Greetings,
This is my first post here on the Conclave, though I have been around for a while and have been interested in Inquisitor since it was released.
I have recently been attempting to come up with some background for the first real inquisitor team that I have ever made. This is planned, and rather large team, will consist of:
- An Inquisitorial acolyte (an Agitator)
A Sanctioned Psyker
A cursed (as far as he's concerned) Tech-priest
A disgraced Imperial Guardsman
A Rogue trader who has dealings with the Eldar
A "bloodhound" like mutant
A corrupt Imperial enforcer
My main problem being that I am having trouble expanding these characters beyond some rather vague but otherwise very interesting concepts.
The concept I have for the team as a whole, is that they have all done something that has led to a lapse in faith and now seek to make amends and are being led by the acolyte who is using there insane zeal and desire for penance for his (or rather his masters) nefarious purposes.
As for the characters individually, their backgrounds I'm not set on for the most part other than just a few lines (I mean that literally).
First off, if your wondering why I went for an Agitator and not some other form of acolyte, it was because I felt it offered the freedom for the character to make his own decisions but still left room for a shadowy master figure, which I thought was rather cool but feel free to suggest a better alternative. As I have nearly finished the model for this character, I saw him as a thinker not a fighter, as well as someone who was exceptionally skilled at getting others to do what he wants, rather than doing it himself, hence the model was only very lightly armed and armoured. Originally I had written a very short piece of background about how he was the son of a deceased noble and how he had spent time at a schola progenium but have since gotten rid of it as I did not see it as fitting.
The Sanctioned Psyker was originally going to be a penitent wych, until I read "The Sanctioning Brand" and I did not really like the concept. so no new ideas as regards this one but I do have a model for them. However, silly question I'm sure , but do Sanctioned Psykers carry staffs as badges of office or some such? As all pictures I can find of them have them with staffs and the model I made (due to lack of model making skills) has no staff. Pretty sure they can be armed with anything but thought I would ask here as I'm no expert on background.
The Tech-priest background was inspired by a Dark Heresy resource, essentially his body has partly rejected his cybernetic implants and as a result they function rather poorly. Hence he believes he is cursed.
As for what I mean by "bloodhound" mutant, in case nobody guessed, was a mutant with a super sense of smell. I figured it would make a refreshing change from the super strong close combat mutants out there. My main query with this one is the model though, as I had originally thought of giving him a canine like snout. However whilst I liked the bestial feel that would give him I just felt that was a bit too weird for a mutant that I didn't want to be chaos influenced. Any ideas as to a better model would be appreciated.
As for the rest of them I have yet to write any background, mostly because I can't fathom a scenario in which these guys would not be shot, burned at the stake or otherwise killed.
I will post up stats later as I really need to get some sleep. I apologise profusely for the rather blog like post but any help would be appreciated.
Okay, the concept is good. Just a couple of things though.
As to the psyker, to my knowledge the only thing mandatory for a sanctioned psyker to carry is a Psykana Mercy Blade, but a force staff is just something that is engrained in pop culture when it comes to wizards or in 40k psykers... But l may be wrong, in which case one of the more knowledgeable members will set us straight.
With the disgraced guardsman, what did he do? If he deserted it would be a lot easier to explain if he was a member of the PDF instead. On the other hand there is nothing dropping you from having a guard deserter, they are just less plentiful than PDF deserters.
For your idea to work does the enforcer have to be corrupt?
That is all I can really comment on atm as we need more background to critique first...
Just my 2c =D
Eziah Kranox
If I were you, I wouldn't necessarily worry about getting all of their background sorted at this stage - I'd suggest building the models, maybe play a game or two and add to their background as you go along. You've got a few ideas of who these characters are so you can use that to inform the model building process, and as you build the model you will likely get more of a feel for what type of person the character is. The same goes for playing your first games - they'll give you more of an idea of who the character is by the way you feel he should be played and that can stimulate ideas you may not have thought of before as to his background.
In other words, I'd look at the character creation process as an iterative one. Don't even try to complete it until the model is build and he's been used in a few games. That's not to say there's anything wrong with writing down your current ideas, but if you find yourself struggling building the models and playing games can give you a different perspective on your characters.
I don't see anything wrong with the ideas you've come up with so far so just keep exploring them and see where you end up.
Oh and...
Welcome to the Conclave
To Eziah Kranox: The guardsman may work better as a PDF deserter, though I do have some old background for a bounty hunter, that I never made into a model which with a bit of tweaking could easily become the background for this fellow.
The Enforcer does not have to be corrupt, just could not explain why they would be in a group with a rouge trader, mutant and such, since I figured the average Enforcer would view them with disdain (and may kill them on sight). Also I wasn't sure how much power an Inquisitor's acolyte would wield, since theoretically, a fully ordained Inquisitor in the same situation, could just say: "This is the Emperor's will. Do not question it!".
To Kaled: Whilst I would ideally like to play some games, to my knowledge there is no local club that plays Inquisitor. Whilst I have been trying to get friends interested the the game it would be nice to be able to play someone with a bit of experience. Also thanks for the welcome.
Quote from: Lacomus Laurentius on January 24, 2013, 07:26:50 PM
Whilst I would ideally like to play some games, to my knowledge there is no local club that plays Inquisitor
Where do you live? If you're in the UK we have events in Nottingham every few months and you'd be very welcome at one of those.
I do live in the UK. Somerset
Our next event is the IGT - you'd be welcome to join us at that or any of our other events. It is a tournament, but it's not especially competitive and people are always happy to help new players with their first games.
http://www.the-conclave.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=1974.0
WELCOME TO THE CONCLAVE!
With that out of the way, I'd like to say that I think your concepts, themes and ideas are brilliant. I love the combination of faith and shame as a driving force, the idea of a shadowy controlling mastermind, and the flawed characters.
It doesn't matter that you only have a nebulous set of concepts. Make the models, paint the models, and ruminate. Other ideas and thoughts will follow. As one character develops, so will others. Perhaps the mutant is essentially a slave-servant? Perhaps the Ad Mech Techpriest is suicidal?
They seem like very interesting concepts, I only have questions about one character, the Rogue Trader. They are immensely powerful people, and their warrant of trade alone is worth a vast fortune. I don't really see someone like that running around with someone like your leader, maybe a mere smuggler would fit better and it would be a bit more low-key.
I could turn him into a smuggler, however I have already built the model for this character out of the body of the Eldar ranger, Eisenhorn's arms and the head from the rogue trader model which I had lying around. Given these parts, I figured he would have to be someone higher than a smuggler.I always assumed smugglers would look similar to the Slick Devlan or Talon models. Another part of my rational for making him a rogue trader was that the model, whilst carrying no alien or powerful weapons, does have various pieces of Eldar armour and an Eldar talisman and various other bits and pieces. To my mind a smuggler simply would not be able to get hold of even this. Of course I may be underestimating smugglers in the Imperium.
It depends, a good smuggler could find such stuff. They are found in many kinds. Most smugglers of course are simple henchmen who don't make much, but others are very effective and can get very, very rich.
I'm not sure why selling cosmetics is a more likely excuse for xenotech than smuggling.
Mind you, it does seem that lots of people think makeup is apparently very lucrative and shady business in the Imperium. People keep writing rouge traders that are always extremely wealthy, of limited morals and possessed of powerful nemeses.
It's almost as if people keep mixing up the words rouge (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/rouge) and rogue (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/rogue).
~~~~~
Or to be more sensible, smugglers can prove to be pretty powerful people that fit a wide spectrum.
My own smuggler character is having a total retcon at the moment, but it's looking like he'll be what remains of an old trading dynasty (not, however, to be mistaken with Rogue Traders and their mandate to explore beyond the Imperium) after it started to develop genetic flaws. Not tentacles and things, but more mundane mutations like sterility and rejection of normal rejuvenat, resulting in an attempt to turn to more desperate methods (heretech and xenotech - not anything Chaos tainted. Yet.) of furthering his existence - which naturally meant falling in with, and doing some favours for, some of the shadier types in the Imperium.
While definitely a smuggler, he can still put all of the remaining wealth of his dying dynasty to use. Hence, a wealthy smuggler.
He does not, however, possess the power of a rogue trader.
It's perfectly plausible that a smuggler might get his hands on xenotech (mine certainly has. A lot of it is bolted to his ship) - it might even be what he was trading; maybe he's now working for the Inquisitor in lieu of the normal sentencing that would come with such a heresy (that's the excuse I'm using, anyway).
Very well, a smuggler I shall make him.
One thing I looked at was making a trader- rather than a smuggler. Someone who the inquisitor pays a fee to for the use ship for a team within a sub sector. Completely legit,To the point one of my characters sides as a grox rustler- so having a transport is quite important.
Quote from: Lacomus Laurentius on January 25, 2013, 10:28:31 PM
I do live in the UK. Somerset
there's Wargaming @ Radstock (http://wargamingatradstock.co.uk/) now that Triple Helix don't have a gaming hall :(
if you wanted a lift to the GT i could pro'lly make a detour :)
tue hall was dead quietoverdec... making a loss :-(
the 2 days they were open is another few hundred ebay.listings and this more moolah :-(
so W@R is my local games club... 17 people there sundays so maybe worth reintroducing inq :-D
A smuggler could also have a ship, an inquisitor might travel with a rogue trader, but a rogue trader also has many other responsibilities which will intervene with an inquisitor's work. A small smuggling ship would be a perfect way to get around, of course there would be some bribes involved, but those always are present.
Effectively, what we're talking about by 'smuggler' is private-enterprise free trader in the mould of the Firefly lot, then. Owning a small tramp freighter with warp drive means that you'd need - at minimum - a Pilot, a Navigator, a Mechanicus Adept or two, a few servitors, and probably some menial crew types too. So about 10 or 15 people on board.
So such a character is a perfect member of an Inqusitor's party.
Well, a warp-capable craft would need quite a lot more crew than that. Even the smallest are hundreds of meters long and require at the very least hundreds of crew. Many could be replaced with servitors, but there would still be quite a crew on board.
A Firefly type craft could exist as a systemship that moors itself to intersystem ships (bulk conveyors, pilgrim ships, Chartist vessels, Rogue Trader fleets, even the occasional Navy patrol if they're trusted) to get from one system to another, hitching a lift. This is basically how FTL works in Dune - you rent space for your sublight fleet from the Guild, and they transfer you, no questions asked, as long as you pay up and don't try and interfere with Guild shipping.
It's very, very rare for warp capable ships in the Imperium to come in at less than a kilometre and a couple of thousand crew (or, if you go by the larger numbers in the Rogue Trader RPG, tens of thousands of crew). The bridge crew alone is probably in the many tens of officers.
Something the size of a Firefly would almost certainly be limited to orbital shuttle work, or maybe travelling between planets in the same system. Warp capable ships can just about exist in that size, but those ships are the tiniest possible fraction of Imperial vessels - it's only very powerful Inquisitors who could possibly afford and have access to such spectacular displays of technology.
My own aforementioned smuggler - his ship is a little over three kilometres long. It has about about two and a half thousand crew, many dozens of which are the "more open minded" members of the Mechanicus who are necessary to look after a ship that is packed with a general mix of borderline heretical or outright illegal parts alongside what should probably be ancient relics (the engines and bridge in particular are astounding examples of near forgotten technology).
I do, however, choose to focus the attention on just a scarce few of these thousands of crew. At present, I can only actually recall having given names to the Smuggler, his bodyguard/official XO, the Navigator/functional XO, the Enginseer Prime, Master of Arms and Choir-Master.
I probably should go through Into the Storm and develop loose identities for all the various Ship Roles listed there - maybe at least brief details of some of their subordinates too.
Haven't Replied in a while, so lets see if I can catch up. Transport to gaming clubs and the like is no problem as I have my own. As for the discussion on spaceships, what class of spaceship would a smuggler generally have?
I have also started to get the bits together for the models that are not yet constructed, still can't think of any good looking parts for the mutant though. Any help would be appreciated, thank you.
Quote from: Lacomus Laurentius on February 04, 2013, 10:30:48 PMAs for the discussion on spaceships, what class of spaceship would a smuggler generally have?
Something that people wouldn't notice - the most likely candidates are small transport ships. The Rogue Trader RPG lists several types, although these are primarily specific to the Calixis sector and not necessarily relevant to the wider Imperium.
My own example uses a ship that in 19th century naval terms might be a clipper - a long narrow ship designed for speed rather than bulk cargo capacity. Being able to outrun the Imperial Navy is a distinct virtue when you'd rather they weren't trying to board you or blow you up.
This has then been retrofitted with various auspex/augur jammers that, while active, make the ship is surprisingly difficult to locate.
Weapon loadout is fairly minimal, being fitted with Jovian pattern missile batteries. These are fairly impractical as actual warship weapons due to being very slow to reload, but they take up little hull space and if all you're looking to do is deliver a stunning punch to a navy or pirate vessel before outrunning them, they're about all you need.
I'd expect similar for many smugglers - try not to be noticed, prefer to outrun anything that does notice you.
The Rogue Trader RPG book has a short section on illegal shipping, noting how many have to do without Navigators (given that only so many Navigators are of a criminal bent) and that unregistered ships have to take care not to find themselves on the wrong side of the Imperial Navy's guns.
I agree with Marco, a smuggler would have a relatively small ship built for speed, they won't have the power to fight the navy, bu then again, smugglers don't have to, they try to outrun them, and occasionally they get caught in a rather unpleasant way. These ships wouldn't even be the fastest ones, real speed is expensive, and the primary way to do their work is by being careful. Remember, the navy is very small, and system defense ships have far less capacities than the naval destroyers.
For the bloodhound, have you seen the scout demon (http://www.arcaneminiatures.co.uk/miniatures-detail.asp?ID=33573) that Enigma do? The arms and head would (presumably) want remodelling but the posture looks right to me for a scent-tracker. Nose-wise you could go with a bulbous nose, like the old ogryn and ogre models had, maybe paired with small sunken eyes to emphasise his use of other senses. Or perhaps add an extra nostril or two to an otherwise normal face.
Ah, that model seems like the perfect base, just what I was looking for. Originally I had thought of using a Skaven head but that seemed a little to obvious.
Thinking on some of the models as I build them my acolyte has no close combat weapon at the moment and there are two possibilities based on the spare parts I have, either I give him a knife or a staff. I see this character as a person who would prefer to carry easily concealable weapons.
Also do all Enforcers carry shotguns or just Arbites?
Shotguns are pretty much a signature weapon of Enforcers and full Adeptus Arbites, though to say that "all" Enforcers carry shotguns is probably a bit misleading. I'd say you can get away with whatever as long as you keep the law-enforcement idea in mind.