Deathwatch – WH40K Space Marine roleplay

In August 2018 we presented two offers featuring Deathwatch, the Ulisses North America RPG of elite Space Marines fighting enemies of the Emperor in the grim dark future of Warhammer 40,000. Deathwatch Essentials had the core rulebook and key supplements in .PDF; if you’re new to the game, start here. The companion collection, Deathwatch Missions, added .PDF sourcebooks and scenarios. Between them, these two offers presented the entire Deathwatch roleplaying line.

In the 41st Millennium, the Emperor sits immobile on the Golden Throne of Earth. He is the master of Mankind by the will of the gods, and master of a million worlds by the might of his inexhaustible armies. He is a rotting carcass writhing invisibly with power from the Dark Age of Technology. He is the Carrion Lord of the Imperium for whom a thousand souls are sacrificed every day, so that he may never truly die. Vast armies give battle in his name on uncounted worlds. Greatest of his soldiers are the Adeptus Astartes — the bio-engineered super-soldiers better known as Space Marines.

You are a Space Marine in the Deathwatch, an elite warrior brotherhood that safeguards humanity against vile xenos (aliens), heretics, mutants, and worse. In loyal service to the Emperor, you undertake special missions against deadly adversaries in the Jericho Reach, a region of the Imperium devastated by war and on the brink of annihilation. You will face challenges from the ravening horror of a Tyranid Hive Tyrant to the excruciating decision whether an Imperial world’s population can be saved or must be abandoned to an encroaching alien menace.

Like the knights of Camelot, Deathwatch Space Marines are veteran warriors, each a hero with a story. Great accomplishments and strong personalities distinguish them from the Battle-Brothers of their home Chapters. Relative to the player characters in other WH40K RPGs, Deathwatch PCs top the scale, alongside the Chaos cultists of Black Crusade. (If you saw our two Dark Heresy First Edition offers in December 2017, a starting Deathwatch Marine can match the most powerful Dark Heresy 1E Acolyte.) This presents roleplaying opportunities unique in WH40K. The Space Marines on a Kill-team are strong-willed, successful individuals, but the team must work together or face annihilation. The characters’ obligation to subdue their individual natures, to sacrifice their pride and put aside differences, creates drama and excitement.

1. Deathwatch Essentials

This bargain-priced Essentials lineup included .PDF ebooks of the 400-page full-color Deathwatch core rulebook and the important supplements — everything you need to start reclaiming the Jericho Reach. There were three titles in this offer’s Starter Collection (retail value $70) as DRM-free .PDF ebooks, including the complete full-color 400-page Deathwatch core rulebook (and the free Final Sanction Quickstart rules) plus two supplements that help define your Space Marine character’s background: First Founding and Honour the Chapter.

Those who paid more than this offer’s threshold (average) price also got this offer’s entire Bonus Collection with four key supplements worth an additional $75, including the indispensable rules expansion Rites of Battle, The Emperor’s Chosen (with rules for veteran Space Marines), the Mark of the Xenos bestiary, and the Deathwatch Game Master’s Kit with useful reference charts.

2. Deathwatch Missions
[sourcebooks and scenarios]

This companion Missions collection had the rest of the Deathwatch line. These sourcebooks and scenarios build out your campaign across the Jericho Reach.

There were four titles in this offer’s Starter Collection (retail value $65), including Ark of Lost Souls, a full-scale adventure aboard an accursed Space Hulk; The Achilus Assault, with adversaries and perils from across the Jericho Reach; Rising Tempest, an epic three-part campaign across the Canis Salient; and the one-shot convention scenario Falling Star.

This offer’s Bonus Collection added three more titles worth an additional $65, including The Jericho Reach, with in-depth information for Kill-teams throughout the Reach; The Outer Reach, in which the Dead Cabal uncovers the Necrons of the Suhbekhar Dynasty; and a collection of three adventures, The Emperor Protects.

Ten percent of each payment (after gateway fees) was split evenly between the two charities chosen by Deathwatch publisher Ulisses North America, Doctors Without Borders and the German children’s hospice Bärenherz.