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I need confirmation on some things that pertain to some homebrew that I'm coming up with. I'd like to make sure it's convincing.

1) Is an Inquisitor, in particular one from the Ordo Xenos, "permitted" to use certain alien weapons? Like a sword similar to a Xenophase Blade, and perhaps a Votann Ion Pistol? Just spit balling on the latter.

2) With the obvious exception of the Custodes, can an Inquisitor recruit anyone to their service? Even Space Marines? What about certain xenos?

3) Blackstone/Noctilith nullifies warp powers, correct? So if an Inquisitor were to have a shard on his/her person at all times, they'd be absolutely immune to psychic powers?

1, "Permitted" may be a strong term for it, but if you're an Inquisitor, most people aren't going to argue. I'd generally consider an Ordo Xenos Inquisitor who is using Xenos gear to be leaning towards the Radical side of things. In the case of LoV equipment, I'm not sure if the Imperium considers them to be Xenos or Abhumans, though, which may muddy the waters there a touch.

2, Assuming you mean as a permanent addition to their personal travelling circus, I believe it would be anyone other than Custodes, Imperial Assassins & Space Marines. I'm not sure about active SoB or SoS, but in my head I'd lean against them being in retinues, though there may be cases where an =][= works regularly alongside forces from a particular Abbey, in the case of the SoB (I think we see an example of this in one of the Cain stories). "Certain Xenos" would probably depend on the species.

3, What Blackstone does and doesn't do seems to vary, so... pass. I'd imagine some degree of protection is likely, though I doubt it'd be absolute. Not sure if it would be a problem for a Navigator on the same ship, either.

1) kind of? Inquisitors get great leeway in perusing their mandate, but strictly speaking are not still bound by the rules about not using xenos tech.....they just do it anyway, because whos going to stop them? the more radical a inquisitor gets, the more openly they start using xenotech and the more likely they are to fall foul to other, more puritan inquisitors.

2) yes, but with marines, its more of a equal partnership than a "I'm with the Inquistion, drop what your doing and follow me!" it its with most imperial organisations. Marines chapters are almost sovereign within the imperium, they basically operate outside of the normal chains of command and control, fighting where they see fit to do the most good for the Imperium. Remember, they are basically the Angels of the God Emperor to most of the imperium. Technically, the Inquisition does have authority over them, but its such a tenuous thing they normally bargain with them, rather than coerce them. They beseech the chapter with descriptions of the evils they are fighting, and beg the chapter to send forces to assist....but its the chapter commands call if they do or not. So, marines do work with the inquistion on a semi-regular basis, but its normally on the marines terms. but thiers no reason a inquisitor could not have, say, a marine working with him to defeat some specific menace. Also, dont forget the Ordo Xenos has the Deathwatch to call on, the marines dedicated anti-Xenos branch, who are both very good at fighting xenos and very used to working with the Inquisition (in older lore, they were actaully part of the Ordo Xenos, but thats been retconned to just a very close partnership)

3) dont think so, but not 100% sure. Suffice to say, it might provide some protection to the Inquisitor, but VERY few beings are genuinely immune to psykter powers, and most of them are Blanks.

 Dysartes wrote:
What Blackstone does and doesn't do seems to vary, so... pass. I'd imagine some degree of protection is likely, though I doubt it'd be absolute. Not sure if it would be a problem for a Navigator on the same ship, either.

My concept has my DIY Inquisitor getting a shard of Blackstone lodged in the hemispheres of his brain. It doesn't kill him, but removing it definitely would given how deep and entrenched it is. It is this shard that affords the Inquisitor protection from psychic powers. I suppose you could say it renders him an "artificial Blank". He wasn't psychic before the shard though, just a regular human.

xerxeskingofking wrote:
1) kind of? Inquisitors get great leeway in perusing their mandate, but strictly speaking are not still bound by the rules about not using xenos tech.....they just do it anyway, because whos going to stop them? the more radical a inquisitor gets, the more openly they start using xenotech and the more likely they are to fall foul to other, more puritan inquisitors.

2) TLDR: Inquisitors must ask nicely for Astartes assistance

1) In game terms, the Inquisitor's primary weapon is a Master-crafted Xenophase Blade. In lore terms, it's actually a relic from long ago - the DAoT if you will. A sword that can cut through armour and forcefields like they're made of air.

2) So theoretically, my Inquisitor could have some Deathwatch Astartes at his disposal, in addition to his human acolytes?

Maybe it's more my own headcannon, but I always felt like blackstone resisted but could be overcome if it's a small enough amount of blackstone and a sufficiently powerful psyker/warp entity.

Which honestly would be great for a story, have your inquisitor react or even have his life on the line as microscopic shards of the blackstone start to fragment off under psychic stress. It would be a great element for the climax.

Shingaion wrote:


1) In game terms, the Inquisitor's primary weapon is a Master-crafted Xenophase Blade. In lore terms, it's actually a relic from long ago - the DAoT if you will. A sword that can cut through armour and forcefields like they're made of air.

2) So theoretically, my Inquisitor could have some Deathwatch Astartes at his disposal, in addition to his human acolytes?

1) yhea, whatever. the deathwatch use Xenophase blades as well, so its not completely verboten, just heavily frowned upon.

2) absolutely he could. it would normally be for some specific purpose or task, but nothing stops that specific task being a decades long fight against xenos influence that spans a sector, for example. Hell, given a large enough threat, thiers nothing stopping him form asking, and getting, the assisstance of a full company of Astartes to, say, go assassinate a ork warlord to fracture his Waargh, or something of simmlar 40k scale battle nature.

Aretefacts like null rods are almost certainly made of Blackstone, and they nullify the warp to the point that in-game they made the bearer immune to psychic powers.

Necrons (eg Szeras) carry around literal lumps of Blackstone to protect against psychic powers.

This is a radical Ordo Xenos Inquisitor blatantly using an Aeldari shuriken rifle. Radicals pay the cost in reduced influence and lost support from the more puritanical aspects of the Imperium and Inquisition.

Radical Inquisitors will also induct aliens into their retinues, although this is rare. An Inquisitor has no authority over xenos so some kind of bargain must've been struck. The most common is Jokaero.



Deathwatch will absolutely join an Inquisitor for a particular mission or investigation, but they tend to not join an Inquisitor's retinue on a long-term basis. I am sure it has happened, but it will be unusual.

Other Space Marine chapters have close working relationships with Inquisitors. Grey Knights, and to a lesser extent Exorcists work closely with the Inquisition in fighting daemons and Chaos. They usually work with the Ordo Malleus, but Chaos-tainted xenos exist and I am pretty sure there is some overlap of jurisdiction there. The Red Hunters are essentially the personal chapter of the Inquisition (they even have the Inquisitorial badge in their chapter icon) and supply Marine bodyguards and operatives to Inquisitors. Again, mostly only for temporary placements and specific missions.

Technically, Inquisitors have the legal authority to induct Marines into their retinue. In practice, this can only be done with a huge amount of influence and is likely to cause issues down the line.

With regards to Blackstone it acts as both a nullifier and amplifier depending on how it is used.
For example, the Necron pylons are configured to repel the energies of the Warp whereas the the big Chaos star fortification can store and expell Warp energy, empowering Daemons and Psykers.

OK doke.

1. An Inquisitor can, by and large, get away with whatever they think they can get away with. The only thing which really makes you a renegade is the judgement of a peer - and even then that won’t be a universal status. I mean, it can be if you really go off the deep end.

2. An Inquisitor can forcibly recruit Imperial Guard, but anyone else it’s usually framed as a request. Granted it’s a request with spiky gloves on, but outside of the Imperial Guard (including PDF and Navy in that), the other armed forces are technically free to refuse - but will likely have to accept greater scrutiny as the price. That being said, some Inquisitors forge closer links with Chapters, Orders, Forgeworlds and Houses, making it a more formal alliance. I’m less sure on Rogue Traders as to who’s authority is the trump card, but again see the earlier comment about “request with spiky gloves on”.

3. Kind of. Ish. The properties of Blackstone aren’t terribly well understood within The Imperium. Recently it’s been background confirmed it can be negatively charged (Necron usage) or positively charged (Chaos usage). But there are existing, comparable items, such as the Null Rod, or simply coming across a Blank/Pariah, recruiting them, and keeping them handy.

 Haighus wrote:


This is a radical Ordo Xenos Inquisitor blatantly using an Aeldari shuriken rifle. Radicals pay the cost in reduced influence and lost support from the more puritanical aspects of the Imperium and Inquisition.

Love this model for some reason. I should pay more attention to radical inquisitors!

1. There’s a canon inquisitor who uses an eldar gun if I’m not mistaken.
2. They can co-opt guard, they have to ask marines for their cooperation which isn’t always a given