Brutis of Golgath (Redemptionist Warband)

[Alyster Wick]

First two members of what will ultimately be a 5 plus member warband. The players in my campaign are going for totally non-Inquisitorial warbands (READ MY BATTLE REPORT!!! I forget how to link so just go to the darn section) and it's been super fun so far. As a result, I'm cooking up my own planet-bound non-Inquisitorial group to (hopefully) join the campaign once someone else is up for GMing.

Brutis of Golgath

Brutis of Golgath was brought to the monastery world of Dominus Divinum (Arcada's third moon) when he was but a babe. Like so many of the Emperor's servants in the Adeptus Ministorum his birthplace and parents were a mystery, or at least of no consequence, and he was given the name Teodor Nemes.

Through his upbringing Teodor was immediately despised by all but the Drill Abbotts for his bullheaded and confrontational nature. Teodor, it seemed, refused to learn the lessons being taught, preferring to follow his own interpretation of Emperor's Word, an interpretation that was militant even by the standards of the Ecclesiarchy. The focus which he brought to his martial training, however, was considered a rare thing.

Early in his third decade upon Dominus Teodor tried and failed to create his own sect within the church, The Order of His Fiery Word. While execution was an option considered by the Cardinals, Teodor had developed a small but fervent (and growing) following to his cause. Rather than make a martyr of Teodor the rulers of Dominus assigned the young firebrand to their missionary outpost on Golgath. Along with his most faithful followers Teodor set out for the far reaches of the Hadron system.

When he arrived, Teodor continued his history of being loathed by those higher up the food chain. He briefly found a niche as Drill Abbott of the mission, but soon all but the most flagellant of his followers eschewed Teodor's painful brand of faith and the young demagogue found himself alone against authority once more. When the insurrection of chaos sourcer Kol Panj started on Golgath the mission's Deacon sent Teodor to spread the Emperor's word at the tip of the Imperial Guard's sword.

For a time young Teodor found acceptance and even a measure of respect among the officers of the Imperial Guard. Years of training made Teodor a useful combatant and his blazing rhetoric proved inspirational on the field of battle. The commanders joked that the Ecclesiarchy had finally sent them someone useful.

These accolades were short lived, however. While battlefield moral among Teodor's units were high, the missionary's rhetoric continued even between fights when respite was a rare and treasured thing. For this reason, Teodor was rotated to the front lines of every battle, given the role of a tireless roving battle-preacher (along with a liberal supply of Psychon to keep him going).

Among the front line troops, who had little use for priests, word spread of an insane figure wrapped in the glory of the Emperor who would march into battle at the head of Imperial Guard companies and always, miraculously, come out unscathed only to disappear at the battle's end to head back and lead another charge. No one knew where or when the name Brutis of Golgath came from, but when young Teodor heard it he believed that it was a sign from the Golden Throne, and he took this title as his Emperor-given name.

When Panj's rebellion was squelched the rulers of Dominus were surprised to see the man they knew as Teodor return to their planet. They supposed the upstart would die out in Hadron's Reach, but he had survived his tour and was returning to be a thorn in their side. As a temporary balm, the Cardinals sent Brutis to the Shrine of Saint Sibilis on Arcada's surface.

Reynold the Archivist

Reynold was born to one of the families charged with maintaining the shrine of Saint Sibilis. Reynold's only duty, his sworn purpose, was the maintenance of the holy relics of the blessed crusader. While he was competent at his work his superiors noticed a darkness in the lad even from a young age. His fits of rage were few and far between, but a lingering anger hid beneath the otherwise devote boy's surface.

For years he studied and practiced the blessings administered to the tools of maintenance for Sibilis's relics. Then there was a decade dedicated to the preparation of the oils and unguents used by the sanctioners. Then Reynold was allowed entry into the hallowed Chamber of the Crusader where he saw to the holiness and cleanliness of the room itself while watching the Priests perform the blessed maintenance of the Saint's relics.

Then the baptism took place, and Reynold was blessed into the service of the Sacred Sanctioning Priests. For a time he was happy, finally able to see to the relics he had studied his entire life. This happiness was shattered when an Imperial Aristocrat traveled to the Shrine with a group of pilgrims.

Reynold's temper flared as he saw the man's foggy eyes and staggering gait. He had the gall to enter that sacred place with blood tainted by drink and drug. When the man slurred insults at the Saint to a nearby pilgrim Reynold needed to be restrained by one of his fellow Priests. But when the drunkard stumbled into Sibilis's armor and vomited on its toes there was no force in the Imperium that could have stopped Reynold from visiting the righteousness of the Emperor's vengeance upon the man.

The Aristocrat survived Reynold's beating but required a long internment in a juve bath to recover. In punishment Reynold was stripped of his title and relegated to the back room of the shrine to fill the role of junior Archivist to the Saint. His spirit fell, but he threw himself into the study and classification of the old texts he was charged with restoring and cataloging. Reynold's personal penance was to devote himself utterly to his new field and visit daily flagellation upon his unworthy body.

That all changed the day Brutis of Golgatha was transferred to the Shrine. While the man was assigned the simple role of Ecclesiatical Lictu he immediately started on a crusade to reform the holy place and transform it from a mausoleum into an active place of worship and base for the faithful. When Brutis was met with resistance and hostility from the shrine's ruling order he would quote the emperor's scripture to his assailants, regardless of their rank, and would often invoke the feats of Sibilis in his chastisements. In this man, Reynold found a kindred spirit.

While the shrine's Deacons were busy plotting ways to remove Brutis the planet of Arcada fell into upheaval as cults to the dark gods and mutant militias sprung up in its cities. Reform within the shrine began to feel unimportant in the face of these rising threats. An urgency visited Brutis, a need to fight back that he had not felt since his days on Golgatha, for the Emperor demands more than just words.

With the vengeance of Saint Sibilis, Brutis of Golgatha and Reynold the Archivist vowed to slay the enemies of the Emperor and to spread his teachings throughout the hives of Arcada. The Adeptus Ministorum has grown weak and soft. Under the banner of the Holy Redemption our heroes will restore faith in the God-Emperor.

The Deacons of the shrine were glad to see the two firebrands leave, until they visited the Chamber of the Crusader to find some of his holiest were relics missing...

Brutis of Golgath
WS - 61   
BS - 58   
S - 66
T - 71   
I - 67
WP - 72
SG - 53
NV - 93
LD - 89
SP - 6

Armor – 2 on head, 4 on chest and abdomen, 3 on arms, legs, and groin

Wargear:
Rebreather w/ built in Inhaler (10 doses of Psychon)
*The Elucidator
High Magnum Revolver (6 Man-Stopper Rounds, 6 Supercavitating Rounds)
Infantry Knife (counts as Short Sword)
Brass Knuckles

Special Abilities:
**Power of Prayer
Furious Assault
Leader

*The Elucidator – The Elucidator was the holy weapon of Saint Sibilis. It is a blessed sword expertly worked into an incredibly sophisticated flamer housing with an elaborate backpack attachment.

The Elucidator counts as an anointed sword (see Swords of the Fainthful article) with an additional -10% to its parry penalty. It cannot be destroyed by power weapons.

If its flames are turned on, each hit inflicted on an opponent results in a 25% chance of the opponent catching fire (3 hits would mean 3 separate roles at 25%). If the Elucidator's backpack torch is activated then wielding character counts as Fearsome. The Elucidator may use the profile of a flamer or heavy flamer with a range limited to 15. It takes one action to light the sword and one separate action to light the torch. The weapon may only be used as a flamer if its sword is lit.

The Elucidator contains 100 shots of fuel. The sword and torch each respectively cost one shot per turn that they are lit (if both the sword and torch are lit they will cost a cumulative 2 shots per turn). If the Elucidator's payload was blessed by Reynold the archivist before the game (GM discretion) then any damage inflicted on demonic characters by fire will be doubled and psychers will treat any damage inflicted by fire as having the Shock property.

**Power of Prayer – For every action spent Praying, Brutis will gain +10 to all of his roles for that turn. Prayer may not be combined with any other actions. The +10 only applies to d100 roles.


Reynold the Archivist
WS - 35   
BS - 46   
S - 42
T - 47   
I - 48
WP - 52
SG - 36
NV - 56
LD - 82
SP - 4

Armor – 2 on head, 3 on all other locations

Wargear:
*The Steel Skull of Sibilis
Short Sword
Heavy Assault Rifle (1 reload of standard ammo)

Special Abilities:
**Rock Steady Faith
*** Learned Archivist 

*The Steel Skull of Sibilis – All members of Reynold's warband (GM Discretion) and Reynold himself gain the ability Nerves of Steel if they are within 10 yards of Reynold or have line of sight to Reynold/the Skull. If the Skull is dropped all members of Reynold's warband including Reynold (GM Discretion) will be subject to Frenzy targeting any opposing character holding the Skull.
**Rock Steady Faith – As long as Reynold has control of the Steel Skull he counts as having the ability Rock Steady Aim.
*** Learned (Archivist/Sanctioner) – Reynold may double his SG if making a test involving the history of the Imperium (GM discretion) or the maintenance of battlefield weaponry/armor (GM discretion)

[KaptiDavy]

I think I just fell in love with them 

[Alyster Wick]

Glad you like them Davy! This next fellow need some more feedback though (and I may have gone a bit overboard dumbing him down. also possibly overboard with the physical stats as well).

Gerund Littlefaith

Slag City is the lowest bastion of civilization in the underhive of Arcada's Crown Spire, and in Slag City the most brutal entertainment can be found in the fighting pits. Out of all the gangers and pit lords that supply fresh bodies for these bloody games, the most feared and despised is Mortis Rex. A former pit-slave, the gladiator known as Mad Man Mortis fought and scraped his way to the top of the gladiatorial cartels to carve out a nice business and a fearsome reputation for himself.

One of the horror stories of Slag City has to do with the disappearance of citizens who are with child. Rumor has it that Mortis seeks out expectant mothers, subjecting them to all manner of steroid and stimm treatment under to close eye of the fleshchanics. The children born to these mothers are said to be frothing beasts, 5 times the size of a normal child and aging at an accelerated rate.

Whether or not these stories are true, it is undeniable that Mortis has a seemingly endless supply of brutish lunatics of unusual size to feed the fighting pits. Of these creatures, Rexus the Beast was one of the most popular. Rexus towered over normal men, but among the things Mortis brought into the pit he was unexceptional to the eye. It was not his skill or size that cause Mortis to gift Rexus his name, but the unbridled ferocity that he showed.

As Rexus's renown grew one of his shows became a target for Brutis and his fledgling crusade. The bloodthirsty rabble that would watch such pointless slaughter as the fighting of the pits were surely worthy of purgation, and the redeemer priest brought fire and death the crowds.

Brutis, Reynold and their zealots cut their way through the stadium, ultimately breaking into the pit itself where the unfortunates of the crowd ran to in hopes of avoiding a fiery death. Unfortunately for them, as Rexus tore through the last of his opponents on the killing floor he turned his fury on the underhive scum who were merely trying to escape the purge.

As Brutis slew his last sinner he turned to see the Rexus rending bodies limb from limb, hiver and zealot alike until it was just the priest, the archivist, and the gladiator left. Then, a most unexpected thing happened. Brutis saw a calmness wash over the eyes of the thing as it gazed upon the fire of the Elucidator and the Skull of Sibilis. He dropped to his knees and bowed his head. Reynold raised him empty weapon, ready to bash the thing's skull in with his empty firearm, but Brutis told him to hold. "Rise" said the priest, and slowly, Rexus did. "From this day forth," declared Brutis, "your Emperor-given name shall be Gerund Littlefaith, and you shall pay for your sins through glorious and bloody service to he-on-the-throne."

The redeemer believed that what happened that day was a miracle, ordained by the God-Emperor himself. When Gerund gazed upon the Saint's weapons he was filled with the light and fire of the Redemption. The gladiator had already begun his good deeds by killing the hive scum and purging the Brutis's Crusade of weakness, and together, they would do great things in the name of the Emperor.

Gerund Littlefaith
WS - 71   
BS - 23   
S - 93
T - 87   
I - 49
WP - 27
SG - 13
NV - 72
LD - 23
SP - 4

Armor – 2 on head, 2 on groin

Wargear:
Flask of Holy Water – Gerund has a flask filled with 10 rounds worth of what Brutis refers to as "Holy Water" (it's really Spur). It takes one action to drink from the flask. When Gerund uses the Flask the player announces how many turns worth of Spur he intends to take then rolls a d6, using the table below to determine how many doses of Spur Gerund takes. Once this is determined Gerund takes a Toughness test. If this test is failed Gerund is stunned for the duration of the drug's effect (you're not supposed to drink Spur).

1: -2 turns
2: -1 turn
3 or 4: drug lasts the intended duration
5: +1 turn
6: +2 turns

*Weapons??? (see below)

Special Abilities:
True Grit
Brawler
Atlas Treatment – The character's muscles are swollen with steroids and their tendons have been replaced with organo-steel cabling. The character may reroll any failed Strength tests.
Just a Flesh Wound

*I'm a little at a loss for more wargear. Part of me would like to give him the top of Eisenhorn's staff as a holy cudgel (an additional relic to St. Sibilis) and a metal gauntlet. Two metal gauntlets would also be neat, as would a falchion or huge axe (chain axe possibly?). All that said, he's a beast. I want him to be frightening and Jason-esque in his durability, but if he's too dangerous then he's no fun to play. Chain weapons and clubs are very appropriate for both gladiators and redemptionists. Perhaps things'll be easier once the model starts coming together (I have the parts 99% picked out beyond the weapons).

[KaptiDavy]

I hoped until the last sentences that this would be a setup for their first scenario (or was it?) - I might be tempted to give them a few motives and let the dice gods decide how they really met (that Dark Magenta article about psychology gave me lots of ideas by the way)
Otherwise the statline seems great (just add something that would eventually unhinge him - a little repentance between games may go a long way)
And regarding that Eisenhorn staff... I'd make it into some weight on the end of a chain (that also looks "holy", and it still can be used as a weapon). After all, Brutis seems rather inventive when it comes to discipline and leadership (holy water is just great, heh)

[Lord Borak]

Love the story for this guy. From the description you painted I saw him with spiked armoured gauntlets. Just bludgeoning his opponents to death with over-sized spiky knuckle dusters.

[Raghnall]

I rather like them. My characters tend to be more subtle and less Puritan, but thats just personal taste. The fanaticism and brutality are certainly appropriate in  this case.

Regarding Gerund, I see him as been as close to an Ogryn as a human, and his stats are weaker than an Ogryn's, so I don't see any problem with him. In terms of equipment, I suggest you take a look at this list of Roman gladiator types, and see the sort of thing that they used.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Roman_gladiator_types

On one final note, unless I'm mistaken, your speeds seem to be a little off.
With the current initiative values, Brutus should be 67/20 +1 = 3.35+1 = 4.35  Speed-4
Reynold should be 48/20 +1 = 2.4+1 = 3.4 Speed-3
Gerund should be 49/20 +1 = 2.45+1 = 3.45 Speed-3

[MarcoSkoll]

Sorry to not get around to commenting earlier, but I've been finding new ways to waste my time this year (currently, I'm poking my nose into 3D animation).

I don't think there's much in particular to critique about the background, so I'm going to take a gander at the rules instead:

If the Elucidator's backpack torch is activated then wielding character counts as Fearsome.

I don't know exactly how this is supposed to look on the character, but I'm wondering if you're intending this to be a "faith effect". If it's merely mundane, I don't know that a halo of flames (even if visually impressive) would necessarily scare an average agent of the Inquisition - at least not in the way that the skill actually acts on the table.

As far as what Fearsome actually does, Gerund feels like the natural candidate in this group - the massive hulking brawler who genuinely would be a scary prospect to be within arm's reach of.

Here, a skill that represents the flames being intimidating rather than necessarily frightening might be more appropriate. Robey's INQ2.0 Conversation rules have some effects to that end, but that would mean it only taking effect when he talks. (Mind you, I could certainly see a preacher wreathed in flame having quite the effect on a crowd of average citizens).

I'm thinking instead perhaps about Nv penalties - maybe reducing the Nv of nearby characters or against any test he himself causes. That might need a little thought, as players can normally have/expect a very specific idea of what a given Nv value means (e.g. Nv 80 means that the character will never be pinned unless they're hit) which that might disrupt... but I'd argue there is often a need for a variety of scary other than just a desire to be out of the character's immediate proximity.

Power of Prayer – For every action spent Praying, Brutis will gain +10 to all of his roles for that turn. Prayer may not be combined with any other actions.

I don't know if you've seen it, but

If the Skull is dropped all members of Reynold's warband including Reynold (GM Discretion) will be subject to Frenzy targeting any opposing character holding the Skull.

I'm going to drift into my "roleplay, not ruleplay" routine here and suggest this is dropped. Unless a character is actually compelled to act a certain way (by drugs, psychic powers, mental conditioning, etc), it should be the player making the choice of how to act.

It would be quite plausible for it to confer a skill like Hatred or Enmity* though, as that would represent their fury better than Frenzy (which actually just limits a character and confers no benefits)

*As it happens, I mixed skill names up the other day. What I actually meant regarding Untouchables was "Distrust".

Gerund Littlefaith

Well, firstly, see the earlier point about possibly giving him Fearsome.

After that... it's a bit hard to say how he's going to play out on the table; Little armour to reduce damage, but the capacity to survive actually taking it. This proved an interesting combination when I was writing Jax Lynn. Although she regenerates rather than just being a slab, I think the results are likely to be a similar challenge to fine-tune.

As compared to her original version (or his original version, given the early drafts of the character were male), she ended up with a lot of special rules to tone down things like stunning and speed penalties (which due to her lack of armour could easily be clocked up by just weight of fire) in order to actually give her the result I was looking for - the sense that pain and injury had lost meaning to her.

Perhaps Flesh Wound will work aptly to provide the result, but... well, it'll need testing.

On one final note, unless I'm mistaken, your speeds seem to be a little off.

Personally, I'd say "meh". Derived stats don't strictly have to be.

We're used to speed changing due to injury anyway, but I've got various characters with things like their Knockback or Consciousness values defined independently. I even have characters whose BIV varies from location to location, which isn't really much different as far as the game cares to having varied armour.

[Alyster Wick]

Weapons-wise you guys inspired me. I think he's going to have two giant metal gauntlets (from the ogre kit) but will also have a chain wrapped around his neck/torso with a holy relic skull on it. I'm thinking it may have some vague anti-psycher properties on it, like if you're within X inches your risky psychic actions are only successful if your 6s outnumber your 1s (instead of the other way around). Mostly it'll just be a weight on a chain though.

And now my "insert quote" button isn't working again. It may be the new browser or the windows 10 update. So this isn't going to be as clear as I had hoped, but here it goes!

Raghnall, in my group we're experimenting with Speed being I/20 +2 instead of +1. I kept meaning to mention that and forgot. I've gotta be honest, I really love the +2. It lets your lower Initiative characters do more and doesn't put a ton of pressure on players to give their leader a higher Initiative score than necessary just to make sure they can do something. Minor tangent, I feel that Initiative is often used to denote rank more than being an accurate representation. It's a somewhat valid mindset to want to ensure your main character isn't staring at a wall the whole game, and I think the +2 really helps. I know my characters have gotten a better spread of Initiatives since I started with it.

Marco, going item by item:

- That makes sense. I am planning the fire to have a purplish hue to represent the holy flames from the blessed oil. That was meant to be part of the Fearsome factor. However, you're quite right to point out that there are better ways to represent this. In my haste to assign rules to the weapon I applied some that weren't as characterful as the should have been. I'll definitely revise that after I look through a few articles.

- Power of Prayer - So that ability was designed (1) to be characterful and (2) for very specific gameplay reasons. I want Brutis praying rather than aiming in most cases and when it comes to combat I wanted to give him a bit of an edge on the charge when fighting more adept opponents. Character-wise I see him taking a couple moments to pray before rushing at someone who totally outmatches him, and the rule is meant to symbolize how he deludes himself into actually performing better. I'll see how it works in reality. Perhaps the rule will be dropped when a daemon swipes his head off after Brutis spends two actions praying but fails to actually charge.

- The Skull - You're right, I'll search for a better rule. Or potentially just roleplay it. Sometimes I get carried away in the moment and go a little bonkers with the extra rules.

- Gerund - I'll post the results after a few games, would be interested to get your feedback based on how he performs. You've thought a lot about how to make unarmored characters resilient but playable. Maybe I hit the right balance here or maybe he'll be unstoppable (or maybe he'll take a bolt to the head and that'll be that). Time will tell!


I'll try to post revisions in the next couple days, then get around to my final two (or three?) characters. There's one I'm debating about that may be two separate characters. Currently he goes by the title Something-or-Other the Thrice Saved. The joke is that he tends to join Redemptionist cults whenever they rise but tends to wander off when they peter out. Brutis sees this as irrelevant because all past Redemptionist cults have been failures due to the fact that they no longer exist, so he considers it the Thrice-Saveds last shot. I was planning to have him be cowardly and skulking. He might have blademaster but I'd RP him as never wanting to get into a fight. I was also going to cover him in holy books and have the books basically be his armor, which is a kooky and fun concept. I feel like that's at least one too many gimmicks though, so I may have more of a preacher/scriptor type who records Brutis's deeds and he's the guy with the books (but I already have a character called "the Archivist", is that too much?). I dunno, I'll sleep on it. Thanks for the feedback guys!

[MarcoSkoll]

Power of Prayer

Bougger. Sorry, started a thought, never finished it.

Some time back I was cooking up replacement Acts of Faith rules (to replace the uninspiring one from Exterminatus , and your Power of Prayer rule reminded me to an extent of how it ended up...

The character can spend actions praying, which requires a successful Wp test. For each of these successful tests, the character gains a "Faith Point". At the start of each of the character's turns, their pool of unspent Faith Points is reduced by one* (but only to zero if they also fail a Wp test).

Prior to any of the character's rolls, or any dice roll (including those of another player) that directly affects the character (GM's discretion may be required), any number of faith points may be spent. Each faith point spent requires an extra roll of the dice, keeping the result of the faithful's choice. If multiple faith points are spent, this can exceed the normal limit of one re-roll.

Additionally, a faithful character may take a Wp test (modified by the success of any psychic test) to completely resist any warp-based effect, including psychic bolts and the special properties of daemon/force weapons. This does not otherwise nullify any psychic power.

*I'm currently also experimenting with making the Faith pool deplete by D3-1 per turn so that it's a bit less predictable.

(This was the "agnostic" version of the power. There was also a "miracles" version that included special faith powers, but eventually I opted to go with the suggestion that a sceptic could look at the result as say "that could have happened anyway").

... and was wondering if that might have been of any use to you.

[Alyster Wick]

Power of Prayer

Bougger. Sorry, started a thought, never finished it.

Some time back I was cooking up replacement Acts of Faith rules (to replace the uninspiring one from Exterminatus , and your Power of Prayer rule reminded me to an extent of how it ended up...

The character can spend actions praying, which requires a successful Wp test. For each of these successful tests, the character gains a "Faith Point". At the start of each of the character's turns, their pool of unspent Faith Points is reduced by one* (but only to zero if they also fail a Wp test).

Prior to any of the character's rolls, or any dice roll (including those of another player) that directly affects the character (GM's discretion may be required), any number of faith points may be spent. Each faith point spent requires an extra roll of the dice, keeping the result of the faithful's choice. If multiple faith points are spent, this can exceed the normal limit of one re-roll.

Additionally, a faithful character may take a Wp test (modified by the success of any psychic test) to completely resist any warp-based effect, including psychic bolts and the special properties of daemon/force weapons. This does not otherwise nullify any psychic power.

*I'm currently also experimenting with making the Faith pool deplete by D3-1 per turn so that it's a bit less predictable.

(This was the "agnostic" version of the power. There was also a "miracles" version that included special faith powers, but eventually I opted to go with the suggestion that a sceptic could look at the result as say "that could have happened anyway").

... and was wondering if that might have been of any use to you.

Ahhh, I definitely remember you posting those rules! That must have been the better part of ten years ago, right? Goodness, we're all getting hold...

I'm definitely interested in that line of thinking. For now I'm going to stick with the Power of Prayer as written since it's short and simple. Over time we may add new elements to the warbands as folks get more comfortable with the game, and a more in depth Faith system could definitely be a part of that for me (as the chaos cult gets a daemon host and the archo-tech scavengers get more gear the Faith system could be a good way to add relative "power" to the warband in a characterful way).

Before I post the new character, some notes on the old:

Brutis's Elucidator no longer causes him to be Fearsome when the torch is lit, he just gains +20 on Intimidation roles.

For the Steel Skull I just removed the Frenzy part. I'll roleplay it, it'll be more fun that way. Plus the intent was to make frothing cult members frothier. As it turns out, all my characters are more complicated to me at this point than that, so the rule doesn't make sense. Plus it's a little ridiculous to go through that level of detail for something that is unlikely to happen (it's strapped to his back, someone deliberately has to remove it, which is not likely to be a common occurrence).

Gerund now has the following wargear:

Big Gauntlets – Reach 1, d6+4, Parry Penalty -30
Wych Bane Maul – The Wych Bane Maul is technically not a maul, but the rune-laden effigy of a human skull at the end of a blessed chain. Not even Reynold knows of skull's origin, but when a psyker nears the weapon lets off a dull and menacing glow.

The Wych Bane Maul is a CCW with the following profile – Reach 4, Damage 2d6, Parry Penalty -50

Additionally, any Psykers within 6 inches of the maul will fail their Risky Action test unless they role more 6s than 1s (or suffer a -15 penalty when attempting to use a power in you are not using the RIPPA).

And for Gerund's Special Abilities I removed Atlas Treatment and gave him Fearsome instead. I think 5 special abilities would have been pushing it, plus he's so strong to begin with. Then again I'm a little back and forth on that one. I was planning to have him attempt ridiculous feats of strength in which is Strength would actually be challenged, in which case Atlas treatment would have been useful. He can still attempt the feats of strength I suppose. I don't know, I find myself going back and forth even now. Is 5 too many?


Marta the Vigilant

A note before I begin. Marta is meant as an alternate leader to Brutis. The two will rarely be on the table together as she is a bit of a beast. I'm honestly really liking her character as well, so she may branch off on her own at some point.

On the planet of Arcada the elite guardians of the Planetary Governor are known as the Imperators. The ranks of the Imperator are filled through various Lictu Houses. Based on their genetic predisposition, children born into these houses are set down various tracks, prepared for a life of purpose through one of the many reputable organizations of the Arcadan Government. Of the roles selected for Lictu Children, the highest honor is to be selected to train as an Imperator.

This was the fate chosen for Marta Bellator. It is said that Marta could fight before she could walk. As soon as she gained the power of speech the only words that would leave her mouth were to speak the blessings of the God-Emperor. It was originally thought that this would be a boon for the young Imperator-to-be, as devotion to the Imperium is a cornerstone Imperator training. Over time, however, this proved to be her undoing.

While this would never be spoken aloud, the Imperator Lords responsible for training and maintaining each generation of their elite clan know that an Imperator's first loyalty must be to the Planetary Governor. The Lords of Terra have used Hadron as a bank for Imperial troops for untold generations, and for the sector to survive a Governor must have staunch allies when combating the whims of an aloof Imperial Senate.

Marta was never told this truth however, and she was given removed unceremoniously from the Imperator Halls and sent to train as a member of the Adeptus Arbites. This insult stoked the fires of her internal crucible, and Marta excelled in her training as an arbiter.

Throughout her years in the precincts of Crown Spire she developed a reputation as a fierce and inflexible administrator of the Emperor's justice. While other Arbiters aspired to the relative ease of an upper-hive post Marta dove head first into the depths. She rose through the ranks, ultimately being appointed to the most dangerous precinct in Slag City. Under conditions bearing more similarity to war than to policing Marta flourished. Only the most grizzled and loyal arbites were found worthy of working in her precinct, and though they were few in number many were the heretics that fell before them. In a sea of corruption and death her precinct was a beacon of the Emperor's light.

Marta's record was impeccable, so when Commander of the Combined PDF Lucius Brand was given approval to fold the Adeptus Arbites into Arcada's Planetary Defense Post she was offered the position of Deputy Captain of Crown Spire's lower hive. She was initially filled with the joy of the Emperor. The Arbites precincts were notoriously understaffed and this new arrangement guaranteed she would have the troops she needed to make a real change in the underhive. However the reality of her situation quickly set in.

Marta's new superiors had only a passing interest in enforcing the Emperor's law. Payoffs and side deals were the norm for rank and file PDF troops, and the problem only increased as you went up the ranks. While the Regional Captain would point to reductions in stimm shipments to the upper hive and a drop in collateral violence to industrial hubs all Marta saw was a soft, craven disregard for the God-Emperor. She tried sounding the alarm in the upper hive, going over the head of her immediate superiors. When that did nothing, she requested transfer back out to patrol duty, and her request was immediately granted.

After only a week on the streets Marta found herself alone in an ambush of mutant scum, her calls of backup falling on deaf ears. She battled her way out of the trap, only to find her "comrades" in arms waiting just clear of the fight. The amused looks on their faces disappeared when gore-covered soldier stalked out of the shadows and proceeded to execute them all. She had seen how minor corruption can lead to full blown heresy against the loyal servants of the Emperor, and she would tolerate it no more.

That night the Regional Captain was found hanging from the tallest window of the Precinct Hub, and Marta disappeared into the depths of Slag City along with her old Arbites uniform and shotgun. Rumors persist to this day of a black armored figure striking from the shadows of the underhive, killing heretics and mutants without remorse. In whispered tones the criminals tell stories of how this figure, this woman always looks her victims in the eyes, telling them they are receiving the Emperor's Judgement.

More recently, a similar figure has been seen with a red mask, leading charges of Brutis's Army of the Redemption. It seems Marta has found a home once more.


Marta the Vigilant

WS - 72   
BS - 65   
S - 54
T - 49   
I - 62
WP - 67
SG - 61
NV - 66
LD - 89
SP - 5

Armor – 1 armor on head, carapace armor (6) all other locations

Wargear:
Pump Action Shotgun (Revised Armory), 12 solid slug, 3 Disintegrator Rounds, 3 Penetrator, *3 Homemade Executioner Rounds
Shock Maul
Las Pistol (LRB)
Blind Grenade, Smoke Grenade, Haywire Grenade

*Custom Executioner Rounds: Counts as a risky action. If the risky action is failed treat the round as a Blank

Special Abilities:
Bad Reputation
Hip Shooting


I'm struggling a bit on special abilities right now. I'm not totally happy with where they're at.

Modeling-Wise: I know this is the rules and not model section, but I'm looking for opinions from people who read the background. For the body I'm just adding some GS to the stock Judge model so it looks more like female body armor. For the head though, the two options I'm looking at are to put some GS over Barbaretta's face to make a more traditional Redemptionist mask. The other is to use one of the Severina/Sevora heads (either with a visor on it or just straight up, since I have yet to use a completely unmodified head from the twins). Part of me is leaning hard towards one of the twin's heads, as I think they could passably be a redeemer mask and it fits with the character. That said, the modified Barbaretta would provide more unity to the group. Also, if it wasn't clear Marta is basically a Batman/Punisher hybrid, so that is informing my modeling choices (and ultimately the painting choices).

[MarcoSkoll]

That must have been the better part of ten years ago, right?

Not exactly. That's from the slightly less distant past of summer 2012.

Additionally, any Psykers within 6 inches of the maul will fail their Risky Action test unless they role more 6s than 1s

The maths on that is probably harsher than you intend. A character normally has to roll more 1s than 6s to fail - your circumstance means they have to roll more 6s than 1s to pass. In other words, they're now as likely to fail as they were to pass before.

For a speed 4 character, normally 32.5% of action rolls are Risky. (And a surprising 88% of such fails involve no sixes at all - for example: 1,3,4,5). So now they've got a 67.5% of failing (mostly because they have to rely on rolling at least one 6 to just to beat rolling no 1s at all*).
*Even if you rule that the psyker has to roll at least one 1 to count as failing, it's still a rather high 47.7%. (Because if they roll a single 1, they have to rely on two of their remaining dice being 6, and if they get two 1s they're completely ronnied).

(This of course just considers the first action of the turn, because the later in the turn a risky action is, the less likely it is to fail, because any 1s rolled mean you're going to pass fewer actions and therefore not reach it at all).

This extreme mathematical screwiness is why the Revised Armoury avoids risky actions as far as possible. In the last RIA I only used them where skills have no associated D100 dice roll (like reloading or aiming) to use for the Hazard rules and for the Plasma Flamer, which can make an unknown number of hit rolls per shot.
I've also ported a lot of other rules over to Hazards and may well expand the rule to roll a separate D10 if needed.

I think 5 special abilities would have been pushing it, plus he's so strong to begin with. [snip] I don't know, I find myself going back and forth even now. Is 5 too many?

I go with as many as I think is necessary to represent the character, and "too many" is when you start forgetting them.

5 or 6 abilities is fairly normal for my characters, but 8-10 isn't unknown - and then there's exceptional cases like Maya Avens who has somewhere over 30 if you count all of her psychic powers. (In order that she can actually act like an experienced and versatile psyker in game, rather than having to keep falling back on shooting things instead).

Marta the Vigilant

I like the concept, particularly the point about her "comrades" after the ambush.

I don't think there's anything I'd particularly critique (although I wouldn't say she's that beastly, but I guess that depends on exactly how her opponents will stack up).

[Alyster Wick]

All fair points Marco. Specifically though, to expand on one:

Additionally, any Psykers within 6 inches of the maul will fail their Risky Action test unless they role more 6s than 1s

The maths on that is probably harsher than you intend. A character normally has to roll more 1s than 6s to fail - your circumstance means they have to roll more 6s than 1s to pass. In other words, they're now as likely to fail as they were to pass before.

For a speed 4 character, normally 32.5% of action rolls are Risky. (And a surprising 88% of such fails involve no sixes at all - for example: 1,3,4,5). So now they've got a 67.5% of failing (mostly because they have to rely on rolling at least one 6 to just to beat rolling no 1s at all*).
*Even if you rule that the psyker has to roll at least one 1 to count as failing, it's still a rather high 47.7%. (Because if they roll a single 1, they have to rely on two of their remaining dice being 6, and if they get two 1s they're completely ronnied).

(This of course just considers the first action of the turn, because the later in the turn a risky action is, the less likely it is to fail, because any 1s rolled mean you're going to pass fewer actions and therefore not reach it at all).

This extreme mathematical screwiness is why the Revised Armoury avoids risky actions as far as possible. In the last RIA I only used them where skills have no associated D100 dice roll (like reloading or aiming) to use for the Hazard rules and for the Plasma Flamer, which can make an unknown number of hit rolls per shot.
I've also ported a lot of other rules over to Hazards and may well expand the rule to roll a separate D10 if needed.

On this, a slight tangent/important qualifier. I actually think the 32.5% auto-failure rate on Risky Actions means that it's overly harsh to use Psychic powers. I love the RIPPA with that single exception (well, that and the mechanics of possession, but that's a different story). What I would like to do long-term is to tweak the RIPPA so that the failure of the Risky Action means an automatic roll on the Phenomena table at +10 (if you get to the Psychic action). In this case, the Phenomena table would be expanded to 25 possible results, some of which would only be attainable if you fail the Risky Action (you're still rolling a d10 on the table. I'm not sure how the additional +5 would get added onto the table, the idea needs more workshopping).

So this would slightly modify the harshness of the maul as compared to the -10 for non-RIPPA games. I'm not married to those effects frankly, I just thought that if Gerund was going to get something that looked holy then it should do holy damage somehow (and the straight bonuses when attacking daemons/psykers was already handled so I wanted it to be different). The effects were meant to be more incidental than anything, Gerund certainly has no understanding of the weapon's extra effects. I may just drop these effects all together, I'm a little torn. 

[MarcoSkoll]

On this, a slight tangent/important qualifier. I actually think the 32.5% auto-failure rate on Risky Actions means that it's overly harsh to use Psychic powers

This is why my dedicated psykers get a variant of Heroic*, allowing them to re-roll a single 1 on their action dice for the purposes of Perils of the Warp
(which takes the odds for a Speed 4 character down to 11.7%). That's still a significant percentage, but means a psyker can actually get away with using a few powers in a game.

*Although my long term plan is to tweak RIPPA to use Hazards. Given Hazards are more easily tweaked, it adds the potential to do things like base the level of danger on how much of their Psy Rating the character is using, which could be an interesting mechanic.

What I would like to do long-term is to tweak the RIPPA so that the failure of the Risky Action means an automatic roll on the Phenomena table at +10 (if you get to the Psychic action). In this case, the Phenomena table would be expanded to 25 possible results

Something to that effect could be interesting. The Phenomena table was longer in Koval's earlier drafts, about twenty results on a D100, but I argued it to a more concise list to keep it more manageable in game. (Well, also because I thought results like "Blarg, daemonhost!" would derail more games than they would add to).

That might functionally result in what's effectively two tables though (+10 to a D10 roll has no overlap), so using two or three dice like I used for the RIA plasma guns might be more interesting. That uses a 2D6 roll, so some of the serious results at the low end of the table are possible with no modifiers, albeit unlikely (given a total of 2 is less likely than one of 7) but once you've stacked up a few negatives they become more likely (and the worst results are "unlocked").

[Alyster Wick]

What I would like to do long-term is to tweak the RIPPA so that the failure of the Risky Action means an automatic roll on the Phenomena table at +10 (if you get to the Psychic action). In this case, the Phenomena table would be expanded to 25 possible results

Something to that effect could be interesting. The Phenomena table was longer in Koval's earlier drafts, about twenty results on a D100, but I argued it to a more concise list to keep it more manageable in game. (Well, also because I thought results like "Blarg, daemonhost!" would derail more games than they would add to).

That might functionally result in what's effectively two tables though (+10 to a D10 roll has no overlap), so using two or three dice like I used for the RIA plasma guns might be more interesting. That uses a 2D6 roll, so some of the serious results at the low end of the table are possible with no modifiers, albeit unlikely (given a total of 2 is less likely than one of 7) but once you've stacked up a few negatives they become more likely (and the worst results are "unlocked").

A couple points on this. First, I did PM Koval a few days ago and he's taking a look to see if there's an earlier draft of the RIPPA tables that still exists. I figure it's easier to pull from what's already in existence rather than reinventing the wheel.

That said, a 2d6 system is intriguing. I like how adding modifiers really changes up the odds of a given result. I'm thinking of making up to 18 results (the top 6 not being accessible without modifiers). You would get a +1 to your psychic phenomenon roll for every degree of failure. If you fail your risky action roll you would get a +5. That way, you need to fail your risky action roll and fail your power roll in order to unlock the worst stuff. In the event that your penalties put you over 18, you would just manifest Phenomena #18 (that way the worst result has a way to become statistically much more likely in the event that you REALLY fail).

Additional side note, I'm actually a fan of the idea that possession can randomly take place of the course of a game. That said, I'm 100% against having regimented rules that dictate how it will go. I think possession goes more into the territory of poetry for the Game Master to compose. They could just take over the character's actions as though they were possessed, have a daemon physically manifest through a tear in reality (and just knock the psyker out), or some such thing. That way the story doesn't necessarily get completely sidelined. The GM also has the ability to just say the Psyker is knocked unconscious. Anyway, this is deep down the rabbit hole. If I have more to say on the topic, I'll start an actual thread on it.

BACK ON TOPIC: I'm leaning towards Gerund's maul just counting as pentagramic wards, hexagrammic wards, or both. Less complicated that way, plus it gives him some incidental protection from psychic powers and/or daemons. Unfortunately, this thought came to me around the same time one of my players came up with the idea of using the same combo on his beefy scaley character. It feels lame to have two such similar characters in the same campaign. I'll think on it more...

[Inquisitor Vale]

Sorry for derailing the topic, but I must say that this thread has been incredibly creative. Five stars!