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 The Sensei and Illuminati for Inquisitor - Jack Vogel

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WARNING: INQUISITION ULTRA SECRET: READ NO FURTHER ON PERIL OF THE WRATH OF THE ORDO MALLEUS AND THE MASTER OF MANKIND!

Seriously though, what follows is super secret, game master-only stuff. If you are playing a narrative campaign where everybody game masters at one time or another, then go ahead, but if you intend to be a player only, then read no farther, as it will spoil the major surprises of the Inquisitor universe.

Introduction

Those of you who played Warhammer 40,000 in its first incarnation will remember the Sensei and the Illuminati. For everybody else, here's a quick primer:

The Illuminati are the most secret of secret societies within the Imperium. They are men who have been possessed by daemons and who, through shear strength of will, managed to banish and destroy the daemon within themselves. The Illuminati have mastered the Chaos within themselves and are, along with the Eldar Harlequin Solitaires, the only beings allowed free access to the Black Library of the Eldar, and all of its terrible lore. In addition, the Illuminati have infiltrated all of the organizations of the Imperium. Even the deepest orders of the Inquisition are not closed to them. Even the Imperial will is manipulated by the Illuminati as they see fit.

The Illuminati battle Chaos where they find it, but they all share a common plan: they mean to rejuvenate the Emperor, using the Sensei (see below). This plan would never be revealed by the Illuminati. An Inquisitor Illuminatus would willingly torture a brother Illuminatus to death to keep the secret, and he would willingly be tortured to death to avoid revealing it.

Which brings us to the Sensei…

The Sensei are the descendants of the Emperor (some of them, anyway) and they share his immortality, but where he is a psyker of unparalleled power, they are psychic blanks. The Sensei possess no psychic powers and are totally immune to the effects of psychic powers. They have the ability to channel warp energy directly to cause some amazing effects.

The Emperor has no knowledge of the Sensei (he cannot read their minds) and they have no knowledge of their kinship with him. In fact, the Sensei do not even know of their own natures until they are contacted by an experienced Sensei or Illuminatus, who teaches them the use of their powers.

Once a Sensei is awakened, he generally forms a war-band to battle Chaos (though a few become Grey Sensei: among the most evil of the servants of darkness). They prepare for the final battle, which they believe will be a Ragnarok against the powers of darkness. However, in this the Sensei have been deceived by the Illuminati.

In fact, the plan of the Illuminati is to sacrifice the Sensei to the Emperor at the moment he finally breaks. When this happens, the Illuminati will "feed" the Sensei to Him as he has fed upon countless billions of psykers. This will cause the Emperor to rejuvenate, and the new Sensei-Emperor will lead humanity to its final evolution. The Illuminati dare not reveal this plan to either the Sensei (lest they turn on the Illuminati) or the Emperor (lest he lay down his burden too soon, before all is ready).

Illuminati as Player Characters

Nobody gets to start the game as an Illuminatus. The only way to become one is to be possessed by a daemon, and then destroy the daemon in a psychic battle. This is not easy to do.

Any daemonhost character can attempt to drive out the possessing daemon at any time. This is attempted exactly as the Banishment psychic ability, except that the possessed character uses his own Willpower against the daemons, and he need not actually have the Banishment ability in order to attempt to expel the daemon. The character gets a +10 bonus to his roll if the daemon is wounded at all, and another +10 if his injury total is below half. Obviously, daemonhost characters who wish to have a chance at becoming illuminated should roll up a separate set of mental stats (Wp, Sg, Nv and Ld). Do this as for any other (non-daemonhost) character type.

If the attempt to drive out the daemon is unsuccessful, roll 1d6 on the table below. Add +1 if the daemon was wounded when the Banishment attempt occurred and another +1 if his injury total was below half at the time:

D6 Result
1 The Daemonhost falls unconscious for 1d3 hours
2-3 The possessed character's Willpower is reduced permanently by 1d20. He can make future attempts to drive out the Daemon, but if his Willpower ever falls to zero he is completely consumed by the daemon and can never again attempt to drive it out.
4-5 The possessed character's Willpower is destroyed in the attempt. He is now completely consumed by the daemon and can never again attempt to drive it out.
6 Both the daemon and the possessed character are destroyed forever.

If the daemon was successfully driven out, the character falls unconscious for 1d3 turns, and then awakes as an Illuminatus. He loses all special abilities that he gained because of the possession, but gains the following abilities instead:

1. Immunity to Nerve and Willpower Tests from ANY source. The Illuminati are also above such minor human considerations as pain, and can ignore it regardless of its source or intensity.

2. Immunity to Daemonic Possession or mind control of any type (including illusions and unwanted
telepathy).

3. Insight into the Warp and Access to the Black Library of the Eldar: The Illuminatus can, once per game, ask the game session master any single question pertaining to Chaos, daemons, psychic powers, or the Warp, and the Game Master must answer this honestly. In addition, if the Illuminatus learns the location of the Black Library of the Eldar, he can travel to it and research virtually any question pertaining to any of the above.

4. Automatic recognition of Brother Illuminati, Sensei, Harlequin, or any creature tainted or possessed by Chaos on sight. Brother Illuminati and Harlequins will seek to aid each other in any way possible, provided it serves the ultimate purpose of defeating Chaos.

Sensei as Player Characters

Again, nobody begins the game as a Sensei. Actually, one or more of the player characters may be Sensei, but they do not know it at the beginning of the game.

The following characters cannot become Sensei: Illuminati, space marines (a Sensei body would reject the marine implants), psykers of any type, mutants, inquisitors and daemonhosts. Any other type of character has a chance to be a Sensei.

This chance is determined as follows: When the player character takes a wound that would otherwise result in his death, roll a test against one quarter of his Willpower. If an awakened Sensei or Illuminatus is within line of sight when this happens, he gets a +10 to the Willpower test.

If the character fails the test, he dies; he was not a Sensei. If the test is successful, the character regains consciousness and his Injury total immediately returns to normal (this only happens once) and he rises to fight as a Sensei. With the following alterations:

1. +2d10 to all Characteristics (and any of these can go over 100)
2. Immunity from the direct effects of any psychic power (i.e. no psychic energy can touch the Sensei, bear in mind however that a rock thrown telekinetically will still wound him).
3. One roll on the table below:

Sensei Powers Table

D6 Result
1 Redeemer: Any enemy who would otherwise be slain by the Sensei (he just struck a killing blow
in close combat) has a chance to be redeemed instead. He and the Sensei both make Willpower
tests. If the Sensei tests successfully, and the enemy fails his test, the enemy is redeemed and
joins the Sensei's war-band. Any other result means the enemy is dispatched. A Chaos renegade
gets a +20 to this roll, but if he is redeemed, he can keep any exotic abilities that do not deform
him.
2 Warp Blast: Counts as Word of the Emperor, except the Sensei gets a +20 to the roll.
3 D3 Talents from Inquisitor pages 54-55. The player gets to pick any talents he wishes.
4 +2d10 to any single Characteristic the player wishes, no maximum.
5 Rescuer: If any friendly character within 6 yards of the Sensei is struck by an attack that would otherwise kill him, the Sensei gains a free parry or Deflect Shot action to attempt to ward the blow. He can only use this to save allies, not himself.
6 Regeneration: As the exotic ability.

Reroll any result that has already been gained, except 3 or 4, which can be gained any number of times.

In addition, to gaining experience in the ordinary manner, each time a Sensei gains a major victory over Chaos, he can roll once more on the Sensei Powers Table. What constitutes a major victory over Chaos is left to the game master, but this should certainly never occur more than once every couple of adventures or so.

Well, that is my attempt at bringing one of the most enjoyable plot lines of old 40K to life in Inquisitor. The Sensei are a power gamer's dream, while the Illuminati are for the more subtly minded player, who prefers secret knowledge and manipulating things behind the scenes. Remember that becoming either one of these is a MAJOR reward, and each involves great risk, which the player should not be allowed to minimize.


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