Water-Caste Negotiator
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Hi all, I've recently come of the opinion that we don't have enough interesting characters. I may well be wrong about this. However, it has caused me to look at bringing old and alternative character's in. I have decided to start with the two Kais (Firewarrior and Dawn of War), and of those two I want to start with La'kais because he introduced me to both Warhammer and Tau. I have worked on this for the last seven hours, so I'm sorry if there's a decline in the standard of the work, but my brain is a bit melty at the moment, I've been listening to both The Heist and The Boy Who Knew Too Much while working on this and they've kinda just melded together to create this mixture of American zef-rap and high pitched layered pop which is a lot more disturbing than it sounds. Any way I'm looking for feedback on everything, I aim to get this to the point where people are willing to play with and against it and generally accept it as a balanced and fun unit.
So without further ado, here it is.
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"To Kais!"
"Kais." Five voices echoed in unison.
"And for Tau'va!"
"Tau'va." The five voices echoed again.
The six Shas'vre's glasses glimmered in the dim light of the bar as they drank the striking green alcohol within.
"Remember, no names."
"Right."
"We start in four rotaa, positions now."
Kais. That name had not been heard in that bar for tau'cyr. Not since the disgraced firebladehad been brought back to T'au to have his fitness to participate in combat judged. Everyone knew his fate was decided before he even stood trial before the Ethereals. The shas'ar'tol would not oppose the ethereal ruling. The remainder of his unit even swore that they would still follow him to the death, even with others believing death would likely be their end, they were not only loyal to Kais, they trusted him. But the Ethereal edict stood completely unopposed, Shas'nel Kais, fireblade Deathskill, was unfit to lead or partake in combat, he was to be sent to the institution, the T'au mental health facility, until given further notice.
Lightning lit up the storm drenched rooftop as the three tau XV15 squad landed.
"Sera'ka'er actual, this is Sera'na'té actual, please respond." The leading shas talked steadily into his comset as the others placed a small squat canister against the roof.
"Esté, Sera'ka'er actual, comms and monitor system is down, you have ten rai'kan before auto response restores function and reaches you." The canister's edge comes down and bites into the crystalline polymetal.
"Esté'ka, they will never know we were here." Four arms suspending a ring extend out from the canister and rotate, slowly gaining speed, as the ring emitted small plasma bursts.
"Alright boys, how far along are we?" The ring, seemingly a blue plasma blur, that lit the roof oddly on that dark stormy night, started slowing it's spinning.
The suddenly the ring stopped and started to drop. One of the shas'vres' arms shot out and grabbed the ring before it fell out of reach. "Damnit Sor'ren pay attention. You know how high the stakes are."
"Sorry Lu'kah, I' just a little rusty, I don't often do urban." A female voice came from the tau that was busy placing the polymetal disk on the roof.
The leading shas'vre answers both of them with a sharp strike on the head. "Idiots, no names. Now commence radio silence."
"Esté." Both shas suddenly snapped back into a professional manner as they began their descent into the top ward of the Institution.
There were many ceremonies and parades celebrating the hero when he first returned from his mission to rescue the aun. He was presented with the honour of meeting some of the great commanders of the tau and heroes of Tau'va. Along with that he was promoted Instantly to shas'nel and allowed to begin training to become a battlesuit pilot if he so chose. He respectfully declined the auns' offer and was instead rewarded with a specialised rifle and a squad of some of the most elite veterans. But this was not, as the greater tau public believed, by choice. He was made to stand a secret trial headed by Aun'Va and O'Shasserra where he was held responsible for the demise of an ethereal, he was spared death so that he may still serve the greater good but he was forbidden from becoming a battlesuit pilot and was ordered to make it seem as though he chose to decline the path that would lead to command voluntarily. So it was that Shas'nel Kais was redeployed to the frontlines with his squad, they quickly became known as the lucky thirteen by gaurdsmen in their sector, due to gunfire always managing to just miss them, as if fate were playing some trick on them, the local Cadian regiments even called in a sniper platoon, but even they were unsuccessful in hunting them down. So when the shas found intel naming them thusly the moniker stuck, legends of their daring exploits Swept the Tau Empire, most more fiction than fact. However little known to all but his squad, whom Kais had grown extremely close to after ta'lisserra, he was having episodes, flashbacks that caused him to relive the darkness of his famed encounters. It seemed that although everyone talked about him and what he did, no one talked to him about what it did to him. And then, on the plains of Damascar, it all caught up with him.
+++Auto recorder audio log+++
Notes by Shas'vre Narim
"Blacksun filter; on, HUD; augment. Find and mark objective 1." MALE
"That one." SAME MALE
"Line out and prepare to clear on Ke." SAME MALE AGIN/MUST BE TEAM LEADER
"Ready." FEMALE
"Ready." DIFFERENT MALE
-mild explosion, followed by a bang-
"By Tau'va, Kais?" LEADER
"I remember." NEXUS PRISONER
CONCLUSION: NEXUS PRISONER ESCAPED NOTIFY AUN IMMEDIATELY
DEMARKATION: AUN EYE'S ONLY
SECURITY: ENCRYPT/MISDIRECT/INVERT
+++End recorder log+++
Kais' episodes had been increasing in duration and frequency and then in Damascar it happened, the fabric of the universe ripped open and a demonic host stepped through, no, swarmed through. Kais stopped. Frozen in place by horror. Then he felt something at the edge of his mind. Kais did what felt most natural, mentally he reached out over the link the horror had established and ripped it's very mind into pieces. Suddenly every eye in the host was trained upon Kais and his squad. It was then that his luck ran out. Two of his squad suddenly combusted, immolated by demonic witchfire, their armour empty husks, covered in the ashes of what was Kais former squad mates. His closest friend Li'ané tried to push him but her hands were singed as if his armour was alight, suddenly Li'ané started to scream. Then she ripped off her helmet as if it were suffocating her and started to claw at her skin as if she were alight. Suddenly a bolt from one of the horrific chaos marines struck her head, tearing half of her face off spraying kais with cranial matter. Li'ané's mutilated corpse dropped silently to the ground, her flowing platinum hair stained ultramarine with her blood. Three shas had already died because of him Kais readied himself to surrender his life for his squad. He was stopped by three more shas, tau he called brother, they stepped between the squad and the demon horde. "RUN!" one of them roared not taking his eyes off of the quickly advancing tidal wave of gore and madness.
"You heard him, go!" Sor'ren shouted grabbing Kais arm, instantly snapping him out of his trance.
The last thing the three defending shas'vre heard before the demonic horde slammed into them and rent their flesh from their bones was Kais over the comset.
"Thank you Brothers. I will never forget."
Kor'pion didn't like shas. He never had. And now they had justified it. The three Firewarriors had snuck up on the pilot team as the were disengaging their flyer for their rest shift. Holding pulse pistols to their necks they had forced him and his team to re-engage the jet and prepare to pick up three mini-suits from the top of The Institute. Aun knows what they were doing up there.
"Preparing teleport." Pion announced to his team, they were hovering in the cloaked shadowray above the team now.
"Requesting beacon access code." One of Pion's co-pilots announced. Al'lara, she was a cute, little tau, well, little for a Kor. Her cropped red hair had many young brash pilots smitten with her, but she seemed uninterested, she had rejected all of Pion's advances and didn't want to push it and risk a falling out with a co-pilot, but maybe if he stayed calm and got them all out alive...
"Repeat. Requesting beacon access code."
"Right," turning to the leader of his captors "the codes, uhhh..."
"Lom'arr, my name. It's Lom'arr."
"Oh. Why are you telling me?"
"You'll see."
"The codes?" Kor'Al'lara interjected.
"Right. Five, Ka, three, nine, six, Nehr, five, two, one, Uhr."
"Right." The suspense was killing Al'lara, she may soon be in an actual starchase, or a rayfight, this was the most action she'd had her whole career as a pilot. T'au itself was never invaded so the PDF only really ever did training exercises and demonstrations. "Kor'Pion, I think there may be an anomaly."
"Yes?"
"There's an extra mark."
Behind them their captors had started celebrating.
"I think that's intended."
"Yes." Lom'arr re-joined them.
"Alright. Targets locked on. Bringing them on board."
"Good." Lom'arr started as they light went on, signalling the new passengers arrival. "Now set a course for the forbidden zone, there should be a particle accelerator ring tunnel there."
"A PAR tunnel, I didn't think any were operational, let alone directed for that heading."
"That's called misinformation and as for the heading, let's just say there are some Fio who would prefer if we succeeded. Now go."
Shas'la Tash'Var Ko'vahn Vior'la's Eyes burn from dryness as he pours over the virtuadox on display on the holodesk display port situated in the cramped taliss barrack.
"Come on Lusy, you seriously don't think it's weird that all of Darkskill's surviving squadmates all go missing within the same kai'rotaa and then are all spotted later that same kai'rotaa on a bar on the lower levels of T'au AND THEN the tau himself, Deathskill, goes missing from the institute a few dec later."
"I think you should leave it." The tau girl says running her slender fingers over the back of Ko'vahn's neck, sending delicious tingles all the way down his spine.
"You know I can't." he replies, putting his arm around her waist and drawing her gently to him.
She starts to play with his messy hair, it got him into much trouble with the 'ui at the academy. She can almost hear them, "A student of the code of fire should have hair up to standard." but they let him get away with it, he was the idiot savant of their detachment, even Aun'vre Si'or admitted he was a genius and then lauded him as an intergalactic idiot in the same line. "You really are determined aren't you?" She says, a faint smile growing on her lips.
"That's why they call me Ko'vahn."
"Come now, mor'rotaa ana kai'rotaa." she leads him away while running the desk's hibernation function.
And she is right; tomorrow is another day.
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IMPORTANT: all numbers are custom and balanced, any resemblance to numbers in the tau codex is purely coincidental
Shas'Nel T'au Mon'Kais (formerly known as Shas'la Kais) also called Deathskill 75 Points
Force organisation requirements; Kais can only be fielded in an army 1500pt or greater and cannot be fielded in an army list with: Auxiliaries or any character that is part of the Tau Empire.
WS | BS | S | T | W | I | A | Ld | Sv | Unit Type | Unit Composition
Shas'Nel Kais 4 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 9 | 4+ |Infantry (Character) | 1 (Unique)
Shas'Vre veterans 3 | 4 | 3 |3 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 8 | 4+ |Infantry (Character) |
Wargear (Shas'Nel Kais):
- Combat armour
- Photon grenades
- Pulse Rifle
- Markerlight
Special rules (Shas'Nel Kais):
- Independent Character
- Volley Fire
- Supporting Fire
- Exceptional Luck
- Unstable
- Warp Exposure
Wargear (Drones):
- Command-link (Command-link Drone only)
- Sensor suite (Sensor Drone only)
Wargear (Shas'Vre veterans)
- Combat armour
- Photon grenades
- Pulse rifle
Options
May include up to six Shas'Vre veterans at the cost of losing the Independent Character special rule .............................................. 10 pts/model
Any model may exchange their pulse rifle for a pulse carbine ..................................................................................................... free
Any model may exchange their pulse rifle for a longshot pulse rifle..................................................................................................... 6 pts
Kais may take a drone controller .................................................................................................................................................... 8 pts
After taking a drone controller Kais may take a single Command-link Drone ........................................................................................... 15 pts
After taking a drone controller Kais may take a single Sensor Drone .................................................................................................... 15 pts
The unit may take EMP grenades ........................................................................................................................................... 2 pts/model
The unit may take a devilfish as a Dedicated Transport
The entire unit may take the Bonding Knife Ritual special rule ....................................................................................................... 1 pt/model
Special Rules
Unstable
Kais has been psychologically scarred by his experiences with chaos. This has made him unflinching in the face of terrors that would break the common firewarrior, given him a burning hatred of all the forces of chaos and made him prone to episodes of visions forcing him to relive his experiences in the midst of combat.
Once every turn, before the movement phase, if Kais is not within Ld" of a character (excluding his own squad) he must take a morale check. If he is within Ld" of a chaos demon, modify the roll +1. If passed he gains the Preferred Enemy (Chaos Demons), Preferred Enemy (Chaos Space Marines) and Fearless special rules. If failed Kais and his unit must fall back 6" for this turn only, the unit, excluding Kais, can fire normally though.
Exceptional luck
Kais is well known to be exceptionally lucky and many speculate that it was this and not his skill that helped him survive his horrific encounters with the forces of chaos.
Kais has a 4+ invulnerable save and confers a 5+ invulnerable save to his unit.
Warp exposure
Kais prolonged exposure to the warp has granted him some psychic powers, even if they can only be called on for defence when the warp manifests to harm him.
Once per turn, if Kais and his unit are targeted by a psychic power, before rolling to deny the witch, declare that you are using this special rule. A successful deny the witch roll or an unsuccessful check to use a psychic power now causes perils of the warp.
Wargear
Sensor suite
If the bearer does not fire during the shooting phase then the entire unit's precision shots ignore cover and to hit rolls of 6 count as precision shots regardless of the model being a character or not.
Rationale
I want Kais to be a loose cannon, a complete gamble, something that you just don't find in a tau army. All his rules are based on the effect his fluff would have on him, like the unstable, warp exposure and nightmarish experiences special rules all are caused by his exposure to the ruinous powers of chaos. Of which his prolonged exposure to has changed him physically and mentally. Often in Sci-fi and IRL exposure to things is what causes changes, which is why I feel the Warp exposure special rule is justified. It is some form of psychic ability, but it is more of a psychic defence than a power, which a certain interpretation, where tau are “warp resistant”, could be considered to endorse. The change itself is not so much a permanent genetic trait that would be passed down as a freak mutation that was killing him. More like nuclear mutations than the powers that timelords developed due to their prolonged exposure to the void.
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Lord of the Fleet
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I'm not nearly as versed in the new Tau dex as I am with most of the other dexes, so I can't comment too much on points/balancing issues, but I I do know that you have far too many rules.
For a single character, you have 8 (!) special rules, not including the special weapon and sensor suite, which have their own set of rules attached. Thats 10 things you, and more importantly, your opponent, has to constantly remember throughout the game. Its just overburdened and unnecessary. Remember that to represent your character, you need not make a separate rule or addition for every single thing your character has ever done or does uniquely. Look at every other special character in existence. The most complicated rarely exceed 3 special rules above a few of the basic codex/BRB rules. In fact, more character only ever have 3 special 'things' (wargear, rules, unique abilities), most of which are either BRB USRs, or variations thereof.
Most people here make the mistake of trying to represent their character in too much detail by making a rule for absolutely the smallest detail of their backstory. Look at Calgar. His entire history of waging wars far and wide, against innumerable foes is compressed into a single rule; God of War. That's it. He doesn't have a special rule for when he fought against the Nids, or another one for when he fought the Tau. He doesn't have any type of preferred enemy, or special resistances. He has one rule to demonstrate he is a god in battle, which allows him to re-roll just about everything that would hurt you.
Keep your character simple. Do it for your sake so you don't forget anything during a battle, or confuse your opponent. Do it for your opponent's sake so he doesn't have to constantly ask what your character does, or be surprised when you activate a power he forgot about. Do it because it keeps your character more balanced when you have less to worry about.
TL;DR Three special rules maximum, with one special piece of wargear. Its all you need. Trust me.
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Mordian Iron Guard - Major Overhaul in Progress 
