Cassius Grendel and the Unknown Heretek: character discussion

[Koval]

I'll sum this up in a quote from my old university gaming group:

ERROR: CORRUPTION DETECTED

10 FIND
20 INTERROGATE
30 PURGE HETERODOXY
40 GOTO 30

Basically, Cassius and the Unknown Heretek are supporting characters* for Astrid, my Chaos psyker; I went completely the opposite way from how I normally do characters, and thought "let's build a DoW2 Chaos Cultist and a heretek" without actually having much of a character concept in mind for either. So if these characters look a little uninspired, that's why.

*Emphasis on the "supporting"; Astrid's meant to be the main focus of attention, then the Unknown Heretek. Cassius really is what happens when I build a DoW2 Chaos Cultist.

I'm mostly looking for thoughts on the Unknown Heretek's rules set, but thoughts on Cassius would also be welcome.


BACKGROUND:
Once, he had a name.

A promising future within the Martian Priesthood cut itself short when he grew tired of the rites and the dogma; the Machine Cult's attitude towards innovation and advancement irked him, and his initial reverence of the Omnissiah gave way to heterodoxy and, eventually, techno-heresy. Leaving the Adeptus Mechanicus as a heretek and an exile, he wandered, visiting the tallest hive spires and delving into the darkest depths of the undercity, and travelling from the most technologically advanced of domains to places that had never seen the majesty of the Machine.

The name was the first thing to go. He decided that it was no longer necessary, so he deleted it.

He settled for a while as the armourer to a gang of interstellar mercenaries. One, a deserter from the Imperial Guard, introduced him to the Dark Pantheon. He came to take an interest in Tzeentch, whose servants pursued forbidden lore and arcane secrets that could apply to machines as easily as to magic. He admired the quest for perfection espoused by Slaanesh, and renewed his efforts to improve his skills as a machinist. He developed a grudging respect for Khorne, the master of battle, and began to learn more about weapons of war. But he didn't like Nurgle. Nurgle represented decay and stagnancy. Nurgle, to him, was synonymous with the Adeptus Mechanicus, against whom he had rebelled.

His hand was the next thing to go, and he replaced it with a cutting tool. He then decided that having two hands might actually have been rather useful after all, so he installed a servo-arm.

The former Guardsman's name was Cassius Grendel. It wasn't his real name, of course. The two of them managed to develop a bond of sorts. Eventually, Grendel felt he owed more loyalty to his friend than to the mercenaries, and rebelled against them. The mercenaries didn't like that, so they were spaced before they could cause trouble.

In the Howling Chasm, he met a witch who owed her allegiance to Slaanesh, and who appeared to have a daemon as her patron. She called herself Astrid Tantalus. He found her interesting, and agreed to create a force staff for her, on the condition that he and Grendel be allowed to accompany her. For whatever reason or purpose occurred to either her or her patron, she consented.

The last thing to go was his conscience.



NAME: Cassius Grendel (né Damien Mercale)

RANK // AFFILIATION: Guardsman // Chaos (unaligned)

PHYSICAL STATS:
Date of Birth: (4)294978.M41
Place of Birth: Nova Sagittar, Segmentum Pacificus (Tempestus border zone)
Gender: Male
Height: 190cm
Weight: 80kg

WS BS S  T  I  Wp Sg Nv Ld
60 62 59 56 61 61 54 68 49

Handedness: Right

Equipment: Sagittar-pattern service lasgun (two reloads), knuckle dusters, Guard flak armour (AV 3 on all locations except head), gas mask, Slaught inhaler (5 doses)

Skills and Talents: Rapid Reload

Sagittar-pattern service lasgun: Grendel was issued this weapon as an Imperial Guardsman. He has since defaced the Imperial iconography, but continues to use the weapon owing to the sheer sentimental value he attaches to it. Sagittarian weapons are built for ease of use and maintenance by even the most uneducated Imperial Guardsman or PDF trooper, and despite the abuse to which Grendel has subjected it, any problems it suffers are always possible to fix.
This is a Mars-pattern lasrifle (see the Revised Inquisitor Armoury), but fitted with a mid-length barrel.



NAME: The Unknown Heretek (né Urshanabi Secundus)

RANK // AFFILIATION: Heretek // Chaos (Unaligned)

PHYSICAL STATS:
Date of Birth: Unknown
Place of Birth: +++REDACTED+++
Gender: Male
Height: 205cm
Weight: 190kg

WS BS S  T  I  Wp Sg Nv Ld
61 60 ** 59 60 71 77 65 63
**Natural Strength 48. Left arm 35, right arm 40, total from arms 75

Handedness: Left

Equipment: Custom laspistol (one reload), body armour (AV 4 on chest, AV 3 on abdomen, AV 1 on arms), average bionic right arm (S40) with chainblade attachment, average bionic left arm (S35), servo-arm, advanced bionic right eye, crude bionic lungs, rebreather

Skills and Talents: Distrust (Adeptus Mechanicus, Dark Mechanicus), Quick Draw, Speak Lingua Technis

Custom laspistol: This clearly used to be a military sidearm of some sort, but it has undergone so many "upgrades" that it is barely recognisable as anything other than "a laspistol". It has been modified for greater armour penetration, at the apparent cost of range.
This laspistol has been constructed using a heavy military magazine, a blueshift muzzle, a short barrel, a 19MTh lasing chamber, a Mars-pattern discharge generator, a standard grip and a standard frame. It has the following profile:
Type   Range     Mode    Acc   Dam   Shots   Reload  Wt
Pistol   E    Sg/Sm(2/3)  -   2D6+1    36       2    15
Special: Light AP, Low Recoil

Chainblade Attachment: This is an implanted close combat weapon with the following profile:
Reach   Dam    PP
  2    2D6+4  -25%
Against inanimate objects, the chainblade gains the Tearing property (see the RIA).

Servo-arm: Treat this as a S80 bionic arm that is operated via MIU. It affords the Unknown Heretek the same bonus as mechadendrites (while being somewhat better at holding things). Additionally, once per turn, the Unknown Heretek may use his servo-arm in close combat, in which case it counts as an implanted great hammer (note that it does not suffer any off-hand penalties).
The servo-arm may be targeted and attacked by other characters, and may be hit on a roll of 101+ after modifiers. It has AV 4 and uses the Arm damage table, but attacks made against the servo-arm will not add points to the Unknown Heretek's Injury total.
Finally, the servo-arm may be used to hold the Unknown Heretek's laspistol so that he can reload it.

Distrust: See the Carthax Wiki

Speak Lingua Technis: The Unknown Heretek can speak Lingua Technis. In game terms, this gives him a +10 bonus to his Sagacity when operating complex tech, and allows him to speak with servants of the Adeptus Mechanicus (including servitors) without being understood by others.