Hey all.
As I have started to post the wip of the models I am making for this warband, I thought it would be about time to post the background and rules I am thinking of for the models. At this stage it will only be for the four main characters that I have the models started on, I have another one or two which I will be eventually progressing and posting the rules/backgrounds for later.
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Anyway first up is Inquisitor Felix von Dracovite himself.
Felix von Dracovite was born Frederick von Dracovite to Lord and Lady von Dracovite the rulers of the city of Kriegsberg of planet Teutonal. Teutonal is a militarized world famed for its armoured regiments and units of rough riders. Kriegsberg is one of the most important cities on the planet after the capital Eagleshide. Teutonal has a very proud history and some of the older styles of combat are still practiced by the ruling elite. One of the most proud traditions that the noble families still follow is that the use of ranged weapons in combat is not permitted for themselves, others can use one at their order or in their defense but they themselves can not use them.
As a later son of the lord of Kriegsberg Frederick had a privileged upbringing and learn leadership skills and the ability to fight from masters of the combat arts with the expectation that he would join the famed units of his home world. At age 16 he joined the 23rd Teutonal rough rider regiment, "The Thunderous Dawn" as an officer. His military career progressed well and he distinguished himself on several occasions and showed his superior skill with close combat weapons on numerous battlefields across the sector.
During his service for "The Thunderous Dawn" he developed his abiding hatred for alien races and often volunteered his services and that of his unit in campaigns against aliens rather than other enemies of the Imperium. It was during the scourging of the ork menace from Auckliaus that he first came to the attention of Inquisitor ???? a member of the order xenos who held similar views to von Dracovite on the nature and role of xenos in society. Shortly after the campaign Frederick was offered a position with Inquisitor ???? as an acolyte training to be an inquisitor.
After many years of training and service to Inquisitor ??? he was himself granted the rank of Inquisitor and moved on to conduct his own operations and form his own staff. It was at this stage he changed his name from Frederick to Felix.
Abilities and Rules
Ws Bs S T I Wp Sg Nv Ld Spd
78 41 60 62 67 78 71 76 77 4
Abilities – leader; first strike; feint; rider born*
*rider born – Felix was born into a noble family on Teutonal which meant that from a very early age he was learning to ride both horses and other domesticated or undomesticated animals. Felix gains a +20% bonus to any tests required to control a creature that he is riding and counts as having cats fall if thrown from a mount.
Wargear – Carprace on chest, abdomen & groin; flak armour arms & legs; psi-tracking auspex; bastard sword, storm buckler*.
• Storm buckler – generates a force field similar to a storm shield but due to its smaller size and weight only the arm carrying the buckler benefits from the force field. The hand can still be used to carry other objects but the buckler can not be used to parry if the hand is using a weapon in combat. A storm buckler can parry power weapons with no risk of damage.
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Next up is squire.
Ludwig Hoff is Inquisitor von Dracovite's squire and bat man. Ludwig was born to a family that was reasonably well placed servants to that of the von Dracovite family as such he was assured a place in the house hold. He was born just 3 months after Felix and spent time growing with him. As such he was trained in the house to be Felix's companion and servant from birth to be someone who Felix could trust implicitly as an accomplice and friend. Not being of noble birth Ludwig was excluded the Teutonic disposition to not bare firearms or other ranged weapons on the field of battle and as such trained highly in them to benefit Felix.
When Felix joined the military at the age of 16 to complete his training and military duties, Ludwig accompanied him as his bat man and squire. During the time that he accompanied von Dracovite in his military career and later when he became an inquisitor, Ludwig has saved him a number of times and has been saved a number of times in return. One incident when he saved von Dracovite was during a charge by the 23rd Teutonal rough riders when a shell landed near to the two of them, Ludwig pushed Felix out of the way and suffered burns to his face as a result. Ludwig now wears a mask to cover this scaring from site where possible.
Over the years working with von Dracovite they have come up with a reasonably effective working routine when encountering hostiles, Ludwig advances using his pistols to provide covering fire for the Inquisitor to get into combat then Felix keeps the other combatants tied up while Ludwig advances and aids him by distracting the opponents or by dispatching injured parties.
Stats not yet worked out, will edit in later.
Abilities – hip shooting
Wargear – flak armour all locations including head; stubber & reload; revolver and 12 additional shells; knife; club; buckler
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Dr Xavier Crosland the xeniologist.
Xavier Crosland was born to a wealthy rogue trader family on the hive world of Belitis. His older siblings (of which there were several) all had an interest in trade or combat and taking over the family business and trading title. Xavier was more interested in studying and learning about the things and species that they encountered. Starting from a very early age he would investigate how things worked or the biological structure of animals. As he grew and travelled with his family more it evolved into learning about xenos species that they encountered and performing autopsies on any killed in action to find out about their biological structure. During this time he had to have a more directed and proper career in mind so he was trained as a medical doctor for other wealthy families, which helped significantly in his other activities.
Over time he has recorded his findings in a book entitled the codex xenos which covers all of his findings about the biological nature of any species he has encountered. At first there was no issues with his research as it was generally unknown but as time passed and he travelled more he started to encounter members of the Adeptus Mechanicus who were not as generous in the distribution of knowledge as other might be. Felix has so far managed to avoid being too involved with Mechanicus agents who want to prevent him continuing his work. It was around this time that Inquisitor von Dracovite first started hearing rumours about this doctor and tracked him down. Felix offered him an ultimate work for him and continue his research or be passed on to the Mechanicus for additional learning experiences. Felix has been with the Inquisitor since and has come to trust him though is not entirely comfortable with the Mechanicus members of the ships crew.
Abilities and Rules
Ws Bs S T I Wp Sg Nv Ld Spd
52 61 41 52 65 72 80 58 58 4
Abilities – medic
Wargear – flak armour all locations except head; needle pistol –stun & reload; knife; miu controlled cyber mastiff; medikit; plug filters; average bionic lungs; codex xenos*
• Codex xenos – details the findings of Xaviers research into the biology of alien species. He may spend one action to look up an alien species in the book, then if he passes an unmodified sagacity test he has encountered the species previously and has detailed notes on it. He can then spend another action communicating details of that species to another character. These details give the other character a +/- 10 modifier on the placement of the shot, which stacks with aiming and placed shot.
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And finally (for now) the Biomancr Aliera bid Anara
Aliera is a natural psyker with an in-depth knowledge of the field of biomancy.
Aliera bid Anara was born on an arid world to the 2nd wife of a tribal chief. She was destined for an arranged marriage with another tribe as part of a future deal with another tribe. However when she was still very young she seemed to have a talent for finding the location of her friends when they were playing or water when they were travelling. She also seemed to have incredible strength when someone confronted her. From these hints and testing by the local wise woman it was revealed that she had natural psychic talents. She trained under the tutelage of the (imperially sanctioned) wise woman until she reached such an age where she was to go off world and undergo the soul binding.
It was while she was travelling off world to undergo the soul binding that she encountered Inquisitor von Dracovite. In a spaceport she passed through there was an attack by a small number of alien sympathizers and Aliera lent aid to the survivors of the attack healing those she could. The Inquisitor was near to the space port at the time and came to investigate the attack. He was impressed with resource fullness of Aliera and the fact that she seemed to be able to pinpoint where one of the alien survivors had been hiding in the nearby area.
Since this time Aliera has been in von Dracovite's retinue and this has spared her the torture of going through the soul binding process and allowed her more freedom to act as von Dracovite wants and needs.
Stats to be worked out still as well.
Abilities – medic; psychic powers – regenerate, warp strength, choke, detection; detect water*
• Detect water – Operating similarly to detection this power enables Aliera to detect bodies of water over a great distance and has the following profile. For the range to the target divide the actual distance by 5 to get the true modifier.
Wargear – cloth armour (2) all locations except head; las pistol; force staff; medikit
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Wow that is going to be a whole lot of test to wade through.
At this stage I am planning to run the warband with Felix, the Squire, one of the other two characters listed and one of the as yet unposted guard vets.
Please provide any comments or criticism.
Regards
Blacknight/Marc
I apologise about this brief post but my brain is fluffy from a 3 hour exam I had earlier, so trying o concentrate on the text is just not working....
However something that jumps out at me is the Bs of Felix, that implies that he's really shoddy with a gun, and even an inquisitor who doesn't use firarms as his main method of despatching the heathens should have a better Bs then that (in my opinion) so I would up that 10 or so I think.
Will edit this post when I'm able to focus :)
Hey Shannow
I know there is a bit of text to read, this along with bits and pieces for other characters has been on the go for a couple of weeks during my work breaks...
I put his ballistic skill that low because not only does he not use guns, he has never really used them, but I am willing to take peoples advice on it and increase it if people feel that way.
Blacknight/Marc
I'm not suggesting you make this change to your warband but it strikes me that it's invariably the noble born character who ends up as the Inquisitor - it'd be interesting to see a warband where the noble and his squire are recruited by an Inquisitor and employed as acolytes but it turns out that the squire is the one with real talent and he ends up an Inquisitor with his former master working for him. Turning the tables like that could make an interesting dynamic for a warband.
What models do you plan to use for your characters? Are you going to do one of your Inquisitor on horseback.
Kaled's beaten me to the question - when modelling these guys, are you going to have them on horseback - because that would be great.
I like the background, it's very Germanic medieval and 14th century. Does Felix like or dislike his squire because he uses guns? Does that mean that he doesn't regard him as honourable, or on the same level as him? Is he particularly pompous about the divide between them?
Equally, having probably saved his master life several times, and frankly is probably more use with his guns than Felix with his sword, does Ludwig resent the fact his master has such a closed approach to combat? Does he believe he too is able to charge into combat like that, or is it simply the preserve of his master?
And one final question, if I may. A squire has the chance, normally, to achieve knighthood - this is one of the principal reasons for being a squire. However, since they are part of the Inquisition, does that remove his chance of ever becoming a knight? If so, how loyal does Ludwig feel to Felix because if he wants to get ahead, he'll have to climb the Inquisitorial hierarchy rather than the Imperial one now? His master no longer has the power to grant him his knighthood, after all...
Kaled
I hadn't really thought of doing it the reverse way to be honest. I had writen up alot of the background for the Felix and the idea for the warband then thought of the squire idea much later on and decided to add a more indepth back story to it. I was toying with the idea of the squire having a minor mutation, like albinoism(?), to reflect why he cannot progress further.
Model wise at the moment the inquisitor is based of Malicant's legs with Covanent's body and arms and slicks head. There are photos in my painting and modelling thread. I did consider making a mounted version of the model and it is a potential for the future but in my current financial position, combined with the number of other projects I am trying to do simultaniously (2 different fantasy armies to start with) it is not too high on the priority list, though I might try and move it ahead of a number of the secondary member of his warband though.
Ulgavitch
As per the reply to Kaled regarding modelling, I have also made an extensive list of what I plan to do for the not started members of the warband (I think I have about 15 rough ideas for his fully expanded warband).
I wanted both Felix's and his squires background to be based on a medieval Germanic feel but other members of the warband have a different feel to represent the planet they grew up on. I have used the term squire but it is not the same as in European history, it is more to designate head servant/retainer rather than trainee knight. I had it in my head that the noble and peasants on Teotonal are very segrigated and there is no real chance to cross that gap. Ludwig has risen nearly as high as a peasant can hope to get on world. Felix and Ludwigs relations hip has been built on over time and though Felix doesnt see Ludwig as a friend he does value him as a companion and aide. He doesnt use the difference between their stations as a weapon but will occasional remind Ludwig of this when the situation dictates.
I imagine that the situation has been reversed a number of times and Felix has had to save Ludwig's life a number of times once combat has been reached. Felix being military trained will use the terrain and situation to his advantage and provide a more indirect role prior to coming into close combat range. the use of firearms is only forbidden to the nobles (though some choose to ignore it) and not the other classes. The nobles realise the advantage of others being able to use weapons but look down on nobles who lower themselves to use ranged weapons (not always limited to nobles of the same honour code either). Ludwig does tend to follow his master into combat and thinking about it might also get a horse modelled for him at a later stage. Though Ludwig being not as trained a fighter as Felix will tend to go for weaker opponents or aid where he can (dispatch the fallen....).
As per the above note, Ludwig really doesnt have much hope of becoming a knight and due to his culture and up bringing his rise in fall in life will be directly related to that of Felix. Having said that being Felix's closest and longest compaignion will mean he has greater oppurtunity to expresss his opinion (without reproach) than other members of the warband would.
Anyway work break is over and this reply is getting plenty long enough, so I hope this has helped to clear up the questions you had, if you have any more or advice please feel free with either.
Regards
Blacknight/Marc
QuoteAs per the above note, Ludwig really doesnt have much hope of becoming a knight and due to his culture and up bringing his rise in fall in life will be directly related to that of Felix. Having said that being Felix's closest and longest compaignion will mean he has greater oppurtunity to expresss his opinion (without reproach) than other members of the warband would.
That's cool, so it's a lord and his loyal retainer. Sounds great, I was just a little concerned, as you say, about the role of the squire.
That said, anyone else that joins the band might think it's a little strange this incredible deference Ludwig would show, especially if they came from a world where back-stabbing is innate, such as many hive worlds...
Having read a few more of the inquisitor articles and started to actually read through Dark Magenta (finally) I have been thinking about putting more detail and backstory into the characters and their interact as a warband.
First up I gues would be Felix and Ludwig's relationship. Due to their long standing bond between each other and the nature of their upbringing on Teutonal they have a very strong and trusting relationship. Felix is Ludwig's lord and master but over time the boundaries have broken down somewhat and they have an informal relationship with each other at most times while they will adopt a more formal demeaner in the presence of others. Ludwig has grown up knowing that his rise or fall is directly related to that of Felix and as such is totally devoted to him. This has been used to their mutual advantage many a time when they have encountered situations where people cannot believe in loyalty to a master, jsut to ones self, and have tried to bribe or coerce Ludwig in working against Felix.
For Dr Crosland's relationship to the rest of the warband he sees them as a useful tool which he has no choice but to be with. The adeptus mechanicus don't very much like the idea of a non adeptus gaining too much knowledge and it is only the close proximity to an inquisitor that has spare him any difficulties at this stage. Felix is aware of this view and is only keeping Xavier close because he knows of the potential danager of the work he is undertaking combined with the usefullness of the research he has conducted. Ludwig really does not trust Xavier as a result of this temporary view on his associates, Felix in particular, as he has devoted his life to Felix.
Have not yet detailed the relationship between Felix and Aliera yet and will also include the details of other members of the warband as they progress and I start to make the models for them.
Regards
Blacknight/Marc