Hi fellow GMs, a quick question if you will.

I have a character in a campaign plan I would like to keep alive, a major antagonist of the Chaos perspective. Now it is likely they will beat him (it's actually part of his plan to lose and be taken in so he can infiltrate and get out later, long story) however I doubt that the group of players I am with are likely to want to let him live. The character will request a parley but I am confident that the players are not likely to allow it. The only way I achieved it last time was when I had him holding a virus bomb in front of him, as even they were not stupid enough to realise that destroying that would doom not just them but the rest of the innocent planet. The result was achieved and got the players to actually talk to the antagonist instead of actually shooting first since there was a big risk of setting the device off. In the end they did take a shot but only when they spent a while stalling so they could move around him to avoid hitting the device.

So my question to you guys then, do you put such situations in? How do you prevent major plot antagonists from being killed immediately? Do you even allow it at all, instead the players kill them and the plot entirely has to change. If you do have such instances though, how would you find a way to make them less likely to take that fatal kill shot. The example I provided was Chaos but if you have examples from Tau, Eldar, Orks etc then please do let me know. I need ideas...

This question is one of incentives. The PCs (all Deathwatch PCs that is not just yours) play xenophobic knight templar who are also dangerously genre savvy. Thier default setting is to shoot first ask questions later if at all.

The question then is how to keep the PCs from exacting ultra violence on a NPC. Or rather what incentive do you create.

Previously the incentive you used was the immediate survivial of the group. This is a good obvious one to use. Can be somewhat short term as you found.

Another is reward, perhaps in the form of knowledge or power. Perhaps the antagonist says he knows how to stop some great threat, perhaps he knows when a Space Hulk will appear. The possibilities are endless. Remind the players that they are i nthe Deathwatch, knowledge is respected in that Order and it would be a potential derrogation of their duty not to explore the possibility of gaining more.

Another incentive is authority. You could simply have an Inquisitor or watch Commander order the group to bring the NPC in alive. Meanwhile the NPC knows that the Deathwatch are after him, he also wants to be caught. However giving up too easily would raise suspicions. So lead the PCs on a merry chase. When he is finally caught the PCs will be very pleased with themselves.

These are a few ideas anyway.

Another incentive is authority. You could simply have an Inquisitor or watch Commander order the group to bring the NPC in alive.

The Watch Commander would probably be the superior choice. In FFG's version of the setting, the Deathwatch is merely allied to the Inquisition, rather than being a part of it, so unless the group has houseruled this part of the background, an Inquisitor would not have command authority over the player characters. He or she could still try to reason with the PCs, but the consequences of the player characters simply saying "no" are much less severe than disobeying a superior from their own organisation, and this might affect the players' judgment. Also, some players may be tempted to resist an Inquisitor just because they're not a "fellow Astartes".

Other than that, great advice.

The survival thing is something I'd recommend not using too often - aside from its effect on the player characters having a huge risk of diminishing every time it is used (because they know the enemy will remain a threat, and at some point it may just become too tempting to end it once and for all even when risking martyrdom), it may at some point also start to evoke the impression of a cliché, or worse an attempt by the GM to forcefully railroad the players. The latter may be alleviated somewhat if the players are already aware of the risk instead of the enemy pulling their getaway card out of thin air, though!

The Watch Commander would probably be the superior choice. In FFG's version of the setting, the Deathwatch is merely allied to the Inquisition, rather than being a part of it, so unless the group has houseruled this part of the background, an Inquisitor would not have command authority over the player characters. He or she could still try to reason with the PCs, but the consequences of the player characters simply saying "no" are much less severe than disobeying a superior from their own organisation, and this might affect the players' judgment. Also, some players may be tempted to resist an Inquisitor just because they're not a "fellow Astartes".

True. Although an Inquisitor Lord might be hard to refuse.

Here's what I have planned for my next mission: I will try out the Space Hulk rules and send the KT onto a small Space Hulk that the DA Librarian knows to be controlled by Chaos, as his intel indicates that this hulk had recent contact with the ship of a Fallen in the Khazant system. The whole mission is a staged relic recovery operation, a guise for finding out more about the meeting. The relic in question does not exist except in forged Erioch archive files.

I plan for the KT to meet a daemonic imp on the center ship of the hulk. The DA will have all incentive to not kill the guy; in fact, the whole KT does because they will need some information to navigate a HQ ship of Chaos in the Acheros Salient. That imp is, of course, a daemon prince, the ruler of the ship and a major leader in the Cellebos warzone beyond Sardas chain of command. He will be hard to kill between his small size, high damage soak and wounds and good agility. He will actually help the players, provided they will do him a favour or two (pesky rivals). And of course he will sense the interest of the DA and try to use that to tempt him with Chaos. If they attack him, he'll escape through vents they can't follow and try again a second time. If they attack again, they will not be able to complete the mission and struggle to merely survive.

Needing daemonic help to succeed... nice, eh?

Alex

How do you prevent major plot antagonists from being killed immediately?

I have terrible luck with this- every villain that I hoped would become a 'recurring threat' ends up dying as soon as the PCs get him in their sights. My best suggestion is: don't forget Fate Points. If the villain is 'Touched By The Fates', he can Burn one to 'only' end up unconscious and dying, at which point you can hint to the players that bringing him in alive to be interrogated might be worth more Renown that just snuffing him...

I have terrible luck with this- every villain that I hoped would become a 'recurring threat' ends up dying as soon as the PCs get him in their sights. My best suggestion is: don't forget Fate Points. If the villain is 'Touched By The Fates', he can Burn one to 'only' end up unconscious and dying, at which point you can hint to the players that bringing him in alive to be interrogated might be worth more Renown that just snuffing him...

Have you considered giving him an entourage that has capability to kill the entire KT within one round? Like... a 10 men squad of Chaos Terminators? The players will be annoyed that they can't really afford to take him on this time. And if they do, let chips fall where they may.

Alex

The other idea is to bypass the issue completly by having another Kill Team bring him in.

I have terrible luck with this- every villain that I hoped would become a 'recurring threat' ends up dying as soon as the PCs get him in their sights. My best suggestion is: don't forget Fate Points. If the villain is 'Touched By The Fates', he can Burn one to 'only' end up unconscious and dying, at which point you can hint to the players that bringing him in alive to be interrogated might be worth more Renown that just snuffing him...

Have you considered giving him an entourage that has capability to kill the entire KT within one round? Like... a 10 men squad of Chaos Terminators? The players will be annoyed that they can't really afford to take him on this time. And if they do, let chips fall where they may.

Alex

Tried that in the last game. One Chaos Lord, Chaos Sorcerer, a dozen armed Chaos Marine elites all aiming at one doorway. The result did not end in a matter I was happy with. GM Sorcery had to kick in before it turned into a bloodbath. Also RE fatepoints...yeah this is the kind of squad that will check he's dead and not KO'ed and if he isn't fully dead will likely use a good 20 tonnes of demo packs and crash a ship into the ground just to be sure. That last bit is not me exaggerating either, it actually happened.

I think I'm leaning more towards Visitor Q's idea, bring him in with an NPC squad or the debate about whether I can use an Inquisitor Lord or high ranking official somewhere. Tempted to make it GK. Not since they have any authority over either but since the GK are a group they hate more than anyone else due to them being a bunch of silver snob nosed gits.

The survival thing was just a one off. I agree, making it one where there is mass martyrdom is very risky. The only thing in my favour was the situation. They had launched an armoured assault against an enemy bastion acting as the spearhead of the assault using an aircraft and two tanks. Meanwhile behind was a large Inquisitorial armoured company with Guard Platoon or two. Plus the entire planet was contested between Imperials and Chaos. The KT opted to not risk setting off viral bombs accidentally as it would kill themselves and several billion others. That's one of the few times I've been able to stop them shooting first and questioning later.

Oh incidentally you might try the old reverse psychology. Just have the Chaos Sorcerer walk camly towards them arms wide laughing saying 'Yes YES! Shoot me Shoooooot Meeeee!'.

PCs can either take him in for questioning which would be the obvious thing to do.

OR

If they call the Sorcerers bluff and kill him then congratulations they have completed the final part in a Chaos martydom deamon ritual opening a door to the warp. Throw a Great Unclean One and a dozen plauge bearers at them for their troubles. The next group might decide to ask questions first.

In FFG's version of the setting, the Deathwatch is merely allied to the Inquisition, rather than being a part of it, so unless the group has houseruled this part of the background, an Inquisitor would not have command authority over the player characters.

I really, really hate this fluff change. A lot.

In any case, give him Touched by the Fates and have him burn it when/if he's killed. Could always have a backup plan to escape. The players don't have any right to know the details.

In FFG's version of the setting, the Deathwatch is merely allied to the Inquisition, rather than being a part of it, so unless the group has houseruled this part of the background, an Inquisitor would not have command authority over the player characters.

I really, really hate this fluff change. A lot.

If a DW superior orders the Kill-Team to cooperate with or refer to Inquisitor So-and-so in some matter, then it is an order, period. How the DW leadership and the resident Inquisitor plays it out before reaching a conclusion needn't concern mere Battle-Brothers. That said, I do miss the opportunity to have an obnoxious Inquisitor with absolute authority pushing the team to its limits, like in the short stories.

Oh incidentally you might try the old reverse psychology. Just have the Chaos Sorcerer walk camly towards them arms wide laughing saying 'Yes YES! Shoot me Shoooooot Meeeee!'.

PCs can either take him in for questioning which would be the obvious thing to do.

OR

If they call the Sorcerers bluff and kill him then congratulations they have completed the final part in a Chaos martydom deamon ritual opening a door to the warp. Throw a Great Unclean One and a dozen plauge bearers at them for their troubles. The next group might decide to ask questions first.

If I recall it correctly, the legendary Adept Grendel routinely massacred Chaos cultists in the middle of a ritual, only to make Khorne mightily pleased, and send in a higher-tier daemon The image of a sorcerer taunting the team to kill him using the high-pitched cultist voice from DoW (Yesss, they come! THEEEEY COOOOME!) is something I just have to see in action. I shall name the Khornate Daemon something beginning with Q in gratitude for providing the inspiration

As for the original topic: in one of the Cain novels, the baddie Inquisitor has a displacement field, which was a short-range teleport, activating automatically when the holder was shot. It is not that clever, but one might use the idea when in a pinch.

the baddie Inquisitor has a displacement field

Either we're thinking of a different inquisitors( I'm thinking of a not baddie one ) or you just spoiled something to me I should stop reading these forums until I've read all w40k books (haha). But the idea is still great for a shoot first, ask later KT. That's really gonna be a pain in the ass for them!

Tried that in the last game. One Chaos Lord, Chaos Sorcerer, a dozen armed Chaos Marine elites all aiming at one doorway. The result did not end in a matter I was happy with. GM Sorcery had to kick in before it turned into a bloodbath.

That's why I said Chaos Terminators.

The question is: are you willing to go TPK if they insist on going for the BBEG against overwhelming odds? If not, then you lose in this game of chicken. If they'd attack in spite of all the Chaos Terminators - I would start mercilessly slaughtering them. And it would be hard to get a good shot at the bad guy. And if they hit with a melta, he goes down, expends fate, is alive and out of sight and then Imperator have mercy on their souls.

And I bet they tire of making new PCs before I tire giving them challenges they can't defeat by brute force and come out alive.

If a GM isn't ready to go there, it stops being a thinking man's game. As long as the player's know and understand what's up and why, it's all fine.

Alex

Another incentive is authority. You could simply have an Inquisitor or watch Commander order the group to bring the NPC in alive.

The Watch Commander would probably be the superior choice. In FFG's version of the setting, the Deathwatch is merely allied to the Inquisition, rather than being a part of it, so unless the group has houseruled this part of the background, an Inquisitor would not have command authority over the player characters. He or she could still try to reason with the PCs, but the consequences of the player characters simply saying "no" are much less severe than disobeying a superior from their own organisation,

In fairness an Inquisitor isn't just 'some bloke' even to a normal Space Marine Chapter it's just that the Astartes are less intimidated by the position.

However if an Inquisitor makes a reasonable request of the Astartes it will generally be agreed to.

On the rare occassions that an Inquisitor feels he needs to order an Astartes to do something that is such a rare occasion in its own right that most Astartes would think carefully before disobeying. An example would be the invovlement of the Inquisition in the Badab War. On the orders of the Inquisition even the successionist Chapters of the Mantis Warriors, Lamenters and Executioners provided gene-samples and the Executioners allowed an Inquisitorial delgation to inspect their homeworld. Only the Astral Claws refused. It is is notable that after the war the Astral Claw prisoners were all executed.

In addition the loyalist Chapters of the Fire Hawks and the Marines Errant also submitted to Inquisitorial investigation to prove their orthodoxy.

Finally in the same conflict the distrust of the Inquisitorial Legate was enough to ensure that the Red Scorpions agreed to the Raptors withdrawing from the conflict.

In short an Inquisitor does have authority over Astartes it's just that for various military and political reasons they don't exercise it in the same way that they would with general Imperial citizenry.

A really good real life example would be the way that the Inquisition (the real-world Inquisition) interacted with the Knights of Malta . btw I would really really recommend every Deathwatch GM reading about the Knights Of Malta, not only were they boss but they also give a great insight into how an actual Knightly Order with parallels to the Deathwatch (i.e one drawing knights from across Europe for tours of duty) might operate.

As for the Deathwatch, they are the Chambers Militant of the Ordo Xenos. At a fundamental level they have sworn an oath to this effect. Sure there might be wriggle room, and more so in the FFG version but if a Kill Team consistently disobeys, ignores, undermines and even abuses Inquisitorial agents then they might find themselves being called out as Oathbreakers and not necessarily by the Inquisition but by fellow marines. And then things get really messy.

From the POV of the Imperium (including the Astartes) the Inqusition are the secret guardians of humanity fighting against hidden terrors. They also act as the final arbiters of what is acceptable conduct. I would guess from a modern perspective it would seem the Inquisition is made up of interfering busy-bodies at best and religious fanatics at worst. But from an Imperial citizens point of view (and this includes Astartes) to be denounced as a heretic is a huge deal. Not only is it a formal denouncment that you are putting your soul in peril but it is also a warning to all others dealing with you.

A Space Marine Chapter may or may not be follow the the Imperial Creed but an Inquisitorial declaration of heresy would already take into account that the Marines don't follow the Imperial Creed, it is a declaration of Heresy over and above that!

In addition it would have massive political effects. A Marine Chapter may not give a flying monkey what an inquisitor thinks of them but the Administratum sure as **** do. Any supply lines from Hive Worlds are likely to dry up. Navigator Houses will be more reluctant to work with the Chapter. Vassals on worlds owned by the Chapter may grow restless knowing their masters are heretics. For fleet based Chapters worlds that provided new recruits may refuse to do so. Imperial forces grow unco-operative and unwilling to come to the Chapters help if it is requested. Imperial Navy may run blockades or interceptions on Chapter vessels. Even the Adeptus Mechanicus might rethink any contracts they have.

The role/view of Inquisitors isn't helped by GW/FFG current trend of having most Inquisitors either being mentally unstable psychopaths or secretly summoning deamons and generally abusing their position. My personal view is that 75% of Inquisitors are basically on the level, incredibly competant and widely respected. They may have radical philosophies but they don't go overboard. So for example an Isstavanian may simply espouse a wider colonisation of Deathworlds to foster conflict and wouldn't dream of helping actual rebels.

Either we're thinking of a different inquisitors( I'm thinking of a not baddie one ) or you just spoiled something to me I should stop reading these forums until I've read all w40k books (haha). But the idea is still great for a shoot first, ask later KT. That's really gonna be a pain in the ass for them!

Sorry, hasn't thought of that. I'll be more careful in the future, promise The spoiler is fairly minor, won't ruin the book, and I'm not saying which, no, sir

In FFG's version of the setting, the Deathwatch is merely allied to the Inquisition, rather than being a part of it, so unless the group has houseruled this part of the background, an Inquisitor would not have command authority over the player characters.

I really, really hate this fluff change. A lot.

If a DW superior orders the Kill-Team to cooperate with or refer to Inquisitor So-and-so in some matter, then it is an order, period. How the DW leadership and the resident Inquisitor plays it out before reaching a conclusion needn't concern mere Battle-Brothers. That said, I do miss the opportunity to have an obnoxious Inquisitor with absolute authority pushing the team to its limits, like in the short stories.

Oh incidentally you might try the old reverse psychology. Just have the Chaos Sorcerer walk camly towards them arms wide laughing saying 'Yes YES! Shoot me Shoooooot Meeeee!'.

PCs can either take him in for questioning which would be the obvious thing to do.

OR

If they call the Sorcerers bluff and kill him then congratulations they have completed the final part in a Chaos martydom deamon ritual opening a door to the warp. Throw a Great Unclean One and a dozen plauge bearers at them for their troubles. The next group might decide to ask questions first.

If I recall it correctly, the legendary Adept Grendel routinely massacred Chaos cultists in the middle of a ritual, only to make Khorne mightily pleased, and send in a higher-tier daemon The image of a sorcerer taunting the team to kill him using the high-pitched cultist voice from DoW (Yesss, they come! THEEEEY COOOOME!) is something I just have to see in action. I shall name the Khornate Daemon something beginning with Q in gratitude for providing the inspiration

If you've ever seen the film 'Visitor Q' then you might find a Slaneesh Deamon is more appropriate....It is Japanese and very very wierd and not in a good way.

So my question to you guys then, do you put such situations in? How do you prevent major plot antagonists from being killed immediately? Do you even allow it at all, instead the players kill them and the plot entirely has to change. If you do have such instances though, how would you find a way to make them less likely to take that fatal kill shot. The example I provided was Chaos but if you have examples from Tau, Eldar, Orks etc then please do let me know. I need ideas...

Have you considered having a conversation via vox or the mind of the librarian? If the antagonist isn't directly present, they can't kill him instantly. You might even dream up an abandoned fortress where your Chaos sorcerer has installed an endless number of megaphones which he uses to talk to the kill team as they try to find him. Perhaps given enough time (and the foreshadowing of enough bad things to come when they kill him) the kill team will change from strategy when they finally meet him. Blaring megaphone: "You seek to kill me, fools, but know that only I... only I know where to find your so-called Allfather. Wouldn't it be a shame that you ruin this unique opportunity for some pitiful quest of vengeance... Killing me might be the most damning thing you'll ever do. Think about it, Russ at your side, rebooting your holy crusade, reconquering all those worlds that your Empire has lost in the last 10.000 years... And the knowledge, all the sacred knowledge the Great Wolf has gathered while absent... Would you really risk total war without the assistance of Him?"

I've played in a campaign where the main antagonist left videomessages for the kill team to be found. This way he delivered his message, step by agonizing step.

Some kind of blackmail would work equally well. Let the players discover that their enemy is the only one who can stop a pending invasion in a subsector (perhaps this is better suited for a Tau or Eldar than a Chaos type enemy). I admit that this looks a bit like the "virusbomb"-act you pulled earlier, but in this case their own lives aren't at stake. It becomes more a choice of the lesser of two evils.

If you've ever seen the film 'Visitor Q' then you might find a Slaneesh Deamon is more appropriate....It is Japanese and very very wierd and not in a good way.

I'll check it. I volunteer myself willingly, in order to freak my players out more efficiently. May the Emperor watch over me

And yes, Slaneesh might work. Khorne is the obvious choice, of course, because MOAR BLOOD always works with him, but the intense pleasure of dozens of faithful cultists getting killed reaching Slaneesh and getting his/her attention might also be justifiable indeed. I don't see Tzeench and Nurgle react in a similar way.

That said, I do miss the opportunity to have an obnoxious Inquisitor with absolute authority pushing the team to its limits, like in the short stories.

Well, you could just ignore that bit and play with GW's fluff - my group does so , and we think it's more fun that way too.

It's just a question of what your fellow players prefer. Regular interaction with human characters of all sorts of hierarchical relationships tends to add something to the game, I think, especially when contrasted with Marine lifestyle and the perspectives taught by most Chapter cultures.

In short an Inquisitor does have authority over Astartes it's just that for various military and political reasons they don't exercise it in the same way that they would with general Imperial citizenry.

In the original material, Inquisitors have (official) authority over everyone . However, the Deathwatch RPG core rulebook specifically states that the Inquisition and the Deathwatch are "equals", with the Deathwatch merely being an ally of the Ordo Xenos.

It's just another take on the setting, I suppose. Fortunately, whether you stick to this or GW's fluff (or even something that you yourself made up) is entirely in the hands of the group.

In GW's fluff, excommunication would also quickly lead to a visit from a strike force of Grey Knights, Adepta Sororitas, or other Marine Chapters. Quite possibly a worse consequence than just support drying up.

In the studio books, it seems that support drying up already happens for Marine Chapters that have not been officially condemned, but who just have a reputation of being weird or a**holes. An example that springs to mind is the Relictors Chapter whose ships were almost shot down by the Navy upon leaving orbit as they went AWOL during the Third War on Armageddon, and then, a month later, had their resupply delayed when stopping at the shipyards of Belis Corona, with the facility simply refusing the Marines' demands until a delegation of Munitorum officials negotiated a release.

Being semi-independent does not only have advantages, I suppose.

+1 for knowing quite a bit of the fluff, though, and for delivering a good explanation of the interplay between the various Imperial organisations - even though it does not seem to apply in the same sense to this RPG

In the original material, Inquisitors have (official) authority over everyone . However, the Deathwatch RPG core rulebook specifically states that the Inquisition and the Deathwatch are "equals", with the Deathwatch merely being an ally of the Ordo Xenos.

That's true (and irritating [to me at least]- the Deathwatch were originally conceived solely to serve as the Chamber Militant of the Ordo Xenos), but musungu 's point is still valid: even if you assume that Inquisitors no longer have total command over the Deathwatch, if a Deathwatch Captain or Commander tells the Killteam "Inquisitor So-And-So is in charge of this mission- obey his orders to the letter", then they can't ignore that Inquisitor's orders without being brought up on charges for violating the command from their Deathwatch superior.

True enough! It seems a bit like a detour, but it should have the desired effect... should.

the Deathwatch were originally conceived solely to serve as the Chamber Militant of the Ordo Xenos

They still are in GW's fluff. But, fun fact - the real world reason for the creation of the Deathwatch was that GW wanted to have Space Marines operate with and alongside human characters for their own d100 Inquisitor game. Kinda ironic when you compare that to the situation here!

Yeah but I don't think it's that simple. Rules-bound chapter, the majority, are very likely to comply and accept the authority of an Inquisitor. A marine of that chapter knows that the Inquisitor will likely have the backing of his uppers. If an Inquisitor was to nilly-willy punish Space Wolves, otoh, or the Administratum sought to cut the SW chapter off its supplies, chances would be higher that the chapter would start to wrecking face, imho.

Also, I believe that there is a difference between first foundings and laters. Probably even between second foundings and laters. These hold special positions in the Imperium that even an Inquisitor Lord would be very hesitant to mess with.

And that the situation isn't as clear-cut is something that I consider interesting about the set-up.

Alex

The fact of the matter is though, that whether they have any direct power over a squad of Astartes is ultimately irrelevant whether established in the book as either, an Inquisitor can make life very difficult for any space marine if they choose to be defiant and not fully comply with their orders when asked. All it takes is one vox message in the right (or wrong) ear and suddenly you can have an entire kill team under suspicion of being heretics or traitors and having to not only fight the Xenos and the forces of Chaos but also the almost impossibly complex Imperial bureaucracy and procedure. Which could in itself make for an interesting plot hook.

I must say though Librarian Astelan your idea of slow drip feed of vox messages to discourage/tempt them is quite intriguing. With your permission I'd love to nick that. It would play into the overall campaign anyway as it all might tie in nicely.

That said, I do miss the opportunity to have an obnoxious Inquisitor with absolute authority pushing the team to its limits, like in the short stories.

Well, you could just ignore that bit and play with GW's fluff - my group does so , and we think it's more fun that way too.

It's just a question of what your fellow players prefer. Regular interaction with human characters of all sorts of hierarchical relationships tends to add something to the game, I think, especially when contrasted with Marine lifestyle and the perspectives taught by most Chapter cultures.

In short an Inquisitor does have authority over Astartes it's just that for various military and political reasons they don't exercise it in the same way that they would with general Imperial citizenry.

In the original material, Inquisitors have (official) authority over everyone . However, the Deathwatch RPG core rulebook specifically states that the Inquisition and the Deathwatch are "equals", with the Deathwatch merely being an ally of the Ordo Xenos.

It's just another take on the setting, I suppose. Fortunately, whether you stick to this or GW's fluff (or even something that you yourself made up) is entirely in the hands of the group.

Yep!

In our (my?) setting we have the Deathwatch as very much the Chamber Militant of the Inquisition. There is a specific Inquisitor Lord who basically sets the wide strategic objectives for the Deathwatch with a number of other Inquisitors who will often set specific missions for the Kill Teams. At the same time the various Watch Captains and the Commander (one Olaf Greyscar in my version) have their own agendas and missions they want to complete

So basically in our version the Deathwatch have a lot of autonomy but have very much pledged themselves to work for the Inquisition.

One facet of this relationship which I am begining to explore is the role of Radicalisim within the Inquisition and how the Deathwatch deals with this, as on the one hand they are sworn to serve the Ordo Xenos Inquisitors but on the other hand the average Astartes is generally coming from a pretty conservative background.