Sister Santiago, the Burnt Lady of Carpathia

[Ulgavitch]

This character just popped up into my head this evening and demanded to be written. So I did. Sadly, she'll sit at the back of my modelling projects until I get my stuff back from storage, six weeks at least. I was think of using the demon huntress model as a base, and then heavy green stuff from there. Anyway, please enjoy, and as always, C+C's great appreciated

Sister Santiago, the Burnt Lady of Carpathia

I wear a veil to hide my face.

I am not ashamed.

I wear a veil to hide my face from the world. It scares people. Even amongst the Adeptus Soritias, a certain beauty is still expected. A worldly, bold vision that will stand forth to defend the Emperor in his righteousness.

But I am not beautiful.

I once was. Amongst my convent I was regarded, in vision and voice, to be a blessing from the Emperor himself. My face is the one you see sculpted upon the great statue of St. Lithia. The artist chose me of all the sisters in my order to stand for him. I was, in my own way, as famous as St. Lithia herself. Emperor take my pride, for I enjoyed that.

Perhaps that is why we were punished so.

Promethium burns at over 900 degrees. It makes a mockery of flesh, bone and even ceremite powered armour. At the heat, the plating becomes a cooker, slow roasting what's within.  I know this. A Rhino carrier, ablaze from end to end, is a hard thing to escape. Climbing out of burning power armour without assistance is impossible. I know this.   

I know the noise made when women catch fire, when their hair burns and their throats melt. I know what it is to be surrounded by the dead, a field of heaped corpses which were once my only family. We entered that battlefield as the Emperors chosen. I was brought from it an orphan.

The Order of the Guardian Heart. The battle of Pointers Bridge, on the world of Carpathia. Two footnotes in the annals for some.  The end of faith for me.

I know this.

My face is mostly gone, along with much else of me. I was barely alive when I was discovered. In places, amour had melted to my flesh, and now it cannot be removed. I touch them as a reminder.  Bionics, grafts and new limbs returned me to some sort of movement. The pain of this cannot be relayed. Martyrdom brings at last the final relief of death. But I lived a martyr's days so I could survive, though I often begged to die.  Even now, 'healed', admylladax is a constant companion. The auto dispenser within my side is never more than half full.

I wear a veil to hide from those who hunt me. Heretic, some say. Other says betrayer. Renegade is a word often used. A sister abroad, the last of the Guardian Heart. She is a danger, they say. She has fallen. They would have me as a Repentia, I who have felt the pain of death a hundred times since that day. Little good it would do them.  There is no redemption through pain, nor in the works of the Emperor name.

There is no redemption.

I wear a veil to hide my face, but I am not ashamed. Only the Emperor knows my true face, and he has forsaken me.

Statistics

WS BS  S   T   I   Wp  Sg  Nv  Ld
71 60 40 51 44  70   55  60  10

Sister Santiago is right handed.

Equipment: Damaged Battle Sister power armour (Armour 7 on chest, abdomen and groin. Armour 6 on the arms and legs). Bolt pistol with a red-dot sight and two reloads.  Master crafted sword of St. Lithia (sword with +10 to parry, immune to damage by power weapons). Standard bionic arm, standard bionic leg, one bionic lung and bionic throat with integrated speaking device. Implanted Admylladax dispenser.     

Abilities:

Feels No Pain: Many of Sister Santiago's nerve ending have been burnt away and never replaced. Because of this, she does not have the same sensations as others. She also endured more pain than most others will in a lifetime. She will test for system shock at toughness divided by 2.

Fearsome: If Santiago chooses to remove her veil temporarily, she will become fearsome to all human characters upon the table, friend or enemy. Despite the injuries upon her face being so horrifying , she will not affect Xenos or other non-human creatures.

Force of Will: Santiago will always carry on, regardless of what befalls her.

Complications:

Permanent Injuries: Santiago is held together through painkillers and her unbreakable spirit. However, her extensive injuries have slowed and distracted her. At the beginning of each turn, make a WP check. If this is failed, then the pain of her injuries resurges and seriously distracts her. She must either use one action activating her implant admylladax dispenser to dampen the pain, or take a -15 penalty to all actions, and a -5 yards penalty to movement. 

Afraid of Fire: Santiago is terrified of fire. Any model seen by her carrying or using a flame based weapon will immediately count as 'Terrifying' towards her. Additionally, any area where flames are being used or may be, such as a kitchen or furnace, will class as 'Fearful'.

[Shannow]

Absolutely love this concept, well written and terrifying.

How does she operate though? AIf she is not in the sororitas how does she get around?

Can't wait to see painted though, give it a nudge to the front of the queue

[MarcoSkoll]

Three slight issues.

Fearsome: I've never been a fan of "Scarring = Scary". My take on Fearsome is that characters should only be Fearsome when they're either unnatural (Zombies, Daemonhosts) or visibly very lethal (Space Marines, Pit Fighters).
I get that she's supposed to be really badly scarred, but this is the GrimDark millennium. Being roasted alive is actually one of the more pleasant ways to die.

Afraid of Fire & Force of Will: I assume that Afraid of Fire overrules Force of Will?

Ld 10: Scarred or not, Ld represents a lot more than just social ability. I'd give her a negative that reduced her Ld when appropriate, but otherwise give her a respectable Ld.

Other than that, a very interesting idea.

[Ulgavitch]

Can't wait to see painted though, give it a nudge to the front of the queue

Would that I could! At the moment, for reasons far too complicated to go into, I'm living in a hotel. All of my modelling equipment is currently in a box, somewhere in Calais, with the rest of my possessions. So right now, all I can do is imagine, and plan.

Fearsome: I've never been a fan of "Scarring = Scary". My take on Fearsome is that characters should only be Fearsome when they're either unnatural (Zombies, Daemonhosts) or visibly very lethal (Space Marines, Pit Fighters).
I get that she's supposed to be really badly scarred, but this is the GrimDark millennium. Being roasted alive is actually one of the more pleasant ways to die.

I take the point about scarring, but in truth she doesn't have really a face. Just assorted scar-tissue, fused metal plates, perhaps some crude reconstructions. Imagine Two-face from The Dark Knight, but all over her face, with little expression left behind. That would cause even the bravest man to pause, I believe. Add to that she can't speak, and I'm hoping you get the impression just how horrible the damage was.

Afraid of Fire & Force of Will: I assume that Afraid of Fire overrules Force of Will?

Yes. She isn't scared of anything but that. She's almost fearless ;-).

Ld 10: Scarred or not, Ld represents a lot more than just social ability. I'd give her a negative that reduced her Ld when appropriate, but otherwise give her a respectable Ld.

That's a fair point, actually. I was looking for a way to portray a total lack of charisma (I didn't really know who to portray a negative charismatic effect) and the effect that her visage will have on others choosing to follow her. I find it, unless she somehow became worshiped, hard to believe that anyone in their right minds would choose her as a good leader. That was the reason for such a low score - her lack of charisma mixed with their fear of her.

What would you suggest instead?
 

[MarcoSkoll]

Imagine Two-face from The Dark Knight, but all over her face, with little expression left behind. That would cause even the bravest man to pause, I believe.

I did wonder if you were going to use that as an example (it's come up before), but even that's not really enough for Fearsome.

It would terrify small children, certainly. But an Inquisitor, Rogue Trader or Guard veteran will have seen people mutilated, injured or killed in a hundred different ways and will be pretty much completely desensitised to graphic injury. In short, it takes more to scare an Inquisitor than being unpleasant to look at.

The idea of "heavily scarred = Fearsome" does come up reasonably often, but I have yet to see how it would actually scare most characters enough.

However, there is a possible adjustment to the fear rules that I've had in the back of my mind for a while. It essentially combines Fearsome and Terrifying into one ability:

~~~~~

An enemy character who wishes to charge a Fearsome character must pass a Nv test to do so. If he fails, he stands rooted to the spot for the rest of his turn. Characters charged by such an adversary, or fighting against one at the start of a turn, must pass a Nv test. If they fail, they reduce their WS by 20 for the remainder of the turn.
Any character who rolls over double the required value will immediately begin to flee. Starting with his next action, he must attempt to get away from the fearsome character as quickly as he can, including breaking from combat if necessary. Characters fleeing in this way can stop themselves by passing a Nv test taken at the end of every turn.

If the character is Terrifying, then tests to charge, be charged or continue fighting (but not to stop fleeing) are taken on half Nv.

~~~~~

It would then theoretically possible to include a "Scary" ability, tested on double Nv. This would stop it affecting well disciplined and combat hardened characters (i.e. Nv 50 and above) who wouldn't really find graphic injury scary, but it would still affect mild mannered Administratum adepts, spaceport workers, manufactorum flunkies  and the like.

(Or, if you'd prefer to keep the rules closer to current, -40% for Terrifying, +40% for scary.)

That's a fair point, actually. I was looking for a way to portray a total lack of charisma (I didn't really know who to portray a negative charismatic effect). What would you suggest instead?

Try looking at Ruaridh's psychology rules in Dark Magenta Issue 1. It covers character interactions amongst other things and it might give you some ideas.

[Ulgavitch]

The idea of "heavily scarred = Fearsome" does come up reasonably often, but I have yet to see how it would actually scare most characters enough.

At the risk of repeating myself - it's less heavy scarring and more missing a face and yet she's still moving. But I take your point. I'm wondering whether it is worth expanding her background to actually build her a reputation as something extremely dangerous, something to be scared of. That way, the two would work in combination - the look and the reputation - to create something which would be fearful. Perhaps, like the Voice, she brings with her a plague of unbelief in the Emperor, and has caused men to go mad because of it.

Or maybe she's just not as scary as she thinks she is. You may have noticed she's pretty hard on herself.

Try looking at Ruaridh's psychology rules in Dark Magenta Issue 1. It covers character interactions amongst other things and it might give you some ideas.

Had a quick look through that, it's a good article. How about this then? Leadership improved to 50 but an added complication:

Little Loyalty: Santiago does not expect loyalty from her followers. In any situation where her followers loyalties are tested - such as bribery or betrayal - they test with their leadership value halved.  

-----------------------------

(sorry, should have mentioned in the previous post)

How does she operate though? AIf she is not in the sororitas how does she get around?

I hadn't really thought. She looks as if she is the leader of a warband, however, so maybe she's got some half burned followers, or even a small cult that support her. After all, she's got to have some support just with her medical needs. What do you think?

[Kaled]

The problem with reputation causing Fearsome is what if my character has never heard of yours?

[Trasher]

Interesting character! I'm not the type of guy that likes to read a lot of background, and maybe this isn't seen as a lot of background, but it really caught my attention and I read everything!

Just a question though, I saw you wrote that she has a red-dot sight, do you in fact mean a laser sight?

Clarification: A red dot sight can be explained as a way of aquiring a target faster than using the more binocular-like sight on a hunting rifle, also, a red dot sight most often hasn't got a lot of zoom, 1x, 2x and 3x seems most common. A laser sight is the kind of sight you most often see on pistols, the one that's basically a laser pointer.

(Please don't take any offense, just wanted to know if you really meant she had a red dot sight on a pistol)

[MarcoSkoll]

At the risk of repeating myself - it's less heavy scarring and more missing a face and yet she's still moving.

Unnerving, but many Inquisitors will have met worse.

The problem with arguing that really graphic injury can be that scary is that in reality, the more extreme it gets, it can actually be less horrifying, because it becomes less recognisable as human.
Indeed, the Two-Face effect for the Dark Knight was deliberately rather over the top for exactly that reason.

Also, while it was CGI for the film, if you look around the internet, there are quite a few fans who've done an impressive job of replicating it in prosthetics. If you argue that it's possible to be scary simply through looking like that, you can also argue that it's possible to scare off an Inquisitor by putting on makeup - and that does sound a little ridiculous.

(Also, you said she's had grafts. What exactly are these supposed to have done if she still looks like a pile of beef mince?)

I'm wondering whether it is worth expanding her background to actually build her a reputation as something extremely dangerous, something to be scared of.

I have to agree with Kaled. Although I once did something like this, I've since gone back and written it out.

The problem is that reputations don't work on people who've never heard of you. Also, they don't last long if you're not dangerous enough to back it up - if you kick seven shades out of her on some occasion, she's suddenly not very scary.

And to be frank, she's a lot less lethal than a Space Marine - and while I give them Fearsome, the LRB doesn't. Is she really as scary/scarier to fight than a Space Marine?

[dirkthe1]

At the risk of throwing a spanner in the works, could you add the Fearsome in either as a progressive effect- whilst she isnt scary to all, i would imagine that some members would find her quite terrifying- particularly if she is still recognisable as a SoB, or after shooting her and having no effect- kind of like she just wont die ?

My other thought was that you could mix it in with the fire rules, however have it as either GMs choice, or a dice roll (subject to mods like how injured, etc) that in presence of fire she goes one of two ways- a gibbering wreck or complete unhinged psycho- shrugging off shots, having some sort of modifiers, and causing fear- i would imagine her in effect turning into a wailing banshee which would be pretty scary.

Just my thoughts- although I love the concept. Keep picturing the old model with the helmet for some reason, although only half of it!

[Ulgavitch]

Thanks for all the great replies.

Marco:

(Also, you said she's had grafts. What exactly are these supposed to have done if she still looks like a pile of beef mince?)

For the rest of her. I wasn't joking when I called her the Burnt Lady. It's not just her face that needed repair.

you can also argue that it's possible to scare off an Inquisitor by putting on makeup - and that does sound a little ridiculous.

You could ... and you would sound a little ridiculous ;-) 

The problem is that reputations don't work on people who've never heard of you. Also, they don't last long if you're not dangerous enough to back it up - if you kick seven shades out of her on some occasion, she's suddenly not very scary.

Very good point, and upon further consideration it wouldn't work anyway - I'm entirely happy with her just being some sort of renegade 'heretical' run-away. What I've written I think is probably the best I could do, so I'm loath to tamper with it.

But since I think I'm just arguing for the sake of it, in this case I'll bow to the Conclave's collective wisdom. She isn't fearsome, just deeply unnerving. Perhaps I'll add a special rule about never being invited to children's birthday parties or something....

Trasher:

Clarification: A red dot sight can be explained as a way of aquiring a target faster than using the more binocular-like sight on a hunting rifle, also, a red dot sight most often hasn't got a lot of zoom, 1x, 2x and 3x seems most common. A laser sight is the kind of sight you most often see on pistols, the one that's basically a laser pointer.

I did actually mean a laser sight which would give her an advantage in aiming. I just mixed up the terminology.

Dirkthe1

My other thought was that you could mix it in with the fire rules, however have it as either GMs choice, or a dice roll (subject to mods like how injured, etc) that in presence of fire she goes one of two ways- a gibbering wreck or complete unhinged psycho- shrugging off shots, having some sort of modifiers, and causing fear- i would imagine her in effect turning into a wailing banshee which would be pretty scary.

I love this idea - so much I'm going to steal it. That way, she's still got enough to her to be a decent character, removing the fearsome but adding the psycho. Because it wouldn't happen very often (flamer weapons+her+ other conditions) but it's characterful enough to be there in the background and occasionally happen. It would also explain why people don't have any loyalty to her - they are just waiting for her to go off...

[dirkthe1]

Fine by me- first useful contribution I have made!

[Ulgavitch]

Okay, so having been through the fires of the Conclave (worse than the burning Rhino, I'm sure) I've got the revised statistics for Sister Santiago. I've added some special rules for her, which would make her far more intimidating in combat. I liked Dirkthe1's idea and I've tried to integrate it, turning her into a devastating agent of destruction in a very specific situation.

As always, tell me what you think.

Statistics

WS BS  S   T   I   Wp  Sg  Nv  Ld
71 65 40 51 51  70   55  60  10

Sister Santiago is right handed.

Equipment: Damaged Battle Sister power armour (Armour 7 on chest, abdomen and groin. Armour 6 on the arms and legs). Bolt pistol with a laser sight and two reloads.  Standard bionic arm, standard bionic leg, one bionic lung and bionic throat with integrated speaking device. Implanted Admylladax dispenser.     

She also carries the Relic Sword of St. Lithia:

Reach    Damage Parry Penalty

3           3d6      -10

The Holy relic blade of the sword of St. Lithia is fearsome to Daemons, even those who have Nerves of Steel. This rule only applies when the sword is drawn.         

Abilities:

Feels No Pain: Many of Sister Santiago's nerve ending have been burnt away and never replaced. Because of this, she does not have the same sensations as others. She also endured more pain than most others will in a lifetime. She will test for system shock at toughness divided by 2.

Force of Will: Santiago will always carry on, regardless of what befalls her.

Complications:

Permanent Injuries: Santiago is held together through painkillers and her unbreakable spirit. However, her extensive injuries have slowed and distracted her. At the beginning of each turn, make a WP check. If this is failed, then the pain of her injuries resurges and seriously distracts her. She must either use one action activating her implant admylladax dispenser to dampen the pain, or take a -15 penalty to all actions, and a -5 yards penalty to movement. 

Fear of Fire: Santiago is terrified of fire. Any model seen by her carrying or using a flame based weapon will immediately count as 'Fearful' for her. Additionally, any area where flames are being used or may be, such as a kitchen or furnace, will class as 'Fearful'.

However, should Sister Santiago have a flame weapon used upon her, then her fear of being hurt transmutes into an utter, terrifying rage at having been attacked. If she is struck by a flame based weapon and take more than ten points of damage in a single hit, then Sister Santiago will develop the following abilities: Furious Assault, Nerves of Steel, True Grit and:

Banshee Howl: The furious scream Santiago unleashes when she charges is a mix of fear, frustration and utter rage. It is an intimidating screech which she uses as she charges into combat. A character entering hand to hand combat must take a WP check or have a -20 modifier on his first combat action (be it a parry, dodge or counter-attack)

Santiago will also gain +2D10 Toughness and +2D10 Strength (similar to the effects of 'Slaught)

However, this effect will only last for D6 turns after the initial injury. After this has taken place, Santiago's Willpower will halved for the rest of the game. This effects of this are cumulative. 

[MarcoSkoll]

Looking at your FnP rule, it puts her SS value so exceptionally high it might as well rule that she has no SS value.
26 points of damage is more or less unheard of, especially considering she's got pretty decent armour. You'd basically be talking about crits from power weapons.

My own version of FnP increases the user's toughness value by half for the purposes of system shock (both SS value and any T test) and consciousness value, halves any speed penalties from damage and allows the character to ignore being on fire.

This is probably more formidable, but I've found it gives a good impression of a character who's insensitive to pain, and it doesn't rely on making the SS value so high it'll never be beaten.

However, it was primarily written for an unarmoured character, so it could be all those bonuses could make a well armoured character like Santiago a bit too tough. (I have used it on a Stormtrooper, but when he uses it, he also suffers a number of penalties to compensate.)

~~~~~

Also, one thing I also forgot to mention before. -5 yards to movement? That sounds... odd. Halving movement rates would sound reasonable, but if it's per action, -5 would mean anything short of a run would result in no movement at all, and if per turn, could be trivial if she rolls four sprint actions.

[Ulgavitch]

Also, one thing I also forgot to mention before. -5 yards to movement? That sounds... odd. Halving movement rates would sound reasonable, but if it's per action, -5 would mean anything short of a run would result in no movement at all, and if per turn, could be trivial if she rolls four sprint actions.

Good spot - I hadn't really thought through the modifiers to make that work. Half movement is better, t because it's different to her being fully active and limping through debilitating pain. I'll change that.

My own version of FnP increases the user's toughness value by half for the purposes of system shock (both SS value and any T test) and consciousness value, halves any speed penalties from damage and allows the character to ignore being on fire.

As good as that sounds, I'll stick with the LRB for the rule I think. It'll make it easier to explain to GM's and other players I like the idea of her being able to hang onto her consciousness for a long time, up until she takes a really serious hit. It makes her that little more intimidating, which is something I was definitely aiming for.

I just want to get on with modelling her now, but I've got at least another three weeks before I can start! Agh.