I've come up with some character types, which I don't think I'm going to be producing myself (though one of these, the Psyhealer, will feed into an Inquisitor of mine), so I thought I'd post them here, to see what people think of them.
Observatorus - IG Observation Officer. Military Intelligence, Artillery Spotter, Recorder of Battle. Monoculars, Gunsight Implants, Auspexes, Recording Familiars, Sidearm and Weapon of Status (Sabre, Chainsword).
Scourer - Specialist troops, both Munitorium and Inquisitorial, who are employed to cleanse battlefields, primarily of Xenos infections (Ork, Tyranids, etc) but also of the remains of other battles (booby traps, unexploded ordnance.) - Two kinds, Tursus Biologis or "Meatcleaners" and Tursus Forcus or Pathscourers, who clear traps. - Tursus Biologis - Flamers, Radgrenades, Anti-plant Grenades, Radsprayers, breathing apparatus. Tursus Forcus - Multitools, Portable Field Generators, Techscanners, Demolition Charges (Its safer to take it down than search it!).
Psyhealer - a member of the Adeptus Astra Telepathica, under the Scholastica Psykana. Often attached to the Orders Hospitaller or the Collegia Biologis. Usually very lightly armed, a knife, staff, or occasionally a sword. Sanctioned Psykers, but have not undergone the Soul Binding of Astropaths. Psychically powerful, but mostly in "positive" ways - primarily Biomancy and Telepathy. Those who specialise in treating ailments of the mind and memory would have powers such as Embolden, Mesmerism, Forget Me, and the like. Those who specialise in treating physical injuries (rarer, as non-psykers can do this as successfully) would have powers such as Regenerate, Bind Corruption or Warp Strength, but may be at a disadvantage when trying to use such powers on himself.
Nice, very useful in making one think outside the usual Inquisitor boxes. I suppose its quite easy to translate any modern military equivilent into the Grimdark, so in addition to Engineers/sappers/pioneers, ordnance/disposal and Recon types, there must be drivers/pilots, MP's (other than the Commissar types) medics, a whole host of sage/savants in the admin/logistics branches as well as plain old squaddie types. Must start thinking about how to get a cook involved.....
Psykers that play nice - again, nice idea to prod me away from the familiar red-eye of death characters I keep thiking of.
I most definitely like the idea of a Scourer (anti-plant grenades have never really had any use in my mind); there'll obviously be quite a few of them who end up being tainted by/inadvertently wake up something Chaotic (or Xenos-Necron tombs, much?), resulting in an Inquisitorial presence of some sort.
Damnit, now I really want one! :)
I like the idea of the Observaorus characters - spotters and intelligence gatherers. The spotters may be less appropriate in =][= (although i can see how they could be brought in), but intelligence gatherers would definitely be easy to work in fluff-wise.
Some grea ideas - good work on straying away from the tired clichees (e.g. grizzled war veteren) and bringing a few fresh ideas.
What would people say to a Daemonologist? They're a slightly radical tool used by members of the Ordos Hereticus which look into murders to find out whether they are ritualised, indicating a cult is nearby, or whether it's just a murder. They need to know about the angle of incision, the weapon used, the cause of death, victimology, all that jazz in order to determine whether or not there's a cult who're trying to raise a Daemon or some other such evil.
Daemonologist wouldn't be the best name for it, but that's the one i've got in my head.
What, a sort of forensic occultist?
These are very interesting character types, worthy of sitting alongside that file Gav Thorpe released. I like the "Scourer" character a great deal, and the Daemonologist/Investigator character you propose could be very interesting indeed.
tied into the Daemonologist idea -
Investigator
Assigned to Arbitrator units, Inquisitors, Officio Assassinorum after-action units, Enforcers, and the like, Investigators utilise advanced technology and psychic abilities to determine what happened in the past. An Investigator may themselves be a psyker, but more usually will use a psi-slave, a surgically and mentally altered psyker who acts as a "sniffer dog". Investigators will carry Auspexes of various kinds, stasis fields generators for preserving evidence, and recording apparatus. A psi-slave will have various powers based around telepathy, necromancy, and detection, but will have very little ability to act on their own, possibly being hobbled or even having had their limbs removed.
To throw out another idea that crept into my head during the evolution of this thread (http://www.the-conclave.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=657.15 (http://www.the-conclave.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=657.15)), how about:
Fleshchanic-
Deals in black market organs, mechanics of varying degrees (based on what's available) and possibly rejuve treatment of questionable origins. The hive worlds of the Imperium are rife with disgraced surgeons who have been tossed from their high post for failing to keep their 600 year old master looking in their 30s. Forced to pedal their talents to the highest bidder they keep the rich crime bosses looking youthful (with the occasional slip up) and fit servitors for combat in the arenas. Needless to say, the fleshchanic is hopelessly addicted to perfecting his craft on themselves, using their own hands as their personal fountain of youth.
Fleshchanic - also known as Piratografter? John Blanche mentions something like that on his page of Desperado sketches.
A few other ideas I've had are almost to simple to elaborate on, not so much character types but varieties of existing character types. In that vein would be corporate mercenaries, experienced bodyguards and smash-and-grab men who work for trading and production guilds. They would be kitted out exclusively with the guild's own produce, so, for example, if there were a House Goliath Corporate Enforcer, he might carry a Goliath S77 shotgun, or a Goliath Model P Heavy Stubber.
Dark Heresy provides some rather good ones, one under the Assassin job, of an assassin who specialises in replacing their victim - kind of a blend of the Callidus and the Talented Mr. Ripley. The blurb is great, something like "Well, I thought it was Jones until he shot Smith in the face. Turns out, Jones had been dead 3 days..."
As a truly non-combative character -
Scriptor - fundamentally a human word processor. Often with implanted writing implements, the Scriptor records what is said to him or what he sees. A common sight in Administratum offices, many Inquisitors find a Scriptor a useful addition to an investigation team. Usually would carry an autoscroll (scroll of parchment with mechanical rollers) good for 40+ turns of written recordings, implanted writing tools, bionic limbs or senses. Rarely if ever armed, and usually only with a knife. One with long Inquisitorial experience could carry more powerful equipment, such as a compact laspistol.
QuoteAs a truly non-combative character -
Scriptor - fundamentally a human word processor. Often with implanted writing implements, the Scriptor records what is said to him or what he sees. A common sight in Administratum offices, many Inquisitors find a Scriptor a useful addition to an investigation team. Usually would carry an autoscroll (scroll of parchment with mechanical rollers) good for 40+ turns of written recordings, implanted writing tools, bionic limbs or senses. Rarely if ever armed, and usually only with a knife. One with long Inquisitorial experience could carry more powerful equipment, such as a compact laspistol.
I actually had a character kind of like this. He started out as an underground pirate vox-caster but due to the ability of his words to stir the hearts of the masses he was taken on (forcibly) by an Inquisitor to record his exploits. The character also had a reaaaallly bad drug habit (a Hunter S. Thompson/Spider Jerusalem figure). I'll have to dig up his "box o' pill" rules, combined with his large caliber pistol and inability to use it they made for a good time.
What about Military Intelligence Officers? They get information and then decipher it, multi-linguists, plan out the Inquisitor's attacks. They utilise an "Eyes on the Ground" man, i.e. either servo skulls that are built for reconnaissance, or even an Imperial Guard Veteran for the more violent zones or even an Inquisitorial Investigator/Mean BMF kinda dude.
Effectively they have a Higher SG, and can interpret the information they get in order to better prepare the Inquisitor for his next course of action.