Assassin-Inquisitors

[Papewaio]

Hey all, long time no see!

I'm still struggling to finalise a character concept, and being quite interested in the Ordo Sicarius, I'd like to get your opinions on Assassin-Inquisitors. I have the basic feeling that they would be powerful, yes, but what do you think about them being actually played as? I'm toying with the idea of a failed Operative that was taken on by a more senior Inquisitor as he saw him as too valuable to lose if the concept of a straight Assassin-Inquisitor would be too much

[Koval]

Inquisitors that specialise in covert ops and have assassin training aren't especially troublesome -- there must be quite a few that start off as guns for hire, bounty hunters, et cetera, and Dark Heresy: Ascension specifically allows for this -- although taking a Temple Assassin and turning them into an Inquisitor would be a slight problem. Turning a Temple Assassin into an Inquisitor isn't that far removed from the Storm Trooper thing on the Dark Millennium board, only more extreme because by and large, the Temples tend to turn their operatives into indoctrinated agents that can do their job extremely well, with anything else typically being surplus to the Assassin's requirements.

So by and large, a Temple Assassin -- even one that's somehow screwed something up -- would be too valuable to lose, as you point out, but valuable to the High Lords and to their temple (unless "screwed up" implies something over which it's worth killing the Assassin, in which case he's not that useful to anyone).

I don't, however, see much wrong with this "Assassin-Inquisitor" provided he comes from outside the Temples. It's not a direction I'd take (the closest I have prefers collateral damage and straight-up murder to assassin-tactics) but there's fundamentally nothing wrong with an Inquisitor styling himself as an assassin.

[Kaled]

I don't know if you've seen it, but there's an article on the Ordo Sicarius in the Skoll archive - it's called 'Bringers of Death'.

[Alyster Wick]

I agree with Koval, temple assassins should be off limits. They are such specialized assets that I would consider it in the same vein as Space Marine Inquisitors (which would be a total no-go).

Your concept of taking a character that was trained up to an incredibly high level but failed to be good enough to be a full-on assassin is good though. I've toyed with similar thoughts. Since Temple Assassins must be able to operate at their absolute physical peak and also have bodies receptive to all manner of chemical and bionic enhancements it makes sense that not everyone who "tries out for the team" will make it.

Some of these people are sure to be lobotomized and turned into servitors but the Temple needs support staff (and capable ones at that). A failed Temple adept will still be a more lethal killer than most soldiers in the Imperium. If they have a brilliant mind as well there will be a place for them within the organization.

That leads to the possibility of being drafted by a Sicarius Agent (through much intrigue of course).

I think it's perfectly plausible (though should be extremely rare). That said, while nothing I said goes against canon that I've ever seen it does involve some expanding of what's there (though I don't think there are any major leaps taken).

[Papewaio]

I wasn't meaning a Temple assassin - too much fluff conflict to make it work. My basic premise is to have an Assassin-Inquisitor as a member of the Ordo Sicarius. As I understand it, Sicarius Inquisitors have generalist assassins at their disposal, and what I am toying with is a (most likely) failed assassin-in-training, whose mental and personal traits make them valuable to a Sicarius Inquisitor. Said Inquisitor eventually makes the failed assassin an Interrogator, and then the fun begins.

What do you think, workable? Maybe?

[Dolnikan]

That could work, Inquisitors of all kinds have a tendency to employ assassins who are not from the temples, they might not be as effective as the rather rare Temple ones, but they still are a very useful tool. It seems likely to me that some groups of inquisitors would set up their own training programs to get their killers, who would be trained to be very, very deadly. Of course, such a program would still have its failures, especially in individuals who are, well, individuals, who refuse they obey without question. These would make fine material for the Inquisition.