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TiB wrote:The hatred doesn't even need to be so bad. Cain's aide Jurgen was a blank and people didn't hate him. They just shied away from him due to BO and blankness and would rather not stand next to him but that's as far as the dislike went.

I like to think that Jurgen didn't actually have bad BO. Instead people's minds were simply transmogrifying the null related discomfort they felt in his presence into something mundane, instead of having to realize that what they were feeling was a psyker (in it's own way) phenomenon.

The whole conflict for Inquisitors comes when they're convinced that their goals are the Imperium's best interest.

TiB wrote:Yes they should be much rarer since blanks are even more extremely rare than psykers, but I don't see a blank and an inquisitor as being mutually exclusive. I'd say a blank is at least if not more as useful a tool than a psyker in an inquisitors' posse. And as for the ingrained hatred; not every inquisitor is especially diplomatically touchy feely and some would even like striking fear and hatred into others.

This is the kind of misunderstanding of what a Pariah is that I'm talking about. That's not the kind of hatred you get.

As a very crude analogy, imagine a black policewoman trying to deal with a bunch of drunken misogynistic white supremacists - that's what being a Pariah Inquisitor is like. It's hatred, but not in anyway useful.
Actually, while not a perfect description, that's about as simple as I can make it. Pariahs are black women in a universe that is full of people who are highly (and irrevocably) racist and sexist.

It also means that, while their psychic immunity is definitely useful to the Inquisition, they are almost completely incapable of attaining the position of trust and standing that is needed to become an Inquisitor. Given the inherent stigma, the idea of a Pariah Inquisitor is only marginally more logical than an Eldar Inquisitor and needs some very good explanation. Not just some half baked theories about how such a thing would be useful.

The hatred doesn't even need to be so bad. Cain's aide Jurgen was a blank and people didn't hate him.

Blanks are not the same thing as Pariahs. While related, it's a weaker variant.

MarcoSkoll wrote:This is the kind of misunderstanding of what a Pariah is that I'm talking about.

Well with pariahs sure. But your comment said "untouchable/Pariah inquisitors", and blanks are untouchables.
So, while I agree that being a pariah is quite unpractical being an inquisitor (it's a non-issue anyway since a born imperial pariah would immediately be whisked off to the Calexus temple), but would you not agree that being a blank inquisitor could have its advantages? Even if just for blocking mind reads it would already be very useful, not to mention the times an inquisitor would be hunting down alpha and alpha+ psykers or fighting eldar.

If he somehow makes it through Interrogator status and is a member of Ordo Hereticus or Malleus, sure. The odds of that happening, considering people can't stand to be around him, including the Inquisitor responsible for his training, would be very, very slim.

TiB wrote:Well with pariahs sure. But your comment said "untouchable/Pariah inquisitors", and blanks are untouchables.

I was talking more specifically about the "more negative" end, but I still think the "slightly psychic negative" Inquisitor is overdone as well, particularly as it never seems to have any negative side effects...

As far as the Culexus, I disagree. Pariahs aren't easy to detect and only the strongest psychic negatives are suitable to be Culexus. They're neither immediately nor always whipped away to the Assassin Temples.

but would you not agree that being a blank inquisitor could have its advantages?

I would. But there is a big difference between saying that and arguing that it's not an very rare occurrence which would happen only under very exceptional circumstances. It has its advantages, but it also has its disadvantages and plenty reasons to not happen. Psienesis put it pretty well.

I'd also chime in with two notes on psykers of Alpha level and beyond: A) Even a witch hunting inquisitor isn't that likely to ever meet one, many authors are far too generous about the frequency with which they appear and B) being a blank in those circumstances would be like expecting body armour to protect you against a nuclear strike. That kind of psychic activity would completely overwhelm your "blankness".
Also, even if you were completely immune, they could still get you indirectly. A Telekine would drop a tank on you, a Pyromancer would set the entire building on fire, and a Telepath would subvert everyone and anyone in the vicinity until one of them killed you. It's not that much use as a defence.

Inquisitors DO NOT have to be psykers
for example in the book "Ragnar's claw" there were two inquisitors one of which was a psyker the other not.