'Familiar' idea

[dumdeedum]

I was just browsing for models to use for my warband which I've reached a dead end in when I found these guys.

I thought they looked awesome and began thinking that i should incorporate them into inquisitor somehow as I will be buying them.

My idea was originally to use them like a servo skull, but then they don't look mechanical in the slightest, so then I thought they could be a familiar. Then I had a problem along the same kind of line in that it is just an object and so it would have to be animated completely by psychic forces like telekenisis.

So to get down to what I'm asking, would something along these lines be possible? I think the psyker in question would have no other powers besides the controlling of them and they would act like a servo skull in their movements and actions.

Another question is having had no experience with writing background for a psychic character and little knowledge about them either, what is a likely circumstance for the psyker to be in?

Hopefully I got across what I was to trying to say

[Shannow]

I think it having to be animated by psychic powers is over complicating things to be honest, just because it isnt outwardly mechanical looking doesnt mean its internal workings aren't. I think just saying its a familiar would be perfectly acceptable, much in the way psyber eagles aren't particularly mechanical. maybe add commlink attachment thing or something, just a little green stuff really.

In terms of psykers I'm not very knowledgeable, but all sanctioned psykers have to be through the black ships, which I think go back to terra and all but the best and brightest are killed, with the aforementioned best being selected for specialist sections like the Inquisition. Though you can have unsanctioned psykers too, but you'd have to be clear how they avoided the black ships.

I think thats all correct but someone may be along to say otherwise

Hope that helps anyway

Rob

[dumdeedum]

Yeah, I probably was overthinking it, think I'll just keep it simple and have it as a a familiar, and I've just realised I get three of them per order so I can afford to attempt some modifications to 40kify it. Never used greenstuff before though so I'm a little scared (for lack of a better word).

I don't currently see the psyker as sanctioned but I would appreciate a general idea of how the process of becoming a sanctioned psyker works (including how they are discovered by the black ships) and also how they might become un-sanctioned psykers (ie. how they might avoid the black ships). or just point me in the right direction as to where I might find this information.

Won't be making the character for a while so these are just preliminary ramblings on what is potentially going to be the first member of my 2nd warband, the warband of the inquisitor that left the acolyte in my 1st warband behind.

[Ynek]

When I saw that miniature, my mind ran in a different direction with it...

Perhaps these things are robotic/servitor children's toys, essentially designed to be a child's robotic teddy bear. However, character X, Y or Z decided to re-purpose them for combat.

For instance, perhaps evil mastermind Doctor Evil van Winkle, who owned the factory, started producing teddy bears who had been programmed to kill people in the name of (insert name of generic evil here. Chaos, necrons, alien masters, you name it.)

Or maybe an Inquisitor was investigating the factory where killer teddy-bear-servitors were coming from, and when he got there, all hell broke loose, and he was forced to hide in the stock room. He eventually convinced his tech-priest to re-program a bunch of the servitor-teddies and got them to fight on his behalf to make his way out of the factory. Perhaps the teddy-servitor who follows him around is the one and only one which survived the battle, and he keeps it around as a lucky charm (and familiar).

So, really, as the two above examples illustrate, you could quite easily have either a good character with an armed robotic toy following him around, or an evil character.

*Reads through post*
Man, painkillers make me come up with some straaaaange stuff.

[Shannow]

I think that definitely goes into the 'occasional genius' bracket though Ynek very cool and creepy

@ Dumdeedum - don'y be worried about using greenstuff, just play around with a bit maybe on an old mni you have, once you get the hang of how sticy its going to be and what your going to use to shape it, both tool and lube wise (I use spit) then you should be ok. Plus there are loads of handy guides kicking around if you check the painting modelling links tab
as well as many works in progress to point the way.

I'm not an expert but if you look around the dark millennium section there is a lot on psykers. As far as I know the planet has to round the psykers up as a tithe sort of thing to the imperium and the black ships collect these at whatever set interval. An unsanctioned psyker can remain undetected for many reasons, main reasons being that they have very helpful accomplices or they are fairly high born to begin with so have the resources to escape. Quite a few people seem to have unsanctioned psykers as working with rogue tradrers.

But as I say I am not in any way an expert and I'm sure some of what I say is spurious and the dark millennium section is a good place for answers

Rob

[Flinty]

If your looking for background info/fluff/rules on familiars and psykers then I suggest you download the pdf package in MarcoSkoll's sig - there's some very useful stuff in there which should help you decide between servitor/familiar.

Familiar sounds fine to me - basically works with a feedback loop to the psyker,  they see what the familiar sees, any damage to the familiar is partially dealt to the psyker as well, 1 action to give a command (nothing too complex) and they can have any realatively simple role you can think of.

Alternatively you could follow Ynek's twisted reasoning (he's been watching kiddies TV through a heavy codine filter hasn't he?) and go with a servitor approach.

The pdf's contain an article on Cherubhim, different fluff, but a possible basis to construct your own rules

Excellent mini as well!

[DapperAnarchist]

For the binding process for psykers, I recommend Dark Heresy, which has a table of different binding effects, from shattered teeth (and dentures made from the teeth of dead pilgrims) to blindness to "tongue-binding", where the psyker has wards tattooed onto their tongue directly...

[Vladimir]

I'd use them as cherubim, tbh. Non flying ones, though...