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ProfessorCurly
February 26th, 2007, 18:23
Purely for my pleasure, and hopefully I'll be able to arrange a game community for Inquisitor where I live. I think I can get enough people interested to get a solid group for it.

Anyway, here is what would be my warband, and will once I get enough money.
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Commissar Marsius Aresian

WS BS S T I Wp Sg Nv Ld Sp Handed
85 60 65 75 76 70 75 90 85 5 Right

-Nerves of Steel
-Force of Will
-Leader

+Autopistol w/ laser sight, 2 reloads
+Laspistol w/ laser sight, 1 reload
+Power Sword

-Carapace Armor on chest and abdoman, flak armor on all other areas except head.

Commissar 'Icevein' Aresian is a man without fear, a true Commissar of the Imperium. He has tread across hellish no-man's lands, led suicide charges against machine-gun emplacements, and stared into the maw of a great Ork Warboss, only flinching from the smell. Hoerever, his cold and calculating mind could not keep the Waagh! from attacking his homeworld of Thanos V again, and again, and again, one Warboss rising from the ranks of the mob only a few months after the orks had been driven off. The Orks were poised to crush the Imperial Guard regiments of Thanos, long forgotten by Segmentum Command in light of even more critical locations from even more dangerous enemies such as the Tyranids and the hated Necrontyr which had drawn reinforcements from the sector. Then without warning, the Greenskin menace was replaced by the Greyskin menace; The Tau of the A'ava sept brought the fist of the Mont'ka down on the barbaric horde, purging them under torrents of blue plasma fire.

However, the Commissar felt one evil had simply been traded for another and with an iron resolve only found amongst the Commissars ordered the men to prepare for battle once more. On the eve of the conflict, the xeno asked for a meeting with the leaders of the Imperial forces. Having killed the Imperial commander the week before for running away in the face of an Ork onslaught, Commissar Aresian strode out to meet the Shas'O commander of the Tau Kavaal (Which had arrived in pursuit of the Ork Warboss), dressed in full regalia. The Tau invited the men to join the Greater Good. Aresian invited the Tau to have their souls sent to the Emperor for their final judgement (much to the chagrin of his soldiers), hoping the aliens would flee in the face of such a promise of unrelenting defense..

Then an unknown figure in a simple yet elegant uniform appeared, saying that such action would not be necessary. The man identified himself as a member of the Emperor's Holy Inquisition, and impressed with his resolve asked the Commissar to accompany him.

The Commissar does not fear death and follows orders to the letter. However, he is a pragmatic man. Fearless and calculating, he is still human and frustrated with the Imperium's inability to function with the speed needed, pointing to Thanos as evidence. The Inquisitor talked of inciting such changes, and Aresian has followed him ever since.

He carries both pistols on his right hip, and the power sword on his left (he uses the sword in his right hand). He has two pistols because he found the volume of fire provided by the Autopistol useful, but found himself unable to part with his old and weathered laspistol, which has saved him many times long after his many autopistols have stopped functioning. He is a close combat expert, having served in many campaigns against the Orks before being assigned to Thanos to provide backbone to the Imperial Forces there. Many a green-skin has fallen under the blade of Aresian, including two Warbosses who underestimated the 'lit'le 'umie boy'. (These were not Gragskull Thraka, just lowly warbosses trying to gather their own Waagh!)

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Inquisitor Julius Benedictus

WS BS S T I Wp Sg Nv Ld Sp Handed
60(80) 50 60 65 90 95 93 70 80 5 Right

-Leader
-Catfall
-Acrobatic
-Blademaster (WS is only 89 when using knives)

+Two Knives
+Nueral Whip
+x3 Tanglefoot Grenades
+Mesh armor on chest, kev-fab armor (+2, Kevlar/fabric) armor on everywhere else but head.

Inquisitor Benedictus is considered a traitorous heretic by many of his peers. He is a young, radical reconglomerate, believing the Imperium needs to be slashed, burned, and brought back from the ashes. He's examined the threats to mankind at length, and has decided that the alien can be an excellent tool. However, many aliens are too rare, too untrustworthy, or too primative to make real use of. Investigating news on newly discovered xeno race, his ship stopped at Thanos in order to ressupply and basic repairs. That is when the largest Waagh! ever directed at Thanos arrived.

He had heard of the Tau before, but fearing the taint they had already spread he had been denied clearance to secure a meeting with them. Their intervention at Thanos seemed to him a grand oppurtunity, perhaps even a sign from the Emperor. He ordered by authority of the Inquisition that the Imperial Forces stand down. After a few quick negotiations an agreement was reached. The Tau would leave, and the Inquisitor would order a temporary ceasation of hostilities along that sector of the Empire. He tricked the xeno into thinking that the minor skirmishes the Imperium had been mounting were merely the precursor of a major offensive led by the arch-enemies of the Tau; The Adeptus Astartes of the Black Templars. This of course was a complete lie, but one of his great talents is bluffing even the most observant of creatures.

Benedictus beleives that radical change is needed in the Imperial system, even more so than other reconglomerates. For huminaty to dominate the galaxy for example, is not for it to be the only race in the galaxy. Using his tenuous position in the Ordo Xenos, he has chronicled many alien races, evaluating them for possible uses. Why waste human life when a xeno life would do just as well? Especially when confronted with such threats as the Hive Mind of the Tyranids, the ever growing Legions of Chaos, the inexhaustable Waagh!s of the Orks, and now the Red Harvest of the ancient Necrontyr. The Imperial is stretched very thin, and so he thinks; If humanity can't fight all of these threats, why not use the alien to do it for them? And weaken both threats to humanity at the same time? He has a similar view of the mutants, and to support his opinions he points to a simple fact; It's easier to crush a rebellion than to win a war.

He grew up with a good amount of Imperial faith in his heart, but even more than that with the promise of a hereditary trading liscense from his father; yet even before he had it he had a growing reputation as an extraordinary knife fighter, and a very precise mind to go along with it. Some thought he was a witch or psyker, though there is no proof of this. Travelling for some years after inheriting his Trading liscense, he recorded a fairly large amount of information about every xeno race he encountered in a book he always carries on his person, and in this way satisfying his curiousity. However, he didn't hold onto the liscense forever. He lost it during a Dark Eldar raid; he traded it and a good portion of his wealth to a minor sailor in the Imperial Navy for a place on board the Naval vessel after his own was destroyed in orbit. He narrowly escaped just as the first raiders made planet fall, the transport having to limp into it's mothership.

After this he served on the Imperial ship for a while, but he jumped ship the first chance he got. Then he became a simple desperado, where he honed his skills even further. The book was all he had of his former life, and constantly added on to it every chance he got. Then he was contacted by an Inquisitor, looking for a simple body to throw into a cult along with several others to purge it of alien influence. Benedictus was one of the few to survive, and unlike the others actually had an alternate intent in mind. Capturing the leader, he used his talents with a blade to 'extract' information from the leader as to the exact nature of the cult before killing him. Impressed by this action, and the desperado's foresight, he requested that the man become a permanent part of his retinue as a soldier of the Inquisition. Serving like this, it wasn't long that Benedictus was raised to the level of Acolyte, and then finally as an Inquisitor himself.

Thought for the Day- Death is an honor Xeno should have first.

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(Now here is a theoretical idea I was thinking about, doesn't have to be a part of the group but I thought it would add something to it you wouldn't expect to see)

Shas'Ui Mont'yryon (Bloodied Hunter)

WS BS S T I WP Sg Nv Ld Sp Handed
25 65 50 35 60 20 80 45 65 4 Right

-Quickload
-Hipshooting

+Pulse Rifle (I know, bear with me) w/7 reloads*
Type Range Mode Acc Dam Shots Rld Wt
Basic G Single N/A 2d6+5 60 4 45

*So many because it's not like he's going to be able to re-stock any time soon. This is just for story, he only has one reload on his person at any given time, the rest being on the Inquisitor's ship.

+Hellpistol (Whatever this would be, I was thinking same rules as a Laspistol)
+Tau Armor (4) on all locations except head and left arm. Tau Fire Pad on left arm, Tau Helmet on head (closed)

*The Tau firepad acts as a sheild with an armor of 7 on the left arm, but can never be used to parry close combat attacks, or to sheild bash (This is the huge shoulder-pad on the left shoulder of Tau Fire Warriors)

*Tau helmets incorperate a vast array of sensors and detection devices. It is treated as an open helmet for purposes of awareness tests, and does not reduce the hearing ranges for the wearer as normal helmets do. In addition it gives the wearer the following: Infrascope, range finder, motion predictor, and motion detector (Always passive, and only when something crosses his line of sight). This comes at a downside, whenever damage is dealt to the helmet it shorts out, and the wearer is automatically stunned for D3 turns (This is not cumulative with injury stunned results, take the highest. This represents interferance from the damage knocking the sensors out of wack). If Mont'yryon suffers heavy damage to the head, then roll a D6 for that turn and each turn afterward it suffers damage of any type. On a 1 or 2 the helmet shuts down completely and Mont'yryon must take a nerve test at a -5 every turn to remove it. Otherwise, roll a D3 as normal.

(I know, long, but I beleive more helmets should be similar to this. Space Marine helmets for example. Besides, the Tau are the Tau)

Raised on A'ava Prime, son of the hero of the El'Dar Unification War (Shas'El Mont'Ein D'ran O'Kroot), Mont'yryon is a promising warrior of the Fire Caste. Serving in his father's 'Kroot Cadre' (Maintained after Mont'Ein's death by his trusted second in commander, Master Shaper Fiala), he has been in frequent contact with Kroot, and to a lesser extent El'dar (Prisoners of war, though the Tau prefer to call them unwilling guests and allies of the Greater Good. They are the survivors of a great battle that nearly destroyed A'ava, and the Tau are constantly trying to force them to assimilate. This is hopeless of course, especially after the one Tau they had half-respect for, Mont'Ein, died.) He can speak Tau and Gothic, along with a fair amount of Eldar taught by the alien leader Yuodol, under much duress. He can understand it much better though, as well as the native Kroot language. In this he follows his father, as both have a great love of language, and both think knowing your enemy is the only true advantage you can have.

After fighting the Orks on Thanos, he met with Inquisitor Benedictus along with several other Fire Caste Represenatives, and an honored member of the Ethereal caste. Feeling constrained with the Empire, and seeking both freedom and information, Mont'yryon asked that he be allowed to accompany the Inquisitor as a part of the agreement. The Inquisitor, wishing to gain knowledge on the ways of the Tau to better know how to interact with/manipulate them in the future, agreed. Using a pulse rifle quickly modified to be more Imperial, a hellpistol pried from the hands of an Imperial soldier, a special set of armor adapted to that of an Inquisitorial Storm Trooper, and a special set of rejuvenant drugs developed by the Tau (Originally developed for the Etherael Caste) for their own race, he has sworn himself to be a loyal companion to the Inquisitor

A proud firewarrior of the Tau, he is an experienced soldier. He is solid and ready to fight, but he follows a military doctrine considered cowardice by many Imperials. Only by order of Inquisitor Benedictus and a desire for change in the Imperial system which the Inquisitor promised to try and bring about does the Commissar tolerate the existance of the Xeno. However, they often grate on one another's nerves, to the point of weapons being drawn several times. Over time, Benedictus hopes this wearying occurance will fade because he does not wish to choose between his curiousity about the Tau, and the steady dependable will of the Commisar.

This is Mont'yryon's personal test, the greatest Trial By Fire he will ever face. A mission so long in fruition that only recently developed medicines to extend his life span are needed for it to be completed. If he succeeds, it could mean a new age of relations between the Tau Empire and the Imperium of Man. However, as a Tau he is still naive to the greater workings of the galaxy. Even his exposure to the Kroot and Eldar can not prepare him for the brutality of the Imperium, and it remains to be seen how he will deal with the horrors of an existance in space ruled by the Corpse Emperor of mankind.

darkreever
February 26th, 2007, 22:53
Some of these may come off as rude or nit-picky, just trying to get an idea about these two as a start.


Commissar Marsius Aresian

WS BS S T I Wp Sg Nv Ld Sp
85 60 65 75 76 70 75 90 85 5

A bit high, but he is a well trained commissar so they probably are right on the ball; which character class did you use to generate Marsius's statline? (I'm thinking that with all the 5' and 0's these stats were not randomly rolled as some people choose to do.)



-Ambidextrous
-Nerves of Steel
-Force of Will
-Heroic
-Leader

I understand that Marsius is a well trained leader-type but unless he's a main-character character I'd think that you might want to reduce hi skills to three or four at best. I mean look at Marsius abilities:

Ambidextrous: not to bad, but he is always going to be able to fire a gun without worry of an off hand.
Nerves of Steel: no matter what gets thrown at him, Marsius can neve be pinned, coupled with his armour and several of the other abilities he becomes almot unstoppable in a figh.
Force of will: not to overpowering considering there are not to many fearsome or terrifying opponents that you see on a completely regular basis. (Well I know that my characters don't go fighting daemons or monsters in every battle every time at least.)
Heroic: So on top of never getting pinned, being able to take tons of hits, and never having an off hand, Marsius is also ableto re-roll some of his failed actions.
Leader: Again, not to bad, his high leadership will definately be of use to some of the other characters in not getting pinned.



+Autopistol w/ laser sight, 2 reloads
+Laspistol w/ laser sight, 1 reload
+Power Sword

Not to overpowering, though I would think that he would not bother with the laser sight unless it was always on his guns. Adding them would alter the feel of the weapons,making them slightly heavier.



-Carapace Armor on all areas except head.

Now you might want to rethin this, with carapace on almost every location he's reducng ll damage done to him to next to nothing, on average and unless yor commonl figting against bolters and plasma weaponry.



Howerever, his cold and calculating mind could not keep the Waagh! from attacking his homeworld of Thanos V again, and again, and again.
Usually Waaagh!!'s are not one after another, there is usually time between the them because they need to gather in strength. It should be enough to reinforce an imperialworld which the imperium would not forget about or let go lightly.


The Orks were poised to crush the forgotten Imperial Guard regiment of Thanos,
Why were they forgotten?


On the eve of the conflict, the Commissar strode out to meet the Shas'O in commander of the Tau Kavaal
Why would Marsius meet with his enemy rather than keeping the morale of the men up? Wouldn't the imperial guard officer leading the regiment/commander of all the imperial forces be better suited with such a thing if they would bother taking the risk at all?



Inquisitor Julius Benedictus

WS BS S T I Wp Sg Nv Ld Sp
65(89) 50 60 65 90 95 93 70 80 5

With I of 90 Benedictus would be speed 6; I 90 is something reserved for an inquisitor lord, the averag inquisitor nly having an I of 80.



-Leader
-Catfall
-Acrobatic
-Blademaster (WS is only 89 when using knives)

This is better than Marsius, Benedictus is fairly fast and acrobatic so everything before blademaster makes perfect sense.

As for blademaster, is there any reason why his skills change so dramatically depending on whether or not he uses a knife? I mean thats boost/decrease of 24. Withblademaster you are generally more skilled at itting the right locations with the knife, it doesn't (usually) make you that much of a better fighter.



+Carapace armor on chest, mesh armor everywhere else but head.

Again, the armour here is very overpowering and most armour would slow down a fast character. (As they usually are not built to hold up the wieght of the world like stronger characters.)


Inquisitor Benedictus is considered a traitorous heretic by many of his peers.
Why? What has he done that would hav his fellow inquisitors call him hereti?


reconglomerate
D you happen to mean recrongregator by chance or is that a subfaction of one of the six major factions? (I know they made some subfactions for some of the main ones a while back.)


Investigating news on newly discovered xeno race, his ship stopped at Thanos in order to ressupply and basic repairs.
Why did he need to make repairs on his ship? Did someone or something attack him before?


That is when the largest Waagh! ever directed at Thanos arrived.
Why did he not just choose to escape the system with his ship? The orks would just blow it out of the sky anyway.


The Tau would leave, and the Inquisitor would order a temporary ceasation of hostilities along that sector of the Empire.
How did he get the tau forces to leave when they were there to destroy the orks and take the world for further expansion?


Using his tenuous position in the Ordo Xenos, he has chronicled many alien races, evaluating them for possible uses.
Is Benedictus a very powerful inquisitor with many allies in many places? I ask because thre are no many young (and by young am assming you mean knewly initiated as an inquisitor) inquisitors with very high or powerful positions outside of the ordo malleus. The second part of the above quote also contradicts hiom being a new inquisitor because it takes some time to chronicle many alien races.

ProfessorCurly
February 27th, 2007, 01:33
^^^^^^^^^^^EDITTED THE ABOVE READ FOR MORE^^^^^^^^^

No, none of these stats were randomly generated. I just sort of winged it, basing it loosely on a mixture of the Ecclesiarchy, Imperial Guard, and Inquisitor. This guy is actually based on a Commissar model that my friend has. It's just one of those things, this model is just extraordinarily hard to kill, never runs (even through Nightmare Shrouds, Fear of the Darkness from Tigerius no less), is never pinned, and all of these things just through sheer luck of the dice. Even games he's lost, the darned Commissar is still there. Hence why I had all of those extra skills, I took off 'Ambidextreous' and 'Heroic', and changed the armor as you said, fixing the discrepencies and such you pointed out. The whole ork thing, that was the idea actually. The orks turned it into a game of sorts. You know how Chaos is fixated on Cadia? It was like that for the orks. Waagh! after Waagh!, each one larger than the last because an ork world wasn't far off and competition became feircer, but quicker for the new boss.

Anyway, fixed some things. A few things didn't make sense really, but needed to be in there. I think I got most of it though.

As for Benedictus, I hadn't got around to explaining how he had so much information. No, he isn't really powerful, but he does have a few powerful allies. His mentor, Inquisitor Lord Geoges mainly though. However, Geoges has a lot of control over what Benedictus can and can't do. For example, if Geoges finds out the 'Storm Trooper' accompanying Benedictus, there would be massive hell to pay. Unless things work out, in which case it might not be so bad. As in, the Tau warrior proves himself against a greater enemy, say... a Chaos cult? Tau are resilient to the mind-altering affects of Daemons, because there isn't a whole lot of them in the warp to influence. That could be useful, could it not?

And it's this kind of thinking that leads others to think that Benedictus is a heretic and a traitor, but... he's kind of hard to find. Very good at not leaving much of a trail to follow. As to why he didn't escape from the orks, he was on the planet when the orks arrived. The ship escaped off to hide in somewhere else in the system (it's not a warship, but fast and hard to detect), then when the orks fell back it came back to pick up the Inquisitor. Basically, he didn't have a chance to escape. He was looking for Commissar Aresian, as a secondary reason for going.

When I said repairs, I meant 'maintainence'. And yes, recongregator. I don't know why I said that...

So ya, now that I'm done... what about the Tau? Good idea/bad idea/impossible?

The_Giant_Mantis
February 28th, 2007, 02:38
Nice ideas..

The Commisars background is a bit of a Deus Ex Machina (I know I overuse the word, but in this case it's appropriate.) This is just a literay point, but it's a bit 'lalala.. I'm a commisar, I'm doing my thing.. ooh, suddenly an inquisitor showed up. The end.' His humanity could be more evident in his background, as well, he seems a bit robotic at times..

For a Commisar's stats, I'd use a stormtrooper's stats and perhaps reverse the WS and BS, since they have such a similar upbringing. I don't think you're far off, anyway, but just bear in mind that he's on the upper levels of the power scale.

Also.. What on earth is he doing with a Tau in the group.. Commisars are not trained to follow orders blindly, in fact, they can replace their commanders whenever they feel they're doing something inappropriate. I'm not convinced you would ever, ever get a Commisar working together with an alien. 'Oh, but we can reform the system!' isn't going to cut it. These people are trained to sniff out unorthodox opinions in the guard, they aren't going to fall prey to them that easily.

And continuing on the Tau, loyalist Tau serve the Ethereals.. They don't hire out mercenaries or bodyguards to the enemy, and unless they've got a severe case of battlesuit neurosis they never feel constrained within the Empire as every time they meet one of their leaders they find themselves uncontrollably overwhelmed with love and would gladly cut their own throats if ordered to do so.

And the Tau have never fought a serious war against the Eldar, so that bit is off.. They skirmish, they don't fight campaigns against one another. Also, despite the pretence of equality, the Tau still consider the Kroot barbaric.. A kroot would never, ever be placed in command of cadre which includes Tau forces. Learning kroot is also pointless, because kroot can learn most languages within a few days exposure.

The Adeptus Astrates are not the arch enemies of the Tau, simply because there just aren't enough of them. Marines are terrifying shock troops, but they aren't the ones who fight and die on the front lines. Only the most unlucky fire warriors are ever likely to see a space marine.

Tau also don't have rejuvenants, and if they did, would probably consider the whole idea contrary to the greater good. Tau society isn't about individuals, it's about the whole.

The only ways I can see to include a Tau in an Inquisitors warband is to use the farsight enclaves, who do hire out mercenaries, who avoid the Ethereals, and who would be far more likely to be interested in juvenant technology.

Just use the autosenses rules for the helmet.. The bonus should offset the penalty and achieve the effect you desire. The stunning rules can be summarized into 'more vulnerable to flash flares', which I think is both more balanced and more realistic.

The shoulderpad is not very shield like.. It's just arm armour. Making it a shield is a little silly.

ProfessorCurly
February 28th, 2007, 04:12
Ya, the whole commissar thing is very basic. I was going for basics first; Why bother fleshing out an idea if it doesn't work in the first place? And what is Deus Ex Machina? I've been hearing that everywhere lately...

-----ClarificationPlease-------
I was under the impression that Commissars do follow orders; Just no those of the Imperial Guard. For example, if whoever has juristiction over them ordered a Commissar too hold at all costs, he would. If that same group ordered him to retreat, he would. It was my understanding that Commissars do take orders from -someone-, and they are there to make sure those orders get done. Since Inquisitors can requisition anything they might need/want, I figured that it wasn't too much of a stretch that the Commissar would follow an Inquisitor's orders.
--------Thanks----------

The thing with the Templars just came to mind because of Nimbosa. I'll take it out. I was using a bit of 'buzz' terminology. You know, I say Imperial Guard and a few people mutter "what else is new", but I say Templars, and a few heads perk up.

And Mantis, you've given me a divine revelation... A'ava isn't a Tau Sept World... It's a Farsight Enclave! That would work so much better! Though, in this case there are Kroot; One of the septs formed an alliance with a warsphere, agreeing to work together for mutual benefit. Something that befits the Tau way of thinking, and even if it doesn't fit with Farsight's own philosophy it does make sense that one group of mercenaries would team up with another group. It would also explain a few other key factors I was having trouble putting together for the Enclave's (As of now, a Sept no more!) history.

-The 'Eldar Unification War' is really just a skirmish; a rouge Eldar fleet has their base overrun by orks, and then a farseer travelling with them has a vision of a planet. A'ava. They go there, major fleet action/repaired webway portal/etc. The Eldar lose, outnumbered and outgunned, but do manage to inflict crippling damage to the economy and production capabilities of the planet. They call it a war because, well... having your planet devastated in a skirmish doesn't sound as good as having it devastated in a war. More in-depth pending, now I have to go re-write what I have for an Enclave-

The Tau Shoulderpad thing; I think that it's purpose is more than arm-armor, but I wasn't sure how to impliment it. I was thinking that since it is so big comparatively to the rest of the person that when they are lying prone, or with their left side to the enemy, it would cover more than just their arm when they are shooting. I may be wrong, but looking at the models and the illustrations it seems to me that when a right-handed Tau is in a firing position, if you are looking right at them you can't see their chest or abdoman behind the sheild. I was trying to get that across. Perhaps "When recieving fire from the left, or when in a firing position the shoulder pad counts as a shield covering the chest and abdoman. Otherwise, it is treated as normal". I could leave it out, but...


***Idea Flash***
What if the Commissar was the last survivor (I know, but bear with me) of several regiments sent to reinforce Thanos rather than being stationed there, as there were signs of an oncoming Waagh! (more ork raids, standard rumors, etc). However, what they didn't know was that the commander there had already hired several cadres of the Farsight Enclave of A'ava to come and reinforce them as well. When the Commissar heard this news, he of course executed the commander, as per usual. Sadly, the Tau were slow in arriving and the Waagh! slammed into the planet full force. Only after this do the Tau arrive in their warp-slow ships. Sending a few mantas to the surface to assess the situation, they land around on of the few remaining strongholds of the Guard trying to receive their payment. Seeing this as hopeless, and with a large horde of the greenskins nearby they pull back. Ork artillery starts peppering the area, pinning one of the squads down in an outer trench. As they make a mad dash for their devilfish, the shas'ui trips over a body. Looking back, it's a Commissar, abandoned by his men (Some of the guardsmen jumped him from behind and left him to die by 'his precious trench'. Torn for some reason, the Tau grabs the human and drags him into the transport.

After stripping him of his weapons, they quickly make their way back to orbit and flee (The ork fleet was still fighting the remnants of the Imperial Navy that had been there, something along those lines I'm not thinking all of this through yet). The Commissar wakes up, restrained and bandaged upon the Xeno ship. Given the option of death or service, he originally chooses death. The Shas'ui smirks, then reminds him during a rant about the Emperor: "The Emperor didn't keep your own men from attacking you", then leaves. Feeling alienated and alone (literally and figuratively), the Commissar wonders if this is some sort of purgatorial punishment for some action. Taking it as such, he agrees to serve in the Cadre.

Seeing as, even a Commissar would pick life over death, if neither would serve the Emperor or Imperium.
------End Idea Flash-------

So, auto-senses and more vulnerable to flashes. That works, and is a lot simpler. Thanks. Where are the exact rules for auto-senses, or is that something you just came up with?

Finally, as for the Tau and rejuvenants... I find the short natural-life span of Tau constricting when it takes so long for them to get from place to place anyway. However, now that it's an Enclave (Albeit, a slightly more industrialized one than normal. After all, when there are so few Enclaves a single world could play a critical part in the whole operation and gives a whole sense of purpose to the creation of such a world) it does make more sense. Dissatisfied with their short life spans, trade for some rejuvenant drugs of the gue'la. A few years-decade or so later, they have a basic formula down that doesn't have too many unwarranted side effects. Not a lot, but enough.

Does any of this sound better?

darkreever
February 28th, 2007, 05:18
For Tau armour, its the equivalent of carapace armour in value; though in inquisitor where armour location is more defined I'd think that the values would be more on this line:
chest: 6, abdomen, groin, legs, right arm: 3, left arm: 4, helmet: 7

Precinct Omega
February 28th, 2007, 17:38
Forgive me if I come over a little grumpy. It's not you. I'm hope sick and feeling short-tempered due to headaches, chills and boredom.

Anyway, welcome to the madness that is Inquisitor. Do you plan on using 54mm models for these characters, or just 28mm?

I have quite a few "issues" with your characters, but as I spell these out do remember that this is very much a question of personal taste and will vary depending on your interpretation of the Imperium and its nature, as well as on your circle of players.

Where to start...?

1) Commissars are battlefield officers - high ranking members of the Departmento Munitorum, charged with maintaining good order and discipline in the Imperial Guard. As a rule, they don't go wandering off with Inquisitors. Yes, in theory an Inquisitor can requisition whosoever he pleases and, if a mission takes him to a warzone, then a Commissar might well join him (as it happens, I'm working on a Commissar model myself). But Inquisitors are intelligent. Commissars serve the Emperor best by leading soldiers in battle and advising officers, not poking around in the dim, grey spaces of fear and doubt that tend to be occupied by Inquisitors. And a Recongregator is even less likely to keep a Commissar around, as his heretical extramural activities are likely to be rewarded with, at best, being snitched on to the local hierarchy or, at worst, a bolt to the back of the head when least expected.

2) I don't like to see Tau on the staff of an Inquisitor. Have them appear irregularly in a relevant and appropriate scenario, by all means, but on an Inquisitor's staff...? Every other member of staff is going to hate and distrust them (even the ones who aren't fanatical soldier-killers like the Commissar) and their utility to the Inquisitor will be limited to missions taking place far from human society... but a Recongregator has to work at the very heart of society in order to weave his plots of disorder and confusion.

I can see the Tau being more like an occasional liaison for missions of mutual interest near the Damocles Gulf, but not really anything more than that.

3) Stats that end in 0 or 5 are abhorrent. Inquisitor is a D100 game, but you're treating it like a D20 game. Have some imagination.

Go read the latest article on Inquisitor in Specialist Games's Fanatic Online. It's a fairly extreme view, but one with which I have a great deal of sympathy. I might explain things better than I can.

R.

ProfessorCurly
March 1st, 2007, 03:25
Indeed it was helpful, but not for the reasons you were thinking it would be. It was helpful because of the very end, when it said that camps regularly argue over what actually is in the spirit of the game, and that this often puts people off of it. Oddly enough, that's exactly how I was feeling, but now I don't.

I realize that Inquisitor is d100. But, I don't HAVE a d100. Or a d10. I have a d6, and converting that into random numbers 0-10 isn't something I wanted to do, and it was just easier to come up with things. Remember, I hadn't even known the rulebook was online till about two days ago. I'll randomize stuff later, this is just to get an idea.

As to model size, I was going to start out with 28mm since I have those, and then move up when I got the chance. Or, when I found other people that actually play. You know, minor problem of not being able to play by youself :D

1. Point on Commissar is taken. What about my second idea? That a Tau found him and brought him back to their ship. What would it hurt? As far as the Imperium is concerned, the Commissar is dead. If the Commissar attacks them, they kill him. But if the Commissar can be 'brainwashed' or otherwise pursuaded to join the Tau, having such a member of the Imperial forces with them would give the Tau a great amount of 'respectability' amongst their gue'la employers.

2. Again, taken... However, when we look at the fact that Eisenhorn has a daemonhost, the embodiment of one of the Great Enemy itself with him... I'm pretty sure that having a Tau who most people don't even realize is a Tau. What, are they going to come up to him and say 'aren't you a little short for a storm trooper'? Or perhaps I didn't make that clear. Now, here is my justification for having a Fire Warrior in Inquisitor. It's not because I wanted a big gun, or to win. I realized the point wasn't to win; in fact, I was working on ways to have the 'losers' to survive the battle so people wouldn't have to constantly make new ones. That would put people off.

But anyway. Originally, ya it was because I play Tau. But now that I've put my mind to it... Things have started to come into focus. A story if you will. I really want to have a Tau actually moving within the Imperium, so I can put it into a point of view that's different. Recongregator, maybe not. I went back and re-read it, and realized that it wasn't what I thought it was. How is this for an idea though?

The former Commissar and Tau (If the post above is more acceptable story wise, I thought it was. Even Commissars would start to give way under pressure of the Water Caste 'persuasion' if exposed to it for long enough. And the Tau would bother because, being mercenaries in the Enclaves, having a human represenative (especially one such as a Commissar) would be helpful in securing jobs) are hired by an Inquisitor; The Tau had long-since donned a modified version of Storm Trooper (Or other reckognizable human full-body armor) armor to appear human to their employers, and this particular Inquisitor isn't himself a psyker. There are psykers with him, but they don't think to scan their hired grunts (And the Commissar can't just come out and say, these guys are xeno, kill them! You know, that would be pretty pointless and get everyone killed). Needing firepower quickly, the Inquisitor, his retinue, and the mercenaries descend upon a fairly sizeable Chaos cult. The Inquisitor realizes fairly quickly nothing is as it seems though, when the 'storm troopers' start firing blue pulses of plasma. Not only that, but another Inquisitor is already at the cult, spurring it on. They immediately declare one another heretics; One for associating with a Chaos cult, the other for associating with xeno. In the ensuing battle, the bloodshed and violence feed into the vile ceremony, and the ruinous powers grow stronger. The psykers start going insane, and even the Inquisitors themselves start feeling the pull of chaos at the edges of their minds. Of course, the Tau have no idea what is happening to the gue'la around them, and so start eliminating the remaining cultists which had started a chant of some kind, then firing upon the enemy inquisitor.

After the conflict, the normal procedure would be to kill the mercenaries; However, the Inquisitor is intrigued. These xeno were highly resistant to the mind-influence of the chaos Gods. Such impervious soldiers would be useful when your job takes you against the forces of choas fairly regularly (Being a Thorian as of now, having someone around not likely to go insane when warp hits the fan would be very helpful indeed). Inquisitor Benedictus debates it, and then asks the Tau to accompany him (as he doesn't hold the same phobias about xeno as other Inquisitors, thanks to his background). They all decline strongly, except for their leader. Shas'Ui Mont'yryon, and of course the Commissar. The Shas'Ui realizes the risks, but feels constrained within the Enclaves and wants to see the galaxy for himself rather than just their back-water corner of it. The Commissar wants desperately back into the Imperium's good graces. The only way for that to happen would be for an Inquisitor to 'pardon' him.

Armed with a good stock of pulse-rounds, his specialized armor, and newly developed rejuvenant drugs remade for the Tau physiology, Mont'yryon is ready to see the galaxy, no matter the cost. And besides, so long as no one sees him without his helmet/armor, they won't even know he's an alien. It's not like the Kroot or Space Marines where they are vastly different in phsyical size or structure.
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For Modeling, I was going to go with either an Arbites or Guard model for a base, then add on the armor/modifications I want, using a picture of a storm trooper as a base. I'm not that good at modelling, but I think I'll be able to manage. The Commissar, if I could get the hat down I'd probably be ok.

As for Benedictus himself... I don't know yet. Overall, I'm not really that great a painter or modeller, but I like making story-lines and such. Any of this sound better? I suppose it doesn't have to be a Commissar, but I would prefer it. I'm just trying to get a different perspective on things. After all, I think it would be interesting to see what a Firewarrior thinks when he sees a Hive World and the brutality therein. Or the madness of chaos cults, the Ecclesiarchy, and other such things that humanity deals with.

But if you really don't think this would work or if it's been done before, I can change it. But I thought that it would make for lots of different and interesting situations. That's what I was going for anyway.

Precinct Omega
March 1st, 2007, 16:41
I don't HAVE a d100.

Um... buy one? Seriously - you'll need at least one, and they aren't that hard to come by.


You know, minor problem of not being able to play by youself :D

Actually, I played with myself [stop sniggering at the back!!] for some time before finding a flesh-and-blood opponent. It was a great way to learn my way into the rules and try out some simple scenarios. I also learnt my way in with 28mm, so you'll not find me complaining about that - although I am firmly addicted to 54mm gaming now!


What about my second idea? That a Tau found him and brought him back to their ship. What would it hurt?

Well, the main problem that I see is trying to explain all this to each new player you encounter. If the Commissar has been brainwashed into being loyal to the Tau, then (1) why does the Inquisitor trust him at all? and (2) he's not a Commissar any more: he's a gue'vesa and it will be easier on you not to use a Commissar model to represent him.


Eisenhorn has a daemonhost

And look at the trouble that gets him into with his followers. However, in any case, (1) the daemonhost isn't his constant companion but is chained securely where he can be contained until required, and (2) scarcely anyone could identify a daemonhost on first sight (assuming it isn't all floaty and spikey and stuff); but damn near EVERYONE can spot a foul alien when they see one.


I really want to have a Tau actually moving within the Imperium, so I can put it into a point of view that's different.

Ah-ha!! We get to the nub of it. "How can I justify having a Fire Warrior as my Principle PC in Inquisitor?"

Well, there's no shortage of ways. But you may have to accept that this will introduce its own limitations on how and why you play.

1) The Tau is a deep-cover spy inside the extensive underground mutant network, attempting to foment rebellion and unrest on worlds near the Tau Empire (a) to keep the Imperium's attention away from the Empire and (b) to soften the worlds up for infiltration by Water Caste Emissaries. He could easily run into a Recongregator doing similar work, with the objective of toughening the worlds up against a Tau invasion. The Inquisitor could employ the Tau as a liaison with the mutants without realizing that the Tau is an alien (he is heavily disguised and his Blunt nature makes him immune to psychic probes).

Of course, the problem with that is that you can't really use a Tau Fire Warrior model - because your character is a spy disguised as a mutant. I think this is a good thing, as it encourages you to make alternate use of models for something really new and interesting. But you may not feel like that.

2) The Tau is from the Farsight Enclaves and got left behind following a raid into Imperial space. Using all his cunning and guile, he must find his way back to the Enclaves. This is wild space, many worlds only paying lip-service to the Imperium: there are many aliens and many human warlords, crime-guilds, traders and even undercover Inquisitors willing to make use of a warrior with the Tau's skills.

Better for using an obviously Tau model, but still tricky: he would most likely have had to sell off a good deal of his technology to support himself and may no longer be equipped with a pulse rifle or his autosenses. Also, it makes him hard to use in scenarios that need to be set on worlds outside this wild space.

3) The Tau is a dangerous throwback to the time of the Mont'va and his response to the Ethereal caste's mysterious powers is weaker than that of his fellows. His deviance was quickly noted and he was scheduled for righteous euthanasia, but escaped - now he puts his skills at the service of the highest bidder, travelling widely in the galaxy, but always avoiding worlds where his appearance cannot be easily concealed in robes, disguise or in a crowd of other aliens or mutants.

This is, if you like, the laziest option. But it offers the greatest freedom to make use of the character, although, like (2) the model shouldn't be a straight Fire Warrior. Pulse ammo is not available outside the Tau Empire, so he will have had to adopt some other form of armament, and his armour and equipmeny is likely to be heavily customized.

R.

ProfessorCurly
March 2nd, 2007, 03:35
Alrighty, how is this then?

Shas'Ui Mont'yryon - Enclave Spy

WS BS S T I Wp Sg Nv Ld Speed Handed
28 63 59 34 69 30 73 47 68 4 Right

Racial Bonuses-
Blunt

-Hipshooting
-Quickload
-Medic

+Pulse Rifle w/4 reloads
+Photon Grenades x3
+Tau Helmet (Closed - Autosenses +20 to vision and hearing awareness tests w/infrascope, rangefinder, motion predictor, and motion tracker (always passive, only in line of sight.). Take tests for photon flashes and other effects at a -20%)
+Tau Plate (5) on chest; Tau Armor (3) on abdoman, legs, and right arm; Tau Shoulder Pad (7) on left arm

Too skilled to leave as a Shas'la, too unpredictable to be given a XV-8 battle suit, and too much of a loner to command a squad, Mont'yryon is truly a 'Bloodied Hunter'. Expert at covert operations, he was originally a pathfinder for a Farsight Enclave Cadre. However, his refusal to obey orders as given earned him a reputation of being difficult to handle. After being confronted several times, he finally admitted that he felt constrained within the Enclaves, as if he wasn't accomplishing anything. With this revelation in mind, his commanders decided to give him the greatest Trial By Fire any had ever faced. To venture alone into the vast Imperium of man, learn its ways and secrets, disrupt their actions, and then return with his findings. Arranging passage on a small Rogue Trader vessel, they dispatched him with a myriad of customized armor and weapons, newly developed Tau rejuvenant drugs, a number of Imperial Credits, and the faith of Commander Farsight that he would succeed.

He is an insurgent, a rabble raiser, and a corruptor of the youth. He barters passage on rogue trader vessels, travelling cargo barges, and anyone else willing to take him to yet another world. He has a data pad on his person at all times on which he records his observations and images he'd taken, sometimes even video. He has two basic disguises, one is his armor which is modified to bear a great resemblance to an officer of the Adeptus Arbites. He claims to either have fled his world to escape the taint of chaos and warn the authorities (on orders from his superiors of course), or killed an Arbites and stolen the armor depending on what company he is in. The other is a simple torn, ragged, and dirty robe-like garment he wears over his armor (minus key bits like his boots made to hide his feet, and helmet), acting misshapen. It is in this guise that he causes trouble. Using funds made from hiring his services out as an Ex-arbites mercenary, he gathers and arms the mutants and outcastes of a world, inciting them to rebel against the Imperium that oppresses and judges them so. Then, at the crescendo, the eve of the battle he quickly barters his way off-planet. Or donning his Arbites armor, volunteers his services to the authorities as a fellow member of their Adeptus from a planet long since lost to Orks, Tyranids, Dark Eldar, or some other horror of the galaxy (He was one of the few that escaped, yet still feels the desire to serve the Emperor, or some other ambiguos but believable story).
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I did the random stats this time using a D20, as good as I could get it. I also added in Medic, because it would make sense that someone off on their own a lot would be able to treat injuries, and it would help when raising the rabbel to be able to treat injuries and such.

EDIT- also, I put him in the Enclaves for two reasons: One, because they are more likely to have Tau rejuvenants as said above (heck, they may for all we know), and two because I looked at the map in the Tau Codex... And I noticed that the Enclaves are actually on the Imperial side of the Empire. It would make sense for the Enclaves to disrupt the border worlds and further in.

The_Giant_Mantis
March 3rd, 2007, 03:44
You don't need to be quite so covert and espionagey about it, I don't think.. Enclave fire warriors hire themselves out as mercenaries to other forces, including slightly deviant Imperial forces. Of course, he could have the secondary objective of spying on the part of the enclaves, but in general the enclave is basically a survivalist commune.. If they need resources, they will hire themselves out as mercenaries to pay for them.

And the inner workings of the enclaves have never really been revealled.. I would remove the mention to farsight himself and leave him as a mysterious unknown. It's not certain fluffwise if he's even still alive, or if his role and battlesuit is hereditary, or indeed anything about him and the society he created save that they oppose the ethereals and hire themselves out as mercenaries. :P

ProfessorCurly
March 3rd, 2007, 05:03
My idea was that he was unsatisfied with the 'survivalist mercenary commune'. And they don't have the domineering, overwhelming presence of the Etheraels to combat these feelings. So he volunteers to actually go -into- the Imperium on a long-term basis; not for money, just because he doesn't fit into the 'survivalist mercenary commune' ideal. He actually wants to leave the small groupings of worlds and see the rest of the galaxy; however, as he goes he's supposed to gather information and cause as much trouble as he can within reason. This way, he could actually work his way inward into the Imperium. After all, once you are past the Eastern Fringes, few common people even know the Tau exist. Then Mont'yryon is just another mutant/arbites, and not really noteworthy. He has to keep a low profile, yet at the same time act behind the scenes to incite revolts.

This of course would not go unnoticed by the Inquisition; Too far into the Imperium to really be Tau and lacking their blood-less persuasive flare, they are looking to see how the mutants suddenly spring up on a series of worlds one after another. So they send Benedictus; An Anomolian Recongregator (One who actively trying to destabilize the Imperium to prepare it for the Emperor's coming, while at the same time observing the potential Avatars of the Emperor), he works mainly within the Ordo Hereticus, but is known for his support of several Ordo Xenos Inquisitors who found his traveled nature, penchant for exactive note-taking, and natural tendency to be thorough with everything in his observations valuable assets. Though relatively young, he has several powerful friends in the Inquisition, and he was the obvious choice for such an assignment. Along with his stead-fast companion Veteran Seargant Marsius Aresian (Re-work the stats later, I don't think it would be that much lower than the Commissar but would have some different abilities), he is determined to find the source of the new string of rebellions and put a stop to them.

Or, help depending on what is causing the rebellions. He is a Recongregator (at least partially), and recognizes that whoever it is he is chasing might be an extremely useful tool. Several mutant revolts isn't much, but the fact that the revolts were fairly well armed and organized suggested something more than a reble fanatic; perhaps something much more.
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And so, the Firewarrior has gone from being on the Staff of an Inquisitor to the main enemy/interest of the Inquisitor. Sorry, I needed to put this idea somewhere before I forgot it.


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