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Golgath, the Blood Nomad

Started by Alyster Wick, July 23, 2011, 12:58:58 AM

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Alyster Wick

Dapper and I had been batting ideas around about topless CSMs a while back and I finally got a little bit written up about my guy. I have plans for the model and I in the process of writing rules but I have the background written up here. As a preview though I'm planning to have the daemon-weapon have more characterful properties as opposed to just making it really really dangerous. I also went to great lengths to give a very characterful account of the strained relationship between wielder and weapon.


Golgath, the Blood Nomad, the Iron Stake of Seti 9

   Golgath was spawned in the birthing pits of Medrenguard, splitting wide the foul creature which conceived him with his brutish form. Never truly a child, he was fitted for a servo-harness while slick with viscous fluid of his delivery and sent to the infernal city-factory of Blood Reach. His early years were spent splitting leech ore with a blast hammer or loading behemoth shells into siege guns to feed Medrenguard's eternal war.
   While a hulking monstrosity to be sure, it was not his size or savagery that set him apart but his ability to hear the faint whispers of the warp. Presumed one of the innumerable insane by the wicked overseers of Blood Reach he would constantly chitter to himself, seemingly unaware of the neural lashes scouring his misshapen back. Indeed he would have been left to an invisible fate toiling until his broken body was processed in the vast lipid silos of the cursed daemon world if it weren't for the attentions of the Lords of Iron.
   A creature of septic hatred with strength to match, Golgath's education came through words spoken on the edge of hearing as his own mind was supplanted by the cruel intellect of the Iron Maw. At ten years of age he turned on his masters during the siege of Hydronus Sump Hive, tearing the shear arm from Overseer Taark and using the appendage as a brutal axe to slaughter his way through bound mutants and warped technomancer alike.
   Noticing a chink in his perfectly orchestrated firing line, Warsmith Vrasus sent his lieutenant Vorn to investigate. While a fierce combatant Golgath proved no match for the ancient and warped astartes, but as Vorn dragged the mutant in chains before his lord Vrasus recognized the damned intellect of the warp behind his slate-black eyes. Golgath had been touched by the dark gods and it would be foolish not to harness such a prize.
   Within a fortnight Golgath was dragged into the foul lair of the Apothecarion Infernus and he emerged a black demi-god of hate. If Golgath had been a giant before then he now stood as a living idol to his other worldly sponsors. Wreathed in an obsidian-dark shell dyed the color of frozen blood his was a savage vision whose face screamed of holocaust.
   For decades he stalked the front lines of Medrenguard, his blood-soaked visage landing amongst the enemy like a haunted basilisk shell. During the final assaults he led the Warsmith's retinue like a roaring harbinger of eternal damnation. He cared not for victory, only for death, driven by the insane rantings of his daemonic father who watched from the pale mirror mists of the warp. Under the guidance of the Iron Maw Golgath countless souls screaming into the warp as he honed his skills of battle.
   Patiently his benefactor waited, letting Golgath perfect his craft while it search for a way off of Medrenguard. Finally it came when Vrasus used the Void Skinner mercenaries to gain air superiority in the Battle of Drune Spire. As Vrasus laid the killing blow to rival Warsmith Tezla he turned his army loose against the Void Skinners, seeking the rich harvest of hybrid alien craft.
   Seeing his chance, the Iron Maw set Golgath upon Vrasus and used the Warsmith's death combined with the battle carnage to manifest upon the planet. The Iron Maw attacked with unbridled ferocity, tearing through mobile battle fortresses like plasma through parchment. The bloody axe of the Lords of Iron manifested itself for a mere clip-cycle, but it was more than enough.
   The battle was quick and bloody. Without Vrasus's support and reeling from the daemon's assault Vorn quickly surrendered the remaining forces. The Void Skinners were only too happy to reap the benefits of Vrasus's slaves and his technomancers greedily seized the opportunity to utilize the xenos warp-tech of their new masters.
   In time Golgath became a lord of the Void Skinners. Led by a core of traitor astartes the mercenaries had all manner of xenos scum and guard deserter fighting with them. Golgath cared little for the profits to be had but after a generation of slaughtering other servants to the dark gods in the name of Vrasus's hubris he relished the chance to kill the blind adherents to the corpse-god.
   Given a small retinue of Vrasus's deserters along with a legion of raving heretics Golgath formed the Blood Nomads. They carved up entire systems, leading the Void Skinners to reap the bounties in his bloody wake. All the while the Iron Maw smiled at the destruction wrought by his favored disciple.
   It was at the battle of Seti 9's Crystal Cathedral that Golgath finally tasted bitter defeat. Death hung over the world as the Blood Nomads lead the spear tip of the Void Skinner assault on the Imperial Shrine World. Under the Iron Maws direction Golgath paved a road of gore across the holy places of Seti 9, finally arriving at its greatest treasure, the Crystal Cathedral. A city built by forgotten means, it was a shimmering jewel in the crown of Seti.
   Golgath lead his forces in a maniac charge, barreling through the holiest places of the Crystal Cathedral to come upon the Palace of Gaul where the Iron Maw said he could drive an iron stake through the heart of the Imperial forces. He let loose a bloody laugh as the men then quickly scattered before him until he looked up to see the sky turn black.
   The Iron Maw had led him into a trap. Golgath screamed bloody rage as he saw the shells of Imperial artillery rain down upon him in a bloody crescendo to the conflict. With defiance in his eyes until the end he stood resolute even as he took a direct shot to his chest from a demolisher cannon.
   Using the blood bounty of a million slaughtered warriors the Iron Maw ripped a hole in the fabric of reality to fully manifest upon Seti 9. Molten steel rained from the sky and a full legion of guardsmen met their death at the creature's rancid birth-scream. It had been nearly twenty thousand years since his banishment from the material plain by servants of the corpse-god and he drank deep fear in the hearts of all who witnessed him.
   Raging across the city it proved an unstoppable force, consuming both Imperial and Void Skinner warriors alike. Coming upon the Imperial strongpoint however, the Iron Maw realized that Golgath had not been the only one led into a trap.
     Hidden within a circle of chained pariahs stood the Grand Inquisitor Gelt with a force of Grey Knight Terminators. It was then that the battle began in earnest. Arcane energies flew as crackling power glaives met cursed warp flesh. Mortals attempting to look upon the event were left with burnt craters for eyes and those listening were left gibbering fools.
   As the hours wore on it became clear to Gelt that even with the formidable power of the Grey Knights the Iron Maw was too strong to be banished completely. Feeling his life slipping away as the battle began tearing at his very soul Gelt turned to his Daemonologist Zekeriah Horne. When he proposed a solution to the battle Gelt nearly executed him for heresy but Horne assured him that it was the only way.
   Working quickly Horne picked up one of the discarded axes used by Golgath's savage hoard. Speaking the rights and incantations of power he blessed the object and carved sigils of binding upon its surface but a creature of the Maw's power would not be trapped easily. Taking the blessed object Gelt charged at the creature as it felled another Terminator. With the Emperor's guidance he drove the axe deep into the thing's chest. In a scream burning air the thing's essence was utterly consumed by the weapon.
   The battle for Seti 9 was over, but victory had come at a steep cost. The Crystal Cathedral lay shattered and countless soul rent asunder by the wicked daemon. Worse still, despite Horne's strongest bindings the Iron Maw's whispers hung in the air like a hallow death rattle. As they sifted through the wreckage of the Palace of Gaul an even more troubling discovery was found. At the center of a great crater the Inquisitor found the body of Golgath, his armor completely shattered above his waste. While covered in scars there was not a single fresh wound on him though his body lay lifeless. Intent on studying the phenomenon Gelt named him a black saint and had the body put in a suspension field for transport back to the Inquisitorial Fortress of Valhaus.
   Leaving immediately to secure the blasphemous objects of Golgath's body and the daemon-axe of the Iron Maw within the fortress's ether-vault Gelt left Horne to oversee the final cleansing of Seti 9. Before preparing for the warp jump aboard His Divine Flame he sent Horne a final message which proved a chilling portent of things to come.
   "The burden of this thing lies heavy upon my soul," said the Inquisitor. "No matter what happens to me, you and your family are blood bound to keep this accursed weapon and keep it from loosening itself upon the Imperium of man."
   With that he made the jump into the warp and His Divine Flame wasn't seen for almost 7 centuries. Its unique energy signature reappeared within the body of the space hulk Brazen Ghoul when it emerged into real space within the Setilian system. Its reemergence has coincided with reports of a giant wearing rags around its head with what appears to be astares armor encasing its legs. Dubbed "The Blood Nomad,"one particularly grainy image caught in the Numerian Sub-hive shows the giant with what appears to be an axe wreathed in some manner of dark-light.

Alyster Wick

Double posting with some rules. Hopefully this will spurn comments on the story as well? Apologies for the stats, turns out it's difficult to format them well and while this may not be visually appealing at least it isn't confusing.

Golgath Stats   WS: 78   BS:63   S:87(122)          T:78     I:82   WP:54   SG:49   NV:97   LD:34
             
Special Abilities:

Feral Heart (counts as Secondary Heart)
Siege Skeleton (counts as Haemastamen)
Nueral Plugs/ Muscle Jacks (counts as Black Carapace)
Mordred's Parasite (counts as Larraman's Organ)
Assault Ogre Implants (+40% S, take 1 level of damage to limbs on failed toughness test)
Furious Assault
Power through Hate*

Equipment:
Bolt-Lock Rifle   Type: Basic   Rng: J   Mode: Sg   Acc: -    Dam:X   Shots: 4   Rld: 3   Enc: 35
Power Armor (Legs and Groin)
Improvised Power Source*
The Iron Maw (Daemon Axe w/ WP 89, Daemon Bane, Bound, Iron Lord*)
2 Bolt-Lock Reloads (standard bolter ammo)

Assault Ogre Implants:
   The character's muscles have been engorged through a combination of mechanical stimulation and augmentation along with excessive ether-steroids. Sometimes the increased strength is more than the body can handle...
   The character gains +40% to their strength but should they ever fail a strength test they will suffer one injury level to one of the limbs used in the test (randomize if more than one was used). Increase the character's damage total by the minimum number needed to achieve an injury level.

Power through Hate:
   The Iron Maw's betrayal of Golgoth has created a void of pure loathing so powerful that it is rumored to have spawned its own warp entity. However, the daemon lord knows his former disciple's heart better than Golgoth himself and once the Iron Maw overwhelms Golgoth's senses his control is absolute.
   When testing against the Iron Maw daemon weapon Golgoth's WP is doubled. Once the Iron Maw has taken control of Golgoth he must test at -25% of his standard WP to regain control.

Improvised Power Source:
   Golgath has Gerry-rigged a power source to give dark energy to what remains of his power armor. Any hits to Golgath's abdomen from an appropriate angle (GM's discretion) have a 50% chance of hitting it. If the power source is hit roll a d10 on the table below adding 1 for every full 10 points of damage done by that hit and plus 1 for every hit taken by the power source during the game in question:

1-3: Minor hit- The power source blinks out and runs at half power until it automatically restarts. Golgath is at -1 to all movements and may not sprint for d3 turns.

4-5: Glancing hit- The power source takes a rattling blow which disrupts its power feed. Golgath must spend an action and pass a SG test in order to fix the power source. Once it is fixed he must wait an additional d3 turns for the power source to reboot. During this time period he is at -1 to all movements and may not sprint.

6-7: Solid hit – A solid hit permanently damages the power source. Golgath is at -1 to all movements and may not sprint for the remainder of the game.

8: Piercing hit- The power source is taken out of action. Golgath is at -1 for all movements, counts running as a risky action, may not sprint and is at -1 speed until he repairs the damage. It requires an action and a successful SG test for Golgath to repair the power source. Once repairs are complete he treats the hit as if it were a solid hit.

9: Critical hit- The power source is taken completely out of action. Golgath is at -1 for all movements, counts running as a risky action and may not sprint. He is also at -1 speed.

10: Reactive failure- Results as Critical hit but the power source explodes in a fantastic eruption of plasma. Treat it as though a plasma grenade went off with Golgath as the center.

Iron Lord:
   Within the Ether the Iron Maw is one of the high Iron Lords and his knowledge of the universe's siege machines is absolute and the lesser warmongers of his clan watch intently for an opportunity to free one of their masters and gain his favor.
   Firing any weapon at a character bearing the Iron Maw Daemon Axe is a risky action and if failed the weapon counts as jammed even if it is not a weapon that can normally jam (plasma cores sputter, las mags blink out and even master forged weapons balk). Any critical misses resolve their damage against the arm the firing character was holding the weapon with as the weapon's machine spirit rebels and detonates the ammunition within the barrel of the weapon, cause the magazine to explode or overheat, etc.
   The Iron Maw counts as a power weapon for purposes of destroying other weapons. Using power weapons against the Iron Maw is a risky action and if failed the weapon will count as its mundane version and may be destroyed by the Iron Maw as if they were a mundane weapon and the Iron Maw was a power weapon.

DapperAnarchist

I like it! The story part is BIG, lots of characters, lots of stuff I'd like to know more about - which is good. The rules seem fine, a good mix of the existing rules for Marines with a more chaotic, daemonological set of names.
Questions are a burden to others, answers a burden to oneself.

The Keltani Subsector  My P&M Thread - Most recent, INQ28!

MarcoSkoll

Quote from: Alyster Wick on August 06, 2011, 10:38:19 PMIncrease the character's damage total by the minimum number needed to achieve an injury level.
Which would be a single point, assuming you're using the standard rules. Probably better would be to have the limb take D10 damage or something.

QuoteUsing power weapons against the Iron Maw is a risky action
Risky actions don't work in close combat, because characters in combat roll their action dice before they declare actions.

Simpler would be to say it has a 20% or 25% chance of destroying power/shock/force weapons, which has about the same numerical effect if Risky actions were in play - but doesn't rely on players deliberately acting oblivious to their action roll.
S.Sgt Silva Birgen: "Good evening, we're here from the Adeptus Defenestratus."
Captain L. Rollin: "Nonsense. Never heard of it."
Birgen: "Pick a window. I'll demonstrate".

GW's =I= articles

Alyster Wick

Quote from: MarcoSkoll on August 08, 2011, 01:01:37 AM
Quote from: Alyster Wick on August 06, 2011, 10:38:19 PMIncrease the character's damage total by the minimum number needed to achieve an injury level.
Which would be a single point, assuming you're using the standard rules. Probably better would be to have the limb take D10 damage or something.

QuoteUsing power weapons against the Iron Maw is a risky action
Risky actions don't work in close combat, because characters in combat roll their action dice before they declare actions.

Simpler would be to say it has a 20% or 25% chance of destroying power/shock/force weapons, which has about the same numerical effect if Risky actions were in play - but doesn't rely on players deliberately acting oblivious to their action roll.


Good points all. D10 makes sense and I had been considering doing a 20% chance with the power weapon versus the risky action. Seeing as it's been a while since I've played I didn't put two and two together to realize that the risky action in CC makes no sense. 20% sounds good to me, I'm also extending that rule to shock weapons as it seems to make sense.

InquisitorHeidfeld

Quote from: Alyster Wick on August 06, 2011, 10:38:19 PMIron Lord:
   Within the Ether the Iron Maw is one of the high Iron Lords and his knowledge of the universe's siege machines is absolute and the lesser warmongers of his clan watch intently for an opportunity to free one of their masters and gain his favor.
   Firing any weapon at a character bearing the Iron Maw Daemon Axe is a risky action and if failed the weapon counts as jammed even if it is not a weapon that can normally jam (plasma cores sputter, las mags blink out and even master forged weapons balk). Any critical misses resolve their damage against the arm the firing character was holding the weapon with as the weapon's machine spirit rebels and detonates the ammunition within the barrel of the weapon, cause the magazine to explode or overheat, etc.
   The Iron Maw counts as a power weapon for purposes of destroying other weapons. Using power weapons against the Iron Maw is a risky action and if failed the weapon will count as its mundane version and may be destroyed by the Iron Maw as if they were a mundane weapon and the Iron Maw was a power weapon.

For a start why?
Secondly, how?
Most weapons do not have a machine spirit, the only will involved in their operation is the finger on the trigger, even those which might (a plasma weapon might have a machine spirit to monitor the state of the chamber and vent it when it exceeds certain tolerances for example) aren't going to be able to spontaneously damage the weapon... the plasma chamber might be vented early and "jam" open (rendering the weapon inoperable) or it might not vent when it's supposed to meaning that further shots cause potentially catastrophic failure of containment... but even that's not spontaneous.
Then you have to consider things like Orc weapons, are those effected even through they have their "it always works cos it's loud an' bangy"?

The fact that you've omitted Force weapons is appropriate given that their immunity comes from the psychic energy running through them...

Power weapons not being power weapons I could almost understand... It might have the ability to overload the powerfields (or convince the monitoring machine spirit that they're overloading so it shuts them down).
But the solid part of a power weapon (if it has one) is incredibly variable...
An Eldar Powersword might well be made from a psycho-active polymer such as Wraithbone and therefore reasonably well able to stand up to a power weapon on its own while a whip cored powersword from the rogue trader era where the solid part of the blade is pushed out of the hilt by the powerfields and where the entire rigidity of the blade comes from the powerfields will just be a hilt if the blade ceases to function... that's not going to get cut by anything because it's not there to be cut... it's not going to be able to parry at all either of course...


At the moment the rule sounds like you have regular opponents who turn up with lots of power weapons and you want a hard counter to them...

MarcoSkoll

Quote from: InquisitorHeidfeld on August 09, 2011, 05:06:12 PMMost weapons do not have a machine spirit, the only will involved in their operation is the finger on the trigger
All weapons have a machine spirit. When you clean and oil your autogun, it's because the machine spirit must be honoured by these sacred rituals - if not, it will become angry and jam in rebellion.

Okay - we as players know that it stops it jamming because removing dirt and lubricating the moving parts will stop them seizing, but (for the most part) our characters have grown up with a religious indoctrination that tells them there is this ghost in the machine.

You might think "But it's so obvious there isn't!", but it's easy for people can have superstitions and beliefs that have little or no basis in fact simply because that's what they were taught and will continue to believe so even in the face of superior evidence. I'm sure we've all met people like that - be it on the matter of politics, religion or whatever.

In truth - nothing, not even Land Raiders or Titans, has this ghost in the machine. In any case, its just technology working exactly as it should - except in the cases of Land Raiders and Titans, that technology happens to include computerised automation and rudimentary artificial intelligences which get around the Abominable Intelligence ban because they're ascribed to being a facet of this imaginary ghost in the machine.

As for how the axe works, "A wizard did it". It's clearly warp shenanigans rather than some clever technology.
S.Sgt Silva Birgen: "Good evening, we're here from the Adeptus Defenestratus."
Captain L. Rollin: "Nonsense. Never heard of it."
Birgen: "Pick a window. I'll demonstrate".

GW's =I= articles

DapperAnarchist

Or, they all have machine spirits, because the emotions and desires and beliefs of sentient beings infuse every object in the 40K universe, and the idea that "if it is thought so, it is" applies across the board...

Why? Its the Iron Warriors, the spirit of mechanical horror in the warp.

How? Warpcraft.
Questions are a burden to others, answers a burden to oneself.

The Keltani Subsector  My P&M Thread - Most recent, INQ28!

InquisitorHeidfeld

A machine spirit as compared to a Machine Spirit (of the sort found in Land Raiders, Predators and the like).

If it's "Confound Mechanism"ing things then how does that apply to things without mechanisms? Bows, thrown weapons, close combat weapons with "Dikote™" or other forms of power weapon immunity...
How does it work with an Ork Bolter which only has a mechanism because the Mechboys say it needs one and functions due to the psychic field Orks posess these days?
How does it make ammunition detonate inside the chamber without simply having it misfire...

It it's "hacking" the Machine Spirit then the limitations of the Machine Spirit's influence apply...

How does it work with regard to the many millions of mechanisms in The Golden Throne?

What about Power Armour?

What are its limitations? How does it work and why?

Without answers to these questions the boundaries are limitless and you're dealing with deific power - "A wizard did it" gives a certain get out but what did a wizard do and how can it be reversed?

Alyster Wick

Quote from: InquisitorHeidfeld on August 11, 2011, 01:39:00 PM
If it's "Confound Mechanism"ing things then how does that apply to things without mechanisms? Bows, thrown weapons, close combat weapons with "Dikote™" or other forms of power weapon immunity...
How does it work with an Ork Bolter which only has a mechanism because the Mechboys say it needs one and functions due to the psychic field Orks posess these days?
How does it make ammunition detonate inside the chamber without simply having it misfire...

It it's "hacking" the Machine Spirit then the limitations of the Machine Spirit's influence apply...

How does it work with regard to the many millions of mechanisms in The Golden Throne?

What about Power Armour?

What are its limitations? How does it work and why?

Without answers to these questions the boundaries are limitless and you're dealing with deific power - "A wizard did it" gives a certain get out but what did a wizard do and how can it be reversed?

I suppose coupling "A wizard did it" with "the GM will decide it" is kind of a cop out, but that's what I'm going with.

To give a brief (and hopefully more satisfying) explanation, the Iron Maw is part of an invented and often referenced (by me) group of daemonic entities known as the Iron Lords. Their background is hinted at and discussed at various points but never fully fleshed out for 2 reason. The first is that the characters who would encounter the Iron Lords do not themselves know everything about them; the second is because I like keeping things somewhat vague to give flexibility, both of which are perfectly acceptable explanations (in my opinion).

To go further, the effects I described are meant to reflect the fact that the Iron Maw has a clear connection to the awe that sentient beings have for weapons of destruction. I wrote those rules up to reflect that ambiguous idea in a more concrete way. If players don't yet know about the Lords of Iron they will be very perturbed when their weapons misfire/explode around him and that could add in an interesting plot hook. Those who are able to identify the markings on the axe may be more wary.

Your questions are all valid though Heidfeld. My short explanation is that I wanted quick, concise and workable rules. I think what I have so far is a good enough skeleton for a GM to work with without being cumbersome. That said, I would never expect to field this guy as a PC (though I one day dream of having an insane gaming group devoted enough to have a campaign on a daemon world which will involve purely chaotic characters).

If I were to answer your questions quickly off the bat:

-Orky weapons are affected because the bizarre principals with which their weapons operate feed into exactly what I'm going for with the Iron Maw.

-It doesn't hack the machine spirit, it has to do with the Warp's ability to affect the real world, much like daemon weapons can shoot gouts of flame, let a character breath in the void of space or allow steel to slither like a whip.

-If Golgath or the Iron Maw make it to the Golden Throne in a game of Inquisitor I'll PM you when I post the battle report :)

-Because power armor isn't offensive persay I would say it isn't affected. That said, if a space marine attempts to punch Golgath then I may be tempted to improvise something; truthfully it would depend how the game was going and if it seemed "broken".

-It's limitations will be set by the game. It works because the Iron Maw is an incarnation of sentient beings' macabre fascination with brutal weapons of destruction. As such it has the ability to affect them within the boundaries of what the GM feels is in the spirit of the rules.

Beyond that, I was looking for a more interesting property for a daemon weapon to have. It would have been way too easy to slap some teeth on it and make it shoot fire. That would have been neat and slightly in keeping with the spirit of the Iron Maw, but instead I opted to give it daemon bane (it's REALLY upset that it was imprisoned on the verge of completing its personal crusade and takes that out on his daemonic brethren who are still free), bound (because of its close relationship with its wielder) and Iron Lord because it's unique and I just didn't want to settle for the same old thing.

What I was going for with the Iron Lord property was something that people hadn't really seen before. I want this character to look frightening on the board but also to be frightening to play against. When the sniper who thought he had a clean shot from a hidden roost finds his round detonating before impact that would genuinely surprise and freak out some players (and hopefully make the game more fun in the process).

Beyond that, I'm reconsidering his gun for reasons of balance and character. I love the image of this ramshackle character lugging around a large ancient bolt weapon, but he looses the Jason Voorhes vibe (even though there is precedent for Jason using conceptually similar guns).