This, uh, this seems to discount the reach of the Inquisition entirely? I do believe that a lot of their work is rather hyped up to attract players (much like "SPEISS MARINES ALL THE TIME"), but I don't think they can be dismissed so cavalierly.
Yes, there is an Inquisition, which is inordinately powerful, influential and legally speaking answers only to the Emperor. They are, also, utterly swamped with work stamping out all the actual Genestealer/Chaos/heretical death cults, secessionist conspiracies and smugglers in the so-called 'cold trade' of Xenos artifacts, which have an alarming tendency to explode when you fiddle with them, bring around the original owners to take them back with no regard for collateral damage, or outright twist the new owners into cannibalistic psychopaths.
And all that is entirely beside the amount of time Inquisitors spend undermining each others' efforts due to having very different notions of how Imperial society should behave. Again, even if the Imperium universally came to decide to purge anyone who isn't 'comically evil' (and the idea of the Imperium behaving in a uniform manner about almost anything in the first place is laughable to begin with), there is no reserve of effort they could meaningfully dedicate to that goal, because there's a million more pressing matters at all times than a town on a backwater planet falling short of its puppy-kicking quota.
Adhoc vote count started by DragonCobolt on Nov 8, 2021 at 10:53 PM, finished with 26 posts and 8 votes.
[x] Argue that you should all work together on a plan - it's not as if the Imperium could use these maps, considering how fast Craftworlds are and how thin stretched the Navy is
-[X] Anaris is a known factor to the chaotic entities aboard the ship, as is the Eldar way of thinking. Humanity on the other hand, excels in the unpredictable and unconventional
-[X] We understand that this require a certain measure of trust, so what vulnerability can we offer to reassure the Eldar that these designs will not be leaked, for to reveal them would be to harm ourselves far worse.
[X] Make for Purgatorio. We'll meet there, the hammer to your anvil.
[x] Argue that you should all work together on a plan - it's not as if the Imperium could use these maps, considering how fast Craftworlds are and how thin stretched the Navy is
[X] Is it possible for our fleet to pace the Whisper, to keep a safe distance away, and be ready to pounce?
[x] Argue that you should all work together on a plan - it's not as if the Imperium could use these maps, considering how fast Craftworlds are and how thin stretched the Navy is
[x] Argue that you should all work together on a plan - it's not as if the Imperium could use these maps, considering how fast Craftworlds are and how thin stretched the Navy is
-[X] Anaris is a known factor to the chaotic entities aboard the ship, as is the Eldar way of thinking. Humanity on the other hand, excels in the unpredictable and unconventional
-[X] We understand that this require a certain measure of trust, so what vulnerability can we offer to reassure the Eldar that these designs will not be leaked, for to reveal them would be to harm ourselves far worse.
[X] Is it possible for our fleet to pace the Whisper, to keep a safe distance away, and be ready to pounce?
Em sighed, softly. "You know, we need to work together on this? If we don't, then Lu'nasad will be lost forever - and that will spell a doom for both our people." He smiled, ever so slightly. "Besides - Anaris is a known factor, as these...creatures chased him off the Craftworld in the first place. We're an unknown element. Unpredictable. Our perspective will be useful, won't it?"
Serradon frowned, opened his mouth, closed it, lifted his hand, lowered his hand. He looked as if he was caught between two horns of the dilemma. Callie watched this all with a huge grin. Finally, Serradon let out a defeated sigh. "You're right."
"Now, you have my word - these designs will not be leaked," Em said, seriously.
"I believe I actually may," Serradon said, his voice soft, almost wondering as he gestured - and the diagrams were brought forth. Parchments and scrolls, ancient crystal sheaf, half-complete hololithic recordings, and verbal description alike combined over long hours to create a clear picture of what Lu'nasad had been in the days before she had fallen to chaos.
One by one, the areas were named by Serradon and Callie - in their particular fashion.
"This structure here is the plasma core - the primary generatoria for the Craftworld," Callie said, tapping in the middle of the parchment. "There are secondary and replacement plasma generatoria spread throughout the whole thing, but they're all significantly smaller."
"And these?" Tine asked, gesturing to a collection of elegant buildings tht were fluted up to the curving, eastern edge of the disk-shaped craft.
"Aspect Shrines," Serradon said, frowning. "There is nothing for you there."
"What is an Aspect Shrine?" Tine asked, politely, which caused Callie's eyes to shine excitedly.
"Oh! Okay! So, there are various mythological figures in our religious history, and each of them has an aspect, a facet, that can be and is studied by all Eldar. There's the Aspects of Isha, like the Gentle Gardener and the Doctor At the Bridge and the Virgin Wife, and...and I can...keep going, so, just, there are lots of them! And we Eldar will study them, and some Eldar become very focused on a specific Aspect and, uh, well, so, they then start to fixate and perfect themselves, becoming one with the aspect, so, they become the best doctor, or the best wife, or the best gardener, or the best doctor!" She blushed. "I said doctor twice-"
"Doesn't this rune say warrior?" Em asked, leaning over the map.
"...oh, right, yeah, there are, uh, also warrior aspects of our mythology. You know, Howling Banshees, Sweeping Eagles, Striking Scorpians, but they're really not as important as the other aspects," Callie said, laughing, as Serradon frowned at her.
One of the body guards that stood at the walls coughed.
"I mean they are very important!" Callie said, hurriedly. "But, you know how hard it is to keep an ecology running in an enclosed system for ten thousand years without runaway issues? Isha knows, we need those gardeners!" She blushed, harder. "S-So, these are the Aspect Warrior shrines, dedicated to those who walk in the path of the Bloody Handed God of War, Kaela Mensha Khaine." She coughed. "A-Anyway, these are the pulse lance positions, the grav domes - that's where they would be keeping grav-effect vehicles."
"Like what?" Ryia asked.
"Like, you know...landers and...fliers...and..." Callie coughed.
"Tanks," Serradon said, flatly. "Fire Prisms, Falcons, similar war-vehicles."
Em, Tine and Ryia all nodded, seeming to not even question that. Callie's cheeks flushed. "It's not a warship!" She added. "It's just, craftworlds were built when we were very worried about, uh, everything that turned out to happen, so, you know, it was actually a correct decision, right?"
"Of course," Em said. "The average Imperial transport carries weapons - and if they were similarly sized, then they would have similar levels of arms and armor." He gave her a comforting smile. "There's nothing to be ashamed about in defending yourself. What are these large structures? Voidship berths?"
"Oh, no, those are the titan bays," Callie said, absently.
Em choked. "Titans?"
"Yeah?" Callie asked. "Why are those a big deal for humans?"
"The mon'keigh place undue import on war-machines of that scale," Serradon said, but even he was trying to control his own emotions around the idea of the titan facility. "But yes, Lu'nasad was fortunate enough to depart with some of the few Titans that were constructed and ready for operation at the time of the Fall. This...was not a fact I was aware of until we began to search the archive memories." He touched that part of the map. "They're not on the direct route to the Infinity Circuit that Anaris wishes to take, but...if any part of the Craftworld has remained intact, uncorrupted, it would be them - each Titan has its own redundant shields, and projection arrays and wards..."
Em nodded. Ryia caught his eye and arched her eyebrow - not needing telepathy to say what she was thinking.
And do we really want these Eldar to have access to Titans again? The few they have are already trouble enough.
Em didn't need to reach back into the ancient recesses of history to find times that Eldar titans had caused entire Imperial campaigns to fall to pieces just by their arrival.
"The route Anaris wishes to take leads from the webway portals here - defunct, don't even ask to use them - to here, the living chambers...what you would call Hab-Blocks, then from the living chambers to the soul shrine, where the Circuit's core is located." Serradon's finger drew the pathway. "You would need to land and approach on foot - even with the Whisper's powers, it is highly unlikely that any functioning lance defenses would let you get close enough to the Shrine."
"I mean, this is all assuming this map is even accurate!" Callie said, cheerfully. "I mean, thousands upon thousands of years of corruption in the warp can have changed any of this!" She paused. "Which...is bad, I mean."
Serradon sighed. "Now that you can make your plans - we must decide, who will be going where."
Em nodded. "The fleet should shadow the Whisper, at a safe distance," he said, nodding. "Once we've made Lu'nasad harmless, then they can sweep in and any Chaos ships that are in train with her will be obliterated by our long guns and fighters." He snorted, shaking his head. To think, he'd ever sneered at the little things - he'd never make that mistake again, not after watching bombers rip Chaos ships to shreds without taking so much as a casualty in return.
"That...could work..." Serradon said. "If they remained far enough away..."
"Then who shall make up the strike force attacking Lu'nasad?" Callie asked. "It'll have to be us three," she said, gesturing to herself, Serradon, and the soulstone of Anaris, who was conserving his energies by not speaking overmuch. "We can shield fifty one at the most. Who do we bring?"
Em rubbed his chin.
Before he opened his mouth, though, Ryia took his arm. She gently drew him aside, and her voice pitched low, soft. "Em...I..." She closed her eyes. She gritted her teeth, then forced it out. "Em, I...don't...think I should be with the Lu'nasad mission."
"Ryia, you're the best psyker that we have," Em said. "We need-"
"Yeah, that's exactly it. The Craftworld is full of Enslavers," Ryia said, her voice bitter. "Tine and I talked about this, while you were arranging the cogitator. She's immune, cause they can't get through her fucking durasynth skin. But me? All it takes is one of them getting out of the Infinity Circuit and..." She mimed something grabbing onto the back of her head with her hand. "Bye bye Ryia, hello portal direct to hell." She shoved away from him, then crossed her arms over her chest. "So. Fucking...I...I'll...stay with the fucking fleet at a distance and...I...fucking hate this!" She started to stalk back and forth. "Maybe I could wear a helmet, or weld a steel plate to my skull or something..." She muttered, while Tine watched, her eyes soft and sad.
"Ryia..." Em said, quietly.
"No, you're right," Ryia said. Then she snorted. "Think of it like this! Heh. Once the big fight starts, you want your best pilot in the wings, leading bombers against the Chaos fucksticks, right? Right?"
--- Who will make up the Lu'nasad strike force and who will you send off? Ryia has stated, in character, her decision and why - but you can argue against it or around it as you see fit! There are 51 slots, and here's your options to draw from!
Elysians (1,000~ approximately)
Kriegers (12)
Inquisition (just Balthazar)
Eldar Aspect Warriors (Striking Scorpians, Swooping Eagles, Howling Banshees, Fire Dragons, and Dark Reapers)
Eldar Rangers
Eldar Warlocks (there are only 10)
Anyone Else In Your Crew
Em nodded. "The fleet should make full speed for Purgatorio," he said, nodding. "They will be an anvil to our hammer - we will make Lu'nasad harmless and any Chaos ships that are in train with her will be obliterated by our long guns and fighters."
...I don't think this was actually the winning vote? @Sir_Travelsalot had their vote on this formatted as if it were part of a plan vote so it got split off in the tally, but I don't think this was actually a plan vote, so it seems like that should still have been counted towards the total for "Is it possible for our fleet to pace the Whisper, to keep a safe distance away, and be ready to pounce?"
...I don't think this was actually the winning vote? @Sir_Travelsalot had their vote on this formatted as if it were part of a plan vote so it got split off in the tally, but I don't think this was actually a plan vote, so it seems like that should still have been counted towards the total for "Is it possible for our fleet to pace the Whisper, to keep a safe distance away, and be ready to pounce?"
It should be noted that actually, EVERYONE is. Enslavers are so dangerous because they can enslave anyone. Only psykers can get turned into Warp Gates to bring through more Enslavers, though. However, psykers are actually LESS vulnerable to getting enslaved in the first pace, and they can't get turned into Warp Gates without being enslaved first. Being turned into a Warp Gate isn't instantaneous, either; it's a Full Round action for the Enslaver, and they take a -60 to the Willpower test (with a +10 for every round they've spent attempting it). Since Enslavers have a WP of 67, they only have a 7% chance of succeeding on the first attempt and they have to burn a whole round's action to even try.
As far as how the enslavement works, it's basically the psychic power Dominate, but Enslavers impose a -20 penalty to the Willpower test to resist or break free from it. Ryia is clearly unaware of this, since she seems to think it's a physical action that Tine's subdermal armor will protect her from.
In fact, Ryia is actually the LEAST vulnerable out of the PCs. She has the best Willpower, she has Resistance (Psy) which gives her a +10 to resist such techniques, and she has Strong Minded, which lets her re-roll any failed tests to resist psychic powers that affect the mind. It's not 100% clear from how it's written, but I THINK that Psy Rating also applies to opposed Willpower tests if an opposed Willpower test is the Focus Power for the technique being used. Which means Ryia's Psy Rating of 8 (!) would give her a +40 to resist on top of everything else, so that she'd be rolling against 60 (Willpower) + 10 (Resistance (Psy)) + 40 (Psy Rating 8) - 20 (Enslaver bullshit) = 90 to resist, while the Enslaver would be rolling against 67 + 30 (Psy Rating 6) = 97 to affect her. Not the best, but Ryia's got a free re-roll in her pocket even discounting FPs.
Tine is thus actually more vulnerable since she has lower Willpower, a lower Psy Rating, and only has Resistance (Psy) without having Strong Minded, BUT her Pure Faith talent lets her burn an FP to just nope a psychic technique like that if she fails to resist it. So Em is actually by far the MOST vulnerable to enslavement out of the core cast.
Moreover, the primary direct defense of Enslavers is their Psychic Shock ability. That's a 2-meter AoE psychic blast that automatically deals 1d10+12 Energy damage to non-psykers, ignoring armor. Psykers get a Willpower test at a +0 modifier to resist taking any damage, though.
I should note that I don't know how the Farseer shielding thing interacts with all this, though. But tl;dr is that I think Ryia could be very useful and much less vulnerable than she thinks, unless I'm really missing something.
I should note that I don't know how the Farseer shielding thing interacts with all this, though. But tl;dr is that I think Ryia could be very useful and much less vulnerable than she thinks, unless I'm really missing something.
I wonder if the Eldar have a more complete knowledge of what and how the Enslavers work and if that can be parlayed to bringing Ryia around. It would come up fairly naturally when planning.
Hmm. We definitely want our own guys in there, but I love Eldar. Definitely want a few Warlocks (assuming them being less vulnerable to Enslavers is the case) and Aspect Warriors. I love Dark Reapers, and we definitely want either them or Fire Dragons (or both) to deal with anything heavy. Striking Scorpions are both infantry and stealth, meaning we can (maybe) skip on Rangers in order to avoid spreading ourselves too thin.
Maybe this?
1 Em
1 Tine
1 Ryia
1 Inquisitor
12 Kriegers
10 Elysians
5 Fire Dragons
5 Dark Reapers
10 Striking Scorpions
5 Warlocks
Oh, VERY good to know. Do we know any specifics as to unit types for them, or would we just put x number of Harlequins and they'll pick the team loadout that suits them? I'll assume the latter for now.
@DragonCobolt do the Crow Spirits have a Void Dreamer (or maybe even more than one, if we're lucky)? Because the Spirit Shield technique would be ABSURDLY useful here, and Shearing Light is pretty dope too. If we do then I'd swap out a Dark Reaper or two for them no question.
[X] Plan Psychic Murderblender
-[X] 1 Em
-[X] 1 Tine
-[X] 1 Ryia
--[X] Em: "I suspect that a psychic enemy from the Warp will be using psychic methods to enslave its victims, rather than physical means. If so, then Tine's subdermal armor would not shield her, but your psychic strength might. Perhaps our esteemed hosts could comment on the matter? It's true that if they DID enslave either of you, it could be an even greater catastrophe than if someone else fell prey to them. But... I have faith, that you could prevail if it came to such a contest. Or at least that we can protect each other, if needed. We have through everything else, after all."
-[X] 1 Balthazar
-[X] 1 Phi (if they're interested/willing)
-[X] 10 Elysians (the First)
-[X] 10 Kriegers
-[X] 10 Warlocks
-[X] 5 Dark Reapers
-[X] 2 Fire Dragons
-[X] 8 Harlequins
-[X] 1 Babd Ra
The plan goes heavy on psychic firepower because it's highly versatile and its wielders are more resistant to Enslaver bullshit than most. I also dropped the Striking Scorpions and some of the Fire Dragons in favor of Harlequins/Warlocks, dropped 2 Kriegers (sorry, guys - we can tell them we're counting on them to bodyguard June and Zeph maybe?), and invited Phi and Babd Ra along. I added Phi because we frankly don't know what we're going to find there, and if there's already some Chaos shit set up there then it's probably using corrupted Imperial tech. And who knows, maybe they have some Xenarite tendencies they'd like to indulge.
Oh, VERY good to know. Do we know any specifics as to unit types for them, or would we just put x number of Harlequins and they'll pick the team loadout that suits them? I'll assume the latter for now.
@DragonCobolt do the Crow Spirits have a Void Dreamer (or maybe even more than one, if we're lucky)? Because the Spirit Shield technique would be ABSURDLY useful here, and Shearing Light is pretty dope too. If we do then I'd swap out a Dark Reaper or two for them no question.
And I don't think so - the book just lists Bind, Guide, and Mind War - presumably the Crow Spirits lack the really top tier warlocks that you'd normally get
X] Plan Psychic Murderblender
-[X] 1 Em
-[X] 1 Tine
-[X] 1 Ryia
--[X] Em: "I suspect that a psychic enemy from the Warp will be using psychic methods to enslave its victims, rather than physical means. If so, then Tine's subdermal armor would not shield her, but your psychic strength might. Perhaps our esteemed hosts could comment on the matter? It's true that if they DID enslave either of you, it could be an even greater catastrophe than if someone else fell prey to them. But... I have faith, that you could prevail if it came to such a contest. Or at least that we can protect each other, if needed. We have through everything else, after all."
-[X] 1 Balthazar
-[X] 1 Phi (if they're interested/willing)
-[X] 10 Elysians (the First)
-[X] 10 Kriegers
-[X] 10 Warlocks
-[X] 5 Dark Reapers
-[X] 2 Fire Dragons
-[X] 8 Harlequins
-[X] 1 Babd Ra
My one objection to this team is that without Scorpions or Rangers, we don't really have any dedicated stealth, should we need it. Though I guess the Harlequins could serve that role.
[] Plan Psychic Murderblender @Fayhem This is a good plan, I like this plan. Except for one thing; if we're bringing Xoti, and Callie is going to be there, then we absolutely positively have to bring Voidsman Noceda...
So I propose the following adjustment to your otherwise excellent plan:
[X] Plan: Sapphic ambush predation
-[X] 1 Em
-[X] 1 Tine
-[X] 1 Ryia
--[X] Em: "I suspect that a psychic enemy from the Warp will be using psychic methods to enslave its victims, rather than physical means. If so, then Tine's subdermal armor would not shield her, but your psychic strength might. Perhaps our esteemed hosts could comment on the matter? It's true that if they DID enslave either of you, it could be an even greater catastrophe than if someone else fell prey to them. But... I have faith, that you could prevail if it came to such a contest. Or at least that we can protect each other, if needed. We have through everything else, after all."
-[X] 1 Balthazar
-[X] 1 Phi (if they're interested/willing)
-[X] 1 Voidsman Noceda
-[X] 10 Elysians (the First)
-[X] 10 Kriegers
-[X] 10 Warlocks
-[X] 4 Dark Reapers
-[X] 2 Fire Dragons
-[X] 8 Harlequins
-[X] 1 Babd Ra
This is a good plan, I like this plan. Except for one thing; if we're bringing Xoti, and Callie is going to be there, then we absolutely positively have to bring Voidsman Noceda...
That seems rather unkind to Voidsman Noceda, frankly. Bringing them into an environment they were not really suited for was cheeky and (it turned out) a fun setting for a meet-cute when the environment was diplomatic negotiations. But when the environment is an Enslaver-infested Craftworld about to come under the not so tender auspices of the Faceless Lord... well, that's not really somewhere for a Voidsman, is it?
That seems rather unkind to Voidsman Noceda, frankly. Bringing them into an environment they were not really suited for was cheeky and (it turned out) a fun setting for a meet-cute when the environment was diplomatic negotiations. But when the environment is an Enslaver-infested Craftworld about to come under the not so tender auspices of the Faceless Lord... well, that's not really somewhere for a Voidsman, is it?
You make a good point. Although I would argue that we're not being unnecessarily cruel to Noceda, he's there to help mitigate Catastrophe Callie's worst accidents. And a little bit for our own amusement.
I could be wrong about this because my 40K knowledge is years out of date, but my understanding was that most voidsmen are at least nominally training in CQC in case of boarding actions and the like.
I also have faith that if we keep pushing for Noceda to be included, our most excellent QM will be able to include him has an actual useful/interesting character.
