Name: Cassius Ober
Career: Astropath Transcendent
Home World: Footfall
Lineage: A proud Tradition (Uncertain Inheritance)
Birthright: Scapegrace
Lure of the Void: Tainted (Deviant Philosophy)
Trials and Trivials: Darkness (warp incursion)
Motivation: Fortune
Wounds: -6/9
Fate points: 4 (Fortune)
Insanity: 0/100
Corruption: 7/100 (Tainted: Warp incursion and Scapegrace)
Movement: 3m/8m/12m/24m
WS: 30
BS: 37 (-5 Footfallen)
S: 30 (-5 Footfallen)
T: 31
Agi: 44 (+5 Footfallen)
Int: 46 (+3 A proud tradition: Uncertain Inheritance)
Per: 41 (+3 Scapegrace)
WP: 45 (+5 Tainted: A Deviant Philosophy)
Fel: 42 (+5 Footfallen)
Skills:
Basic
Barter
Carouse
Charm
Climb
Commerce
concealment
Contortionist
Disguise
Evaluate
Gamble
Inquiry
Intimidate
Logic
Scrutiny
Search
Silent Move
Slight of Hand (Scapegrace)
Swim
Trained
Awareness
Common Lore
--Kronus Expanse (footfallen)
--Adeptus Astra Telepathica
Deceive (A Proud Tradition: Uncertain Inheritance)
Dodge
Forbidden Lore
--Psykers
Invocation
Scholastic Lore
--Cryptology
Speak Language
--High Gothic (footfallen)
--Low Gothic (footfallen)
---Tau (RP experience)
+10 skills
Psyniscince (footfallen)
Talents:
Pistol Weapon Training: Universal
Heightened Sense: sound
Psy Rating 2
Peer: underworld (footfallen)
Polyglot (footfallen)
Rival: inquisition (footfallen)
Enemy: Ecclesiarchy (Tainted: Deviant philosophy)
Paranoid (A Proud Tradition: Uncertain Inheritance)
Light Sleeper (Darkness: Warp Incursion)
Resistance: Psychic Powers (Darkness: Warp Incursion)
Traits:
Soul Bound to the Emperor
See W/O Eyes
Psychic Techniques:
Astral Telepathy
Mind Probe
Psychic Scream
Rite of Sanctioning
Terrify
Gear:
Guard Flak Armour
Void Suit
Charm
Micro-Bead
Psy-Focus
Weapons:
Stub Automatic (Best Craftsmanship) Pistol, 1d10+3 i, pen 0, 30m, s/3/-, clip 70, Full
Inferno Pistel pistol, 2d10+8 e, pen 13, 10m, s/-/-, clip 3, full
Mono Sword (Best Craftsmanship) Melee, 1d10+1 r, pen 2, Balanced
Armour: 4 all
Experience: 1,200/5800
300 A Proud Tradition (Uncertain Inheritance)
100 Darkness (Warp Incursion)
200 Dodge
200 Terrify
500 Rite of Sanctioning
(50 unused)
Background: (This is what I came up with, let me know if I got anything wrong!)
Orphaned at the age of 7, his mother had been a very profitable information broker on Footfall. Distant relations flooded upon him and his siblings and used them against each other in an attempt to gain control over the small fortune left to them. The youngest, Cassius was mostly cast out of the family dealings, and spent the next seven years on the streets until he made some powerful friends who saw to it that he received the rest of his inheritance and at 17 he took a position as a miner information broker for a weapons cartel.
At 25, he was engaged and was looking forward to starting a family, when his life took another rotten turn. Called in for a meeting by a contact, he was captured and tortured by a group of inquisitorial acolytes. The Acolytes had followed a heretic assassin to Footfall (which had made a hysterical Cassius laugh, and then loose a fingernail) and upon landing, realized they were essentially looking for one assassin in a hive (not literal) of scum and villainy. They were looking for information on new arrivals to the planet that had a connection to the cartel he worked for. He eventually told them what they wanted to know, and was dragged along for his trouble. As their hostage, he bore witness to an incursion of the warp so horrible he was forever marked. He lived through the ordeal, but the surviving Acolytes believed his psy-rating to be above the normal footfallen and dropped him off on a black ship.
Hardened by his experiences, he did what he had to, to make it off the ships and into training. He underwent 2 years of training and preparation. In that time, he fell in love again. He and his secret lover under went the soul binding to the emperor. Cassius made it out someone intact, his lover was driven mad. Heart broken, Cassius was inducted into the ranks of the Adeptus Astra Telepathica. As soon as possible, Cassius pulled every connect he had made to secure a position on one of the far outposts and away from the Adeptus Astra Telepathica, who he blamed for his lovers death.
Talents
Enemy
Talent Group: Ecclesiarchy
The opposite of Good Reputation on page 99, the Explorer is particularly despised by a specific social group or organization. He suffers an additional –10 penalty to Fellowship Tests when dealing with this group. This Talent is cumulative with the Rival Talent, for a total –20 penalty.
The GM and player may agree to award this Talent when appropriate to the adventure or campaign. This Talent can be
removed with an Elite Advance and the approval of the GM if the Acolyte has redeemed herself with the group in question.
Heightened Senses
Talent Group: Sound
Either genetics or augmetics have made one of the Explorer’s senses superior to others. When he gains this Talent, select one of the five senses. The character gains a +10 bonus to any Tests specifically involving this sense. Thus, Heightened Senses (Sight) would apply to an Awareness Test to see a distant flock of shale crows, but not to something as general as a Ballistic Skill Test with any ranged weapon or a Weapon Skill Test simply because the character is using his eyes.
Light Sleeper
Prerequisites: Perception 30
The slightest change in conditions or disturbance brings the Explorer from sleep to full awareness, remaining alert even in slumber. He is always assumed to be awake, even when asleep, for the purposes of Awareness Tests or surprise. Unfortunately, the character’s sleep is not deep and can be frequently interrupted, resulting in a less-than-cheery disposition when awake.
Paranoia
The Explorer knows that danger lurks behind every corner and knows the galaxy will hit him as soon as he lets his guard down. The character gains a +2 bonus on Initiative rolls, and the GM may secretly Test his Perception to notice hidden threats. The price of his eternal vigilance is a twitchy disposition and the inability to relax.
Peer
Prerequisites: Fellowship 30
Talent Group: Underworld
The Explorer is adept at dealing with a particular social group or organisation. He gains a +10 bonus to all Fellowship Tests when interacting with the chosen group.
Pistol Weapon Training
Talent Group: Universal
The Explorer has practiced with nearly every single-handed ranged weapon within the confines of the Imperium, and no small number without. The Universal group confers proficiency with most pistol weapons, including the Bolt, Las, Launcher, Melta, Plasma, and SP groups. When a character attempts to use a weapon he does not have the correct Weapon Training Talent for, he suffers a –20% penalty to any relevant Weapon Skill or Ballistic Skill Test.
Polyglot
Prerequisites: Intelligence 40, Fel 30
The Explorer has an innate ability to derive meaning from unknown languages and make himself understood using this intuitive grasp. He treats all languages as Basic Skills. This is not the same as true knowledge of the language, and tests using this Talent suffer a –10 penalty due to the simplistic nature of translation.
Psy Rating
The Explorer is a psyker, and his power in game terms is rated on a scale of 1 to 10, where Psy Rating 1 is the lowest to warrant the attentions of the Scholastia Psykana and the Black Ships, and a rating of 10 represents one of the most powerful of the entire human sphere. An Astropath Transcendent begins play with Psy Rating 2. See Chapter VI: Psychic Powers for detailed rules on the game mechanics of this ability. Increasing a character’s Psy Rating represents that character unlocking more of his psychic potential and becoming more and more powerful. Note that Psy Ratings in Rogue Trader do not automatically grant additional Psychic Powers. A higher Psy Rating indicates a more powerful psyker. An Explorer can take this Talent multiple times; each time it is taken, his current Psy Rating increases by 1.
Resistance
Talent Group: Psychic Techniques
The Explorer’s background, experience, training, exposure, or plain stubbornness has inured him to a particular type of hardship. Each time the Explorer selects this Talent, choose one group. He gains a +10 bonus when making Tests to resist the effects of this group. The GM may wish to approve certain choices or have them justified by the character’s past.
Rival
Talent Group: Inquisition
Essentially the opposite of Peer on page 103, this Talent represents aggressive competition and some animosity with a particular social group or organisation. The Explorer suffers a –10 penalty to all Fellowship Tests when interacting with the group in question.
The GM and player may agree to award this Talent when appropriate to the storyline. This Talent may be removed with an Elite Advance and the approval of the GM if the player has taken suitable actions to earn the trust of the group.
Traits
Soul-Bound to the Emperor
An Astropath Transcendent is soul-bound to the Emperor during a complex ritual on Terra. An Astropath Transcendent gains +20 to his Willpower when resisting Possession, in any opposed Willpower Test against a daemon, or whenever making a Willpower Test to resist any Talent, Psychic Power, special ability, or other effect originating from a daemon. An Astropath Transcendent rolls an additional d10 when rolling on the Perils of the Warp table and may discard any one d10 for a more favourable result.
See Without Eyes
An Astropath Transcendent is blind yet at the same time has a strange ability to perceive without using his physical senses. An Astropath Transcendent is functionally treated as if he can see normally (including seeing colours and being limited by walls, etc.). However, Astropaths Transcendent are not affected by effects that target their vision, such as blind grenades and cameleoline. They are, however, completely incapable of seeing Untouchables
Psychic Powers
Astral Telepathy
Value: Free (Astropaths only)
Prerequisites: Soul-bound to the Emperor
Focus Power Test: Willpower
As part of the Soul Binding process, astropaths become able to send and receive messages across vast distances using the warp as a medium. Using astro-telepathic abilities in this way requires careful concentration, meditation, and freedom from distraction, and so cannot be done “on the move,” let alone during combat or strife. Transmitting a message over interstellar distances normally takes 1d5 hours (this time may be adjusted at the GM’s discretion based on the length and complexity of the message).
Astropathic communication in this way is a matter of sending and receiving messages that must themselves be encapsulated and encrypted lest they become lost in the warp, hopelessly garbled, or worse yet, intercepted. As a result, messages sent over long distances are often ‘packets’ of information, akin in some ways to letters or brief recordings from the real world absorbed and sent on their way to be (hopefully) caught and possibly relayed on by other astropaths to their intended destination. This process is not instantaneous. However, it is considerably faster than warp travel—an astropathic signal will cross a solar system in moments, across a subsector in hours, a sector in days and, if strong enough, a Segmentum in weeks and so on.
Mind Probe
Value: 200 xp
Prerequisites: None
Focus Power Test: Opposed Willpower
Range: 1m x Psy Rating
This technique allows the psyker to peel back the layers of another’s mind to read the basic surface thoughts and beyond.
It takes 5 rounds of sustained effort to complete the mind probe. The psyker must win an Opposed Willpower Test to successfully establish the forced link to the target’s mind. Each Round, the psyker digs successively deeper into the subject’s consciousness. If the psyker wins the Opposed Willpower Test, he gleans certain information from the target’s mind, depending on what level of contact he has achieved (see Table 6–6: Mind Probe). If the psyker fails the Opposed Willpower Test, the probe is rebuffed, the technique fails, and the psyker suffers one level of Fatigue for every degree of failure. This is also not a gentle process, brute force is a factor, and the target will be aware that his mind is being plundered. However, the psyker retains any knowledge he received at each level he successfully attained.
If the psyker wants to perform the Probe without the target’s knowledge, then the psyker takes a –20 penalty to the Opposed Willpower Test and can only use this technique at the Fettered Psychic Strength.
Psychic Scream
Value: 300 xp
Prerequisites: Mind Probe
Focus Power Test: Willpower
Range: 5m x Psy Rating
By focusing all of his will behind one massive psychic scream, the psyker can injure or stun an opponent out to a range of 5m x Psy Rating. The psyker must pass a Focus Power Test to hit his target, and deals 1d10 Impact Damage (with a bonus of +1 per Psy Rating) with the Shocking quality (see page 116). The target suffers a penalty to his Toughness Test to resist Stunning equal to –5 times the psyker’s Psy Rating. If the target fails the Toughness Test, he is stunned for a number of rounds equal to half of the psyker’s Psy Rating (rounding up).
