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Inquisitor Xerxas and Associates

Started by RobSkib, December 16, 2009, 01:24:27 PM

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RobSkib

It's about time I wrote up a definitive list of my warband (mostly so I have one myself!) and so I can talk about their backgrounds without the relentless march of time at the IGT. Being a pretty independent group of gamers (I'm the only one who plays with people outside our circle) I don't have anyone to bounce my ideas off, so if anything, I'd like some comments on their (albeit small) backgrounds, just to check they're plausible. Once I've got the backbones of a story, i can flesh it out at a later date. I'm also not great at terminology, I have a rough understanding of most things, but if I slip up on some terms then please correct me.

Some of their backstory is tied into recent games, so anything in italics will be pre-warband history, anything else be a brief summary of anything exciting that's happened to them since they joined Xerxas' merry men.


+++ INQUISITOR AMADEUS XERXAS - ORDO XENOS - Ref. 42/280 +++

Amadeus, compared to the brutal norm of the 41st millenium, had a fortunate childhood. He was born into a rich noble family on Ichar IV, an agri-moon orbiting the gas giant Ichar I. Psychic powers ran strongly in his family's genetic makeup, with the strongest-willed of a generation being the alpha male, regardless of age or phsyical strength. This meant inter-family rivalry was rife and in-breeding was often overlooked in favour of having the most psychically attuned children.

Such a lifestyle meant plenty of attention from the Blackships (Black Ships?), who would make regular stops at Ichar IV. The strongest psykers in the family would become Sanctioned, and were free to return to rule over the lesser psykers. Such regular abductions of family members for untold generations has become twisted into a kind of hokey faux-religion, where the strong-willed tell the weak-willed that for them to become strong, they must 'ascend' into the Blackships to become at one with the Emperor, and thus become powefurl. Not technically a lie, but a bending of the truth to further empower the psykers at the head of the family.

Xerxas was born with a mutation which made him psychically blunt - he has no presence in the warp and has no flicker of a soul in the darkness of the warp. As such, he grew up with an outcast, jealous of his siblings until he fled at a very young age and stole aboard a transport ship to another moon. There he sought out the small Schola Progenium of Ichar VII where his self-loathing translated to a loathing of others and within a decade became the Schola's youngest and angriest Drill Abbott.

After a while, memories of home began to seep back into his day-to-day routine, and Xerxas decided to head home to give a proper farewell to his family before he headed out into the stars to live his life. He arrived home to find everything locked up, servants missing and paths overgrown. Inside was lifeless too, years of dust having built up on surfaces, beds left unmade and paintings slashed.

He made his way down to the basement, where he was attacked by crazed servants daubed in strange markings. Using his years of training, he dispatched them easily, salvaging as many reliable weaoons as he could from their still-warm corpses. Progressing further into a new tunnel that looked like it had been recently dug, he emerged into a large underground catacomb where a massed assembly of robed mutants were bowed low before a huge, bloated creature sat atop a throne in the centre of the room.

The roar of his chainsword springing to life filled the hall, and the cultists set upon him like a pack of dogs, scratching at him with elongated fingernails and withered claws. As he slew and hot blood spattered his face, Xerxas felt the familiar bath of an immense psychic presence wash over him. He could tell that some of these were his bloodline and were trying to take control of his mind, but his birth-given mutation protected him from their mental attacks.

Xerxas launched himself at the bilious presence in the centre of the hall. The clawing behind his eyeballs was growing stronger with every stride until eventually his chainsword's teeth bit deep into the belly of the beast. Again and again he rained blows upon the mutant until there was nothing left but a battered throne and a vast sea of blood and ichor.

There he met Inquisitor Krow, who had been watching his family estate for a while and noting the disappearance of all the servants, the ceasing of regular tithes of psykers, and the eventual abandonment of the property. When he saw Xerxas entering, he made his move, and arrived just in time to catch him before he collapsed with exhaustion and took him back to his ship. There, Krow gave Xerxas medical treatment and performed dozens of interrogations and tests for corruption. Krow quickly learned of Xerxas' huge reservoirs of discipline and willpower, and when Xerxas was deemed completely unaffected by the vicious mental barrage of the Genestealer cultists, Krow appointed him his Acolyte.

From there, Xerxas became a valued addition to Krow's team of alien hunters, until the day came when Xerxas was on an away mission dealing with a K'Nib incursion, when he received word of Krow's demise. The messenger did not mention specifics, but Krow's body was not recovered, yet curiously his belongings were. Xerxas inherited Krow's seal and his chainsword, which above all else, has never failed him.


More recent background to follow, once I can remember it all and summarise it! The following wargear list is intended to represent Xerxas in his battle gear - The best parallel I can think of is during a traditional bioware RPG (neverwinter nights, Dragon Age, Mass Effect to a certain extent..) when you're quick travelling to another location and you get jumped by banditos or what have you, I see Xerxas captured in this moment in time - carrying all of his stuff from one planetside base to another, exploring an uncharted cave of delights, ambushed by a rival inquisitor - carrying everything with him he could possibly need.

*edit*
Wp increased from 51 to 66

WS    BS    S      T      I    Wp   Sg   Nv    Ld    Speed
69    52   58    59   65    66   78   88     76     (5) 4

Right handed

Special Abilities:

Master Chainswordsman
Blunt
Force of Will
Heroic

Master Chainswordsman: Xerxes gains +15 WS when using his Chainsword.


Equipment:

Bolter MK IV (sickle mag) with one reload
Laspistol with one reload
Chainsword
Short sword
2 photon flash grenades
3 doses of de-tox
2 Doses of Clarity (a rare and powerful cocktail of painkillers and stimulants that remove 2D6 from Injury Total)
Web solvent
Bioscanner
6 Hellfire shells for the bolter

4 points of armour on chest, legs and groin, 2 armour on abdomen.



Comments and criticisms are more than welcome, I'll get others written up as soon as I can.
An Inquisitor walks into a bar - he rolls D100 to see if he hits it.
                                     +++++++
Gallery of my Inquisitor models here.

Adlan

Looks good. Nice Background. Would like to hear more about his talents and style as an inquisitor, that sort of thing.

Inquisitor Cade

Quotethe Blackships (Black Ships?), who would make regular stops at Ichar IV to pick up the weakest psykers, leaving the strongest to continue to rule.

I assume it's two words, but don't quote me on that.

Even for an unconvensional deal, the black ships would not leave unsanctioned psykers, esspecially not the strong ones, esspecially not to rule. No way at all. The deal should, in my opinion, be that the ruling class psykers were free to return once they had been sanctiond, in exchange for maintaining a imperial planet and bringing forward all new psykers when the ships came.

QuoteThere he sought out the small Schola Progenium of Ichar VII where his self-loathing translated to a loathing of others and within a decade became the Schola's youngest and angriest Drill Abbott.

Why would the scola employ him or accept him as a teacher of the future leaders of the imperium, esspecially as, thanks to being blunt, most people take a disliking to him.

I'm not a fan of the chainsword master skill, I don't think damage bonuses based on Ws is appropriate, even for a light weapon, certainly not a heavy chainsword. I suppose it represents hitting them in a more damaging place, but hit location is already in the rules. I'd give a bonus to hit location instead therefore, and it isn't as if being a swordsmaster makes being stronger no advantage, so keep the strength bonus.
The skill is also at odds with his impressive, but not masterful Ws, Another suggestion would be to make the rule give him +10-20 Ws when using chain weapons.

Onto the stats,

The Ws, Bs, S and T speak of his experiance at the scola teaching them and of regular practice, but not of intence dedication, which I think is about right.
I is quite low for an Inquisitor, though impressive for an average joe. He isn't an average joe though.
Wp 51 is completely at odds with
QuoteKrow quickly learned of Xerxas' huge reservoirs of discipline and willpower
that makes it sound that Wp should be one of his stronger stats.
Sg is very high, not unreasonable for an inquisitor, but not justified in the background.
Nv and Ld do fit with
QuoteKrow quickly learned of Xerxas' huge reservoirs of discipline and willpower
.

QuoteKrow quickly learned of Xerxas' huge reservoirs of discipline and willpower
also backes up force of will, and storming a room full of heretics with a nothing more than a chainsword and a bad temper makes him heroic.

He has a lot of kit, but the model has a backpack so it's to be expected. Any armour though?
*Insert token witticism*

RobSkib

Quote from: Inquisitor Cade on December 16, 2009, 02:43:50 PM
Quotethe Blackships (Black Ships?), who would make regular stops at Ichar IV to pick up the weakest psykers, leaving the strongest to continue to rule.

I assume it's two words, but don't quote me on that.

Even for an unconvensional deal, the black ships would not leave unsanctioned psykers, esspecially not the strong ones, esspecially not to rule. No way at all. The deal should, in my opinion, be that the ruling class psykers were free to return once they had been sanctiond, in exchange for maintaining a imperial planet and bringing forward all new psykers when the ships came.

Why do I have it in my head that Blackships and Black Ships are different? I think it's just two spellings of the same thing.

That makes more sense though - the ruling family members being Sanctioned so that they can help the lesser psykers 'ascend' to the Blackships when their time has come...

Quote from: Inquisitor Cade on December 16, 2009, 02:43:50 PM

Why would the scola employ him or accept him as a teacher of the future leaders of the imperium, esspecially as, thanks to being blunt, most people take a disliking to him.

Being a blunt doesn't have any outward signs at all, it's not like being a pariah, where you have a negative 'anti-soul' - being blunt just means you have no presence in the warp at all. If we are to believe that humans (in the 41st milennium) can to a certain degree 'sense' someone's aura in the warp, it would simply mean that people could not read him very well. Coupled with his anger management issues, 99.99% of people would write this off as fiery zeal and general pissed-offness

Quote from: Inquisitor Cade on December 16, 2009, 02:43:50 PM
I'm not a fan of the chainsword master skill, I don't think damage bonuses based on Ws is appropriate, even for a light weapon, certainly not a heavy chainsword. I suppose it represents hitting them in a more damaging place, but hit location is already in the rules. I'd give a bonus to hit location instead therefore, and it isn't as if being a swordsmaster makes being stronger no advantage, so keep the strength bonus.
The skill is also at odds with his impressive, but not masterful Ws, Another suggestion would be to make the rule give him +10-20 Ws when using chain weapons.

I was looking for a special rule that made him better with a chainsword, I think you've hit the nail on the head with that last suggestion - +15 to his WS when using a chainsword would be suitably nasty.

Quote from: Inquisitor Cade on December 16, 2009, 02:43:50 PM
I is quite low for an Inquisitor, though impressive for an average joe. He isn't an average joe though.

I think it's just right for him - he's not speedy by any stretch of imagination, but with speed 4 and heroic, he gets on average 2/3 actions a turn, which balances out nicely.

Quote from: Inquisitor Cade on December 16, 2009, 02:43:50 PM
Wp 51 is completely at odds with
QuoteKrow quickly learned of Xerxas' huge reservoirs of discipline and willpower
that makes it sound that Wp should be one of his stronger stats.

I was never particularly happy with his Wp - I didn't want to make it really high because he is a blunt, no psychic presence to me means a decent, acceptable Wp for a human. I'm less worried about psychic attack because (IIRC, I can't find the actual rules) Blunts incur a -50% penalty for anyone targetting them with psychic powers. He's certainly not a pariah, so you could still throw him around with telekinesis or set his hair on fire, but he gets a nice bonus to defending against mental attacks. I'll probably put it up to a more respectable 60/70 anyway though, 51 is a bit too low.


Quote from: Inquisitor Cade on December 16, 2009, 02:43:50 PM
He has a lot of kit, but the model has a backpack so it's to be expected. Any armour though?

Yup, I forgot to put that in the original post, it should be fixed now.
An Inquisitor walks into a bar - he rolls D100 to see if he hits it.
                                     +++++++
Gallery of my Inquisitor models here.

Adlan

Quote from: RobSkib on December 16, 2009, 03:16:37 PM
Quote from: Inquisitor Cade on December 16, 2009, 02:43:50 PM


I assume it's two words, but don't quote me on that.

Even for an unconvensional deal, the black ships would not leave unsanctioned psykers, esspecially not the strong ones, esspecially not to rule. No way at all. The deal should, in my opinion, be that the ruling class psykers were free to return once they had been sanctiond, in exchange for maintaining a imperial planet and bringing forward all new psykers when the ships came.

I failed completely to notice this, and just assumed that was what was going on, Black ship Sanctioning and the strongest retuning to rule. Silly tiredness

Quote
Why do I have it in my head that Blackships and Black Ships are different? I think it's just two spellings of the same thing.
Inquisition fleets are black ships. The Blackships are the ones who collect psychers. I think.

Quote
Quote from: Inquisitor Cade on December 16, 2009, 02:43:50 PM
I is quite low for an Inquisitor, though impressive for an average joe. He isn't an average joe though.

I think it's just right for him - he's not speedy by any stretch of imagination, but with speed 4 and heroic, he gets on average 2/3 actions a turn, which balances out nicely.

I would never advocate anything more than speed 4 and heroic. Heroic is a very powerful skill, as it gives you more actions. I think it works well at speed 4, as you are much more likely to get 2 actions, which lets you reliably do alot more.

Kaled

Quote from: RobSkib on December 16, 2009, 03:16:37 PM
Why do I have it in my head that Blackships and Black Ships are different? I think it's just two spellings of the same thing.
The canon is inconsistent about the spelling, but in general I use 'Blackships' to refer to ships operated by the League and 'Black Ships' to refer to Inquisitorial ships which are painted black.

QuoteI was looking for a special rule that made him better with a chainsword, I think you've hit the nail on the head with that last suggestion - +15 to his WS when using a chainsword would be suitably nasty.
Personally I've never been a fan of rules that give characters that sort of boost to a stat when using a particular weapon when that's the only weapon he's likely to be using most of the time.  How about the Weapon Master skill Derek wrote for the Recongregator Sourcebook?
I like to remember things my own way... Not necessarily the way they happened.

Inquisitor - Blood Bowl - Malifaux - Fairy Meat

Inquisitor Cade

#6
Quote
QuoteAny armour though?
Yup, I forgot to put that in the original post, it should be fixed now.
Except for his arms, or are they unarmoured?

QuoteThe canon is inconsistent about the spelling, but in general I use 'Blackships' to refer to ships operated by the League and 'Black Ships' to refer to Inquisitorial ships which are painted black.
I never realised there was a difference. It speaks of imperial beaurocracy that two organisations would name their spacefareing branch the same thing.

QuoteBeing a blunt doesn't have any outward signs at all, it's not like being a pariah, where you have a negative 'anti-soul'
It is a less strong affliction but they are along the same lines. You could say that a blunt is to an untouchable is to a pariah as a zeta psyker is to a delta psyker is to a beta psyker. While people won't feel utter disgust in his presence, his reduced 'soul' in the warp would make it harder to get on with people, though they wouldn't be able to put their finger on what exactly it was they didn't like about him.
Regardless of psychic presence, or lack thereof, how did he become a drill abbot. He doesn't seem to be particulary qualified for the job.

QuoteWp - I didn't want to make it really high because he is a blunt,
Willpower has nothing to do with psychic presence. The background describes him as remarkably strong willed. That a high Wp will have little in game benefit shouldn't factor.

QuotePersonally I've never been a fan of rules that give characters that sort of boost to a stat when using a particular weapon when that's the only weapon he's likely to be using most of the time.

I'd say that Ws should be for what the character is best with, and they should take penalties if they find themselves useing less familiar weapons, but it comes to the same thing. In practice this will give him Ws 84 more or less all the time, which is very high, but about right for the label chainsword master.
*Insert token witticism*

RobSkib

Quote from: Inquisitor Cade on December 16, 2009, 05:48:17 PM
Except for his arms, or are they unarmoured?

Correct. On the model, they are just sleeves, so I'm under no pretense that he might be hiding some carapace armour up his cuffs :P I also figured that swinging a chainsword would need some amount of mobility, so the less armour on the arms, the better.

Another point on my characters armour - I often go for armour in unconventional places to try and encourage people to aim for unarmoured parts rather than just the head/groin, in my circle of gaming, groin armour is a must-have!

Quote from: Inquisitor Cade on December 16, 2009, 05:48:17 PM
It is a less strong affliction but they are along the same lines. You could say that a blunt is to an untouchable is to a pariah as a zeta psyker is to a delta psyker is to a beta psyker. While people won't feel utter disgust in his presence, his reduced 'soul' in the warp would make it harder to get on with people, though they wouldn't be able to put their finger on what exactly it was they didn't like about him.

Do you have the Blunt rules handy? I thought they would be with the Tau Water Caste article, but apparently not...

Quote from: Inquisitor Cade on December 16, 2009, 05:48:17 PM
Regardless of psychic presence, or lack thereof, how did he become a drill abbot. He doesn't seem to be particulary qualified for the job.

The same way anyone becomes a Drill Abbott? Impress the Master of the Schola enough (and be suitably orphaned with nothing else calling in life) and get to boss around the new Progenii. The Schola on Ichar VII is very, very small - maybe two dozen students and a handful of Abbotts, so any prospective students with even a hint of leadership would have been snapped up.

Quote from: Inquisitor Cade on December 16, 2009, 05:48:17 PM
Willpower has nothing to do with psychic presence. The background describes him as remarkably strong willed. That a high Wp will have little in game benefit shouldn't factor.

I raised his Wp a touch.

Quote from: Inquisitor Cade on December 16, 2009, 05:48:17 PM
I'd say that Ws should be for what the character is best with, and they should take penalties if they find themselves useing less familiar weapons, but it comes to the same thing. In practice this will give him Ws 84 more or less all the time, which is very high, but about right for the label chainsword master.

He has a short sword too that he uses from time to time, he often leaves his bolter at home unless he knows there's going to be plenty of baddies needing offing, which leaves him with just a laspistol.

Another idea I had was porting the Lucky Shot rules over to his chainsword - if he rolls a double 10 then he can roll an extra D10 and add it do his damage to represent him literally hacking someone in two, or would that be too nasty?

Anyway, on with the show!

+++ TECHNOMAGOS LINGUS QUINNE - Ref. 44/1261 +++

Quinne, in comparison to the rest of Xerxas' bloodthirsty band, lead a relatively peaceful life before he met Xerxas. He worked as a first-rate assistant in a research station orbiting a feral world, Kol Prime, alongside other like-minded Organicists. They were experimenting with organic versions of contemporary bionics - bionics that possessed the strength and durability of their metal counterparts, but also grew and became stronger with the host body. Kol Prime was used as a huge petri dish - the Organicists on the station would pluck out members of various tribes, some Alpha males, some skinny runts, liberally apply experimental bionics and re-insert them into their societies to see how they performed under the stresses of the new host (and to a certain degree, just to see the how their tribes treated their returned tribesmen).

One such test subject managed to escape stasis aboard the space station, one of the subjects with almost full-body bionics, and in its rage managed to kill most of the Organicists, who were lightly armed and taken by surprise by the hulking monstrosity. Quinne had always considered himself smarter than the Organicists he was assisting, so rather than attempting to fight the beast, came to a decision.

The bionics were designed to shut down when exposed to Crosianide-beta as a fail-safe, so quinne isolated the tests labs that he and the beast were in and pumped the gas in through the air vents. The test-subject's bionics failed and it collapsed, but Quinne was left mortally wounded. The gas had chewed out his circulatory system and he was dying quickly and painfully. Plugging his brain into the stations Cogitators and putting his body into stasis, he was able to save his body from dying and contacted the outside world for help, but none came to the isolated space station.

Over a very long time, quinne was able to remotely access the stations few remaining servitors to construct a device to keep his body alive outside of stasis, so quinne could continue his collegues' work. He named it the External Hyperdialysis Device (EHD), and integrated it with his body.

Many years passed, and Quinne continued to work with only servitors for company, beavering away on various prototypes of bionics and contantly tinkering with his life support machine, eventually making it small enough to be portable without any major hindrance. An unfamiliar beeping sound began emitting from the comms deck - somebody had picked up Quinne's distress signal!

Inquisitor Xerxas boarded the space station to find Quinne alone with his work and his servitors, with all manner of interesting life forms kept in stasis for study. Fascinated by Quinne's proficiency at subduing subjects and his enthusiasm for doing so, Xerxas made a deal with Quinne. Become part of his team, and he can subdue and examine all the alien subjects he likes, in return, he tends to the Inquisitor's medical and mechanical needs.


WS   BS     S      T      I     Wp    Sg     Nv   Ld    Speed
42   63    49    54    57    62     80    81    63        4

Special Abilities:
Medic
Rock Steady Aim


Equipment:
Modified drum-fed stubber with shot selector (range F, single, acc +10, 2D6+2 damage, 24 shots, 3 reload)
External Hyperdialysis Device
Bionic eyes with rangefinder
Average bionic right arm (S 34, also grants the rock steady aim ability)
3 Kraken rounds
7 Manstopper rounds
4 Shock rounds (T test - damage taken or stunned for D3 turns)
QPDD Mk. 32
Rebreather


QPDD (Quinne's Potent Demolition Device):
Range   Area    Blast   Damage    Weight
   E          5"        6          3D6             5

External Hyperdialysis Device:
Unlimited uses. Takes one action to activate, roll a D3. Bionanome is pumped through the EHD, causing Quinne's blood pressure to rise dramatically, but well within the limits of his machine. Quinne becomes a lot faster, finding himself able to get out of one of the may sticky situations he's found himself in, but at the cost of his own health - any damage he takes is likely to rupture the fragile external circulatory system and cause hideous damage. The effects last for the number rolled in turns. His speed increases by the amount rolled, but his Base Injury Value decreases by the same amount. Any hits cause Bleeding whilst under the effect.

Shots to the Chest from behind (regardless of Bionanome dosage) automatically cause double damage after armour.

4 Armour on the right arm, 3 armour on the chest and abdomen, 2 armour on the left arm, groin and legs.

~~~~~~


Quinne is probably one of my favourite characters, he's really grown on me, not to mention he was the first scratch-sculpt I ever did (except his head and arm) and, even more rarely, I don't feel the need to update his model. Maybe I'll make him a girlfriend based off Gav's model that I won at the IGT though.... :P

His role in the warband is to be a mid-range gun platform, putting a bullet where it needs to be to take something down. He can't take any return fire, so really relies on speed or shock shells to remove any threats. However, what he does need is some kind of stasis servitor, or specimen carrier to follow him around... hmm....
An Inquisitor walks into a bar - he rolls D100 to see if he hits it.
                                     +++++++
Gallery of my Inquisitor models here.

Kaled

Quote from: RobSkib on December 17, 2009, 02:11:17 PM
Do you have the Blunt rules handy? I thought they would be with the Tau Water Caste article, but apparently not...
Try this article;
http://www.mediafire.com/file/j4moojrjjno/The Negotiator.pdf
I like to remember things my own way... Not necessarily the way they happened.

Inquisitor - Blood Bowl - Malifaux - Fairy Meat

RobSkib

Ahh that's the one I was looking for, thanks. I think I might add a little bit about resisting mental attacks though, as that's what I originally planned it for. What do you make of Quinne? I think he's the only other interesting character in my warband, another is a Kroot and the fourth is a mad gun-for-hire based on Tallahassee from Zombieland, he was at the IGT for anyone who remembers.

They're cool characters and the I really like the interactions they have with each other, but would anyone want to read what I have written on them?
An Inquisitor walks into a bar - he rolls D100 to see if he hits it.
                                     +++++++
Gallery of my Inquisitor models here.

MarcoSkoll

Quote from: RobSkib on December 17, 2009, 11:44:32 PMThey're cool characters and the I really like the interactions they have with each other, but would anyone want to read what I have written on them?
Sounds good to me. I enjoy reading a good background.
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Captain L. Rollin: "Nonsense. Never heard of it."
Birgen: "Pick a window. I'll demonstrate".

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