Wargear: Spirit Guides

[Alyster Wick]

Mostly posting this because "Spirit Guides" is such an unbelievably lame term for what I'm proposing and I could use some help.

As wargear, "Spirit Guides" would be a new class of familiars.  The way I'm envisioning them is that they'd be permanently affixed to the character they are "guiding."  What the "Spirit Guides" do is allow the character with said guide to switch out one of their mental stats for the stat of the Guide if they spend one action communing with them.  A few examples:

The Book of Rot: The Book of Rot is an unholy tome written on the tanned flesh of a thousand sacrificed in the name of the god now bound to it.  To read its pages is to take on this God's power.  Any character who reads from the Book of Rot with be able to replace their WP with the Book's WP of 89 for the duration of their turn but only when using psychic powers, not when defending against them.  Any damage taken from psychic overload will be calculated using the character's base WP, NOT the Book's WP of 89.

Comms Servo Skull: This specialized servo skull gives an Inquisitor's logistics/tech officer an eagle eye view of the battlefield as if they were there and allows them to scan tech items with advanced auspices and give more advanced advice and guidance to their master.  If a character confers with their Comms Servo Skull then they are able to use the SG of their logistics/tech officer who is manning the skull* for one full turn in relation to technological items that they are working with.  The logistics/tech officer may also share knowledge that they have of the battlefield utilizing the more advanced scanner they have access to on their ship (rules for this need to be worked out separately with GM).

*The comms/logistics officer cannot appear on the field while manning the skull.  It is a complex and archaic piece of machinery that requires their full attention.

Malign Intelligence: The Malign Intelligence is an ancient AI that has existed for millennia. While it used to control vast armies of Iron Men and put fear into the hearts of fleshings, it has only survived this long by being inconspicuous and remains seemingly harmless in a small data rod.  Characters may attach the data rod containing the Malign Intelligence to any interface on their body that allows them to interact with machines.  If they spend one action conferring with the Malign Intelligence then they are able to use it's impressive SG of 113.  However, for every turn that the Malign Intelligence is directly connected to the user they must take a WP test or fall under its influence (controlled as if they were possessed by a daemon weapon).  They may take a WP test every subsequent turn to regain control.  However, if the Malign Intelligence takes over during a turn the character was conferring with them on then the Intelligence will only give up control if it fails a WP test (it's WP is 92). 


Anyway, just wanted to get some feedback.  The idea just kind of came to me and I thought it was a fun and characterful avenue not gone down before.

[Holiad]

I like the idea a lot, both specifically and, generally, as an example of a non-combat use for familiars, something I found somewhat lacking from their entry in the main rulebook.
As far as rules go, the basic mechanic is sound, and admirable for its simplicity, but I'd be inclined to limit them to less severe drawbacks than the malign influence possessing a character outright-as an alternative, how about if an uncooperative guide simply either refused to give aid, or supplied its 'master' with false information? Also, it seems appropriate for some of them to provide a cumulative bonus with each action spent communing-the comms officer, for example, will have access to a vast library of information and will therefore, with sufficient time, be able to look up precise specifications of almost any piece of imperial technology his master is looking at.
Finally, one of the things I like about this idea is that it covers a very wide range of possible familiars, so it would be nice to have an easy system of general classification which could be readily used to describe them, for example by stat affected and area of expertise, making the book of rot a 'spirit guide:WP(89):Psychic powers', the comm skull a 'spirit guide:Sg(?):Imperial technology' and the malign influence a 'spirit guide:Sg(113):Technology'. That way, it would be easy for players to make up their own familiars as appropriate.

[Flinty]

I think this is an excellent idea - I do feel the servo-skull idea was ripe for expansion and it adds something else beyond the Cherubim, that can be tweaked to fit with the character.

As is, I think your descriptions work fine, but sound more like a special piece of kit/equipment that an Inquisitor might come across; so I think Holiads idea provides a nice framework:

it would be nice to have an easy system of general classification which could be readily used to describe them, for example by stat affected and area of expertise, making the book of rot a 'spirit guide:WP(89):Psychic powers',

But I think it then needs some form of limiting definition to stop them competeing with the strange and desirable goodies that characters may only come across once in a blue moon. If spirit guides are considered exotic within the Imperium, and perhaps have a maxium single stat raise etc, then it retains the ability to customise a desired item without it devaluing exotic and rare items in the game. 

After all, servo-skulls are not handed out willy-nilly and whilst an advance comms system might be more common, they should not be three-for-a-pound. Basically, develop some house rules I guess.

Agree that the name is a little...dances with wolves meets woodstock..how about Auto-Adherant, Spiritless Acolyte, Mech-Animus....humm, I see its not as easy as I thought...