Daemons in Inquisitor

The Pangolin Saloon is on the move, to bigger and better location!
New features include faster and more reliable access, a brand new look, the ability to log in and comment on a page, all the exisiting pages on the site are being updated and much more. Take a look and let me know what you think.

Equipment And Skills

Rules And Ramblings

Noteable Characters

+++Subject & Author+++
Daemons in Inquisitor - Chris Sharp

+++Thought for the day+++

The material universe is just one aspect of reality. There is a quite separate and co-existing immaterial universe. This is commonly known as the Warp or Warpspace, also known as Chaos, the otherworld, the ether, the empyrean, the void and the immaterium.

Warpspace may be explained in terms of an endlessly broad and infinitely deep sea of raw energy. This energy carries within it the random thoughts, unfettered emotions, memory fragments and unshakeable beliefs of those who live in the material universe. In this sense it is the collective mind of the universe itself. This collective mind has its own separate aspects, representing the mind's different feelings; we know these as the Chaos Powers.

The Chaos Powers are not alone in warpspace. The Powers of Chaos are the stuff of the warp, puckered into coherent form by one means or another, but they are slaves to its currents. As a result, they have created servants - Chaos Daemons - who are not bound so closely to the warp. They are separate from the fabric of their universe, and do not flow and change with it.
Daemons are beings of a completely different order to their masters, and are the most numerous creatures in the warp. A Daemon is 'born' when a Chaos Power gives up a little of its accumulated power to create a separate being. This power binds a collection of senses, thoughts and purposes together, giving a personality and consciousness that moves within the warp. The Chaos Power can reclaim the power and independence it has given to its Daemon children at any time, thus ensuring their loyalty. It is only through the loss of this power that a Daemon can be 'killed'. Its mind dissolves into the whirls and currents of warp space. Slaying a Daemon's physical form only destroys its presence in reality; its warp power is untouched.

Daemons have no physical existence within the warp, but they project a form of mental image. The bizarre and inhuman appearances projected by Daemons indicate their presence, status and allegiance to a Chaos Power These insubstantial forms echo (or are echoed by) the physical shapes adopted by Daemons in real space, and the 'children' of a single Chaos Power often project similar, even identical, forms in the warp. Their herd instinct and common heritage of power lead them all to create and project similar forms. Their forms come to reflect the thoughts and feelings their Power feeds upon - the Daemons of Khorne, for example, have forms that are violent in the extreme.
The lesser Chaos Powers can also give birth to a Daemon. The ripples of warpspace create short lived and very minor Powers, some of whom invest all their energy in a single Daemon. They rebel, and gain independence from the warp's ceaseless currents, exchanging the potential of greater power for the certainty of maintaining their current energy. Such Daemons are crude, insensate beings and even by the measures of Chaos, they are fickle. Only the weakest Powers choose such an existence.
The final group within the warp are creatures who owe little or no loyalty to the Chaos Powers. Astral Spectres, Astral Hounds, Enslavers and the like exist within warp space, but they are not creatures of Chaos. The danger they represent to Humanity is, however, in no way diminished…

As a 40k Chaos player I don't have to tell you how effective a squad of daemons can be in a mass assault…but that is in a full scale war, how about in the skirmishes that are in Inquisitor?

Daemons are already present in Inquisitor in the form of Daemonhosts and to a lesser extent Daemon Weapons, it is still possible for a daemon to directly manifest itself within the physical realm, although this is extremely difficult. This can only happen in areas where the barriers between warpspace and realspace are weakened or have overlapped through rituals or in the Eye of Terror or in one of the many myriad different overlaps that frequent the Universe.
As a result a daemon will only be present for a short time unless it has access to a constant supply of energy, as it would have when in the warp. As this is only possible within one of the warp/realspace overlaps, outside of these a daemon's power will vary depending on how strong the supply of energy is that it can draw from the warp. But how does this relate to what happens to a daemon during a game?

Because daemons come in many varied forms and because each daemon varies in power I will only provide a simple outline which you can use to create a daemonic adversary for your Inquisitor games.

	All daemons will be controlled by the GM. Due to the immense power of these entities it would be inappropriate for one player two have total control over such a beast and so it is up to the games master to control a daemons actions.
	All daemons must be summoned. This will be largely up to the GM to ensure that the right thing is done. As an outline I would suggest that the character trying to summon a daemon take at least two turns devoting all his actions to the act of summoning, depending on the daemon that is to be summoned. (See below) also the character must perform a successful Sagacity test for each action of summoning as the language involved would be pretty complex and most likely require some precise gestures…
	All daemons have varying Willpower. This represents the fact that the daemon has two draw upon its energy from the warp and because this varies so will the mental strength of the daemon. The daemon must roll a new willpower characteristic at the start of every turn, as well as taking a willpower test (see below)
	Daemonic integrity. The daemon uses vast amounts of energy to maintain a physical manifestation, while summoned. As a result of this a daemon must concentrate on keeping its physical shape constantly, when it is present in the physical realm. The daemon must make a willpower test at the start of every turn after measuring its mental strength (see above). If the test is passed the daemon continues unabated drawing fresh strength from the warp to replenish itself. If the test is failed the daemon must halve all its characteristics for this turn while its energy supply wanes and it diverts energy strengthen its hold in realspace.
	Daemonic powers. Depending on the type of daemon and its patron deity, a daemon has access to certain psychic powers, unique to its patron god. (See Exterminatus. 3) Although they do not count as Risky Actions and never suffer Psychic Overloads when using them.
	If you manage to take a Daemon out of action then it is banished into the warp immediately, leaving a scorched outline and a strange smell…

Types of Daemon
There are three different types of daemon:

Daemonic beasts –Flesh Hounds of Khorne, Flamers of Tzeentch, Beasts of Nurgle and Fiends of Slaanesh.
Daemonic servants/lesser daemons – these include Bloodletters, Horrors, Daemonettes and Plaguebearers.
Greater Daemons/Daemon Princes – you can guess what goes in here…

Khorne daemons are able to nullify psychic powers, as if they were psykers but do not suffer psychic overloads for trying to do so.

Special Abilities: All daemons have the following abilities: Daemonic – Shadow (Daemonic Aura); Fearsome; Breathe
Greater Daemons and Daemon Princes count as Terrifying.

Sample statlines – These are up to you but it's just an outline.

Daemonic Beasts

	WS	BS	S	T	I	Wp	Sg	Nv	Ld
Flesh Hound	40+2D10	-	60+3D10	50+2d6	65+2D10	50+D10	2D10	70+2d6	3D10

Special Abilities; Frenzy; Magic Absorption

	WS	BS	S	T	I	Wp	Sg	Nv	Ld
Beast	35+2D10	-	30+3D10	90+D10	50+2D10	50+D10	2D10	70+2d6	3D10

Special Abilities; Tentacles; Enfeeble; Gnawing; Lashing

	WS	BS	S	T	I	Wp	Sg	Nv	Ld
Flamer	35+2D10	45+2D10	50+3D10	45+2d6	60+2D10	50+D10	2D10	70+2d6	3D10

Special Abilities; Fiery Blast; Warpflame

	WS	BS	S	T	I	Wp	Sg	Nv	Ld
Fiends	35+2D10	-	30+3D10	45+2d6	60+2D10	50+D10	2D10	70+2d6	3D10

Special Abilities; Barbed Tail; Razor-Sharp Claws;

Daemonic Servants/Lesser Daemons

	WS	BS	S	T	I	Wp	Sg	Nv	Ld
Bloodletter	60+2D10	-	70+2D10	80+2d6	70+2D10	70+2D10	3D10	75+2d6	3D10

Equipment; Daemon Weapon – Deathlust, Vampyre;

	WS	BS	S	T	I	Wp	Sg	Nv	Ld
Plaguebearer	60+2D10	55+2D10	80+2D10	80+2d6	70+2D10	70+2D10	3D10	75+2d6	3D10

Equipment; Daemon Weapon – Corrupter, Enfeeble;

Psychic Powers; Undivided & Nurgle Powers.

	WS	BS	S	T	I	Wp	Sg	Nv	Ld
Daemonette	65+2D10	55+2D10	70+2D10	60+2d6	70+2D10	70+2D10	3D10	75+2d6	3D10

Special Abilities; Razor-Sharp Claws; Entrance

Psychic Powers; Undivided & Slannesh Powers.

	WS	BS	S	T	I	Wp	Sg	Nv	Ld
Horrors	50+2D10	55+2D10	65+2D10	60+2d6	70+2D10	70+2D10	3D10	75+2d6	3D10

Special Abilities; Brain Leech, Mind Stealer

Psychic Powers; Undivided & Tzeentch Powers.

Greater Daemons/Daemonic Princes

	WS	BS	S	T	I	Wp	Sg	Nv	Ld
Bloodthirster	90+2D10	50+2D10	200+3D10	155+2D10	80+2D10	80+4D10	5D10	75+2d6	50+3D10

Equipment; Daemon Weapons – Great Axe & Whip – Deathlust, Flight, Gnawing, Lashing, Magic Absorption, Resurrection

Special Abilities; Wings

	WS	BS	S	T	I	Wp	Sg	Nv	Ld
Lord of Change	70+2D10	75+2D10	150+D10	120+2D10	80+2D10	80+4D10	5D10	75+2d6	50+3D10

Equipment; Daemon Weapon – Staff – Brain Leech, Magical Force, Mind Stealer

Special Abilities; Wings

Psychic Powers; Undivided & Tzeentch Powers.

	WS	BS	S	T	I	Wp	Sg	Nv	Ld
Great Unclean One	70+2D10	65+2D10	170+3D10	175+2D10	80+2D10	80+4D10	5D10	75+2d6	50+3D10

Equipment; Daemon Weapon – Falchion – Corrupter, Enfeeble,

Psychic Powers; Undivided & Nurgle Powers.

	WS	BS	S	T	I	Wp	Sg	Nv	Ld
Keeper of Secrets	80+2D10	65+2D10	185+3D10	130+2D10	80+2D10	80+4D10	5D10	75+2d6	50+3D10

Special Abilities; Massive Claws (Razor-Sharp Claws, Ignores first 5+D3 points of armour)

Psychic Powers; Undivided & Slannesh Powers.

Well there you have it; this is the end of my article on the use of Daemons in Inquisitor. As you can see even the weakest of Daemons would be a match for most of the characters in Inquisitor, and the more powerful ones…well even a Space Marine would have a tough time fighting them! If used, as they should be then they can provide an extremely tough opponent for your games. Especially if backed up by a magus and his coven, but seeing as how daemons can be extremely fickle what happens if the daemon turns on its summoners…

Till next time,

Master Magus D'Hain the Dark (a.k.a Chris Sharp)

WarpSpace

HOME | DISCLAIMER | CONTACT ME | TOP

web hosting • domain names • video sharing
free online games • photo sharing
free blog • short URLs