Be prepared, lots of badly written background coming up:
Inquisitor Navarr Oreano – Age: 307 Standard Terran years.
Many know Navarr Oreano to be a skilled diplomat, a superb tactician and a master swordsman. However, to those that know him more closely, different adjectives spring to mind: "Bigot," "racist," "sexist," "corrupt," "hypocrite," "coward." These are just a few of many words of the same vein commonly used to describe the aging inquisitor. Most of them are accurate.
Navarr was the fourth son of the Grand Duke Alexi, who acted as the Planetery Gouvernor of the hive world of Carean IV. As Alexi already had an heir, he gave custody of Navarr to the Schola Progenium, though not before instilling in him the values and culture of a Careanean noble. Such as the art of Careanean fencing, a graceful and advanced form of swordplay where a fencer would wield a single, light, thin blade to stab and cut his opponent with a heavy focus on precision whilst exerting as little energy as possible, and the irrational belief that only those of noble blood can be trusted with authority and that as a Careanean noble, he was born to wield power and wealth. This he eventually did as he came to the attention of Inquisitor Lord Alonso Gui, a highly respected Amalthian, partly due to their similar upbringing and the shared belief that only those of noble blood can be trusted with authority, his considerable prowess with a sword (which he spent many long hours each day practising), and partly due to the fact that he was intellectually so far ahead of all the other students. At the age of 76 average Terran years, Navarr was granted the full power and status of Inquisitor by the aging Lord Gui.
Over the years Navarr became increasingly frustrated with the corruption, inefficiency and general incompetence of the Imperium's massive organisations, where they had repeatedly impeded the progress of his, and everyone else's work, and he was beginning to re-think the philosophy that had been indoctrinated into by Gui by the time he reached 100 and began leaning toward recongregationism. After he turned 185 he believed that he deserved to be elevated to the title of Inquisitor Lord, like his former master. By this time however, he had built a reputation among his colleagues as being a corrupt and dangerous radical, who employed xenos and used their weaponry, and highly bigoted, not to be trusted. Despite his skills in diplomacy, he failed to find any Inquisitors willing to vote in his favour. Naturally he was furious, for he was a Careanean noble and he was born to wield power! How could he not be elevated to the title of Inquisitor Lord while he knew of certain Inquisitor Lords who weren't even of noble blood? He angrily declared all other inquisitors and the rest of the Imperium to be at fault, instead of looking at the flaws in his own character and trying to improve on them because as far as he was concerned he had none. Clearly it was the Inquisition and the rest of the Imperium that needed to change and he vowed to invoke that change. His main activities over the centuries were replacing those in positions of authority those he deemed fit, and killing off rival inquisitors whom he deemed to be unfit. In more recent years however, he has begun to pursue the means of achieving immortality, in order to continue his work for as long as possible. Disdaining the use of chaos sorcery and bionics, he has found this to be difficult however. And now, as the time he has grows shorter, he is becoming increasingly desperate, largely abandoning his work to change the Imperium, putting it on hold until he has gained the ultimate prize of immortality.
WS-60(88)* BS-49 S-45 T-41 I-51 Wp-71 Sg-89 Nv-70 Ld-82
Right Handed
Talents: Feint, Dedicated Duelist.*
*Specialising in Carreanen fencing he still makes the effort to set aside some time to practise each day. Whilst using his power sword cane, or any other sword or short sword, Navarr counts as having a weapon skill of 88.
Weapons: Power sword-cane**, laspistol*** with 2 reloads, jokaero digi laspistol ring****
** Reach: 3 Dmg: 2D10-2 PP: -5% Wt:18
*** Spec: Civillian Magazine, redshift muzzle, short pattern barrel, 18 megathule lasing chamber, triplex-phall discharge generator, duelling grip, concealable frame.
Type:Pistol Rng:E Mode:Sg/Sm(2) Acc:+5% Dam:3D6+1 Shots:8 Rld:2 Enc:8 Spcl:- Modes: Low/Mid
Note: Armour hit by a shot from this pistol counts as being doubled.
**** Rng:E Mode:Sg Acc:-10% Dam:3D6+2 Enc:2 Spcl:LR
For this I am thinking it should recharge in the same way as a plasma pistol does, but no risky actions. I am having problems downloading the rulebook though and I can't remember the exact rules. Any thoughts?
Other equipment and items: Lightweight Reflective Breastplate (Av:5 on chest and abdomen – count as 3 each in terms of weight), Force Field Generator (2D6+1 to all locations), inquisitorial rosette, comm.-link.
Sergeant-Major Karlson, former standerd bearer of the Vornian 2nd regiment. Age: 65 Standard Terran Years.
Karlson was born into the uneducated working class of the Hive World of Vorn, and was conscripted into the Planetery Defence Force at age 16 standard Terran years. Having led a life of poverty and misery before his life in the military, he was greatful to have been selected, and became dedicated to becoming the ideal soldier.
Possessing a powerful ambition and considerable willpower, he dedicated himself wholly to passing all tests and drills to the best of his ability, all while keeping his area of the billet spotlessly clean and organised. His determination and focus made him among the best in the entire regiment with weapons, both ranged and melee, by his third year. 4 years after he was first conscripted he took part in combat for the first time, where his regiment, combined with a small force of adeptus arbites, wereused to quell large scale rioting instilled by powerful crime lords unhappy with the government. Karlson performed admirably with discipline that rivalled many of the older veterans in the P.D.F. Mere months later he was selected to be in the 2nd Vornian Regiment of the Imperial Guard, where he was flung into the large scale wars with the Orks in the relatively nearby system of Iaturn. Here he participated in hundreds of large scale battles. The average lifespan of a guardsman throughout the war was somewhere in the order of weeks, yet Karlson was one of only 7 none-commissioned officers that had survived since the beginning of the wars 12 years prior at the end of which his dress uniform had become festooned with many medals, purity seals and awards won through many acts of almost suicidal bravery, shows of considerable combat prowess and a completely spotless record. He was selected to serve in a special Veteren squad where he continued to do so with distinction for another decade, after which he was promoted to the rank of Sergeant Major ad due to his impeccable record, countless shows of bravery and considerable combat prowess, he was given the honour of being the bearer of regiment's standerd, and a place on Colonel Pohlmann's personal command squad. Less than a year later the Vornian 2nd Regiment was called upon to defend against a splinter fleet of Hive Fleet Leviathan. Karlso saw little combat himself for almost a year until, Pohlmann's command post with less than 1000 men in total was ambushed by many 1000s of tyranids. At the end of the attack Pohlmann had been killed, along with all the other senior officers and over 800 guardsmen. The commissar naturally took command and ordered those few remaining to stand and fight, as another force of tyranids was detected and heading their way, large enough to surely those who remained. Karlson, being more concerned for the lives of his men than his own, immediately began arguing furiously with the commissar, as there was still time to organise a withdrawal back to the main fortress. After a short while the Commissar unholstered his bolt pistol, intending to shoot Karlson for insubordination. Karlson's instinct was to expertly disarm the Commissar and shoot him in the face with his own weapon. Covered in gore and standing over the corpse with its' exploded head, he ordered the last remaining stunned Junior Officers to organise a retreat. Though the retreat was successful he was reported to his superiors and sentenced to death by a firing squad for killing the commissar and disobeying a direct order. This is where Navarr stepped in. He had been present at the command post and was incognito as an imperial official. When the danger of the tyranids' attack became apparent he had attempted to escape via a personal teleportation device. But it malfunctioned and left him stranded, where was forced to fight for his life among the other soldiers. Extremely impressed by Karlson's show of bravery and combat prowess during the fight and how spotless his record was before the incident, he stopped the execution and took Karlson to be his own personal bodyguard.
WS-69 BS-73 S-58 T-66 I-60 Wp-69 Sg-49 Nv-88 Ld-80
Right Handed
Talents: Quickload (lasgun+laspistol), rock-steady aim, true grit.
Weapons: Lasgun* w/ motion predictor scope + 5 reloads, laspistol**, Rough-rider cavalry sabre***, 3 frag grenades, military issue combat knife.
Other equipment: Flak vest (av:3 on chest and abdomen), reinforced clothing everywhere else except head (av:2), gas mask.
*lasgun spec: Military Magazine, carbine barrel 21 megathule lasing chamber, mars discharge generator, standerd frame, folding stock. (I have this written down but I can't access the revised armour at the moment because I am using a public computer, so I don't know all the its stats).
** laspistol spec: Heavy military mag, mid length barrel, stealth muzzle, 18 megathule lasing chamber, mars discharge generator, standerd grip, standerd frame.
*** Karlson's weapon of choice due to it's durability, little need of maintenance and its heavy blade.
Reach: 3 Dam: 2D6+2 PP:-20% Wt:14
I have 2 more characters (with much lower stats than karlson's) written down as well. I might be able to post them sooner than I thought, depending on how busy this library is! Thanks for reading. Would love some feedback.
Next character:
Lucien Tarvus – Private Investigator. Age: 63 Standard Terran Years
Lucien was born on the hive world Kaeron III. Lucky enough to be born into the relative comfort of the lower-middle class, and not the poverty-ridden lower working class. His parents were members of the local enforcer unit and consequently, they were well paid enough to feed themselves adequately and enjoy a small number of comforts. Attempted break-ins were common and the young Lucien had to learn how to defend himself against attackers quickly.
Having come from a background in the enforcers and being highly intelligent, Lucien was accepted into the same enforcer's unit his parents worked in. Though he easily passed the physical tests it quickly became apparent that his main strength was his brain, rather than brawn. Possessing an eye for detail quite unlike any other in the unit, he joined the forensics department, where he worked to solve crimes against imperial law rather than enforcing it. Over the years he became an expert in forensics and honed his interrogation skills to very high levels. His remarkable crime-solving abilities made him famous throughout the area as a detective.
When he reached his 35th birthday his parents were killed among 30 other enforcers during a badly managed riot, due to the incompetence of his superiors. Disillusioned, he left the enforcers and sold his services as a private detective. He was already very well known throughout his local area, and began to build on his existing fame. As the years went by he became extremely well known among major gang leaders and crime lords from all parts of the hive city. By the time he turned 50 he was wealthy enough to rent a small but relatively luxurious apartment in the upper levels of the hive city.
Lucien met Oreano Navarr several years afterwards. Navarr needed someone with a lot of experience in the hive with many contacts in order to find a secret coven of psykers who posed a great threat to the hive. They worked together for several months before the coven was found and destroyed, during which Navarr found Luciens services so useful, he decided to make him a member of his personal staff. With the promises of luxury and travel across the Imperium, Lucien accepted.
WS-58 BS-52 S-55 T-51 I-54 Wp-45 Sg-75 Nv-62 Ld-70
Right Handed
Talents: Forensics Expert*.
*I was thinking I could make some kind of special ability out of this, but I am not sure of what to do. Any thoughts?
Weapons: Precision Stubber w/ 2 reloads, shock maul, knife coated with 'stun' toxin.
Other Equipment, advanced auspex (combines bio scanner, and psyker detector), medikit.
I don't have time to post the specs of the weapons.
Hi
Good to see more back stories ready for campaign.
Overall I like the backstories. I noticed we have both gone for a radical Inquisitor, rifle toting ex-guardsmen and an enforcer as our first 3 members of retinue. We'll have to make sure we do different 4th characters!!
If Navarr Oreano is avoiding chaos sorcery/bionics, how else is he going to achieve immortality? Or is this where the use of Xenos tech comes in?
What did you use for stats? Conclave Standard? Did you use a d10 to randomise them or did you just select different stats?
One comment i did have is do you think you can think of different title for Navarr Oreano's father? I would avoid the title Emperor. You could go for Prince / Duke, maybe throw in Arch/High/Grand for added emphasis.
Overall I can see Navarr Oreano having some common ground with Thorvald Hesjedal, and also some key differences. Which is just as it should be in =I=.....
Cheers
James
With Lucien, I have been trying to emphasise that he was more of a freelance private investigator/detective with a background in the enforcers, rather than just an ex-enforcer. His character began in my mind as an arbiter, but I wanted something different. Which is why I made him a freelance private investigator.
I'm going to remove subdue from his talents as well.
I just selected the stats that I believed were right for the characters that had formed in my head.
Navarr is trying to explore all the options to extend his lifespan. He is aware that it is possible through the use of sorcery but, as I said, he has always been against it. I remember reading somewhere that the maximum lifespan of a human with access to juvenat treatments is 300-400 years old, and as he has relatively little time left he is growing increasingly desperate, to the point where he might consider the use of chaos artefacts and sorcery or pacts with daemons etc. He would never admit this to anyone ofcourse.
I apologise also for the roughness of the backstories. I am using public computers and they have a time limit, so I copied them from my (even rougher) scribbled notes as quickly as possible. I also don't have enough time to put up my last character, but he is a former crime-lord turned Inquisitorial agent. And he has roughly average physical stats, most of them are in the 50s.
When thinking of a title for Navarr's father I wanted something that implied he was right at the top of the social order, the ruler. I didn't like the word 'King.' You do have a point though. I can see that visiting Imperial Officials or Inquisitors might find the use of 'Emperor' highly blasphemous. 'Grand Duke' sounds excellent though.
I have also made a few minor changes to Navarr and Karlson's stats. Navarr S and T have been brought down a little and Karlson's nerve has been nerve has also been reduced slightly.
Sorry for the double post -
One more thing. I have changed the rules on Navarr's digi laspistol a bit. I have taken away the blueshift rule, and I have added a more hefty negative accuracy bonus due to the obvious difficulty of accurately aiming a weapon so small.
Sounds good- I did nt think your back stories were rough- no more than mine own backstories!! Part of the reason I posted my draft concepts was to get feedback from the guys here at the Conclave and then tweak them slightly.
Grand duke sounds great. Like the idea of private eye. The only reason I had commented was that I had also gone for subdue for my ex-enforcer character and had the exact same 3 skills for my gun slinging ex-guardsmen!! They say great minds think alike....
I am looking forward to seeing what Keravin and Rory come up with as we start to pull things together for any campaign.
Thanks
James
Oh wow. I was aware that the rifle-toting ex-guardman was a very common character type that people chose but I wasn't expecting to have created a character so similar to yours.
For the very reason that they are so common I have been considering changing the character though. So I might do away with the guardman character and think up another bodyguard type character a bit later.