Helio Cray, Astropath (Using Rules From "The Sanctioning Brand")

[Van Helser]

Hello all

Thought I'd take a couple of minutes to present a character using the rules I presented in the recent Dark Magenta article The Sanctioning Brand.  Originally, I had planned to include this particular character as a sample character in the yet to arrive second part of the article, but had to give up modelling for a while thanks to a bad shoulder.  It's a bit better now, so I've launched into the painting again with gusto and Helio Cray, Astropath is the latest off the production line.

Anyhow, on with the character description:

Helio Cray

Born in the hives of Agripinaa, Cray now calls the fleet of the Rogue Trader Verona St. Croix home.  Equally adept at transmitting messages between the stars as he is on the ground, Cray is one of the Rogue Trader's most trusted allies.

WS: 41
BS: 33
S: 44
T: 39
I: 57
Wp: 71
Sg: 70
Nv: 44
Ld: 51

Cray is right-handed.

Exotic Abilities: Warpsight, Soul Bound, Psyniscience, Anophobic, Corpus Conversion
Psychic Abilities: Telepathy, Enforce Will, Embolden, Levitation
Equipment: Psykana Mercy Blade (knife), Psychic Foci

So, what can we take from all that?  Cray is no pit-fighter, but then it's very unlikely to find an Astropath going toe-to-toe with anyone.  His Willpower is not monstrous, but as he is Soul Bound he can re-roll one failed psychic test or nullify attempt per turn, he get's a +5% bonus to Concentrate actions thanks to his Psychic Foci, and if desperate can add a further +20% bonus to his psychic test in exchange for D3+2 to his injury total with Corpus Conversion.  The minds of others are his for the plundering!

The model itself was converted to be floating in a saintly pose, and this is reflected with the power Levitation which could give a tactical advantage.  He is also modelled holding his Psykana Mercy Blade and Psychic Foci.  WYSIWYG after all.

Hopefully the article will start convincing more people to take psychic characters.  If you have any comments on this character or anything in the article then I'd love to hear them.

Ruaridh

[MrMasochist]

I like it.

I dont know the rules for some of the things you mentioned (mainly as I haven't read the rules you mentioned but certainly plan to) but it all seems very well balanced for the style of character you have laid out.

I really like how useless he feels in any sort of fight (close or ranged, giving or receiving) but he seems unlikely to miss out on his psychic rolls but if you use him in a campaign and you fail a roll by say 20% he could easily become useless. Which all in all makes him seem like a balanced psyker. Fragile in combat and only one slip away from being a gibbering fool.

would love a pic of the mini if possible

thanks

MrMasochist

[Van Helser]

There really isn't much to him outside of that dangerous mind of his, but his ability to have his enemies throw down their weapons certainly evens things out!

It's funny that you mention failing psychic rolls, as the second article I have written deals with the downsides of the warp - it should be out next month. If you aren't familiar with Dark Magenta, the community fanzine associated with The Conclave, you'll find a wealth of articles on the Inqusitor game there with many ideas for the plundering and use in your games. Find it at www.darkmagenta.co.uk

There's a link to the Painting and Modelling thread in the opening post - the character's name highlighted in red.

Ruaridh