So after reminiscing about a humorous discussion on the Battle-Sisters yahoo group a few months ago, I decided to put together some rules for the Devil's Advocate.
Basically, the Devil's Advocate is a humorous attempt at an Uber-Character one man army, and is based on many a poster to email lists and forums like Dakka.
Well, if nothing else, it should be good for a laugh! If you have any ideas to improve the Advocate, lemmie know, otherwise put down the milk and enjoy!
Points cost:*
WS:*, BS:6, S:5, T:10, W:4, I:8, A<WBR>:2D6, Ld:*, Save:1+/3+
Equipment: Imperial Gavel, Grey Tome, Lighter, Mask of Anonymity, Post Count
Special Rules: I'll be Back, Looking for a Fight, Master Debater, Truthseeker, Philopolemicist, Listen to Reason, Legal Loopholes, Man of Many Words, First Impressions
Points Cost: The Devil's Advocate will take on any debate, no matter the size. The Devil's Advocate occupies an entire Force Organization Chart and is fielded as a stand-alone army (Deploy him as an HQ unit). The Advocate costs exactly the same amount of points as one of the single forces opposing him, up to 1500 points. Due to the persuasive and divisive nature of the Advocate, opposing forces must always hold their own against him in debate. If there are multiple forces opposing the Advocate, they cannot be allied. Each side is independent and fighting for its own position against every other side. In battles over 1500 points per force, the Advocate may be accompanied by squads of Tome Enforcers up to the agreed upon points level. The Advocate is an Independent Character and may never join any unit, including units of Tome Enforcers, or embark on a transport. The Advocate is always deployed at the beginning of a game, he is never placed in Reserves for any reason. The Advocate cannot be allied with any force other than Tome Enforcers.
Tome Enforcers: Tome Enforcers use the points cost and rules for Inquisitorial Stormtroopers found in Codex: Witch Hunters, except that they do not occupy any particular Force Organization slot (Deploy them as Troops units). Tome Enforcers blindly follow the advise of the Advocate and are therefore subject to the "Listen to Reason" special rule.
The Devil's Advocate is a model with the height and base size of a standard Warhammer 40k scale human. The model must have accurate WYSIWYG representations of the Imperial Gavel and Grey Tome, but all other equipment need not be visibly represented.
Equipment:
Imperial Gavel - Classically a symbol of judicial authority, the Advocate uses a Gavel embossed with the Imperial Aquila to "hammer home" his arguments. When used forcefully and repeatedly against stubborn opponents, the Gavel has been known to break. The Imperial Gavel counts as a single handed weapon in close combat. If the Advocate rolls three sixes (or more) "to hit" against a model with more than one wound in close combat, the Gavel breaks and one model against which the attacks were directed, chosen by the Advocate, immediately dies outright with out any possibility of any sort of save. If any models are still within striking distance of the Advocate after this death, the remaining successful "to hit" rolls (minus the first three sixes) are resolved normally. After the Gavel breaks, it may no longer be used in close combat and no longer counts as an additional close combat weapon.
Grey Tome - The Devil's Advocate carries a large heavy grey tome containing the laws of the Imperium and the rules of the physical universe. The Advocate likes to thump people over the head with it. The Grey Tome counts as either a single handed close combat weapon, which may be used in conjunction with the Imperial Gavel, or as a two handed power weapon, which may only be used by itself. In addition, due to the absolute knowledge contained within, only the most carefully constructed argument will slip past the Advocates defenses. The Grey Tome provides the Advocate with a 1+ armour save.
Lighter - Over the centuries, the Devil's Advocate has collected flimsy arguments, outdated rulings, unofficial FAQs, and worthless pieces of fluff. The Advocate likes to wad these up, set them on fire, and throw them at those who stand against him. The Lighter is a Strength 6, Range 12", Assault 1 Blast weapon. In addition, the Advocate will sometimes use his Lighter to ignite the pants of those he believes might not be speaking the truth, causing them to run around for several minutes attempting to extinguish the flames. The Advocate may sacrifice his normal close combat attacks and make a single close combat attack with the Lighter. This is the only way in which the Lighter may be used in close combat. This attack counts as a strength 7 power weapon attack. Also, a model hit by the Lighter in close combat which survives will not be able to attack for the remainder of the turn.
Mask of Anonymity - Aside from the Grey Tome, the Devil's Advocate has only his Mask of Anonymity for protection. The Mask provides the Advocate with a 3+ invulnerable save.
Post Count - The Devil's Advocate has an extremely high Post Count. The Post Count does nothing.
Special Rules:
I'll be Back - The Devil's Advocate is never easily defeated, and even if you thought you had him beat, he will always return for the next debate. If the Devil's Advocate loses all of his wounds, do not remove him from the playing field, instead lay him on his side. At the start of the Devil's Advocate's controllers next turn, the Advocate will stand back up, regain one wound, and continue to argue if there are any models, ally or enemy, within 36" and in LOS of the Advocate. In addition, the Advocate will never be subject to the effects of Instant Death, nor can he be removed from play by any means other than removing all of his wounds. Any special rule which would Instantly kill the Advocate or remove him from play instead causes a single wound subject to the Advocates normal invulnerable save.
The Devil's Advocate thrives in arguments with many opposing sides. In a multi-player battle, if the Advocate loses all of his wounds he will remain on his side for the remainder of the battle until any model enters this 36" LOS range, at which point he will re-enter the battle and regain one wound for each other player still in the battle. Note: In really big battles, this means that the Advocate could return with more wounds than he started with.
Looking for a Fight - The Devil's Advocate is never afraid of an argument and is eager to engage anyone in a new debate. Instead of moving normally during his movement phase, if there are no models within 12" of the Advocate, the Advocate may, but is not required to, move immediately from his current position to any spot 2" to 6" away from the closest enemy model. This movement is a non-deviating teleportation and therefore ignores all terrain and models between the Advocate and his target point and does not scatter. In addition, the Advocate must always attempt to get closer to the enemy during his movement phase.
Master Debater - The Devil's Advocate can argue any point with extreme tenacity, even if you tear his argument to shreds, he will piece it back together and try again. The Advocate is immune to the effects of Rending. If rending weapon rolls "6s" against the Advocate treats those rolls as normal hits or wounds.
Truthseeker - Right or wrong, the Devil's Advocate will pursue the successful conclusion of a debate day and night, until the end of time, without being deterred by any obstacle. The Advocate is not slowed by difficult, dangerous, or impassable terrain and treats each of these like open terrain during the movement and assault phases. Likewise, the Advocate must never take difficult or dangerous terrain tests and can never be harmed by terrain, no matter what it is. The Advocate is immune to the effects of Mines and Minefields and cannot be harmed by them. The Advocate can never be pinned or entangled. The Advocate does not suffer any penalties due to Night Fighting.
Philopolemicist - The Devil's Advocate LOVES to debate with everyone. Likewise, everyone HATES the Devil's Advocate. The Advocate has "Preferred Enemy" against every model and every model has "Preferred Enemy" against the Advocate.
Listen to Reason - The Devil's Advocate has completely convinced himself of the correctness of his position, nothing can make him doubt himself. The Advocate is never required to take any form of Leadership test and is always considered to have passed said tests. Anything which would normally use the Advocate's Leadership value is immediately decided in favor of the Advocate or is negated outright.
Legal Loopholes - The Devil's Advocate excels at finding and exploiting legal loopholes. In the event that a legitimate rules ambiguity arises during a game in which the Advocate is in play, instead of "dicing" for it (rolling a d6 to resolve the argument), the controller of the Advocate gets to decide the outcome without regard to the opinions of the other players.
Man of Many Words - The Devil's Advocate as argued countless positions in countless debates across countless worlds. Sometimes his arguments are solid and cannot be refuted, sometimes they are weak and easily defeated. At the beginning of each players assault phase, roll 2d6 to determine Advocate's attack characteristic for that phase.
First Impressions - There are millions of Trolls throughout the Imperium impersonating the true Devil's Advocate. Trolls attempt to draw others into debates which cannot be won, and many times it will be too late to break off a debate once the true identity of the Troll is revealed. At the end of a battle in which the Devil's Advocate was defeated, instead of calculating victory points or conditions, roll a single d6. On a roll of 1, 2, or 3 the Advocate was actually a Troll, the victor cannot claim victory, and the battle is declared a draw. On a roll of 4, 5, or 6, the true Advocate was defeated in honest debate and victory points and conditions are calculated normally.
