WIP - Salamander's Codex

[wittdooley]

@Dooley - I really like that idea. Make it like Mark of the Wulfen. I still have to figure out some kind of Army special rule akin to how SW get counterattack and Blood Angels get Descent of Angels. I think the way to go is with slow and purposeful somehow, but I have to figure out what that method is.

Anyways, here's some new updates, this time for Dak'ir, the Veteran-turned-librarian features in the Tome of Fire trilogy. For those that haven't read, he's supposed to be an extremely powerful (more powerful than Val'cona, the Sallies head librarian) but HIGHLY unstable psyker. I tried to write the rules to reflect that.

[url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/60733910@N07/6092799793/][/url]
[url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/60733910@N07/6092799793/]Dakir[/url] by [url=http://www.flickr.com/people/60733910@N07/]wittdooley[/url], on Flickr

A fair amount of randomness with him, but again, this Dex is for fun.

[wittdooley]

So here's an update on the Salamanders Psychic Powers:

[url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/60733910@N07/6093078943/][/url]
[url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/60733910@N07/6093078943/]Psychic Powers[/url] by [url=http://www.flickr.com/people/60733910@N07/]wittdooley[/url], on Flickr

I think the powers are, for the most part balanced. I think I need to nerf the Breath power down to AP 3 (as much as I want to make it a Terminator killer)

[Dooley]

A couple more ideas from the "GOOD IDEA" Fairy:
Instead of coming up with UNIVERSAL SPECIAL Rules just come up with some new Stuff ie:

Master Artificers: Since ALL Salamanders take meticulous care of their Arms and Armor allow squads to upgrade either their bolters to MASTER CRAFTED STATUS or upgrade their Armor to Artificer Armor Status (really mess up the wounds allocation game with random 2+ armor saves running around!)

Hatred of Dark Eldar: Going off of recent fluff All Salamanders have prefered Enemy Dark Eldar!

Also go back to giving them the option to outfit their vehicles with the ceramite plating (no 2d6 armor Penetration from melta weapons)

Damn it now I REALLY want an official Salamanders Codex. But Im sure if it did happen it would become the Flavor of the week and I would get pissy at all the bandwagon Sally players :P

[wittdooley]

I love all of these ideas. They shall be incorporated.

What do you think of Da'kir/ Libby powers. I struggled a lot with them. My buddy thinks that Da'kir is too random, but I really think I was able to represent the fluff pretty well there. Of course, all of this will require testing, etc, so it is what it is.

[Dooley]

Yeah Im not so sure on D'Kir (SP?) He has a ld 8 (wich I get, he is not really a full up Librarian as such) but rolling 3D6 and hoping for no doubles?? Thats like a 50% chance he will end up rolling on the new 40K miscast table! (Im not a math Major so the 50% may not be accurate) I would try and think of something a little less Fantasy on that one (no one likes Tables) Perhaps a "ITS FOR YOUR OWN GOOD" kinda tweak?

I get the whole "HE COULD BE THE SAVIOR OR THE DOOM OF THE CHAPTER" vibe on that one! But I think he could be a little MORE SAVIOR OR DOOM!

An idea for a rule could be:
"At the end of the game as long as he is alive make a pyscic test. If the Test is passed D'kir has discovered an Ancient relic valuable to the Salamanders and counts as holding 2 Objectives, regardless of other enemy models (in objective based games) If the Test is faild, D'Kir has let his mental accumen slip and has unleashed the full furry of the warp! D'Kir and any squad he has joined are removed from the board counting as destroyed and awarding DOUBLE Victory/Kill points."

Pyscic Tuetalage: Remembering his teachings D'Kir is allowed to re-roll 1 of the Dice (or maybe all 3) of a psycic test ONCE per game.

As far as the Psycic powers are concerned they are pretty much standard Powers which isnt so bad. This is kinda fun! Im glad you appritiate my ideas and I think it is weird that two guys named Dooley have the same interest in this.

[gcsmith]

I think mark of the fire brand should be something that makes them +1 toughness which isnt used for instant death, Taking less damage from a melta just cus u dnt get burnt doesnt make sence since a melta gun doesnt burn, it disintergrates.

[Archon Charybdis]

I'm a bit leery of Tu'Shan's melee capability. Striking at I5 with a S10 power weapon and four attacks base is rather overboard, especially when the character is so durable (2+/3++, 4 wounds, and EW). If you dropped the striking at Initiative, and reduced his points I think it would be a more balanced approach.

Slow and Purposeful as an army wide special rule is probably way more beneficial than it is a hindrance. The ability to jump out of a moving Rhino or Drop Pod and fire your heavy weapons is a pretty big boost, and Bolters can fire out at 24'' while on the move now.

I do like Dak'ir, the rules seem flavorful and interesting. I might tweak the psychic instability chart to be a bit more forgiving. A 2d6 range and S8 hit are probably a bit punitive. I'd personally make it a large blast centered over him, and reduce the S so it's not a instagib against T4. Also, you might change a roll of 6 to let him automatically cast any other power instead of the same one twice--almost half the list would serve no purpose to cast twice.

The psychic powers all seem fairly interesting, I'd bump up The Burning and Wreath of Flames abit though. The Burning I'd make a S5 hit (still requiring a to wound roll) but allow the Librarian to still make his attacks. Wreath of Flames I'd also say cause an assaulting unit to take dangerous terrain tests--Defensive Grenades are handy but not crazy, and it's too situational of an ability without a little something extra.

[wittdooley]

Tu'Shan has been the biggest point of contention for me and my buddy that's offering some temperance to the rule writing. I think I'd rather lower him to 3 attacks (which is so low for a chapter master) than change the striking at I w/ his hammer. One of the biggest fluff points for him is that he's enormous (almost primarch sized) so I thought striking at Initiative with the thunder hammer was a good way to show this. I could dump the strikes at I and give him 5 wounds, and simply make him a truck. I don't thing his melee prowess should be the best in the imperium; clearly he shouldn't be. But he was impressive enough as a new master to make Dante stop and pause, so that's something.

The biggest issue is that there is so very little written about the Salamanders. I can only glean so much from Tome of Fire trilogy.

I agree that slow and purposeful isn't really a hindrance. It just seemed like an appropriate rule to fit their fluff, though I think some of Dooley's suggest may fit just as well.

Agreed on Dak'ir. I actually thought I changed the 2D6. I think the large template is probably appropriate, and I agree with lowering to S7.

I'm presently designing Praetor as a Firedrakes add on; I'm having trouble not making him too much like Arjac from the SW dex. If anyone has any suggestions there, please lemme know.

Also, I'm having trouble finding the names of the 7 Sanctuary Cities. If anyone can help me out with these, I'd appreciate it. I'll have some more updates tomorrow, most likely.

[wolflold]

Tu'Shan is way to powerfull! If you want to field him that way i say he should be atleast 350+ pts.

i would do it like this:

- change S5 to S4, 4A to 3A
- give him a meltagun (would look cooler on terminator armour and makes more sense )
- lose 'into the fires of battle'
- unto the anvil of war: Tu'shan my forgo his attacks and make 1 attack instead. Place a small blast marker in contact with him, all models under the blast marker get a str8 hit and count as ini1 next combat phase.
- nocturne's shroud: gives 3++ save and boosts toughness to 5 (and is counted as his own toughness).
- brand of the fireborne: any unit he is with get the relentless special rule.
- and that for 275 pts

[wittdooley]

I like the ideas, but is boosting his T to 5 really more balanced than his Str being at 5?

I'm beginning to hate this character