My Mechanicum Warband. Actually a bit worried that they might be overly powerful, especially with some of the wargear I've got going, but that's why I have a critical community. Here we go.
Magos Spyridon Andros Basileus
Background - The Magos Basileus is a mysterious individual, as prone to secrecy as any. What is known is that he was at one point a Progena, during which time he impressed a Genetor by the name of Levann. Levann petitioned in the child's favor and Basileus was brought into the Mechanicum as a young adept shortly before the time he would have graduated. For several decades now he has labored, selecting canidates for the Philosophia he has created and working to preserve its secret approach to the quest for knowledge. He has ascended to the unusual title of Magos Spyridon, representing his skill in warp-based technology. He's even worked to secure connections with radical elements of the Thorian philosophy. All of this has been for a single goal - continuing the dream revealed to him by the Genetor. The Genetor had heard from one of the few to survive a visit to an Eldar craftworld of the infinity circuit, and its role in the creation of the mighty Wraithlord and Wraithguard. Magos Basileus has become convinced that xenos technology might hold the key to the resurrection of the emperor into a new and greater shell, giving the Emperor form with which to guide his children once more. And so he started the Philsophia Sacravi, devoted to purifying xenos technology such that it might be used to guide the Imperium.
Lexmechanic Cibran
Background - The nephew of an Imperial planetary lord, Cibran was a noted savant and an honored member of his uncle's house. Few people realized this was because Cibran, at the tender age of 6, was already helping manage illicit trade with xenos, building the foundation of his uncle's wealth and power. When an Inquisitorial investigation was launched two years later, it was Cibran who sabotaged his uncle's position and it was he who eventually killed his uncle with a lasgun. When the Inquisition arrived, they found in Cibran nothing more than a calculating and pious young boy, not realizing his connection to his uncle's operation. His savantry made him a natural fit for the Mechancum and he has spent the last 24 years of his life on the quest for knowledge.
WS: 48
BS: 58
S: 74
T: 48
I: 57
Wp: 62
Sg: 83
Nv: 53
Ld: 59
Right-handed
Wargear: Bionic left arm (S50), bionic eye (w/bio-scanner and motion predictor), Mechadendrites, laspistol, Eldar chainsword (Reach 3, 2d10+1, weight 25, PP -10%, +10 weight for breaking weapons), Reflective Flak armor everywhere but the head
Talents/Abilities: Deadeye Shot, Nerves of Steel
Technopath Eiglius
Background - Eiglius awoke to his powers at a relatively late age, and with them made a fair name for himself. Visions of glory entranced him and he awoke a number of ancient artifacts. Naturally it was only a matter of time before he was brought low by the Imperium. On that day, Basileus, acting through an ally of his in the Inquisition, offered the Technopath a deal. Become a servant of the Philosophia, and the cruel fate of the black ship would be spared. Eiglius agreed. He has found that his "freedom" is somewhat limiting, especially with the eye of a Servitor ever on him, but still finds it better than the punishments of the Inquisition (a fair number of which, it must be noticed, he's managed to imagine for himself)
WS: 44
BS: 39
S: 48
T: 51
I: 64
Wp: 78
Sg: 70
Nv: 61
Ld: 33
Right-handed
Wargear: 2 med-skulls, psyber-eagle, displacer field, MIU for Psyber-Eagle
Psychic Powers: Distraction (only against targets with bionic or mechanical senses), machine empathy, storm of lightning
Anshelm-829
WS: 33
BS: 65
S: 60
T: 75
I: 45
Wp: 100
Sg: 5
Nv: 120
Ld: 5
Ambidextrous
Wargear: All-over carapace armor, closed helmet with advanced auto-sight and motion-tracker, grafted heavy stubber, bionic legs, bionic head (+2 armor), bionic right arm (S40), MIU, bionic brain (cause of Bound)
Abilities: Bound (Acts at half-speed if Eiglius is killed, cannot perform actions other than following Eiglius, firing on enemies of Eiglius, or performing "For Your Own Good"), For Your Own Good (If a psychic backlash reduces Eiglius to half starting Wp, or if he ever rolls a 10, Anshelm opens fire on him until Eiglius is dead or Anshelm receives the trigger word.), Force of Will, Hipshooting, Shield
Corporal Vartan
Background: Born on the planet Nocturne, Vartan was trained extensively in the way of the forge, hoping like many others for the genetic gift that would make him a Marine. Instead he became a member of one of Nocturne's guard regiments. Here he was introduced repeatedly to the limits of human frailty... and resolved to himself to overcome them. Ascending through the ranks, he threw himself into dangerous situations, one of which cost him his leg. His heroism was recognized and he was given a bionic leg, but he expressed a desire to go further that sparked the interest of the Mechanicum. Assigned to the AdMech, he was eventually selected by Magos Basileus for the Philosophia.
WS: 42
BS: 72
S: 53
T: 56
I: 52
Wp: 70
Sg: 42
Nv: 66
Ld: 70
Ambidextrous
Wargear: Experimental plasma gun (Dampened, can fire two shots per turn before applying modifiers, half normal number of shots), carapace chest armor, flak elsewhere, bionic leg
Talents: Leader, rock steady aim, force of will
Sihaya
Background - Sihaya was raised on the Death World of Havilah. A barren desert spotted with machine cults fighting over limited resources, few among the Imperium realized the place was the brainchild of an Ordo Hereticus Inquisitor hoping to create a recruitment base for strong, mechanically apt fanatics. Though it succeeded, after his passing the rapid expanse of the Tau Empire brought them into contact with Havilah. Though ignored by the Tau as largely tactically unnecessary, a small population of Kroot found themselves attracted to the world's harsh environment as an excellent testing ground. As time went on the Kroot and humans met, largely with hostility. Some cults, however, have mingled with the Kroot, impressed by their natural strength. Sahiya came from one such cult, and was chosen as a Skitarii for her combat ability and mechanical aptitude.
WS: 83
BS: 35
S: 44
T: 66
I: 72
Wp: 34
Sg: 58
Nv: 70
Ld: 30
Left-handed
Wargear: 8 Plasteel swords with explosive charges (as normal plasteel sword, but if scores a critical hit, deals an additional 1d10 damage as a shaped melta charge within the sword explodes. If broken, the charge activates and strikes all combatants closer than arm's reach), 1 chainsword, flak armor except on legs
Talents: Acrobatic, first strike
Haemovoric: If Sahiya takes a foe out of action in close combat she will spend all her remaining actions that turn drinking the blood of her foe. Treat these actions as unarmed attacks. During her next turn, she has frenzy.
I question the tactical wisdom of using explodoswords
It is somewhat suspect. Two points:
1. Plasteel is fairly cheap and breakable anyway, might as well make it do something useful. Like explode on your enemy for that little bit of extra punch.
2. When you're a crazy blood-drinking machine cultist assigned to a group of, essentially, test-monkeys for alien technologies, "tactical wisdom" is not something considered in your loadout.
I shouldn't worry overmuch about them being overpowered - most of the statlines are suitably modest. In any case, they would match well with most warbands I've seen. Also, so long as the powergap isn't overwhelming (e.g. space marine vs. grot), good GMing and scenario design can compensate for differences in power levels - the game isn't made to be precisely balanced.
I consider it better to design the characters as you envisage them and this band all have a good background, with individual and group motivations as to why they get mixed up in inquisitorial affairs.
Thanks a lot for the review there. So far in my group of players we've also got a fairly modest Space Marine scout (he's mostly pre-implant, so he's just got really awesome human stats in a lot of things) and his posse of Arbites along with a deranged member of the Ecclesiarchy and his cult (which includes a local enforcer and an Arco-flagellant that the Bishop is unusually fond of)
Quote from: Thuellai on August 31, 2009, 11:40:58 AMExperimental plasma gun (cannot fire high-power shots, but does not receive negative modifiers on the risk table)
I'll take it from the wording that you're using my Revised Armoury.
Although it's perfectly acceptable for you to come along and change the profiles in question - after all, the entire project is literally me changing the rulebook profiles - the loss of high power shots doesn't really equal out ignoring negative modifiers.
The fact is, a plasma weapon is a powerful one, so it's a necessity to have something that means the player isn't using it like crazy.
If you take the rulebook plasma gun, they solve this by making it so the plasma gun can only fire once (or twice, if using the sustained mode) every three turns. I found this pretty... lame, to be honest. One shot every 30 seconds?
I prefer the concept of being ABLE to fire the plasma gun faster, but there being a reason for it being unwise.
So, instead of forcing a ridiculously slow fire rate, I decided to leave it in the player's hands. Fire faster if you want, but face increasing risks by doing so.
The penalties are pretty much essential with the increased (potential) rate of fire. So, if you're getting rid of the penalties, you'll need to cut back on rate of fire by some other manner (and I mean more so than just getting rid of Semi modes.)
That said, I do recognise that I didn't get the "failure tables" right. It's one of the things being adjusted in the next update.
Does the Magos never take part in games a la Inquisitor Scarn, or is his profile pending?
Cibran is really good, but is nerves of steel justified?
How do tecnopaths work within the Ad Mech? is there president for them recruiting psykers or is he as rogue a psyker and any other who hasn't been the black ships route. His Wp is a bit high, but I suppose that is a symptom of psychic strength being derived from Wp. He also has lots of really rare kit. Displacer field is ledgendary, and a psyber eagle is a bit much too. Concider giving him a weapom too.
How does a shoulder mounted heavy stubber work, surely is is too big to be practically shoulder mounted.
Corporal Vartan was assigned to the admech, does this mean transfered to a Skitarii regiment or something else. I'd give him some reloads for the plasma gun and a side arm (laspistol) and knife or something. I think
the plasma gun is fine as it is experimental within the admech. Maybe a trait to display it's prototypeness though, like a large weight, small magazine and poor range.
I'd think twice about acrobatic for Sihaya, and a Skitarii without any bionic is uncommon. I like the charged swords, presumably a development of rough righer hunting lance tech, but I'd make her other sword a chain weapon, much more in keeping with being a skitarii. An implant gun would be good too.
On the things you've brought up:
Basileus will probably get a profile eventually, but he's not someone I'd use in the warband proper. He's a full-fledged Magos with deep connections and a specialty in warp-based technology.
Yeah, I'll probably get rid of semi or something in place of "no high-power shots", and possibly make it larger weight-wise. It's them trying to play with starcannon tech and not quite getting it right - they've managed to make it stop exploding, but only by limiting the amount of plasma it's putting out and running that plasma through the wringer. (and yes, I quite liked your rules, or at least the copy of them I could get ahold of. They seem pretty nice and our group is using them)
For Cibran, he's pretty calculating and he's got a good sense of incoming fire (being a Lexmech makes on-the-fly calculations pretty easy) so he's pretty bold around gunshots.
Not sure if Technopaths are official but I know I've seen the concept mentioned somewhere before (perhaps on this very board) and I liked the idea. He is probably a "rogue" psyker technically speaking as he hasn't been officially sanctioned, just sort of swept into the Philosophia through a few well-placed favors. If nothing else, his powers are obviously useful to the AdMech... direct communion with the Machine Spirit and all. Admittedly his having a displacer field AND a psyber-eagle is a bit much, if I can find some sort of less awesome familiar I might replace the eagle. As for him not having a weapon - a guy you've watched try to lead a rebellion by taking over ancient machines is not the guy you hand a chainsword.
Vartan is a Skitarii, yeah, and you're right, he probably should have some sort of gun/knife combo in case his weapon starts trying to melt his hands off.
Where the shoulder-mounted stubber is concerned - normally, yes, but he's a servitor, so little things like "the crushing weight on my spinal column" are less of a concern (especially when you're mostly metal and half-brain dead)
On Sihaya, she does have some bionics, but none under the usual categories (though I might give her bionic legs). The acrobatic thing is a result of one of them. One of the procedures she's been under is essentially a full rebuilding of the spine similar to procedures used in creating servitors and cherubim, along with a number of enhanced metal plates that makes it more durable. Because of the adjustments to the spine and its numerous resplicings, she's extremely flexible. And yeah, the swords are sort of similar to Rough Rider lances (in fact, if I made a RR, I'd probably use a spear with similar rules).
Quote from: Inquisitor Cade on August 31, 2009, 03:26:00 PMI think the plasma gun is fine as it is experimental within the admech.
I set up the modifiers in order to compensate for the extra rate of fire, so to then ignore the modifiers is fairly serious. At the minimum, I'd limit something which doesn't use the modifiers to Single fire only, else it's possible to turn the table into a plasma filled swimming pool.
Alternatively, with this kind of thing in mind, I've penned some rules for Dampened plasma weapons, which will be in the next update. Less chance (but still some chance) of a massive failure, but less damage as well.
Quote from: Thuellaiand yes, I quite liked your rules, or at least the copy of them I could get ahold of
Because your copy includes the plasma weapon rules, you're using the most recent version I've released, at least at the time I write this.
That's good to know. Any chance of a preview on the Dampened idea? It might carry across for Vartan's weapon quite well, or at least serve as a base for the weapon's abilities, as it does sound sort of like what I was considering. Right now what I'd probably do is halve the number of shots (the plasma is much more carefully reduced, so it doesn't get many shots), increase the weight slightly (not doubled, but possibly an extra quarter or half of its weight), and remove semi, but if Dampened works better for me I'd use that.
QuoteFor Cibran, he's pretty calculating and he's got a good sense of incoming fire (being a Lexmech makes on-the-fly calculations pretty easy) so he's pretty bold around gunshots.
I don't think that this equates to never having to take pinning tests. Maybe give him an extra Nv bonus if none of the shots hit, but nerves of steel is a bit much.
QuoteWhere the shoulder-mounted stubber is concerned - normally, yes, but he's a servitor, so little things like "the crushing weight on my spinal column" are less of a concern (especially when you're mostly metal and half-brain dead)
I've just realised that you probably meant that the gun replaces the arm. I had an image of him with the machinegun teetering on top of his arm.
A dueling sword sound pretty un skitarii, I'd really give Sihaya a chain weapon instead.
Having just had a look at 40k wiki it says that the Eldar haven't managed to make a man(ish) portable starcannon, so I don't think that applying starcannon ideas to a plasma guin would work to well. I'd make it a basic plasma gun but with the combat attributes (damage, range, fire rate, and accuracy) of a plasma pistol and only the encumberence, shots and reload of the plasma gun, thengive it +2 to any rolls on the malfunction table instead of discounting negative modifiers.
Well, the first thing is that I'm moving plasma weapons on to a 2D6 failure table, instead of a D10 one. The latest draft of that table is below:
Quote- 0 or less: The weapon loses containment spectacularly. Resolve as per a 2 yd, Blast 3, 2D10 Damage explosion on the character's location. The weapon is well and truly destroyed.
- 1 to 3: The weapon leaks superheated plasma from a vent. The character counts as shooting himself in one of his firing arm(s) - randomise if a two handed hold. The weapon is damaged beyond immediate repair, although a well equipped Techpriest may be able to restore the weapon to working order.
- 4 or 5: The weapon overheats critically. The character takes 2D6 heat damage to his firing arm(s), and must drop the weapon. It may not be picked up (without appropriate protection) for D3 turns as it dissipates the heat.
- 6 or 7: The weapon suffers a minor overheat. Fortunately, the user's reflexes are fast enough to save them from injury, but they must drop the weapon unless they have appropriate protection.
- 8 to 12: The weapon's in-built safety devices detect the impending failure, and manage to dissipate the heat safely. The weapon gets somewhat warm during this process, but no ill effects occur.
I haven't changed the old modifiers on the table.
The keen eyed will notice that explosions are much less violent, and can't actually occur unless you've built up a penalty of at least -2, and even then remains unlikely (1 in 36 failures).
Damped weapons roll an extra die on the table, but discard the worst (i.e. lowest). They do a similar thing for damage though - roll an extra die, and discard the highest. They're also limited to Single fire only, but can still fire on full and sustained* power levels though.
*Sustained power is something I'm playing with. It's useful, but VERY heavy on ammunition use (5 shots a go!), and fairly risky.So, damped weapons can still go wrong, but it's
much less likely. It's at the cost of some damage and rate of fire though.
Anyway, it's important to understand that Plasma weapons are sorta meant to be used at High power. They're still nasty at low power, but to separate them from bolters, you need to turn them up to eleven.
Cade:
That's why it's experimental. And yeah, I might give him a sort of partial "NoS" then, representing his cool head under fire (I suppose if enough bullets are coming at him he'd eventually recognize that some of those might actually hit him). Maybe a +10% Nv that retains the option to fail at will (Cibran recognizes that that bullet might hit him and dives out of the way). I might well make the gun a graft weapon for the Servitor. I might give Sahiya a chainsword just because it does seem like a good option, I'll admit the main reason I avoided it is because it doesn't make sense to me that they'd give her a chainsword (which is powerful but unwieldly) to someone with such a standard strength as opposed to a dueling sword, which allows her to worry less about her still rather human statline. I suppose, given her role as a Skitarii, she's likely to increase her strength later with bionics, so the chainsword can be reasoned out.
And yes, it's not working well - that's why the gun is heavier, why it consumes so much plasma in a single shot, and why it fires so slow. They're basically running a bolt of plasma through the stack of cooling circuits usually packed into a starcannon, which requires a much bigger initial bolt of plasma (so that some of its energy remains on the other side). But it's irrelevant because I'm probably changing the stats for it. It IS Eldar-inspired.
Skoll:
Thanks much. The new table and the Dampened idea seem very close to what I'm trying to achieve. I suppose only firing on single anyway reduces the maximum modifier to -4 in a turn for Vartan... or is that -3? Either way, with him being able to choose the two highest dice it should be safe enough. I might use it, maybe with slight adjustments. That does seem like a much more stable and interesting table.
EDIT: Modified the profiles based on some of the comments, though I've yet to decide exactly what I'll do with Cibran so he's not changed yet. But he will be.
Quote from: Thuellai on September 01, 2009, 01:22:54 AMI suppose only firing on single anyway reduces the maximum modifier to -4 in a turn for Vartan... or is that -3?
It's -3 for the number of shots, as you don't count the shot you're firing for that modifier.
But it would be -4 were he using high power on that final shot (or for that matter, any of the earlier ones as well, as that particular modifier is only applied for the shot you're firing)
Bear in mind though, that the shot count modifier includes shots made in the previous turn as well though.
Like I said, the whole idea of the system is to make it possible, but risky, to fire fast.
It was my understanding that people are generally born into the AdMech; it's a cult, a religion, with a very different creed to that of the Imperium - yet almost all of these characters joined the AdMech at some point later in life. The AdMech are distrustful of unbelievers and so it would be unusual for one to reach the rank of Magos (but not impossible I guess), but for a fair portion of the warband to have joined later in life seems extremely unlikely. It's not just a transfer between departments in the Imperium, it's an entire change of religion; in fact it's almost an entirely different empire they're transferring to. Basileus for example still talks about resurrecting the Emperor, whereas he ought to be worshipping the Omnissiah.
And it was my understanding that for most of the Admech, or at least a statistically significant portion of it, the two are considered one and the same. I could change the terminology if it would please, but it seems a bit much when it's obvious who he's referring to either way.
In the Skitarii's case at least, technically speaking Sahiya was raised as a machine-cultist, just in an unusual way... And Skitarii are much more likely to be drawn from outside. Besides, I've met plenty of people who became religious later in life or changed religions, and most of them might have joined "later" but the only two to join later than like, age 8 were the Technopath (Who's a special case anyway) and Vartan (a Skitarii)
Quote from: Thuellai on September 01, 2009, 06:55:02 PM
And it was my understanding that for most of the Admech, or at least a statistically significant portion of it, the two are considered one and the same.
I assume you're referring to the Emperor/Omnissiah here - yes, they are considered one and the same, but a member of the Cult Mechanicus is a disciple of the latter and his background would read better if it referred to the Omnissiah. BTW, have you read the 'Corpus Auxilla Mechanicus' article? Basileus' ideas seem very similar to those of the Omnissiads.
QuoteIn the Skitarii's case at least, technically speaking Sahiya was raised as a machine-cultist, just in an unusual way...
A machine cultist from a world set up by a member of the Inquisition. Why did the Inquisitor care about creating a recruitment base for strong, mechanically apt fanatics? What's his link with the Mechanicus? And would the AdMech trust recruits given to them by the Inquisition? If I was the Magos in charge, I'd be suspicious that the Inquisitor was supplying recruits from this world in order to infiltrate the Cult Mechanicus in an attempt to break their monopoly on technology.
QuoteAnd Skitarii are much more likely to be drawn from outside.
Are they? As far as I've ever read, Skitarii are recruited from Forge Worlds - I can't find any mention of them recruiting from elsewhere in the Imperium.
QuoteBesides, I've met plenty of people who became religious later in life or changed religions
In our society, changing religion is not that big a deal - but we're not talking about our society. The Imperium is filled with religious fanatics, many of whom view the entire Cult Mechanicus as little more than heretics. And the Mechanicus guards it's knowledge jealously - they're not going to initiate someone who simply decides to change religion.
Quoteand most of them might have joined "later" but the only two to join later than like, age 8 were the Technopath (Who's a special case anyway) and Vartan (a Skitarii)
Basileus was a pupil at the Schola Progenium, a religious school run by the Ministorum. I guess there could have been an AdMech Genetor on the staff, and that he might have been allowed to take on Basileus as a pupil - but it's not exactly normal. Then Cibran, the nephew of an Imperial planetary lord, was found by the Inquisition who placed him in the Mechanicus rather than recruiting him themselves or sending him to the Schola Progenium. Eiglius' story is reasonable - he's a member of the Cult Mechanicus, but is not exactly a trusted one. Vartan was born on Nocturne, home of the Salamanders chapter and thus presumably a member of the Promethean cult, but later joined the AdMech; again, an unusual story. And Sahiya I've mentioned earlier.
Almost all of your characters have backgrounds that are rather unusual - if it were just one or two it wouldn't be so bad, but as a group it stretches my credulity too far. Going back to Vartan - does Nocturne produce regiments for the Guard? Most chapter home worlds don't. Given that Nocturne is known for doing a lot of trader with the AdMech, a better story might be that after failing at the trials to become a marine, Vartan felt disgraced and stowed-away on an AdMech ship where he was later found and brought up in the cult.
The thing is, fanatical people tend to be, in my experience, the most likely to radically shift to suit themselves - even if they do bring some of their old ideas into anything they learn anew. That's part of the reason I felt Basileus, with his Schola background, would be so likely to conflate the Emperor and the Omnissiah and that's why he follows a philosophy that does so.
The Inquisitor was presumably using the cultists for his own purpose during his lifetime, but has since, I noted, died off. At that point, with its purpose forgotten, a planet near enough to a Forge World to have been used for resources that already has a large base of mechanically-inclined people seems like a fine recruiting station to me.
I'm not sure necessarily on whether Adeptus Non planets actually do contribute to the Guard, and I may change Vartan's story there. As far as it goes, the Promethean cult is noted as sharing a lot of ideas with the Mechanicus, which is why I figured as a base for someone to come off of it made sense - they'd already have a lot of shared ideas.
To me, also, religion or not the Mechanicum is also an organization and, especially in the case of a fairly illicit organization like this particular one, talent can go a long way. They're already breaking a fair number of rules just in their aims, and Basileus is noted to have his finger in quite a few pies, giving him the resources to find these people. Most of them are already from a background that gives them a fitting connection as well - one is a savant who was calculating and setting up trade networks by age 6, and the others are all from mechanical backgrounds in some way - two are members of one machine cult or another and the other's a Technopath (and as you mentioned, not really much of a trusted member of the group)
I'm not saying I disagree with your points - I find them very well thought out. I'm just presenting where my characters come from. I may make small edits, but at this point to reset them in line with your views would require an almost entire rewrite and change of the character and that is more than I'm willing to do.
I don't see the AdMech being a closed culture, although it is a closed shop.
I would say that it would be entirely possible for people of that inclination to drift into the AdMech and, although advancement within the ranks would be very difficult, I wouldn't see it as being impossible.
After all, many non-cultists encounter Mechanicus members about their normal day-to-day work and life and, if they are drawn to the study of technology, the cultist is likely to bring them into the circle if it would be of benefit to the cult (it's a cult after all). Eventually, they will hit a bar beyond which they cannot progress without being a member of the cult so, if they want to proceed, they take their oaths, surrender their bodies and get admission.
Of course, people with nothing to offer the cult wouldn't even be considered. But such a huge organization as the AdMech can always use new grunts and, if a non-member shows a technical gift, then surely it's better for him to be in the cult than to be out of it...?
[This has sparked a few ideas about the use of classic cult recruitment methods within the the AdMech - the Imperial Cult isn't a true cult at all, of course, but the Cult Mechanicus is an entirely different piscine agitator.
R.
I'd agree with that - if you're born on a Forge World, then your talents are more likely to be noticed; and hence induction into, and advancement within, the ranks of Tech-priests is more likely than if you're born an outsider. I'd say that among the most likely/interesting routes for an outsider to join is by coming to the notice of a tech-priest (in much the way Basileus did at the Schola*); or by being caught by the Mechanicus illicitly tinkering with something and given the choice join or be turned into a servitor (presumably this would only happen if you showed sufficient talent and I'd imagine it'd take a long time to be trusted enough to advance); or by an underground cult recruiting members and those with aptitude being inducted into the AdMech proper. I'm currently less convinced by the routes Cibran and Vartan joined by - maybe there is a good reason the Inquisitor turned Cibran over to the AdMech rather than utilizing his talents himself, or why Vartan was assigned to the Skitarii, but the sparse backgrounds given here don't really explain it sufficiently IMHO.
* Although, I'm not entirely convinced that a school run by the Ecclesiarchy would employ members of a rival cult, especially as tutors, however they are likely to have some AdMech presence - even if just enginseers and the like to keep the place ticking over.