Greetings all!
I'm hoping to use this thread to display all the members of my warband, starting with my "main character" Lady Camera Des Athena.
Lady Camera Des Athena was raised into an exceptionally rich, exceptionally devout family on the planet of Puntar V. Puntar V is a world heavily influenced by the Ecclesiarchy, and the majority of the world works constructing huge cathedrals in his favour, or in industries that contribute towards the Church of Man. The richest families compete in providing loyal sons and daughters into either the Ecclesiarchy itself, or into the Schola Progenium. The deeds of their children provide the families with glory; a valuable currency in the shifting politics of Puntar V.
Camera Des Athena was proposed to join the Schola Progenium, as a young child she had displayed great intelligence and martial ability that would not have been suited for the church. She was not accepted. The judges who examined her claimed she was ego-centric, materialistic and totally unsuitable for service to the emperor. They recommended either living out her life among nobility, or providing herself to the Ecclesiarchy. Camera chose the first. For a decade, she lived out her life among the nobles and upper classes of Puntar V. She kept keen her skills, practising for the day when the Emperor would provide her with her holy duties.
Her chance came when Inquisitor Lord Iijah Michallus visited the planet. Being Puntar born himself, Michallus often visited the planet, knowing it to be a good source of pure and devout recruits. He was not looking for a lady to join his entourage. More often, he preferred recruiting young men from the noble families who would be eager to prove themselves. He was not looking for a pampered, egotistic lady with little transferable skills to join him. However, the politics of Puntar V are not that simple. Realising that this may be her only chance to escape the planet and fulfil her service to the emperor, Camera drew upon an old blood debt, claiming that not to fulfil the ancient oath was to bring dishonour upon both the Inquisition and the Emperor.
Faced with this accusation, the aging Inquisitor could do nothing but laugh. He had more than lived his life and was looking for an agent to carry out his day to day business. He made an agreement with Camera. If she could pass a series of trials, he would take her on as his apprentice. He did not expect her to succeed, but knew that if he made the offer, his honour was not tarnished.
The trials were many and varied. They included the Ordeal of the Blade, where Camera had to hold a sharp, heavy blade above her head whilst the Inquisitors agents listed charges against her. Michallus provided the term that if she could live out for 2 hours every day, he would consider her pure. This she did. Dozens of other trials Camera passed with flying colours, and several she only just scrapped through. Even those trials based on combat and warfare, Camera's passion and faith saw her through. In the end, Michallus resorted to a trial he knew she could not pass. The Trial by Holy Seal, where a hot wax seal is pressed against the hand of the accused, and any sort of burn or blemish implies impurity, is one often failed and often used as a carte blanche to persecute innocents as Heretics. By this point, Michallus was desperate for Camera to fail, he presumed that this most fickle of trials would be her undoing. He was wrong. When the wax seal was pressed to her hand, she felt no pain. There was no scar, no burn. All that was present was faith and purity.
Michallus could not go back on his word, and adopted Camera as his apprentice. It was his belief, especially after the final trial, that the Emperor wanted her to be with him on his journey, and he would not fail in his service to the Emperor.
Since then, Camera has excelled. She has accompanied her master on a dozen in depth investigations, and often represents him in smaller matters. However, her old lifestyle of extravagance has never left her. She still wears the old dresses and wields the elaborate knives she was gifted as a teen. Michallus lets her have these luxuries, seeing as she provides him with a valuable service, and he is wise enough to know when not to argue with a woman.
However, now has come a time when Michallus is not the man he once was. There are rumours around his staff that he has seen and heard too much; that voices plague him in his sleep and shadows haunt his every step. He shakes when under pressure, and stutters in the face of his superiors. There are rumours that perhaps the time has come for Camera to adopt the mantle of Inquisitor, and for Michallus to retire into the shadows.
WS BS S T I WP SG NV LD
54 57 56 52 73 79 76 64 71
Special Abilities: Word of the Emperor, Blademaster.
Equipment: Two Knives, Padded Clothing on arms, legs, groin, chest and abdomen (Av2), Automatic Combat Shotgun with two loads of Sanctified Inferno rounds, Rosarius, Hexagrammic Wards.
Thanks for reading, let me know what you think!
Cheers!
She seems interesting. I have a few questions though.
1) Where did she get the rosiarius and the quite expensive sanctified inferno rounds?
2) If she was such an egoist, why did she wish to serve the emperor that much. If it was her ambition to serve the Emperor the church would probably have accepter her.
3) What kind of role does she serve, does she have great investigative talents?
Hey Dolnikan, thanks for the reply :)
I'll try to answer your questions best I can, but I'll welcome any input from the community.
1) I saw these holy items being gifts to her from the Ecclesiarchy. What with the level of influence the church has on Puntar V I don't think it would be too uncommon to give out some goods in exchange for a favour at a later date. Could make for an interesting campaign at one point actually, when the Ecclesiarchy calls her back on that debt...
2) I think the desire to serve the emperor comes from a cultural thing. She wants to serve the Emperor because that's what everyone else does, it's the in thing. If you're from a noble family and you don't do something to serve the Emperor, you're shunned and seen as rather silly. So the church or Schola Progenium would have seen this as wanting to serve the Emperor merely because that's what she thought she should do, when in fact it would be totally unsuited for her. I hope that makes sense :P
3) She basically serves as the voice of Inquisitor Lord Michallus. Due to his age and afflictions, he doesn't want to be running around all over the place meeting people and intimidating folks and such. I have the image of the Inquisitor Lord sitting in his ship / command center / living room and just giving her orders, which she follows in her way. She's certainly had some training at investigating and the business of an Inquisitor, but still has alot to learn, especially in regards to the politics and differing ideologies.
Thanks for replying, and I hope that makes sense.
:)
Hummmm... he seems more of a "Back Seat driver" sort of gal to me. A person who lets/makes others do all the work (girl after my own heart :P) So why have her with Blademaster and a shot gun? Needle Pistol or Neddle Rifle seems best and perhaps a ornate saber od some aort if she HAD to get up close. Her stats also seem to comfrim this.
There's just one thing that keeps niggling me when I read this. It's that as far as I know, the Schola Progenum are exclusively for orphaned children so the references to them don't seem to make much sense.
It could just be that I've misremembered/not read parts of the canon on them though.
Dwi, That was the kinda impression I was going for. She doesn't really wanna do the work and get dirty, but knows that's her lot and she has to do it. She does have a personal assistant in the form of a servitor who basically follows her around and pampers her :P To me though, Needle weapons scream assassin, and I wanted her to have a heavy Ecclesiarchy feel.
Seiterarch, Normally you would be correct. However its known for Imperial Nobles to voluntarily orphan their children so that they can attend the Schola Progenium. I see this as a long standing agreement between the Nobles on Puntar V and the Schola :)
Thanks for your comments, they really help me think through the character :)
The knives could easily be explained by fighting with a pair of knives being the traditional method of fighting by the upper classes of that planet.
I plan on writing up a full report style thing on the planet sometime soon, so I'll post that up when it's done.
In terms of stats, do you think it's okay? I was worried it was a little low, considering she's going to be my main PC for most of the games I take part in.
Stats being too high or low mostly depends on what you will be facing, the only thing that could be trouble is the shotgun, her ammunition has two special types at once, that is a lot of power against specific opponents. I look forwards to the report of the planet, those are always interesting.
Quote from: Dolnikan on March 19, 2012, 05:53:59 PM
Stats being too high or low mostly depends on what you will be facing
I disagree, her stats would only be too high or low if they over or under represent her abilities - nothing to do with who she's facing.
I don't think it's a problem if she's your main PC and is weaker than other people's main characters. Some characters are just stronger/smarter/faster/whatever than others. And she can always take slightly tougher henchmen to compensate. Honestly, I wouldn't worry if her stats seem low until you've used her and her warband in a few games. Once you've had chance to see how she performs then you can adjust her stats if necessary.
It is important. Different groups have different ideas of how high a stat must be to represent a given level of skill. When everyone in a group gives at least BS50 to someone, even if they are at best an average shooter, a good marksman needs a higher BS than in a group where 30 represents the average character.
That has nothing to do with who she's facing, that's a question of making sure that everyone in the group has roughly the same idea of what the stats represent. I guess that's what you meant in the first place, but the way you expressed it wasn't at all clear. I originally thought you meant her stats should be higher if the opponents characters happened to be more powerful.
I am sorry for being unclear, english is my third language and I often find it hard to properly express myself.
Quote from: MEHughes on March 19, 2012, 03:39:42 PM
Dwi, That was the kinda impression I was going for. She doesn't really wanna do the work and get dirty, but knows that's her lot and she has to do it. She does have a personal assistant in the form of a servitor who basically follows her around and pampers her :P To me though, Needle weapons scream assassin, and I wanted her to have a heavy Ecclesiarchy feel.
A dueling Pistol or ornate, gold inlayed hunting rifle then, I don't know! Just not a factory line shot gun thats a dirty commoners weapon!
If you are stuck on it however her haps a old timey side-by-side would be best? you would have to make it fancy dancy of course.
Why not an old las weapon? A duelling laspistol perhaps? It doesn't make sense that antique weapons in 40k should always be projectile weapons.
Kaled makes a good point. There are shuch things as Archeotech Laspistols (Link: http://wh40k.lexicanum.com/wiki/Archeotech_Laspistol) but I don't think that a mear agent would have one of those! Though perhaps she is a colector of old weapons or maybe said lass weapon is passed down, or is a gift from Michallus.
There are other old las weapons, it needn't be quite so ancient or more powerful than usual - it could just be ornate or modified in some relatively minor way.
I'm considering maybe converting the model to have a laspistol and a bionic arm with a sword. Unsure at the moment though, I'm somehow attached to the shotgun. I'll have a play around tonight and see how it looks. The bionics could be fun to look at rules wise; they could be really ornate but pretty much useless in combat. Should the laspistol use it's own rules? Or is there a set of rules somewhere that you feel would accurately reflect an antique duelling laspistol ?
An antique duelling laspistol could work jus like a regular laspistol. There is no reason why it absolutely has to be more accurate or have a smaller capacity or the like. It could once have been more accurate but a few centuries of being used could easily have reduced the accuracy to normal levels.
I'm playing around with the idea of making her a psyker now. I have some cool staffs and such that are just dying to be converted. I'm just not really sure how to fit it into the fluff, and then what discipline she should focus on.
Keeping in mind her affluent background and egotism, anyone got any ideas?
Pryomancer might be interesting. Bloody hell if I could throw fire balls I would feel pretty high and mighty too!
That's what I was thinking too, maybe she gets obsessed with her power, starts believing the Emperor is working through her and therefore she believes she's the most important thing going.
Pyro would work nice, the only thing is their powers are quite aggressive, maybe not suited for a sit back and enjoy lady. This is my conundrum.
Well, if she is a psyker she would need to have been sanctioned and trained, making the rest of the background hard to maintain, especially the church ties. If she were a psyker they would never accept her.
Just an idea and a tenuous one; but could she have been rejected from the Schola Progenium, then sent to Schola Psykana, but before she got there was somehow abducted by Michallus. He could still be repaying an old debt; it would probably be seen as negative on Puntar V to be a psyker so he could be saving her family from some dishonour. Thoughts?
That seems a bit far-fetched. when she was discovered it seems much more likely that her family would break all ties, the dishonour is already there after all.
I agree, I'm going to a complete overhaul of her fluff tonight, expect a post later on with new fluff and rules. Suffice to say, not much of it is the same :P Thanks for all your support folks :)
Well, as promised, here is the new fluff and rules. I did a total conversion of the model, and this moves the character from a weird acolyte sort of role to a definite support character. Please leave criticisms and such :)
Lady Camera Delopheles. For years, she attended to the most noble families, bachelors and highest bidders as both handmaiden as guiding figure. Camera was born in the underhives of Meyis III, an industrial planet renowned for its poor living conditions and toxic atmosphere. Here, miserable millions shuffle through their daily grind, motivated only by their devotion to the God Emperor. The church formed a large part of life on Meyis III, with work gangs often praying, eating and working together. Camera started as the only daughter of a factory overseer, higher in the society hierarchy than others but by no means well off. As a young girl, her and her friends in the hive played with tarot cards as entertainment, as a way of passing the time in the gritty streets. It was here that Camera first discovered her talent; divining the future through the Emperor's Tarot.
For many years, her skill went unnoticed; providing entertainment to her friends and earning small money, but not often. Eventually however, word spread, and one of the richest factory owners demanded to see the young girl who could see into the Warp. He demanded that she tell him his future, and then that he would guarantee security and wellbeing for her and her family for as long as they may live. One does not simply turn down such an offer, and Camera accepted. However, the factory owner did not like what he saw. The cards told of ill fortune, of the emperor's wrath and significant change.
The factory owner had her ripped from her family, and sent to work in some dark corner of the hive at some menial task. Even here, they had heard of Camera Delopheles. They believed that the Emperor spoke through her, and near worshipped the teenager.
Things continued in this light for near two decades; Camera practised her tarot in secret and was worked through harsh conditions in the factories. Her only stroke of luck came when a Navy Fleet, travelling through the warp, stopped off at the shipyards above Meyis III to resupply. During their time there, the Admiral Lukas Goodwill heard rumours of the young girl who could see into the future. He pulled strings and demanded to meet Camera, who by now was a young lady, and had a significant cult following on the planet. Admiral Goodwill saw great potential in the young lady, and asked her if she would like to accompany him on his great voyage across the stars. Camera accepted, ever knowledgeable of the path she would take. It is not known what happened between Camera and Lukas, as she refuses to talk about it and he is long dead. Suffice to say, at some point Lukas declared he no longer had an interest in the young woman, and had her sent to the Schola Psykana to be tested for witchcraft.
Of course Camera possessed psychic talents; none of the headmasters at the Schola disagreed with that. However, the question was how she might best be used. Divination is not an art useful in the imperial guard, as it is not specific enough for military operations. Nor is it generally accepted within the other branches of imperial governance. It would seem that the only option for Camera Delopheles was to join the Inquisition. Her studies at the Schola had taken her 4 years. She waited another 5 before an Inquisitor expressed interest in taking her on as an assistant.
The Inquisitor was by no means reliable or proven. He was a young man who had only recently acquired his own Inquisitorial Rosette, and was looking to gather a retinue of assistants and guards before setting off into his service. Camera swiftly agreed, and joined the young Inquisitor Therramus Rusworth. Their relationship started as exceptionally professional, both driven by duty and ambition. However, in recent investigations, the two seem to be getting exceptionally close. One might suggest this is simply the bond between a master and devoted servant. Others would suggest there is more than meets the eye.
WS BS S T I WP SG NV LD
31 37 39 43 66 76 73 51 46
Special Abilities: Warpsight.
Psychic Powers: Psycholocation, Time Ward, Gaze of Death.
Equipment: Heavy Dress on all locations (AV2) Two throwing knives, Psychic Foci, Advanced Aesthetically Pleasing Bionic Left Arm ( No S Bonus, incorporates two digital inferno weapons) Laspistol.
Thanks for reading :)
I'm a little too busy to do a full and proper critique at this point, but I will say that two digi-meltas is pushing it more than a little bit.
Looking back through the rules, I agree.
I was trying to find some sort of addition to the Bionic arm, she already has a laspistol so I didn't want them to be digi-las, so yeah. Any suggestions are of course welcome :)
Perhaps a single digi-flamer? That should be more than enough if you want a digi weapon.
It seems slightly odd that she had not been arrested before, either by the church, seeing her as a witch or by the government trying to fill its quotum of psykers. An admiral certainly would not take along someone like her, it is far too dangerous to have a wild psyker on board after all.
Quote from: MEHughes on March 26, 2012, 04:45:38 PM
For many years, her skill went unnoticed; providing entertainment to her friends and earning small money, but not often.
Given the intolerance of witches and the fact that many in the under hive would gladly turn her in for the reward, this part of her story seems pretty unlikely. If she was so famous it seems unlikely the authorities wouldn't have taken her in. And I'm not sure why the factory owner exiled her rather than just killing her.
QuoteDuring their time there, the Admiral Lukas Goodwill heard rumours of the young girl who could see into the future. ... at some point Lukas declared he no longer had an interest in the young woman, and had her sent to the Schola Psykana to be tested for witchcraft.
I'd have thought that someone who had reached the rank of Admiral would know better than to bring a dangerous rogue psyker aboard a starship. As far as I can see her time withe the Admiral is unimportant to her story so why not just have her tracked down and captured by agents of a Blackship.
QuoteOf course Camera possessed psychic talents; none of the headmasters at the Schola disagreed with that. However, the question was how she might best be used. Divination is not an art useful in the imperial guard, as it is not specific enough for military operations. Nor is it generally accepted within the other branches of imperial governance
I'd have thought she could be put to work in the Administratum advising on future tithe trends, or in the Arbites attempting to predict uprisings, or in the Guard attempting to predict enemy invasion plans. I can imagine that there are many within the Imperium who would seek to employ someone who could predict the future. Or she could be taken on by one of the Ordos, or a cell or regional Conclave who might want to utilise her powers. It seems unlikely that being taken on by an individual Inquisitor would be her only way out of the Scholastia Psykana (note the spelling).
QuotePsychic Powers: Psycholocation, Time Ward, Gaze of Death.
Her abilities here don't really tally with the story of her not being useful to another part of the Imperium. If she can track a quarry she should have been of use to the Arbites, and with the ability to foretell the course of a battle and kill with a glance she could have been a battle psyker.
QuoteHeavy Dress on all locations (AV2)
I find the amount of people in the Imperium whose clothing is sufficient to count as AV2 a little unlikely (but it's something I've probably been guilty of in the past). I'd suggest AV1 to most locations probably makes more sense with maybe chest and abdomen reinforced in some way to provide some measure of protection seeing as by working for the Inquisition she is likely to see combat.
EDIT: Thinkng about it, why not rewrite her story so she's born in the underhive and starts to develop powers before being bought by a factory owner who thinks he can use her powers to help his rise beyond his station. He doesn't like what he hears so turns her into the Blackships who then find out about him trafficking psykers which leads to his downfall - and so her prophesy becomes true. She is sent to the Scholastia Psykana and is trained to use her powers to determine the course of a battle and kill with a glance. She seems destined to give her life fighting on the battlefield, but instead is saved from that fate by the Inquisitor who plans for her to help him in his own fight against the enemies of the Imperium.
Hope that's useful.
- Dave
Kaled, fancy writing the background for all my characters? :P Great idea, I'm going to flesh it out over the next few days.
My thought was that basically if you have money and influence in the Imperium you can do almost anything. But yeah, I can agree with all the comments given :)
I think I will change it to a single digi flamer :)
Glad the idea is useful - I look forwards to seeing what you make of it.
Quote from: MEHughes on March 26, 2012, 08:01:41 PM
My thought was that basically if you have money and influence in the Imperium you can do almost anything
I'm not sure which that bit was in response to but while it is true to a certain extent there are limits...
It just depends on how much wealth and influence one has, for instance, the patriarch of one of the great navigator houses can do almost everything, but that is many levels of wealth and influence above even the governor of the most powerful worlds.
Hello again,
Thanks to all for their help with this character; the community here is so helpful, and your knowledge has certainly improved her background.
So here we go :P
Lady Camera Delopheles.
The well renowned Lady Camera Delopheles was not always of such high status. She was born on the filth hive world of Puntar V, into the vile underhives no less, where crime, heresy and mutation were common place. The vast majority of those who lived in the underhives worked for one of the big 14 planetwide corporations, primarily as labourers in huge munitions factories.
Her psychic talents first started to develop at the age of seven. Here, she was bought her first set of Imperial Tarot cards, and along with some friends, started playing games with them in the dark back alleys of the underhive. It soon became apparent to the young lady that she was not normal by any sense of the word; things which she predicted through the cards came true soon after.
It did not take long for the local factory owner to notice the young girl's talents, and took him even less time to decide to use the girl for his own gains. He uses the girl to successfully predict market fluctuations and outwit his opponents. Until the girl was 19, this was her life. She had little reward for her service; living in conditions barely better than the labourers. Then, during a standard prediction which took place every month, something went wrong. The cards presented a future less than appealing; cards featured including Judgement, the Emperor's Wrath and the Traitor's Gibbet. The factory owner was not pleased by this prediction, or by the girl's growing egotism and defiance. In a fit of rage, he turned her over to the Blackships.
Ironically, this decision turned out to be his downfall. Aboard the Blackship was an Ordo Hereticus Inquisitor who had been tracking a sector wide Psyker Smuggling Ring. The Inquisitor had reason to believe that the factory owner was part of a long chain of Psyker farms and holding facilities which must be broken. He was correct, and the factory owner was duly executed. And so, the Emperor's Wrath befell Puntar V.
Camera was judged whilst among the Blackship, and she was deemed strong enough to attend the Scholastia Psykana. Here she trained for seven years, learning how to determine the course of a battle and how to kill with a mere glance. When she completed her training, it seemed certain she was destined for a life of warfare, of constant battle against the enemies of mankind.
However, this was not to be the case. Her leaving of the Scholastia was delayed, first by days, then by months. She then discovered this was due to the fact she had been requisitioned by an Inquisitor, who had to travel from the Eastern Fringe to collect her. Inquisitor Djon Reprex was a well known man of great intelligence, duty and honour. He had served in the Arbites before becoming an Inquisitor, and Camera was looking forward to working with him. When he arrived, Camera was surprised. She had expecting an aging man, with perhaps a glorious entourage of warriors and sages. What she was met with was a middle aged, willow thin man who had arrived on a small freight ship passing through the system. It was then that Lady Camera Delopheles knew that this was not going to be the career she had expected.
WS BS S T I WP SG NV LD
31 37 39 43 66 76 73 51 46
Special Abilities: Warpsight.
Psychic Powers: Psycholocation, Time Ward, Gaze of Death.
Equipment: Heavy Dress on all locations (AV1) Reinforced on Chest and Abdomen (AV2) Two throwing knives, Psychic Foci, Advanced Aesthetically Pleasing Bionic Left Arm ( No S Bonus, incorporates a single digital inferno weapon) Laspistol.
Thanks for reading :) Again, any criticism and advice is welcome. I'm hoping to also present another character soon, but we'll see how this one is recieved first :)
She's much better now. I just wonder how she got renowned, her inquisitor seems like someone who likes to work in the background and such a person certainly would not like one of his servants to get famous. Otherwise she is very interesting.
Yeah I might take that out haha, I realised afterwards that it made no sense.
The Inquisitor will be the next character :)
I agree - it looks good to me. Dolnikan has a good point, how did she become well renowned? And in what way is she renowned? And is she known across a whole sector? Or just a single world?
I forget, did you say what model you plan to use for her?
I may have done :P
But yeah, my group play INQ28. So the model is based on the Vampire Countess with the hair and headpiece thing removed, the Cadian Commander Bionic Arm with a transplanted laspistol from some anonymous sergeant, and I believe the other arm is from another cadian of some description, although I can't for the life of me remember where. It's all in all a fairly conservative posture that I think quite suits the character. I'll try to post up a photo if I can get hold of a good camera over the weekend :)
Good day everyone!
I have here the notes version of my Inquisitor. I have yet to fully fluff it out, but it should be enough for you guys to take a look at the rules in their context. Cheers!
Inquisitor Djon Reprex.
Birth on Garden World, into Noble Family. It soon became apparent at a young age that all was not normal. Psychic torture of small animals. Then servants of the family. Eventually, he was tested and discovered to have traces of psychic powers. Sent to Schola Psykania.
Exceptionally talented telepath, skilled at ripping apart mental defences and causing pain. Naturally suited for a career in the Adeptus Arbites as a psychic interrogator. Instructors worried about clearly sadistic tendencies, and as such issued a warning alongside his deployment, but the Arbites care not for such trivial matters, only that he was willing to serve the Emperor.
For several decades, served in the Arbites, moved from world to world and sector to sector as his powers were needed. In this time, he was instrumental in the removal of a genestealer cult; ripping the location of the patriarch from his prisoner's mind. He also found the name of a notorious mutant freedom fighter that proved instrumental in preventing a full scale rebellion. Perhaps most importantly, engaged in psychic duel with Chaos Magus and won.
His talents quickly bought him to the attention of the Inquisition. He was offered the chance to work for famous monodominant Izak Godwin, and agreed. He took great pleasure in ripping information from his victim's minds. On occasion, even Godwin was shocked by the pleasure he took in his abilities.
After nearly 20 years of serving the Inquisitor, Godwin started training him as his successor. This seemed to be the logical choice to make; Djon was enthusiastic, young and yet well trained. His natural skills would serve him well in the Inquisition. Djon trained for roughly 7 years, and then was awarded with his own Inquisitorial Rosette.
During this time, Djon learned how to use his talents in a more subtle light. Instead of ripping apart his victims, he started to examine them, he became obsessed with the effect that conflict had on the human mind. He already had some theories when he worked with the Arbites, but now with his new found powers he could investigate this in greater detail. Using his influence, he spent several years with the Cadian XXII regiment, fighting alongside the Guardsmen against the Orks. He also studied, without the guardsmen's consent, the effect of conflict on the men. He reached the conclusion that not only did constant conflict strengthen the mind's mental defences; it also improved the strength of the soul.
Djon searched through piles of ancient texts, seeking to find words of ancient philosophers that would confirm his beliefs. He learned of Istavaanism, of the struggle of brave men to reforge humanity into a force truly omnipotent. Djon wrote a long manuscript, entitled The Search for the Emperor's Strength. In his manuscript, he detailed his theory that by improving the strength of human souls through conflict, the Emperor's strength would be restored so that one day he might walk again among Mankind.
Knowing this to be the truth, Djon set off among the stars, earning passage from world to world on small freight craft, merchants, traders and the like. He was looking for company, for a band of trustworthy men and women who might understand and one day believe his philosophy. It was then that he heard of Lady Camera Delopheles, a potent psyker who could peer into the future. She had been commissioned to fight on the front lines among Guardsmen, but Djon intervened. He wanted a young, potent psychic mind among his retinue, and this young lady would do him great justice.
WS BS S T I WP SG NV LD
61 64 57 54 62 88 71 72 71
Special Abilities: Psyker.
Psychic Abilities: Punish Mind, Terrify, Mind Scan.
Equipment: Reinforced Carapace Armour on Chest and Abdomen (AV6), Fibermesh suit elsewhere (AV2) Conversion Shield Generator, Bolt Pistol with two reloads, knife.
Comments and Criticism welcome, thanks for reading :)
Training would take a bit longer I guess, but that depends on previous experience etcetera. I like how he came to istvaanianism, taking the first steps before knowing of the philosophy and then finding traces of beliefs that match his own, very fitting for the universe.
I didn't think it was that bad considering some people propose characters that are in their 20s and 30s. My Inquisitor is roughly in his 80s. Of course, that's younger when you apply all the surgery and such. I think this character is alot more tight in my head, in terms of his story and such, and I think that reflects in the notes :)
I think I made a small error there, I somehow got into my head that he had only served for seven years, stupid, stupid me. He certainly has the proper age, having enough experience to be an inquisitor, there also would have already been plenty of training before it formally started, or at the very least he would have learned many of the relevant skills.
My third and final character ( for now! )
Beast-Gladiator Aston Rumkin.
Birth on Cadia. Grew up trained in military procedure and passed out into the Cadian XXII regiment. Fought on numerous battlefields, first as a Guardsman, then a Sergeant, then a Platoon Leader. Until age 22. Also fought alongside Inquisitor Djon Reprex.
Nearly died in the failed defence of the Charchan system. He was passed out on a battle field when he was captured by the Orks. Like most prisoners, he was put into a primal munitions factory powering the Ork war machine. He led a revolution that nearly succeeded. Instead of just killing him, Ork Warboss was cunning and sold him to a gang of slavers passing through the system. The slavers knew they could get a high price for the warrior by selling him to the gladiator pits on a nearby hive world.
So Rumkin was sold, given a spear and taught to fight in the gladiator pits. He fought against all sorts of foul men and creatures, making a name for himself among the shadows of the underhive. Rumkin was beginning to lose faith in the hope he might be rescued, and as such focused himself on his bloody art. He became a master with the spear, and soon his name travelled into the stars. He was known simply as the Steel Spear, due to the heavy armour plates on his shoulders and the spear which had tasted a thousand shades of blood.
Inquisitor Djon Reprex was travelling on his way to pick up Lady Camera from the Schola Psykana, when he heard tales of the Steel Spear; This man, if he existed and his prowess was what he heard, would be good evidence of Djon's Istaavanian theories. Djon arrived in the gladiator pit, and the owner agreed that Djon could have the warrior, providing he could beat the Steel Spear in bloody combat.
He was not aware of two things; Inquisitor Reprex and Rumkin had fought alongside each other against the orks, nor was he aware that Djon was an Inquisitor at all. So when Reprex clambered into the ring, declared his title and announced Rumkin was now at the service of the Emperor. Rumkin had no problem with this; in fact he was ecstatic that, in his eyes, the Emperor had called him back to his arms. The pit owner was not so keen, and opposed Djon with every resource at his disposal. There were no survivors, save Djon and Rumkin.
Rumkin now serves Djon, both as personal bodyguard and loyal soldier. Unbeknown to Rumkin, he is a fascinating study for his current master; evidence that conflict breeds stronger humans souls.
WS BS S T I WP SG NV LD
81 63 67 62 63 58 41 61 41
Special Abilities: Strength Boost, Big Game Hunter.
Equipment: Heavy Plate Armour over Carapace (AV7 on Chest, AV6 elsewhere), Spear, Autopistol with reload, Mars Pattern Lasgun with Laser Sight.
A nice character, there however are a few points which strike me as odd.
1) Why would the owner gamble away his best fighter that easily without standing to gain a lot, after all, the steel spear would have been a major profit-maker for him.
2) Why the plate over carapace armour? Just the plate armour would be quite heavy already.
3) His background makes him seem like a natural leader, with the rising to command a platoon and leading a revolt in an ork-held factory. That does not seem like a simple warrior to me but more like a leader-type character. His leadership is very low for someone who has done such things.
It's been a long time since he lead anyone, Dolkinian, and his time in the pits would have him focused solely on self-preservation, which is not the preserve of a good leader.
To address the plate over carapace weight issue, how about AV7 plate on his torso , AV5 plates on his arms, and AV4 chain mesh on his legs to keep the vital parts of his body safe in the arena while not unduly hampering him; I imagine that agility plays a large part of staying alive, and being slowed by heavy armour would not be the most attractive prospect to one who might need to dodge a lot. I would also suggest armoured gauntlets, so that if someone steps inside the reach of his spear, he can still deal significant damage to them (which is preferable in the pits). Relating to his pit fighting, would he have been given a ranged weapon, or would his reputation with a spear mean that he was given nothing else, and that all pit fights are hand-to hand affairs? I assume by his title and the big game hunter rule that he fought large animals, but no-where in his fluff does it state exactly what he fought.
How does he get his strength boost? I would say that bar brawler would be an appropriate skill for him, especially as it would represent him dodging away from anyone trying to close with him so that he can employ his spear to maximum effect.
The whole plate over carapace thing is my bad; I didn't word it quite correctly. The model has these two giant steel plates over his shoulders and that was the closest term I could think to describe it. Full Plate Armour over Carapace would be rather amusing.
Whilst in the pits, he would have fought with his spear alone, although I was considering making rules so that it can be thrown like a javelin. Whilst in the pits, he fought other gladiators, giant mutanty things, rancors, ect. The kind of things you would expect, hence the Big Game Hunter.
Draco Ferox hit it on the head with the leadership issue. Spending a decade or two fighting for your life against everything and anything is sure to make you rethink your approach to things. I actually pictured the guy as having little social skills whatsoever, the only thing being programmed in his mind to kill.
Not sure about the gambling note, I understand the point but I can't suggest an alternative. Maybe some sort of deal where if Reprex lost in a fight to Rumkin, he would become a gladiator too? And if he won, Rumkin would become free? That makes a little more sense, I think :)
Thank you for the feedback :)
Or perhaps the inquisitor gambled a lot of money with it, the owner wins him and the pile of money, or he loses his slave.
Sorry for the threadomancy, but I am in need of some sage council.
Rumkin has developed incredibly over the past few games I played with him. In brief, he has become corrupted and obsessed with the concept of making himself into an Apex Predator ( top of the food chain) I was wondering what rules could be used to reflect this obsession? Or any ideas people had in general?
Cheers!
Some sort of vampirism-style system whereby he tries to feast on others when they are unconcious (or not) would seem to work
DEpending on how it goes with him, perhaps even having to take willpower tests to avoid first taking a bite before continuing.
I'm not sure, simply feeding on anyone he kills feels a bit indiscriminate. It's the action of a predator, but not so much of an apex predator in particular.
Personally, I'd be more inclined to think in terms of trying to prove himself stronger than any of his opponents, so particularly aggressive towards physically intimidating opponents, and in particular any character which inflicts a serious wound on him. He might also become very particular that his 'weaker' allies show him proper deference, to the point that aiding him in a fight would be seen as a challenge to his status. Generally, I've found that such excessive character traits are a lot easier to Roleplay than to write special rules for-simply take them into account when thinking about his actions, and have him act accordingly.
Any character with a higher S or T he defeats, he follows the rules for Cannibal Hunger? (in the Kroot article, i believe, should be in the Skoll Archive). Also, he might arm himself in a predatory style, though what that means is very much up to you.