Jonas_Leman said:

Play both! A psychic Sister Militant who joins the Templar Calix!

But nah, seriously. I like the Adepta Sororitas. They are pretty awesome. On the other hand, if you want to be an absolute melee monster, then the Templar Calix psyker is for you.

Had to interject, read the title and immediately recalled our favorite Dreadnaught...

TWINS, THEY WERE!

Actually, they are nuns. They take vows of celibacy and chastity just like other members of the Ecclesiarchy that they're a part of. Some obscure orders take other vows like Silence, Poverty, etc. There is plenty to allow you to play a non-militant Sororitas. The Sisters of Battle codex for WH40k during 2nd edition or 3rd edition described the non-militant orders as well.

For novel/fiction support read "Faith & Fire" by James Swallow. This book is solely about the Sisters and Sister Verity of the Sisters of Serenity is one of the non-militant Sisters. Mind you every Sister goes through a minimum of combat training, so they can handle themselves o,k. in a fight against the average citizen. So I wouldn't play your character as a helpless person or a damsel in distress.

In addition, I recommend, budget permitting, that every playgroup have a copy of the Daemonhunters Codex and the Witch Hunters Codex available to it. It has background not contained in the Dark Heresy books about the Inquisition and how it functions as well as military structure and resources available. Also there are downloads from the Inquisitor game that explain the MonoDominant and Radical points of view and philosophies that are a real help for playing an Inquisitor.

There are also many novels that give an insight to how various factions of the Inquisition approach their missions. Personally, I can recommend the Ravenor trilogy by Dan Abnett (Hereticus, Xenos and Malleus...check for correct order). The Grey Knights trilogy by Ben Counter is o.k. and gives that perspective of the Malleus. Faith & Fire by James Swallow describes the Adepta Sororitas (part of Ordo Hereticus). There are a few other novels about the Inquisition including several trilogies, one specifically about one Inquisitor and one that majorly features the Deathwatch which is part of Ordo Xenos and is a composite Space Marine force that recruits only the best available Marines from each Space Marine chapter (don't know if they're all volunteer or what, but obviously they don't take ALL the best, got leave the leaders and trainers for each Chapter to raise up each rookie into a blooded Veteran.

The Chaos Space Marine and Chaos Daemon Codices also have good fluff about their side of the story and definitely give pictures to show how to paint the Imperium's enemies, Emperor forbid you should ever run into the rogue Astartes, except when backed up by Loyalist Astartes.

Well, I wouldn't base your information about the Sisters from a book not ABOUT the Sisters. Isn't Cain some Imperial Guard hero? The Imperial Guard are in the dark when it comes to the secrets of the Ecclesiarchy, full of rumors. See Fire & Faith. The Imperial Navy members think various things about the Sisters (all of which are untrue). The Arbites, the same ideas about the Sisters.

I'd rather base my knowledge upon a novel that is about the Sisters, like Fire & Faith by James Swallow. Also the Sister's of Battle codex from Warhammer 40k if you can find a copy or the Witch Hunters Codex for the same game, with not as much about the Sisters but more than in the Dark Heresy books and certainly more than in any of the Cain novels.

I don't think that Sandy Mitchell is an expert on the Ecclesiarchy but on the Imperial Guard.

bogi_khaosa said:

WRONG! Celibacy was encouraged for all in the letters of St. Paul to the Corinthians. (Before 200AD, as all biblical books are). Mandated clerical celibacy in the Roman Church was 1100 AD; mandated clerical chastity (including no sex within marriage after ordination to the order of the Deaconate) was about 800AD.

Monastic chastity was standard from the start of the monastic movement; ca 200AD.

Hermits being chaste is part of "renouncing human companionship," which is itself, part of the hermit's purpose.

That's what I said.

The Deathwatch are the best of the Chapters, but they serve for limited terms (they can serve more than one term, but not consecutively). This means the Holy Xenos has the best available, spreads information and skills back to the Chapters, keeps some good trainers and support staff for the Chapters and disperses the risk effectively (if all your Deathwatch are Klybo, then you can induct some more on relatively short notice).

He's referring to using the random homeworld tables... and on those tables, despite what the text says, Schola Progenium is the ONLY option for the Sisters. (I've modified the table to match the text, though the vast majority - about 40% - are still Schola Progenium.)

Jonas_Leman said:

My two cents? Play the psyker, it's probably easier to role-play. Not because of the cross-gender roleplay (my GM's BS demand that anyone who played a Sororita had to wear a dress aside, I have comfortably played female characters in other settings) but because it is encouraged in the language of the Inquistor's Handbook to play them as Puritan mindset zealots who supposed to complusively take a heavy flamer to anything that remotely stinks of heresy, difficult if the cultist's journal is also the party's only lead to figure out the conspiracy. Now such complications might be fun if played properly, but then again I have personally had horrible experience getting real-life players to play anything more complex then hack and slash loot junkies.

To become a Templar Calix you need to have fewer than 10 Insanity and Corruption Points. What are the odds that a Rank 3 Psyker is going to have less than to 10 IPs and CPs? In one of my games one of the characters went from 0 to 19 Insanity Points in 2 days of game time.

I play a Sororitas in my group. Originally, I had her be fairly strong minded and zealous. However, in my background she has been attached out to a slightly radical inquisitor. She was attached in order to groom her for command/diplomacy duties (I planned on going Dialogous path), which requires more free thinking than the mindless zeal of a line trooper. This inquisitor also made it abundantly clear that he would not tolerate mindless zealotry. He backed it up with arguments about, for example, allowing a heretic minion to live for a time in order to track him back to the heretic master and wiping out the nest.

With these orders and examples, my Sororitas was able to unbend slowly, until now she is much more free-thinking and less rigid. She still doesn't condone the existence of heresy or mutants, but she can forward-think to what would result in the best outcome for the Empire. Letting a minor heresy exist (for a time, be assured she will remember and take care of it later) in order to eliminate the root of the problem is much easier for her to handle now.

Her "True Faith" is faith in the Emporer first and foremost. His light guides and protects all. The individual tenets of the Church may vary, and as long as they don't stray too far they fall within acceptable limits. Thus her Faith is attached less to the specific version of the Ecclesiarchy, and more to the embodiment of the Emporer and his power personally as a Divinity.

THAT is how I would play a Sister.

I made it pretty clear, in my background story, that her future in the Sororitas (and possibly even membership, although that is mostly her own insecurity) hinged on good reports from the Inquisitor. Thus, his orders became paramount. Her first mission, she wasn't allowed to be 'in-charge' and was constantly double-checking herself with the other group members to see if she was being overzealous. I found by providing the background that I did, I allowed my Sororitas to grow and move out of the strict cookie-cutter image and thus allow the group some flexibility instead of pidgeonholing them into a zealous puritan mindest.

She also started off slightly stronger than the other PCs, with a cheap BS upgrade and early access to Bolt weapons. But, especially since I went Dialogous path, the others have steadily caught up (and and passing) me in combat skills. I'm stuck with my single bolt pistol, while they are now getting into two-weapon wielders and masteries, etc.