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The Ordos Majoris - Hobby, Painting and Modelling => Inquisitor Game Discussion => Topic started by: Shard0808 on September 04, 2013, 10:45:08 PM

Title: Inquisitor Helena Shal'tan
Post by: Shard0808 on September 04, 2013, 10:45:08 PM
Just as a quick reference guys, could anyone please confirm whether this is a decent enough stat line etc for Helena. All in keeping with the fluff, she was taught from early childhood how to use a blade, she's very fast with V good instincts etc. I know the high WS/initiative/Banshee sword combo is a bit uber smash kill, but no ranged weapons and rather conservative toughness with minimal armor kind of out weighs it I hope.. She strikes fast and hard, and can't afford to stay in prolonged combat. Any thoughts please let me know.
Inquisitor Helena Shal'tan
Female
169 sol standard years

WS 82
BS 55
S 40
T 52
I 80
WP 68
NV 75
SG 68
LD 72

Blademaster
Ambidextrous
Feint
Lightening reflexes

Eldar Banshee sword
Combat knife
Las pistol
Coms headset
Bio-scanner

Head - bare
Chest - robes
Abdomen - bare
Groin - flak armor
Legs - carapace armor
Arms - carapace armor
Conversion Field
Title: Re: Inquisitor Helena Shal'tan
Post by: MarcoSkoll on September 05, 2013, 01:18:58 AM
Quote from: Shard0808 on September 04, 2013, 10:45:08 PMI know the high WS/initiative/power sword combo is a bit uber smash kill, but no ranged weapons and rather conservative toughness with minimal armor kind of out ways it I hope.
Straight off, I can say this isn't a great idea. Such glass cannons might "balance" , but they don't play well in Inquisitor.

They're very binary - they either tend to kill everyone or go down really easy. Neither option is particularly fun for either player.
I've seen players surprised and disappointed when someone passes out from a couple of minor hits... where's the thrill in taking out someone that flimsy?

So, I'd say it needs a little bit of tweaking.

The first half presents itself as I read the fluff (I have finally got around to reading it)...

... Eldar technology almost always has some psychic element to its operation, so a human can't just pick up an Eldar weapon and use it. The rare few pieces of Eldar tech used by humans are usually specifically crafted with that in mind - perhaps made as some small piece in the Farseers' long game or to repay some debt.

So, picking up a Banshee's sword as a trophy... well, the energy field wouldn't actually turn on for her; doing that would take being able to manifest the right (and totally alien) mental state.
However, it would still be a perfectly balanced, seriously sharp and almost invulnerable inanimate piece of wraithbone. It'd work as a sword (and one with some pretty good stats - being better than almost any human craftsmanship), just not as a power sword.

With that in mind, I'd say that change'd fix things up so she was still genuinely nasty in close combat, but not a death sentence to fight.

As for her toughness, I'd bring it up probably about 10 points - after all, you've established she's in good physical fitness* - and then I'd wonder why it's her limbs, not all her vital organs, which are getting the armour. What model do you have in mind?

*The notes about "fit human such as a soldier" in the rulebook should be read as "fit human like a soldier" in my mind. Soldiers are more than merely fit, so they're a silly choice to use as the middle of our scale.
My soldier types tend to get S & T values more around 60; one or two really fit ones get ~70-ish.


Past that, I'd wonder if she really wouldn't carry a gun at all. She might not use it much, but even a basic laspistol can do lots of things a sword cannot.

QuoteLightening reflexes
... sort of requires the question "Which version"?
Title: Re: Inquisitor Helena Shal'tan
Post by: Quickdraw McGraw on September 05, 2013, 04:01:49 AM
A few things strike me as a little odd...but otherwise pretty good.

She's built more like an Assassin than an Inquisitor.  I skimmed through the background and I understand why, but she has no leadership Traits and a low Nv/Ld.  This could be balanced a bit by lowering some of her other stats and adding the few points back into the Nv/Ld.  Inquisitors might be bad a$$ n' all, but they also know when to let more expendable members of their party do the dirty work so they don't have too.

Also the bare Abs, robes on Chest but highly armored Arms and Legs doesn't add up.  If this was an "Anime" about Inquisitors, then yes that would be fine.  Inquisitors are so few and highly valuable to the Lords of Terra, plus they have access to just about any equipment they may need. However a single shot from a stubber to the Chest or Abs could take her out of action (especially with such a low Toughness) as easy as a shot to the head could kill her.  Not giving her a gun or sufficient armor is just inviting disaster and leaving her unprepared.   I suggest at least add carapace to the chest or replace it all with flak armor .

If she hates Aliens then why is she using an Eldar power weapon? 
Title: Re: Inquisitor Helena Shal'tan
Post by: Shard0808 on September 05, 2013, 11:51:30 AM
Thanks for the suggestions guy's, started the thread quite late last night and was quite tired, so forgot to mention the reason for the admittedly strange armor configuration comes from the model, the Nocturna Freya miniature
http://nocturnamodels.com/product.php?id_product=33
A brilliant and not overly risqué model, but one that admittedly wouldn't lend itself to real combat.
I've updated the stat line and changed things around slightly, increasing toughness, nerve and leadership while decreasing willpower and sagacity. Equipment now includes just a basic Las pistol, and the Banshee sword no longer powered.
On the armour, I would like to give her something a bit more meaty but want to keep everything that's included in the equipment list (Inc armor) on the model itself. Wouldn't want to give her a carapace chest when she blatantly doesn't have that.. I've added a conversion Field into the equipment list, would this cover the lack of armor to vital areas...? Thanks in advance
Oh and the reason behind the sword is in the fluff ;)
Title: Re: Inquisitor Helena Shal'tan
Post by: greenstuff_gav on September 05, 2013, 12:46:50 PM
see, i just wanna grab one of those miniatures, sculpt some trousers on (http://repair-her-armor.tumblr.com/)! (it's as simple as putting a line on the outside of the thigh then painting her legs black)
Title: Re: Inquisitor Helena Shal'tan
Post by: Koval on September 05, 2013, 12:50:00 PM
The statline still doesn't really suggest "Inquisitor" -- to me, it still says "Assassin".

Her WS and Initiative are both really high. If you dropped both of those by ten points or so, and gave her an extra talent that works around both (First Strike springs to mind), then that'll look a bit better while still getting the general idea across that she's fast but can't keep up in longer sustained fights. If you raise some of her other stats slightly (I've no idea what her Sg and Wp were before but both could come up into the low 70s in my opinion; likewise I'd be inclined to give her BS and S a tiny boost), then in my opinion that would make her profile seem more appropriate for an Inquisitor.

Blademaster will only work with the knife, so make sure you want that and not the Weapon Master trait from the Carthax Wiki (http://carthax.wikispaces.com/Special+Abilities). Similarly, for Lightning Reflexes it's probably better to use one of the Carthax versions.

With regard to her equipment... well, the Banshee sword's been handled fairly sensibly in her background (on such a note, I did wonder when I was going to see a well-handled "I took it from a dead enemy" explanation), though I do wonder whether a "normal" sword profile really works for something like a Banshee sword, even unpowered. I might be tempted to make it Tearing (see the Revised Armoury (http://www.the-conclave.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=33.0)) -- which is to say, you roll an extra damage die and discard the lowest roll.

The laspistol's a little uninspiring as it is, so I'd use the Revised Armoury to give her a slightly more interesting laspistol than the (frankly) boring rulebook version. I personally favour the Mars pattern, as it's nice and simple, but you might look at what's on offer and decide to give her something different.

As for the armour and choice of model... I hope you'll at least give her some more clothes, as that model just screams "fantasy barbarian" with no obvious link to the 40K universe. Hopefully you can make it work -- see Gav's link for some basic ideas. I doubt you'd even need especially advanced Green Stuff skills, either. :)
Title: Re: Inquisitor Helena Shal'tan
Post by: MarcoSkoll on September 05, 2013, 01:34:49 PM
This is going to have to be brief, as I'm heading out for a while... (expect more later)...

Quote from: Koval on September 05, 2013, 12:50:00 PMThe statline still doesn't really suggest "Inquisitor" -- to me, it still says "Assassin".
Me, I'm more alright with it where it is. It's not that dissimilar to the profile I have for Inquisitrix Vance. (Here, but has since been modified a bit (http://www.the-conclave.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=873.0)).

I think what needs extra work is the model. As you say, it's more towards barbarian than Inquisitor.
Title: Re: Inquisitor Helena Shal'tan
Post by: Cortez on September 05, 2013, 02:37:50 PM
I've always liked the Freya model and so personally I wouldn't want to alter that beautiful sculpt too much.  :)

The answer therefore for me would be to write the reason for her primitive/barbaric/skimpy armour into her profile. One possible solution is that she comes from a highly traditional martial society (perhaps a more primitive society) that disdains the wearing of large amounts of armour as dishonourable. Perhaps the world she comes from originally has a warm wet climate in which the wearing of lots of clothing is impractical and she still favours her traditional dress despite its disadvantages elsewhere (sticks out like a sore thumb, cold etc.).

Stats wise I think she's alright and is quite similar to one of my characters Investigator Raquel Helmawr (an ex-Jakara spyrer), although I do agree that she seems more like a henchman/sidekick type character rather than a full inquisitor (an increase to her Ld and Sg would probably sort that out, possibly a slight reduction to WS to around 75/76ish). The only stat that I would definitely change is her S 40 is low for any combat character especially one who presumably spends many hours training and exercising in order to maintain her skill with a blade. I would suggest raising it to around the mid 50's.

The gear looks good and the conversion field is a good choice for this type of character as it gives good protection against shooting whilst relying on her skill in close combat (which could fit in with the cultural suggestions I made earlier i.e ranged weapons could also be considered dishonourable and thus ok to protect yourself against).
Title: Re: Inquisitor Helena Shal'tan
Post by: Shard0808 on September 05, 2013, 12:02:55 PM
Ok, revised list :) let me know if it works, any obvious snags or recommended tweaks please feel free to chip in -

Inquisitor Helena Shal'tan
Female
169 sol standard years

WS 78
BS 55
S 50
T 52
I 76
WP 72
NV 70
SG 70
LD 78

Weapon master (bastard sword)
Feint
Lightening reflexes/rapid reactions
First Strike

Eldar Banshee sword - Rare Xenos weapon. Counts as a Bastard sword. A Wraithbone weapon with a PP reduction of -10% (ie, making the PP better) and a damage modifier of +2. The damage of a Wraithbone weapon is further increased by +1 per full 10 points of Wp the character wielding it possesses, if they are an Eldar psyker. (which Helena is not)

Combat knife
Las pistol
Coms headset
Bio-scanner

Head - bare
Chest - flak
Abdomen - bare
Groin - flak armor
Legs - carapace armor
Arms - carapace armor
Conversion Field - entire body

The model will be brought into the 40k universe, though the changes won't be sweeping she will definitely fit in ;)
Title: Re: Inquisitor Helena Shal'tan
Post by: MarcoSkoll on September 05, 2013, 02:38:21 PM
Quote from: Cortez on September 05, 2013, 02:37:50 PMI've always liked the Freya model and so personally I wouldn't want to alter that beautiful sculpt too much.  :)
Hmm. While it's not a bad model, it's something of a "bad" model for me.

It's cheesecake - no serious armour has ever been designed like that.
I admit it has similarity to some forms of Roman gladiator (not knowing my types well, the closest I can think of is the Thraex or Murmillo), but gladiatorial armour wasn't designed to do a good job of keeping its wearer alive.

Leaving it as is requires answering why an Inquisitor is wandering around in a bustier and knickers (and knickers skimpy enough we can have a good guess at how she keeps herself down there at that).

Even if we pretend that "it's her culture" (which the previously defined fluff doesn't suggest), most of those cultures or those in them probably don't survive that well, particularly on exposure to cultures with funny ideas about what good ideas guns are.
Also, it forces the character's personality in ways that may be a problem.

To add to Gav's link to the Repair Her Armour blog, I also suggest a look at The Hawkeye Initiative (http://thehawkeyeinitiative.com/).  (Which is basically all about re-drawing Hawkeye in the the poses and costumes of female comic book characters... it's simultaneously as disturbing and hilarious as it sounds).