Inquisitor Elva Mark III

[Jamas Orian]

You mean the ask questions first, shoot later sort?

Even if she did wantonly cavort with Xenos, she'd be very unwise not to keep them on a very short leash.

[Elva]

Hehe, she's not that impulsive, more like look for an excuse to shoot, then go on a genocide.

Ya, I'm actually going to put an Eldar in her warband now, thanks to inspiration I got from you posting that model. I just got to get down to justifying it and deciding whether they're gonna be a ranger or pirate.

[Jamas Orian]

No1 H3r3 is probably the go-to person for anything related to Eldar. Marco Skoll has some Eldar PDFs in his hostingy thing somewhere too.

Here's the bit that concerns justifying the presence of an Eldar:

THE QUEST
The Eldar is on a personal quest, and needs
something, be it a piece of information, access
to an ancient library or other resource, or even
a priceless artefact, and the Inquisitor has the
wherewithal to provide this. The canny
Inquisitor is quick to strike a deal; the
servitude of the powerful and capable Eldar in
exchange for what he seeks.

A COMMON GOAL
The Eldar has sworn to accomplish the same
goal as the Inquisitor and his warrior band, be
it bringing down a rival Inquisitor, furthering a
particular political faction, quashing a
rebellion that could spill over to other planets
in the system, etc. For the time being at least,
it makes sense for the Eldar and the Inquisitor
to tolerate each other and work together
rather than against each other.

TRUST NOT THE ALIEN
The Eldar character wishes to assassinate a
high-standing member of the Inquisition, and
has taken the employ of a radical Inquisitor in
the hope of learning protocol and ultimately
gaining a chance to assassinate his true target
through the oblivious actions of his 'master'.
This can be a great one to play if you are the
Gamesmaster, provided you and the player
with the Eldar character do not give too much
away with sly winks over the tabletop...

THE GREAT ENEMY
The Eldar work ceaselessly to combat Chaos,
especially the works of Slaanesh, in whose
creation they played a major part. This is a real
gift for Gamesmasters: any time the players
come up against the vile machinations of
Chaos, you have a ready made excuse to
introduce an Eldar into the game. Think about
a scenario such as having an Eldar sniper take
his shot in the nick of time to pull a captured
Inquisitor's fat out of the fire moments before
he is sacrificed to some unholy god. As to his
motivations, well, that's up to the players to
discover.

FUTURE PERFECT
Many Eldar can see the complex paths that the
future may take, and often despatch their
forces in order to guide the future along a
particular path. In this way, a small application
of force in the right place at the right time can
stop a war that would kill hundreds of Eldar,
or allow the forces of Chaos to gain a foothold
on an innocent world. The Eldar character is
an agent of a Farseer, and has been instructed
either to promote or halt a certain chain of
events. Naturally, the Inquisitor is at the centre
of these events, and perhaps he himself has a
certain part to play if the future is to take the
correct path.

THE DEBT
It is not unheard of for the Eldar to come to
the aid of Humanity in times of need, and vice
versa. The Eldar can be very honourable at
times, and despite holding Humanity in
contempt, they will generally fulfil an oath
sworn to an individual or organisation even if
the debt was incurred by one of their
forefathers. Likewise, if an Eldar line has in the
past provided a major service for a human
organisation, an ancestor of the Eldar may well
call in the debt, and will take a very dim view
of any who intend to renege upon their
obligations. If you use this rationale, it is
important to ascertain just what the debt is,
and also what criteria the debtor must fulfil to
cancel it forever.

[MarcoSkoll]

Be very wary of using Eldar in Inquisitor.

Firstly, they're inhumanly skilled. Faster, more dexterous, and even a bit tougher than humans (no, this is not a mistake - 40k is one of the rare settings where the "Elf" archetype is not horribly frail.) Take an above average human, and they'd probably lose out against a below par Eldar. In short, they're very powerful characters on the table.

Secondly, they're also inhuman in mindset. They're often very misinterpreted in fiction and roleplays. If you do include an Eldar, you need to explain very carefully why they're tolerating humans at all and why they're even considering working with them. (See Jamas' post above.)

EDIT: Actually, with Eldar, if you're not playing "The Chessmaster" aspect up to eleven, then you're probably cheating yourself.

[Jamas Orian]

From what I understand from the information that I've just posted - having an Eldar helping you is very situational. In a short campaign (a couple of games maybe), it shouldn't be too much of an issue, but on a longer running campaign, you'd be just as likely to come up against the same Eldar as you would fighting with them.

[MarcoSkoll]

Pretty much, although some situations could justify a longer "stay" with the Inquisitor. For example, if there's some role that the Inquisitor is supposed to fulfil in a decade or so, an Eldar might make regular visits to keep nudging the Inquisitor in the right direction.
However, given the general hatred the Eldar have for humans (and frankly, most other species in the galaxy - the Eldar are incredibly racist), it would probably only happen intermittently - they wouldn't spend time around the Inquisitor except when it was actually necessary.

The upside to this is that it means there's a good excuse for not fielding such a powerful model on a regular basis - they'd really only turn up at VERY key moments... which would generally coincide nicely with the more "powerful" scenarios.

I use similar reasoning with Frost (very dangerous assassin/mercenary type, although completely human), except in this case, the reasoning is usually the other way around - it's that Marco is wary enough of Frost that he usually doesn't have her around unless he actually needs to.

[Elva]

Well, I'm going to have a long hard thinking session about it. I did come up with the Q'orl/pipe idea, so I should be able to figure something out.

Well, balance wise, it'll be nice to have an edge, the people who I play with tend to go with some pretty nasty character designs, I'm mostly afraid of the acro-flagelant one of them promised to take. But the main reason why I'm taking one is because I like the eldar, and Elva is pretty tolerant of them, which is all the justification I need(as long as I can justify why they're there in the first place  ).

The mindset I'll have to read up on. But I think if I make a few notes that I can take to each session, I can play the character relatively effective. In fact, I'd be happy to hear what you know.

I have the sons of Khaine PDF as well, so I'll go over that as well while I do my brainstorming session.

[Elva]

Sorry for the double post, but after thoroughly going through Jamas's post with the reasons for an Eldar in a campaign, a couple thoughts occurred to me. One, since Elva is particularly sympathetic towards the Eldar(seeing them as more similar than different, and having several common enemies), she would easily help out a craftworld in need. Though to cover her tracks and since she is one to utilize any advantage given, she'd call in a debt. There is also the fact that it could give a chance to smooth over relations, at least in her mind.

Idea number two, Elva is cunning and resourceful, however, when it comes to the Eldar, her guard is let down due to her fascination with every aspect of them. A wise Farseer or other Eldar leader would probably take advantage of this and probably manipulate her to their will, though she'd probably still help out if she knew with a bit of coaxing. Enter the Eldar character(work in progress) who is sent to keep an eye on her and make sure she succeeds in completing the goals set out for her.

Sound too far fetched?

[MarcoSkoll]

One, since Elva is particularly sympathetic towards the Eldar, she would easily help out a craftworld in need.

A) Why would a craftworld need the help? The Eldar, while dying, are still a very powerful race.
B) Why would a craftworld accept the help? Firstly, the Eldar are a pretty proud race. They will ONLY accept help if they absolutely have to, and really, they'd prefer to manipulate someone into doing it anyway. While, theoretically the Eldar can end up in the debt of a human (and will usually honour that debt), they'll usually avoid getting to that stage as much as possible.

An Inquisitor might (and only might, that's quite how powerful the Eldar are) have the resources that they could be of some use to the Eldar. However, such an event would call for the use of huge amounts of the Inquisitor's power.

Not something you'd do subtly - we're talking the kind of thing people would definitely notice. So, you'd definitely be outed as a Radical if you did enough to help a Craftworld, at least knowingly.
However, if the Eldar could use you (In GrimDark Millennium, Eldar use you!) early enough, then much smaller actions could save a craftworld - although you'd probably never know. (Perhaps you lead a purge that kills an individual who or whose descendents would later threaten the Eldar.)

Help an individual Eldar is another matter - that could go missed, and is a far more likely event. A craftworld has huge resources to call on (far beyond what an Inquisitor could normally offer), but an individual Eldar may not.
This of course, might open up the way for a Craftworld to use you (again, probably not by your knowledge), via this Eldar who seems to be in your debt.

A wise Farseer or other Eldar leader would probably take advantage of this and probably manipulate her to their will, though she'd probably still help out if she knew with a bit of coaxing.

Haha. No.

If any human actually found out quite what the Eldar had planned, they really would NOT help. Eldar plans have a complete disregard for anything non-Eldar. Even the races they don't see as half evolved mud dwellers don't get any leeway in the Eldar plans. The races they do see as such (humans amongst them), well, they're completely free game as far as the Eldar are concerned.
And for the same reason, the Eldar would never tell their plans (and neither do they need to).

You seem to be missing the mindset of the Eldar somewhat. They aren't like Tolkien's Elves or even Warhammer Fantasy Elves - both of those races are at least slightly altruistic. The Eldar really aren't - they look out for themselves, and no one else. Any acts of aid or such they appear to offer are ultimately to their benefit (by some manipulation of the web of fate), not because they actually care about you.

[Acolyte Havlan Tome]

She might not help them directly. She might help them without the eldar knowing....just a thought.

[MarcoSkoll]

She might help them without the eldar knowing.

And at that point, there's then no debt to be called in. Helping someone without them knowing - while potentially an interesting story, and maybe worth developing in a character - will not earn you any "favours" from them.

[Elva]

That would make more sense, an individual debt rather than an entire craftworld. Though what I meant was to further their goals, not necessarily save every single Eldar aboard.

Even though Eldar plans tend to put other races in a bad spot, if the plan involved hurting another Xeno or chaos sect, I'm sure they could put aside their differences for a little while. Also, Elva's fascination with the Eldar would have been allowed to grow to such an extent by now, that she'd be able to justify that by helping them, even if it did involve human loss, it would benefit both sides in the end.

I think you misunderstand me as well a bit. You see, Elva is cunning and smart, however she's a fool when it comes to dealing with the Eldar, and she could easily be swayed in a direction they deem appropriate.

Hehe, I wasn't saying that they'd tell her, I was just making a point that she can be manipulated by them with ease.

[MarcoSkoll]

You see, Elva is cunning and smart, however she's a fool when it comes to dealing with the Eldar, and she could easily be swayed in a direction they deem appropriate.

Is that really right for an Inquisitor though? These people are supposed to be strong willed, opinionated and intelligent, not people who fold like wet tissue paper on a certain issue.

I have no problem with a character who believes that the Eldar may be humanity's salvation - perhaps they believe that endearing themselves to the Eldar will improve the way the Eldar view humanity and forge alliances (which, in its own way, is a pretty major delusion) - but someone who just blindly allows (and indeed, helps) the Eldar do whatever they want doesn't sound like an Inquisitor to me.

[Jamas Orian]

I have no problem with a character who believes that the Eldar may be humanity's salvation - perhaps they believe that endearing themselves to the Eldar will improve the way the Eldar view humanity and forge alliances (which, in its own way, is a pretty major delusion) - but someone who just blindly allows (and indeed, helps) the Eldar do whatever they want doesn't sound like an Inquisitor to me.

I concur.

It would make for very easy scenarioes having her has the 'radical' though, so that is always a good thing.

[Aidan]

As has been stated, no Inquisitor worth their salt would trust the Eldar to work in anything other than their own self interest. Which is not to say that the Eldar self-interest (the interpretation of which I imagine varies from craftworld to craftworld) can not coincide with the Inquisitor's interest, or even humanity's interests, for a time (they are both, after all, civilised sentient races concerened with survival in the face of apocalyptic and sometimes gratuitously evil powers). I do like the idea of Eldar in Inquisitor, though (perhaps loyalty to my old 40k army...), even if they have a largely behind-the-scenes role.

It could be perfectly appropriate for Elva to be working with the Eldar because she percieves their interests to coincide, and working with the Eldar often would allow the Eldar doing what they want (it's hard to stop them!), but she would be wise to keep her eye on the xenos' activities, and to watch her back...

As my radical Renovist (recongregator) Inquisitor could tell her, you can't trust the Eldar. He had a campaign where he forged a tenuous alliance with a local Eldar Craftworld because they had a history of supporting a powerful reformist revolutionary movement in the region (for their own purposes, of course) - unfortunately, their plans also involved killing him after he'd done what they wanted him to, and he barely escaped with his life. At the end of the day, the Eldar do not value human lives (rather like humans in that regard, really), and their vast intellect and prophetic abilities make their actions hard to predict and their intentions very hard to discern.

- - - - -

Another random thought, since you have described her as 'sympathetic' to the Eldar: I guess a particularly open-minded (which would probably be called heretical) human (and Inquisitors have a notorious tendency towards developing an open mind) could have earnest sympathy for the Eldar, given the cruel plight of the race. That does not mean the Eldar would give a damn about their sympathiser, though, except in as much as that sympathiser could further their ends.

-A.