The Skitarii Praecursatorius and My first warband

[Eziah Kranox]

Well here is the very long bios and profiles on my first warband (minus 1 guy in the works atm). There was a lot of formatting to make it easier to read on my document, but transferring it over is going to be heinous, so bare with it if you can. Also all the rules here other than my modification of Compassion, have been taken from various PDFs and web resources, so I only wrote down the meanings as a way of keeping track of them.

The origins of Skitarii Praecursatorius
Since the time of the Scouring, the Adeptus Mechanicus has had an agenda. The Mechanicus wanted to hunt down their fallen brothers. Obviously, those that fled into the warp would be impossible to track down, however, not all of the Dark Mechanicus fled with the Traitor Legions. Some went to the edge of Imperial space, where they could continue their works without the scrutiny of their peers or the wider Imperium.

For three millennia, the task of hunting the Dark Mechanicus fell to the elite of the Skitarii. The Skitarii were not successful in this role, the unthinking and mechanical reactions of the Skitarii made them untrustworthy in the eyes of regular humans.
So early in M36, the Skitarii Praecursatorius was formed. The Skitarii Praecursatorius was an experiment in subtle bionics. The members were recruited from the fittest and strongest of the possible tech adepts (pre implantation). They were to hunt the Dark Mechanicus, where the regular Skitarii had failed.

They were to be modified in a way that would allow them to still seem like a regular person. This meant that even though the Mechanicus despised human flesh and the extensions of this (emotion etc), they would have to make sure that these traits were still part of their most dangerous fighting force. As such, the members of the Skitarii Praecursatorius have not had any of the psych-indoctrination / emotion suppressive surgeries. This idea split the Mechanicus down the middle, one half was fore the idea as it was the only way to obtain a field agent that could be counted on in a situation when social interaction was necessary; While the other half was against the idea as it was giving an important job to someone who would be subject to moody behaviour.

In the end, it was introduced on a trial basis and a single caveat. Each team of the Skitarii Praecursatorius would have to follow the orders of their assigned tactical advisor. This tactical advisor was a tech priest with the aforementioned psych-indoctrination and this meant that in the eyes of the Mechanicus that each team was led by a responsible individual. The Skitarii Praecursatorius would consist of five teams of two individuals (plus a techpriest for technical analysis etc), each tasked with different targets, forcing them to be spread out on the very edges of Imperial space.

After two millennia (M38), the Alpha's targets included not just the Dark Mechanicus, but anyone that was on the Mechanicus's bad side. This included Rogue Traders who stole tech, inquisitors that interfered with missions and even members of the Mechanicus that were being obstructive to another member's research. At this point, the Skitarii Praecursatorius gained operational independence from the Skitarii. No longer was the tactical advisor in charge, now they were the tech analyst that would help plan missions and report mission success to the Mechanicus. Tactical decisions fell to the team leader from that point on.
These teams were allowed to decide which mission to take on after completion of their previous mission. They would choose from a plethora of objectives given by different members of the Mechanicus. Sometimes these objectives would include the removal of a loyal tech priest/ess, in these situations, if the team leader believed the tech priest/ess was of use they may spare their life, using them for their own goals.

By M40, the Skitarii Praecursatorius had a development team of over 50 tech priests that the Mechanicus thought were dead. Or at least that is what the members of the Skitarii Praecursatorius thought, in reality the Mechanicus knew about the surviving tech priests, but as the goal was not to have the priests killed just removed, they did not care. In fact, the Mechanicus was pleased by the arrangement as it meant that they no longer needed to supply Alpha with tech, and they still got they wanted (i.e. an inconspicuous force to see their plans into fruition).

The members of the Skitarii Praecursatorius (only the ten field agents) aged, albeit very slowly with a number of rejuvenation treatments. When a member became too old to continue in the field, he would spend the last few years of his life choosing a successor from the ranks of the tech adepts (pre implantation stages). During the selection period and the training of the candidate, all of the members come together. While the candidate is chosen by whoever they are to succeed, the rest of the members have to approve the choice, then the candidate will train under each team for an extended period before taking his/her place on a team.

Eziah Kranox
Eziah Kranox was born an orphan on the world of Nakre. Nakre is a forge-world known as one of the few planets capable of production of the Executioner Class Leman Russ Battle Tank. His mother died during child birth and his father used to be (KIA) a sergeant in the Imperial Guard.

Eziah had a rough childhood, growing up in an orphanage situated in one of the less desirable areas of the planet. He was bullied and teased right through his schooling life, both for his intelligence and the fact that his mother was a whore. He was fluent in High Gothic, which was so uncommon in the area that most people didn't even know what language he was speaking. Although Eziah was bullied during school, he was quite capable socially and maintained a plethora of friends, that even rivalled the so called 'cool kids' that would torment him when they were alone.

During his period at the orphanage, Eziah, would help with the electrical systems, as like the rest of the orphanage, they were in a decrepit state. It was because he was tasked with the electrical systems that Eziah discovered his love of machinery and as an intelligent adolescent, he joined the machine cult.

The years of bullying and subsequent fighting had made Eziah into a very tough teenager. It was just by pure chance that Ordan Grant (of the Skitarii Praecursatorius) was looking for his successor on the world of Nakre at the time. Ordan gathered a large number of the new members of the cult and made them compete in a number of trials. Eziah thought these trials to be reminiscent of those conducted by the Space Marines that he had read about in Imperial Propaganda Novels.

Eziah went through to the final stages of the trials and he with ten other applicants would have to pass one final test. They were unaware what was to come, but judging by the previous assessments it would most likely entail a feat of strength or stamina. In the end they were completely wrong.

They arrived on the planet Adron V, they were taken to a bar on the very edge of the civilised area of the hive. Told only that someone inside knew the whereabouts of a traitor to the Imperium, the aspirants were given the job of obtaining the information. Most of the other applicants had been raised in the teachings of the Machine Cult and so had no sense of social intelligence, making all their attempts to gain information almost laughable. One applicant almost asked the bartender outright for the information, which led to the boy being flung out the door of the bar, landing at Ordan's feet.

Out of the applicants the ten applicants only three (Eziah and two others) had any chance of success, they had been raised with normal (ish) lives and could socialise properly (unlike the others who were 'Machine Cult' inductees from a very early age). However, the other two had chosen the people that looked most likely to have been associated with a traitor.
Eziah, realising that this was all a test, took a huge gamble; He chose to speak with a woman that was sitting in the corner of the bar. Although she was dressed like a commoner, she gave off an air of authority. His gamble paid off, as when he moved down the bar to sit closer to her (although still some 5 or so metres away), he noticed the las pistol strapped to her thigh. It wasn't standard issue pistol, so it was unlikely that she was a local enforcer or a member of the PDF and it wasn't a low quality manufacture that would be found in the hands of a street criminal.

It was a highly modified, high quality pistol with a number of additions that not even a rogue trader could get his hands on, but most importantly it had a cog imprinted on the grip. She was quite definitely a member of the Mechanicus, although she did not look it, but neither did Ordan. This could only mean that the two worked together and so Eziah walked over to her and proceeded to make small talk.

After roughly ten minutes of small talk, Eziah asked her how she knew Ordan Grant, at which point she walked out of the bar and straight over to Ordan across the street. Not only had Eziah worked everything out, he had done it before the rest of the applicants had finished bumbling around inside the bar. What followed was twenty years of training and a number of inconspicuous bionic upgrades to his person.

Profile
Ws   Bs   S   T   I   Wp   Sg   Nv   Ld
52   65    46   51   74   67   63   78   79
Right Handed

Special Abilities
Compassion – Olivia (The character counts as having the Heroic special ability when the GM deems it appropriate (the other character is wounded, and needs saving from the hands of an enemy, for example), also if the character of his/her affections is in a situation where they are in danger (GM discretion) the character must pass a Leadership test if trying to complete an action that would not help his/her companion)
Fast Draw
Hip Shooting

Equipment
Implants:
Neural Telepathic Indicator (Counts as a vox, can transfer images as well)
Advanced Bionic Eyes (+20% to sight tests) – Prey Sense (ignores negative modifiers from lighting conditions), Gunsight Overlay: Range Finder

Weapons:
High Magnum Revolver – Armour Piercing Rounds and Recoil Dampening Suspensors – 3 reloads
Name   Type   Rng   Mode   Acc   Dam   Mag   Rld   Enc   Spcl
High Magnum Revolver   Pistol   B   Sn   -   3D6+3   5   3   20   Mn, Light AP, Trivial
Mn: Manual Weapons are immune to jamming (under normal circumstances)
Light AP: Reducers armour by 33% (rounding down)
Trivial: Any hits from this weapon are resolved at +1 to the character's Base Injury Value.

Armour:
3 armour on all locations except head

Olivia Dann
Eziah was a member of Team Two of the Skitarii Praecursatorius for six years (aged 46) before one of his partners Alec Saun chose to give up his position and start looking for a successor. Eziah completed a number of missions alone while he (Alec) searched for a successor.

Alec found her on the planet of Gragos Prime. Olivia Dann had grown up on Gragos Prime in one of wealthy families that up on the higher levels of the city. Olivia lived in luxury for the first five years of her life. Her father was a Rogue Trader and thus everything was payed for, Olivia could just ask for something and it would turn up under her bed the next day (if possible, things like a planet that she could rule over didn't quite fit under the bed...).

On her fifth birthday, Olivia was sent to an all-girls boarding school off world. Without any interference from her family, Olivia prospered into a popular and well-rounded student; Excelling in academia and a number of different sports events, while also being seen as one of the most liked students at the school.

She graduated with honours, but was unsure what to do next. She returned home to Gragos and lived in her father's home. During this period, her father tried to set her up with a number of "men with positive attributes". After the sixth attempt Olivia had started to grow tired of her father, his rules and his principles.

It was while she was in this mindset that Olivia overheard one of his father's conversations with the planetary governor. He talked about how the Mechanicus had stopped one of his shipments and generally made his life a misery. Finally, Olivia knew what she wanted to do. By the end of the week she had joined the machine cult.

Alec visited the planet only weeks after Olivia had been accepted into the teachings. Olivia then took the trials, her physical fitness from life as a sportswoman helping her throughout the first stages. The last stage of the trials did not go as well. The applicants were told that they needed to find a man and were given his description, then they were dropped off in a market place and told that he was somewhere in the vicinity.

All the applicants spread out and tried to just look for him, they stayed there, just looking, for a large period of time. Alec started to think that he would need to continue looking. But a few minutes before giving up on the group, Alec saw Olivia wander out of the market place. She went into a nearby house and returned to him a few minutes later. She told him that the man was in the house asleep.

She had (after a considerable period of time) figured out that Alec had not said that he was in the market, just that he was in the general vicinity; And with the only habitable building in the close vicinity being a house, it was the obvious place to look. Although it had taken Olivia a while to figure it out, Alec saw the potential in her and thus she was accepted for training. Throughout her training, Olivia showed excellent results in ballistics.

When her training was over, Olivia replaced Alec as part of Team 2. Olivia's relationship with Eziah was business like to begin with, Eziah had always liked Alec and he wasn't sure if she would fill the hole that he left. However, this was only temporary, as Eziah witnessed her feats of marksmanship, the relationship became friendlier.

It was on the planet Krixos, that the relationship took an unexpected turn. Olivia had saved Eziah's life when an inquisitor's acolyte tried to blast him in the back with a shotgun. Unlike all the times before, Eziah actually hadn't seen the man behind him. When they got back to the ship (one of the many custom built ships for Squadron Alpha), Eziah didn't speak to Olivia at all and just retreated into his room.

Later Olivia was sent to get Eziah for dinner. She entered the room, but before she could speak Eziah moved across the room and kissed her. It was the start of what would be a happy (ish) and sometimes dangerous relationship. Relationships within the teams of the Skitarii Praecursatorius were not uncommon, as the members did not have any emotion reduction surgeries; Even though these relationships were common (ish) it did not make them easy. The mission would have to come first, then their feelings.

Profile
Ws   Bs   S   T   I   Wp   Sg   Nv   Ld
51   68   45   50   76   62   69   67   63
Right Handed

Special Abilities
Compassion – Eziah (The character counts as having the Heroic special ability when the GM deems it appropriate (the other character is wounded, and needs saving from the hands of an enemy, for example), also if the character of his/her affections is in a situation where they are in danger (GM discretion) the character must pass a Leadership test if trying to complete an action that would not help his/her companion)
Dead Eye Shot

Equipment
Implants:
Neural Telepathic Indicator (Counts as a vox, can transfer images as well)
Ballistics Logis Program (Aiming actions are at +30% accuracy instead of +20%)
Advanced Bionic Eyes (+20% to sight tests) – Prey Sense (ignores negative modifiers from lighting conditions), Gunsight Overlay: Range Finder

Weapons:
Medium Assault Rifle – Armour Piercing Ammunition and Hair Trigger – 1 Reload
Precision Stubber – Armour Piercing Ammunition and Hair Trigger – no reloads
Name   Type   Rng   Mode   Acc   Dam   Mag   Rld   Enc   Spcl
Medium Assault Rifle   Basic   B   Sg, Sm(3), Full(   -   3D6+1   30   2   35   Light AP, Trivial, Note 1
Precision Stubber   Pistol   F   Sg/Sm(2/3)   -   2D6+2   7   2   12   Light AP, Trivial, Note 1
Light AP: Reduces armour by 33% (reduction rounding down)
Trivial: Any hits from this weapon are resolved at +1 to the character's Base Injury Value.
Note 1: All shots during overwatch count as aimed, but with only a 15% accuracy bonus.

Armour:
3 armour on all locations except head

Nathaniel Edwards
Nathaniel Edwards was born on Praetoria to one of the lesser noble families. His family were the owners of a prefabricated hab-block factory. He grew up in a cultured environment, going to school in the upper class areas of the planet. He was a good student, although planetary and imperial history weren't very interesting to him.

Nathaniel was the family heir and so was moulded from an early age to run the business. When he was old enough to understand, Nathaniel was taken to the factory to oversee the production. Unlike the other factories of Praetoria, the Edwards Plant was a fully mechanical in its execution. Nathaniel was enthralled, as he continued his education, he became even further enveloped by all things mechanical.

Much to his family's distress, Nathaniel joined the Machine Cult upon completing his education. He was quickly (well in eyes of the Mechanicus) promoted and was well known by his superiors as being an eccentric genius (although they would never term it as such). He specialised in miniaturising imperial tech and in this field he was accepted as one of the best, but his quirks kept him from promotion past a regular ranked techpriest. He was an oddity amongst the machine cult in that he was quite vain about his appearance. He would not wear the robes that were most commonly associated with the Mechanicus and this caused a number of his 'betters' to believe him unworthy of a higher ranking position.

A few years after becoming a tech priest, his superiors realised that he could be used in the development wing of the Skitarii Praecursatorius. He served under Magos Akhenthron, who was the handler of Team 2. For many years Nathaniel was Team 2's lead developer, it was not until he broke protocol that he was even considered as the Magos' successor.

It was on the planet of Xanich, Ordan and Alec were the active members of the team at that point. They were tasked with hunting down a rogue trader, who had 'acquired' some tech from an attacked forge ship. Supposedly the rogue trader had just explored the wreck, however the Mechanicus had doubts about the authenticity of the story. Like every other organisation of power within the Imperium, the Mechanicus that all resistance must be crushed and so the rogue trader would have to be 'removed'.

The plan was to have Alec and Ordan arrange a meeting with the rogue trader and killing him at the meeting place, but this would mean that the trader would be under armed guard and a considerable risk to both success and their lives. Akhenthron insisted that it was the only way for them to do it without alerting every authority in the area. The plan was in the process of being finalised when Nathaniel approached Ordan (the team leader at that time) with another idea.

Akhenthron was considerably annoyed at the notion that his subordinate had gone behind his back and was going to send Nathaniel back to Mars as punishment, but Ordan overruled the Magos as he wanted to consider all the available options. Nathaniel's plan was simple, arrange a meeting and then not show up, he would plant a small transmission device at the meeting point that would track the rogue trader's location when he left (via walking onto, then attaching itself to his clothing).

Once they knew the location of the trader's goods / base they would then infiltrate the facility with a specially encrypted data virus that would destroy all electronic data from the data slates in the facility, while simultaneously transferring the data back to them. This would allow them both access to all of the facility's security systems and a way to find the missing forge ship. Once they were in they were to kill the trader and recover any tech that remained on the premises.

Ordan believed it to be a good idea and that meant that it would be the plan that was used. Akhenthron was very displeased that an upstart, low ranking tech priest had decided that his ideas were obsolete and after his request to send Nathaniel back to Mars was refused for a second time by Ordan, he left for Mars himself.  Since then Nathaniel has been the operational advisor to Team 2 and Akhenthron has tried to get the Praecursatorius shut down through the political channels of Mars. Akhenthron has been unsuccessful in his pursuits as all of the other priests view him as weak, he had been replaced by a less experienced individual and the anger that he was showing was quite obviously something that the Mechanicus looks down upon as being the petty nuances of regular humans.

Unlike most of the handlers Nathaniel has participated in a couple of field operations when back up is required and for the most part has been an excellent addition to those operations. While he has had emotional repressive surgeries, his upbringing has pre-programmed him to act in a civilised way. This has meant that while he may seem a cold, ruthless individual to most, he can still have full conversation.

The problem with him being in the field is that he doesn't pass as a mercenary which is the team's usual cover story. This is due to his gate, his leg bionics (while helpful during chases etc) have changed the way he walks to that of a mutant or geriatric. Nathaniel usually walks with a cane to cover up his unusual walk, people just believe that he has an old wound and has to walk on the cane for support, in reality the cane is a highly advanced weapon system.

Profile
Ws   Bs   S   T   I   Wp   Sg   Nv   Ld
63   54   47(51)   52   63   73   76(91)   79 (87)   67
Right Handed

Special Rules
Distrust – Rebecca (When a character is within 10 yards of another character or group of characters he Distrusts, he must carry out his actions for the turn at -1 speed)

Equipment
Implants:
Cranial Circuitry – Logis Circuit (may 'aim' before Sagacity tests for a 10% bonus), Emotional Repressive Surgery (10% increase to Nerve , included in profile in the ( )), Memory Coils (20% increase to Sagacity, included in profile in the ( )), Mind Impulse Unit (Rebecca's Nullchip)
Neural Telepathic Indicator (Counts as a vox, can transfer images as well)
Advanced Bionic Eyes (+20% to sight tests) – Sensorium: Bioscanner, Memorance Implant (may take pictures where/when applicable), Prey Sense (ignores negative modifiers from lighting conditions)
Feint Skill Graft
Left and Right Bionic Arms – Strength Upgrade 10% (included in profile in the ( )), Enhanced Neural Interface (Ambidextrous)
Left and Right Bionic Legs – Augmented Speed and Jump Pistons (+2 yards to all movement except crawling and climbing, +50% to jump distance)

Weapons:
Cog Pattern Self Defence Cane or CPSDC – Counts as a shock weapon with the following profile and incorporates an Active Counter-measures system and may be fired as a pistol with the following profile:
Name   Reach   Damage   Parry Penalty   Notes
CPSDC (melee)   3   D6+1   -10%   Shock, ACM
Name   Type   Rng   Mode   Acc   Dam   Shots   Rld   Enc   Spcl
CPSDC(ranged)   Basic   E   Sn   -   3D6+2   1   1   30   Light Ap
ACM: When attacked by either a guided weapon, such as a missile or Executioner shell, or by a weapon fitted with an electronic gunsight (such as a range-finder, motion predictor or laser sight), the Tech-Adept may activate his counter-measures. These will affect all shots from a single shooting action. Declare that the adept is using his counter-measures before the enemy makes his To-Hit roll. The adept must make a Sagacity test to see if his systems can analyse the threat and react in time; if successful, the amount the test is passed by is a further negative modifier to the firer's chances of hitting.
Light AP: Reduces armour by 33% (reduction rounding down)

Armour:
Sub-dermal Armour Plating – 2 points of armour on all locations except head

Rebecca Hunter
Rebecca Hunter was born on the planet Barios during a period of increased rainfall (toxic rain, due to the pollution from the hive world). Rebecca's grandmother always said that it was a bad omen, that a child be born in a period when people were worried about getting wet. It was something that she would never elaborate on, she said that she just had a feeling about it. Rebecca's parents dismissed the theory entirely, believing it to be the raving of a senile old woman.

Rebecca was an only child, as after child birth Rebecca's mother became infertile due to the effects of early menopause. As an only child Rebecca was spoilt by her parents, she was given everything they had and she led a reasonable normal life for someone who lived in the middle level of the hive. She went to school just like everyone else. Rebecca was intelligent, but she did not achieve very good grades. She was busy socialising with her friends or reading novels that were of no help to her academically.

On Rebecca's 16th birthday her father was involved in a workplace accident. Alan Hunter was a factory manager, he worked in a factory that produced industrial machinery. He didn't need to understand how it worked, he just had to make sure that the workers did their jobs and he was very good at it. One of his workers had been troubling Alan, arriving late, leaving early, mouthing off and the like. The worker had decided that he wouldn't show up for work that day and so Alan was in his office, trying to get a replacement in on short notice.

Once Alan had reached the worker and told him that his contract had been terminated, Alan decided that he would have a quick break in his office to have his lunch. It would have been 1pm on Terra when he received a call from his daughter. She told him that she would be getting home late as she was going 'with a friend' to a party that had been arranged by her peers. Alan was annoyed about it as he had expected that she would be attending the family dinner and so the conversation ended in an argument, which resulted in Rebecca terminating the call.

Later that day while Alan was out in the factory making sure everyone was doing their jobs, a piece of machinery that was attached to one of the many lifting machines in the factory, fell from its harness. It landed on Alan pinning him to the floor from the waist down. As a result of the accident he was rushed to the hospital and was place on the life support systems there.

Rebecca quickly got over the argument with her father, when she was told that he had been involved in the accident and was in hospital. She arrived shortly after receiving notification and went straight to her father's bedside. Alan berated her about terminating the call and because of it Rebecca became very angry. She became so angry she stormed out of the room and upon stepping out into the hallway, the power to the hospital went out.

Her mother who was in the room at the time rushed out of the room to get one of the doctors as Alan had begun to convulse. It was at that point that Rebecca's mother realised that her mother was right in the first place, Rebecca's eyes had begun to glow red. Her daughter was a witch! Rebecca's mother started to cry, while pointing at her daughter. Rebecca had no idea what her mother was pointing at until she caught her reflection in a metallic specimen tray.

For the first real time in her life Rebecca was afraid. She ran from the hospital and even from that level, heading deeper and deeper into the underhive. She didn't know why she did it, if she was thinking clearly she wouldn't have.

Eziah and his team were hunting a heretek only known to the outside world as Fusion Flayer. He had been a talented young (ish) techpriest that enjoyed working on plasma tech, until he started examining Eldar Fusion weaponry. When the rest of the AdMech had discovered his work, he fled to the Barios sector. The last sighting of him was in the underhive of Barios, collecting different types of metal off cuts and the like with the help of strange servitors. This was why Eziah was there, he and the team had worked on this assignment for 9 months. They had tracked him through four of the five worlds of the subsector.

They had gone to the place where he was last seen, and they had followed the trail of mechanical footprints to a section of the underhive where even the mutants fear to tread. It looked like a fortress made of junk, piled high with industrial debris and a selection of other, more indecent substances. The team were surveying the outside of the fortress when they spotted a young girl cowering in the area.

When Rebecca saw the group of people move towards her, her first thoughts were that they must be witch hunters trying to find her. If she had been thinking rationally at the time, she would have realised that it would be impossible for the witch hunters to mount a search within 3 hours of her discovery, but she wasn't and so she ran.

The team watched as the young girl, ran from them, right into the junk fortress that they were observing. Eziah immediately ran after her, as he did not want any harm to come to the lost girl. Nathaniel advised against such foolhardy actions, but followed after him nonetheless. Eziah's intentions to protect the girl were ridiculous, as when they entered the fortress they found almost 15 servitors and the heretek unconscious on the floor, with the girl standing in the middle. When confronted with the servitors and a crazy man ranting about plasma tech in the Eldritch tongue, she had totally freaked out and a second later they were all on the floor, having been rendered catatonic due to internal power surges.

When she was asked what had happened, she told them everything. By the end of the story Nathaniel was getting ready to shoot her for being a witch, but Eziah stopped him. He saw the potential in the girl and knew that the psychic adepts in the support staff would be able to tutor the girl in the use of her powers.

It was with that single decision that Team 2 broke the only rule within the unit that had never been broken before, he had increased the size of Team 2 beyond the standard size. Rebecca took to the training with a high degree of success. She learnt how to use her powers and all she needed to know about the machine cult, imperial politics and the workings of the Skitarii Praecursatorius.

During this period of training, Rebecca was implanted with the standard bionics with the addition of a psi booster implant and a small null chip that would activate on the mental impulses of Nathaniel. She was totally unaware of the final implant and she probably won't ever be, as although Nathaniel does not trust her, he does understand her potential as an asset and would only activate the chip out of necessity.

Profile
Ws   Bs   S   T   I   Wp   Sg   Nv   Ld
44   42   46   53   57   79   71   65   58
Right Handed

Special Abilities
Proactive Psyker (Rebecca is a follower Technomancy Discipline: detailed below, Rebecca knows all powers in the Discipline she also has a -30% modifier for nullifying powers, as she has had no training in power nullification)

Technomancy Discipline
Machine Empathy – Difficulty 5
Machine empathy is a ranged power. Pick a weapon or piece of equipment as the target. For every 10% or part that the Psychic test is passed, the target object is rendered totally useless for that many turns. If the psyker's Willpower test is 1/10th or less than the required score, the target is permanently affected. Machine empathy can also be used to open or lock mechanical doors, operate machinery and fire emplaced weapons, and so on, at the GM.s discretion. The more complex the activity attempted, the greater the difficulty modifier the GM should impose on the Psychic test.
Mental Static – Difficulty 5
Mental Static is a ranged power that may only target enemies with cranial implants. The enemy must take a Willpower test. If he fails, he is stunned for one turn for every 10% (or part) that he fails by. If he rolls more than double his Willpower then he collapses and become a casualty.
Electro Signature – Difficulty 15
When Electro Signature is used, the character immediately becomes aware of all the characters currently on the table, including those who are hidden, tracking down one in particular. This is a persistent power and the player must nominate one character to focus on. Whilst the power lasts, the psi-tracker is constantly aware of the targeted character's location and actions, and also becomes aware of any actions performed previously (ie, he'll know where he has been and what he has done). He loses contact with other characters immediately (ie, he'll be unaware of any actions performed subsequent to using the power). Note that it can only detect machines or enemies with substantial bionics (GM discretion).
System Overload – Difficulty 5
System Overload is a ranged power that may only target enemies with bionics / machines. The target adds D6 to his injury total for every 10%, or part thereof, that the psychic test is passed by.
Targeting Malfunction – Difficulty 10
Targeting Malfunction is a persistent power. When attacked by either a guided weapon, such as a missile or Executioner shell, or by a weapon fitted with an electronic gunsight (such as a range-finder, motion predictor or laser sight), or by a character with a bionic eye /eyes, the amount the psychic test is passed by is a further negative modifier to the firer's chances of hitting.

Equipment
Implants:
Neural Telepathic Indicator (Counts as a vox, can transfer images as well)
Nullchip (if activated by Nathaniel, this device acts as a null collar, making it impossible for Rebecca to cast or nullify psychic powers)
Psi-booster
Advanced Bionic Eyes (+20% to sight tests) – Prey Sense (ignores negative modifiers from lighting conditions)

Weapons:
Halthraxis Pattern Laspistol – Civilian Magazine, Blueshift Attachment, Short Barrel, 18 Megathule Lasing Chamber, Thacian Discharge Generator, Duelling Grip, Concealable Frame – 1 reload
Name   Type   Rng   Mode   Acc   Dam   Shots   Rld   Enc   Spcl   Modes
Halthraxis Pattern Laspistol   Pistol   E   Sn   +5%   2D6   20   2   8   Light AP, Cncl   Low
Light AP: Reduces armour by 33% (reduction rounding down)
Cncl: Conceal Bonus (GM Discretion)

Armour:
2 points of Armour to all locations except head


Now if you managed to read all that and atleast follow some of it, you need to pat yourself on the back.
C+C much appreciated, I'm not fantastic when it comes to writing or AdMech fluff, so if there are any glaring faults/ suggestions on that stuff as well they would be much appreciated.
Cheers
Sam

[Quickdraw McGraw]

Hi Sam,

Wecome aboard!    

I read your story the other day but have been so busy I haven't had the time to comment. 

First off I really enjoyed your Mech Cult fluff!  Good write-ups on the characters too!   

However, I have some suggestions on your weapons and special abilities.  Please don't take anything I say in an entirely negative way.  I'm not trying to hurt your feelings or flame on you. 

Compassion – Olivia (The character counts as having the Heroic special ability when within 10 yards of the character s/he feels Compassion for, or if the GM deems it appropriate (the other character is wounded, and needs saving from the hands of an enemy, for example), also if the character of his/her affections is in a situation where they are in danger (GM discretion) the character must pass a Leadership test if trying to complete an action that would not help his/her companion)

Are you referring to Infatuation?  It's a very strong human emotion.  At times it does grant us the potential to be hero's.  And in the worst of times total lunacy, rage and depression.  However it is short-lived. The pros really out way the cons on this one.  I would try to reflect the darker side of this emotion too.  Maybe as a con when character "B" is wounded and in danger, character "A" would become Frenzied to save/protect them?

I also feel that the Heroic attribute of the compassion special ability would most likely to apply to the male species.

Highly Advanced Electoos – Ferric Lure (The ability can be used to summon an object weighing up to about Weight 15 within 10 yards...

I see nothing wrong with this but just how much man is really left?  I'm assuming he has a Cyber-Mantle and Potentia Coil to base these upgrades off of?  It's cool but I got the feeling from reading the story they operated on a more human level with fewer bionic upgrades.

Modified Heavy Duty Stubber – Sub Calibre Sabotted Ammunition and Stabilising Grav Suspensors – Lightened Bolt – 2 reloads
Name   Type   Rng   Mode   Acc   Dam   Mag   Rld   Enc   Spcl
Modified Heavy Duty Stubber   Pistol   B   Sg/Sm(3/4)   -   2D6+3   12   2   15   Heavy AP, Trivial(2), Note 1, Note 2
Heavy AP: Halves enemy armour (rounding the reduction down)
Trivial (2): Any hits are resolved at +2 to the character's Base Injury Value
Note 1: -10 yards for the purposes of range modifiers
Note2: This weapon confers Rock Steady Aim and Hipshooting

Ok, this weapon just seem really confusing to me.  I understand it's heavly modified but it could be simplified.  I like things simple.    As a GM it saves a lot of time.  But from what I can tell so far it's an over-engineered stub pistol firing sub calibre sabotted ammo ( this is most common with flectettes, missiles and tank rounds) that makes a mockery of armor. Why did you increased the weapons damage at the same time gave your opponent BIV bonus?.  The sabotted slug should add an accuracy bonus not less yardage.  It has grav suspensors and the bolt is made of a lighter material or ported.  Which some how confers Rock Steady Aim and Hipshooting?  A light bolt just makes a faster firing gun. Add this together with Recoil Dampeners and he... err, the gun is a great shot!  Truthfully, no credit of my own but i've been shooting pistols and rifles for years in a tournament setting and I can effectively/easily pull off rock steady aim and hipshooting all day.  No sweat! It just takes practice. My Glock just has a 5in barrel with no other bells and whistles.  I think giving your guns these abilities cheapens your character.  Give the guns stat improvements not abilities.   

The Grav Suspensors are cool!  But should only reduce its weight.  If you want armor piercing ammo.  Well, just make it so.  The guns range is really good.  I don't feel The Sub calibre sabotted ammo would do this. Maybe just model a really long barrel onto the gun? 

Lathe Sword
Name   Reach   Damage   Parry Penalty   Notes
Lathe Sword   3   2D6+5   -   Can't be broken by power weapons

Lathe swords are extremely rare and valuable so you know.  Inquisitors and Rogue traders should have only have access to these.  But I'm not saying you can't either.     As a GM I still would say Lathe can be broken.  It's just a 5% chance not 75% vs. Power weapons.


Also, just a personal thing...their mental statlines are grand inquisitor level.  I've been playing a long time and I tend to feel the higher
the statline the more fun/chance it takes from the game.  If you have time check this site out.  It's by our own Carthax.  http://carthax.wikispaces.com/Creating+Characters

There is a third character in this warband, correct?  I would love to see the models for these characters.

Hope this helps,
Josh

[Eziah Kranox]

I just modified the compassion ability from the Carthax Wiki, although I was considering removing all the positives anyway, so they are out, leaving just the leadership test needed to do anything that doesn't directly help their companion when they are in danger. It's not an infatuation, it's more the protective instinct for your spouse (while not actually their spouse, they have had a long lasting relationship and are quite attached to each other).

The electoos were just an idea I had and thought it would be cool. I was thinking that it would be experimental tech with the potentia coil and cyber mantle vastly cut down in size, reducing its visibilty and when under his armour, almost undetectable. This however doesn't quite work and I'm not too fussed about them so they can go.

The pistols are made through Marco's revised armory, so that is where the complication comes from. The lightened bolt just increases it's Semi from 2/3 to 3/4. The grav suspensors are just stabilising the weapon, thus making it easier to fire while moving and during a semi auto burst. The ammo was just a way to get a high penetration round, as any admech target is most likely to be more machine than man. The gun stats itself and the rules for all of it are in the Revised Armoury 5.2. But I do understand where you are coming from so I'll recondsider the weaponry.

With the blade, I was only incorporating it because of the electoos really, I figured that the mechanicus could get a hold of enough materials to make 1, and if the electoos are going so does the sword anyway.

The stats themselves were taken from the DM article about the admech, but as I'm including a smarter character that is their operational handler, the mental characteristics can be dropped.

The third character is their mechanicus handler, so a fully functioning techpriest. He would not be involved in many operations though, most likely only coming out when comfirmation of the mission needed to be supplied to the mechanicus, so in that vein he probably wouldn't be in every game, Im thinking they may get another character that would be akin to a merc that they hire locally to help track down targets.

I'll repost the changes when i'm finished writing the handler.

[Quickdraw McGraw]

Please by no means remove anything on my sake. 

I have never read Carthax's special abilities list.  I believe I misread the Compassion rules though.  Sorry, I saw it as you always have this Heroic ability switched on.  But after reading it again and taking what you just said into account, it makes much more sense.  When someone you have compassion for is injured/out and you're standing within 10yds you have the heroic ability( until they are safe).  Of course the purpose is to protect them.  Not that you're superman all the time.   I can understand how this would effect someone.  I've been married 10 years and would move heaven and earth to protect/save her!!!  Personally, I would fail that Ld test I'm afraid.  But then what would happen?

The blade of course is fine.  I'm just pointing out it's rarity and if your character is going to be chasing rogue tech-priests he just may need it.  Though I would be tempted to just use a shock weapon instead.  It's more common, more damage and will not break. I might even rule that a shock weapon may do more damage to heavily bionic character.  Any thoughts?

Have a great morning. 
Josh

[MarcoSkoll]

Ok, this weapon just seem really confusing to me.  I understand it's heavily modified but it could be simplified.

Everything there is from the Revised Armory. So, seeing as this section boiled down to a critique of my rules writing, my response:

-Why did you increased the weapons damage at the same time gave your opponent BIV bonus?
The increased weapon damage is conferred by being the Heavy Duty Stub-Auto variant - basically a more powerful round than the Standard variant, but heavier, less ammo and other drawbacks.

The Trivial damage is caused by the sub-calibre ammo (which while primarily known for tank rounds and the like is not exclusive to them).
I introduced the Trivial, Rending and Tearing damage types to provide a greater variation in the effect of a weapon was beyond simply increasing or decreasing its damage stat. A change of +/- 1 to BIV is clearly a very different prospect to +/- 1 damage.

-The sabotted slug should add an accuracy bonus not less yardage.
No. I had a strong drive to completely change the meaning of accuracy bonuses in the RIA to modify the range, because I don't feel straight modifiers to hit properly represent more accurate weapons. Accurate weapons remain more precise and repeatable at distance, not close range. At 3 feet, an AI AWM won't be any more capable of hitting someone than a flintlock pistol.
Ultimately though, I felt this was too drastic a change that would make integration of the armoury into the main game difficult. The modified range is however retained in some cases, usually where muzzle velocity and/or drag coefficients have changed. (It's therefore somewhat like giving the weapon a new range category rather than an Acc bonus).

It is true that in some cases (where range modifiers are linear) the effects do end up mostly identical (excepting when the range is short enough that the modifier would make it negative, in which case there'd be no bonus above normal). But range modifiers are not always linear.

I don't feel range modification is something that takes time or effort for a GM to understand, particularly seeing as an extra +10% modifier that suddenly appears in a hit roll usually needs its own three second explanation too.

-It has grav suspensors and the bolt is made of a lighter material or ported.  Which some how confers Rock Steady Aim and Hipshooting?
It's only the former that confers those abilities (the effect of the latter has been taken into account in the firing rate). The stabilising suspensors make the weapon a more stable platform on the move.

As for the idea that suspensors should only reduce the weight, the uses of suspensors in the fluff extend beyond simply cancelling some of gravity's effect. While the alternative variants I pose in the RIA are not necessarily canonical names, the effects are.
(I do not, however, pretend that everything in the RIA is canonical. A lot of it is stuff I know I made up.)

-I've been shooting pistols and rifles for years in a tournament setting and I can effectively/easily pull off rock steady aim and hipshooting all day.
Rock Steady Aim and Hipshooting are more serious than you think. If they didn't represent skill beyond what could be expected of a decent soldier (and by decent soldier, I mean one that an Inquisitor would consider employing), they wouldn't need to be abilities.
They aren't simply a sight picture coming back to the target after firing or being able to be quite accurate on the move in a shooting competition. These are characters who have to keep astounding accuracy under highly lethal pressures - people shooting back at you, over terrain you've not had a chance to walk over first, and with the fate of worlds at stake.

And I don't feel using equipment to grant abilities detracts in anyway. There are enough items of equipment that grant abilities anyway (for  example, look at Deathlust, Resurrection and Screaming under the daemon weapons section - not to mention that the special rules of a lot of equipment are only differentiated from abilities by semantics). At reductio ad absurdum, you could similarly argue that giving a gun +5% Acc is less characterful than giving the character +5 BS.

Ultimately though, while I disagree regarding individual elements, I do agree that it is possible to layering on masses of upgrades and modifiers to a weapon with the RIA to the point you end up with some fairly complicated results. That's an inevitable side-effect of lots of options that can combine in any number of ways*, but is ultimately up to each player/GM/etc to decide where they feel over-complication starts.

*I haven't worked it out, but I'd be highly surprised if the RIA didn't offer millions of different combinations in which weapons, special ammo, scopes, master crafting, weapon/ammo faults, bolt on extras, etc could be bolted together. Not all of them are sensible or simple by everyone's yardstick.

[Quickdraw McGraw]

Everything there is from the Revised Armory. So, seeing as this section boiled down to a critique of my rules writing, my response:

Well, Marco your not being critiqued( attacked)if that is what you're thinking...  I've personally never posted on your revised Armory topic because I never really saw a need to.  Now I'm going to have to take another look... 

-Why did you increased the weapons damage at the same time gave your opponent BIV bonus?
The increased weapon damage is conferred by being the Heavy Duty Stub-Auto variant - basically a more powerful round than the Standard variant, but heavier, less ammo and other drawbacks.

The Trivial damage is caused by the sub-calibre ammo (which while primarily known for tank rounds and the like is not exclusive to them).
I introduced the Trivial, Rending and Tearing damage types to provide a greater variation in the effect of a weapon was beyond simply increasing or decreasing its damage stat. A change of +/- 1 to BIV is clearly a very different prospect to +/- 1 damage.

Yeah, it's real different.  I'm not so sure it's for me.  I can understand the sub-caliber thing to a point.  Using a real world analogy... it's putting a 9mm bullet into a .45cal.  I don't care how you spin it.  It's still only going to do as much damage as a 9mm.  The offset is these types of rounds are more accurate.  In my experience sabot slugs fired from a rifled slug barrel, they improve accuracy tremendously compared to traditional shotgun slugs.  Also, a lot of my buddies own AR-15s and they run 22LR through them.  This is also another method of sub-caliber but different.

-The sabotted slug should add an accuracy bonus not less yardage.
No. I had a strong drive to completely change the meaning of accuracy bonuses in the RIA to modify the range, because I don't feel straight modifiers to hit properly represent more accurate weapons. Accurate weapons remain more precise and repeatable at distance, not close range. At 3 feet, an AI AWM won't be any more capable of hitting someone than a flintlock pistol.
Ultimately though, I felt this was too drastic a change that would make integration of the armoury into the main game difficult. The modified range is however retained in some cases, usually where muzzle velocity and/or drag coefficients have changed. (It's therefore somewhat like giving the weapon a new range category rather than an Acc bonus).

It is true that in some cases (where range modifiers are linear) the effects do end up mostly identical (excepting when the range is short enough that the modifier would make it negative, in which case there'd be no bonus above normal). But range modifiers are not always linear.

True, but saying this weapon subtracts 10 from the range modifier is the same as saying it grants you a plus 10 bonus to hit.  Unless (as you pointed out) the range is point blank. However I've seen snub nose revolvers literally "miss the side of a barn"! Do you know why that can happen to experienced shooter?  There are two small factors here at play that can impact a gun's performance.  Not all ammo is created equal and length of barrel.  Sub-par materials ,poorly loaded and old ammo will degrade the accuracy of a weapon greatly.  The length of a barrel will too.    Also I like the current stat ranges for the guns in the book.  The temptation to give your autopistol range G because it's slide is ported and the barrel is an inch longer must be resisted.  A 50cal sniper rifle will have a long barrel and it just goes to say it will have a scope to utilize that accuracy and range the long barrel helped to provide.  Now image having to shoot a target moving quickly directly in front of you.  You would have a hard time sighting it with the scope.  Further more if you just ditched the scope a fired from the hip you would not be so accurate either.  Range H for these weapons is good.  You could say, it takes in other factors just not weapon accuracy into the equation. 

Of course this is a razors edge.  I agree that extending out a barrel would change the "Range" of a weapon.   

I don't feel range modification is something that takes time or effort for a GM to understand, particularly seeing as an extra +10% modifier that suddenly appears in a hit roll usually needs its own three second explanation too.

You should know we GM's do have many other factors to remember and arbitrate.     This modification still feels like you're just trying to reinvent the wheel.    I understand you're trying to improve the game mechanics.  I sympathize with you its not an easy thing to do.  Games Workshop has rewritten the 40k rulebook 6 times and they still can't get it right.     I hope my point of view doesn't just muddy the waters so to speak.  I want this game to thrive as well.   

-It has grav suspensors and the bolt is made of a lighter material or ported.  Which some how confers Rock Steady Aim and Hipshooting?
It's only the former that confers those abilities (the effect of the latter has been taken into account in the firing rate). The stabilising suspensors make the weapon a more stable platform on the move.

It's a pistol for Pete's sake!  How much more stability do you need?  He has recoil dampeners in their hands! 

As for the idea that suspensors should only reduce the weight, the uses of suspensors in the fluff extend beyond simply cancelling some of gravity's effect. While the alternative variants I pose in the RIA are not necessarily canonical names, the effects are.
(I do not, however, pretend that everything in the RIA is canonical. A lot of it is stuff I know I made up.)

I would have no objections if the "suspensors" were on a large/heavy weapon.  And that isn't the issue here.  It's they were on a pistol. 

-I've been shooting pistols and rifles for years in a tournament setting and I can effectively/easily pull off rock steady aim and hipshooting all day.
Rock Steady Aim and Hipshooting are more serious than you think. If they didn't represent skill beyond what could be expected of a decent soldier (and by decent soldier, I mean one that an Inquisitor would consider employing), they wouldn't need to be abilities.
They aren't simply a sight picture coming back to the target after firing or being able to be quite accurate on the move in a shooting competition. These are characters who have to keep astounding accuracy under highly lethal pressures - people shooting back at you, over terrain you've not had a chance to walk over first, and with the fate of worlds at stake.

Please, don't be such a romantic.     I don't make light of the skills men and women have to develop so they can come home to their families. I would love to take you to a slaughter house sometime.  You would not only have a blast but you would have a new found respect for the shooting skills in the book too. 

And I don't feel using equipment to grant abilities detracts in anyway. There are enough items of equipment that grant abilities anyway (for  example, look at Deathlust, Resurrection and Screaming under the daemon weapons section - not to mention that the special rules of a lot of equipment are only differentiated from abilities by semantics). At reductio ad absurdum, you could similarly argue that giving a gun +5% Acc is less characterful than giving the character +5 BS.

Yes, these weapons have deamons in them.  They have their own souls and are just a willing to attack their user than the attended target.  Personally, I like characters that are flawed somehow.  They over come the odds by shear force of will or a need to survive.  Not
because someone handed them a gun that can kill anyone in one shot and make a great cappuccino while you're looting the dead body.

Ultimately though, while I disagree regarding individual elements, I do agree that it is possible to layering on masses of upgrades and modifiers to a weapon with the RIA to the point you end up with some fairly complicated results. That's an inevitable side-effect of lots of options that can combine in any number of ways*, but is ultimately up to each player/GM/etc to decide where they feel over-complication starts.

*I haven't worked it out, but I'd be highly surprised if the RIA didn't offer millions of different combinations in which weapons, special ammo, scopes, master crafting, weapon/ammo faults, bolt on extras, etc could be bolted together. Not all of them are sensible or simple by everyone's yardstick.

I happen to agree here.     But if people want a vibrating razor w/ a LED flash light to shave their face that's up to them and their GM.  As cool as it may seem to be to have all tricked out( not a just a little modification) guns/swords and armor it's all just "self-gratification". 

I'm sorry if this comes on too strong.  I really don't want to step on peoples toes.  Marco you've done great work here on the forums.  And I appreciate it as well as most.  But I just don't see eye-to-eye on your comments.  It isn't a deal breaker...I have no hard feeling toward you.  I was just trying to help Sam out.  I believe that his characters because of their relationships the Mech. Cult should have modified/advanced versions of standard weapons.  The gun seemed really over complicated to me.  Since you didn't have the time to comment on his characters I did it the way I felt I would GM a game for him.

Goodnight,
Josh

[Koval]

-I've been shooting pistols and rifles for years in a tournament setting and I can effectively/easily pull off rock steady aim and hipshooting all day.
Rock Steady Aim and Hipshooting are more serious than you think. If they didn't represent skill beyond what could be expected of a decent soldier (and by decent soldier, I mean one that an Inquisitor would consider employing), they wouldn't need to be abilities.
They aren't simply a sight picture coming back to the target after firing or being able to be quite accurate on the move in a shooting competition. These are characters who have to keep astounding accuracy under highly lethal pressures - people shooting back at you, over terrain you've not had a chance to walk over first, and with the fate of worlds at stake.

Please, don't be such a romantic.     I don't make light of the skills men and women have to develop so they can come home to their families.

Mate, I'm with Marco on this point -- a tournament setting (for members of the public) is completely different to actual combat (for trained professional soldiers), not to mention the weapons themselves arguably being made to a different standard, so I don't see any relevance in bringing it up. In any case, if you're a good shot, then Inquisitor X wouldn't be employing you because you ranked third or whatever in a shooting tournament -- Inquisitor X would be employing you because you're a damn fine shot on the battlefield and have solid adamantium balls to match.

[Eziah Kranox]

Ok, the first post has been updated with the new profiles etc.
Looks like I may have started something here.... Sorry....
Cheers
Sam
P.S. still going for the RIA weapon system, just changed the weapons a bit, less rules etc (or maybe not but I tried)

P.P.S. will add the third character to first post when I'm done

[Quickdraw McGraw]

Koval-
Can we just back up a second?  I agree with what you both are saying but you're still pulling it out of context.  I'm not saying I'm the worlds best shot and combatant.  That's just Absurd!  I've never been in combat.  Further more I would truly hate myself if I ever had to take a life, even if I was defending my loved ones.   

By the way...I've been shot at by accident 3 times...and I didn't piss myself but I found cover. Failed Nv test or just smart?

Take the whole context into picture, please.  Sam's character doesn't need an anti-grav device on his gun to make those types of shots.  And if he wanted to use those skills on the battlefield, just give the character the experience.  That's all.   I was using an example from my life.  I could have just pulled anything out of thin air and said I was an expert and you wouldn't know.  But that is not how I roll.  I'm also not saying you or Marco are attacking me personally either but you could all you want.  You won't hear me argue with you.  I'm truly nobody!  In a world of +6 billion people I don't even scale up.  Just another brick in the wall... 

Some of my suggestions and comments derailed this topic.  Sorry, I take the blame.  I honestly didn't know the upgrades were from the RIA.  That's my fault not Sams.  But I made my comments only to understand not critique.

So let's try to get this back on track please.  So the question is Koval... do you feel Sam's character or yours even would need a pistol that weights 0kgs to utilize these skills.  Sure it's cool but I want my character to be cool and my gear practical. 

Eziah-
It's ok you didn't start anything.     If we can't disagree every once and a while we never get anywhere.  I still would like to see your 3rd character.   

Have a great day all,
Josh

[Koval]

So the question is Koval... do you feel Sam's character or yours even would need a pistol that weights 0kgs to utilize these skills.

No, but if the pistol functionally gives the character said skills, then that's got little to do with the character's actual abilities -- as it stands, give him any other pistol and he'll suddenly have to re-think how to use it, and similarly that pistol would grant any other character the equivalent of those abilities anyway (once they've learned how to use the gun properly). Being as we're talking about a Skitarius here (albeit one that's socially aware), I'd just say the character should have one of those abilities anyway, weapon upgrade or no weapon upgrade.

I'm of the opinion that "this upgrade confers RSA/Hipshooting" just means "this is pretty much the most sensible way to represent the upgrade's effects without overcomplicating things". In any case, a character can still be cool without being overburdened with stuff.

[Eziah Kranox]

Ok, this is not a full update but I would like your thoughtS on the next two character concepts.

The tech adept handler: I'm thinking we will be from Praetoria, one of the noble houses. He like most techpriests has had a number of emotion repressent surgeries etc and so does not function properly in a social situation. Although the majority of his body is bionic, most of the obvious parts(hands, feet and head etc) are inserted subdermally. He does not flaunt his admech origins(no robes, mecha-thingies etc), however his clothes are always in the colours of the mechanicum and thus an intelligent opponent would realise his allegiances. He walks on a highly advanced walking cane (although he doesn't actually need it), the cane's purpose is twofold, it is both a shock weapon for self defence and it is the equivalent of a vox jammer. His only other piece of equipment is what looks like a pocket watch from Praetoria with a cog engraved on the back, this device acts as a Photon Flash Grenade centred on him, it emits a very strong pulse of light that would blind a human opponent.

The newbie: For the first time in the history of unit a member of Team 2 has been recruited from outside the Mechanicum. This unnoficially made Team 2 the largest team with 3 members, which means that there are now 11 operatives. She will be a psyker from a forgeworld. When Eziah was hunting a target on her homeworld, the girl reached puberty and her powers started to show. Eziah thought that he could use her and so she was taken in by Team 2 before the black ships could get her. She specialises in Technomancy, shutting down electrical systems, controling machines (anything from cyber mastiffs through to a tech adept with lots of cranial implants) with her mind and causing anything mechanical to generally have a bad day. Of course these traits would be highly valuable for hunting down members of the Mechanicus. Though the handler of Team 2 does not trust her, he has begrudgingly noted that she could be useful, if given the proper training.

So thoughts?

[Quickdraw McGraw]

I like both of these character concepts Eziah!  Your warband( if the handler is included) will make for a great team w/flavor I think.  The cane is an good idea( low key just like him) and having a technomancer around could be dangerous but I think far more useful too.   

Josh

[Koval]

That technomancer's going to be a prime target if you encounter any witch hunters -- she wouldn't have been sanctioned (per your admission that she was never taken by a Black Ship), so the Ordo Hereticus would have a field day. You've also suggested that she's not had proper training in the use of her powers, so she's currently the psychic equivalent of a walking time-bomb.

I'm not saying "change this", though, so much as wondering whether that was your intention...

[Eziah Kranox]

Well, yes she is a target of the witch hunters, although the organisation itself doesn't officially exist and is wanted by all sorts of authorities, so it isn't going to cause any additional problems on that end.

With the training, she is 'trained' in that she knows how to use her powers through tutelage from the psychic members of the unit's support staff, she also has a nullswitch implanted in her brain along with the cranial implants common to Team 2, and this would be activated in the event of 'occurances' by the handler. If the nullswitch wasn't enough Eziah, as leader, would shoot her. I would also like to add that the team has had all of their cranial implants modified to resist (not totally stop) her powers' effects if she goes totally nuts.

P.S. So I have finished with the character profiles, the stories aren't ready yet so I won't post them just yet, but I thought I'd mention a few things.

The handler/admech liason officer, Nathaniel, has a Nv of 95..... Yes I know that it is ridiculous, but he has had a number of emotion repressive surgeries etc. I have removed his flashy piece of archeotech (the pocket watch) and he now has the CPSDC (or Cog Pattern Self Defence Cane) which is a shock weapon with reach 3, D6+1 damage and a -15% parry penalty, it also functions as an Active Counter Measures system (basically the guy shooting you gets a negative modifier to hit equal to the amount you pass a sagacity test by) as detailed the the DM admech article. He also has an MIU attached to Rebecca's (the psyker) nullchip hand has the Distrust rule(basically -1 speed while she is around) for when she is around from DM 1.

Rebecca has fairly basic stats other than willpower. She does carry a powerful laspistol... But she probably won't hit very much with a Bs in the low 40s. She has a negative 30% modifier to power nullification as all her training was to increase her mental stability and channel her powers offensively. She uses the Technomancy discipline, which is a combination of Machine Empathy and some telepathy powers that only affect machines/ characters with bionics. Other than stuns, she really can only track targets(she basically has Psi track that only affects machinery and characters with bionics) and do minor damage using a psychic version of the System Overload hack (D6 damage added to the enemy injury totalfor every 10% the test is passed by) from the DM admech article. If the nullchip (which she is totally unaware of) is activated it acts as a null colar that cannot be removed and it doesn't stop enemy powers that are used against her. Her main defence is a persistent power that acts in the same way as the Active Counter Measures devices but it also affects enemies with bionics.

[Eziah Kranox]

Sorry for the double post   
Just posting to say that the 3rd character is up and the 4th is almost done.
Cheers
Sam

Edit - I think that Nathaniel may need a gun, I want to encorporate it into the cane but not sure what to do.... any suggestions?