point are: 1)  that if a lot of the PCs have very high Armor Classes is that going to unbalance the game?  I'm not overly concerned because I can always increase the level of the enemy if the PCs are walking through an encounter too easily 2) does 4e D&D actually translate to ranged battles?  I mean, most "firefights" in real life wars are actually very close together, as most guns are very inaccurate at even modest ranges, but in almost all D&D battles there are a good # of melee combatants and will the game slow down too much if a lot of the enemy are behind cover and using ranged weapons too?  I don't plan on having massive battles over huge empty fields.. this is still an RPG even if a lot of the rules focus on combat, and any fights are likely going to be through ruins or cramped spaceships/hulks, etc, but I wonder if the game translates well. and finally, 3), is the game going to be lethal enough?... one of the things about futuristic games that is always hard to pull off is that the weapons are theoretically more lethal (plasma weapon vs a crossbow for example) but you don't want your PCs being one or two shot by lucky dice rollls and vice versa it's pretty anticlimactic when the arch enemy is taking hit after hit after hit and none of your super guns are doing anything... maybe some sort of "critical hit table" or "hit location table" would be something to add in although I fear slowing the game down with too much extra stuff that isn't found in regular 4e. Finally, is there anything in the new Gamma World that might be useful?  Are there more ranged powers or weapons being used due to the setting that I might be able to refer to or copy? Anyway, any feedback or guidance is appreciated, Josh