Main Menu

News:

If you are having problems registering, please e-mail theconclaveforum at gmail.com

Inquisitor Torquemeda - background (bit of rules)

Started by Myriad, May 17, 2010, 01:05:58 PM

Previous topic - Next topic

Myriad

Well, since I can't work on the model until  the parts arrive I thought I'd put some of the background into writing.

Torqy was born on a small backwater world so out of the way that the imperium has been unable either to name it officially, or to spare the resources to cleanse it of a considerable ork infestation that has made the building of cities an exercise in futility.  Nevertheless, a considerable human population endures via a nomadic lifestyle, migrating ahead of the larger waaghs until the orks get bored and fight each other.  Despite the world's remoteness, the population are natural warriors and, occasionally, rough rider regiments are raised from among them.

Torquy was the sergeant of one such squad, and one of his earliest assinments was to guard a mechanicus expedition to a mainly quiet frontier planet.  While out on patrol he spotted the first elements of an ork band emerging from a mountain pass.  Realising that if he waited to call in reenforcements, the orks would likely overrun the mechanicus campsite, he led his squad in a bold charge, managing to bottle the orks in the pass and prevent their superior numbers coming into play.  By the time the rest of the force arrived only Torquy himself was left standing, sheltering behind the his downed mount, having lost all his weapons and been reduced to fending off the enemy using a large piece of scrap metal from a killa kan as a shield, whilst clubbing them with an unusually weighty copy of 'the imperial infantryman's uplifting primer'. 

In many ways this could be seen as the first of many canny political moves - the legend quickly spread, with the opinion that this was the only good use the book had ever been put to widely expressed.  In gratitude for his heroism the ad-mech leading the expedition had his mortally wounded mount 'repaired' as a servitor and it has continued to serve him since (most of the limbs have been replaced over the decades, but essentially the same horse).  The imperial guard command, however, took a somewhat lesser view of both his cavalier actions and his disrespect of the primer, and he found himself demoted to the ranks, with few prospects of promotion.

**somehow he ends up in the inquisition (and adopts an extended name for official use)** (I'm having trouble with this section of the background).

Given his background, he naturally gravitated towards the recongregator faction, with most of his former commanders finding their careers mysteriously mothballed.  Despite his involvements with a fair number of dubious projects, he has proved a natural intriguer with an easy gift for making friends and accumulating debts, which has enabled him thus far to avoid being denounced.

I'm also kicking around a couple of rules for him and his warband that I'd welcome comments on.

Rules;
Venomous knives;
Preferring non-lethal fighting techniques, Torqy carries a series of hollow knives that continue to inject poison after the initial strike.  Any enemy wounded by such a weapon must continue to test against the toxin at the start of their turn, until an action is spent pulling the knife out (Torqy loses the knife).

Emperor's own (for one of his warband);
Considered a saint by many, the character certainly appears to be blessed by mankind's patron.  Any attacks made by the character count as blessed.  (I'm having trouble pinning this one down - something similar to pure dumb luck might fit better, to represent him drawing on his reserves of faith).

I had better point out, that some of the clubs I represent are of a military bent.

You know what you are?  A plywood shark!

Alyster Wick

Interesting background.  I'm not sure either of the special rules you've come up with really match the background, though if you're planning on adding more in there then I suppose they could fit.  It would be interesting to see an Inquisitor who make integral use of a shield while fighting (plausible for Torq if he used one while rough riding) and I'd like to see some more about his horse and how it functions.

As for the transition from rank and file to Inquisitor, I'd say it would be plausible that he joins up with an explorator party at some point after being spurned by the Imperial guard.  He could begin to see darkness in the mechanicus and end of leaving due to a crisis of conscience somehow dealing with the Inquisition.  For turning in his mechanicus allies who were doing something bad perhaps he is taken in by the Monodominant inquisitor and eventually becomes an acolyte after serving as body guard.  His disillusionment continues with the Monodominant until he meets another Inquisitor who is a rival of his current master (a recongregator) and he finally finds a philosophy that makes sense.  He could somehow fools his Monodominant master into sponsoring him for Inquisitorial status and have the Monodominant be shocked when the rival recongregator casts the third vote to make Torq official.

I know that's kind of rambling, but that story shows how he is constantly disillusioned by Imperial instituations (guard, mechanicus, even the inquisition) and so becomes a recongregator naturally.

MarcoSkoll

Quote from: Myriad on May 17, 2010, 01:05:58 PMConsidered a saint by many, the character certainly appears to be blessed by mankind's patron.  Any attacks made by the character count as blessed.  (I'm having trouble pinning this one down - something similar to pure dumb luck might fit better, to represent him drawing on his reserves of faith).
You might choose either to go with the Acts of Faith rule from the "Sisters of the Emperor" article, or alternatively, I use the following for Lyra Rhodes:

~~~~~

Pure Luck:
Lyra seems to be favoured by a higher power, and for whatever reason, things seem to go right for her disproportionately often. Bullets will miss by centimetres, her wild guesses will be right, and she seems to avoid catastrophes by a hair's breadth.

In-game, this confers the following bonuses:
- Lyra is at -10% to be hit with both shooting and close combat attacks.*
- Lyra's auto success band is expanded by +5, giving her auto success on rolls of 01-10.
- Lyra is treated as rolling one less 1 on her action dice for the purposes of calculating Risky Actions.

*Due to their nature, full auto and blast weapons have to be handled differently. Any hit from a full auto weapon that succeeds by less than 10% (unless it's an auto-hit, i.e. 01-05) cannot hit Lyra - randomise the character hit as normal, but discard it if it "hits" Lyra. Any blast attack has its blast value reduced by 1 for the purposes of working out the number of hits.

~~~~~

It works a bit like a downgraded combination of Plain Dumb Luck and Heroic - it gives you a character who can defy the odds, but you can't ever quite rely on it.
S.Sgt Silva Birgen: "Good evening, we're here from the Adeptus Defenestratus."
Captain L. Rollin: "Nonsense. Never heard of it."
Birgen: "Pick a window. I'll demonstrate".

GW's =I= articles

Myriad

#3
'Saint Martin Cameron

The story of Martin Cameron is linked to that of an obscure sect of the imperial cult calling itself the emperor within, who hold to a number of unorthodox beliefs, including that the emperor is capable of reincarnating but has chosen instead to spread his essence across the whole of humanity.  This sect spread rapidly among the masses, attracted to the notion that they all had great potential, but was disliked by the nobility, who found a heroic workforce far less practical.

Martin Cameron was a local PDF officer of some standing, and also considerable corruption.  He abused his position for personal profit in a number of ways, right up to taking pay for 'eliminating' undesirable elements.  As his crimes eventually came to light, he repented his sins and publicly converted to the cult, whose leader extended his personal protection, a not uncommon practice within the sect.  This proved to be a step too far, however, and after a swift consultation with the local ecclesiarchy, who naturally had considerable ties to the ruling order, the entire cult was declared excommunicatus and more than half the planetary population purged or transported.

Inquisitor Torquemeda, considering this a waste of a population that held beliefs merely unorthodox and that, more to the point, made them excellent soldiers, tacitly arranged for a number of high profile prisoners, including Martin Cameron, to instead be transported to a secret location where they founded a colony, which he has since used as his own personal army.

Although his initial conversion owed more to desperation than piety, Martin was deeply affected by the number of people killed on his behalf and became an ardent believer in the precepts of the cult, laying aside armour and trusting to the emperor to protect him.  His beliefs, coupled with the skills acquired in his previous life, made him an excellent footsoldier, so long as no small furry animals needed rescuing.  In the line of duty, he has since displayed an uncanny knack for evading harm.  At first Torqy mocked his practice of assiduously blessing his weapons, but when a shot from his lasgun felled a daemon that had proved otherwise impervious, saving Torqy in the process, he came to the conclusion that Martin was a genuine saint, enjoying the emperor's protection.


Emma

A former guard officer who served with Torqy during his time in the guard, Emma was one of the few survivors of an ill-planned expedition against an outpost of the Scythian warrior monks (correct me if they're extinct, someone).  She was discovered several years later by a more succesful follow-up expedition, still waging an intermittent guerilla campaign against the aliens along with the remainder of her squadron. 

Impressive as this was in pure military terms, there was concern among the command echelons that the guerillas had gone feral.  They had incorporated various aspects of the Scythian fighting style into their own, and there was widespread suspiscion that they had also embraced certain of their philosophies, fuelled by the fact that they had abandoned military protocols and were no longer using their last names.  The decision was made to execute them, and a series of high profile, suitably rigged, arena combats were arranged to highlight the superiority of imperial fighting methods.

Naturally agents of Torqy intervened as swiftly as they could, but by this time only Emma still survived, having stubbornly won a series of fights, and she was requisitioned to his retinue.  In a move unusually brutal for the normally diplomatic inquisitor Torqy, later that month the doors to the governer's mansion were demolished by a crimson armoured figure wielding a chainfist, and the majority of the local command structure (who were holding a strategy metting at the time) killed.
I had better point out, that some of the clubs I represent are of a military bent.

You know what you are?  A plywood shark!

Shannow

Emma's background very much suits the model I think, particularly the last bit about the crimson figure, a nice touch that avoids the necessity for detail.

Saint Martin Cameron however...I love! Really like that concept and escalation of events that lead up to his recruitment.

All in all bot are great characters and I like that the way you've written their backgrounds speaks oodles of Torqy as well.

Great job!
I've seen things you people wouldn't believe. Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion. I watched c-beams glitter in the dark near the Tanhauser Gate. All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain.

Time to die.

Myriad

Right.  Last few here.

Magos Biologis Dhaanhttp://picasaweb.google.co.uk/lh/photo/-jQpxrKEREoY5Pp5On5aeg?feat=directlink

Once a Magos Biologis of some distinction, Dhaan's life changed when he was selected to aid in an expedition investigating an archeotech horde on a remote planet.  Although, in contrast to most Necron facilities, the expedition passed without violent incident and useful data was recovered, whilst attempting to break an encryption code Dhaan was inadverdently exposed to the twisted mind of the Outsider.

Apparently unnaffected, Dhaan returned to the moon of his forgeworld (also heavily industrialised) to study the data and artefacts retrieved.  It soon became clear that he was not quite himself, and he began to develop peculiarites, as the exposure to the Outsider's mind acted like a virus, driving him gradually insane.  Eventually the corruption spread into the moons systems, causing a general breakdown of order, and eventually a full quarantine when it became clear that some transmissions from the moon were carriers of viruses.

Dhaan briefly managed to establish himself in charge, but was overthrown when the surviving menials rose against him.  He was eventually rescued by an investigative team lead by Torqy.  Attracted by mechanicus secrets and the chance of great rewards, Torqy made one of his few miscalculations in providing shelter to Dhaan, and resources for clandestine experiments trying to recreate some of the space marine results.  Inevitably, Dhaan's insanity led to his exposure and Torqy denounced him in order to secure his own position.

Dhaan proved admirably well prepared for the strike team and, in the end, it was the resourceful Freesa who was able to slip through his defences and set him on fire.  He was only able to escape thanks to one of his experiments, Abe Normal (http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/lh/photo/uGChiXYnsxE5pq269b-C8Q?feat=directlink), who recovered from being shot, apparently fatally, in the head and ran amok.  Abe himself dissappeared following his rampage, reappearing at Torqy's convenience.

Badly injured, Dhaan built himself a suit of exo-armour incorporating life support and has since beenn responsible for a number of incidents of an increasingly disturbing nature, such as the unleashing of mutant rats upon the mining outpost of Feeng Beta.

Freesa  http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/lh/photo/hbu1kLV-33v9QkGsYFIA5Q?feat=directlink

Once a menial on a mechanicus moon, Freesa had no apparent future, but when the moons systems began to break down due to Dhaan's influence, she demonstrated considerable resourcefulness, managing to keep some basic systems running and rigging improvised weapons, ensuring a place for her gang among the survivors.  When it became clear that Dhaan represented a threat rather than a guiding hand, she had established enough of a position to coordinate the rebellion and remove him as a threat.

When Torqy's investigative team arrived, he offered her sanctuary from mechanicus retribution (even justified rebellion being frowned upon) in return for joining his retinue, her familiarity with Dhaan himself proving invaluable in the storming of his lab.
I had better point out, that some of the clubs I represent are of a military bent.

You know what you are?  A plywood shark!