Background Checks,

Or Once Upon A Time I

As it stands now in Dark Heresy, new characters have backgrounds and pasts that are comprised solely of worlds of origin, a few background package options, initial career path
bonuses, a roll on the Emperors Tarot and 400 XP, notions
that help flesh out the character, but not as much as it could.
The following house rules amend the mechanics of Dark Heresy enough to enable characters to be a bit more competent,
more diverse and a bit more fleshed out and start on par with
Rogue Trader characters without sacrificing game balance or
the feel of the setting.
Starting Experience
While these house rules work just fine if using only the
normal 400 XP starting XP (or 500 if using with Rogue
Trader options), it is recommended the GMs use these
rules with characters that start with 1000 XP.

Characteristics
Characters have their starting characteristics determined by
rolling 2D10 and adding this roll to 25. The player rolls 9
times and assigns the results as he or she pleases, optionally,
with GM permission, characters may be built using the optional rules on page 14 of the Rogue Trader Core Rulebook
Allocating Points.
If rolling, the GM may allow the character to have his or her
lowest roll either rerolled or raised to an 11. This is entirely
up to the GM.
Example: Brien is creating a new character and he gets the following
results on his 9 rolls: 16, 12, 8, 3, 12, 19, 13, 14, and 11. Dissatisfied with the 3 he asks if the GM is using the reroll or adjust to 11
rule and the GM says yes, allowing Brien to reroll the 3. Brien rerolls
and gets a 9, much better. He scores turn out as follows (once adding
25 to them): 41, 37, 33, 34, 37, 44, 38, 39 and 36. Deciding his
favorite character from the Eisenhorn novels is Harlon Nayl he assigns
his characteristics as follows:
WS
T
PER

37
41
38

BS
AG
WP

44
39
37

S
INT
FEL

33
34
36

I come from a Landunder!

Characters can use any of the origins from Dark Heresy Core
Rulebook, The Inquisitors Handbook, The Radicals Handbook and Rogue Trader. Once a character has his or her origin chosen he or she applies the appropriate modifiers to his
or her characteristics as follows.
Death World
+5 S, +5 T, -5 WP, -5 FEL RT PG17
Feral
+5 S, +5 T, -5 WP, -5 FEL DH PG14
Forge World
-5 WS, +5 INT
IHB PG9
Hive
-5 T, +5 FEL
DH PG16
Imperial
No Modifiers
DH PG18
Mind Cleansed +5 WP, -5 FEL
IHB PG11
Noble Born
-5 WP, +5 FEL
IHB PG15
Schola Progenium No Modifiers
IHB PG18
Void Born
-5 S, +5 WP
DH PG20

Divergent Specific Worlds of origin (such as Hive Mutant,

Dusk and Tainted Blood of Malfi) use a combination of the
above modifiers and those modifiers presented in their entries.
For the Death Worlder, ignore the Rogue Trader Wounds
and Fate rules and determine their total Wounds and Fate
Points as if they were Feral Worlders.
Example: Brien decides to make his character, who he has named
Dante, a Hive Worlder. He further decides that Dante is from Gunmetal City. He notes his modifiers of +5 FEL and -5 T for being a
Hive Worlder (making his FEL 41 and his T 36) and then adds in
his +5 BS for being from Gunmetal City for a starting BS of 49.
There was a Time!
Every character has a past, he or she comes from somewhere
or more importantly has experienced variable and different
things. These events called Background Events, shape and
mold a character before play starts and represent the experience and knowledge a character accumulates before the game
begins.
Starting characters receive 500 XP to spend on Background
options. These XPs may be spent on a variety of options detailed below, but may not be spent on advances, skills or talents based on a characters career path (with the exception of
Rank Jumping, see below) that normal XP are spent on.
Each of the following cost 100XP
Background Event
Background of Note
Background Skill
Characteristic Reroll
Fate Point Bonus
Heirloom Object
Rank Jump
Wound Bonus
In addition these XP may be spent on Background packages
as found on pages 26-38 of the Inquisitors Handbook and
pages 35-39 of the Radicals Handbook. In addition, The
Exorcised (pages 70-71 of the Radicals Handbook) is now
considered a Background package as well as a Elite Advance
package.

Dissention in the Ranks,

or how I got from there to
here!
Ranks in Dark Heresy are earned in the current system and
not gained by means of any coherent or logical sense other
then you have X number of Experience Points. With the
following option rule PCs and NPCs can advance faster in
their career field at the expense of being less capable and
experienced in their tradecraft, but offering more diverse
skills and talents available for advancement purchases.
Rank and File
Characters no longer automatically advance from one rank
to the next rank. To increase from one rank to another the
PC (or NPC) must meet certain in game and out of game
requirements. At its simplest, a character must spend 100 XP
to advance their character to the next rank. This allows characters to skip over ranks without having to spend the required XP on advances and instead allows them to gain access
to new and diverse skills, at the sacrifice of having already
purchased skills and talents and other advances.
A character may not spend more then half his or her starting
XP to jump ranks.
Characters are no long required to keep track of their expended or spent XP as it is no longer used to calculate their
rank.
Example: Pete and Josh are creating characters for a new Dark Heresy
campaign. Both have decided to play Guardsmen, but while Pete is
more then willing to start off as a fresh recruit dragged from his bed in
the middle of the night and inducted into the Imperial Guard, Josh
wishes to play a spoiled noble born brat and opts to spend 200 of his
starting XP to start at rank 3, Armsman. Whereas Pete has all his XP
to spend but only on rank 1 advances, while Josh has 200 less XP left
to spend on rank 1, 2 and 3 advances and any additional XP he earns
can be spent at any of the ranks.
Rank has its Privileges
Alternate Career ranks are still available as normal and still
hold onto the requirements presented in early rules and
manuals, including rank prerequisites. However, to ascend
into an Alternate Career rank a character must spend an additional 100XP, unless the Alternate Career rank is available as
a Rank 1 option (such as Metallican Gunslinger or Penal Legionnaire).
Example: Joshs noble born Guardsman has a very influential father
who has pulled some strings for his dear son within the Lucid Palace
therefore Josh spends his next 100 XP to take on the rank 3 Alternate
Career rank of Chaliced Commissariat Operative. Meanwhile Pete
decides his character has had a real run of bad luck in the past and
isnt in the Guard by choice, leafing through the optional Alternate
Career ranks available to him he settles on Penal Legionnaire and
selects it. As a rank 0/1 Alternate Career rank it costs him 0 XP to
take the rank.
Take this Job and Shove it!
Sometimes a Guardsman stops being a Guardsman and sometimes an unlucky rogue of Scum gets drafted. What results is
more then just an Alternate Career rank, but an entire Alter-

nate Career Path! At any point in a characters career, with

GM permission and as long as it fits the character in story, a
character can spend 200 XP to go to rank 1 of another career. Careers that cannot be switched into are as follows:
Adepta Sororitas, Imperial Psyker or Tech Priest. However,
Adepta Sororitas, Imperial Psykers and Tech Priests can move
out of their career and with the exception of the Adepta Sororitas, can spend another 200 XP to move back to their last
rank in their previous career.
While in the new career path the character still uses his or her
original Characteristic Advances table from the initial career.
In order to ascend into a new career a character must meet the
following prerequisites.
Adept
Arbitrator
Assassin
Cleric
Guardsman
Scum

INT or PER 35, or both INT and PER 30

PER 35
WS or BS 40
WP or FEL 35, or both WP and FEL 30
WS or BS 35, or both WS and BS 30
AG or FEL 35, or both AG and FEL 30

Example: After a few adventures, Petes Legionnaire has had a chance

to deal with the black market quite often and finds it more lucrative to
become a Scum and be involved with the underworld. Checking for
GMs approval, Pete spends 200 XP and is now considered a Scum for
skill, talent and rank advancements. However, he still has to pay the
cost for characteristic advances as if he were a Guardsman.