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Toning Down the Space Marine in Inquisitor - Jack Vogel

+++Thought for the day+++
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One of the most common complaints about the Inquisitor game is that the space marine character is too far over the top. He is. Here is my attempt to correct that.
Just as the space marine is modified in body to gain superhuman characteristics and abilities, so he is also modified in mind and spirit. These modifications are meant to serve the Emperor, however, and not the space marine.

As a result, all space marines have the following disadvantage:

Unquestioning Obedience: Any space marine who is ordered to perform ANY action (up to and including suicide) by an Inquisitor, Judge, Rogue Trader, or higher ranking space marine must follow that order immediately and to the letter unless he can make a Willpower check at a penalty of -30. Even if he makes the check successfully and refuses the order, he can take no reprisal against the character who gave the order, and must make similar checks against all future orders.

Game masters should not allow capricious Inquisitor players to use this power haphazardly however, and any high ranking Imperial servant should be well justified before giving suicidal orders to a space marine.

Alternative Disadvantages

However, we do know that not all space marines are totally loyal. Some of them shrug off their superb conditioning and become renegades, while others are merely psychopathic. Still, even such as these may be of use to the Inquisition.

Any space marine player character may choose to run a renegade or psychopathic marine instead of an obedient marine. He forgoes the Unquestioning Obedience special ability in favor of a roll on the table below:

D6 Result
1 Drunkard: The marine can never be sent on a mission on his own, or left alone. If he is, he will get drunk, pass out for 1d6 hours, and take all actions at -10 for the next day due to hangover. The other players can take precautions to keep the marine away from the liquor, but he will be VERY inventive in trying to get drunk (i.e., leave him alone in a deathworld jungle, and the marine will be found scavenging his equipment to make a still).
2 Insane: There is a 1 in 6 chance during any moment of high stress (such as at the beginning of a battle) that the marine succumbs to delusions. He may think that his friends are trying to kill him, or that the enemies are all daisies, or he may shoot at enemies that do not exist. In any case, he will be completely useless during the crisis or battle, and may actually endanger the other party members. After the crisis is over, he has no memory of these events.
3 On the Lam: The space marine has angered someone powerful, and is on the run. At the beginning of each encounter, roll 1d6. On a 1, some enemy (bounty hunter, assassin, or former brother space marine with a blood oath) appears, and joins the enemy forces, for the sole purpose of killing the marine.
4 Battle Rage: This marine is a bit too hot tempered even for the Adeptus Astartes. He must make a Willpower check before each turn of a battle. If he fails, then for the rest of the battle he can use no ranged weapons and cannot attempt to hide or use cover, instead, he must move toward the nearest enemy and engage him in close combat, until the battle is over, and the rage wears off.
5 Puritanical Chapter: This space marine is from one of the more fanatic chapters who have some dispute with all other chapters over some minor point of Imperial doctrine. He believes that other chapters are essentially heretical, and only barely tolerates their existence. The marine will quarrel with marines of other chapters at any opportunity, and, if he has clear line of sight to any marine from a "heretical" chapter while in battle, he must make a Leadership test or attack that marine in preference to any other target. This test must be made once per turn of battle. Note, because of the nature of this disadvantage, only a single player character in the war band can be a member of this particular chapter. Any other PC space marines must be from other "heretical" chapters.
6 Secret Mutation: This space marine has a terrible secret of which only he is aware. He has some minor mutation (it is small enough and inconspicuous enough that it is not obvious) and is susceptible to domination by Chaos. Each time this marine is affected by a psychic or daemonic power of any type (friendly or enemy) he must make a Willpower test. If he fails, he gains one random mutation (from Exterminatus #1 pages 10-11), along with one random exotic ability. The marine then becomes a Chaos renegade. Roll up a new character. A marine with a secret mutation must also avoid medical examinations and gene-seed tests, or he will meet quick execution at the hands of the Inquistion (or possibly be used by the Ordo Malleus as a daemonhost).


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