I've recently got into inquisitor and a friend wants to use some of his genesteelers in an upcoming game, I've been told that the rules have been made by GW and published in an exterminatus book, but can't find anywhere to get hold of the rules from. Any help would be great, Cheers
You see the thread permanently fixed at the top of this forum section with the name Inquisitor PDFs (Looking for an old article? LOOK HERE!) (http://www.the-conclave.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=34.0)?
Funnily enough, as you're looking for an old article, you might want to look there. :P
But more specifically, here (http://www.mediafire.com/?luzdizklodw). You'll also need the alien generator article (http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?4nzlh2c4qvg).
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However, reading your post... it is to be said that Genestealers are NOT good player character material. They're very nasty models (I hesitate to use the term character, given their lack of meaningful personality) that really belong under GM control.
Genestealer hybrids are a different kettle of fish though.
I read through the list of files and somehow missed them - what a muppet!
Cheers for that, exactly what I needed
(The work browser sucks so I'm unable to check but...)
As I recall the Genestealer rules are rather tame as published*, which should make a game (or possibly campaign) where a single 'stealer is operating predominantly by stealth viable (think Alien for example) though I would hesitate to suggest using 'stealers.
The character side is trickier of course though as a single 'stealer, operating independently and without a group of hybrids is likely to be a future Patriarch the hints of personality can begin to develop... non the less it will be a significant roleplaying challenge.
*'Stealers in Rogue Trader were terrifying, in Space Hulk the Terminators and Tactical Dreadnaught Armour were introduced to put Space Marines on something of a level playing field with them and the addition of hybrids (particularly those armed with Conversion Beamers) in Genestealer countered the push towards longer range combat made in Deathwing... And when Power Armoured Marine rules were introduced they tended to get massacred...
In Inquisitor however my recollection is that they could barely threaten Marines, let alone mow them down like grass before the scythe.
I don;t think that using any kind of tyranid as an actual character for Inquisitor is a very good idea. They tend to lack personality and the only organisms with any kind of intelligence tend to be horribly powerful. One genestealer is a powerful model, capable of taking several characters apart. It is not enough to deal with a space marine but that is mostly because space marines really are insanely powerful in the game. I would suggest to your friend that if he really wants something like genestealers he should look into the old genestealer cult fluff, and make one which has not yet come to the point where purestrains become viable, otherwise, it will become a massacre.
Well, using the architecture of hate rules, the broodlord could deal 8D10 damage per action in close combat. While a genestealer wouldn't be quite on that level, it would still be almost instantly lethal to any mundane character that it came across, and would require a dedicated group to hunt down and kill it (which is why kill-teams exist). Having a powerful NPC which stalks the shadows is an excellent nemesis for your group, but as a PC? Anyone who can roleplay a 'stealer and give it any kind of interesting quirks deserves to be shot, as 'stealers don't have interesting quirks, they have voracious hunger, ferocious intelligence, and incredible speed, which combined with their lack of communication with anything other than pheremones and screeches, makes for a "interesting" character in the same way that maple syrup and ketchup sandwitches are "interesting" (by the way, don't)
Voracious hunger?
'nids have voracious hunger but 'stealers can't be said to... at least not when they're "normal" stealers as opposed to reconstituted by a Hive Fleet.
A 'stealer which has recently arrived on a planet will need some genetic material in the form of a few of the locals to hybridise but in terms of hunger these are creatures with very little in the way of physical needs - they can go without food for months IIRC, function for long periods in hard vacuum... they aren't the ravening hordes tearing across the table you would see in 40k
A 'stealer Patriarch (which should be noted is just the first 'stealer of a group - one might suggest that without an "anti-royal jelly" he's freed from the growth constraints and his psychic abilities manifest but he's not created any different from any other purestrain) is devious, clever and potentially a very potent psyker (giving him a very significant form of communication beyond screeches and pheromones). From the Magus model which was part of the original Patriarch it's implied that he can also understand human speech (even if he can't replicate it).
Now, granted, there aren't many people I'd trust to treat a 'stealer as a roleplaying challenge, and fewer yet whom I feel might be able to pull it off but while I'd advise caution I wouldn't discount the idea out of hand.
It is possible to play a patriarch or a magus, but normal purestrains still lack personality and cannot speak. The patriarch can communicate and the like, hoewever, a patriarch is such a powerful being that it would easily overpower almost anything, it would shred a space marine, let alone a warband of 'normal' people.
Quote from: Dolnikan on February 28, 2012, 03:51:05 PM
but normal purestrains still lack personality and cannot speak
In itself that's not a reason not to have one in a warband though - combat servitors and arco-flagellants lack personality and cannot speak and are regularly seen in a warband. Hybrids and/or brood brothers should probably make up the bulk of a warband, but a purestrain could be in there if the circumstances warranted it.
Quote from: Kaled on February 28, 2012, 06:37:48 PM
In itself that's not a reason not to have one in a warband though - combat servitors and arco-flagellants lack personality and cannot speak and are regularly seen in a warband. Hybrids and/or brood brothers should probably make up the bulk of a warband, but a purestrain could be in there if the circumstances warranted it.
However, a purestrain is immensely powerful, and several would really be over the top. One purestrain can already do a lot of damage. The original post suggests that his friend simply wants to use a group of genestealers. To be honest, I think that that would be too much for almost any warband. There of course is nothing wrong with a few hybrids/brood brothers accompanied by a single purestrain. It would just be a warband containing one exceptionally powerful model.
Having read through the rules, he's going to be limited to 1, there's still several other players on the table though, so hopefully he won't be too overpowered for everyone else, saying that, if he is, then that's part of the learning curve and I'll know for next time,
Cheers guys