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Made in us
Giggling Nurgling





So, tinkering with both some 40k fiction I'm planning/writing/etc and had some questions I though folks might have some feedback on, especially since I'd like to turn it into a physical list some day, if I can. So, here goes.

The fiction idea is to follow the acolyte of an Ordo Hereticus Inquisitor through a number of events. The inquisitor in question is formerly an Adepta Sororita and she has her acolytes from various backgrounds and skills, per usual. Somewhere along the way she's managed to pick up a Death Korps of Krieg regiment and retained the unit for her own use when situations go sideways or when she needs a bit more rank and file muscle than what her acolytes can provide. In addition, due to her personal ties (and the ties ofthe Ordo Hereticus) with the Sororitas, she has a small contingent of sisters from the Order of the Sacred Rose tagging along with her.

So, my concerns are making things fit in line with the universe while also making sure to go the direction I'm aiming towards. Death Korps are known for their raids as well as wars of attrition, so I feel that's covered. Sororitas following around makes sense given the inquisitor's background and the Ordo's ties with the orders. Even a hodgepodge of acolytes from backgrounds as hive scum, former bandits, and religious zealots or psykers makes sense with said inquisitor being former Order of the Sacred Rose.

The big concerns I have here is how the inquisitor would act and some personality nuances I'd like to toss in. I want her to be considered the aloof, lethally dangerous inquisitor, but also not 110% gung ho hotheaded sororitas type deal. I'm aiming at a more tempered fanatacism, if that makes sense. Like, burns heretics and traitors with glee, but also has a firm grasp in the secular world to relate to her acolytes that she's trying to train, groom, or simply work with reliably. Make her seem actually human, at times, if that makes sense. Ideas? Thoughts? Comments?
   
Made in fr
Stalwart Tribune





Well, here are my two cents:

People don't become inquisitors randomly; there's no school or program to become one. The only way is to be chosen by an established inquisitor, which usually means being part of their retinue long enough that they can judge if the person is qualified. The typical sister hates by default all mutants, psykers, xenos and even strongly dislikes the not-quite-humans like techpriests or space marines. The typical inquisitor is (or should be) more interested in figuring out who is and who isn't an actual heretic.

So with that in mind, my advice would be to come up with a minimum of backstory explaining how your character went from sister of battle to inquisitor. If she was picked as an inquisitorial acolyte, she must have stood out from the rest: maybe she was already more inquisitive than most and more likely to ask questions first and burn heretics later. Or maybe she was picked for her exceptional and incorruptible faith but had to be taught some moderation as part of the job. Maybe the stereotypical sororita hot-headedness got her into trouble once and she joined an inquisitor's retinue to fix her mistake and better herself, by learning to see things from a different point of view.

Thinking of just a few core facts like that about your character makes it easier to define her personality (and vice-versa). For example, each option would give that inquisitor a different relation to her former order and give us an idea of what kind of person she could be:
- If she didn't quite fit in, she could be relieved to be out of the order, or maybe ashamed that she couldn't make it and having them under her authority would be awkward. She could be a loner as a consequence.
- If she was picked for being a paragon of faith, she could see herself as a model to her former sisters and try to show them how it's done. That could make for a prideful, stubborn inquisitor.
- If she left because of some issue, she could want to guide her former sisters so they don't make the same mistakes and make them understand that faith and zeal aren't the same thing. That inquisitor would be cautious and moralizing.

Also, remember that because they have a lot of freedom in how they choose to do their job, inquisitors vary widely on the puritan/radical spectrum. Basically when asked the question "does the end justify the means?" radicals answer "yes, sometimes you have to fight fire with fire," while puritans answer "no, using the heretics' weapons against them is still heresy." Inquisitors often end up branding other inquisitors heretics because of that. A sister of battle would probably fall on the puritan side, so she'd be very unlikely to do some things like rely heavily on psykers, use xeno weaponry or keep a jokaero around.
   
Made in us
Giggling Nurgling





 Tiennos wrote:
Well, here are my two cents:

People don't become inquisitors randomly; there's no school or program to become one. The only way is to be chosen by an established inquisitor, which usually means being part of their retinue long enough that they can judge if the person is qualified. The typical sister hates by default all mutants, psykers, xenos and even strongly dislikes the not-quite-humans like techpriests or space marines. The typical inquisitor is (or should be) more interested in figuring out who is and who isn't an actual heretic.

So with that in mind, my advice would be to come up with a minimum of backstory explaining how your character went from sister of battle to inquisitor. If she was picked as an inquisitorial acolyte, she must have stood out from the rest: maybe she was already more inquisitive than most and more likely to ask questions first and burn heretics later. Or maybe she was picked for her exceptional and incorruptible faith but had to be taught some moderation as part of the job. Maybe the stereotypical sororita hot-headedness got her into trouble once and she joined an inquisitor's retinue to fix her mistake and better herself, by learning to see things from a different point of view.

Thinking of just a few core facts like that about your character makes it easier to define her personality (and vice-versa). For example, each option would give that inquisitor a different relation to her former order and give us an idea of what kind of person she could be:
- If she didn't quite fit in, she could be relieved to be out of the order, or maybe ashamed that she couldn't make it and having them under her authority would be awkward. She could be a loner as a consequence.
- If she was picked for being a paragon of faith, she could see herself as a model to her former sisters and try to show them how it's done. That could make for a prideful, stubborn inquisitor.
- If she left because of some issue, she could want to guide her former sisters so they don't make the same mistakes and make them understand that faith and zeal aren't the same thing. That inquisitor would be cautious and moralizing.

Also, remember that because they have a lot of freedom in how they choose to do their job, inquisitors vary widely on the puritan/radical spectrum. Basically when asked the question "does the end justify the means?" radicals answer "yes, sometimes you have to fight fire with fire," while puritans answer "no, using the heretics' weapons against them is still heresy." Inquisitors often end up branding other inquisitors heretics because of that. A sister of battle would probably fall on the puritan side, so she'd be very unlikely to do some things like rely heavily on psykers, use xeno weaponry or keep a jokaero around.



Very good points, some of which I hadn't considered.

My figuring was similar to one suggestion you had. Super hyper zealot, ready to rip apart hab blocks and hive cities looking for heretics at a moment's notice. I figured her mentor spent years and years tempering that zeal to be more moderate and to instill the concept of 'felixible minds'. She'd be more puritan, but understand the real and pointed need that sometimes psykers are needed and needed badly.

Id aimed at having her as a dual mentor and power play kind of character which that concept was the best way I found to set up. Sort of an inquisitorial sweet spot, as it were.
   
Made in ca
Longtime Dakkanaut





This is going to be a cool thread.

I love your concept, and agree with what Tiennos has already said.

Do you play? One of the things I've always wanted from BL and other 40k fiction is to be able to see the game in it. And there are ways that the new features of the game can really help you do this.

So for my first contribution, I'll talk about what I would do on the table to help me build the story.

First, I don't know the Death Korps well so I'm not sure which Sector, Sub-Sector and System you're working in. I also don't know where you fit in the timeline. So I'd figure that out to start.

Once you've got your planet, how large is the Korp presence VS the Sister presence?

Once I knew that, I'd build orders of battle using Crusade rules for both, with a focus on the standing detachment structures in each which define the relationships between units internally.

Knowing the civilian populace will help here, because a large hive might get a Korps Brigade and a Sisters Battalion, while a small tactical asset might get a Sisters Brigade with a Korps Spearhead full of anti aircraft tanks or other artillery.

Once it's laid out, figure out who your Sister is going to be and who her Korp companions are and locate them in the orders of battle. Then play a few Crusade games and let the battles write some elements of the story for you.

So I am currently doing this; in my story, the woman who is destined to become my Saint begins as a Dominion in the only Dominion squad in a small mission represent by a 25 PL Combat Patrol. In the first game, my plan is that her unit achieves a key agenda after taking fire that kills the superior. She will be one of the members of the unit who facilitates the acquisition of the agenda; the unit will be marked for greatness, she'll earn a battle honour for being blooded (which goes to the unit, not her specifically). A quick swap of magnetized heads, and now she's my superior. That Battle Honour becomes a character trait in the book, and the Battle Honour is thematically linked to the agenda that provided the XP to pay for it.

Then I advance the rest of her detachment, and any other factions get games representing their piece of the narrative and go through their advancements.

You can skip ahead rather play the whole thing through chronologically, but once the supply limit scales up, you can include a second detachment of Krieg, giving you an allied force. Maybe her unit saves a Krieg unit, which is how she meets her friend. Maybe the Krieg save her. You can decide which happens and play it out... Or let the game guide the story.

Then maybe in the next battle, you attach a Hereticus Inquisitor to either the sisters detachment or the Krieg detachment as an Imperial agent. This means they don't have a retinue, so one of the units in the allied force does body guard duty, which is how she meets the Inquisitor.

Units in all detachments are pursuing agendas and succeeding or failing, ending up with battle scars or battle honours as a result and the story is writing itself. You have to handle the internal promotions and lateral unit swaps that the character goes through because generally there aren't Crusade rules to represent this, but everything else is there.

Eventually, the Inquisitor maybe bring their own detachment. If your sister and your Krieger have become character models (my sister will be a palatine by the time she hits Battle Hardened- another magnetic headswap and voila), you can just cheat on the rules and pull them into the Inquisition detachment as is. Or if they haven't, you can just pay an RP and add <Ordo> to the datacard and treat them like Acolytes.

You can go as game heavy or light as you want. If you're good at parsing rules into narrative (and if you've ever played a pen and paper RPG, you probably are) you don't even have to play the games- you can read the rules and see the story within them.

The point is that when it comes time to write the book, it will actually reflect the game. This isn't to say "use ONLY game stuff" - just use this process to check the accuracy/ appropriateness of your writing.
   
Made in us
Giggling Nurgling





I actually hadn't put thought into time-line as I'm still catching up. I stopped playing around late 4th/early 5th editions so there's a lot I haven't read through yet. I'd like to do the current time but I'll need more research first.

As for background, kinda planned on hinting at it or building it over time. The regiment of DKoK and her cruiser and all id planned on her having initially as the story will follow her newest Acolyte and his experiences, namely how he adjusts to inquisitorial life and the gradual mentorship of said inquisitor.

The core story is gonna be your typical "kill team"esque vibe to it, but the big guns and angry nuns are on standby when and as needed to crush big problems. Think a variation on how Ciaphus Cain and the valhallans tend to wind up knee deep in Inquisitor Vail's work when things go sideways.
   
Made in gb
Battleship Captain




 Tiennos wrote:
Well, here are my two cents:

People don't become inquisitors randomly; there's no school or program to become one. The only way is to be chosen by an established inquisitor, which usually means being part of their retinue long enough that they can judge if the person is qualified. The typical sister hates by default all mutants, psykers, xenos and even strongly dislikes the not-quite-humans like techpriests or space marines. The typical inquisitor is (or should be) more interested in figuring out who is and who isn't an actual heretic.

So with that in mind, my advice would be to come up with a minimum of backstory explaining how your character went from sister of battle to inquisitor. If she was picked as an inquisitorial acolyte, she must have stood out from the rest: maybe she was already more inquisitive than most and more likely to ask questions first and burn heretics later. Or maybe she was picked for her exceptional and incorruptible faith but had to be taught some moderation as part of the job. Maybe the stereotypical sororita hot-headedness got her into trouble once and she joined an inquisitor's retinue to fix her mistake and better herself, by learning to see things from a different point of view.

Thinking of just a few core facts like that about your character makes it easier to define her personality (and vice-versa). For example, each option would give that inquisitor a different relation to her former order and give us an idea of what kind of person she could be:
- If she didn't quite fit in, she could be relieved to be out of the order, or maybe ashamed that she couldn't make it and having them under her authority would be awkward. She could be a loner as a consequence.
- If she was picked for being a paragon of faith, she could see herself as a model to her former sisters and try to show them how it's done. That could make for a prideful, stubborn inquisitor.
- If she left because of some issue, she could want to guide her former sisters so they don't make the same mistakes and make them understand that faith and zeal aren't the same thing. That inquisitor would be cautious and moralizing.

Also, remember that because they have a lot of freedom in how they choose to do their job, inquisitors vary widely on the puritan/radical spectrum. Basically when asked the question "does the end justify the means?" radicals answer "yes, sometimes you have to fight fire with fire," while puritans answer "no, using the heretics' weapons against them is still heresy." Inquisitors often end up branding other inquisitors heretics because of that. A sister of battle would probably fall on the puritan side, so she'd be very unlikely to do some things like rely heavily on psykers, use xeno weaponry or keep a jokaero around.



Agree all of this.

A sister picked as a potential senior acolyte would have been done so because the inqusitor she was 'apprenticed' to saw something. Which probably means she's a little unusual as a battle sister.

It's unlikely she'd be a psyker - simply because (normally!) psychic potential emerges early, and the schola progenium is the sort of imperial organisation used to spotting the warning signs; it's highly unlikely a nascent psyker would get as far as a convent before being dragged off by the blackships.

....although late development is possible, and might be a reason the inquisitor, if they were more openminded than the average sororitas (not hard, I know) saved her. if that is the case, you might have an interesting character trait - because she spent her life hating psykers then discovered she was one. Plus, copying her teacher might drive her to...occasionally!....consider sparing a useful penitent to help serve the imperium.

She'd almost certainly see herself as a puritan, even if moderated by pragmatism, because of her religious upbringing, so I agree xenos technology is right out. High end imperial technology is mostly the same, too - remember that most really swanky imperial technology comes from the Adeptus Mechanicus, who are basically a rival church in the Imperium (it's why I'm not a fan of GW adding lots of shiny tech-based toys to the sororitas lists like the new paragon suits)


how about the acolyte?






Termagants expended for the Hive Mind: ~2835
 
   
Made in us
Giggling Nurgling





I wasn't going to have the inquisitor be a psyker originally, but I'm not entirely against the idea. Xenos tech i wasn't gonna include and I wasn't gonna go with any xenos in her retinue, though I did plan on her having passing acquaintance with perhaps an eldar or the like because inquisitor.

As for the Acolyte, I had planned him to be a bandit originally. Working narrative has him captured by another bandit group on the badlands world he's from who turn out to be not only a chaos cult but the target of the Inquisitor, so he ends up rescued. Was leaning towards him being a pseudo gunslinger type more at home with more secular minded folk, but for some reason unknown to him the Inquisitor not only doesn't turn him in or execute him, she brings him on as a lackey and later acts as a mentor.
   
Made in ca
Longtime Dakkanaut





So it sounds like your Inquisitor is fairly Puritan; that's fun. I find in the game, it is a bit harder to define Inquisitors than it once was if you decide to forego psychic powers; the changes they've made to equipment in the new iteration of the game have limited options.

The Witch Hunter dex was great for tech; the 54 mm Inquisitor game book also has great content. And then there's the Fantasy Flight stuff.

Crusade helps a bit, but with Inquisitors, there's no bespoke content yet, so you only have generic material. Sisters will have their content with the release of the dex, and an IG dex is definitely on the way. Inquisition are a wild card though.

So you've got an Inquisitor, a Sister and a Krieger to work with; any ideas for other members of the team?
   
Made in us
Giggling Nurgling





More like an inquisitor, a contingent of sisters, and a krieg regiment with the gunslinger acolyte.

Other acolytes I've mostly got sorted out. An old crusader who operates sort of like the team coordinator but still maintains his gear because old crusader, a hive ganger with a pyromaniac streak, a cadian sniper/stealth specialist, and a feral world sanctioned psyker who was under the Inquisitor's predecessor.

Couple other characters like the chirurgeon and Commissar attached to the krieg regiment, but thats the core.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2021/06/13 01:49:33


 
   
Made in ca
Longtime Dakkanaut





So for sisters, you're likely looking at a Commandery or a Mission; if the planet is especially populous with multiple hive cities, or if there are numerous planets that your team will visit, you could go for a small Preceptory...

A commandery gives you somewhere in the neighbourhood of 200 Sisters to work with, and they would be led by a Cannoness Commander. There would be Celestian, Seraphym, Doms and Retributors; there would be multiple Immolators and Rhinos, and an Exorcist or two. Think Brigade.

If go with a mission, you'll have a Cannoness or a Palatine leading the force; I'd suggest one of each, so you could muster a Battalion or two Patrols. You likely wouldn't have all of the specialist units- maybe one unit for each of two of the four listed types. Rhinos for your sisters, an Immolator, maybe two if you decide you want Doms as one of your specialist units. You might have an Exorcist, but it's by no means a guarantee.

The sister would bond well with a Puritan, but may have reservations about some of the others in the team; she could bond with the ganger over his predilection for fire, but might be concerned about a criminal past.

She might have static with the psyker too- if he's attached more with the old Inquisitor than the new, I could see trust issues.

She would work well with the Crusader and the Sniper

As for the Commissar, there's a nice wild card; I could see command conflicts.

Interesting team!

How big is the regiment? There's a lot of variety in size... Plus I'm not quite as familiar with guard as I am with sisters.
   
Made in us
Giggling Nurgling





Inquisitor and company are stationed on a cruiser (also requisitioned), so planetary limits are null at the moment and both groups plus acolytes would be following the inquisitor around on board ship as they move from planet to planet.

Fluff-wise, probably a mission or sisters or smaller. Think a Palatine and maybe a squad or two of seraphim and maybe a Dominion squad. Maybe some rank and file sisters. Leaning towards at least one seraphim squad since inquisitor in question is former seraphim.

DKoK is a regiment so approximately 3,000ish plus auxiliary armor, artillery, etc. If we go by modern standards.


Tabletop I was looking at 2k points using a Battalion of Krieg and an Outrider detachment of SoB.

I should note that tabletop would reflect fluff and not be a deliberate attempt at a competition or even highly competitive list. Just not a competitive person, so I tend to run whats fun for me, win or lose.
   
Made in ca
Longtime Dakkanaut





That's awesome. So I think the Seraphim should be one squad of ten by default, but if your sisters straps on a set of wings, she can function as a second superior to give you 2 small units. Cool dynamic.

Ship based is totally cool- if you want that psyker to be mysterious and weird, I'd take a background idea from FF Games and make him Void born- born in space, so sometimes has trouble with people born planet side; just adds mystique.

And yeah, I'm nowhere near competitive myself- Crusade is my bag, and I use it as a storytelling system.

Only flaw so far is it's better for armies with a 9th dex than armies without due to bespoke content.
   
Made in us
Giggling Nurgling





I was actually gonna go feral born. Was digging the furs and bones vibe, even going as far as giving them a staff and casting runes and all. Not 100% sure on them, lots of stuff has wiggle room, but I like the idea of the Inquisitor valuing their contribution and taking their feralness in stride, but being weirded out left and right with everyone else whenever they whip out their psyker power, plus keeping a close eye if they seem like they're getting possessed or whatnot.

Also, been tinkering a bit with ideas. There any canon on how late someone can exhibit psyker powers?
   
Made in gb
Witch Hunter in the Shadows





A sororitas character i've seen mentioned a few times (but have yet to read myself) that may interest you is the canoness errant Setheno, who operates somewhat independently and secures the co-operation of other imperial forces as needed.
   
Made in us
Giggling Nurgling





I read through Setheno's little spot on the wiki. It makes sense and there's some good parallel in some spots, but ultimately she wound up in that situation because her order was wiped out. With this Inquisitor, its more she ultimately decided or was required to join the ranks of the inquisition rather than return to the Order.
   
Made in ca
Longtime Dakkanaut





In James Swallow's Faith and Fire, latent psykers are awakened by the evil Priest; they seem to exist as psychic potential until they are triggered.

I'm not as well read on the BL stuff as some folks, so I can't really advise beyond that.
   
Made in us
Giggling Nurgling





PenitentJake wrote:
In James Swallow's Faith and Fire, latent psykers are awakened by the evil Priest; they seem to exist as psychic potential until they are triggered.

I'm not as well read on the BL stuff as some folks, so I can't really advise beyond that.


Yeah, the wiki wasn't too elaborate on it either other than its usually shown between 10 to 20 years of age, though infants and those older than 20 have been known to exhibit psyker abilities.

So, here's what I'm tinkering with. Inquisitor Idea A is a non-psyker inquisitor who is a former sororitas Seraphim. Previously assigned to an inquisitor, he noted that despite her overzealous nature, she was also shrewd, inquisitive, and extremely intelligent. In some cases she was even a few mental steps ahead of the inquisitor during investigations. He took her under his wing, tempered her zeal while maintaining the raw strength of faith, and taught her everything he knew. Fast forward and now we have the mentor inquisitor for the acolyte the story follows. Little more to expand on here and there, but there's the gist.

Inquisitor Idea B is a psyker specializing mostly in (surprise, surprise) pyromancy among other things. Formerly a Seraphim, she was assigned as an acolyte to an inquisitor who noted that despite her zeal, she was highly intelligent and capable of complex thought, often outpacing his own at times. When her psychic abilities were suddenly and randomly exhibited, she was sent to Terra where she was trained, educated, soul-bound, and then returned to her inquisitor where she was taken under his wing to be his successor. She tends to lock down her powers with technology (maybe a sort of dampener device that can be concealed or whatnot) and rely on the psyker within her acolytes to do warp stuff, which means not many know she's a psyker. Move to the present and now we have the inquisitor mentoring the acolyte, etc. etc.

I think I can work with either, so its really just figuring out which way to go and figuring out tech and such. Also, placing this in the "current" timeline for ease of reading and not conflicting with other stuff. Little more wiggle room and artistic license, I feel.
   
Made in fr
Stalwart Tribune





I've read somewhere (I think it was the latest RPG book) that since the great rift has opened in the middle of the galaxy, weird stuff has been happening, including random people gaining/awakening psychic powers out of nowhere.

If that fits with your timeline, you can use that to explain why the witch-hunter lady is suddenly a witch.
   
Made in us
Giggling Nurgling





Seems like time is kinda malleable right now, so it gives more leeway to have a fully fledged inquisitor who found the psyker abilities slightly later in life caused by the Rift. Might go with that, then. Kinda fudge the years a little to where jt makes sense and use the "time moves differently now" trope to explain it away.

Yay handwavium
   
 
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