Editing Daemon Weapon (section)

===Dark Heresy 2e===

The rules for daemon weapons were introduced in Enemies Beyond, and they are a doozy.  The power of a daemon weapon depends on the daemon bound to it, mostly its Willpower bonus (so its Unnatural Willpower counts), which adds to both its damage and penetration values.  They also negate the defensive bonuses of the Daemonic trait, as if they were [[Force Weapons]].

Additionally, each daemon weapon has a number of randomly-chosen special powers equal to its Willpower bonus minus the binding strength, which we'll get to in a moment.  These powers are chosen from two tables, one for all daemon weapons, with options like adding Tearing, adding Crippling at a value of the daemon's willpower bonus, or adding an additional d10 damage die plus Felling (4), and one table depending on the kind of daemon.

Khornate daemons can, among other options, protect you from psychic powers, give a straight +10 to attack rolls, or offer massive bonuses to called shots to the head.  Tzeentchi deamon weapons can hide in plain sight while penalize its targets' Evasion rolls, gain the Flame and Warp Weapon qualities, or serve as an actual Force Weapon, except using the daemon's Willpower and Psy Rating.  Nurglite daemon weapons are gross, emitting a stench that penalizes the rolls of everyone around you, or just shooting a stream of bile up to 30 meters as an added ranged attack.  Slaaneshi daemon weapons can be Toxic at a value of half the daemon's Willpower bonus (and no, there is no way for a Nurglite daemon weapon to gain Toxic), or grant the wielder Unnatural Agility at the same value.

There are, of course, significant downsides.  The daemon will battle you for control, in an Opposed Willpower test that favors it at -10, but is itself penalized for -5 times the binding strength, and frankly most daemons don't have a super-high Willpower anyway, with Bloodletters rolling in at 34 and Horrors at 36, though Daemonettes have 51.  The daemon gets to try again if you get stunned, and if it ever wins, it gains control of your character indefinitely, ending only if the weapon it taken from you, though at the GM's discretion you might be given another shot in certain circumstances.

Each daemon weapon has a Personality, which needless to say is a hefty drawback.  Examples include inflicting damage on the wielder on a miss, and losing all its powers if you use another weapon that encounter.  Finally, if the daemon weapon is ever destroyed, immediately roll Perils of the Warp.  On any result that has a daemon show up, substitute the daemon named with the bound daemon, which immediately tries to kill its now-disarmed wielder.

Needless to say, you can't just get a daemon weapon on a Requisition test.  You either need to pry them out of your enemies' cold dead hands, or make one yourself.  

To do that, you need a weapon, and then roll an Opposed Willpower test against your daemon of choice at '''-60'''.  Fortunately, you're given a list of options to help on that roll.  A weapon you made for the purpose helps, though you need to succeed on a Forbidden Lore roll, and a weapon of Best Craftsmanship helps a bit, too.  A weapon that's killed at least a thousand foes grants a bonus, though to find out if it has, you need to pass a Psyniscience test.  Conversely, a weapon of Common Craftsmanship penalizes your roll, and trying to bind a daemon to a weapon that's never killed anyone is suicide.  Finally, knowing the daemon's True Name offers a massive +30 bonus to ALL Opposed Willpower tests against it.

Oh, and a Low-Tech melee weapon offers a modest bonus on the binding test, and takes best advantage of the elimination of the Primitive quality on daemon weapons.  On the other hand, a ranged daemon weapon doesn't have a clip or reload value, because the daemon provides unlimited ammo, speaking of Requisition tests.  At least, unlimited normal ammo, as this is specifically mentioned as stopping you from using special ammo like inferno shells or scrambler rounds, though what this does to weapons like grenade launchers that don't even ''have'' damage or penetration values except what its ammo gives it, isn't explained.

I hope we don't need to explain that all this nonsense will give you Corruption points.

Let's give an example.  Suppose Acolyte Hereticacious acquires the ritual to summon a [[Bloodthirster]] during a raid on some cultists.  He decides he wants to bind the monster to his brand-new Eviscerator.  By some miracle, he scrapes together whatever materials and assistants he need to pass the -60 Forbidden Lore test, and at the end of the ritual, the Bloodthirster appears.  He rolls an Opposed Willpower test against the greater daemon, which starts at -60, adding -10 because the weapon is Common Workmanship, and an additional -30 because the weapon, being brand-new, has never taken a life.

A Bloodthirster has a Willpower of 75.  Needless to say, the binding fails.  To add injury to injury, the section on Khornate daemons in Enemies Beyond mentions that the majority of Khornate activity takes the form of Crimson Incursions, a series of increasingly-worse daemonic invasions, led by increasingly-powerful Bloodthirsters.  There have been seven so far, and the eighth will likely be led by one of Khorne's Exalted Bloodthirsters, and so the Inquisition is desperately hunting down any cult foolish enough to summon a Bloodthirster.  [[Fail| Acolyte Hereticacious has just killed the entire Askellon Sector]].

If he had somehow succeeded, well, a Bloodthirster's Willpower bonus is 10, thanks to its Unnatural Willpower (3).  Assuming a binding strength of 1, his 2d10+S R 9 Pen Tearing, Razor Sharp, Unwieldy weapon - not half bad - would become a 2d10+10+S R 19 Pen Tearing, Razor Sharp, Unwieldy weapon as a start, and then the dumbest, smuggest dumbest player at your table rolls nine times on the attributes tables - except that since there are only five entries on each table, and one just gives Tearing and Razor Sharp, let's just give him all of them.

Acolyte Hereticacious now has a 3d10+10+S R 19 Pen Tearing, Razor Sharp, Unwieldy, Crippling (10), Felling (4) weapon, that grants him Fear (1) and +10 on every attack made with it, and every enemy struck by it, assuming they can survive the ~30 wounds they take, loses 1d10 Toughness and gains a level of Fatigue.  Also, psychic powers affecting him suffers a -20 on the Focus Powers test, and every time he draws the weapon, he must pass a +0 Willpower test or Frenzy, as per the Frenzy talent.  Finally, whenever he makes a Called Shot to the head, instead of doing so as a full action at a -20 penalty, it's a half action at no penalty, and he gains Vengeful (8) on it.  The odds that he doesn't roll an 8 or above with four dice, by the way, are less than one in four.

But of course, that is not what would happen.  What would happen is that Hereticacious would fail the binding test and die hilariously.  And even had he succeeded, he would still need to contend with that Willpower of 75 the first time he drew the weapon, and every time he's stunned, at a -5 penalty.

Let's look at a more sane example.  Suppose Acolyte Gallant acquired the True Name of a Horror of Tzeentch.  He Requisitions a Best Craftsmanship Truncheon, 1d10+1+S I 0 Pen Primitive (8) that give +10 on all tests with it, then he goes out and kills someone with it; such is life in the Imperium.  He begins the ritual to summon the Horror, and then bind it.  A Horror has a Willpower of 36, and Unnatural Willpower (3), and the -60 opposed test is knocked down to -40 for having a Best Craftsmanship Low-Tech melee weapon, and then down to just -10 because its True Name is known.

Success is rather more likely (and if it isn't, killing the Horror won't be impossible).  Gallant now has a 1d10+7+S Pen 6 weapon that add +10 on all tests with it.  That's better than a [[Power Sword]], and rolling four or five times on the tables could give it Crippling (6), Flame and Warp Weapon, and/or Tearing, or maybe it'll buff up the damage to 2d10+7+S and add Felling (4), or require observes to pass an Awareness test at -20 to notice it's not a regular old club while adding a -10 to its targets' Evasion tests.  With five rolls, you might just get all five of those.  Or maybe you'll roll Sorcerous Force instead of one of those, adding 4 to damage and 6 to Pen.

Of course, Acolyte Gallant will need to make opposed Willpower tests against the daemon from time to time but knowing the daemon's True Name brings that test from a -5 to a +25, up to a +30 if he got a second-level binding on it. All for the low, low cost of damnation.

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{{40k-Imperial-Weapons}}
[[Category: Warhammer Fantasy]] [[Category: Warhammer 40,000]] [[Category: Chaos]] [[Category: Daemons]]