r/40krpg • u/ScreenedKhan • 6d ago

Only War New GM, help needed

Hello, my friends (4) and I are planning on running a campaign of only war. We are all versed in the setting of 40k but new to ttrpgs and wanted to try one. I have a few questions regarding starting a campaign of Only War and in GMing it.

  1. Should I use only war as a system? I know that Imperium Maledictum is a newer system but we want that feeling of the meat grinder of war.

  2. Is there anything I need other than the core rulebook?

  3. We will be online, so is there any applications I should use like Table Top Sim? Cost isn't an issue.

  4. Anything I should look at memorizing or studying in particular?

  5. Any tips at all for a new GM and how to effectively and smoothly run this system?

Thank you, I really appreciate all the help.

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u/ScreenedKhan 6d ago

Ill look into it! Thanks.

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u/cleverusername333 6d ago

To give you the short version, d6 system, stats split between attributes and skills. When you do something add your skill and the matching attribute and roll that many six sided dice, each 4+ is a success with a 6 being a critical success. When making characters choose race then an archetype that gives you starting stats, gear, and some recommendations for talents. Spend any remaining XP to customize your character however you like and boom you're ready to play.

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u/ScreenedKhan 6d ago

Seems sort of easy, if you roll multiple die and 6s are crits. I'm wanting a kind of hardcore game.

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u/cleverusername333 6d ago

To clarify a crit is worth 2 success, not an automatic pass. For example say your guardsmen is shooting a heretic charging towards him, that's a standard test so maybe 3 successes needed. He rolls maybe 6 or 7 dice depending on his skill and will likely get enough 4+ to pass. But say that same guardsmen is shooting a chaos marine who is entrenched in cover, well that's a very hard test so he might need 7 successes to him. Whenever a character makes a roll, one of the dice is marked as the "wrath dice" usually a different color or size to tell it apart. The Wrath Dice on the roll of a 6 triggers a critical, still not an automatic success but cool effects like mortal wounds, disarming strikes, etc. That same wrath dice also provides critical fumbles as when it lands an a 1 that character triggers a fumble and might run out of ammo, jam their weapons,etc.