Inquisitor Leisen and Company

[Sketch]

Inquisitor Leisen

Background:
Leisen grew up in a relatively affluent and peaceful sector of the Imperium. Although a bright student and an excellent sportsman he could also prove an exceptionally lazy and thick-headed person, and, due to his sheltered upbringing, shockingly naïve too. This innocence was proved beyond any doubt during the circumstances that led to his joining the Inquisition.
   The event was triggered during the monthly career guidance class that Leisen and his classmates were given as part of the curriculum of their private school. The (slightly inebriated) master was expounding at great length of the many noble offices and institutions of the Imperium, painting them (as the curriculum demanded) in a glorious and heroic light. When he arrived on the subject of the Inquisition he quickly scanned the class for the tallest, most muscular person and jabbed his finger at him. "You! You my boy!" pointing straight at Leisen and then addressing the class as a whole. "This boy is the embodiment of the needs of the Inquisition! I should not be surprised at all if he were to be seen in a few years' time in the flowing red robes and solid gold armour of an Inquisitorial Lord, smiting the forces of heresy and evil in a far-flung corner of the galaxy!"
   Although Leisen honestly didn't believe that he would be an Inquisitorial Lord (he certainly didn't believe in the solid gold armour anyway, although he admitted it had been a nice touch as regards showmanship) the idea nonetheless preyed on his mind and by degrees became one of his fondest daydreams. His inevitable smugness that he had been held up as an 'embodiment of the needs of the Inquisition' was something that also helped bring matters to a head.
   After a particularly nasty bout of bickering with a fellow student Leisen had once again played the card that he was 'an embodiment of the needs of the Inquisition!' Being somewhat sick of Leisen's pompous claims of destined greatness the other student offered odds of a hundred to one that Leisen couldn't get himself accepted into the Inquisition as even an acolyte. Being a sporting man, Leisen couldn't help but to take him up on the offer and wagering a substantial sum on his success.
   After investing heavily in a shuttle trip to the nearest Inquisition offices half a sector away, it is safe to say that Leisen was disappointed with what he found. The offices turned out to be located underneath a steelworks in one of the shabbiest and most run-down districts of the city. The smooth-cheeked, well-dressed schoolboy sat opposite a grizzled, veteran Inquisitor in battered armour who doggedly chewed on a mouthful of black tobacco-substitute whilst perusing the results Leisen had gotten in the gruelling aptitude tests, physical tests and background checks they had run him through at the local Arbites HQ. Eventually he spat the disgusting mess at a bin in a corner but missed by a goodly margin before switching to Leisen's own covering letter. Leisen fidgeted, he was already suspecting that this had been a bad idea. He was particularly nervous about some of the wording he had used in his letter. When he had been writing it it had been easy to think up vast flowing paragraphs of pure lies about his fiery dedication to the Imperium and fanatical devotion to the Emperor's word. Now he was here he was becoming petrified that the Inquisitor would clearly see the letter for the thinly-veiled, time-wasting b******t it was. He did his best to resist running for it when the Inquisitor's nose wrinkled as he read a particular expression. Had he gotten as far as '...the undying quest for justice and truth in the light of the Emperor's name...' yet? They could arrest you quite easily if they even thought you were being disrespectful. And once the Inquisition got their hands on you you generally stayed disappeared. Leisen realised just how far away from home he was at this point. How stupid an idea this whole thing had been in the first place. What would he do if he actually got the job? He certainly didn't want to end up like the disgusting brute sitting before him, hawking up the Emperor knows what and living under a steelworks. Leisen fought down an urge to quail as the Inquisitor put down the letter and glared at him. "Alright, you get the job. Can't say I'm pleased with it but we're desperately short of people in this sector and orders from HQ are to recruit anyone with half a brain and a working set of teeth." Leisen thought that a bit rich coming from this fellow. "You scored fierce high in your aptitude tests sonny but let me be the first of many to tell you that that don't mean s***. You're in the Inquisition now whether you like it or not for the next twenty-five years. You'll be starting out as my acolyte and let me make one thing absolutely clear, this is going to be no-f*****g-cake-walk! From here on your life will be killing, torturing and filling out reports. There is no formal training for the Inquisition. You pick up everything you can from me and my gang if and when we judge you ready to learn it. If you seem slow, if you complain, if you try to escape, if you disobey an order, if you f*** things up for us in any way at all... you will disappear." The Inquisitor had leaned forward as he'd gone through the list and was now right in Leisen's face, blasting him with black spittle and vile breath. "Do I make myself amply-f*****g-clear?"
   Leisen spent a full twenty five years in the warband of Inquisitor Viler and it is safe to say that life was hell for him. Despite the apparent minimum entry requirements of a brain and a set of teeth the Inquisition remained pathetically short-staffed and this doubled the workload on the remainder, Viler's warband included. Leisen repeatedly found himself flung into situations with nothing more than a cheap laspistol and a knife. However if he thought he might gain any more respect once he'd racked up a considerable body count from these situations he was sadly mistaken. Viler and his band still regarded him as the new kid, even after two decades and people considerably younger and less-experienced and effective than Leisen had been admitted. He was excluded, shunned, bullied and given impossibly dangerous tasks and missions that earned him nothing more than curses and insults when he miraculously managed to pull them off. It is hardly surprising therefore that he grew into an unbearably bitter and introverted person.
   After his twenty five years as an acolyte, Leisen was finally promoted to the rank of Inquisitor. Now that he would no longer be executed if he left, Leisen promptly abandoned the institution. Lacking anything better to do with his life he travelled to his homeworld to hunt down the student who had offered him the bet. The search led him on a twisting path through half the galaxy. From ice-cold distant mining worlds to war-zones and even briefly to Terra itself. Despite the fact that he was little more than a penniless hitch-hiker, Leisen found that he was enjoying himself for the first time since he had left his homeworld to join the Inquisition. On his quest for the Errant Schoolmate Wagerer Leisen eventually matured and grew out of the bitter, anti-social armour he had crafted for himself in Viler's employ. His search finally ended in an obscure crematorium on Beta Reytholosie where he discovered the remains of the Errant Wagerer had ended up nine years before.
   At an utter loss for what to do next, Leisen wandered aimlessly for several years, earning and scrounging just enough to keep himself alive and on the move. Eventually, as if by chance, his footsteps somehow steered him back to the Inquisition. After another swathe of background checks he was readmitted with the rank of Inquisitor. His motives for this remained unclear even to himself, although boredom seemed most likely.
   Leisen's career as an Inquisitor has lasted decades. His highly questionable methods and decisions have earned him many enemies among the ranks of the Inquisition itself and more than once he has been dispatched on apparent suicide missions by those who would wish an end of him. But each time Leisen's resourcefulness, tenacity and flair for creative interpretation has disappointed them. Staunchly apolitical, Leisen does his best to avoid the fanatical internecine power struggles that the Inquisition seethes with. He counts himself a member of the Seculos Attendous and it is their goals that he seems to work towards.
   The discovery of his daughter Random was another turning point in Leisen's life. A fugitive from an Imperial orphanarium, she spent several years tracking down her father. Due to her nature as an unsanctioned psyker she was forced to steal several identities as well as no small amount of money in order to complete her quest, eternally dodging, evading and fighting the agents of the Inquisition among others. Leisen is infinitely protective of Random, despite her somewhat chaotic nature and predisposition for throwing things at him ("She eases up, does she? / No, but you get a better sense of when to duck.") His numerous attempts to buy, blackmail and steal a licence for her have so far come to nothing, resulting in their current existence as virtual exiles on the outskirts of the Imperium.

Appearance:
Leisen is tall and muscular in build. Battered plate armour of dull metal covers him from neck to toe and is itself covered by a dark grey cloak. His head is shaven and crossed by myriad scars which arc downwards into his face. His eyes are the same inscrutable grey as the cloak and seem to only be capable of the expressions of glowering anger and infinite weariness. His face may once have been handsome but has long since been smashed into a harder, grimmer shape. Leisen is approaching 80 years of age but already consists of more bionics (of varying sophistication and design) than most people do at 150. Several of his internal organs have been replaced as well as the entirety of his right leg which was lost to a brother Inquisitor.

Personality:
To the world at large Leisen presents an exceptionally hardened and bitter exterior. He has no qualms whatsoever about bullying, threatening or simply beating the hell out of anyone who tries to stop him in his purpose (no matter how valid their concerns might be). Having spent such a long portion of his life withdrawn and suspicious of people, he lacks any great subtlety or experience when asked to deal with a situation that doesn't involve interrogation or murder. Be this as it may, it cannot possibly be questioned that his devotion to his daughter Random is absolute. Introspectively, Leisen is in truth horribly weary and depressed. Regret for joining the Inquisition gnaws at him constantly and it is certain that he would leave as soon as he could if he didn't believe it was the best chance for getting Random the clearance she needs to live a normal life. He also appears entirely fed up with being a parent to Everard and Sketch too. Apparently Random is enough of a handful.



WS   BS   S   T   I   WP   SG   NV   LD   SP
78   66   66   70(60)80   77   70   73   76   4

Right Handed

Special Abilities:
Dodge
True Grit

Close Combat Weapons:
Great Hammer
Knife

Ranged Weapons:
Bolter (Mk II straight mag) with 1 reload, 4 Stalker and 4 Hellfire shells

Other Equipment:
Carapace armour on all locations except head
Average bionic leg (right)
Average bionic lung (+10% resistance, left lung in case anyone's curious)
Crude bionic heart (which he's been meaning to replace for years)
Gas mask
2 smoke grenades



Design Notes:
Well here's the leader of my merry little warband. I'm really quite new to Inquisitor and the 40k universe in general (although I'm well-experienced with Fantasy) so there's probably a million glaring mistakes in the background. In particular I find myself doubting that the Inquisition recruits people via application forms. :/ Any advice, links, comments or otherwise would be greatly appreciated to help me make a better second draft of this.
   As regards the rulesy bit. Stats I think are all reasonably reasonable. (Are they?) For equipment though I'm not 100% sure about the bolter. I played a game recently and it really did seem a bit overpowered. It would quite happily knock mortal chunks out of anything at all in range and because it's a decent sized mag he could quite happily sit back in some cover and do that all day which isn't really how I wanted him to play. I'm thinking possibly a plasma gun instead which lets him get one big shot off and then charge in hammer a swingin'? (I also like risk!) A house rule that we use is also to ignore the 75 strength rule for effective use of great weapons. Strength 75 in this game would require a 6 and a half foot tall colossus who's drugged up and in power armour for good measure. They didn't have combat stimms or power armour in medieval times and yet they were quite happy with their great weapons. Anyway, all beside the point.
   I haven't included which Ordos he's a member of as I honestly haven't decided yet. I want him to fight everyone!
   I open the floor to any comments and criticisms at all. Rest of the warband (comprising Random, Tag-Along (occasional), Everard and Sketch) coming soon.

[MarcoSkoll]

Well... there are a few issues, as you guessed. So let's go through those - but please don't take what I say the wrong way. While there's quite a critique below, it's not intended to slight your ideas, but to provide constructive feedback.

In particular I find myself doubting that the Inquisition recruits people via application forms.

Unfortunately, yes.

Your Inquisition recruitment is a little weird overall. You don't just walk into an Inquisition office (and you're not likely to know where they are anyway) and ask for a job. And if you do, you get shot in the face for knowing too much.

Also, they can pick whoever they like, so a shortage of recruits is not a problem. If they say "You work for me now", you work for them now or you get shot in the face for insubordination.

However, I think the basic ideas are fixable...

I'd suggest making him a student at the Schola Progenium.

So, in one of his classes, a somewhat drunk Drill Abbot (drill abbots being the teachers at a Schola) suggests he's good Inquisition material, which eventually turns into this bet.

Now, the Inquisition occasionally recruit from the Schola - and they usually have their preferred Scholam to visit, so it's possible that this is one of the Scholams which gets regular visits, every few years or so. (And indeed, the Inquisition is more likely to be mentioned by the drill abbots of a Scholam who get visited by an Inquisitor on occasion.

So, an Inquisitor turns up sometime later and Leisen deliberately tries to get his attention. The Inquisitor is perhaps not so impressed with his skills, but sees value in having someone with guts enough to have interfered with the Inquisition (particularly over a mere bet) around.

His time as an acolyte sounds fairly good, although I'd note that "less-effective" by the standards of the Inquisition is still pretty good overall - as I said, they can recruit whoever they want.

After that, I'd suggest that the bet would probably be forgotten. As an Inquisitor, you have far bigger concerns than a bet you made a quarter of a century ago, particularly as your bank balance is basically "Whatever number I want".
However, an excuse for wandering errantly can still be found. Perhaps following some lead or vendetta that he found/formed as an Acolyte. And if he leaves behind resources, aides and connections as he obsessively follows this, then he could certainly become pretty "penniless" by the standards of the Inquisition.

But he would still be an Inquisitor. You cannot be stripped of the rank.
However, if an Inquisitor who has been wandering wildly for decades returns to an Inquisition fortress, then it's quite possible his peers would heavily scrutinise him to decide whether he's become a rogue element that needs to be "removed".

That largely covers that part of his background. Most of the core ideas can be kept, even if the exact circumstances need a slight tweak.

Now, while I like Douglas Adams as much as the next guy (enough that I'm slowly writing a Rogue Trader called Hotblack Desiato - he has a habit for using sonic weaponry), I'm afraid that Random is a bit too direct a reference for my tastes.

The idea of an Inquisitor who's picked up a kid he didn't know he had is interesting, but I'd give her a different name.

The unsanctioned psyker thing also needs a bit of work. I don't think you've really grasped the power of an Inquisitor. If he finds a psyker he wants in his entourage, he hands them over to the Adeptus Astra Telepathica and orders them to sanction them.
I'd suggest that instead, he's unwilling to have her sanctioned (it's not a pleasant process) or that she is sanctioned but there are rumours amongst other Inquisitors that it wasn't done properly.

Stats I think are all reasonably reasonable. (Are they?)

Depends on what "reasonable" means with the people you usually play with.

They're a little higher than I would normally use, but if he matches up properly against the characters he normally goes up against, then he's right.

For equipment though I'm not 100% sure about the bolter. I played a game recently and it really did seem a bit overpowered.

Bolters are bloody nasty weapons, and I normally avoid them because of their brutality. Right now, I think I've only got one player character with a bolt weapon - my work-in-progress Battle Sister, who couldn't really have anything different (one, because it's what's in the picture I'm basing her off, and I love that picture. Two, because any other valid choice for a Battle Sister would be worse.)

So, yes, from a game point of few, it's probably worth changing.

It's also good to change from a background point of view. Inquisitors frequently have to work undercover, and bolters are very visible weapons which would immediately give you away as either a wealthy criminal or a high up Imperial servant - and that's going to earn you unwanted attention.
Obviously though, swapping to a plasma gun doesn't solve that problem, being rarer and more expensive.

An autogun or lasrifle might be a fair choice though, particularly as his stats show he favours close combat over shooting - so probably wouldn't be carrying a really big gun.

I haven't included which Ordos he's a member of as I honestly haven't decided yet. I want him to fight everyone!

This is a common theme with new Inquisitor players - and also a common misconception.

The Ordos don't limit who an Inquisitor fights, they merely define their speciality and preference.

Inquisitors fight whichever threats they find. A Hereticus isn't going to go looking for alien worshipping cults, but if he finds one, he's not going to leave it.

Overall though, he doesn't read like a Malleus Inquisitor. He'd most likely be Hereticus (Simply by the numeric superiority of the Hereticus. And I don't care what Mat Ward said in the GK codex - all previous fluff has had the Hereticus the largest and the Malleus the smallest by large margins), but could be part of the Xenos or one of the Ordos Minoris.

Not that he has to join an Ordo - but most Inquisitors do, because it gets them access to the pooled resources of that Ordo.

[InquisitorHeidfeld]

I haven't included which Ordos he's a member of as I honestly haven't decided yet. I want him to fight everyone!

This is a common theme with new Inquisitor players - and also a common misconception.

The Ordos don't limit who an Inquisitor fights, they merely define their speciality and preference.

Inquisitors fight whichever threats they find. A Hereticus isn't going to go looking for alien worshipping cults, but if he finds one, he's not going to leave it.

Briefly - before I log out...
I'd expand on this further.
The Ordos are not 'branches' of the Inquisition. The Inquisition is the Inquisition is the Inquisition. They are more like secret societies, they may initiate members into deeper secrets (and more importantly the keeping of them) but they're not a requirement of the job.
The Ordo Malleus is of course the most obvious exponent of this - you cannot join the Ordo Malleus because you want to protect the Imperium against Daemons because the Ordo Malleus endevour to ensure that Daemons are the best kept secret in the Imperium. Noone knows what they do except those initiated into their secrets and, because Daemons are one of those secrets if you "choose" the Ordo Malleus rather than are recruited into it then you already know to much.

Ordo is about character rather than anything else (at least IMOSHO) - The Freemasons recruit people of their type rather than people who know about the Freemasons, they recruit to their benefit and provide only the benefit of the network they form, the Ordos are much the same.
An Inquisitor recruited into the Ordo Xenos might deal with alien threats more than an Inquisitor who is not a member of any Ordo but most likely that will be because others in the Ordo hear of things, ask him to look into them on their behalf... or strongly suggest that it would be seen as to the best interests of the Ordo for them to get themselves involved.
The Inquisitor without Ordo though is not going to ignore a bunch of purple people travelling around in limos when he stops to resupply. He may not know what he's dealing with but then nor might the member of the Ordo Xenos... the primary difference is that the latter knows who he can ask.

[Sketch]

Well... there are a few issues, as you guessed. So let's go through those - but please don't take what I say the wrong way. While there's quite a critique below, it's not intended to slight your ideas, but to provide constructive feedback.

Not at all!  Exactly the kind of feedback I've been looking for!

RE: Leisen
I did think about having him come from a Schola Progenium but decided against it. He's an extroadinarily bitter and weary character in the bits of short storys I've been writing about him and his crew and I wanted at least some of this to stem from his background. That he constantly tortures himself with thoughts about the life he could have led had he remained on his nice, affluent homeworld and never gotten mixed up with the Inquisition in the first place. He's a bit of a reluctant Inquisitor. (Although obviously he puts up an immensely convincing act of fervour whenever there's another member of the Inquisition or even an Imperial agent of any kind around or else he'd find himself being turned inside out over some hot coals before he could say so much as 'toodle-pip!') All in all there's a lot of things to carefully consider about him joining the Inquisition and I think I'll need a bit more time to come up with them. It'll be in my next post. Promise. 
     The hunting down of the errant wagerer is sort of to show Leisen's tenacity more than anything else. I think I'll have it more as a kind of background search that he does wherever he goes rather than something he purues single-mindedly for however many years I said it was.  I'll fix it so he does stay in the Inquisition too. I do somehow doubt they'd welcome back with open arms someone who rudely bailed out. I do want to have it so that he's constantly playing dangerous with other Inquisitors though. I don't want him to be at all popular in the organisation with few if any allies.
     I've also decided he's going to be an Ordo Hereticus alright. Inquisitor Viler sounds very much like an Hereticus Inquisitor and the campaign I'm currently playing has a sort of Hereticus based plot so it just makes sense.
     As regards game rules I think I'll take away Dodge (explained below) and lose the Bolter. I tried a game with a Plasma gun and it was brilliant fun! However, it probably isn't hugely characterful for the whole 'skulking in the shadows' business alright. I think I'll probably go with a pump-action combat shotgun but I reserve the right to switch that to a plasma gun with no explanation if I'm just playing a fun, casual game. 

RE: Random
Her name was too direct a reference for me too. It was just meant to be a filler but we've played several games now and the name has just sort of stuck at this stage.  (btw MacroSkoll, that Hotblack character is inspired!  How's he going to play when he's dead though?  )
     She's not identical to Adam's Random (apart from the obvious unknown daughter reference and a somewhat vitriolic temperament). I've been writing her as slightly more rational and I haven't included the bit about her predisposition for throwing things in the end (although she is a telekinetic so...  ) so Leisen doesn't get Dodge anymore.

The unsanctioned psyker thing also needs a bit of work. I don't think you've really grasped the power of an Inquisitor. If he finds a psyker he wants in his entourage, he hands them over to the Adeptus Astra Telepathica and orders them to sanction them.
I'd suggest that instead, he's unwilling to have her sanctioned (it's not a pleasant process) or that she is sanctioned but there are rumours amongst other Inquisitors that it wasn't done properly.

That's what I kind of had in my head anyway. Leisen is very protective of her and he really doesn't want her to end up feeding the Emperor or joining the choir of the Astromonican. We can probably assume he ordered someone to fully sanction her and then a large and thoroughly unrelated plasma bomb went off in the building as soon as they left (Leisen prioritises Random well above the Emperor or any of his servants.) Needless to say, other Inquisitors are suspicious. (I won't have it exactly like that but something along those lines.)

Ok, I think I'll post up bullet point notes for Random, Tag-Along, Everard Von Luthar and Sketch tomorrow morning and we can hammer out the details before I commit to writing anything longhand for them.

Tty soon  ,
Sketch

[Shannow]

While I like all of the above post and the ideas you've got and such, the idea that Liesen prioritises Random above the Emperor seems just plain wrong.

I mea he might go out of his way to protect her, but above the emperor? Hmm sit well it does not

But I'm being nitpicky!!

Great stuff overall

[MarcoSkoll]

Leisen prioritises Random well above the Emperor or any of his servants.

I have to side with Shannow. She's the daughter he never planned to have, and who he ended up with in the course of work he rather resents - yet he prioritises her above a lifetime of indoctrination in the divinity of the Emperor?

If he's really that attached to her, it's going to take a bit of explaining. (I suppose a lack of faith is one possibility, but you've not made mention of such so far.)

(btw, that Hotblack character is inspired! How's he going to play when he's dead though?)

Merely a faked death in this case - several times (including at least once for tax reasons).

[Sketch]

RE: Grey Areas and Love

While I like all of the above post and the ideas you've got and such, the idea that Liesen prioritises Random above the Emperor seems just plain wrong.

I mean he might go out of his way to protect her, but above the emperor? Hmm sit well it does not Tongue

You're right. It is pretty much just wrong. However, that's deliberate on my part. It's a deviation I make from the standard 40k fluff and one I intend to stick to.
     I'll give a quick explanation. The way I see it, things are in the 40k universe are horribly black and white (and therefore imo, uninteresting). There's next to no grey area. You're either a fanatically loyal and faithful servant of the Emperor who gives his every waking hour to his service or you're a depraved heretic who is actively working to undermine and destroy the Imperium and hand it over to the Chaos gods. While this is all very well in the fantasy land of propaganda, it's not how actual people think or behave. Even in a reigime where people are aggressively indoctrinated from birth, there's going to be people (intelligent people) who quietly question what they're being told and eventually quietly reject the doctrine to a greater or lesser degree. This is not to say that they go leaping off to join Chaos. They may well have seen Chaos at work and think that that side of the divide has some serious problems of it's own (maintaining a corporeal state for one  ). There are bound to be a few people floating around who think that the Emperor, whilst a jolly fine chap and worth fighting for (there is a lot of irrevocable proof that himself and the Imperium are keeping an awful lot of assorted fell beasties at bay and it's worth siding with him for survival puposes if nothing else), maybe isn't a god and is probably not worth dedicating every single waking hour to. I for one am extremely fond of snooker and would rather spend time playing it than praying to the Emperor. There are going to be people who are intelligent enough to work for themselves and their own personal satisfaction and who also have the intelligence to keep their mouths shut about it and pretend that they're just as fanatical as Malicant. Evidence I'd give to support this is the fact that more or less every piece of fluff in the rulebooks is either a snippet of this delusional propaganda or a piece penned by an utterly fanatical loyalist who generally sees things in black and white. The grey area hardly gets mentioned, so I'm going to mention it, even if it breaks the rules, as it'll be interesting.
     Leisen is one of these 'grey area' people. It is perhaps a bit unlikely that he'd be able to be an Inquisitor (fanatical loyalty is the name of the game when you're an Inquisitor after all) but I'm just going to tweak of a few rules of logic, ask scepticism to be suspended and we'll all just assume he's a really good liar and actor. That way we'll get to hear his story, which will hopefully be more interesting than if I stuck rigidly to fluff and he was just another fanatically loyal Inquisitor. Leisen has had nothing but a life of bitterness, lies, violence and fear in the service of this Emperor chap. I'd say he has every reason to be a bit resentful of him (once again, he's an extremely good actor so nobody can prove he feels like this, although some other Inquisitors do suspect it and give him an accordingly difficult time). Random is a link to a life of peace and comparative happiness he could have enjoyed, hence, she gets priority. I'm also just going to assume that his paternal love of Random is much stronger than his impersonal love of the Emperor (although as explained above, he doesn't really love the Emperor anyway).

RE: Random
Background:
Grew up in a small, out of the way orphanarium (not a very nice one) on a thinly populated border world (not a Schola Progenium). She developed respectable psychic powers which she managed to keep hidden until she was twelve. When they were discovered she was cast out of the orphanarium. Managed to make her way for two or three years by stealing. (When you're a telekinetic it's probably easy enough to just go accio wallet.  ) Eventually she was tracked down by Leisen who was in the system following up rumours of a rogue psyker. He hands the near-feral Random over to the planetary authorities who thank him and later send him a report of the assessment of her. On this report Leisen recognises his own DNA stamp. Emotional turmoil ensues and eventually he stomps back to the building and orders her handed over. This they do with one hell of a raised eyebrow. A second Hereticus Inquisitor who was helping Leisen track Random chooses to take the issue beyond eyebrow-ing and demands Leisen explain himself. Explosive duel follows. Second Inquisitor doesn't survive and neither does a goodly proportion of the building or anyone who dealt with Random. Leisen destroys the remaining records and the pair quickly scarper. [Note: I'm not sure if Leisen would take her all the way to Terra and then risk bullying someone into sanctioning her? What do other people think?)

Appearance: Small, frail with shoulder length black hair. Very pretty. Wears combat type clothes.

Personality: Vitriolic temper.

WS   BS   S   T   I   WP   SG   NV   LD   SP
54    42   42 42 72 78   60    84   52   5

Staff, 2 Autopistols with couple of reloads, Few de-toxes, mesh armour

Force of Will, Furious Assault, Nerves of Steel, Psychic Impel, Telekinetic

Left Handed



Right, that's as much as I can bring myself to do for now as it's very sunny outside. It's just a very rough draft of Random. I'll re-do it and put up the others later.

Toodle-pip,
Sketch

[Shannow]

The way I see it, things are in the 40k universe are horribly black and white (and therefore imo, uninteresting). There's next to no grey area.

While I see your point, I don't think this view actually applies to Inquisitor as a game or background.

The grey areas in Inquisitor are not necessarily loyalty or not to the emperor, but how the Inquisitor feels he can serve the emperor best, which leaves a plethora of greyness to plumb.

An example for Random may be that though liesen does not view her as more important than the emperor he does believe that Random is fundamentally important in some way toward serving the emperor and the cause of mankind. Which then leaves a whole host of loose ends as to why etc etc

The reason I think this works better as it is very difficult to overestimate the power that indoctrination and propaganda has, when one is exposed toit day in and day out from birth (ref-Hitler youth)


Having said that, stick to your guns if that what your going to enjoy the most as that is after all what we all aim to do

Just my thoughts.


Also in terms of randoms profile Force of will and Nerves of steel are generally frowned upon, as the consensus is they are more or less reserved for mindless creatures (flagellants and servitors) who have no actual concept of self preservation, as they are very OTT especially in combination.

Other than that looks good!

Rob

[Sketch]

RE: Grey Areas and Questions

While I see your point, I don't think this view actually applies to Inquisitor as a game or background.

The grey areas in Inquisitor are not necessarily loyalty or not to the emperor, but how the Inquisitor feels he can serve the emperor best, which leaves a plethora of greyness to plumb.

Excellent point but it still leaves the fundamental question of all work and servitude unanswered: "Why do I do this?"
     "How can I do this best?" is of course an excellent question with mountains of grey area (you're definitely right about that) but the fact is that it's the second question in line. My argument is that there will always be intelligent people of a sceptical or cynical nature for whom the answer to the "Why do I do this?" question: "Because the Emperor bloody well wills it!" simply isn't going to be enough. When the answer changes to: "Because Daemons will definitely spread throughout the sector if I don't do this." then they'd be satisfied but I'm very much against the idea of the Emperor being infallible and the fact is that a lot of things that Inquisitors have to do come with not a much better answer than: "Because my fellow Inquisitors will hunt me down if I don't." I suppose I am deviating from the beaten track but I really think it would be much more interesting to write or read about someone who simply doesn't like what they do and are prepared to try and find out why they don't like it and if they can get out of it and find something better for themselves. I have yet to see an Inquisitor doubt their occupation or slide into what could quite easily be called a normal person's mindset and I refuse to believe that they could be conditioned enough to entirely silence that normalness. Fanatical indoctrination can indeed be horrifyingly powerful but there are always always people who slip past the net. Also, in an entity as vast as the Imperium, there are bound to be places where the indoctrination is a bit more relaxed and people are normal and worry about petty, selfish things like how they look, how much money they make, how witty they are and their ability to hold off zombies in Black Ops. In other words, people who are exactly like us (me anyway). In my opinion, characters who think from this normal mindset and perspective are by far the most interesting. There's just something alien about the perfect loyalty of Inquisitors to this obviously none to pristine reigime. It's impossible to indentify with them if they never at least question or consider if things are actually the way they see them.

Anyway...

RE: Random

Also in terms of randoms profile Force of will and Nerves of steel are generally frowned upon, as the consensus is they are more or less reserved for mindless creatures (flagellants and servitors) who have no actual concept of self preservation, as they are very OTT especially in combination.

Much appreciated. Like I say I'm still reasonably new to playing Inquisitor so there are a couple of good practice points I still don't know. They'll be amended out in her next draft.



Tag-Along
Note: I only used him in my first game. He died in it holding off a horde of zombies and I haven't really felt a huge compunction to try and write him back in or anything. He's not going to be used again for a good while (it'll probably actually be a different Arco-Flagellant but the name will be hereditary or something). Anyway, I may as well throw up the profile.

Background:
An Arco Flagellant presumably with some form of previous life. Nobody really cares about it though. He was discovered by Leisen on a battlefield after the rebellion of Cardinal Wolffmann (may change that, silly name). Although he was half ripped apart and shot through with las blasts he was still alive. Assuming he had been abandoned or presumed dead, Leisen had his accompanying techpriest save his life and hook him up with some bionics. Leisen is none too pleased that the techy did in fact manage to find a better heart for Tag-Along than himself. Going through the dictionary to find the trigger word was of course mind-numbingly tedious...

Appearance:
Big Arco-Flagellant made mostly out of bionics.

Personality:
None. But his pacifier helm manages to convey annoyance when people kick him when they're frustrated.

WS   BS   S   T   I   WP   SG   NV   LD   SP
51   11   70   85   42   104   7   160   15   3

Special Abilities: Your normal Arco-Flagellant ones

Trigger Word: Ravioli (everyone was quite surprised at that)

Equipment:
2 implanted electro-flails
Stimm injectors with slaught, psychon, reflex and barrage (42 turns supply of each)
2 crude bionic legs
Crude bionic lungs
Average bionic heart



Everard von Luthar
Background:
Everard lived his early life on a primitive old-tech world (basically medievally-type place). He was the youngest son of the planet's duke and as such has had a hugely privelged upbringing (for his 18th birthday he got a digital watch!). He has studied the art of fencing to an incredible level of detail and is a highly accomplished duellist. He is also well-versed in music, dance, poetry and the business of running estates. The day after the day after his 21st birthday (day after was spent recovering from hangover) he set off into the galaxy to make his fortune. Unfortunately the fortune he brought with him was quickly swindled off him by the multidinous assortment of thieves, con-artists, hackers and lawyers that infest the Imperium. Leisen came across Luthar when he was looking for work as a mercenary and took him on out of pity rather than anything else. He hasn't been disappointed so far.

Appearance:
Everard is tall and handsome with long brown hair and an exceptionally well-chiselled jaw (I'll take it we've got the reference by now?  ). He moves with a cat-like grace from place to place (Wahay! Internal rhyming!  ) and stands proudly when motionless. He's dressed in exceptionally fine (if medieval) clothes fit for a king but beginning to show signs of wear due to his adventures in the galaxy.

Personality:
Everard is quite arrogant and will quite happily snear derisively at anyone he believes to have less noble blood than his (more or less everyone). He does however posess impeccable manners and ineffable charm when dealing with ladies. He's smitten with Random and quite frequently writes her poems and songs which he sings. He has so far earned three bloody noses doing this, much to everyone's satisfaction and amusement. He will frequently try to stop himself gawking at the marvels of technology.

WS   BS   S   T   I   WP   SG   NV   LD   SP
82   65   49   45   70   41   67   46   47   5

Special Abilities:
Feint
Champion Duellist (basically counts as Gunfighter but with his swords)

Right Handed

Close Combat Weapons:
Sword
Short Sword

Ranged Weapons:
Crossbow
2 Throwing Knives

Other Equipment:
3 points of armour on all locations except head
Rather snappy digital watch (which Sketch has surrepticiously installed a stimm injector with a dose of slaught and spur in it, only Sketch can trigger it, remotely, one action)



First draft of Sketch coming later this evening.

[MarcoSkoll]

I really think you're overdoing the Douglas Adams here, with all these different stats of 42.

It's one thing to be inspired and do a homage to his work, but it's now less neat references and more rubbing it in people's faces.