Inquisitor Clint Romero and Warband

[Brother_Brimstone]

I realise what follows is a HUUUUUUGE piece of fluff for one character and totally understand people not reading it, but i thought I might as well post the stats of the characters I'll be using at the Summer Conclave, so if anyone spots anything monstrously wrong with them, they can tell me so now. I wrote the fluff for my own fun, but posted it with the stats so you have a background as to why I gave him the stats I did.

If you do make it through any of the fluff, or have anything to say about the stats, all comments and criticism is, as always, appreciated.

Inquisitor Clint Romero

"As the dust clouds settled, I swear to you, I saw something. Something more terrible than what we'd been fighting against. Those things we'd been killing – they were just victims of the disease, but this... thing. I swear he'll haunt my dreams. I saw the outline of a dust-world hat and coat, and beneath the hat were two glowing red eyes. Those eyes... Emperor save me, those eyes...
[Pause]
It was a half-rotted thing, kind of like the infected, but its rotted body looked embalmed, or somehow more alive than any of the real disease carriers, and it was attached to a metal contraption which took up most of its upper body. Even from where I was standing, I could hear the whirr and hiss of the machinery.
That thing was carrying a shotgun in one hand, and the biggest revolver I'd ever seen in the other. It was firing into hordes of the infected, each gunshot accompanied by the explosion of an infected head. It was the most efficient killing machine I'd ever witnessed.
Later, after I'd reported my sighting, the Corporal came and told me to forget everything I thought I'd seen. But mark my words, I'll never forget." – Transcript of audio log, Interview with Private Adamus Drack, PDF Elaan Alpha and survivor of the Curse of Unbelief.

Background

Inquisitor Clint Romero was born and raised on the mining world, Silt, of the Carthax Sector. Silt was a mining world – a dusty, barren surface belying its vast network of underground resources. The citizens of Silt were largely either convicts sentenced to a lifetime of hard labour, or indentured workers (a nice way of saying 'slaves') of the local mineral-barons.

While the Adeptus Arbites officially oversaw the extraction, refinement and exportation of the resources on Silt, there was also a system of planetary governance and administration, with many members of these acting as 'mineral-barons', turning a neat profit 'losing' some of the materials and selling them on the interplanetary black market. The Arbites turned a blind eye to this practice, by and large, for several reasons. Firstly, the mineral-barons frequently made generous 'donations' to the local Arbites precincts. Secondly, the barons were frequently members of interplanetarily recognised noble houses, or administrative organisations, with whom the Arbites were wary to come into open conflict. Finally, the mineral-barons were, by and large, crafty and well-educated, aware that if they didn't steal too much, and were careful with how they conducted themselves, bringing them down would be more trouble than it was worth.

Romero was the child of two such indentured workers; not miners, but Browncoats - members of a mineral-baron's personal guard. Romero was groomed from childhood to work in the same profession as his parents. For as long as he could remember, he would go through firearms training with his father and close-quarters combat drills with his mother. As far as the lives of indentured workers go, Romero's upbringing was extremely comfortable – while they were bound to work for the local baron, Romero's parents were given many privileges to help inspire loyalty to their ward.

Were Romero's childhood to be summarised by a single theme, it would be discipline; a discipline instilled in him through constant vocational training. In his late teens, Romero became a full member of the Browncoats, serving alongside his parents.  By and large, Romero was happy – his parents were indescribably proud of the man he had become, and he was distinguished within the Browncoats for his skills. While he was still property of the baron, that was the only kind of life Romero knew, and he didn't crave the ideological 'freedom' he'd never known existed. As he would later describe himself, he was 'naïve'.

For reasons which Romero would not learn until a long time later, a plague broke out on Silt – the so-called 'curse of unbelief'. Penal workers in the mines were the first to fall ill. Reports became rampant that the ill would die and rise as abominable flesh-eating monsters. For a month or so, this was considered to be superstition and folklore amongst those who worked away from the mines. As death-tolls from the plague rose, the Adeptus Arbites found themselves increasingly busy holding back rioting penal workers, driven half-mad with fear of this nightmarish pestilence.

As the Arbites requested further support from off-planet, holding back both the riots, and, reportedly, the disease-bearing creatures known as 'plague monsters', word quickly spread about the infection on Silt. It was declared a quarantine zone, which no one could leave without proper authorisation, not even the barons.

The local interplanetary governance was put in an awkward position. Silt was the largest mineral resource in the subsector, and they couldn't afford to shut it down or destroy it. Still, they also couldn't afford to let the disease spread to other planets in the subsector. In a seemingly fortuitous 'act of fate', they were visited by a member of His Holy Inquisition, an Inquisitor Victor Stubbs, who claimed that plagues such as those currently afflicting Silt were his speciality. He demanded access to the planet, so that he could try and wipe out the plague at its source, without destroying the highly-valuable planet.

The source of the plague was ultimately traced by Inquisitor Stubbs to the baron to whom Romero and his parents were indentured. The baron was revealed as a heretic, bringing the plague to the planet as a foul offering to his dark patron.

For the duration of the plague, the baron had sealed himself away in his Inner Sanctum, ostensibly to ensure that he would not be infected with a small group of his most trusted personal guard, including Romero's parents.

Stubbs, working with remainder of the local Arbites and the Browncoats, a group including Romero, finally breached the Inner Sanctum, but what  they found inside no longer resembled the baron. His dark father had rewarded his service, and he was a corrupted, bloated monstrosity, laughing a vile, virulent laugh which still haunts Romero's dreams. More devastatingly still for Romero, the elite guard in the Sanctum had not been spared the dark one's patronage. When Romero personally killed what remained of his parents that day, it was an act of mercy.

In fact, Romero was the only member of the group besides Stubbs who made it out of that chamber alive and fully sane, and what's more, he had actually killed some of those things. Inquisitor Stubbs, a relatively kindly man (as far as an Inquisitor can be) saw this young man, a man of such potential, who had lost everything, and still fought on Inquisitor Stubbs, a relatively kindly man (as far as an Inquisitor can be) saw this young man, as a man of such potential, who had lost everything, and still fought on and decided that he might be an invaluable aid on future endeavors. At any rate, he certainly wouldn't prove a liability, and if he were less competent than he seemed, he would quickly be weeded out – there was little to lose, and Stubbs had been in need of more good men to assist him.

Romero began as little more than a bodyguard, making use of his lifelong Browncoat training and natural talent to ensure that Stubbs was always well defended. However, over time, Stubbs began to see that there was much more to Romero than a good aim, a quick trigger finger and a capable sword arm. Despite his sheltered upbringing and natural propensity to trust those around him a little bit more than is healthy for an Inquisitor, Romero showed signs of being a natural leader, good with strategy and extremely quick to win the friendship and loyalty of others.

Over time, Romero naturally fell into the role of leading any troops which served his master as well as organising many of the Inquisitor's personal affairs. Romero saw Inquisitor Stubbs as a paternal figure, in absence of the parents whose existence he worked constantly to forget because of their final encounter. Stubbs, while not feeling as deep a connexion with Romero as Romero did with him, was astounded and impressed (sometimes close to proud) of Romero's constant development and easy finesse for any task he was faced with. It seemed that the more they worked together, the closer they became, and the more Romero proved himself as the most astounding young recruit Stubbs had ever witnessed.

At the age of fifty, after twenty years of service, Stubbs initiated Romero into the Inquisition as his Acolyte; it seemed the next natural progression as Romero's ability outstripped his position and authority, and in another thirty, he became a full Inquisitor. Soon after this most recent promotion Stubbs discovered that an old ally, a fellow acolyte of the Inquisitor of whom Stubbs was once an acolyte, had gone missing. Stubbs was, at that time, out of the Sector, following up an investigation of his own and so called for Romero to investigate the matter as a personal favour.

After months of investigation, leading across multiple planets, Romero found himself on a plague-ridden, backwater planet – rumoured to be the missing Inquisitor's last known location. Romero decided to simultaneously investigate the cause of the plague, and the Inquisitor The years Romero spent in service to the Inquisition had stripped him of much of his naivety, and he feared that the two might be linked.

Romero, along with his acolyte and several of his most trusted servants, were led to the estate of a local planetary governor. The resemblance of the scene to the nightmarish end of his time on Silt was not lost on Romero, and he approached the estate with a mounting sense of trepidation. Once Romero entered the estate, he became aware of a familiar, sickly sweet smell of rot and disease. He knew what he was about to witness before he was made to witness it. Undead creatures shambling and moaning, infected with the curse of unbelief. Romero brought a swift, merciful death to them all. As he reached the Inner Sanctum of the estate, the scene which greeted him was almost as vile as that night so many years ago.

The area was set up as a sort of impromptu heretical laboratory, replete with blasphemous tomes, pieces of corpses in preservatives, benches of scientific equipment and complex machinery. In the centre of this repulsive research laboratory stood a figure that needed no introduction it was Inquisitor Leone – the man for whom Romero had been searching. Leone explained the nature of his experiments and research – he believed that the curse of unbelief was actually a gift of the emperor designed to test the strength of his servants. By killing the weak, and putting the whole planet under pressure, the curse made humankind stronger. Leone wanted to infect more planets – he wanted to try and make the disease more potent and infectious; 'increase the challenge' as he put it. He wanted Romero to join him, to help him 'rebuild the Imperium'.

Romero accused Leone of being a heretic and a traitor and a battle broke out between the two. Leone was killed, but not before he had his final revenge. At some point in the skirmish, as it had become clear to Leone that he would not win, he had somehow activated a system which released his unstable, experimental form of the plague virus. Romero had killed Leone, but now he and his men were infected with the curse of unbelief.

Romero's squad returned to their transport craft, and Romero immediately summoned a trusted Magos Biologis, who he had worked with before, and therefore had some knowledge of the plague of unbelief.  Time was of the essence. Luckily, due to its experimental, unstable nature, Leone's virus was apparently less effective than the real thing, but it was still slowly eating away at the bodies of Romero and his men.

The Magos did all he could to resolve the puzzle in stages. Firstly he developed a way of keeping Romero and his men in a sort of biological stasis, preventing further spread of the disease, and from there he worked on creating a human-portable, reliable and usable form of this technology.

Each member of Romero's band was 'saved' to some extent, but results varied and were universally horrific. No squad member had been spared from becoming a hideous, rotting abomination, but they were alive and sane – mostly. Romero, being an Inquisitor, was left until last, when the Magos' technology was most perfected, and the Magos personally ensured that each piece of the Inquisitor's life support systems worked optimally. In fact, the Inquisitor's life support systems granted his body an artificial regeneration system far in advance of that of a regular human, although it still could not repair the taint of corruption which had already taken hold of him.

Personality / Philosophy / Goals

Romero is a kind, compassionate and caring person. He has a strong sense of empathy and responsibility, and very little concern for himself in relation to others. He is understanding and respectful. Unfortunately he is also a hideous abomination who most would likely wish to shoot on sight. Romero feels responsible for those who were stricken by the plague with him, and insisted that they too receive the greatest possible level of care for their condition. It is by his good grace alone that they possess their life support units. Romero will stop at nothing to find a way to 'fix' himself and his cohorts, but he also seeks redemption. Romero understands that he and his men are twisted insults to the Emperor's gift of humanity, and he hopes that if they continue to fight the curse of unbelief, perhaps they will find redemption for the crime of being such monsters.

Therefore, Romero's over-arching ambitions are to find a way to 'cure' the curse of unbelief and to stamp out corruption wherever possible. While these goals particularly pertain to the curse of unbelief and areas stricken by plague, Romero is still an Inquisitor, and understands the importance of power and staying on the right side of the right people. This means that Romero and his men frequently find themselves wrapped in the intrigue and politics of the Inquisition, regardless of their more niche interests. When all is said and done, Romero has not been declared Excommunicate, and as such he is still a member of the Inquisition.

Romero's philosophy does not easily fit into any of the major groupings. Romero hopes that by studying the forces that ruined him, and by understanding how they did it, he might one day be able to reverse this ruination. He also sees this as an apt metaphor for the Emperor – if humanity can understand the ruinous forces which crippled the Emperor in the first place, perhaps they can be put into reverse. In some senses, therefore, Romero is radical – he studies the forces of Chaos to try and forge an understanding of its workings, through which he might achieve his ends. In other senses he is puritan; his ends being to reverse the corruption already spread by Chaos, rather than embrace the ruinous powers as an ultimately useful tool of the Imperium. Romero's ideal is to rid humankind of the touch of Chaos, but he is willing to study and perhaps even utilise those forces in order to overcome them.

Vorpal Sword

St. Ignatius Vorpal is a legend in the Carthax Sector. He was a monk on the shrine-world of Ilysium VII, where the curse of unbelief broke out. St. Vorpal was said to have single handedly beheaded every last infected attacker of his complex, and in doing so saved the lives of several extremely influential members of the Ecclesiarchy. As the final horde approached the building where the more important residents had taken refuge, St Vorpal was seen fighting the infected. After a long period of silence, it was discovered that St Vorpal had disappeared, as had all of the infected, but his sword was left, lying on the ground. Ignatius Vorpal was made a saint and his sword was held as a relic on the world of Ilysium VII, until it was granted to Inquisitor Romero as a token of thanks for the assistance he provided to the Ecclesiarchy at the Battle of Pilgrim's Hold.
It is said that the consecrated sword is imbued with the righteous fury of St Vorpal himself, and that his spirit guides the weapon towards the heads of its bearer's enemies.
-The Vorpal Sword is an Anointed Bastard Sword which always pushes its hit location 20% towards the head.

Stats

WS   BS   S   T   I   Wp   Sg   Nv   Ld
60   76   56   39   59   78   64   83   96

Equipment

Bionic organs, bionic eyes with nightvision, shotgun with executioner rounds, revolver, frag grenades (4), vorpal sword, conversion field on all locations

Skills / Abilities

Leader, deadeye shot, true grit, regeneration, zombification (T is doubled for purposes of SS and Cnc and against gasses and poisons)

Just Romero for now - his minions will follow

[Quickdraw McGraw]

Clint is a very interesting character.  His thorn in the flesh(taint) is the means to keep him focused.  But will it be his undoing?  Only time will tell.  

I'm anxious to see the rest of his party. 

[Dolnikan]

The background is very good, I really like the idea behind the inquisitor. Will he usually hide his face to prevent unwanted suspicion?

[MarcoSkoll]

The background looks good. The only thing I'm not that sure about is the idea of the Arbites taking bribes, because they are the authoritarian type for whom the law has to be upheld.
I could imagine regular enforcers being corrupt, but the Arbites is a galaxy scale organisation, so when you've got a a planet with a heap of highly fanatical lawmen and not one has reported these open crimes of his/her peers off-planet, it does seem a little bit of a stretch.

On the recent subject matter about "no-one is infallible" in another thread, I'd add that I'm sure that many Arbites may be corrupt in secret, but such open heresy (seriously, outright ignoring people stealing from the Emperor?) seems unlikely.

I think I'd prefer the idea that the barons' "cut" was just part of a traditional, somewhat feudal-esque, form of payment - not necessarily something that the Arbites were happy about, but legitimate through precedent.
The barons might still end lining their pockets more than they're allowed to, of course - but as long as you don't get too greedy, the Arbites are going to have a hard time actually proving that your production didn't really come up that much short. (And under those circumstances, they might think twice about launching a raid.)

~~~~~

Stats wise, I think that a few of the stats in there are getting towards the rather spectacular end of things. The BS 76 might be passable, but Ld 96 does really raise eyebrows. That'd make him almost impossibly popular even if he weren't rotting undead.

If you want to represent the faith his entourage have in him, then that's fair enough, but I'd still tone it back somewhat and add that he takes a hefty penalty regarding anyone else (except, perhaps, for threaten tests - I imagine he does scary quite well.)

~~~~~

Outside that... as you're bringing him to the September Conclave, any thoughts on what his interest in Kaede Mack is? Does he think there's a Kaede that can help him (perhaps as a physician or with valuable information)? Or is he just there outside his personal interests, for some general heretic smiting?

Of final note, I shall have to see if I can bring Jax Lynn in a game against you (provided I get her finished in time). I'm sure she'd be of particular interest to Romero.

[Quickdraw McGraw]

The background looks good. The only thing I'm not that sure about is the idea of the Arbites taking bribes, because they are the authoritarian type for whom the law has to be upheld.
I could imagine regular enforcers being corrupt, but the Arbites is a galaxy scale organisation, so when you've got a a planet with a heap of highly fanatical lawmen and not one has reported these open crimes of his/her peers off-planet, it does seem a little bit of a stretch.

On the recent subject matter about "no-one is infallible" in another thread, I'd add that I'm sure that many Arbites may be corrupt in secret, but such open heresy (seriously, outright ignoring people stealing from the Emperor?) seems unlikely.

I think I'd prefer the idea that the barons' "cut" was just part of a traditional, somewhat feudal-esque, form of payment - not necessarily something that the Arbites were happy about, but legitimate through precedent.
The barons might still end lining their pockets more than they're allowed to, of course - but as long as you don't get too greedy, the Arbites are going to have a hard time actually proving that your production didn't really come up that much short. (And under those circumstances, they might think twice about launching a raid.)

The baron's "cut" could be called a "Tip"?  I've traveled through and vacationed in central and south America several times.  I have personally seen and read in many travel guides that sometimes the quickest and most sure way to get many things officially handled is with a "tip".  Bribing of course is a no-no but "tips" are allowed and usually help you have a hassle free day.  Just an idea( I'm of course not encouraging anyone to try this.).

[MarcoSkoll]

The baron's "cut" could be called a "Tip"? Bribing of course is a no-no but "tips" are allowed and usually help you have a hassle free day.

Not quite sure we're on the same page.

His version had the mineral barons getting away with "losing" some of the tithe, at least in part because they were making generous donations to the Arbites. But bribery (whatever name it's under) is not something I think the Arbites are likely to be susceptible to.

I suggested that the barons taking part of the tithe was part of a traditional recompense for the fact it's their serfs that have done the work. However, unpopular with the Arbites because it's easily fiddled.

This has largely the same effect for the barons - they can line their pockets more with some dodgy accountancy, provided they don't push it far enough that the Arbites actually have anything they can prove (seeing as the barons are presumably powerful enough to be beyond the "judge, jury and executioner" method of law enforcement) - but it doesn't rely on open and uncharacteristic corruption from the Arbites.

[Dolnikan]

Of course some bribing would help with getting local law enforcement to look the other way. But I would say that there would be some more production than actually is declared, and this is smuggled off free from the tithes. Subverting the Arbites would be very hard, especially because they would be in a lot of trouble if even rumours about it would get to their superiors. However, the Arbites are low in number and lack the ability to check everything that leaves the planet, and as long as the tithes are met are unlikely to investigate without some very substantial proof.

[Brother_Brimstone]

Wow, thanks and congrats on making it through the masses of text there, I really wasn't expecting people to, but I very much appreciate the fact that you have.

As regards Silt, I agree with the general sentiment expressed here - I maybe made the Arbites a bit too involved with the governmental corruption, when it would be much easier to have it concealed to a greater or lesser extent behind a veil of bureaucracy. Consider Silt's backstory so amended (I shan't actually write in the amendments here, as the thread makes more sense with me leaving the original in place  and anyone who views it can read the suggested amendments and see that I've accepted them.

I think my description of the Barons will be that they do receive an official cut, which by itself would keep them wealthy, but if they find themselves in excess of their minimal quota, some of it might occasionally never make it into the official reports (after all, who would there be to squeal on the barons within the mining operations? Convicted criminals? Slaves? Who would believe their testimony against the word of a distinguished planetary politician?), helping to bolster their income. It is as Marco's second post, and Dolnikan's second post discusses - not so much that the Arbites know about the thievery and ignore it, but more that it goes on, and they perhaps suspect it, but it's too vague and dangerous to act upon the suspicions.

Will he usually hide his face to prevent unwanted suspicion?

The model has been made and is now fully painted (with pictures to follow in about a week, when I get home; two days before the Summer Clave, because I apparently love riding trains). As you can see, he doesn't hide his face, but he wears a big hat and long coat to help cover himself up somewhat. I get the sense from the model as I made it that because he is ENTIRELY zombified, and because he has to carry around his huge life support system, that any attempt to conceal his form would be a wasted effort. Instead he has adorned himself with a purity seal and inquisitorial insignia, so although he may look repulsive, his affiliation with the Inquisition is visible.

I suppose it is conceivable that in situations that really demand it, he could go to rather more extreme efforts to hide his form, but in general, I would say that it just wouldn't be feasible for a day-to-day sort of thing. He will be carrying his Rosette around with him (i'll actually add that to his equipment list now), so if he attracts any great suspicion, his credentials would easily check out.

I find his official status an interesting topic - after all, no one doubts that an Inquisitor who is horrendously battle scarred is still an Inquisitor, or even an Inquisitor who is more bionic than human, so I suppose there is no official reason why Romero should be any less of an Inquisitor than he ever was, but of course, the judgement of your fellow Inquisitors is often enough to condemn you, so I suppose Romero would just have to, by and large, try not to make too many enemies. He is really walking along a knife's edge - a good sort of character for the game of Inquisitor!

Stats wise, I think that a few of the stats in there are getting towards the rather spectacular end of things. The BS 76 might be passable, but Ld 96 does really raise eyebrows. That'd make him almost impossibly popular even if he weren't rotting undead.

If you want to represent the faith his entourage have in him, then that's fair enough, but I'd still tone it back somewhat and add that he takes a hefty penalty regarding anyone else (except, perhaps, for threaten tests - I imagine he does scary quite well.)

The 96 in Ld really was meant to represent the sort of absolute faith his entourage has in him, and how great a leader he truly is as regards those in his charge, but I understand entirely what you say about his appearance's effect on others - to be perfectly frank, because of the name 'leadership', the thing that came to mind was how well he lead his own group, and it completely passed me by how often that stat is used to persuade others etc....

With Romero, I wanted to communicate the idea that yes, his appearance is extraordinarily off putting, but if others can get around that, there is still the same empathetic, charismatic, natural born leader trapped in that decaying form. Would you suggest I give him a high Ld (lower than 96 - I agree in retrospect that is rather high, perhaps mid 80s - the LRB puts a Guardsman at around 70, and he is an Inquisitor and natural born leader), and then slap a penalty on his first interaction with others - i.e. he has a low Ld when they first see him, as he looks horrific, but once it becomes clear that he is still an Inquisitor and a reasonable man, the penalty is lessened (but maybe still not up to his full Ld), or do you think the opposite would be better; give him a lower Ld (maybe around 50s), with a high bonus for dealing with his own group (e.g. +30% when dealing with his own men, as they have no qualms about his appearance)?

His BS simply represents that he spent most of his formative years firearms training, spent the first fifty years of his life as mainly a gunman (admittedly with other more administrative and leadership-based responsibilities towards the end) and even since becoming an Inquisitor, has spent a lot of his career zombie-hunting. Bear in mind, it's not like he is also a powerful psyker and also a world class swordsman (he's on the upper end of 'competent' with a sword, but not exceptional) - guns are his main skill beyond his natural leadership, and of course, his natural leadership has had to take a backseat to his trigger finger ever since his appearance has made diplomatic relations with others rather more difficult to establish. Put simply, Romero has a natural talent with guns, years of training extending back to his childhood, and still uses his gun-skills on a day-to-day basis . I think in that context, the Bs I gave him is reasonable.

Outside that... as you're bringing him to the September Conclave, any thoughts on what his interest in Kaede Mack is? Does he think there's a Kaede that can help him (perhaps as a physician or with valuable information)? Or is he just there outside his personal interests, for some general heretic smiting?

Of final note, I shall have to see if I can bring Jax Lynn in a game against you (provided I get her finished in time). I'm sure she'd be of particular interest to Romero.

I have something of a confession to make - the reason I chose Romero for the Summer Clave is not, as it perhaps should have been, because he's the character I think would best fit the story; in fact, that would probably be Zophar, but much as I love the character of Zophar, I wanted to try something new, and I had test-played Romero's band and thoroughly enjoyed it (the psycho skulltaker character proved to be EXTREMELY good fun). This, combined with the fact that I really fancied painting Romero's band was what motivated me to decide to take him.

Off the top of my head, some reason why he might be interested in Mack might be that he's heard of an underground tech-smuggling ring which has cutting edge black market rejuve technology, and that Mack was the ringleader in the operation. Romero wants to find out what Mack knows about this illegal tech (maybe it uses some warp or xenos technology that is officially banned, but which wealthy citizens would pay big money for, as it extends their lifespan impressively). Alternatively, maybe some gangsters have been using weaponised toxins developed from the curse of unbelief and Romero has traced the bio-weapon dealing back to the Mack conglomerate. I would be interested to know if any of you have any thoughts on either of these ideas - does one seem much stronger than the other, or are they both a bit flimsy?

As for Jax, I know exactly where you're coming from there Marco - it would make for some rather interesting play, although I think Romero would need to see evidence of her abilities before their true significance really hit home to him. Once they do, though... well, let's just say he won't want to be letting her get away uncaptured, which I'm sure will create some nice tension with Inquisitor Skoll!

Anyway, my thanks once again for the comments, and for reading my fluff; I hope it was a decent read! 

[Quickdraw McGraw]

The baron's "cut" could be called a "Tip"? Bribing of course is a no-no but "tips" are allowed and usually help you have a hassle free day.

Not quite sure we're on the same page.

Oh, yes we are on the same page. I replied during my lunch hour and wanted to keep it to the point but I should have probably said something like...I agree with Marco.  The Arbites are way too involved in a single mining operation.  But if Bribing is too strong or not the right word in this story..."Tipping" would work.   

However speaking of Tithes... There are many ways a large corporation can and does( I promise you) make use of loop holes and obscure laws to cheat on Taxes and Tithes.  A good example is the Oil Companies.  They complain all day about the price per drum has gone up.  Labor costs have gone up.  Pipe lines, tankers, equipment needs replaced and in spite of it all they net tens of billions in profits a year!   So why can't these barons?

Frank Herbert's novel "Dune" starts  off showing us a house in charge of mining a word of spice for the emperor.  Greedy house Harkonnen used every under-handed, back stabbing method they could to get themselves richer.  All the while looking like a faithful servants before the emperor.

@ Brimstone- I remember seeing these guys not too long ago.   

[MarcoSkoll]

Would you suggest I give him a high Ld and then slap a penalty on his first interaction with others or give him a lower Ld (maybe around 50s), with a high bonus for dealing with his own group (e.g. +30% when dealing with his own men, as they have no qualms about his appearance)?

Leadership does have more than just communicative ability rolled in - things like discipline and loyalty are factors. So I'd say go with the majority (which I'm presuming is a high stat), but give him a large, but straight, penalty for interacting with others, at least when his nature is visible.

Thing is, it's a little difficult to quantify it becoming "clear that he is still an Inquisitor and a reasonable man", seeing as how there are a great many different reactions that could be had.
An extreme Monodominant or Battle Sister wouldn't be likely to decide such a thing. But a Rogue Trader who had had a loyal and valuable ally/friend in a mutant savant for the past century would be less likely to judge on appearance.
It's at least in part a roleplay element, so leave it up to the player if they want to decide to get on with him.

I think in that context, the Bs I gave him is reasonable.

On reconsideration, I have to remember that Skoll is similar. His stubber has the "Improved barrel" master-crafting trait, which had somewhat slipped my mind.

I have something of a confession to make - the reason I chose Romero for the Summer Clave is not, as it perhaps should have been, because he's the character I think would best fit the story

The reason should always be what you think you'll enjoy most. As entertaining as Zophar can be, we all sometimes want to dabble in something different.

I would be interested to know if any of you have any thoughts on either of these ideas - does one seem much stronger than the other, or are they both a bit flimsy?

Either sounds like a plausible reason Romero could be interested. The former does perhaps rely on him being willing to use here-tech in his quest to shake the plague, which may depend on how Radical/desperate he is at this point.

I'm not sure whether he's at that stage yet though, so I'd perhaps consider chasing up the second idea. It would also help avoid constantly chasing after trying to cure himself and similarly endlessly failing (as I presume will happen for the sake of maintaining that status quo). The guy has to have a chance to catch a break sometimes.

As for Jax, I know exactly where you're coming from there Marco - it would make for some rather interesting play, although I think Romero would need to see evidence of her abilities before their true significance really hit home to him. Once they do, though... well, let's just say he won't want to be letting her get away uncaptured, which I'm sure will create some nice tension with Inquisitor Skoll!

Unfortunately for Skoll, her potential isn't as kept from the ears of Carthaxian Conclave as he would like, although it's still mostly in the realm of rumour rather than fact. That's probably more than enough to get some of the more radical Thorians (on that note, are you still going with your original proposal that he might be Thorian? I don't think I saw it mentioned above) and the odd zombie Inquisitor interested though.

Oh, yes we are on the same page.

Ah right. I think I've worked out what you mean, but it is a bit contrary to the phrasing I was using.

I'm guessing you're thinking about the portion of the profits the barons are taking for themselves as greasing the wheels so as to motivate them to supply the planet's tithe. I guess that's a fair way of looking at it, but it wasn't what I was thinking of when I was thinking about financial incentives.

[Brother_Brimstone]

Okay, once again, it's a large backstory, but I really enjoy writing about this group, and I really wanted to make them feel three dimensional, so I've been thinking a lot about who they are and what their lives are like. Again, I don't expect you to read the whole thing, as I know there's a lot, but if you do, or even if you read part of it, any comments and criticism would be appreciated.

In particular, any comments on the stats/abilities section, even if you don't fully read the fluff, is always appreciated as I WILL be using Sergio at the Summer Clave.

This character is the psycho skulltaker, Sergio Fulci.

Sergio Fulci

Background

Put simply, Sergio was a genius. He had insights which others could barely comprehend, and happened upon the most intricate of observations seemingly by accident. He was erudite, incisive and quick-witted. The first-born son of a noble house on the agri-world Archi’s Reach in the Carthax Sector, Sergio had the highest level of tutorial possible in every field available to a member of the Imperium of his status. Rhetoric, Imperial Creed, History (planetary, sector and Imperium), politics, his fields of expertise were seemingly limitless. Even in fencing and target-shooting, Sergio excelled. He was on the path to greatness. Unfortunately, as Sergio became a young man (at about 20 years of age) a curious phenomenon surfaced.

Sergio began having increasingly severe headaches and his dreams were haunted by the most vivid nightmares.The nightmares were of a horrendous eternal void, filled only with what could be described as collections of malevolent energies. These energies desired nothing more than to tear away Sergio’s very soul. They wanted nothing more than to demoralise, and ultimately destroy him, and as he slept, Sergio felt them trying to crawl into his mind. This formerly brilliant young man became increasing paranoid, sleepless and demented. He reported hearing voices and would predict anyone’s approach before they even entered the room. Rumours began to circulate around Sergio, and his parents, fearing for what the rumours might lead to, decided to take the matter into their own hands.

Sergio’s parents, massively wealthy and powerful through being the largest land-owners of this huge and important Agri-world, used their off-world contacts to search for a ‘doctor of the mind’. They did so with caution, and rather covertly, lest they attract too much attention to their son, and his wayward mind (and with the attention, rumours, perhaps even of wytchcraft).  Through contacts within the Officio Medicae, Sergio’s parents eventually established communication with a Chiurgeon named Vanus Erwin, who was recommended because of his experience in medical afflictions of the mind. After hearing reports of Sergio’s condition, it became readily apparent to Erwin, who had some experience working with psykers, that the boy was manifesting powers. Being a man of not unkind disposition, and not wishing to make enemy more enemies in high places than necessary, Erwin made contact with a member of the Schola Psykana whom he had worked with before in his services to the Inquisition. Erwin emphasised how rich and powerful Sergio’s parents were and therefore while it would be a dangerous heresy to ignore the boy’s potential, it was perhaps wise to treat his case with delicacy.

It was arranged for a member of the Schola to visit Sergio, under the guise of being a mental healthcare professional of the Officio Medicae. He interviewed Sergio, and it soon became apparent that the young man’s issues were indeed the emergence of some latent psychic powers. While the nature of Sergio’s condition was uncertain, it had been unwise to make any moves which would overly displease his influential family, but now it was clear that his affliction was psychic in nature, the laws of the Imperium had to be applied, lest disaster strike. It was explained to Sergio’s parents that there were two choices – Sergio could come back to the Schola Psykana and be trained to serve the Imperium and the Emperor, or they could execute him there and then as a danger to humankind. The decision was an easy one to make and Sergio was taken in by the Schola in order to properly train him in his powers.

Finally understood and with proper training, Sergio’s difficulties largely subsided, although he still occasionally found himself trapped in a familiar nightmare. Sergio’s psychic ability was relatively unexceptional (by the standards of the Schola) – he was able to detect the presence of those around him without use of conventional, physical senses. While this was his only ability, he worked hard, and with the return of his old, fastidious and adept personality, he was able to hone his mind into a finely tuned instrument. While it was true that he couldn’t summon fire, or read minds, or bend flesh as others at the Schola could, Sergio was stable, strong, intelligent, disciplined and extremely loyal to those for whom he worked. After finally completing his training at the Schola, Sergio was assigned to a regiment of the Imperial Guard, working on the front line, using his abilities to detect and avoid ambushes and find hidden enemies.

Sergio quickly established a reputation for being exceedingly good at his job. His powers of detection were precise and finely tuned, and he very rarely made mistakes. For this he was celebrated by those who worked with him, his utility even going so far as to compensate for the Guardsmen’s natural distrust for psykers, earning him more than a few friends. Sergio’s natural genius and his capable nature assured that he was a success, regardless of the unforeseen twist in his life-plan.

Therefore, it was little surprise that when an Inquisitor of the Carthax Sector made contact with the Imperial Guard, requesting the services of a psychic tracker, Sergio’s name came up. Inquisitor Romero, having only recently been made an Inquisitor, was about to drop onto a quarantined planet, and felt that the services of a psychic tracker would be of use. Sergio formed an instant respect and admiration for Romero upon their first meeting. It was clear that Romero was a man of exceptional ability and power, and yet he was incredibly forthcoming and friendly and respectful, which endeared him to Sergio.

Romero explained to Sergio in plain terms, that they would be investigating the source of contagion on a quarantined planet, and that a psychic tracker would be preferable to a mechanical one, as bio-trackers were unreliable in tracing the irregular makeup of the ‘undead’ (as he called them) and further to this, because the curse of unbelief is somewhat ‘unnatural’ in origin, a psychic trace might be more reliable than a physical one. Also, Romero added, a human tracker would perhaps be able to warn him if there was anything bigger or more dangerous, or in some way different to the standard infected; perhaps an origin of the infection, or a mutation, or any other dangerous presence. 

Of course Sergio more than proved himself on this first outing with the Inquisitor, surprising Romero not only with his psychic ability, but also with his able combat abilities and extensive banks of knowledge. Romero had seen enough of this psyker to know he would be a valuable asset to his operation, and requested Sergio’s transfer from the guard into his own retinue, for use in future investigations.

Even when not engaged in fieldwork, Sergio proved himself useful in assisting the Inquisitor in investigations and administration. Sergio’s brilliant mind seemed to excel at anything to which it was turned, and so he was a valuable aide. In fact, had Sergio’s life continued upon the path it was now set, he would have likely become an acolyte to Romero, and probably even an Inquisitor in his own right.

Unfortunately for Sergio, fate had another twist in store for him, in the form of the Inquisitor Leone incident. Sadly, Sergio was a member of Romero’s entourage during the conflict and was similarly infected with Leone’s experimental pathogen.

There are multiple possible explanations for what followed, each of which were outlined to Romero by the Magos who assisted his retinue in their treatment. For any of several reasons (or perhaps a conjunction thereof), Sergio was afflicted most by the disease, which quickly and sadly spread not only to his body, but also his mind. The explanations given for his unfortunate reaction to the infection fit either of two broad categories:

1)   As a psyker, the unnatural and warp-tainted virus was attracted straight to the shining beacon of his mind and his warp presence, attacking it fiercely and instantly.
2)   Sergio was, unfortunately, the first of Romero’s retinue to be treated, and therefore his treatment was the most experimental and without practice on behalf of those conducting it.

Whatever the reason, when Sergio’s treatment was complete, he was a different person. His once bright mind had been corrupted into a tempest of emotions and unregulated thoughts. Perhaps Sergio’s original personality was still there, buried beneath the corruption, but if it was, it was being heavily suppressed. Put simply, Sergio was psychotic.

Personality / Philosophy / Goals

Sergio’s current personality is best described as ‘unpredictable’. His once sophisticated quick wit has been replaced by a vile animal cunning and his refinement and charm have been replaced by a boundless rage and psychosis. Romero has performed many psychological evaluations on Sergio, and as far as can be told, Sergio still retains some understanding that what he is now is not what he ‘truly’ is. Sergio has a dim awareness that his mind has been corrupted and destroyed, even if he doesn’t understand how, why, or what his mind used to be, and this is the source of his rage. Sergio retains enough presence of mind to feel constantly tortured by his demented state, but not enough to recover from it, and it makes him angry. Extraordinarily angry.

This has led to Sergio having taken a new found passion for the battlefield, especially hunting zombies. Sergio finds release in the opportunity to vent his rage through outbursts of extreme violence, it’s the only thing which will quench the flames of his anger – although it is, at best, a temporary fix. Sergio has, to some extent, retained his psychic abilities, but they are now much less reliable, advanced and finely honed than they once were. Where he was once a portable surveillance station, he is now a trained sniffer dog.

Still, the evidence remains that the ‘real Sergio’ remains, buried beneath the corruption and psychosis, and he is prone to observable ‘flashes of brilliance’. These moments, which are somewhat irregular, occur suddenly and without warning and often take the form of brief moments of lucidity. Sergio has been known, in the heat of battle, to decrypt passcodes to high-level security systems, throw up psychic shields of immense power, defending his allies from supernatural attacks, to make extremely astute tactical observations or to recount pieces of relevant and useful information. These flashes occur with greater frequency when Sergio is in conflict, and may be a result of either the joy he feels at the ability to slaughter or the extra strain his mind is put under to do what is necessary to survive.

One thing which is particularly notable about Sergio’s psychology is that he still retains a strong loyalty and fondness for Romero and his own teammates, and not only has he never attacked them, but has, on multiple occasions, fought fiercely to defend them. At his more afflicted moments, his loyalty might be described as ‘canine’ – an attack dog who won’t attack his handler, but during his more reflective moments, Sergio’s loyalty seems more involved and complex than that – suggesting an instinctive understanding of the notion of ‘family’ and protecting one’s own.

During battles, and especially once violence breaks out, however, there is little one can do to restrain him – once Sergio smells blood in the air, he can finally let go and unleash the desires that constantly eat at his tainted mind.

It may therefore be clear that Sergio has no real, conscious long term ambitions (at least none can be discerned by his demeanour), but he is the member of Romero’s retinue for whom Romero feels most pity and most responsibility. Sergio’s insanity may be a liability at times, and his effect on the morale of Romero’s retinue is understandably negative, but Romero feels ineffably guilty for the tragic destruction of this brilliant young man, and will (has, in fact, on many occasions) protect and defend Sergio just as fully as he does those members of his group whose minds remain intact. Romero wishes for nothing more than to help soothe the mind of this haunted individual, and the restoring of Sergio to his full mental faculties is one of the strongest driving factors in Romero’s on-going attempt to cure the disease afflicting them all.

Stats

WS   BS   S   T   I   Wp   Sg   Nv   Ld
68   65   63   37   53   62   49   74   54

Equipment

Bionic organs, bionic eyes with nightvision, stubber with manstopper rounds, axe, frag grenades (4), knife,

-As regards defence, I considered giving all the members of this group conversion fields, as none of them are wearing any armour at all and with such a low T they’ll otherwise have huge amounts of injury penalties slapped on them, making them too difficult to do anything with. Does this seem a bit excessive power-wise, and if so, can you think of any way I can perhaps get around that, or do you think it seems okay?

Skills / Abilities

Furious assault, nerves of steel, fearsome, detection (psychic ability), zombification, true grit, flashes of brilliance

Flashes of brilliance

At the start of the game, roll a D3 – Sergio has this many flashes of brilliance for the duration of this game. Flashes of brilliance can be used at any point in the game with any of the following effects:
-   +40% Sg for one Sg test.
-   +20% Ld for one Ld test.
-   +20% Wp for one Wp test.
This represents Sergio’s old, brilliant, genius personality shining through the madness temporarily. A flash of brilliance must always be announced BEFORE the affected roll is made

[MarcoSkoll]

frag grenades (4)

I'm not sure I can see where all these frag grenades are on the models (unless they've been altered since your old thread, I can only see a couple of things that might be on Fulci, and none on Romero).

Grenades can actually be pretty powerful - they can severely injure several characters at once, be used effectively around corners, bypass cover, and automatically pin anyone hit by them.
I've not taken more than four grenades into more than a very scarce few games in the last few years, but that's still very capable of causing serious carnage. Or, when Sgt. Daniela Kronen is involved, guaranteed to cause serious carnage. (Suffice to say that there's a story involving her shoving an armed krak grenade into her opponent's backpack, with predictable results.)

As regards defence, I considered giving all the members of this group conversion fields, as none of them are wearing any armour at all and with such a low T they'll otherwise have huge amounts of injury penalties slapped on them, making them too difficult to do anything with. Does this seem a bit excessive power-wise, and if so, can you think of any way I can perhaps get around that, or do you think it seems okay?

I'd steer clear of it. Only Asandrea uses a conversion field in my collection, partly because they are quite nasty.
The INQvitational had one game where it was a real thorn in my opponent's side, blinding his characters more than once - which was a bit of a problem while my "psycho-flagellant" was running around immune (we didn't think his warpsight would be susceptible to light levels, or that his all-around vision would make it all that fair for it to be).

If you do want to go with fields all over, then I'd make most of them refractor fields - those aren't beating carapace levels of protection (on average, at least) and causing mass initiative tests almost half the times they get hit.
I would however use a version of refractors where the field's glow would be either something like a re-roll to spot them or a straight +20%, as that doubled chance is a bit OTT.

Another alternative is to just give a flak coat here and there and some bionic armour - there's got be quite a lot of metal holding them together.

[Brother_Brimstone]

With regards to the models, they actually have changed somewhat since you last saw them (especially the gunslinger, but to some degree all of them besides Romero), although that's somewhat besides the point. For things like reloads and grenades I tend to use the Necromunda line - all weapons must be represented on the model aside from grenades, which it can be assumed are carried in pockets etc... Now, were i to say 10 grenades on a model with a skintight leotard and nothing else, then I would say that would be 'cheating', but the zombie models have trenchcoats/coats and/or cargo pants with large pockets, where I feel one can safely assume a couple of grenades or the odd ammo clip can be stored.

However, in terms of game balance I do believe you raise a valid point - they are powerful. I think I'm going to remove them from Romero but leave them on Fulci. Last time I played him, he put them to good use, without unbalancing the game (he used them to keep an unstoppable close-combat specialist from getting near, but still failed to take him out of the game) and I always find it fun to give the mentally unstable ones explosives :p I get what you're saying though, and I think that, unless any of the other models have grenades modeled on (which I'll have to check once I'm home) - I'll leave the grenade business to Fulci (and even if any others -do- have them, nothing says I have to make the characters be the sort of people to use them outside of an emergency).

I think I like your idea for the toned-down refractor fields and internal bionics. I just want to make sure the characters are suitably defended because although 'zombification' will make them hard to take OOA, they take location inuries (and the corresponding penalties) VERY quickly, and I don't want to end up with three speed 1, bleeding, -x% Bs Ws etc... characters by the fifth round. The main lesson I learned from having playtested them is that they take location injuries too easily, so I'm trying to make them a bit better defended. What you've suggested sounds good.

Thanks for the comment

[MarcoSkoll]

For things like reloads and grenades I tend to use the Necromunda line - all weapons must be represented on the model aside from grenades, which it can be assumed are carried in pockets etc...

I don't disagree that WYSIWYG can have a degree of that kind of thing, but I normally don't go past one (fairly low-key) weapon without any obvious holster or pouch.

It's one thing for an Inquisitor to have something like a compact stub-auto they've hidden about their person for if they lose their normal gun (such paranoia is almost to be expected), but it's a bit different if they're invisibly packing four pounds of explosives that are useful alongside their main weapons.

On the note of ammo pouches and the like, it reminds me I'd like to get another game with Sister Phoenix. (For the sake of explaining why it's come to mind, her bolter reloads are entirely WYSIWYG). So I may have to bring her to the event.

I always find it fun to give the mentally unstable ones explosives

Hopefully this nutter will remember it's not a good idea to stand next to them when they go off.

The main lesson I learned from having playtested them is that they take location injuries too easily, so I'm trying to make them a bit better defended.

I actually learnt something similar with the first version of Jax - even with the regeneration, the complete lack of armour meant quite a lot of penalties from only a couple of hits that would still take a good while to heal.

But that wasn't so much a case of being inconveniently vulnerable, as inappropriately so.

[MarcoSkoll]

As a minor note, I have to correct myself - my earlier statement about "four grenades" was looking at a draft version of Sgt. Kronen's character sheet, but having looked at the model this morning, I realised that had changed on the final version to five: Two frags, two krak and a smoke.

I'd still stand by my earlier point about having lots of grenades on everyone though.