Quelli Santificati

[Kaled]

What do you mean about 'gained distrust', is that something that's meant to be added to the personality?

I assume he's referring to the psychology rules from Dark Magenta issue 1.

[GAZKUL]

@Alta: yeah it's the psychology from DM 1, - 1 speed to all allies within 10 as they have to keep an eye on him.

@Darksinger: they'll all get a game at some point, though max 4 at a time, who's on will depend on the briefing.

[GAZKUL]

Felt like doing an inquisitor, he's had a fair bit of influence of recent games as an NPC in the past, the stats are pretty high to represent a fairly experienced and respected inquisitor and the fact that in games he would usually operate alone, though occasionally he might have a couple of Santificati acting as a makeshift retinue, not 100% sure about how to work the untouchable thing so feedback would be appreciated. Distrust is largely to do with the Purgings of the Inquisition and that fact that he epitomises the Ordo Heriticus stereotype that he may be there to kill a rogue psyker but there is a large chance that he's there for you.

Early Years:
Born Jul'Bok on the volcanic world of Nocturne, home of the Salamanders Space Marine chapter, Inquisitor Kain was ordinary in just about every way, unlike his elder brother who would go on to become Sergeant Jin'Torr of the Salamanders III company. Kain lacked his brother's skill and strength and was largely ignored by his sibling whom he envied, while his brother practiced the arts of the forge and honed his skill with a blade Kain would wander the volcanic deserts of their barren homeworld alone, constantly dreaming of a better life and to be recognised for who he was. Had it not been for an uprising on the nearby world of Gusk then he might well have died alone and forgotten in the wasteland, as every able bodied man was mustered to go to the aid of the embattled world Kain was drafted into the PDF to fight the forces of chaos. During the purging of that ill fated planet it came to light that Kain was a psychic blank, as during several attacks by the forces of Tzeench the foes who detected their targets by their warp presence didn't attack the young man who opposed them. During one such attack the Istvaanian Inquisitor and noted untouchable Rammerstein saw the foes struggle to detect Kain and he recognised at once a fellow blank. It is unknown as to whether this factor alone contributed to Kain becoming Acolyte to the Inquisitor or whether it was just one of many but by the time Gusk was cleansed Rammerstein and Kain had long since gone. Private Jul'Bok, Nocturne PDF was declared MIA 231.905.M41, that day he dropped his birth name and took up the name Kain after one of the founders of the Istvaanian theology.

Latter years:
Little is known of Kain during his apprentiship to the notorious Inquisitor Rammerstein but he emerged nearly thirty years later as a full Inquisitor of the Ordo Heriticus. He has gained a reputation as a cunning and shrewd individual who specialises in killing and capturing targets by any means necessary and is a trusted servant of Lord Inquisitor Jarl Drakenberg who personally approved his promotion to Inquisitor. He retains strong ties to Rammerstein and the two have worked together on many missions since Kain's promotion, recently they have been part of a purging of the Inquisition from within, finding and killing corrupt Inquisitors from across the Ordos. Kain's loyalty to the Imperium is unquestionable and in a career of more than a century has proved his fanatical devotion to the Emperor by purging both internal and external threats with extreme prejudice.

Appearance:
Kain has adopted a similar uniform to Rammerstein in a black cloak concealing power armour, his face is hidden by a mask of human bone coated with silver, giving him a demonic appearance which strikes fear into the hearts of those he hunts. His weapon of choice is an axe with the double headed eagle of the Imperium forged from finest steel as its head, a bolt pistol is concealed beneath his cloak as a secondary weapon.
Inquisitor Kain, Ordo Heriticus
WS             BS                 S               T                I              sg       wp                nv       ld
81              62                 65              70              66            68      75                  88       55

Wargear: Power armour on all locations exept head, Mask (2 pts armour to head), thick cloak, bolt pistol, Great Axe.

Special Abilities: Untouchable, Fearsome, Distrust, Word of the Emperor. 

[Kaled]

not 100% sure about how to work the untouchable thing so feedback would be appreciated

You'll find rules for pariahs in the article on Sgt Black, or there are rules for blunts in the article on the Tau Water Caste - you can use one of those, or a variation, depending on just how untouchable he is.

[GAZKUL]

just read through the rules for distrust, not that happy with how they work though so......

Alternate version: Untrustworthy- any ally, including members of thier warband are at -1 speed when within 8 of the untrustworthy character.

[GAZKUL]

Did this one purely for fun and to experiment with old characters, I see him as being 800+ age wise, about equivalent to someone in their 90s. possibly a mission objective or a character who accompanies a younger inquisitor as an advisor.  Again feedback'd be appreciated.

Extract from report "Great Inquisitors of the 41st Millennium"

..........One of the most influential Inquisitors of the early and mid 41st millennium was a man known as Drakenberg, his origins are lost so I am forced to start this brief history of a man with his reappearance into our records, It was on Calydith X that the traitorous General Borchis was brought to justice at the hands of an Inquisitor of the Ordo Heriticus who had been investigating leaked information and the disappearance of Acolyte Avus as a junior member of the Conclave of Inquisitor Scorpio. Since this incident Drakenberg's rise to power was steady, gaining the respect of allies from across the Ordos. Eventually he gained the position of Lord Inquisitor of the Ordo Heriticus on the planet of Bellis Corona where he lives today. In his twilight years he was responsible for the founding of the Istvaan Institute, a branch of the Scholar Primogenarium, set up to school and care for the children of Inquisitors and bodyguards of the Ordo Heriticus. Now an old man Drakenberg retains his position in the Inquisition though he now leaves most of the field work for more able men and looks after the extensive library of the Institute and acts more as an advisor to other Inquisitors who seek his wisdom on many issues. Of his abilities the most remarkable are his Powerful resistance to Psychic attack which is of a strength unrecorded without of the Culexus Assasinorium, though his era is long gone he remains a potent force in the sector as he commands immense respect from all..........

WS         BS           S           T            I                sg           wp              nv              ld
19          15           20          21         11               99            85              92              103

Wargear: robe (I point armour all locations except head), walking stick (improvised weapon) advanced bionic lungs, average bionic leg.

Special: Omega Minus, Old, Ultimate Leader, Force of Will.

Omega Minus: follows normal rules for Pariahs, however  the range for his area of blankness is 15 and the penalty is 60%, in addition demons are on -60 to detect him, Psykers must make a wp test if within 5 of him, if test is failed their wp is reduced by the amount the test was failed by.

Old: the character is well and truly past their prime, the character may not move faster than walk, and is on -1yards to all movement, all hits on them count as critical and shots are treated a lucky shots, the character may not dodge or block in close combat.

[Kaled]

I seem to recall a piece somewhere saying that the Imperium could prolong someone's lifespan to about 400, and that there were some magi of the AdMech who had managed to extend their life to around the 800 mark, but that they were no longer truly human or wholly sane.

On that basis I think this guy is overdone on the age front. Also his mental stats seem a bit too high, especially his leadership which is superhuman. Is he really still that good a leader? His initiative on the other hand is too low - I'd make him speed 3, add that to he other rules to represent his age and he's still pretty slow and frail. He's had a long life, so has probably forgotten more than some other Inquisitors learn, but I think it would be good to see a rule to represent his mind not being as sharp as it once was. Maybe his mental stats should vary depending whether it's one of his good days.

I'd also expect to see him with a bit better equipment - nothing too powerful, just some things he'd have collected over the years - maybe a couple of digital-weapons and a rosarius (due to his connections with the ecclesiarchy). Or how about a cherubim to do his bidding.

[GAZKUL]

He's written as a non-combatant therefore the lack of weapons, i may add a servo skull or an attendant, possible a member of the adminastorium to accmopany him.

age is based on the lifespan extending technology plus the age distorting effects of lots of warp travel but i realise it's a bit much, reduced to about 500.

speed 3!? that'd be fast for a non combatant in the prime of thier life!! let alone someone who's well and truly past it. i though an I of 20'd be too fast. He may have been a good inquisitor in his day but his day was 100 plus years ago.

i'll reduce his leadership a bit and try and come up with something to represnt a lack of mental sharpness, though the low initiative may reflect that already. maybe his I is 11+ 2D6 or something.

cheers for the feedback, keep it coming.

[Kaled]

I hadn't realised you were including warp-time effects in his age, in that case 800 is reasonable if he's travelled a lot. Generally I assume a character's age is from his perspective rather than a straight number of years since he was born.

A speed 2 character is almost unplayable, and I'd reserve speed 3 for characters who are slower than average (such as a servitor). Combatant or not, I wouldn't make any healthy and competent character less than speed 4 - there's a big difference between an initiative 50 speed 4 character and an initiative 69 speed 4 one.

[GAZKUL]

the exact age isn't too important, though as an experienced inquisitor he'll have done more than his fair share of travelling, therefore the large age.

still not happy about having him faster than spd:2, i rarely give characters an I above 62, he's not designed to be included regularly, more of a support role, providing verbal rather than physical assistance to others okay 11 may be too low but it'd have to be lower than 30.

[Kaled]

Having played a few games with speed 2 characters I quickly decided it's just too slow, and even worse if they get injured and their speed drops lower. Better IMHO to use other rules, such as reduced movement rates, to slow characters down - otherwise it's hard for them to have any effect on the game.

Why restrict yourself to initiatives under 62? (And why such a randomn number?) Higher speeds are often appropriate for more decisive characters - I tend to think of Speed as decisiveness and Initiative as reactions, agility, dexterity etc. It's unfortunate that the rules make one dependent on the other.

[MarcoSkoll]

As an addendum to what Kaled said about rejuve, my personal rule of thumb is that it perhaps lengthens lifespans by 4 or 5 times, with about 500 years being the absolute upper limit. (But as Kaled says, the oldest of the Adeptus Mechanicus can usually manage about as long again as most people.)

I'd point out that extra years do not sharpen the mind, so while he may have lots of knowledge and experience, he's probably not going to be mentally agile.
My recommendation would be to give him a lower Sg (70s at most), but halve any negative modifiers on Sg tests. That would stop him just breezing the easy tests, but means that when it comes to something really hard, his experience and weight of knowledge shine through.

I'd also give him less dismal physical stats. By the time someone has reached "rejuve old age", it's practically a given that anything that hasn't been replaced with bionics is at least augmetically enhanced, so while they'll not be a equal for the younger characters, they'll not be like what we expect someone in their 80-90s to be like.

His physical performance is no longer solely dependent on his ageing organic parts. Electromusclature, ceramic bone welds, dataic nerves, cardiac fibrous infusion, retinal plating, Atlas injectors, haemoglobic polarising and resonant neural boosters (Yes, I just made all those terms up) - all of these mean that Inquisitors never suffer the worst extremes of old age as we would, retaining some mobility right up until their final death.
Which will probably be a pretty rapid demise, a couple of weeks at most (with little chance of spending them anywhere other than in a bed), with the deterioration of their organic parts finally beyond what can be compensated for.

So, he'd probably still be able to maintain physical stats in the 30s and low 40s.

There is also the gameplay reason that toughness 21 is so low as to make even someone sneezing in his direction a threat. I've talked about the logarithmic nature of Inquisitor stats before, and how different factors multiply up to make it so that changes in stats can make much bigger differences on the table.
This is particularly true with Toughness, and values lower than 40 make any character particularly frail (mostly by reducing the damage needed for system shock and the chance of passing any SS test). Even my weakest PCs are unlikely to be below T45.
Frail characters are better represented with a modest toughness and a low strength. That low strength means they'll take more knockback and drop weapons more often, so it does have a bearing on how they react to damage.

For that reason, I'd recommend putting his toughness around 40. He'll still go down really easily, with a lifetime of perhaps two hits, but at least he won't get hit by a thrown pebble then spend the next two turns bleeding to death. His strength will probably be in the 30s.
That's higher than what I would give most 90 year olds, but like I said, he won't be like a typical 90 year old.

On the note of Initiative... yeah, Spd 2 is really slow, and interminable if they take any speed penalty at all.
Again, my point about his physical state stands - Spd 2 would serve a genuine 90 year old fine, but it's unlikely here.
As far as typical Speed values amongst my group, non-combatants range between low Spd 3 and low Spd 4, and combatants between Spd 4 and 6. Avoid using Spd 5-6 too often, but once or twice in a warband is fine.

[GAZKUL]

@Kaled: i don't like having fast characters for the simple reason that when watching movies and reading books i love the slow and brutish characters, also as most of my mob are Guardsmen high Initiative values don't usually go well background wise.

Criticism has been taken and heeded, WS, BS, S, T, I have been put into the 30's or low 40's, SG is now 74, Ld is in the early 90's to show the immense repect he commands.

A number of attendants are in progress, a Samurai bodyguard, an adminastorium scribe and a local servent to form a small retinue, i'll put them on over the next few days.

[MarcoSkoll]

@Kaled: i don't like having fast characters for the simple reason that when watching movies and reading books i love the slow and brutish characters

The "slow and brutish" archetype is likely to lose its meaning if you have everyone as slow and brutish.

I like many types of character, but without a foil to play the part of a non-badass, a non-genius or "that kinda pudgy guy", then you can't throw the real badasses, geniuses or muscled characters into relief.
As such, I don't write just what my favourites are, because it would give me only a limited array of characters who didn't have the contrast to define them - to make them what I want them to be.

Characters need distinction from each other, and you can't have the slow and brutish unless you have something for them to be slow and brutish in comparison to.

Besides, if you don't dabble in other things, you'll never give yourself the chance to find out how fun it is to play all those other types of characters...

also as most of my mob are Guardsmen high Initiative values don't usually go well background wise.

I don't see why. Multiple years of combat experience means that a veteran guardsman could comfortably be Speed 5.

[GAZKUL]

Markoskoll you put it perfectly, experiments to come. 

As a huge fan of japanese samurai movies, in particular kurusawa films such as yojimbo and rashemon the temptation to provide Drakenberg with a feudal worlder bodyguard was too much......

Mamoru Hagane

A proud soldier from the feudal world of Heishi, Mamoru served the Warlord Kaji Kazuki for many years before he was employed as a bodyguard for the noted Lord Inquisitor Drakenberg. His loyalty to the Inquisitor is unflinching and he is a strong protector for his aging master who has retired from active service to act as a diplomat and advisor to less experienced men. 

He wears the traditional armour of his homeworld and carries an extraordinarily large katana with which is skill is unparalleled.

WS                BS              S       T      I       SG        WP         NV         LD     
87                 10              76      65    66     42          63          60            42

Wargear: Plate armour (4 armour to all locations except head), open helmet, bastard sword, knife.

Special Abilities: First strike, bodyguard (Drakenberg)

Bodyguard: follows rules for compassion, in addition if the character he is protecting is attacked he gains the furious charge ability when targeting the attacker. If the character he is protecting is killed then the bodyguard counts as frenzied until the killer is dead.