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