Interrogator Jack Jomar

[mcjomar]

Interrogator/"Stealth" Model here:
http://www.the-conclave.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=2652.0

------WIP------

At Age 45 TS:
WS 65
BS 68
S 56
T 54
I 66
Sg 65
Ld 63
Nv 62
Wp 79


Right-Handed

Abilities:
Dead eye shot
True Grit
First strike

Protean(?) Roll of 8. -8Ld +8Sg?

Interrogator/"Covert" Gear:
Pump-Action Combat Shotgun w 16 standard shells, 8 scatter, 8 executioner
Stubber w/ 2 mags
Shock Maul
Carapace on all except head
Notebook (Alternatively: Uplifting primer/Book of Laws/Word of the Emperor/etc???)


Psychic Powers:
Telepathy
Mind Scan
Enforce Will
Detection


Background:
"When I was seven, my father took me to visit the Fortress of Hera on pilgrimage. The air was thin and difficult to breathe. I did not really understand then how the Adeptus Astartes could survive here. That they did was testament to the fact that they were blessed by the Emperor, and by the Primarch, Roboute Guilliman, whose resting place we had come to visit. It is a strange thing, so see such a powerful figure from the time of the Emperor and his great crusade. Many whispered that day tales of his heroism. It is said that the battlecry of the Ultramarines is 'Courage and Honour'. I could well believe it. Others whispered that Guilliman was not on the brink of death, but was instead recovering, imperceptibly. I could not see how - I still do not. I know now that a stasis field stops all time within the area of effect. But still, it is a nice hope - the Emperor works in mysterious ways. Perhaps, when Guilliman is needed most, he will awaken and join us once more.

"What we saw of the fortress itself was breathtaking, especially the temple where Guilliman still sits. The artifice of the Ultramarines is truly awe inspiring, and that hall exhibited strength, order, and even beauty - at least to my eyes. Clean, well ordered lines, proper imperial architecture and construction, styled in a manner showing devotion to both Primarch and Emperor. Marble, steel, and a grand glass dome, it is most uplifting. I found it quite noisy though - it seemed noisier to me than it did to my father.

"On our return to Magna Macragge Civitas - Macragge City, the capital of our world - I was subdued. Would it ever be possible for such a luminary to return to us? I made a decision then to do whatever I could to be worthy of the honours he had bestowed upon this world. A few years later, following that vow, I joined the Planetary Defence Forces as a junior soldier. One of what Cadians would call a squad of Whiteshields. I took my duties very seriously.

"In fact, as a member of the Rogue Trader House Jomar, it was a point of honour, much as with many citizens of Macragge and surrounding worlds and systems, to play our part in defending the realm of Ultramar. Not least because of a rumour that one of our family, a long time ago, had become an Ultramarine. Everyone served. Well, those who understood the value of honour, anyway. I did my best to learn as much as possible of soldiering. I was never chosen to be one of the aspirants of the Ultramarines. But I served, and did my duty. I even made squad leader, before it happened.

"It turned out I was a wytch. And a wytch could not continue to serve in the PDF. Or inherit the charter of my family. By this time I had a younger brother, Julius. He would become the heir. I, on the other hand was sent by Darenus, my father, to the Black Ships, and bound for Holy Terra. My telepathic powers had become evident. Too strong.

"So I was unceremoniously sent to one of the League of Blackships, and dumped in a psy-shielded hold to await processing. I was still of Macragge, I still knew my duty, and I was still a representative of House Jomar, whatever my father might think of my being a wytch. I would not dishonour our name or world further. I would do my duty, no matter what. Perhaps it was this determination within me that they read when they reviewed me. I was scanned, tested, treated, psychically twisted by those who crewed this ship and were trained in such things. And I was separated from the others. Large numbers were sent to a new hold. I saw a small crowd of them being sent as I was dragged off to be thrown in a more secure psy-shielded cell for the duration of the remainder of my trip to Terra. I did not know it then, but those souls would be taken to the Emperor himself, their weakness taken from him as they were given over to feed his rapacious appetite, to ensure his survival, and through him the survival of all mankind. Knowing this now, I do not know whether to feel pity for them for their weakness, or to honour them for having been granted presence with the Emperor himself, to join with him. Perhaps neither is correct.

"In truth these are but flashes of memory. For most of my time I was insensate, barely focusing, terrified, or withdrawn - regardless of my determination. After a time, doubtless under scrutiny, I was extracted from my cell, and sent to another vast hold, with others who were less broken than those I had arrived with. They were not much better off than I, but all of us still had some edge of focus, regardless of our varying states of distraction, insomnia, or other induced mental deficiencies. Sleep was a passing fancy, if I was lucky - we were bombarded with all senses to ensure absolute distraction and prevention of use of mental faculties, and drugged in case that did not work. In short, to save time, it was hellish. If you never experience it, it will be too soon.

"Eventually we arrived on Terra, thrown out of the ship (in some cases literally), and once again processed. I do not know how long it took us to all march our way through from our hold to our final destination, but it was clear that my group had all been sent to one place. The Scholastica Psykana. I'm pretty sure my birthday had passed me by at this point. I'd like to say the hardest part of my journey was now over. I really would. But I'm pretty sure that, on balance, I would be lying.

"The training and processing of a candidate of the Scholastica Psykana is gruelling. Mental fortitude is required - I would also argue physical fortitude. It certainly helped me, at any rate. I maintained what physical regimen that the PDF had drummed into my teenage body as a way of maintaining a balance of mind. It was that or go insane, and I refused to accept that. I was alive, and here to serve the Emperor. Nothing less was acceptable.

"I spent several years in training and focus at the Scholastica. Days spent trying to balance study in books, my rigorous efforts to maintain physical fitness, and the draining and gruelling training to sharpen, hone, and strengthen my mind in the warp powers I had been born with. This latter would leave me weak and shaking, but I refused to let it prevent me from keeping my physical edge as it did for so many others. I was determined that I would not be yet another skeletal apparition, haunting these halls, or being deployed into the middle of some forgotten battlefield only to die as yet another failing warp-wytch. No matter my position in life, no matter that I was a wytch, I would not also be a failure to my House or home world of Macragge.

"Gradually my powers grew and developed, the strengthening that was forced upon me ensuring that the walls I built around my mind would keep the voices out, and worse besides. I learned to control my power, ensuring that it could not control me. As my mind was trained, so I trained my body to match it - as the years grew by the training of both intensified, and gradually I left far less weak after either training session, merely tired in both body and mind, rather than wrung out and exhausted. It became so that I was inured to the horrors of my existence as a psyker, the horrors inflicted upon those of us trained at the Scholastica.

"It was then that they took me, chose me. Initially, I knew not why this was done, only that I had "graduated" from being a mere trainee into a fully accepted and official wytch under the jurisdication of the Imperium at large. Somewhere along the way I had crossed the line and become the tool that the Emperor needed me to be.

"I was first brought in to help clear out a nest of culstists. Mere pretended, they had stumbled onto something more. Some sort of Tzeentchian cult, as I found out. Difficult for me not to, being a telepath. My task was to scour their minds for useful information, but I supplemented the combat squads by forcing them to stumble into the open, raise their hands, drop their guns (or grenades), and generally terrified them. I despised them their weaknesses, their failing. Their treachery to the Imperium sickened me. The soldiers I was deployed with weren't sure whether or not to trust me with a weapon, and I doubt my semi-prescient gunning down of several minions of Chaos with the laspistol I was reluctantly given probably didn't set their minds too much more at ease. But I suppose any assistance in burning out and destroying a nest of evil can be appreciated, or at least tolerated, in my case. No matter, I was serving the Emperor once more. Action, duty, in His name, I had needed this.

"As mission piled upon mission, report upon report, mind scan after mind scan, ripping yet more forbidden knowledge out of the skulls of our enemies, I began to gain an insight into who I was working for, why, and to what end. I was a tool of the Emperor's most holy Inquisition! I was employed to root out heretics, traitors, and Chaos worshippers. But more than that, I began to see that much of what I destroyed began to lead to the toppling of corrupt regimes, failing or incompetent leaders, and the removal of those who failed the Emperor. Gradually I appeared to be entrusted with more and greater responsibilities, gained more insight. More training was thrust upon me. In addition to my physical practice, and my mental studies, I was put through additional combat training by soldiers from various walks of life. Storm Troopers, Guardsmen, Arbites, even scavengers and scoundrels were forced to teach me their ways as I moved from mission to mission, group to group, never quite trusted, and yet apparently entrusted with much knowledge for myself and my masters. Adapt or die, there was no third choice. I had no interest in death, for I had now realised the dangers the warp possessed for me, and failure would lead to the same thing, ultimately. So I adapted, I learned.

"Courage and honour. Bywords of the Ultramarines, and my home world. I did my best, even in the most terrifying or disheartening of situations to uphold the former. But my duties often meant that I found the latter in question. My knowledge told me that what I was doing was good in service to the greater number of people, protecting the wider Imperium, and serving the Emperor. The minds I sifted for information that ultimately led to arrests and executions told me other stories. Many times those who were otherwise innocent would be mere pawns, unknowing of the evil their actions ultimately served, by accident or design of others behind them. Many times more the mind would truly be innocent, and yet their deaths, or their dishonour would serve a different purpose. The deaths of a few corpses, buried in the foundations, so that better worlds, better governments could be built over the top. A few principles sacrificed, so that others, innocent of evil, could continue to survive, to live, to serve the Emperor. Was this honourable? In a sense, perhaps it was. Questionable, certainly. Dishonourable in other ways, definitely. Necessary? Absolutely, and without doubt it had to be done. The alternative would lead to the destruction and downfall of the Imperium as a whole. My honour was served through my service to the Inquisition, and to the Emperor. In service to him, my actions would ultimately be honourable in the end, even if on an individual level they might not be. This service requires the ability to understand that life is sacrifice.

"In these times, we must be ready to sacrifice in the name of the Emperor if humanity, if all mankind, and the Imperium we serve is to survive the oncoming darkness. We must understand, there can be no surrender, not even an inch of doubt in the face of that horror, for anything less will lead to the death of all mankind, the snuffing of our lives, our species, from the face of this cosmos. So many monstrous things seek our destruction. There are soldiers to fight the obvious ones, the wars, the warriors, the worlds. And then there are other kinds of soldiers, who fight in the dark, committing acts that civilians would find questionable, distasteful, and distressing, so that those very same citizens can go about their daily lives, safe and secure, with no knowledge that they were ever in danger at all, mindless and heedless of the terrors that move beneath their feet, or even among them in plain view. It is in service to them, to the Imperium, and to the Emperor that my honour is found. Honour through duty.

"Eventually, I met my benefactor. She, for I believe her to be a woman, was armoured, her voice disfigured and rendered genderless by the vox unit built into the helmet she wore. She queried me for a few hours before dismissing me. Testing me, it seemed. Later I was assigned to her personally, supporting her in various missions, enabling a number of purges. I was information gatherer, second gunman, soldier, saboteur, agent, partisan, and other things besides. An Agent, then an Acolyte. We travelled in an Arvus lighter, a common Imperial craft, nondescript. A small library was contained within, along with sleeping quarters for herself and one other - I took those. The pilot - if necessary - would sleep in the main area on a bench. Or nap in her chair. Or on quarters on a given world or ship. This last happened rarely, as the Inquisitor would often wish us to be ready to move at a moments notice. As for myself I ended up curating the library, eventually discovering the source of some of these books, and learning when the selection might need updating or altering to fit expected mission profiles for study, and even occasionally preparing for other eventualities where such source of knowledge would be a boon. There was also a small area for arms storage, enough that a group of three or four people could keep weapons secured while in transit. For myself, and the Inquisitor, this was of little use, as we both appeared to prefer to keep our weaponry close at hand in our own quarters instead.

"The structural alterations were impressive. Converting the space often used to transport ten men plus gear and other items into a comfortable (or cozy) space for a small band plus equipment was quite the undertaking. But it had been done, and securely so. The ship had even had a multilaser added, allowing for low level aerial fire support, if such things were needed.

"After another year, we were deployed onto Halsbreth V, a cold world on the edge of the habitable zone of its star. Another Chaos cult, this one apparently summoning a daemon. Our early investigations initially proved fruitless, until the ex-arbite, Favrel Jural, travelling with us discovered something. He had followed his investigative nose, and dug through supply and trade papers, tracking down obscure artefact trade networks after a thoughtful discussion between the two of us. It led to his death, and our answers.

"We advanced on their hiding place, an old and disused manufactorum, no longer staffed due to Munitorum cutbacks in the sector. Supposedly the cultists thought it lay upon some unfathomable "ley lines" on this world. I had donned the arbites armour in honour of Favrel's sacrifice. It was also better than my own. The helmet had been destroyed when he was killed, though. So I was lacking in protection there. His arms were also functional, the shotgun and executioner shells a blessing, and the stopping power of his stubber making for a suitable sidearm under such circumstances.

"Eventually we came upon them, gathered around an alter, as yet empty - we had arrived before they could begin! I exulted as we advanced upon them to put the fear of the Emperor into them.

"'Welcome, mistress!' the leader said proudly as he advanced towards the Inquisitor. 'Another sacrifice?'

"This brought me up short. It was just myself and the Inquisitor - we had left our pilot behind to guard the Arvus, while we advanced to deal with the situation, the firepower we carried enough to handle any threat. Except this one - how could he be so familiar with an Inquisitor as this? I struck out with a mind probe to scan him, and found myself deflected - a psychic null was nearby. I felt sickened by this, physically tormented as my abilities left me. I know not who the Null was, but I am sure they were one of the Inquisitors agents.

"The Inquisitor responded. 'Not a sacrifice. A host.' I thought I misheard, but then my mistress indicated for them to wait. She turned to me and beckoned me to one side.

"'You do not yet understand. It is vital that you must. I regret that it must be revealed in this way, and with the losses involved, but any other way would lead to the destruction of what has been built. What do you know of the Inquisition, and the wars it prosecutes?' I was being tested again.

"'We fight the enemy within, without, and beyond. We destroy all that would oppose the Imperium. Including followers of Chaos, and those who worship daemons.' I added this last as a way of questioning her.

"'And what of the factions within the Inquisition?' She replied, ignoring my rebelliousness.

"'Thorians, Monodominants, Amalathians, Recongregators, Horusians, Isstvanians, and numerous more besides.' Where was she going with this?

"'And what of the Illuminati, or the Templar? Hydra?'

"'Of these I know little to nothing. Are the Templar related to the Black Templars Adeptus Astartes in some way?'

"She showed me the symbol on her shoulder, and the one on her tabard. 'These are the symbols of the Order of the Illuminati, and the Order of the Templar, of which I am a member of both. They fight in the Emperor's name, seeking to either return him to life as the Thorians think they do, or to turn him into a god within the warp, destined to destroy all Chaos and save all mankind. Hydra seeks... well, they would destroy humanity in their efforts to destroy Chaos. They are as bad, or worse, than any Isstvanian or Horusian could hope to be. As bad as some recongregators are oft painted also.' This last was a nudge back at me for my assumptiveness. But still, daemon worshippers? We had done many questionable things before in our efforts to save the Imperium, but this was a new line we were about to cross.

"'What it means to be Illuminati is to know Chaos, to face it, far more dangerously than any Malleus, and to reject it utterly to our very soul. Literally. Every member of the Illuminati of Inquisitorial rank knows that they are Illuminati. Their servants do not, not unless or until it is too late or unavoidable. At which point, they either die, or become true Illuminati also. Much like your own training as a psyker, there is no middle ground for such as we. We must descend into darkness so that our souls can be reborn into the light, illuminated in the Emperor's eyes. And so, I give you the choice. To have a daemon bound into you, forced upon you. You will take on a fragment of the same fight that the Emperor has been fighting for all the existence of the Imperium. You will fight Chaos upon its own battlefield - that of the soul. You will either win, or you will die. If you choose death, I will respect it, and give it to you cleanly. I will commend your soul unto the Emperor's keeping. And I will purge all here, though they do not know it yet. Either way, they will be purged. If, however, you accept this battle, and die, I will also kill you as cleanly as is able, before the daemon can truly take you. If you take on this fight and win, then you will have truly become Illuminati, ready to fight His enemies, and I will be one of your sponsors to the full rank of Inquisitor.'

"I confess, that I was taken aback. She was showing much trust in admitting this to me. It was implicit that nobody else within her organisation save for other trusted Inquisitors even knew of this. But to ascend I would first have to be damaged in body and spirit,  sacrificing my purity on the altar of duty to the Emperor.

"Though racked by revulsion, I responded. 'I accept'. It was all the response I could manage. What choice but duty? I would be dead regardless if I rejected, and every moment alive was one more moment in service to Him. Courage and Honour, both of these things drove me. Courage, to face the deepest darkness. Honour, to know that I would have to win, because failure meant dishonour in failing my duty.

"The ceremony began. The sickness from the Null had left me, so I presumed that they had removed themselves to a distance so as to permit the ceremony to work at all. I was bound, naked, upon the altar. Surrounded by worshippers who could not know they would soon be purged by the Inquisition, by a bomb the Inquisitor herself had planted in secret. The blast would purge everything with liquid fire cleansing this place utterly. It would be written off as faulty machinery within the manufactorum above, and none would ever know, save myself, the Inquisitor, and the daemon implanted within me.

"Leading the chanting, the foremost cult brother stepped up, and began speaking the words of summoning and binding.

"I felt like vomiting, as if I needed to remove all the blood from my body, extricate my very soul from the soiling being done to it. The monster slithered into me, into my body, into my mind - the chanting continued, and some small part of me noted the removal of the words required to eject my soul from the body before implanting the daemon into my being. As the corruption of my self continued, I began to learn things about this daemon. The name, Khal'Athatras, and the one it served. It was a monster of Khorne, but a subtle one, used to creating schemes to bring about wrath and ruin in a welter of blood and skulls. And it had been implanted before, into my mistress. It laughed as it desecrated my very bones, realising who it controlled, and the power available to it, and more who it was now servant to - and it howled as it realised that once more it could do nothing other than serve, this time at her whim, rather than another who would let it run wild and free.

"And then it was done, my soul oozing in pain and corruption as this beast was contained within me. My body slumped down upon the alter from the contortions it had been put through.

"'I will take him now. Continue in your devotions here. You should only leave no earlier than three hours hence' the bomb would explode far sooner than that 'when it is dark outside, and nobody will notice your movements. Be clandestine, but be ready, for the wave of blood and fire will soon arrive.'

"I was covered with cloth and cloak, and hidden, my floating body temporarily dormant, uncontrolled by either myself or daemon, as our hovering mass was transported by chain. I was hidden within my quarters on the arvus, and the Inquisitor set about ensuring the security of my body and soul, and that of the daemon also to ensure it could not break free, seals placed upon my body and my chains such that nothing could break them. Except, perhaps, my will, if I survived. The bomb exploded successfully, and it was written off as an accident. Certain nobles, or highly placed families found themselves confused as to how their sons and daughters could go missing. Oddly enough, they were supporters of a rather questionable would-be ascendant to the governorship of this world. With the gradual loss of their support, he was ousted before he could even grab power. His replacement was a grim, but quite capable man, whose new House would ensure the ascendancy of the Imperium within the Halsbreth system.

"What followed that event was a full five years of pain, degradation, disgust, horror, destruction, and worse. Sometimes I think it might be good to forget. But the fact is that it is that knowledge which allows me to continue. That knowledge is what drives me to stand against Chaos. To fight it at every turn and deny it everything it seeks. And it was that knowledge which drove me to defeat my daemon. I fought against it, putting every iota of my soul, being, and power into removing it from me. Every day allowed me to inch closer to victory against the monster. Every day I yet lived, battling against the daemon, was one day closer to freedom and ascension from this pit I had chosen to descend into.

"I learned to torment it, as it tried to torment me. I chanted verse and psalm of Him on Earth, reviling the daemon yet further with my belief and faith that He would support my battle against evil. I weakened it, even during the midst of battle against the Emperor's foes I fought it, cursing the warpcraft it used and endeavouring to substitute it with my own warp borne powers that I might still serve the Inquisitor. Every battle against Hydra, every destruction of a Chaos cell, every work against the corrupt, traitor, heretic, and worse, I fought, striking at the daemon from within, as we turned its powers on the enemies within the Imperium.

"Five years of determination, stubbornness, brute struggle, faith, purity of rage, prayer, even even song in His name. Five years, and I came crashing to the deck like so much dead weight.

"'Is it done? Is he pure?' I was immediately beset by new torture, rigorously scanned, tested, prodded, poked, my mind stretched and scanned, my soul racked and pulled taught by the examinations of priests, mechanicus, and psykers alike. They knew not why I had been a host, nor who I served, or even who they served. They believed me to be merely another curiosity within the power of the Inquisition. When they were done, having judged me pure, somehow clean of the taint that had swallowed me up and been forced back out, I was left alone with my mistress.

"'Do you hate me?'

"'I confess, while I now understand your reasons, and your choices, I still would very much like to see you brought low. Whatever trust between us has been damaged or destroyed. I am free of the daemon. And yet I will never be free of the experience.'

"Her voice, clear as a bell, range out across the hold I was currently tied down in. 'I know'

"My head snapped up as I looked upon her uncovered face for the very first time.

"I gasped, shocked. She was the Lady Samatha Ariana Morannon, noble of Londras IV, known for her staunch stance against orks, Chaos, and worse besides.

"'You are bound to me now. My Interrogator. You will serve me personally and alone. You will not deviate unless allowed or instructed. You may only form your own personal relationships with those who travel with us, no others. Any further relationships will be pretensions only. And you will keep my secret. You will support me, and you will learn. When I am sure you are ready, you will ascend to the rank of Inquisitor, and you will aid me in serving the goals of the Illuminati, and the Inquisition, in the name of the Emperor. You now know more than ever why we fight, why we must fight, and why and what we must sacrifice if humanity is ever to be safe.'

"Her face softened, slightly, imperceptibly, and the full weight of just how much trust she was placing on my shoulders, how much duty, responsibility, and requirement. It hit me like a titan to the face. She did not need to be a psyker, as I was, to understand the human soul. To understand what I had been through - for she had taken the same path as I, only... only perhaps darker. The expression on her face told me of great pain, sacrifice, and more besides.

"Then her helmet went back on, and once more the Inquisitor was in command, demanding, requiring of me my duty and my resolve.

"'Yes, mistress.'

"She nodded, and left. Others came to remove me. Gradually, I was restored to my former self, my physical presence cleansed of the any remaining damage - juvenat helped in this. My mind was a longer process, but as I repaired my mental and psychic structures, I found that I was somehow more than I was before. Changed, on some level different. More powerful, perhaps? I returned to service, and continued in my efforts against the foes of the Imperium. Working every day to track down and destroy those who would turn against the Emperor.

"I am now in my late-forties, and I am an Interrogator, in service to my Inquisitor. I serve the Inquisition, and above all I serve Him on Earth, who watches over all. I bring death to traitor, mutant, heretic, xenos, and more besides. I will not stop, I will not surrender, until mankind is safe, or I am dead, whichever comes first."



******
This will cover the first portion of this character's career (once I'm finished writing it).
The rest will come once I've painted up the other model for this character.

[RobSkib]

Looks decent for an interrogator, I like the background writeup. My only comments would be about how there's nothing that makes this guy truly stand out. His stats are decent, he has some middling psychic powers and he has the traditional Heroic + True Grit combination that a lot of people plump for in their first 'leader' characters.

Have you had a look at the list of Conclave-approved Special Abilities before? They're community created and tested, and they could help you give him some more unique flavour. Perhaps "My Word Is His" or "Stealthy" would be suitable for this guy?

[mcjomar]

Granted - but this is still an unfinished background. I'm using him and his Inquisitor mistress as a set of Illuminati characters a-la Inquisition War (I'm developing an interest in some of the older history of GW backstory for 40k).
Hence the soul veil.

He's a lot nastier in his Inquisitor form (cue jokes about "this isn't my final form!"), and as such I felt that as an interrogator he would be more toned down.
Stealthy would be nice though, although I'm not 100% sure yet whether or not that would fit his style.
I don't see him going very bombastic though.
But I need to actually get off my bum and finish writing his backstory though.

[mcjomar]

Okay, I finally got the drive to finish this.
This is the history of the younger Interrogator Jack Jomar.
Such as a first draft, anyway.
I've bent the history as given my Samantha Morannon's background in regards Jack, just a little.
Chalk it up to a little artistic licence perhaps.
Or maybe I'll perform additional edits. We'll see.

[mcjomar]

Ditto here also - any chance of constructive criticism would be appreciated, although it should be noted this is the first half (Interrogator/"Quiet" model), with the second half of his life to be written up once I finally finish painting the Inquisitor/"Loud" model.

[Cortez]

The backstory again seems sound, although I find it slightly odd that Morannon would be willing to use the same methods on her acolyte that she seems to despise in her own backstory. I think you need to include her reasons and motivations for using this 'heretical lore' and making a Daemonhost.

Stat wise he seems ok, although considering the level of training and experience mentioned in his background I'd suggest going up 4 or 5 points for both WS and BS. I assume you intend him to be primarily a psychic using character due to his high Wp. In which case you probably want to expand his psychic portfolio, perhaps include some telekenesic abilities to go with his telepathy skills. At the moment I feel you probably won't use his telepathic psychic abilities much and he'll end up being little more than a generic dude with a shotgun.

Are you really sure you want to give him both Heroic and True Grit? That combination is both quite powerful and a bit cliche.

Lastly, as with the Inquisitor you may want to consider some consequences/changes/quirks as a result of him being possessed for five years.

[mcjomar]

That's my bad - the point of the scene was that in this case the idea is that Jack chooses to accept it willingly, whereas in her case it was completely unwillingly forced on her.
I mean sure the choice is basically accept this, and basically take a risk by becoming tainted by Chaos, or die honourably, but be dead. Or other options which basically end up as option 2 anyway. I guess I just need to figure out how to really show it properly, in such a way as to show she's making the offer, but will kill him if she has to. Sort of like she wants to offer the choice, but she's professional enough as an Inquisitior that she will do what is necessary in the ongoing war on Hydra (this being the battle for the Emperor's soul and all).


Jack is basically meant to be a balance between physical and psychic - in his "current" form, he'll rely on his warband to supply more of the pure physical sort of thing. Again, I'm trying to limit him so he isn't overpowered. Also, my understanding of psykers is that they tend to be focused largely on a single discipline?

RE: the skill combo, that's so that (when played as an Interrogator) he lasts until "now". I can't really think of a better way to show it in-game. Sort of a fate or destiny thing of some sort in his case.



As to the effects on Morannon and Jomar, I'm not sure what would work.
I'm sort of toying with messing with the "Voices" bit mentioned in the article you suggested, but have it work such that the negative from hearing the voices (Voice, actually) is applied relative to what they're trying to do, but only if they're either A trying to listen or B it's gotten louder than usual.
But without reading any relative stuff about Illuminati outside of the readily available sources, I'm not sure what really happens to an "illuminated" character.
However, if I went with this idea, it would be sort of like the Voldemort/Potter connection, but between these two, and the daemon that was used to possess the both of them.
I'm sort of thinking the daemon might be sowing shards of itself, either by accident or on purpose.

But at the same time, the idea as presented by the Illuminati sources suggests that they should have completely thrown off the taint (this being the point I think?).
Hence supposedly they are supposed to have faced and defeated Chaos within themselves, and no longer be subject to it.
But without access to the Realms of Chaos book (it's an oldie), or recent fluff regarding Malcador possibly being Illuminati which is referenced somewhere, I can't really confirm it fully outside of finding (and re-reading) my copy of the Inquisition War Omnibus all over again (and I'm convinced that it won't have the full story anyway in the IWO).


E: okay, google really is my friend.
And so is Scribd, but shhhh.

Anyway, so they're free of the daemon, and of taint, but it says nothing about being marked by it.
I'll have to dig over that article you suggested a lot more, but I think I might dump my "Voices" idea (I'll use it on some other character down the line), and maybe go with something else, physical maybe, like you suggested. I think your ideas on that might be better than mine.

[Cortez]

The voices thing could work quite well in my opinion. I wouldn't link it to the banished Daemon however, rather that the character has become extremely sensitive to the warp and so hears the voices of Daemons, tempting him, distracting him, offering advice (both good and bad) etc. You could represent this in game by  the Mind Flux, Whispers in the Dark or Truth Speaker malignancies.

Regarding his role: If you're intending him to be more of a physical combatant then you may want to consider upping his WS and BS by a decent amount. At the moment his stats suggest he's intended more as a psycher rather than a frontline fighter. I wouldn't worry too much about making him overpowered, he's a long way from that at the moment.

As for psychers with multiple disciplines? I honestly can't recall what the current (or past) fluff is on that. I remember Space Marine Librarians had a choice of different psychic power disciplines (and I think you could choose from more than one, or was that in Warhammer) way back in 2nd Edition, but I can't really recall what the official fluff was (besides my gaming group felt the 2nd ed. psychic rules were too much like magic and so rarely bothered with them). I do remember that Necromunda Wyrds had primary abilities from their main discipline and unrelated secondary abilities. Personally I don't really see any reason why a character couldn't have powers from more than one discipline, they might have one primary discipline, but I feel that they should also be able to develop and train other abilities from other disciplines.

I also wouldn't worry too much about characters dying in game, there's been plenty of Captain Scarlet style amazing recoveries and 'rumours of my death have been greatly exaggerated' moments over the years.

[MarcoSkoll]

As I said in the other thread, a full critique from me will have to wait, but for a quick comment:

RE: the skill combo, that's so that (when played as an Interrogator) he lasts until "now". I can't really think of a better way to show it in-game. Sort of a fate or destiny thing of some sort in his case.

Both those skills really more imply the opposite.

Many characters in Inquisitor are heroes of a sort, so "heroic" to me represents something something above and beyond normal heroism - things like Victoria Cross/Medal of Honour citations. And, well... these medals are often awarded posthumously. Courage means ignoring things that might well kill you, a common consequence of which is being killed.

True Grit is fairly similar. Someone pushing their body beyond limits that would incapacitate a normal human, and fighting on despite being at a serious disadvantage... they're not likely to remain in good health.

I've got only one character who has both skills - Episilon-47, a mind-wiped penitent with nothing to lose except his chance at redemption. He's a borderline fanatic, determined to go out in a blaze of glory and prove himself worthy before the Emperor. The only reason he's got any life expectancy at all is because he's not prepared to die without giving his all (and his all is quite a lot, given that the "Epsilon" in his name refers to his Psychic rating).

[mcjomar]

The voices thing could work quite well in my opinion. I wouldn't link it to the banished Daemon however, rather that the character has become extremely sensitive to the warp and so hears the voices of Daemons, tempting him, distracting him, offering advice (both good and bad) etc. You could represent this in game by  the Mind Flux, Whispers in the Dark or Truth Speaker malignancies.

Regarding his role: If you're intending him to be more of a physical combatant then you may want to consider upping his WS and BS by a decent amount. At the moment his stats suggest he's intended more as a psycher rather than a frontline fighter. I wouldn't worry too much about making him overpowered, he's a long way from that at the moment.

I'm becoming less sure in Jack's case that this (the Voices) would work, and more convinced that Protean might be more appropriate.
And borrowing from Charax, rather than being beholden to the whims of the dice, I'm thinking that (based on the description) Protean would end up subtracting from Leadership - though where it would apply the relevant amount instead is another question entirely - thoughts?

Stats-wise he's supposed to be less experienced (the mostly lower mental stats, outside of Wp) than who he'll be as an Inquisitor. But yes perhaps I should up the physical stats by about 5-6 points each on the ws/bs. I think the other Physical stats are about okay for him just now though?

Differing from Samantha, I'm thinking Jack has less of a controlling/paranoid outlook (relatively speaking, of course, for an inquisitor) and more of a dutiful/honourable one - his upbringing from the Ultramarines homeworld should be a driving force to him I think. Protean might fit with that, as his time with the daemon changes him from who he was.


I'm absolutely using the Voices thing though - I even have the perfect character idea lined up next for it!

Many characters in Inquisitor are heroes of a sort, so "heroic" to me represents something something above and beyond normal heroism - things like Victoria Cross/Medal of Honour citations. And, well... these medals are often awarded posthumously. Courage means ignoring things that might well kill you, a common consequence of which is being killed.

True Grit is fairly similar. Someone pushing their body beyond limits that would incapacitate a normal human, and fighting on despite being at a serious disadvantage... they're not likely to remain in good health.

I take your point. I admit I don't entirely agree with it, but that's down to how the GW rulebook has the description for each written up.
True Grit as given states courage to fight until one's dying breath, while a Heroic character is willing to brave tasks that would leave a normal mortal quivering in fear.

Given (again) his upbringing, and the implied need to live up to this (real or imagined) standard that drives him to do better, work harder, and become someone who can be a credit to his family and homeworld, I get the impression that he would strive to live up to those standards, simply because he believes (rightly or wrongly) that it is what must be done. On the flip side, mechanically, and based on the fact that this background isn't "current" in relation to Carthaxian timeline, that's the other reason for this combination as it stands.

What other combinations of special abilities might capture this flavour?
Or is this a situation where I need to revamp my backstory and writing?
I currently consider the backstory for this character to be somewhat weaker than that written for Samantha, so I'm sure this needs more revision than hers will.

[MarcoSkoll]

I take your point. I admit I don't entirely agree with it, but that's down to how the GW rulebook has the description for each written up.
True Grit as given states courage to fight until one's dying breath, while a Heroic character is willing to brave tasks that would leave a normal mortal quivering in fear.

Community consensus has "amended" a number of rules and descriptions - either to better fit their description or to better describe what they do.

However, for those two... we don't really need to. Neither of those descriptions disagree with what I said. Courage and bravery are highly dangerous things. These are characters who are ready and willing to throw their life on the line, who will not shirk from danger and for whom death holds little fear.

As such, most of my Heroic characters are heavily bionic, a natural consequence of their selflessness.

And of my characters with True Grit, a lot of them aren't biologically human:
- Evelyn Carrick is a pilot with augmetic boosts that are supposed to help her retain consciousness in high-G turns.
- Clepsydra is a genetically engineered vat-soldier who is an offshoot of (not that she knows the full details) a radical Thorian project trying to produce a new host for the Emperor.
- Gaecika Sanne is a biokinetic who has partially rewritten her own biology.
- And Jax Lynn's mutation makes her immortal, able to recover from anything short of near-apocalyptic levels of psychic damage.

Given (again) his upbringing, and the implied need to live up to this (real or imagined) standard that drives him to do better, work harder, and become someone who can be a credit to his family and homeworld, I get the impression that he would strive to live up to those standards, simply because he believes (rightly or wrongly) that it is what must be done.

These aren't wildly uncommon traits amongst Inquisitor characters. That's pretty much half of what the Ecclesiarchy preaches (just replace "family" with "the Emperor"), so that kind of thing is fairly widespread - depending on exactly how religious a given character is, anyway.
Then there's heirs to grand noble empires and such, many of whom will think they have something to live up to.

Still, yes, these skills can represent extreme cases of such personality traits - but if a character like this survives, it's in spite of such traits, not because of them. Your objectives here are at odds.
There's nothing strictly wrong with taking these traits (although I'd recommend that only the most fanatical characters have both) but as far as explaining him surviving through his years... don't. If you try to make him durable enough that you can be sure he'll survive any game he's in, he'll be a completely imbalanced character.

When it comes down to it, most Inquisitor characters have got access to superlative medical technology. Between some lucky escapes, a few injuries not being quite as bad as they first seemed, the occasional body double, emergency clones, outright warp weirdness or the like, you can usually justify characters not having to die prematurely.

In my IRE drafts, death is explicitly set out as optional. It'll take a character out of a given game, but is by no means permanent. (Even if you were to decide it was, there's still plenty of opportunity for "Reports of my death were an exaggeration" at a later point).

[mcjomar]

With that in mind, if we're saying that death in game is merely "death" rather than Death, unless previously agreed upon for a good story?
That makes me feel a little easier.

In terms of reflecting the character as written though, should I just drop it down to Heroic, and replace True Grit?
Whichever one I remove, I'm not sure what I would replace it with to reflect the character as is. Not without some heavy digging anyway.
Would the Carthaxian "Strong-Willed" be more appropriate, do you think?
I'm still of two minds about "My Word is His", as I don't see this character as being very much like, say, a preacher. But he has lots of faith in the Emperor, and in doing his duty, so perhaps from that perspective it might work? I'm not sure on that one.

[MarcoSkoll]

With that in mind, if we're saying that death in game is merely "death" rather than Death, unless previously agreed upon for a good story?

Either as a GM or as a player, I would never force a player to kill off one of their characters. Too much work goes into a character for that.

The Inquisitor rules have always been malleable - the story and the players' enjoyment should always come before slavishly obeying dice.

In terms of reflecting the character as written though, should I just drop it down to Heroic, and replace True Grit?

Which you keep depends on whether you think he's more determined to exceed (Heroic) or not fail (True Grit) the standards he's trying to live up to.

Would the Carthaxian "Strong-Willed" be more appropriate, do you think?

In terms of how Fearsome actually works in game (refusal to get into close combat with a Fearsome character), it really best represents those characters who are obviously and immediately dangerous in close quarters - characters like Orks, Arco-flagellants and Space Marines (although the rulebook doesn't give Astartes Fearsome, I do) - or those which might reasonably project a dread aura - daemonhosts and the like.

I tend therefore to give those abilities that ignore Fearsome to characters who would be justifiably confident in close quarters. To pull an example from my collection who has Strong-Willed, Silva Birgen is a 134 kilo hybrid of bionics and muscle, and is strong, skilled and bloody-minded enough that she could rip someone's head from their shoulders with her bare hands if she were so inclined. Hence, she's a lot less likely to be intimidated by getting within arm's reach of a combat servitor.

(Such limitations are why I really want to expand the fear system in IRE).

I'm still of two minds about "My Word is His", as I don't see this character as being very much like, say, a preacher. But he has lots of faith in the Emperor, and in doing his duty, so perhaps from that perspective it might work?

No. While I don't mean to offend whoever wrote the ability for the Amalathian Sourcebook, it's not a particularly well thought-out or balanced ability.

As far as the core concept, consider that Islam, Judaism and Christianity all worship the same god (the one of Abraham, at least), each of those has denominations, sub-denominations and sub-sub-denominations. To take Christianity as the example, it breaks down into Western and Eastern churches, the Western church breaks down into Protestants and Catholics, Protestantism breaks down into Anglicans, Lutherians and Calvinists, Anglicans include Methodists, Quakers, etc, etc... you get the idea.

But the Imperium is a million worlds. How many different faiths must exist, how many different definitions of divinity, how many different takes on the nature of the Emperor, how many different descriptions of Terra - and yet this character can somehow immediately and totally convince *any* Imperial character of any possible branch of the Imperial faith that they speak the word of He on Terra? (Regardless of any other factors to the contrary).

That just doesn't add up.

I mean, I could sort of see it working on the populous masses of a world that follows standard-ish Ministorum traditions and teachings if a Decreeist were making grand announcements from the Governor's balcony surrounded by a choir of cherubim and an army of preachers - but as far as a Decreeist turning up at a door in an Inquisitor game and ordering "You there - open this door in the name of the Emperor" (which to me seems reasonably "mundane" as orders go)...

... that seems a lot less likely. For example, a character like the aformentioned Silva Birgen is a cynical, short-tempered, stubborn and barely-religious veteran who has been a trusted agent of (and partner to) an Inquisitor for many years. Her being awestruck just because she's nominally "an Imperial character" just doesn't fit.

It's also really quite difficult on the GM to keep a scenario balanced around that kind of thing. Compelling other characters to obey is the kind of thing far better suited to something involves actual rolling - persuasion tests, a psychic power, that kind of thing.

[mcjomar]

Based on your description  I'd say that true grit would be more applicable based on how I've  tried to write him up.
I'd be inclined to maybe swap out hipshooting for dead eye shot also.
To replace heroic...
Tricky to say. This is his low key equipment/model but i think abilities should be tied to the individual character as i see them being ways to flavour who a character is as well as what skills they have. I'd be tempted to give him a melee ability as well. Not sure though.

E
Okay skills updated. I think dead eye shot and true grit are pretty fitting. I sort of think first strike also works. Thoughts?