#maybe this is how the mechanicus that keep their emotions feel like?

[skitariiposting]

hiii so a friend of mine is gonna be running an only war game, and i've got an enginseer written up, and while i know the main trick is just maximizing my autism swag, i'm wondering if you've got any fun ideas for roleplaying a techpriest. thanks!

Sure! Here's a couple of neat ideas I've compiled for some of my NPCs that I might run in future Dark Heresy games. Feel free to pick and choose a couple to work into your character if you like them!

1. "Names are confusing" - This character has trouble remembering non-admech names, instead electing to call every non-mechanicus person something along the lines of "Meatbag," "Lapdog," "Biological One," "Fleshling," "Rat," "Annoyance," "Thing," and/or "You."

2. "Varience. of. PITCH! andtiming" - THIS admech has PROblemsspeaking in NORmal ScEnTeNcEs due to beING so UUUUUUuuused to SPEAKING in PROJECTED TEXT via ocular SENsoooors.

3. "Empathy" is an oddity amongst the admech. However, there are some that still cling to the likes of empathy and compassion. Steel may have replaced their hearts biologically, but even a steel heart still yearns for love. Maybe in different ways than the usual biological beings, but love is love.

4. "Strong silent type." Not mute mind you, they just don't have a lot to say. Instead of butting in to conversations, they tend to wait until someone asks them for something or until the perfect moment to say something (sometimes to comedic effect) (skit's note for Anar-kitty or any player that wants to go this route: be sure to discuss this with your party if you want to play a character like this. It helps to keep them in the know as it will allow them to be prepared to interact and bounce dialogue of your character. Also, while being quiet may be part of your personality, going out of your way to stay quiet even if it inconveniences your team may not be wise. Still talk, and be active out of character! Don't let your parry think you yourself are disinterested, make it a point that the character is quiet, either through stoicism, edginess, or even shyness! Describe body language or how your character may communicate non-verbally (examples: shrugging instead of saying "I don't know," giving a thumbs up to say okay, describing nervous fidgeting, describing facial expressions, etc. ))

5. "Know it all." Everyone around you doesn't know how to "properly" use technology, and it's driving you insane. No one is doing morning chants for their weapons' machine spirits blessings! Heck, most of them don't even know any rituals!! And they just. Point these poor machines at things and *hope* they work??? You need to whip these biological beings into shape! They need to start following proper mechanical doctrine, and it's your job to get them on the right path!

6. "Unknowable" You hide beneath a standard admech robe, only small portions of your body are visible, whether that be your eyes, hands, feet, whatever have you, or even none of the above! But whenever you have a need for something, you always seem to reveal it from beneath your cloak, as if it manifested from the void. Extra arms, weapons, tools, a tail, a data port, comms devices, you name it, somehow it all fits beneath your cloak, and nobody has seen your true form beneath it.

7. "Gullible" since you've been raised amongst the socially inept admechs for so long, your knowledge of jokes and saying are... subpar. You take things at face value or struggle to find meaning in the sarcastic or metaphoric. You prefer the literal meaning of what people say.

8. "[Statement]" (skit tip: look up videos of HK-47 from Star Wars: Knights of The Old Republic talking, it'll give you an idea. )

You lack proper means to adjust pitch, leaving you to talk in a constant monotone voice. As such, wanting to show your emotions, you state what they are prior to what you are about to say.

9. "Pets." You find little biological creatures "cute" even if they are meatlings. You may take some with you to places and display them proudly to your compatriots, mayhaps even if they are ugly to them or dangerous. You may take interest in replicating their design into servitors or even converting the creatures themselves.

10. "Machines are friends, not slaves." You find the company of machines to be quite enjoyable, however people seem to view them in a different light. You find this disconcerting, as your machines are your friends, and you treat them with love and repsect! Why do others not treat theirs the same way?

11. "Death is not the end." When we pass, we continue our work for the Omnissiah, either as Servitors or perhaps the Omnissiah may take favor with your devotion and grant you the honor of becoming a machine spirit. Either way, mourn not the dead, friends. We are cogs in the machine, and cogs break from time to time. But we can always repair them so they may continue their work.

12. "Utterances." You mumble odd things beneath your breath or aloud when you think nobody is listening. You constantly seem to be planning your next move, and to others, it may seem worrying. Are you planning a contingency for if they turn on you? Are you plotting a master heist to steal xeno technologies from the inquisition? Did you just insult one of them behind their backs? Are you uttering an ancient prayer beneath your breath that may bless them? The answers could always be yes, but it is more likely that you are planning to construct a new machine from their weapons when they turn their backs to you.

Little tips:

If you are playing online, consider grabbing Voicemod or an equivalent to change your voice to sound more mechanical-y! (Be sure to set up a toggle on and off button for in and out of character, and test the voice with a friend prior to playing to make sure it won't get annoying during long sessions)

Admechs benefit from being chaotic or weird; the classic "I'm crazy or unusual" bit many players want to tap into, but struggle with capturing. My advice? Paradoxically: dont go overboard. Dont try to be the center of attention. Try to be a setup for the other characters' moments instead of the other way around. People enjoy characters like Jester from CR for her chaos, but tend to forget that she largely is used to set up other people to make a joke or to cause a problem for the party to fix, while still having her own character and story that's separate from her "I'm a silly chaotic person." Here's the biggest thing to remember:

Your randomness should be a facet of your character, not your entire personality.

Stay consistent with your randomness. Develop predictable patterns. If you just keep being chaotic without method to your madness, it becomes annoying or difficult to pin down what your character actually is, and that makes it difficult to interact with them. Have boundries your character wouldnt break, and use that to create inner conflict! (Example: I want to pie my friend in the face, but he's sad from his girlfriend breaking up with him. My morals tell me that I love my friend and always try to cheer him up, but uuuuuuugh the prank would be soooo funny to me and potentially everyone else! Ooh, but it'd likely conflict with my want to cheer him up, as it'd make him mad or sadder... How do I feel about this situation and how will it affect my decision and interaction with the other character?)

Developing a pattern to your "I am a chaotic being" helps other players to compliment your character and vice versa! Jester likes pulling pranks, so eventually the Nien figures that out and starts to keep an eye out for it. Does that stop her from trying? No! But its a predictable action that can still be chaotic, while not being uninteractable or disruptful to the enjoyment of the game for everyone at the table. Running gags, pranks or catchphrases are a good place to start, then build on it the farther you go.

My best advice I give for character development, and this goes for any kind of character you run: You aren't just playing a character. You're playing on a team of characters. Try to play to their strengths as much as your own.

There we go! I modified them a bit to be more "for a character" and not an NPC, so hopefully, there will be some interesting ideas to build off of for your character! If you have any other questions or would like some more, feel free to ask! I'm always happy to be of assistance :D

[nemossubmarine]

Warhammer 40k: Wrath & Glory RP #28

Back with the next session. Under cut again.

Relating to a conversation from last time, Saef and Gimlet have a little chat (where, not sure, there was confusion). Saef says that speaking of not telling Gorm about the whole accidental demons, he would like that the subject of him being a psyker would not be brought up at all. Saef’s a bit worried about pulling attention to himself, as he has these two kiddos (Theo and Rat) to care for. Gimlet thinks that’s probably a sound idea. Rat comes by and complains about not getting to see Theo, and then goes away, since she was clearly interrupting something. Saef says he has a favor to ask of Gimlet. Namely that if something happens to Saef, could Gimlet make sure Theo and Rat will be okay? Gimlet asks what about Vivek. Saef says Vivek is an adult and probably doesn’t need to be cared for. Gimlet clarifies that Vivek seems to be better at adulting(?). Saef says that Vivek is not exactly in a place to keep people safe what with being a criminal and all. Gimlet agrees, even though he says that obviously first thing is to make sure nothing happens to Saef. He asks how Saef felt about the whole Elysium debacle re: his powers. Saef says it kinda high-lighted his need for more education and meditation and all that.

Saef asks Inpax’ permission for him and Rat to go see Eden and Theo. Inpax gives a go-ahead, though says Eden isn’t probably very talkative. What she means by that becomes obvious as to what Inpax meant, as Eden appears to be missing his jaw. Saef asks him to give thumbs up and down as answers to questions. First is, is Theo doing alright? Thumbs up. Is Eden doing alright? Thumbs up and down. Rat and Saef stay with the duo for a while, Rat chatting with Theo. Saef catches Vivek in his room and asks if Vivek knows if Eden is alright. Vivek says as far as he knows, Eden is fine, and fails to elaborate.

Gimlet goes to visit Inpax, who appears busy as she always is. Gimlet also notices that she is on edge, nerves frayed all that. Gimlet tells Inpax about the procedure that Eden had offered him, and asks her opinion on it. She says if Gimlet trusts the robot enough to do so, why not (it appears to not have failed any surgeries so far), though it might be better if they knew for certain what was up with the robot. Gimlet says he’s on it. After Gimlet has left, he goes and gets some chocolates for Inpax.

Our group has reached the ship New Dawn in orbit of planet Ostara and so they beam aboard to meet Captain Elucia Vhane. After introductions she asks whether Gorm is the commanding officer of this party, Gorm says he’s usually only responsible for his own actions, but sure, for this mission. Elucia Vhane notices Vivek, and motions him to join her AdMech officer, which he does, to do something(?). Elucia Vhane explains the situation a bit, she has been searching and claiming planets for the Imperium on behalf of Lord Commander Guilliman. Ostara appeared to be a good planet for their purposes, just needed bit of clearing up so a group of settlers plus AdMechs were left on the planet to do just that. Except now it appears that they have all gone all Chaos Cultist, which is not a message Elucia Vhane is too keen to forward to Lord Commander Guilliman, so let’s deal with this. Gorm asks if there’s anything she has that might have a scent for the Wolves to follow. Elucia Vhane mentions that one of her contacts managed to down a Chaos Space Marine (not a Wolf), and would probably still have some remnants of that. But for that, better go meet the contacts. Elucia Vhane asks if our heroes are okay with some eldar. In this case yes. Elucia Vhane says she doesn’t much trust xenos herself, but in this case, she has deemed their motives to align with the Imperium’s.

As they are getting to meeting with the xenos, Alex pops up. Apparently he has been ordered to go check out the xenos as well, so he joins our heroes, as Elucia Vhane leads them to an amphitheater.

Our heroes settle down for a show, and what a show it is. It starts with a man in smiling mask appearing on stage and beginning to tell a tale of invasion by the Thousand Sons, led by Ahzek Ahriman sieging a place of forbidden knowledge, defended by masked xenos (aka Harlequins). For some reason the blight of the defenders on the stage really affects a lot of the audience, Gorm and Gimlet included. Saef has sensed that someone is attempting to manipulate the emotions of the people in the audience. The defenders fight a losing battle, until in the final moment, the smiling man joins the fray, approaching Ahriman and introducing himself as Cegorach, the Great Fool. There’s a whole rhyming thing that I shan’t repeat, but the prize that Ahriman seeks is snatched from him; ”For the greatest joke ever played, is played on fate”. Before he can do anything, he is called back by his master the Crimson King, to attack Fenris (the Siege of Fenris, happened about 70 years prior). This is the end of the play.

The reactions are mixed, Gimlet seems touched, Saef is non-plussed (he mentions the attempt at manipulation), Gorm is very angry, saying he doesn’t need to see this, what are these xenos trying to accomplish. Elucia Vhane asks if our heroes would like to meet the Harlequins to ask that themselves. Gorm says he won’t meet them without them apologizing. Elucia Vhane goes to relay the critique. The Harlequins’ response is apparently ”sry you got sad at our attempt to show a common enemy” or along those lines. But our heroes go and meet them anyway. Alex asks if he can join the group, and Gorm says alright, even if he doesn’t look too happy, but Elucia Vhane puts her foot down and says Inquisition with her contacts is a no go.

They go to meet the Harlequins, who are a type of Eldar, led by the man in the smiling mask (known henceforth as the Clown, as Gorm so charmingly calls him, as his name was never learned). Saef notices that all of the Harlequins, except one, dressed in a skeleton mask, have similar crystals affixed to their armor as Ahram had. The Harlequins explain that the play was to illustrate the goals of the followers of Tzeentch, as Knut has apparently become one, to reach the Black Library, the home of the Harlequins, and the biggest depository of Chaos Knowledge in the world. The Harlequins managed to stop the ritual, but something has happened on the planet already, as the Harlequins are unable to return back to the Webways, a space between realspace and warp where the Library exists. Thus robbed of their big advantages, they’ll have to relay on the Imperium’s assistance. The Clown asks if the Wolves would like to see the leader of Chaos guys, aka Knut. Gorm says sure and one of the Harlequins steps out, and deploys a hologram, her appearance changing to that of a man in Space Wolf’s armor. It looks like Knut alright, although Gorm comments that he appears not to have aged well, as his hair has turned grey. His armor is covered in runes, half Chaos, half Fenrisian, and the Fenrisian runes Gorm recognizes as mostly saying ”lies / falsehood”. He also wields a similar staff to the Thousand Sons. Gorm says he’s seen enough, and the Harlequin returns to her normal form.

Elucia Vhane starts ushering our folks away and now I don’t quite remember how it came up, but the leader of the Harlequins asks after the Mechanicus. Turns out, that while it was Captain Vhane who requested Vivek’s presence, it was because of a thing the Harlequins’ Seer had seen, namely that Nurgle’s rot would overtake her ship, if she didn’t manage to find a Mechanicus who traveled (travels, will travel) with our heroes, ”a man who is three men”. And Elucia Vhane may not trust xenos, but that risk is too much for her to take.

After learning this our heroes decide a momentary conference outside the room is in order. So what about this thing that may or may not happen in the future? Even Gorm seems to think that her attempting to look for the man who is three men isn’t a bad idea. So could it be Vivek? Technically, he does have parts of Eden in him, so that’s two men (if Eden is considered a man, and who even knows with xenos seers). But no math can get Vivek into three men (especially since Kuru is with Gorm). Since this man also might be in the future, it looks like Elucia Vhane has the wrong man. So what should they do with Vivek? Leaving him behind on Santa Maria doesn’t sound like a good idea, what with Inpax around.  Gimlet says that Uffe knows Vivek the best, to which Uffe says ”I do?”, and then says that maybe they just need to ask him what he wants, but probably taking Vivek along for the ride is for the best.

After that, our heroes turn to talk about the mission at hand, mainly Gimlet asking about Knut and Gorm saying he is very angry about what Knut has become. Knut has in Gorm’s opinion mixed himself with some powerful shit he doesn’t quite understand. (Gimlet asks the same question from Uffe, who isn’t as keen to elaborate). Uffe does mention he is a bit worried what became of Ivar, who was with Knut back when. Gimlet asks about when Ivar and Knut parted from the pack. Gorm says he doesn’t know, as he was exiled. Then Gorm asks Uffe if it’s alright to tell, and Uffe says he may not really know or trust Gimlet and Saef, but he trusts Gorm who trusts them. So Gorm tells Saef and Gimlet about Olaf, about his influence on the pack, and finally about Gorm accidentally killing him and being exiled. So is there anyone left after Ivar and Knut? Gimlet asks. Yes, Rolf, and Gorm is still hopeful about him, that they’ll reunion will be a hug and not a battle. (though Gimlet and Saef can pick out from Uffe’s eyes, that he doesn’t quite agree, though he says nothing). Gimlet does try to interrogate Uffe about his feelings on the pack and also his experiences with the pack, but even Gorm knows to say that’s too personal for Uffe to answer. Our heroes decide it’s time to get a move on with the hunting.

They get back to the Harlequins and Elucia Vhane and agree to start with going down to the planet and checking out the ritual site. Elucia Vhane goes to find Vivek, while the rest decide to go meet up the Inquisitors on board (there’s apparently two). Gimlet seems hesitant about going to meet Inquisitors, and even when Gorm points out that he’s the guy who’d know what to ask of them, he refuses to join, saying he’ll wait outside, and could they ask Alex to join him at some point. Uffe decides to stay behind with Gimlet.

Saef and Gorm go meet the Inquisitors, mostly Inquisitor Corrida, who is more than glad to part with some information regarding the Harlequins (they are assassin-actors, mostly go around performing plays on Slaneesh’s birth, they are able to walk into Webways (space between realspace and warp) at will) and who to kill first if they get that far (Death  Jester first, then the Troupe Master). Saef asks what differentiates the Death Jester from the other Harlequins, and Corrida tells that they are unusually cruel kind of Harlequin who believe they are without soul. Corrida also introduces their partner, Inquisitor Engarde, of Ordo Xenos as well. Inquisitor Engarde asks our heroes to provide him with any samples of xenos weapons and armor Engarde would be most thankful. As they are leaving Gorm asks if he may borrow Alex for a personal matter, which Corrida gives permission.

Uffe and Gimlet stand in the hallway in complete silence, before Uffe, surprisingly enough, breaks it. He mentions that Gorm appears to like and trust Gimlet, and that’s all fine and dandy. Gimlet asks what’s Uffe’s relationship with Gorm, and Uffe says Gorm’s a friend and his only packmate. Uffe warns that Gimlet should be careful about what he asks of Gorm, because Gorm may talk more than he truly wishes to. Gimlet doesn’t really catch Uffe’s drift, saying he isn’t pressuring Gorm to talk, and he isn’t going to tattle. Uffe clarifies that he has noticed how scared of Inquisition Gimlet is, and it’s probably for a reason, and if the Inquisition ever catches Gimlet, they will make him talk whether Gimlet wants to or not. That is the end of this conversation, and the two are silent until Gorm and Saef return with Alex.

Alex looks quite deflated when he notices Gimlet, and the two have a whispered conversation in which Gimlet makes clear that Gorm wasn’t inviting him over to sleep with him, because Gorm is together with Uffe, maybe? Gorm overhears some of this and demands to know what’s up. Uffe clarifies to Gorm that Alex had hoped to ”bed him”. Gorm says thanks, but no thanks (Uffe also says no thanks, when asked), but if he ever feels like wanting to do that, he’ll keep Alex’ offer in mind.

Gimlet takes Alex aside and the two have a hurried hushed conversation about Lu Yan’s situation, namely what are they going to do about it? Alex is in as much disbelief as Gimlet to the current state of affairs, and he doesn’t really know what to do. Gimlet is worried how long Lu Yan will manage without money, but getting money to her and / or getting her to Gimlet might prove difficult.

Vivek joins the others on the shuttle, complaining about this Uffe asks Vivek if he is sure, and Vivek after brief confusion, says that just because he knows people who know about Nurgle, doesn’t mean he can do anything about Nurgle. This raises the curiosity of our heroes, and Vivek clarifies, that this has come up when Uffe and Vivek were attempting to track down Rolf. Back on Orchard Mountain, Uffe and Vivek noticed that Rolf appeared to be traveling with some AdMechs, AdMechs, who are interested in studying Chaos, one of who is Vivek’s brother. They’ve apparently done some shitty stuff, but are completely legit in the eyes of the Mechanicum. Gimlet says that they met a tech priest on Orchard Mountain named Z47r, and Vivek confirms that that’s indeed his younger brother. Still doesn’t mean he’s in any way responsible for stopping any of this, right? Agreed, says the others. Gimlet decides to go talk with the Harlequins more about this future-seeing business, but more on that next session!