Death-cultist, but with a twist...

[Vladimir]

True, but only if the technology she's hitting is suitibly pure. Remember, she'll be targeting hereteks, who don't deserve the machinery they have access to. If the technology being used is tainted, or it's user is tainted (tainting it by association), then it's best to shut it down, rather than allowing the taint to spread. Remember, the effect is *not* permenant- I imagine it works by putting out vast amounts of electro-magnetic white noise, temporarilly overloading delicate circuitry. Effectively, the technology is stunned rather than destroyed- thus untainted tech can be rescued and repaired/reconsecrated.
Also, remember that those suplying her will be followers of a somewhat deviant faith (just as she is). Remember, the cult is barely tolorated, not actively encouraged, so many deviations in terms of doctrine are possible. The bolts may even be manufactured- secretly- especially for use by the cult's assassins.
Plus, it provides a way of taking out security cameras and so on, stopping her being detected. Always nice.

3 Haywire bolts:
These crosbow bolts, rather than penetrating armour and dealing lethal damage, are designed to latch onto their target. Once in place, they release a sudden burst of electromagnetic static, overloading and temporarilly disabling any vulnerable systems in the vicinity.
When a character is hit by a Haywire bolt, all electrical equipment on the location struck (such as energy weapons and so on) imediately become non-functional, in exactly the same way as if it was in the field of a haywire grenade. The effect has a 25% chance of ending at the end of each turn. Note that the bolt may also be fired at non-living targets such as camera's, data-banks and so on. A character can remove and disable a bolt as a single action.


This is somewhat less powerful than a haywire grenade itself, but easilly enough for her to shut down an unwary target's defences long enough to make a lethal strike.

[MarcoSkoll]

Remember, the effect is *not* permanent

It isn't, but it is still a hefty unholy mistreatment of it. In modern terms, it'd be a bit like smearing excrement on a statue of Jesus. Sure, it can be washed off, but that doesn't mean it wouldn't really offend people anyway.

Also, from a fluff perspective, I usually reckon on it at least risking permanent damage. I don't play it that way in game, as it's already a fairly formidable piece of equipment, and it's a bit much if the savant with the bionic heart has X% chance of permanent cardiac arrest. I'd already inflict him some fairly nasty penalties for the temporary effect.

Plus, it provides a way of taking out security cameras and so on, stopping her being detected. Always nice.

Only if you're going by the "video game" methods. In reality, a disabled security camera does get noticed, and is actually very likely to cause an alarm in its own right.

I make my players work harder than that if they have to be stealthy...

[Shannow]

I really like the idea of the assassin having a mechanism of attack that is very specific to very bionically enhanced persons, much in the same way that dumdeedum is creating an almost solely anti-daemon character in this thread:

http://www.the-conclave.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=838.0

I think that perhaps a toned down effect may be a good mutual ground of power, I think I read somewhere about a nanobot poison some one has developed and that might be a good idea for a specific but not massively debilitating bolt for bow?

Perhaps the nanobots  have an X% chance of making the hit areas bionic defunct for x turns? I'm not great with rule creation but that certainly sounds plausible to me or at least a variation on it.

Would definitely like the character to have some something specific though as it definitely adds a lot of depth and purpose to the character.

Also in gameplay terms, it would seem likely to me that the cultist would deliberately target those of its enemies with bionics; but thats just my suggestion for how you might play the character

Rob

[Vladimir]

@ Marco-skoll: true, but taking out a camera stops her being identified. And, yes, if a techpriest is hit by it, he'll suffer horribly until he can pull it off him. (Or afterwards, if the GM decides that his brain explodes...).
In terms of blasphemy, the cult would see it as closer to 'blowing up a statue of jesus that already has excrement smeared on it'. If she's targetting somebody, then they are corrupt in the cults eyes, and so is any tech they come into contact with.

@Shannow: true, but it's also a way of neutralising potential threats. 'Dude with a scanner/heavy bolter/pict-skull? take that out...'. And yes, she'll target opponents with bionics. The uninitiated don't 8deserve* such wonders...

[MarcoSkoll]

closer to 'blowing up a statue of jesus that already has excrement smeared on it'

I'm sure that would be taken very well in our world.

[DapperAnarchist]

It would be like a Thirty Years War or English Civil War soldier burning down a Church... that belonged to the other religion. Yes, it contains a cross, and symbols of Jesus, and a Bible and prayer books and all that... but they're heretics. Nothing is unacceptable to destroy them.

[Metellus]

Agreed. Imperials in general tend to have no qualms about destroying worlds if just one bit of it is corrupted; the rest of the populace could be as devoted as humanly possible (and then some) but the Imperial authorities tend to consider the destruction of the enemy above that of the survival of their own people. I assume it's the same for the AdMech (well, this cult specifically) - if some technology has been 'corrupted' by being given to an uninitiated person, then they'll probably destroy it; they'd probably rationalise it as ending the suffering of the machine-spirit.