Talents
Air of Authority
Tier: 1
Prerequisite: Fellowship 30
Aptitudes: Fellowship, Leadership
The character was born to command, either motivating or terrifying those under their charge. When making Command Skill Tests, the character may affect a number of targets equal to 100 times their Fellowship Bonus rather than just 10. If the character is giving an Order to his Squad, the order’s range is increased by 100 metres. This Talent has no effect on hostile targets and only affects NPCs.
Bulging Biceps
Tier: 2
Prerequisite: Strength 45
Aptitudes: Strength, Offence
Whereas a weaker man might be sent flying by the recoil of a heavy weapon, this character’s strong physique allows him to remain standing. The character can fire heavy weapons using Semi-Auto Burst or Full Auto Burst without bracing, and he does not suffer the –30 penalty for failing to brace.
In addition, whenever the character uses the Athletics Heft Special Skill Use (see page 117) he may add +20 to his Athletics Skill Test to reflect his massive muscles.
Crushing Blow
Tier: 3
Prerequisite: Weapon Skill 40
Aptitudes: Weapon Skill, Offence
The character has the ability to focus their entire body into close combat attacks. The character adds half their Weapon Skill Bonus rounded down to Damage they inflict in melee.
Furious Assault
Tier: 2
Prerequisite: Weapon Skill 35
Aptitudes: Weapon Skill, Offence
The character’s speed and martial prowess allow him to land several blows where lesser combatants land one. If the character successfully hits his target using the All Out Attack Action, they may spend their Reaction (and thus cannot Parry or Dodge until their next Turn) to make an additional Attack using the same bonuses or penalties as the original attack.
Hardy
Tier: 2
Prerequisite: Toughness 40
Aptitudes: Toughness, Defence
The character’s constitution rebounds quickly from shock or injury. When undergoing medical treatment or healing from injuries, the character always recovers Damage as if lightly wounded regardless of the level of Damage they have sustained.
Iron Discipline
Tier: 2
Prerequisite: Fellowship 30
Aptitudes: Fellowship, Leadership
Iron sharpens iron. The character does not coddle his squadmates nor motivate them through kindness. The character’s stalwart example and stern leadership exhorts them with steel instead of praise. If the Player Character fails a Fear or Pinning Test, his Comrade only fails if the roll was a double.
Iron Jaw
Tier: 1
Prerequisite: Toughness 40
Aptitudes: Toughness, Defence
The character has taken blows from Orks and given back as good as they got. The character can bounce back from most strikes without ill effects. If ever Stunned, a successful Toughness Test allows the character to ignore the effects.
Lightning Reflexes
Tier: 1
Prerequisite: None
Aptitudes: Agility, Fieldcraft
The character always expects trouble, even in the most innocuous situations, allowing them to act quickly when needed. When making an Initiative roll, the character may roll twice and add the higher of the two dice results to his Agility Bonus.
Street Fighting
Tier: 1
Prerequisite: Weapon Skill 30
Aptitudes: Weapon Skill, Offence
The character is adept in close and dirty fighting, favouring small weapons or even his bare hands to take down his foes. When armed with a knife (powered, chain or otherwise), similar small weapon, or simply armed with his bare hands, he adds half his Weapon Skill Bonus to any Critical Damage he inflicts.
True Grit
Tier: 3
Prerequisite: Toughness 40
Aptitudes: Toughness, Defence
The character is able to shrug off wounds that would fell lesser men. Whenever the character suffers Critical Damage (after reduction for Armour and Toughness), reduce the amount by his Toughness Bonus (to a minimum of 1).
Traits
Brutal Charge (3)
A creature with this Trait deals an extra (X) points of Damage per attack, during a Turn in which it has already charged.
Fear (1)
A creature with this Trait has an unnerving appearance. The Fear Trait always has an associated rating (1–4) to reflect just how awful the creature is to behold and is indicated by the number in parentheses (X). The higher the Fear Rating, the harder it is for others to resist going insane from the encounter, as shown on Table 5–5: Fear Rating. When a character encounters a creature with this Trait, they must make a Willpower Test, modified by the severity of the creature’s Trait.
On a success, the character may act as normal.
On a failure, the character must roll on Table 9–5: shock (see page 304), adding +10 to the roll for every Degree of Failure by which the Willpower Test was failed.
Table 5–5: Fear Rating |
Fear Rating |
Penalty |
Disturbing (1) |
0 |
Frightening (2) |
–10 |
Horrifying (3) |
–20 |
Terrifying (4) |
–30 |
SHOCK - Roll d100 and add 10 for every Degree of Failure. |
Roll |
Result |
1-20 |
The character is badly startled. He may only take a single Half Action during his next Turn, but afterward he may act normally. |
21-40 |
Fear grips the character and he begins to shake and tremble. He suffers a –10 penalty on all Tests for the rest of the encounter unless he can recover his wits (see Shock and Snapping Out of It, page 305). |
41-60 |
Reeling with shock, the character backs away from the source of his Fear. The character cannot willingly approach the object of his Fear, but may otherwise act normally, with a –10 penalty on all Tests until the end of the encounter. |
61-80 |
The character is frozen by terror. He may take no Actions until he Snaps Out of It (see Shock and Snapping Out of It, page 305). After snapping out of it, the character makes all Tests with a 10 penalty for the rest of the encounter. |
81-100 |
Panic grips the character. He must flee the source of his fear, if able, as fast as he can, and if prevented from doing so, may only take Half Actions and is at a –20 penalty to all Tests. Once away from the danger, he must successfully Snap Out of It (see Shock and Snapping Out of It, page 305) to regain control. |
101-120 |
Fainting dead away, the character keels over and remains unconscious for 1d5 Rounds. Once he regains consciousness, he is still shaken and takes all Tests with a –10 penalty until the end of the encounter. |
121-130 |
Totally overcome, the character screams and vomits uncontrollably for 1d5 Rounds. During this time he may do nothing, and drops anything he is holding. Afterward, until the end of the encounter, the character may only take a single Half Action each Turn until he has a chance to rest. |
131-140 |
The character laughs hysterically and randomly attacks anything near him in a manic frenzy, firing wildly or attacking with whatever he has at hand. This effect lasts until the character Snaps Out of It (see Shock and Snapping Out of It, page 305), or until he is knocked unconscious. |
141-160 |
The character crumples to the ground for 1d5+1 Rounds and begins sobbing, babbling, and tearing at his own flesh, and may do nothing else. Even after he returns to his senses, he is a complete mess, and suffers a –20 penalty on all Tests until the end of the encounter. |
161-170 |
The character’s mind snaps. He becomes catatonic for 1d5 hours and may not be roused. |
171+ |
The character is so overcome with terror that his heart immediately stops. He must make a Challenging (+0) Toughness Test or die. If the Test is successful the character still falls catatonic for 1d5 hours as above. |
Size (Hulking)
Creatures come in one of ten different size categories, as shown on the table below for Size. Size affects movement, how well the creature can hide and move undetected, and how easy or hard it is to strike in combat. When calculating movement, apply the size modifier first, and then other modifiers from other Traits or Talents (such as Quadruped). For the purposes of comparison, a human is a Size (4) creature. Note that a creature’s movement cannot be reduced to less than 1.
Size |
Size |
To Hit Modifier |
Stealth |
Base Movement |
Miniscule (1) (Autoquill, Knife) |
–30 |
+30 |
AB–3 |
Puny (2) (Bolt pistol, Servo-skull) |
–20 |
+20 |
AB–2 |
Weedy (3) (Gretchin, Human Child) |
–10 |
+10 |
AB–1 |
Average (4) (Human, Eldar) |
0 |
0 |
AB |
Hulking (5) (Ork Nob, Armoured Space Marines) |
+10 |
–10 |
AB+1 |
Enormous (6) (Sentinel Walker, Krootox) |
+20 |
–20 |
AB+2 |
Massive (7) (Battle Tank, Greater Daemon) |
+30 |
–30 |
AB+3 |
Immense (8) (Land Raider, Great Knarloc) |
+40 |
–40 |
AB+4 |
Monumental (9) (Squiggoth, Baneblade) |
+50 |
–50 |
AB+5 |
Titanic (10) (Reaver Battle Titan, Ordinatus War Machine) |
+60 |
–60 |
AB+6 |
Make it Work
Unreliable Ork weapons are not Unreliable in an Ork’s hands.
Might Makes Right
An Ork may use the Intimidate Skill to perform the actions listed under the Command Skill, when commanding other Orks, Gretchin, Squigs, or Snotlings.
Mob Rule
All Orks and Gretchin are latently psychic—an ability which increases in strength the more of them there are in one place. This bolsters their confidence and courage to near-fearless levels when they gather en masse. For every additional Ork within 10m, an Ork gains a +10 bonus to Willpower Tests to resist the effects of Fear and Pinning. This Trait works identically for Gretchin, thought they gain the bonus from other nearby Gretchin, not Orks.
Sturdy
Sturdy creatures are hard to move and thus gain a +20 bonus to Tests made to resist grappling and uses of the Takedown Talent.
Unnatural Strength (4) , Unnatural Toughness (5)
One or more of the creature’s Characteristics is unnaturally enhanced. This is indicated by a number that is then added directly to the relevant Characteristic Bonus. For example, a creature with a Strength of 41 normally has a 4 Strength Bonus. If the creature had Unnatural Characteristic Strength (3) then its Strength Bonus increases to 7 (4+3). A creature may have this Trait more than once. Each time, it is applied to a new Characteristic. In addition, whenever someone with an Unnatural Characteristic succeeds on a Test utilising that Characteristic, they gain a number of bonus Degrees of Success equal to half of their Unnatural Characteristic.