Inquisitor Stromm

[InquisitorHeidfeld]

A small thought on ages...

I know that the ages of characters in the 40kverse is a tricky subject because there are so many different takes apparently described by so many different writers.

While it isn't really possible to talk about typical humans in the untold billions in the Imperium, all with different access to technology, healthcare, life prolonging substances; all with histories on planets with different environments, social organisations and so forth... I would suggest incredible venerability for a "typical human" in the region of 140 standard Terran years - that is to say that such an age is achievable but not guaranteed (the biblical "three score years and ten" doubled which works quite nicely for "old senatorial" style characters both in terms of understanding the character (it's really hard to get into the mindspace of a being that has lived for hundreds of years and can expect to live for hundreds more) and fits in nicely with the medieval, monastic feel of the 40kverse - I can't see most having access to decent dentistry for example and toothlessness still creates an image of the ancient and decrepit...

It is important to remember in this consideration that that would be their body's physical age, not that which shows in Imperial records (which neatly dispels the perceived issues of the incredibly old characters in prime fiction) as Warp Travel somewhat distorts the latter. A journey of a few light years in Warp Space can take up to a week (barring accidents which make it take thousands of years) from the perspective of the real world - an Inquisitor hearing a distress call from a world ten Light Years away might arrive a few weeks after the distress call is sent for example.
From inside his ship however the experienced time is about 1/36 of that, he's only lived and experienced 10 hours.

His service record therefore records his age as being more than two weeks greater than his physical age... and the more mucking about you do in Warp Space the greater the disparity grows. An Inquisitor employed at the age of thirty who spends the next ten years of his life running around, fighting fires on planets across the sector could be listed in Imperial Records as two-hundred and ten years of age... It only takes his real age, his physical age, to reach three hundred and suddenly you have someone who remembers the Emperor - someone who can't be the same Inquisitor because his career was already well established before the organisation came into being.

[Dolnikan]

Some of the stats remain a bit high, such as his nerve which suggests someone who is almost completely fearless, not a rational being anymore.

[Flinty]

Humm, excellent basis for a first character. I'd like to echo Kaled's comment about thinking how his philosphical outlook might shape not just his modus operandi but also perhaps his kit.

Demon swords may not be up your street, but binding and possession can cover just about anything that has the appropriate runes, sigils or whatever cast/forged/scribed onto it - possessed Zippo anyone?

If you really want a plasma pistol (I love em! don't forget the reckless thrills of taking a risky action roll) perhaps it has become somewhat 'tainted' over the years. Sure, its a powerful (if occasionally randomly lethal weapon), but here's a chance to add some flavour - maybe it was tinkered with by a heretek, perhaps it has become infected with some form of corrupting malware, maybe even a sliver of some warp entity has become inadvertently traped in the plasma coils - perhaps they are even warp coils now?

Whatever you fancy, you could come up with something that occasionally gives Stromm either a nasty suprise slap, a pleasant if unexpected bonus - or both at once. Maybe he gets a random + or - to a psychic test if he has the weapon drawn, maybe he's more visable to those with warp sight than usual, perhaps he suffers from irrational urges if he successfully hits with it.

Im sure you could come up with something that would help make Stromm more characterful and more your own creation, dont forget the two central tenets of Inqusitior - EYHBTIAL and the 40K universe is a big place, if it is at all possible, it must have happened somewhere to someone...

[Lucien Alexius]

Been really good to get so much feedback and help in ironing out this character

Some of the stats remain a bit high, such as his nerve which suggests someone who is almost completely fearless, not a rational being anymore.

I could lower it a bit.
My main justification behind such a high nerve is that first, this guy has seen it all, he's really gone past rational thinking, not an insane or unintelligent person perhaps... just a slightly disturbed character. And secondly, wouldn't you feel pretty safe having double senses (Familiar servo skull), carapace armour and a cosy refractor field?

If you really want a plasma pistol (I love em! don't forget the reckless thrills of taking a risky action roll) perhaps it has become somewhat 'tainted' over the years. Sure, its a powerful (if occasionally randomly lethal weapon), but here's a chance to add some flavour - maybe it was tinkered with by a heretek, perhaps it has become infected with some form of corrupting malware, maybe even a sliver of some warp entity has become inadvertently traped in the plasma coils - perhaps they are even warp coils now?

Whatever you fancy, you could come up with something that occasionally gives Stromm either a nasty suprise slap, a pleasant if unexpected bonus - or both at once. Maybe he gets a random + or - to a psychic test if he has the weapon drawn, maybe he's more visable to those with warp sight than usual, perhaps he suffers from irrational urges if he successfully hits with it.

Im sure you could come up with something that would help make Stromm more characterful and more your own creation, dont forget the two central tenets of Inqusitior - EYHBTIAL and the 40K universe is a big place, if it is at all possible, it must have happened somewhere to someone...

That is a really cool idea, tainted plasma pistol might just be the way to go!

[MarcoSkoll]

And secondly, wouldn't you feel pretty safe having double senses (Familiar servo skull), carapace armour and a cosy refractor field?

There are some very big guns in the universe, as well as a lot of people who don't like the Inquisition.

Bearing in mind that you get +20% to a Nv test for not being hit (although I personally only allow this if you were previously aware of the shooter - being shot at unexpectedly is more than a little unnerving), you won't fail a lot of Nv tests until you start getting below about Nv 70. And frankly, given how often I find characters choose to fail Pinning tests and dive for cover anyway, high Nv often doesn't come into play at all.

[DapperAnarchist]

The Xanthites use the methods of the Great Enemy, and try to turn Chaos against itself. This doesn't mean, necessarily, that they use daemonology or even warptech. There are a variety of things that the Imperium doesn't practice, but Chaos does, that a Xanthite might use, or a Xanthite might simply use some heretics against others. A heretek or tainted weapon would be good. Also, keep in mind that the weak limits that apply to other Inquisitors will most definitely not apply to a Xanthite - they pretty much do as they please, as long as it furthers their aim. So, if you want, consider making Stromm kind of a monster, psychologically. Perhaps that Governor wasn't just executed, but tortured by means used only by Chaos pirates (some sort of bioweapon, perhaps), then mutilated, and then on death chopped up so different parts could be sent to the Hive Nobility as a warning. This would fit into the idea that Stromm simply does not give a flying one, does whatever he wants, and so fit into his extremely high nerve. He is a fearless man in the broad sense - fearless of his enemies, and of himself, and of his God-Emperor.

Rambling, but hopefully useful?

[Lucien Alexius]

Rambling but very useful indeed

Like you said

The Xanthites use the methods of the Great Enemy, and try to turn Chaos against itself. This doesn't mean, necessarily, that they use daemonology or even warptech. There are a variety of things that the Imperium doesn't practice, but Chaos does, that a Xanthite might use, or a Xanthite might simply use some heretics against others.

I never pictured Stromm wielding warp tech or having daemonhosts and whilst his views are those of a Xanthite, it doesn't necissarily mean that he would use the weapons of the enemy. It could be just as likely that he studies the forces of chaos to find their strengths and turn those against them.

I'll do a write up of his entire fluff and post it over the next hour or so and see what I come up with I might even change him from an Ordo Hereticus oriented Inquisitor to a memeber of the Ordo Xenos. I do love the idea of him however butchering heretics left right and centre so I'll have to see to that.

[Dolnikan]

It does not depend on which ordo an inquisitorbelongs to if he can butcher heretics, they won't just keep going when they find a cult.

I personally prefer my xanthites to not actually use daemon weapons or the like themselves, many of them know that they are dangerous to use and would prefer someone else to suffer the consequences when things go wrong.

[InquisitorHeidfeld]

I like the Xanthite who's wary of the dangers of the great Enemy, so many of them have half a dozen Daemon weapons (all of which have Greater Daemons bound to them and a WP score just low enough that they never need to be worried about) and are followed around by virtually incarnate Daemons who are somehow still under control...

Personally I'm quite rigid on the greatest secret - only the Malleus actually know about Chaos, though the Xanthite philosophy can be applied (in slightly different ways and under different names) to all aspects - setting Heretic cults against each other doesn't require an understanding of Chaos for example... And of course it doesn't require tainted kit either. IMHO it's the MO which makes the philosophy, not the kit.

[MarcoSkoll]

Personally I'm quite rigid on the greatest secret - only the Malleus actually know about Chaos

I have to disagree. Knowledge of at least the basics of the major threats to the Imperium is pretty central to being an Inquisitor. In-depth knowledge of daemons (and to a lesser extent, Chaos in general) is unlikely to be found outside the Malleus, but for all other Inquisitors to not even know of the existence of the ruinous powers doesn't gel with me.

Even the Imperial Infantryman's Uplifting Primer makes vague reference to "the dark ones" and "the darkness" in much the same way as you might expect to hear an old-timey preacher warning about the Devil and hell/satanic evil, so I suspect the crudest knowledge of Chaos goes the whole way down. Someone more learned and travelled like an Inquisitor would certainly know more.

It's also unsustainable, as threats don't nicely line up so that it will only ever be the Malleus who happen to find Chaos and/or daemons.

[InquisitorHeidfeld]

As you know (and have publicly mourned) a lot of things in my games go back to Rogue Trader, to the days when the Tanith 1st would have been executed (with full military honours) at the end of their first campaign. 

Only the Grey Knights survive in the service of the Ordo. All other troops die when given over to them. The reason for the non-survival among military units attached to the Ordo Malleus is simple. Any troops that an Inquisitor Ordinary has commanded have been exposed to Daemons. They are privy to one of the most closely-guarded Imperial secrets: that Daemons exist and Chaos is a terrible threat...

Given the Ordo's "cover story" as a sort of Internal Affairs division of the Inquisition (again Rogue Trader era) they're in a position to ensure that anyone who is in on that secret is either with them (recruited) or relieved of the burden (the burden of life, by sanctioned murder; or the burden of the secret, by mindwipe).

References to "Dark Ones" could easily be read as veiled reference to the Legionaires who supported Horus during "The Great Heresy" without needing to refer to Chaos (though I wouldn't have put anything like that in a government document like the Primer... although personally I wouldn't have put data about Xenos species...etc in either, shoot them centre mass enough and they'll go down is all the grunts need to know, they'll probably be caught up when the virus bombing hits anyway  ).

[Dolnikan]

Keeping chaos a secret from the inquisition would be immensely hard. Inquisitors are lone agents who are in many cases very intelligent. They would easily find our about chaos from their experiences, chaos is not something immensely rare for an inquisitor to encounter, there are cults all over the place and someone with the intelligence to be an inquisitor could put the pieces together. Of course, full knowledge about chaos remains rare, even many members of the Malleus don't know all that much, but the basic knowledge is there.

Chaos remains a secret to the general populace, most of them are unaware of its existence and the inquisition is there to keep it a secret, if normal inquisitors would be unaware of its existence, the malleus would find it far too hard to find it in its early stages and to cover up.

I agree about the primer though, the grunts don;t need to know much about what they will be fighting, and they should never get a piece of information like the primer, a load of propaganda without going into the different xenos is fitting.

[Kaled]

Given the Ordo's "cover story" as a sort of Internal Affairs division of the Inquisition (again Rogue Trader era)

Much as I like the Rogue Trader era fluff, and often reference it in my own background, this (and the whole executing those who have come into contact with Chaos) is another instance where things have moved on to the extent that I feel it's not really useful to bring them up in relation to other people's characters (of course, what you do with your own characters is up to you). It'd be like me saying that people's Space Wolves should be organised according to the Index Astartes and follow its dictates on heraldry almost to the letter. If I want to stick to the old fluff then that's one thing but suggesting that other people do so too, despite the large amounts of material that contradicts it, is not really all that productive.

But back to this character, he wouldn't really be a Xanthite if he just set Chaos cults against one another. Someone's modus operandi or equipment doesn't define what philosophy they follow, but their beliefs do - and Xanthites believe that Chaos can be controlled and used by humanity. An Inquisitor could bind a daemon into a weapon and not be a Xanthite - I.e. he could use similar methods but not share their beliefs. Or he could have Xanthite beliefs but not bind daemons into hosts or weapons - which would be a more subtle examination of Xanthism than most people's characters.

[InquisitorHeidfeld]

It's important to remember that Heretical cults don't all have to be plastered with Bedlam Axies and summoning Daemons at the drop of a hat though, nor do they have to be sacrificing babies to gain the notice of an Inquisitor. In fact most of them probably won't realise that what they're doing is Heretical, they might not even feel that they're really non-conformist.
Most of the cults Inquisitors deal with are likely to be doing things like worshiping an idol rather than The Emperor, some might be more like underground railways, trying to hide psykers (probably a family who aren't willing to admit that their child might be Wytch, possibly something larger and more organised). Even those which are looking to Chaos might be apparently looking to Horus, might just be having incredible, drug-fuelled orgies...
Think about a Genestealer cult, it's quiet, controlled and will have a minimal impact on anyone for generations - but an Ordo Xenos Inquisitor has a certain responsibility to find it in that nascent state, before it becomes uneconomic to retain the existing population... And an Ordo Xenos with a Xanthite-esque philosophy might well think to turn the infection to the work of the Emperor in the same way as an Ordo Hereticus with a Xanthite-esque philosophy might consider dropping some of those unregulated psykers into the mix with one of those more organised groups to let the two groups fight it out and weaken each other.

And yes, the secret of Chaos requires a certain amount of organisation in the Inquisition... But then so does an assumption of intelligence, what with all the deathbed promotions, interrogators muddling through in the absence of a mentor and half a dozen other minimal indoctrinisation cliches. Reports submitted to the bureaucracy enable the Malleus to find those Inquisitors who've put too many pieces of the puzzle together and have a word with them - bringing them into the fold or ensuring they don't spread the word.

[Lucien Alexius]

I've been re-thinking this character for a while now mainly from an actual converting/modelling viewpoint. I'm pretty strict with the WYSIWYG so I'll probably be dropping the carapace armour and I'm just wondering, crazy idea of mine.

Say the Inquisitor lost his eyesight, chaos scarring or something that prevented bionic replacements, and although he could use his psychic powers to sense where others were, he would use his familiar as his primary forms of sensing. What sort of special abilities/disadvantages could I include to this character. For example, "Because of the advanced targeting array on the servo skull, The Inquisitor is able to calculate range and targets with incredible accuracy." If the servo skull is destroyed however he would suffer some form of penalty on ballistic skill.

What sort of penalties could/should I apply and what would be an interesting way of covering for this enormous weakness that Stromm has.
Just a crazy thought.

Or he could have Xanthite beliefs but not bind daemons into hosts or weapons - which would be a more subtle examination of Xanthism than most people's characters.

Thats pretty much what I was aiming for, his beliefs are those of a xanthite however he does not use Daemon weapons or Daemonhosts.