Torturer - Character help requested!

[Molotov]

I'm still playing around with concepts for this retinue, so this won't be the most detailed topic as-is. This is the retinue of Inquisitor Ferox, a Recongregator/Istvaanian (the player isn't totally sure just yet) who likes to manipulate things from the shadows whilst his trusted agents/tools do his work.

One of the models I created whilst fiddling around with INQ28 concepts was this guy. The Witch-Hunters codex makes clear how useful the torturer can be to the Inquisition, and my player asked if he could have the character for his retinue. Fine by me, I figured.

He's a player in my group that's always been into the rules side of games. The first time we brushed with Inquisitor he came up with quite powerful characters. He's competitive and likes to win in 40k, Necromunda, etc. With that said, with a lot of peer pressure from the group he's settled down and has begun to enjoy the characterful side of things, though he's not that hot on the minutiae of the background, instead being a bit of a wiki-surfer.

The background he's come up with for his torturer is that he was a Surgeon on a hive world who offered his skills to the noble houses. A politician rose to prominence on the world based on a platform of economic and social reform. He was seriously injured in an assassination attempt (broadly believed to have been sponsored by the Imperial establishment.) and this particular surgeon spent several hours operating to remove bullet fragments and stabilise his condition. Although the surgery was successful, the patient inexplicably died several hours later. The Governor's Enforcers held an abbreviated investigation into the politician's death and it was found that the Surgeon was guilty of deliberate malpractice, having used unsterilised equipment during the procedure. The Surgeon found that disputing the verdict was of little use; whilst he was convinced he'd been falsely accused (or even framed), he was sentenced to serve in the Penal Legions made up of criminals from his world.

In the Legions he used his abilities and skills to patch up his fellow convicts as they were wounded. It was all for nought, however; they would recover, simply to be sent to their deaths on the next battlefield. He began to see how futile his efforts were when confronted with the uncaring face of Imperial bureaucracy and the justice it dispensed. It was during his time in the penal legions that he learned to use a gun, combining it with his knowledge of anatomy to maim the enemy. His skills were even put to use in extracting information from captured soldiers.

He was found by one of Inquisitor Ferox's agents, dispatched to find suitable tools to accomplish his goals. The Surgeon, having been wronged by the Imperium, was willing to right the injustices and even the score.

Ideally I'm after feedback on two issues.

Firstly, I'm keen to showcase his anatomical knowledge and medical expertise. I've roughed out a skill that I've called Anatomist:

"A student of the human form, the Torturer is able to direct his blows to disable or to maim rather than to kill. Against human foes, he gains the Deadeye Shot ability. This bonus does not apply to forms he has not studied; it would be useless against the bizarre xenoforms of the Tyranids, for example."

I had considered allowing him to also score critical hits in close combat as with the Blademaster ability, but wasn't really sure.

Secondly, I wanted to make use of the Injector device that the model is carrying. I had considered basing it off the Scythian Venom Talon's rules, but allowing the Torturer to spend two actions to change the toxin if he wished. The model has a pouch with a bunch of phials, and I thought that would be quite appropriate.

Any recommendations or advice would be most welcome!

[Adlan]

Something from the Judicious Remit might be useful, they come to mind when I see the model:

Pain-needles
(A simple interrogation tool)
Acolytes, particularly Interrogators, are
skilled at questioning people, and forcing
answers out of them. Their methods range
from threats to Unimaginable Torture, but one
of their most effective, and most common tools
are the ubiquitous pain needles.
Pain needles are long slender silvery pins,
attached by micro wires to a control pack, a
prisoner must be restrained for them to be
applied.
A typical case of needles will allow for up to
D6+2 distinctly different 'levels' of pain. They
are typically stowed easily in little more than a
secure fabric wrap and pocket or holster. The
needles send signals directly to the nervous
system, causing excruciating pain. Any person
who is questioned while a trained operator uses
the needles is at a -45 (or other suitable
modifier) to any test to resist answering. GMs
should determine what can be done in any
particular action.
The Needles can also be used as an improvised
weapon, if any un-armoured location is hit the
target is stunned for D3 turns as a massive
shock is delivered to their nerves.
Stimuli-applicators
(An interrogation tool more advanced than
pain needles, often incorporated into bionics,
glaives, bucklers and mechadendrite-like
implements. Suitable for a variety of stimuli
additionally including pleasure, warmth, cold,
numbness etc)
A substantially more advanced variant of pain
needles, they come in far more wider styles
and settings, with each set often custom made
and modified to the specifications of it's
owner. The various different designs range
from pain needles with far superior individual
variance units, to entire body suits.
They manipulate the senses of the victim in a
far more subtle way than pain needles, able to
create sensations of warmth or cold, water or
fire. Any person who is questioned or
otherwise subjected to the applicators is at -60
to any test to resist an interrogator. Clearly the
GM should feel free to alter this depending on
both the skill of the interrogator and the
training or ability of the subject and any other
suitable factors.


Anatomist sounds fine, and a nice character concept.

[Tullio]

I don't see anything wrong with that, it's a little dubious about whether Penal Legion troopers would get any medical attention worth a damn, but I suppose that can be argued back and forth ad nauseam. I wouldn't give him the critical hit rule though - Anatomist works just fine as it is, by the look of it. Insofar as the syringe is concerned, I reckon counting it as a poisoned knife would work quite well

Tullio