Inquisitorial Aide Commander Elva Bullen's Warband

[Elva]

First entry is of course the fearless leader. I just wrote this up and I am really exited about it. I would mull it over in my head longer, but life's short and I'm sure you guys will catch onto any errors faster than I will, plus its been ages since I've posted a character, and the campaign's coming up fast. Again, another ocean world, and there are some aspects that have remained concrete from previous drafts, which are not all posted on the 'clave as I have ended my impulsive posting spree . This is my final attempt at Elva(I can hear your weary cheers), and it hits the nail on the head for the most part so it should only take minor tweaking at most to make it just right.

I will post the other characters for the warband on the same thread, notably Kaede and Church. Kaede just needs to be made compatible with this backstory(not much will change) and is otherwise the exact same as when i first posted her. Church will be next, all I can say so far is he's a hardass enforcer most likely from another ocean world, but we'll see how it goes.

Thanks for your patience, and without further delay, here is the rough final copy for Commander Elva Bullen.

Inquisitorial Aide Commander Elva Bullen

History

Elva was born on the utopia world of Etrian to a wealthy spice merchant family. Etrian is a diverse world known for its luxury goods and scenic splendor. With a large tropical ocean covering most of its surface, the planet's settlements are dotted along its many islands and archipelagoes. The planet however, was once an advanced hub of technology long before the Imperium laid claim outside of Terra. Unfortunately, during a large seismic earthquake, the great technological archive was sunk beneath the sea along with many other planetary beacons of civilization. The survivors began from rebuilding scratch and still have yet to recover, standard Imperial las technology is worth four times its weight in gold on an average market.

Many attempts have been made to salvage the ancient ruins, but with little success due to lack of technology and the many denizens of the deep taking roost in their fabled locations; you try shooting a Clam-Snail with a soaked blunderbuss. However, though it may be technologically inferior to the rest of the Imperium, Etrian holds many cultural and economic achievements that make it widely known throughout its sector, to which millions have attempted to flee to in hoping of a fresh start. This lead to the local Confederate government imposing strict isolationalist laws on everything except out flowing trade, which are widely followed and enforced as the need for the planet's highly sought goods is truly immense.

Elva's early life was spent either in her family's home off the coast of the Tritun trading port or on one of her family's many trading frigates. It was on one such of these journeys that the small flotilla did not show up to port long after it had been scheduled to arrive. Her father's trade empire had a strong influence the economics in the hemisphere, not to mention the fact that that such a heavily armored merchant fleet had gone missing, so the Confederacy requested assistance from the orbital Imperial Guard Garrison in the search effort.

Elva was found to be the only survivor, as she had managed to make it to a small island that was spotted by an overhead Valkyrie gunship. As it turned out, the fleet had gotten on the wrong side of a pod of pollydogs, a semi-intelligent native xeno species with a primitive tribal structure.
Once she had recovered from her ordeal, Elva was thrust the burden of her father's company, which overwhelmed the fifteen year old extremely, so she transferred the control and revenue to funding the planetary defense force as a thank-you for saving her life. This earned her much respect and even an honorary commission if she ever got the incline to go off world.

The girl spent a few years in a middleclass residence before her slowly developing lust for adventure brought her to sell her house and take up work as a hired gun on several dangerous sabotage missions between rival trading companies. She also went on hunting expeditions for dangerous wildlife products such as giant clam shells and mancatcher leaves.

While the young merc was earning her keep, tensions between the three competing trade giants had reached an all time high. Thousands of tones of valuable goods where lost or stolen in these brutal economic conflicts and sabotage and corruption ran rampant. The only stable means of income where either profiteering or serving in frontline action for one faction or another.

At this point, for the first time in generations, a major Imperial military presence was made on the surface to try and contain the conflict and reinstate the profitable trade. Elva, spying an opportunity, took up the offer made to her years earlier and became an Imperial Captain and provided valuable Intel on the situation. During such time, two of the three monopolizing companies where "shut down" by the Imperial authorities for several acts of aggression and attempted bribery, which lead to an entire Imperial takeover and monitoring of all major transactions and economic dealings.

Elva, now quite well known for her role in the stabilization (and involvement in the problem in the first place), was put in charge of the capitol Garrison where the local Confederacy was allowed to continue with a close Imperial presence.

Years later, Elva, now a Lieutenant Colonel, was in her office when an aide dropped some files on her desk. They where orbital images of a recent survey of an opening caused by an earthquake not two weeks earlier. They revealed what looked like a labyrinth, and the only known one lead to the ruins of the ancient technological archives. The officer, her ambition now stimulated, began to organize an expedition to find the legendary vault and secure its prizes.

However, she was not the only one to hear of the discovery. Inquisitor __________, for his name does not exist, had found records in the great library that it contained what seemed to be Xenoid technology. His timing impeccable as always, _________ showed up at the docks with a bodyguard of five space marines lead by Battle Brother Beligus and assumed command of the expedition, with the local authority's assistance of course.

It took several days, but eventually they managed to make their way through the thick of the labyrinth. _________ was most interested with the young commander, her air of command and confidence proved strong aspects of her personality despite her tendency to do things "her way", though it usually provided acceptable results.

The great archive was found in an undersea air pocket; hence exploration was easier than anticipated. The legends told of a grand archive of technology and knowledge, they did it little justice. It was the find of a millennium. Technology from several space fairing races, as well as different pre-Imperial empires lead to the conclusion that even before its fall and rebuilding; Etrian was a hub of culture and trade. After the cleansing of the local wildlife began, more and more archeo tech was found and the dig became a full scale excavation.

Elva was rewarded by the gift of an ancient holy symbol of a crying eye that could not be dated yet showed no malicious properties. She was also offered the position of Inquisitorial Aide to _________, meaning she'd lead a team of her own on investigations on behalf of _________ as he did not like to be on the front lines in his aging state if he could help it.

Since her recent promotion, Elva has been doing small scale investigations on behalf of _________, however several prominent Eldar Xenos have been hounding her trail, seeking something that she carries. Though, when dealing with one of _________'s subordinates, the hunters usually become the hunted.

Personality

Elva has faith in her abilities, they got her this far, and farther if she plays her cards right. Confidence is key, even when she is bluffing, for without deception, there is no strategy. She tends to carry out orders with her own interpretations; the job will get done the same in the end anyways.

She is very down to earth and deals with her problems in a logical and orderly manner, though she can improvise if the circumstances change.

Physical Description

Elva is tall, six-foot-two and has a short shaggy mane of spikey blonde hair. Her eyes are a soul piercing steel blue and her frame is tall and elegant, though on the frail side. She wears her scarlet uniform that her father's company's small private army used to wear.

Equipment and Combat Notes

Elva carries a standard guard issue power sword and a las rifle that she stole from a rather bountiful shipment during her mercenary days. Her love for energy weapons is truly evident in her plasma pistol which she received along with her saber upon joining the guard.

In a combat situation, she uses her skills learned on boarding ships on the high seas by using cover and giving suppressing fire until she can get close to the target for melee. . She is a fast thinker and can judge a situation in almost an instant. She often curses when nearly missed or nearly hit, though few could comprehend her vocabulary if she was ever to be seriously wounded.

The commander is wary of using more technology than she has to, as she grew up on a simple world in such respects and prefers to rely on her own aptitude if she can help it.


Commander Elva Bullen

WS BS S T   I Wp Sg Nv Ld
70 69 46 38 76 63 72 89 82

Elva is right handed.

Equipment: Custom Cadian Pattern las rifle (counts as necromunda pattern), Plasma Pistol, Power sword, 1 las clip and one plasma core (should the situation require more dead people in a small amount of time), Carapace shoulder pads on both arms (6 points).

Abilities: Leader, Lightning reflexes.

[MarcoSkoll]

Elva was born on the utopia world of Etrian to a wealthy spice merchant family.

Is this spice, or "spice"? (Spice being quite common sci-fi slang for "recreational substances".)

Elva, spying an opportunity, took up the offer made to her years earlier and became an Imperial Captain and provided valuable Intel on the situation.

More likely, she'd start as a Lieutenant - she's still pretty young, so she's unlikely to be given a higher commissioned rank. Promotions can come later.

Inquisitor __________, for his name does not exist

Nice idea, but people would still come up with a way of referring to him. Think "The Artist Formerly Known as Prince" for an example - if you give someone no name (or a name they can't use), then people will find a name for it.

This might simply be a simple letter ("Inquisitor M") or some mysterious codename ("Red Shadow"), but they'd have something more useful than "________".
Of course, his subordinates may just simply know him as "The Inquisitor".

~~~~~

Now, as far as statline... I'd say that the combination of WS, BS & I is on the generous side, all being around or above 70 - but the S & T are very low for someone who's supposed to be a 6' 2" soldier (Characters with Toughness below 40 and little armour tend to last until they first get hit, then go out from system shock).
I would also say the Nv is a little on the high side. We're talking suicidally brave there.

She's pure "glass cannon" material. The stats and equipment to shred enemies in one (both at range and in CC), but will probably get taken out of the game the first time she's hit. That's going to make her completely unpredictable, so I'd suggest you need to fix that.

[DapperAnarchist]

I like the idea of him just being called The Inquisitor - with the possibility that the people of Etrian, and other worlds he has taken responsibility for, don't know there are other Inquisitors, just that this man is the direct appointee of the Emperor (which he is, legally. Just not actually).

On the armour - I usually count partial armour as half the value a complete covering of the same material would be. So, Armour Value 6 from a shoulder pad for me would mean the character is wearing a Terminator Shoulder Pad. However, that's just my take.

[Elva]

Ah yes, spice, I wondered if someone would bring that up. I was thinking it would be literally spice, as all the companies where inspired by the British East India Company, and though Opium was a major part of their income now that I think of it, I'm aiming more closer to the Napoleonic or American Revolutionary eras, so ya, basic harmless spice that makes food all the more tasty.

On the issue of the rank, I think its not too much of an issue, considering she had combat experience and did the local guard a huge favor, but I'll think it over when I get a chance.

The Inquisitor formerly known as (insert cool name here), that might just have potential haha. I will give it some thought for his alias, and I will do my best to make it mysterious.

Stats....

Glass cannon you say? I was trying to make her skilled, after fighting on the decks wooden ships for a few years I thought that would do the job, but it has been awhile and I'll go over this issue asap.

She is 6'2", but she is frail, maybe 40 would be a bit more easy to deal with yet still keep the stats reflective?

On the initiative and NV, she is a fast thinker and I was aiming for her to be quick and have a good reaction time, the nerve I can see, I guess I went overboard trying to make it reflect her confidence. Could you suggest some more reasonable numbers that would reflect that? I think my conclave standard reference is flawed.

that idea for the armour makes a lot of sense, I will see to it personally.

[MarcoSkoll]

Glass cannon you say?

Pretty much. A "glass cannon" is the concept of something that's very powerful, but breaks very easily - and that's going to be what you get with that statline.

She is 6'2", but she is frail, maybe 40 would be a bit more easy to deal with yet still keep the stats reflective?

"Frail" doesn't work for a 6' 2" character who has that kind of WS - that kind of martial skill takes time to earn, and effort to maintain. And combat training is good physical exercise, so even her strength isn't of note, it'll at least be respectable.

I'd say around 50 is fine - still low for a "fighty" character. She still won't get any S or T bonuses, but will be a little harder to put out of the game.
T 40 means a system shock value of 8 (and only a low chance to pass the SS test) - ignoring armour, a single stubber (using the LRB's 2D6+2) shot has a 43% chance of putting her straight out of the game on SS alone.
With T 50, that chance is ~21%.

You may not want her super tough, but with T 40, her average "life expectancy" in game would be about two hits. She'd also take a lot more injury levels than most, and would have a low chance of successful healing actions.
Even characters I want to be a bit of a glass cannon usually have toughness values of high-ish 40s - my opponent should at least have to do SOME work to stop them.

with the possibility that the people of Etrian, and other worlds he has taken responsibility for, don't know there are other Inquisitors.

Interesting. It could even be that people have met other Inquisitors, but just assume them to be "The Inquisitor".
After all, it's unlikely that anyone other than big names on these worlds (the governors and heads of other organisations) would ever be likely to see two of them to know they were different.

[Elva]

I can see the issue with her toughness more clearly now. I think 30 is way out of the question now . Reflecting on the stats and Elva's concept, I would agree that it would be more fair for her to have a higher toughness, I guess the term skinny or lanky would be more appropriate, not necessarily physically meek but more condensed and tall.

Since most of her issues seem to be stemming from her stats, does anyone have a link to a more appropriate reference for the conclave standard? I think mine has outlived its usefulness.

[MarcoSkoll]

I have nothing against stats in the 30s and 40s when appropriate, but it's not a good choice for a Toughness value.
As Brother_Brimstone proved with Zophar at the Spring Conclave, characters with that kind of toughness and little armour are pretty fragile - despite the fact he had both True Grit and Regenerate, he actually "died" several times (Shot in the face, having his own pit fighter thrown at him by a Space Marine, etc). He later picked up the "Impervious" daemonic trait to help make him a little less weedy.

There's frail, and then there's frail. In many ways, while the LRB calls Initiative "probably the most important characteristic", a low toughness is the one for which a character will be really punished.

[Elva]

Understood, I will see to it.

[MarcoSkoll]

My advice for physically weaker characters is to have more of that in the S value than the T value.
If you drop below T 45, you're down to BIV 4 - which, although appropriate for some characters, is risky. And below T 43, you're down to a SS value of 8.

As Strength's uses in game are largely limited to damage bonuses and dropping weapons (over heavy weapons are rare and usually quite small penalties - and other S tests are pretty unusual), a value of 40 or less is more of an inconvenience than a real problem, and makes for a weak - but not completely brittle - character.