Daemon Weapons

Work on the Xanthite sourcebook has been getting pushed back and back over the last few months as I have been a lot busier with work, and what hobby time I have has been dedicated to entries for EpiComp. The heresy of 6mm gaming will end at the competition deadline of the 20^th of December and I will be able to get back to 54mm, and all things Inquisitor.  I thought I'd share some of the ideas I have had for expanding upon the daemon weapons section from the Inquisitor rulebook.

I have made a few changes, which I think are for the better.  Firstly, daemon weapon abilities can be applied to all manner of objects now: cursed tomes of forbidden lore, chain weapons and ranged weapons, with a few caveats.  The most powerful abilities are now restricted to greater entities, so that the most destructive powers now carry a far greater risk to the soul of their bearer.  I have also aligned a number of abilities with particular gods, to limit some of the potential combinations, and to make them an anathema to those aligned to the followers of their rivals.  A possessed boltgun capable of firing rounds that immolate its enemies in warpfire while shielding its bearer from psychic powers can now be created, but the greater entity of Khorne within will have a fearsome Willpower to overcome.

Here are some of the new daemonic properties available.  The first 4 are unaligned properties, and one property aligned to the powers of Khorne, Nurgle, Slaanesh and Tzeentch, respectively:

Aether-Honed

The blade possesses an edge sharpened by the incomprehensible energies of the warp.  When rolling for the damage, the attacker may roll one extra damage die and discard the lowest rolled.

Ensnaring

The blade splits into twisted, thorny appendages and delights in winding around the weapons and limbs of its foes.   Opponents are at an additional -20% to parry or dodge attacks from the weapon.

Leaper

The daemon once soared on bat-like wings, and now blesses its bearer with the ability to cover vast distances in single bounds.  When bearing the weapon, the character counts as if equipped with a jump pack.

Veil of Darkness

The daemon within the blade absorbs light, obscuring its bearer in shadow.  Awareness tests to visually locate the bearer are at -20% when the weapon is drawn.

Destroyer

This Khornate blade revels in the taste of blood, growing more powerful with every drop.  When the weapon successfully inflicts damage after deductions for armour etc., add this value to the damage of the next hit.  The blade must taste blood once a turn or all bonuses are lost. Remember, Khorne cares not from where the blood flows (Greater Entities Only).

Vomitorium

Drooping maws line the weapon, leaking putrescent bile and maggots from their rotten lips, that is vomited out on command.  Once per turn, the bearer may unleash a wave of filth at his foes.  This shooting attack counts as a hand flamer, that inflicts an additional D6 damage if its target fails a Toughness test, but cannot set the target on fire.

Neuron Render

The daemon within loves nothing more than to overstimulate the nerve endings of its foes to excruciating levels, leaving them incapacitated and vulnerable to killing blows.   The weapon counts as Shocking.

Hex

The daemon subtly alters the future of its opponents, leaving them at the mercy of fate.   All blows struck by the weapon are critical hits, or placed shots in the case of ranged weapons (Greater Entities only).

It has been a lot of fun coming up with new daemonic properties, and I expect I may come up with more before I get the sourcebook finished.   One of the major hurdles I have to complete for the book is building and painting a number of models to illustrate its pages with. Hopefully I can get them built and painted by the end of March 2016.  Then I can concentrate on formatting the sourcebook and writing some fiction pieces to go with it.  I would like to encourage everyone to consider sharing any pictures of your own models or any pieces of fiction you would like to see in the sourcebook.  Full credit will of course be given.

The Carthaxian Inquisitor

Inquisitor Gaming On Cessorin Rex

Welcome to the next entry in the Carthaxian gaming worlds series. From the frozen world of Bolo we are not travelling that far across the impoverished region of the Antonine Cluster to our next destination. Cessorin Rex, the shrine world bereft of pilgrims' coin, is where your adventures can take you.

Here is the description from the wiki:

The fading economy of the Antonine Cluster has affected every world in the region in one fashion or another. Some have collapsed, while other societies struggle on valiantly through this testing time, making tough choices to survive. Generally speaking, there is less change in a man's pocket now than before, and many are penniless and destitute. The widespread poverty of the cluster's people has reduced the donations collected by the local churches, and over time the cathedrals and shrines of the cluster's worlds have fallen into disrepair. The tombs of the cluster's greatest bishops on Cessorin Rex were once some of the most spectacular mausoleums in the Carthax Sector, with individual resting places covering hundreds of square kilometres with engraved corridors and towering columns. Things of beauty that attracted thousands of pilgrims daily, they were one of the primary sites of religious importance in the sector up to around eight hundred years ago. With falling collections at worship and fewer pilgrims able to afford to travel, the shrine world became a crumbling shadow of its former self. Such was the fall from grace that the Carthaxian Diocese removed Cessorin Rex from the pilgrim routes to hide the eyesore from the faithful in the early fourth century of the 41st millennium.

A few thousand devotees still live amongst the mausoleums, tending to the tombs as best they can while relying on subsistence farming to survive. A dry, cold world, Cessorin Rex has few native organisms, and its soils are of poor quality. Most of the indigenous people that remain live on a diet of tough tubers and vermin hunted amongst the ruins. Remarkably, they remain possessed of the belief that their fortunes will change, and that their poverty is a test from the God-Emperor that they must outlast. These faithful souls have struggled on for the last seven hundred years, and may have to endure another few centuries of hardship before their descendants can bring the Emperor's grace back to Cessorin Rex.

Image downloaded from: http://www.deviantart.com/art/Planet-Pack-2-203986762

While Bolo had the rather obvious secessionist plot to build campaigns around, Cessorin Rex has no major threads to follow at first glance. This gives us much more freedom to devise scenarios with though, and here are a few ideas to work with:

• The answer to our prayers! A starving tribe of destitute tomb guardians have long prayed for deliverance from their ills. While the Emperor ignored them, an envoy of Nurgle has listened, and the daemon prince has sent his devotees to their aid, bringing all number of Papa Nurgle's blessings with them. Now the tribe have been tasked with desecrating their tomb and sacrificing themselves to bring forth the daemon prince.
• Cometh the Resurrection. Amongst the tombs lies the crypt of Bishop Tamas the Born Again. A resurrectionist of Thorian tradition, Tamas believed that the Emperor's being existed in cycles, and proclaimed that his remains would be reanimated by the Emperor's will at the end of the 41^st millennium. Cultists dedicated to him have flocked to the world, causing sectarian conflict. Amongst it all, something stirs in the depths of Tamas's crypt...
• Time Immemorial. Before Cessorin Rex became the resting place for the sector's clergy, it was the site of one of the greatest battles during the sector's conquest. Heathen men set thousands of warp-hexed traps for the crusaders, and not all were triggered during the assault. Now, a group of tomb guardians has stumbled into the trap and unleashed the energies of change upon themselves. Mutation roars through the populace, and burgeoning psykers draw the attentions of those beyond...

Emperor have mercy, for I will not.

Inquisitor, despite the name, is a gaming system that allows exploration of every corner of the Imperium, and should be used to devise campaigns that don't ostensibly involve the Inquisition (their eyes and ears are everywhere of course). A campaign set within the monolithic machine that is the Adeptus Administratum could feature rival bureaucults battling over the right to store a 9000 year old manuscript within their data vaults on the holy soil of Terra; while a campaign on the Eastern Fringe, far beyond the reach of the Astronomican, could explore the motivations of a pair of ancient Rogue Trader dynasties and the pagan human populations under their yoke. Cessorin Rex is a Shrine World, however shabby, and forms an important part of the religious landscape of the Carthaxian sector. For some within the Ecclesiarchy, its fall from grace is nothing short of an embarrassment, while there are undoubtedly leaders within the Ministorum who wish to erase all knowledge of it. Calculating cardinals and their loyal cadres of Sororitas, fanatics and assassins will be battling behind the scenes for the support of political allies and to remove those that oppose them either through scandal or subtle use of the blade. A campaign featuring Ecclesiastical warbands would make a welcome change from the norm, and allow modelling of lesser-seen archetypes for the table.

Hope this blog entry will get some creative juices flowing for others. On the gaming front, organisation of a gaming day in London is well underway. The date has been narrowed down to a couple of Saturdays, the 21^st or 28^th of November. The venue is Dark Sphere, a gaming shop with table space for hire. There's a thread on The Conclave for discussion of the day. New players are always welcome at these events, even those with no experience of the game or figures! The plan is to have 28mm and 54mm games running, and most of us will be bringing spare models along so turn up and join in!

The Carthaxian Inquisitor 

Campaign Hooks

Over the next wee while I am going to introduce some of the many planets in the Carthax sector which are available for use in your own campaigns. I came up with a number of worlds for the express purpose of adding some colour to the sector, and making it feel more lived in. Upon the wiki, there are a number of systems and planets which are open to all to add details to to further bring them to life. These are marked as “Declassified” on the wiki, a rundown of which can be seen on this linked page.

The bulletins associated with these worlds will also provide plot hooks for basing your campaigns there. There are of course near-limitless reasons why an Inquisitor or other powerful individual would travel to each world, and the plot hooks for one world could easily be transplanted to another if you'd rather not be in a hive for the umpteenth time, or if your tabletop terrain suits an agri-world.

Let's start with Bolo, a frozen world in the impoverished and crime-ridden Antonine Cluster.

Image downloaded from: http://arcticfire-alaska.deviantart.com/art/Ice-Planet-Textures-3-286486819

Taken from the wiki:

Perhaps the last true successful world in the cluster, Bolo is a world of sealed habitats amongst glaciers of ammonia. It is a minor world as far as the greater Imperium is concerned, its population is little more than three hundred and fifty million, and its output limited to small volumes of precious metals mined from its crust. While it has never scaled great heights politically or economically, it has managed to maintain its status while all its neighbours have floundered. Many in the sector hierarchy now consider Bolo the most important world of the cluster and are considering the redeployment of military and naval assets to bolster the world's somewhat meagre defences. The uninhabited, atmosphere-less satellite Nina is being muted as a site for defence facilities.

Nina is around 60% the mass of Bolo and has large gravitational effects on the world it orbits. The frozen ammonia of Bolo is dragged by the passage of Nina, and much like the seas of ancient Terra has tides. This makes travel across the surface of Bolo especially treacherous, and anti-grav vehicles are favoured. Bolo has a number of models of jet bike and larger craft that are not seen anywhere else in the cluster, and draw a great number of tech priests to the world.

Beneath Bolo's stable facade lurks a growing anti-imperial sentiment. Many on Bolo considered themselves to have been abandoned by the Imperium over the last millennium, and their prosperity is purely due to their own hard work. They see greedy off-worlders siphon away their life's work in greater amounts every year to make up for the lack of tithe goods from the cluster as a whole. They feel exploited, and secession is on their minds.

The most obvious place to start with gaming on Bolo is to run a campaign based around the aims of the secessionists. Scenario ideas include:

• Freeze them out! The rebels are planning bomb attacks on the generatoria that power the heating elements that keep a hab city from freezing. Can they be stopped in time, or will a million souls perish in the cold?
• Outside Aid. The rebels have turned to some of the darker forces of the Antonine Cluster and hired a band of mercenaries to carry out their attacks. These Chaos worshippers have begun a systematic eradication of Imperial citizens, starting within the Church of Saint Helene. Can they be stopped before they summon forth their daemon lord?
• Martian Opposition. The secessionists must convince members of the Mechanicum to join them in order to maintain their generatoria. Their secluded meeting with a turncoat Magos is interrupted by the Lords Dragon, and they must fight their way out of the ambush.

Throw in your lot with the Children of the Abyss at your peril, secessionists...

The secessionists might find themselves aided by an Istvaanian Inquisitor keen to foment rebellion to keep the Adeptus Arbites and PDF on their toes, while an Amalathian may be keen to prevent Bolo leaving Imperial rule. Conversely, an Amalathian keen to see the Antonine Cluster return to the prosperous state it was 1000 years ago may see rebellion on Bolo as a way to draw sector command's eye to the cluster and flood it with first troops, and then auxiliaries to create supply lines, thus reinvigorating the cluster's industries and returning wealth to the systems.

Bolo's frozen surface and mining industry present other options for scenarios:

• Who Goes There? In the furthest reaches of the southern pole, a research outpost has stopped broadcasting. Upon investigation, it appears the staff all turned on one another. Three bodies are unaccounted for. What caused the men to fight amongst themselves? Could it still be there? Have the investigators unwittingly infected themselves by exploring the site?
• It came from below! Deep within the palladium mines of northern Tungyski, workers are being found eviscerated. Some say they awoke something in the darkness, and it is moving upwards in search of freedom. The tunnels must be scoured and this ancient evil returned to whence it came!
• Wanderers from the Webway. Hidden in the shifting glaciers of Bolo's surface lie a number of wraithgates through which the Eldar visit the cold world. Locating one of these gates and gaining entry to the webway has become the goal of an Ordo Xenos radical. A puritan stands in his way, and the Eldar themselves have an opinion on the matter.

What have those miners unleashed?!

There are many more ways to game on Bolo, as on practically every Imperial world there are always cults operating in the shadows, dogmatic priests whipping up crowds into frenzied mobs, xenos infiltration and Inquisitors at war with each other behind the scenes.

A sample profile for a Bolo Secessionist is available along with other Carthax Sector Archetypes for download here.

Anyone is welcome to edit planet entries on the wiki (in line with the guidelines on the “Declassified” page), and of course anyone is free to add their own systems and planets to the wiki. Detailing them with plot hooks is of course a welcome addition!

For more updates on the Carthax sector or Inquisitor hobby happenings like the Facebook page or follow @T_C_Inquisitor on twitter.

The Carthaxian Inquisitor 

Report from the Inquisitor Grand Tournament 2015

The dust has settled on a glorious day of Inquisitor gaming at Warhammer World and I would like to share my experience with you all. This was the first event I have been able to get to in the best part of two years due to a bunch of real world occurrences, so I was particularly excited to get playing. The day was set to include three rounds of games, a painting and modelling contest, a test of 41^st millennium knowledge and prize giving. The newly-remodelled Warhammer World features a new entrance, dedicated shops for the Black Library, Forge World and Games Workshop itself, a display of artwork and two large Horus Heresy era dioramas, and although I didn't have time to visit, a new hall of miniatures, which I have on good authority is well worth the entry fee. It would seem though that these new areas have come at the cost of a reduced gaming area, but there were still plenty of tables to battle over, including a number of large, themed tables. We had four standard tables of the Realm of Battle to fight over, as well as the impressive war-torn city of Spyral Prime. Despite being populated solely by 28mm Cities of Death terrain, the difference in scale with 54mm figures is hardly noticeable and doesn't impact on playing.

We had a table right at the entrance and set up a display to attract attention.

In the first round I had the honour of GM-ing a game for eventual winner Stephen and runner up Nick. Stephen's war band was tasked with hunting down three rogue psykers known as the Wandering Heretics and Nick with killing 5 heretic cultists. The game was complicated by the psykers' being able to summon warp portals through which they could instantaneously jump to distant locations on the board. Both players coped admirably with the challenging and wily opponents who were all too happy to run from them through the portals and managed to respectively capture the psykers and kill the cultists. They also found time to have a couple of their characters go toe-to-toe in hand-to-hand combat, where we bore witness to an incredible run of critical hits, successful parries and critical counter attacks. Lots of 01-05s were being rolled!

Cultists use a portal to flee.

After a prolonged lunch break thanks to some overdue fajitas, we had our “Inquisition” quizzes filled in and scored our fellow attendees painting and modelling entries. The second round of games saw Inquisitor Tesnohlidek, the daemonhost C'Innyarh and mutant Komt tasked by Nick to find the arms smuggler J'Ken's records and stop them falling into enemy hands. Tesnohlidek had to get this done without being identified, so sent the mutant Komt ahead to do the dirty work. The untrustworthy daemonhost went off to find playthings. I was up against David and Gav who had other intentions with J'Ken. Gav's tech adept Liwet and her band successfully stole the records from under Komt's nose and David's Inquisitor Rhodes saw J'Ken assassinated. My lot achieved little, but Tesnohlidek was not identified so can continue his Xanthite agenda unmolested.

Komt just about snuck by the servitor on the way to J'Ken's office.

The final game saw Tesnohlidek and gang out to kill a priest whose blood was foretold to bring about a dark creature he had an interest in. Joe was the GM, and Jason and Nick were the other players. Once again Tesnohlidek sent Komt to do his work for him, and the mutant's chainsword eventually told for the priest, though a cybernetically enhanced dog ran down just about every PC on the table! The daemonhost fell to concentrated fire, and while Tesnohlidek abandoned Komt to fate, he could not allow the daemonhost to be captured and dragged it from the field. He is now preparing a new host body to transfer the daemon's essence to before it can escape...

Tesnohlidek and C'Innyarh back away from the shrine, only to be attacked by the dog from robot hell!

Once the scores were tallied, Stephen claimed both the Best Player award and was crowned overall Champion. Nick came second, and Gav won the Best GM award as well as third place overall. C'Innyarh won me the Hobbyist prize, which I am especially happy about as it's the one prize I haven't claimed over the years. Congratulations to all the winners, and thanks to everyone for making it such a great day. David deserves special praise for juggling running of the day with partaking in games. When I ran the tournament a couple of years ago I was too preoccupied with things running smoothly to play as well. A superhuman effort!

The prize winning daemonhost.

The other good things to take away from the day was that we attracted a lot of attention with a display of our models (not least David's 54mm Razorback, Sentinel and plasma blastgun from his WIP Warhound Titan), and handed out a few leaflets with information about the game to passers-by. Hopefully some of them will want to get involved with the game. It was rather excellent that Warhammer World let us book tables to play an out of print game that they no longer sell models for, though I have a feeling that we won't be able to play there forever. We will need to plan for alternative venues.

I have put my scenario from the tournament on the Carthax wiki so anyone can play it. Gav has an 'In Character' report from the day on the Conclave already for you to read, and my photos are available on photobucket. I will link to more as they become available through the Facebook and Twitter pages.

Next up for me is more work on the Forces of Chaos within the Carthax sector. I have had the lowdown on converting the Artemis model from Gav, and have plans to get an Alpha Legionnaire made. Much hacksawing awaits!

The Carthaxian Inquisitor

The Inquisitor Grand Tournament 2015

In a couple of weeks time, on May 30^th, the 2015 Inquisitor Grand Tournament will take place at Warhammer World, Nottingham. It's been a couple of years since I've been able to get to an Inquisitor event, so I am really looking forward to this. The tournament is different to a campaign day as all attendees are invited to both play and run games as a GM for their fellow competitors, so for someone who hasn't been to an event for a while, it's great to be able to experience both sides of the game again.

Since the last blog post I have completed a daemonhost of Nurgle...

The notion of competitive Inquisitor play can be a bit confusing, as it is a narrative game. At the tournament, players are scored by the GM with regards to how they conduct their characters in the game, with “in character” actions and events on the way to achieving the objectives set for them scored highly. Game Masters are scored by their players on how good a time they had in that scenario, rewarding original plots and well-controlled games. Points are also awarded for painting and modelling, that final, and most important reason for collecting miniatures! The tournament rewards attendees who grasp the ethos of the Inquisitor game in its entirety, and the winner of the day is quite often not the player whose war band crushed all underfoot, but rather contributed to memorable games of cool set pieces and daring heroics.

...a daemonhost of Tzeentch...

In years gone past, there was a limitation on the number of models one could bring, but for this year, multiple war bands can be brought along. I like this change, as the more cool miniatures around, the more likely we are to capture the imagination of passers-by. Trying to grow the hobby has been one of the primary goals for this blog, and any opportunity to advertise the game to others will be utilised! I am also happy with this change as I have a load of miniatures painted in this last year that I'd love to take with me for a game. I won't have to settle on three and leave the others behind.

... and a Dark Mechanicus Magos. All could feature at the tournament!

There's still plenty of room for players on the 30^th, so if you're keen, get along to Warhammer World for some games. Spectators are welcome too, so if you're in Nottingham and fancy coming to see some cool miniatures, then head down too. The event pack can be downloaded here. I will have a report on the day up here a couple of weeks after the event, and I'll make the scenario I ran available on the Carthax Inquisitor Wiki.

Roll on the 30^th!

The Carthaxian Inquisitor 

Daemonhosts in Inquisitor

I am now halfway through my daemonhost building, and have completed models of a daemonhost possessed by a Khornate daemon and another by a Slaaneshi daemon. As well as sharing pictures of them, I thought I should give working examples of my new daemonhost rules.

This brutal, muscle-bound creature is Sacarlax, daemonhost of Khorne, beholden to the pirate clans of Captain Hagen Bloodoath. These Chaos reavers strike out at the shipping lanes and isolated worlds of the Carthax sector from the world of Malaachai in the Prastian Straits region. Sacarlax then was not created by a focused and meticulous Xanthite Inquisitor, but by reckless cultists in a ritual of spilt blood and madness. While they lacked the arcane knowledge required to draw down the essence of one of Khorne's greater servants, their sacrifices grabbed the attention of one of Khorne's bestial daemons. The Juggernaught bound to the host body swelled it in size and bony spikes burst forth from its wrists. The Reavers wished for every last grain of the daemon's strength to be unleashed so have only applied one binding to the host. The resulting creation is a simple engine of destruction, but there is a real risk that the daemon can slip its binding.

The basic profile for a daemonhost is:

	WS	BS	S	T	I	Wp	Sg	Nv	Ld
Daemonhost	30	30	30	30	40	50	60	60	10

I hate seeing round figures in a profile though, so lets alter that to:

	WS	BS	S	T	I	Wp	Sg	Nv	Ld
Sacarlax	31	26	32	34	41	53	57	56	6

As a daemonic beast, Sacarlax receives the following modifiers to its profile: +10 S, +10 T, +20 Ld, -20 Sg. D3 host body changes are applied (Mutations, Alien Abilities, plus a number of new options from the sourcebook to represent the malefic effect of the daemon on its fleshy prison), and one daemonic ability, one daemon weapon ability and one psychic power are gained.

If we are keeping track, the new profile (for now) is:

	WS	BS	S	T	I	Wp	Sg	Nv	Ld
Sacarlax	31	26	42	44	41	53	37	56	26

The host body changes I applied are: Beweaponed Extremities (an Alien Ability) to represent its bony spikes; and Hulking, a new change, that grants +10 S and -10 I. The daemonic ability is from the rulebook: Invulnerable. The daemon weapon ability its attacks inflict is Gnawing, from the rulebook. One psychic power would normally be applied, but as this is a daemon of Khorne...

The alignment of the daemon has a further effect on the daemonhost's stats. A daemon of Khorne cannot take psychic powers, but does gain +10% to resist psychic powers. It has Hatred for daemons and followers of Slaanesh, and can only use Khornate or Unaligned daemon weapon abilities (more on daemon weapons in a future blog entry).

The number of binding levels applied to the daemon causes further changes to its statistics, as well as having a key role in determining if the daemon is to become unbound. As a once-bound daemon of Khorne, Sacarlax receives an additional +20% bonus to resisting psychic powers, and a further +20 to WS, S and T (non-Khornate daemons instead receive a +20% to psychic tests and D6 additional psychic powers).

We have now just about got Sacarlax ready for the tabletop. His profile now looks like:

	WS	BS	S	T	I	Wp	Sg	Nv	Ld
Sacarlax	51	26	72	64	31	53	37	56	26

Special Abilities: Ambidextrous, Nerves of Steel, Hatred: Followers and Daemons of Slaanesh

Exotic Abilities: Daemonic; Invulnerable, Fearsome, Possession, Warp Sight, Of the Warp

Host Body Changes: Beweaponed Extremities, Hulking

Daemon Weapon Abilities: Gnawing

Additional Rules: +30% to resist psychic powers

Very slow, pretty stupid, but very hard-hitting. The last thing to make a note of is the strength of the bond keeping the daemon's essence within the host. For this we need the Wp of the daemonhost's creator, and Sacarlax's Wp and Ld, as well as its current injury total. The leader of the Reavers that created the daemonhost is not going to be particularly strong of will, so we will say Wp 51. To calculate the bond strength we use the following formula: (Wp of host's creator + Ld of daemonhost) - (injury total + Wp of daemonhost). 51+26 = 77, and 0+53 = 53. 77-53 = 24. As long as this figure remains above 0, the daemon will remain bound. However, as the host takes damage it's bindings will weaken. Should the bond strength hit zero or lower, the GM must test the Sagacity of the host's creator (in this case a paltry 48). As there is only one binding level, this test is also at -20%! There is a good chance the daemon will break free, and then those around it are in a whole lot of trouble! Unbound daemons are nasty (I may be forthcoming on just how nasty at some point).

In contrast to brutal Sacarlax, C'inyrrah is an alluring avatar of excess. A prince of Slaanesh, it was imprisoned into its host by Inquisitor Tesnohlidek who learned the daemon's true name through the acquisition of the Atunis Propheticum. Thrice-bound through perfect ritual, C'inyrrah is enslaved to Tesnohlidek and neutered of the vastness of its powers. It remains a deadly entity for Tesnohlidek's enemies to face however.

Once again, we start with the basic daemonhost profile:

	WS	BS	S	T	I	Wp	Sg	Nv	Ld
Daemonhost	30	30	30	30	40	50	60	60	10

A daemon prince has much higher bonuses to its profile than a daemonic beast. It gains: +30 WS, +30 BS, +20 S, +20 T, +15 I, +30 Wp, +30 Sg, +20 Nv; D6 host body changes; D3 daemonic abilities; D6 daemon weapon abilities; and D6 psychic powers. As a daemon of Slaanesh, C'inyrrah gains +10 I and loses -10 T, has Hatred for daemons and followers of Khorne and is limited to psychic and daemon weapon abilities of Slaanesh or Unaligned Chaos. As a thrice-bound daemon, C'inyrrah adds +20 to Ld, but loses D3 psychic powers and D3 daemon weapon abilities as its powers are fettered away by the extra levels of binding.

The host body changes I have chosen for C'inyrrah are Levitate (which finally provides rules for all those floaty daemonhost models out there), Elastic Limbs and Razor Sharp Claws (both alien abilities). The daemonic abilities that C'inyrrah possesses are: Impervious and Quicksilver (+1 speed). The daemon weapon abilities selected are Death's Touch (a new ability that requires any character hit in hand to hand combat to test for System Shock), and Entrance. Finally, the psychic powers C'inyrrah can call upon are Mesmerism, Psychic Shield andVortex of Chaos.

	WS	BS	S	T	I	Wp	Sg	Nv	Ld
C'inyrrah	58	63	49	44	66	83	97	78	28

Special Abilities: Ambidextrous, Nerves of Steel, Hatred: Followers and Daemons of Khorne

Exotic Abilities: Daemonic; Impervious and Quicksilver, Fearsome, Possession, Warp Sight, Of the Warp (the daemon cannot suffer Wp loss due to failed psychic tests or risky actions)

Host Body Changes: Elastic Limbs, Levitate, Razor Sharp Claws

Daemon Weapon Abilities: Death's Touch, Entrance

Psychic Abilities: Mesmerism, Psychic Shield, Vortex of Chaos

C'inyrrah's bond strength calculation is (86+28) – (0+83) = 31. As it is thrice-bound, should the bond strength fall below 0, there will be a +20% modifier to Tesnohlidek's already high Sg of 82 (a natural roll of 100 always fails in this case).

While C'inyrrah lacks the brute force of Sacarlax, and has had a large amount of its true potential removed by its three bindings, it remains a potent psyker and a deadly opponent in hand to hand combat.

The daemons of Chaos come in near infinite varieties, but the original rules presented in the venerable Inquisitor rulebook only really catered for one take on their creation. Though this has been little more than a teaser, I hope that it has whetted the appetites of Radicals everywhere and you are looking forward to binding your own forbidden creations.

The Carthaxian Inquisitor

Tools of the Enemy

As I've alluded to previously, I am putting together a sourcebook on the Xanthite faction of the Inquisition. Much like the Thorian, Recongregator, Istvaanian and Amalathian sourcebooks that have come before (all can be downloaded through Marco Skoll's archive), this piece will delve into the history of this much-maligned faction and give insights into how they operate within the Inquisition. Perhaps more than any other faction, the Xanthites find themselves at odds with their fellow Inquisitors due to the use of the weapons and tools of Chaos that forms their central philosophy. Xanthites wish to turn Chaos against itself, and will use any means necessary to achieve their goal. Utilising the strictly forbidden brings them into conflict with the overwhelming majority of the Inquisition that believe a line has been crossed. This fundamental difference leads to open war, which is exactly why they have such an important part to play in Inquisitor campaigns; they are fantastic anti-heroes and antagonists that have the weight of their terrible choices on their shoulders.

At the heart of the book is the tale of Xanthus himself, a man who challenged conventional thought within the Inquisition and tried to show the puritan mainstream that there were other ways to combat the Imperium's enemies. A tragic character, he started a war he had no intention of fighting and died for his beliefs. His beliefs lived on however, and some could point to him being the most important Inquisitor to have borne the seal for how his actions changed the outlook of the institution at the Emperor's left hand.

As well as discussing the part Xanthites play within the Inquisition, there will be a lengthy section on including Xanthites and their unorthodox war bands in games of Inquisitor. One of the strengths of the game is the ability to use just about any archetype one could imagine, and some of the more unusual are most likely to be seen in the retinue of a Radical Inquisitor like a Xanthite. The Exorcised, the Host Bound and Daemonhosts themselves are looked at in depth. I've taken it upon myself to strengthen the Daemonhost archetype by including a new guide to creating the characters, where the type of daemon and its God will have an effect on its strengths and weaknesses, and to apply bonuses and penalties for how strongly bound it is to its host. A once-bound daemon is a massively powerful weapon, but is much more likely to escape its bindings than a thrice-bound daemon whose powers have been diluted (but still potent enough). I have also written a new approach for daemonhosts becoming unbound. The original rules presented in Exterminatus magazine made it far too easy for daemons to become unbound, and practically required a roll every turn to see if the daemon escaped. I can't think of any game where the GM has used these rules. I hope that mine make more sense and are easier to apply to in-game situations.

I have also had a lot of fun coming up with a range of new daemon weapon abilities. The list in the rulebook was a good start, but there is plenty room for more. I have divided the current and new abilities up into five groups, 4 aligned with the Gods of Chaos, and the final group unaligned. I think it's a bit more fitting that some abilities be the preserve of certain Gods. From the original abilities in the rulebook, I think that Deathlust reads like a Khornate property, while Magical Force seems like a property of Tzeentch. The destructive potential of some of the properties, such as Brainleech, in comparison to abilities like Lashing has led me to limit some of them to weapons bound with the essence of a Greater Entity of Chaos (either a bound Daemon Prince or Greater Daemon), as the power of these should be countered by being the preserve of a daemon with high Willpower. If your character wants one of the most deadly weapons, he will have to run the risk of the daemon overpowering him and possessing his mortal form!

That's it for the introductory look at the sourcebook. I'll be releasing more details over the coming weeks and months before the big reveal later this year. For now, I have a number of modelling projects for illustrating the book with, not least the daemonhost that's under construction in this thread on the Conclave.

If anybody has any pictures or pieces of fiction they would like to contribute then please let me know. I will also be looking for proofreaders shortly.

The Carthaxian Inquisitor