The Red King

[Lord Borak]

A bit of a random character really. I wanted a Monodominant (but radical) inquisitor as the driving force behind my redemptionist Cult. He's flaming the fires of their holy wrath and simply wielding that power as a weapon for his own nefarious means - What ever that may be!

I'm not sure where I want to go with for his background (that's why I'm here) so I'm just putting my thoughts down on paper s to speak. I was thinking about, maybe if sits well in the fluff, that the great Quixos had an acolyte who managed to escape before he fell - The red king would simply be a 'next generation' sort of Quixos stemming from this escaped Acolyte.

Whilst Radical I'm thinking he'd probably hide all his Daemonhosts whilst around his Redemptionist friends so I'm going to go for, possibly, an Arco-Flagellant and Redemptionist with Flamer as his 'helpers'.


I wanted him to be a "Oh bugger, it's the BOSS!" sort of character for my 'end game' in a campaign I'm running so I'm going with a Tyrus base. Anyway...

THE RED KING

WS   BS   Str    T    I   Wp   Sg   Nv   Ld   Spd
68   52   64   62   70    65   64   61   79   5

Armour:
Power armour on all locations. AV8 Helm with Average Autosenses and Gas Mask.

Weapons:
Power Fist.

The Daemon Sword  Hraak'thark
WP54. Fiery Blast. Warpflame.
((I'm thinking he just tells the redemptionists the weapon is a holy weapon and that the sword was blessed by the Emperor himself and it's holy fire will burn any heretic it comes across........ those Redemptionists will believe any thing if you shout BURN and EMPEROR loudly enough.))

[MarcoSkoll]

I wanted a Monodominant (but radical) inquisitor

That would be the Oblationist faction.
They believe that the warp, witch, alien and heretic are utterly damning and must be completely eradicated... yet also believe that these methods are the only way to defeat mankind's enemies, so they sacrifice themselves to damnation in order that humanity can survive.

I was thinking about, maybe if sits well in the fluff, that the great Quixos had an acolyte who managed to escape before he fell

Personally I would never give any non-canon character a close relationship with a canon character. If we were to count up all the times people have written that kind of background, we'd probably find that Quixos had twenty-seven children, fifteen lovers and forty-three acolytes.

I'd keep any character's relationship to a canon individual to inconsequential meetings that they could plausibly forget happened. A character may once have seen Eisenhorn give a lecture, or perhaps have distantly worked on the same operation as Covenant.

One possible solution for this kind of thing is that the character claims to have been Quixos' apprentice. I wouldn't say that's an excuse for leaving it completely in the air (as you're playing the character, you should at least know whether he actually believes his own story), but it does provide leeway should it conflict with another player's interpretation.

(But I will add that it would still be possible to idolise Quixos and follow his teachings without actually having been his apprentice).

I wanted him to be a "Oh bugger, it's the BOSS!" sort of character for my 'end game' in a campaign I'm running so I'm going with a Tyrus base. Anyway...

Looking at that profile, I don't know exactly how "boss" he might actually play as. I don't know what kind of characters are in the campaign, but I can think of a few of my characters who'd be able to make pretty short work of him. For example, if I'd turned up to the table with Maya Avens, he's only got a moderate Wp to hold off her telepathy - he'd probably be screaming something about bees, attacking his own men or trying to walk through walls a couple of turns in.

If you've got psykers to worry about, that may need addressing. You may also want to give him some defence against stunned results, as otherwise there's a good chance of a chain reaction where he gets stunned by a lucky blow to the head, then gets royally beaten up while he's dazed on the floor.

[Lord Borak]

That would be the Oblationist faction.
They believe that the warp, witch, alien and heretic are utterly damning and must be completely eradicated... yet also believe that these methods are the only way to defeat mankind's enemies, so they sacrifice themselves to damnation in order that humanity can survive.

Ok, cool. That's for the heads up. I've not head of that faction before.

Personally I would never give any non-canon character a close relationship with a canon character. If we were to count up all the times people have written that kind of background, we'd probably find that Quixos had twenty-seven children, fifteen lovers and forty-three acolytes.

I'm sure the bit about him being a randy old git was probably left out of his background. Point taken though!

I'd keep any character's relationship to a canon individual to inconsequential meetings that they could plausibly forget happened. A character may once have seen Eisenhorn give a lecture, or perhaps have distantly worked on the same operation as Covenant.

One possible solution for this kind of thing is that the character claims to have been Quixos' apprentice. I wouldn't say that's an excuse for leaving it completely in the air (as you're playing the character, you should at least know whether he actually believes his own story), but it does provide leeway should it conflict with another player's interpretation.

(But I will add that it would still be possible to idolise Quixos and follow his teachings without actually having been his apprentice).

Ok, that sounds far more plausible. I like the idea that he is utterly and totally obsessed with a man he only met is passing, or perhaps his master met in person or served alongside. I think that lends far more power to Quixos that he was able to convert a person to his ideals by a simple lecture or passing conversation. Or perhaps serving alongside to combat a dread foe.

Looking at that profile, I don't know exactly how "boss" he might actually play as. I don't know what kind of characters are in the campaign, but I can think of a few of my characters who'd be able to make pretty short work of him. For example, if I'd turned up to the table with Maya Avens, he's only got a moderate Wp to hold off her telepathy - he'd probably be screaming something about bees, attacking his own men or trying to walk through walls a couple of turns in.

If you've got psykers to worry about, that may need addressing. You may also want to give him some defence against stunned results, as otherwise there's a good chance of a chain reaction where he gets stunned by a lucky blow to the head, then gets royally beaten up while he's dazed on the floor.

Most of the characters I have in the campaign are fairly low stats (50-60 mostly) with no Psykers. However I could chuck on Hexagramic wards to combat any psychic threat. It's fairly plausible he'd have these any way seeing as he's want to dabble and converse with daemons. How should I tackle stunned results?

[MarcoSkoll]

Ok, cool. That's for the heads up. I've not head of that faction before.

It's from one of the Dark Heresy books (The Radical's Handbook, I believe), but it's still considered canon. FFG's WH40k background writing is actually some of the best of the last few years. GW's own fluff has not improved for the ways they've reorganised the studios.

How should I tackle stunned results?

Pulling some rules out of Jax Lynn's character sheet...

Jax, having a very powerful regeneration mutation, is pretty inured to pain. It's not inherent to her mutation*, but you do develop a different tolerance for having your arm ripped off when it can grow back (and you've actually survived three deaths). As such, she has several rules relating to that...
* Actually, her increased cellular development rate and repeated exposure to pain actually means the pain centres in her brain would be hyper-sensitised by normal human standards, but she doesn't actually realise this.

Iron Jaw: No matter how hard Jax is knocked about, she can always quickly regain her wits.
Every time the character takes a non-persistent stunned result, they may take a Toughness test to negate it. This is rolled separately for each turn they would be stunned.

Feel no Pain: Jax is inured to pain, and can fight on through injuries that would leave other men screaming wrecks.
-   The character's System Shock and Consciousness values are increased by half (*before* rounding off).
-   The character halves any speed penalty from injury results (rounding the remaining penalty down).
-   The character is not compelled to extinguish themselves if on fire.
-   The character may re-roll any failed strength or toughness tests caused by injury.

... plus True Grit, of course. (For reference, "persistence" for the purposes of stunned results is anything where the source is still having an effect - things like toxins* or certain psychic powers. If she gets clouted one though, it won't daze her for as long as a normal person).
* Although she has some added resistance to poisons too, but it's handled by her upgraded version of the Regeneration trait.

That might sound fairly powerful, but she doesn't use armour, so I actually had to upgrade her over her various versions in order that she actually felt like she could weather some serious injury. (With nothing to reduce incoming damage, she was just getting buried under Stunned and Speed penalties).

A possible (and probably simpler) alternative to some of that is Just a Flesh Wound from the Carthax wiki:

Covered in nicks, scratches, badly-healed broken bones and scars from old wounds, the character is exceptionally capable at shrugging off minor injuries that would falter or slow regular men. The character gains a 'Flesh Wound' injury box on all locations before Light Injury, that has no negative effects. This means that the character must suffer a Flesh Wound before Light Injury, Heavy Injury and so on.

[Raghnall]

((I'm thinking he just tells the redemptionists the weapon is a holy weapon and that the sword was blessed by the Emperor himself and it's holy fire will burn any heretic it comes across........ those Redemptionists will believe any thing if you shout BURN and EMPEROR loudly enough.))

Always works. Have you considered giving him a loud-hailer built into his helmet? 

Looking at that profile, I don't know exactly how "boss" he might actually play as. I don't know what kind of characters are in the campaign, but I can think of a few of my characters who'd be able to make pretty short work of him. For example, if I'd turned up to the table with Maya Avens, he's only got a moderate Wp to hold off her telepathy - he'd probably be screaming something about bees, attacking his own men or trying to walk through walls a couple of turns in.

This amuses me. Marco is right; he's a strong enough character, but maybe doesn't quite convey the right feeling, although the power armour will give him a notable advantage if all his enemies can only attack him physically.

It's from one of the Dark Heresy books (The Radical's Handbook, I believe), but it's still considered canon. FFG's WH40k background writing is actually some of the best of the last few years. GW's own fluff has not improved for the ways they've reorganised the studios.

You're right, its from the radical's handbook.

'Born in the fires of the "War of Brass" that wracked the Calixis sector in late M40, the Oblationist faction is an oath-sworn society of bitter fanatics who wield warp-forged weapons, bind daemons, and command the power of sorcerers with a self-hating fury that sees all in the Inquisition but their own creed as utterly impure, corrupt, and deserving of destruction. Their infamy long outstripping their numbers, the notorious Oblationist Inquisitors and their trusted servants have determined to sacrifice themselves in the cause of the protection of the Imperium, regardless of the cost. Consumed with vengeful worth and fanatic certainty, they gather profane artefacts, hoard forbidden knowledge, and wield the power of the warp whilst tolerating no others to use such methods. Their intolerance of all other Radicals has much in common with the most Puritanical factions; they believe that only the Oblationists may wield the weapons and knowledge of the enemy and remain true in the service of the God-Emperor. They are unbending in their belief and ruthless in all aspects of its application.' -Page 111, the Radical's handbook.

Jax, having a very powerful regeneration mutation, is pretty inured to pain. It's not inherent to her mutation*, but you do develop a different tolerance for having your arm ripped off when it can grow back (and you've actually survived three deaths). As such, she has several rules relating to that...
* Actually, her increased cellular development rate and repeated exposure to pain actually means the pain centres in her brain would be hyper-sensitised by normal human standards, but she doesn't actually realise this.

Torture obeys the law of diminishing utility. http://www.smbc-comics.com/index.php?id=4029

That might sound fairly powerful, but she doesn't use armour, so I actually had to upgrade her over her various versions in order that she actually felt like she could weather some serious injury. (With nothing to reduce incoming damage, she was just getting buried under Stunned and Speed penalties).

A possible (and probably simpler) alternative to some of that is Just a Flesh Wound from the Carthax wiki:

Completely appropriate for Jax, but Feel No Pain is probably overpowered for someone wearing power armour. Iron Jaw and Just a Flesh Wound however, are both possibilities.

[Lord Borak]

Cheers for the that background on the Oblationist faction Rghall. That's great stuff!!

I'm not sure I want to go utterly nuts on his stats because this guy does need to be killed. Maybe If I take this guy to the IGT I might beef him up a bit so I can cope with some other warbands (I have no idea what the norm is) but against the characters he's going to come up against his Power armour is going to be next to impervious. The nastiest gun there is is currently a Revolver with manstopper shells and the nastiest combat weapon is a Breacher.

Most of the stats range from the 50-60's. In fact there is only two stats above 70 in the whole campaign and ones the main characters Initiative and the other is a Magos's Sg. Perhaps I'm a bit too strict with stats? Do humans really go that much into the 70's without some serious (as in a life times) investment in time? I figured if a Marine, who trains every day for decades, is WS/BS 75 a human would struggle tor each 70 even if they had dedicated their whole lives to it as a human could not dedicate that much time physically to train that hard or for that long at that skill.

So, I am a bit too harsh with stats? I see Marco's Kasrkin sergeant is WS70+........... so maybe I am.

[MarcoSkoll]

I'm not sure I want to go utterly nuts on his stats because this guy does need to be killed.

I'd actually recommend making him difficult to kill. Good games come from players having to think laterally.

For an example from our last Dark Heresy cell, we were at a railway station on a technologically backwards world (such as steam locomotives and flintlock muskets - somewhat anachronistic blend of obsolete technologies) when our psyker incinerated a squad of the local militia who were harassing us under the command of one of the bad guy's mooks.
We were then reminded that the local guard house was right next to the station... and Khan's* pyromanic indiscretion had led us to be outnumbered about ten-to-one by a company of angry musketeers.
*Yes, there was a cry of "KHAAAAAANNNNNNN!!!!!!"

I don't honestly know what the GM expected us to do, but I was rather pleased with my solution: "This is a steam railway. Are there any water towers for the locomotives and is there any way I can empty one over the people with the flintlock weapons?"
(Answer: Yes, and Yes. We managed to drench enough of them to convince them to listen to us rather than continue the fight).

That'd probably be my tack here. Make him really tough if characters try facing him head on, and instead reward players for finding creative ways to dealing with him - luring him and his flaming sword into a fuel dump, crashing a hover sedan into him, pushing loose gargoyles off the side of tall buildings... that kind of thing.

I figured if a Marine, who trains every day for decades, is WS/BS 75 a human would struggle tor each 70 even if they had dedicated their whole lives to it

Space Marines are probably not the best yardstick. The game is mostly intended for human characters, so better to use them to scale things.
The game holds together best with stats between 40-80 (less than that and characters are pathetically incompetent, more than that and they get boringly competent and predictable), so I tend to use that as my spectrum for human characters. WS 80 would be near mastery, BS40 would be someone with a basic training course on how to use a laspistol but no real combat experience.

Putting Space Marines on to that scale at about 75 on each works well enough. It's perhaps not quite as high as you might think, but most of my human characters don't even manage that with one of the stats, let alone both of them. And when I say that, you should consider how exceptional the human characters in Inquisitor can actually be.

They're not just the ones who stood out amongst billions as being good enough to have been worth recruiting into the Inquisition, they're the ones who are good enough to survive working for the Inquisition (and yet are still the ones that are interesting and exceptional to play as characters!)
A lot of them are individuals who Space Marines would actually be quietly impressed by.

So, I am a bit too harsh with stats? I see Marco's Kasrkin sergeant is WS70+........... so maybe I am.

Kai is a little less powerful than the last version of him I recall posting, as he's lost about 5 points from his S & T (he did get a slight I boost too, but it's mostly a nerf, as it reduced his S & T bonuses but didn't increase his speed).

But yes, while I try to be sparing about stats in the 70s, it's not uncommon for my characters to have them (and sometimes more than one).

[Lord Borak]

Heh, it's almost as if making a promethium refinery board and then making a 'Boss' character with a flaming sword was done on purpose.... It wasn't I assure you but that is certainly something I'm now thinking of! That could potentially result in a fairly epic display at the end of a game.

Ok, so I'll make his stats a little less 'average'. Maybe?


Menoeteus Tartarus - The Red King
WS   BS   Str    T     I     Wp   Sg   Nv   Ld    Spd
74    52   64   65   70    73    72   61   79     5
              (77)
   
Armour:
Power armour on all locations. (AV8 helm)

Equipment:
Hexagramic Wards. Average Auto Senses. Gas Mask built into Helm.

Weapons:
Power Fist. The Daemon Sword Hraak'thak (WP54. Fiery Blast. Warpflame.)

Skills:
Leader, Furious Assault, Unstoppable.

He's still going to be a git to deal with for my band of merry adventures. Especially as he's going to have loads of Redemptionists around him to deal with as well. The Unstoppable skill/trait helps adds some insurance him being stunned from blows to the head and also stops him being taken out through SS to a lucky shot early on. It shouldn't happen anyway as everyone is using Stubbers/Laspistols/Shotguns but it can be something to fall back on if he gets a lucky Crit to the groin with a  breacher....

As for his background. That still needs fleshing out but I might let one of my mates take this character on to give them a bit of 'ownership' over him.


As for the Stats. Ok, that's rewired my Brain somewhat. I'm going to go back and rewrite some of my existing characters based on that scaling.

[Lord Borak]

Right onto the next Character. This is Rikkard Blunt (get it?), a Trooper from the Abraxian 7th Recon Company. Code named 'Heart Breakers'

Rikkard grew up on the World of Abraxia Primaris. A dirty chem wasteland of a planet where life outside the hives is impossible except for the hardiest of mutant filth. Born to an unknown family on Hive H2-C Rikkard grew up amongst the filth, the gangers, the pickpockets and scum of the Hive. Only the dirty live into adult life and Rikkard was one of the dirtiest fighters in his Hab block and had made his name as a competent burglar. Unfortunately his career as a Burglar was cut short when he was caught by enforcers whilst escaping a botched break in.

The Sentencing on Abraxia Primaris is fairly simple with only three possible outcomes. A 6 month stint in the Void Mines (life expectancy is 3 weeks), Servitisation or service in one of the Guard Regiments. Like many before him and the many that will come after him, Rikkard chose the Guard.

Rikkard served for 11 years in the much famed Heart Breakers Recon Company led by the indomitable Captain Mallary (or 'Ace' to his men). Most of Rikkards service was on the war torn world of (need a name in the Carthax sector) fighting a bitter war of attrition against an Ork Waaagh. Whilst on a routine patrol his company was ambushed by a strong and well equipped force of Ork Kommando's. Outnumbered, out gunned and with no immediate support the Heart Breakers fought a bitter but one sided fire fight.

Desperate but seeing an opportunity Rikkard led a small kill team to take out and possibly capture the Ork atillery. Rikkard and one other member of his team suceeded and, after killing the Ork Slaver and routing the grots, took control of the Artillery and turned them on the unsuspecting Orks, breaking the ambush and allowing the rest of the Company to escape.

Returning with the last and wounded (and soon to die) member of his kill team, Rikkard was arrested by the Regimental Commissar before he could be lauded a hero on charges of Desertion and, more horrifyingly, use of Xenos Weaponry. Although sentenced to death his Commander, knowing of his actions, used all his influence and pulling in every favour he could had Rikkards sentence changed to servitude in the Penal Legion. Rikkard awaited processing and deployment on the Prison Planetoid of [CLASSIFIED].

Unbeknownst to Rikkard the Planetoid was one of the few recruiting grounds of Inquisitor Tartarus. Seeing Rikkards file Menoeteus saw, not only a skill to be exploited and discarded, but a whole mindset that he could exploit and mould. Had this man not saved his Company? Had this man not bettered the Imperium of Man by giving it a Victory of Xenos scum? Yet he was punished because other, foolish and blind, servants of the Emperor did not believe the ends justify the means. Menoeteus knew that all too well.

Rikkard has been serving Menoeteus for the past 14 years and has become one his most trusted servants.



WS     BS       Str     T       I       Wp      Sg      Nv      Ld      Spd
61     68       62     61     63     64       51       73     69        4

Armour:
Flak armour on all locations except head. Open Helm (AV3).

Equipment:
Night Vision Goggles (Are there rules for these?). Gas Mask.

Weapons:
Autogun with Reload. (sickle mag - 40shells)
Laspistol with 2 reloads
Knife
2 Frag Grenades, 1 Krak Grenade, 2 Smoke Grenades.


Skills:
Street Fighter, Hipshooting. Heroic?

[Cortez]

I'd use the rules for the Infrascope (gunsights section, Other Equipment p.90) for the Night vision goggles.

I seems a fairly well rounded character. Fairly standard soldier boy backstory. Stats seem reasonable although I 63 is speed 4 not 5. You might want to consider giving him some sort of Ork weapon as a trophy, which will help differentiate him from the standard Guardsman and fit in with his back story. A Choppa would be the obvious choice, but you could go for something fun like an attack squig thats taken a liking to him as an extremely exotic pet (ok that's a quite unlikely scenario, but would certainly be different and would fit in with Inquisitor Tartarus).

[Lord Borak]

The Speed 5 was just a Typo, It has now been fixed!

Hmm, good idea about the use of alien Tech. I hadn't thought about that when I built the model but I guess I can play it so he has no qualms about using alien tech to kill stuff or complete the mission. An Ork Choppa/Squigg would probably have been confiscated when he went to the penal colony. Plus a Choppa would weigh in at arounf 50kg's which is a bit much for him to use properly.

Back story is pretty generic but he's just the grunt of the warband and I can't see many Guard grunts having a hugely rich back story.

[Cortez]

That's fine. I wasn't sure if you wanted him to be just a regular guardsman grunt or something more.