I think this group has it the wrong way round, if the Inquisitor tells you he has a delicate job for you, you do it delicately and if you screw up its on your head not his. He is the one that can just tell the starship to bombard your position if things get out of hand not the other way around.

It does seem like they have covered almost all the bases, just make sure they dont get access to Hexagrammic Wards however nicely they ask. I hate Fearful Aura, it just makes a mockery of most humans, the only good thing was when I got to use it on the player who had previously been playing the Psyker. After he abused it he could hardly complain.

I think what you need is a Master Sorcerer with a very high WP bonus and some Telepathic Powers. Zone of Compulsion would be a good one if you could get your group in range and give the order "attack your teamates". Or just dominate the Biomancer when he runs out to do his thing,he shouts the all clear they all stand up to fight and he uses the power with max dice, as all of your NPC's cover thier eyes for the actual attempt. Lets see how they like fear 4. Also chuck in my favourite Malefic Curse and blind anyone who is annoying you, perhaps even perminantly, if he has a high BS then Hellish blast ignores armour so is great for getting past those pesky tank types. Daemon summoning rituals, if your are feeling bored get a squad of bloodletters in there lets see how they like fighting something with a higher soak than them.

If they want to be a kill team show them what the Ordo Malleus has to kill. Or if they are Ordo Xenos chuck them into the middle of a fully fledged genestealer cult. Of course if they are Hereticus then you can use the insanely powerful psykers of doom. That little boy who is a psyker that is being shielded by his parents, not quite actually a 350 year old Beta class psyker that hasnt aged and is reanimating two corpses to be "mommy and daddy". The warp is bleeding through and the Daemons are circling, a psynicience test says, "DONT USE BLOODY PSYCHIC POWERS IN HERE, ITS A TRAP".

Hope thats some ideas.

Kaihlik

EDIT: Of course they are getting pretty brutal, maybe another Inquisitor is looking to deeply into thier activities and does not like what he see's, maybe he suspects them of corruption. Torture is always a last resort even for the Inquisition (since most info gained from torture is false), doing it for fun smacks of something tainted. In order to save face your Inquisitor declares them Excommunicus Traitorus. See how they like fighting the Inquisition.

Against your Warp-users: Hexagramic Wards, Untouchables, Enemy Psykers of equal power, a Leutenant with Iron Discipline/Into the Jaws of Hell ...

One little question about that Fear-Aura: As far as i understood so far your Psyker gives a warning call and then waits till his comrades hit the deck before he starts it (Otherwise he would scare them as well). Why do your enemies don't do the same? As long as they don't always kill every enemy some should slip away and report something back to their superiors. The third time in a row they use that trick MY enemy soldiers would hide as well, and as long as your Psyker has his Fear3/4 Aura active his own comrades will not rise their heads since a -30 WP Test would even blow them away.

Other example: PROFESSIONAL Snipers work in pairs of two, one Spotter and one Shooter. As the shooter aims for another PC the Spotter gets caught by the Fear Aura, runs away screaming/vomits/cowers together and hopes to die. Now the Shooter tries (at least for one round) to find out what's wrong with his pal and therefore does not see the Psyker. After calming his pal he'll put a round through the Psykers head, out of range of the fireballs, unaffected by fear, and not noticeable till he has at least given off one shot.

Or: A 'questioned' scumbag tells them that the band uses a certain warehouse. In their usual Modus Operandi they would blow a hole in the wall and go in there guns blazing, right? Especially if they encountered some low-level opponents outside, right? Well, inside they house will be empty. Well, not completely. On a desk near the exit they will find a few post-its glued above each other. On the first is just a number, 5. On the next a 4 ... Get the idea? Your PCs make it out of the warehouse just barely, the explosion still throws them several feet trough the air, all of them suffering damage fromt the pressure and the fall. As they they stand up the scumbags who have hidden in a van/house across the street open fire on them with conventional weapons, but still large calibres like heavy stubbers and handcannons. Close combat would require to run at least 50 metres through heavy enemy fire, no cover to hide behind, and the enemy has good cover plus a full round of free fire. Unfair? Yes. But still survive-able.

Who says that the enemy can't be as rutheless as your PCs? Suicide bombers (if they don't kill your PCs outright they will take their equipment with them), false information, framing them for hideous crimes, setting them up against their own or another Inquisitor ...

Just give them opponents with the same level and the same ruthelessness.A devout Bishop who secretly works for the Temple Tendency could ask for their help, only to set them up and they storm a Temple of Baplhomael. But instead of worshippers they only find dead civilians, killed with the same weapons as they use themselves (Since they will most likely entrust the local Machinepriest with the maintenance of their weapons they could have really been used for that). While they still guess what happened another Inquisitors team shows up, taking them for the cultists and opening fire on them. Now they have been framed as demonworshippers, while the demonworshippers are mad about them 'ruining' one of their precious temples.

The other team of Acolytes will not listen to their excuses (Innocence proves nothing), the Brotherhood of the Horned Darkness will also send their kill-teams after them (and they have enough wizards and other 'strong' things with them), while the Bishop can easily declare them Haereticus and send both the =I= Hitmen and (as a last resort) the Chantry Guards after them.

They want to solve that? Well, their firepower won't be of much use, and their Psykers will have to hide their abilities as well. Now they have enemies as well equiped and skilled as themselves.

Or just give them Corruption Points for inflicting unnecessary violence/mayhem on the innocent civilians. Killed/maimed civilians can have rich families/friends, ending with bounties on their heads. And those tend to show up when you need them the least. Not to mention members of the Adeptus Arbites could frown about their behaviour and (as long as their are not known members of the =I= ) issue an arrest order for them.

We had this same conversation with our Gm as we left 6th level. From the way LEGION3000 is describing things he has a larger than average group. We have 6 players and some of the fights can take hours to resolve if they are the "boss" level fights.

Our GM hadnt used much in the way of Psychic powers against us but does so now. Whilst we go thru the grunt level enemies like water, he is now using some of the extremely powerfull enemies on us. From a players perspective its great carving into melee doing d10+14 with a powersword and 3 attacks but having had this discussion (and having GM'd high level d&d myself), it requires a differeing mindset to approach battles, as many posters here have said.

And last month he started us on Tattered Fates. That was a massive culture shock for all of us players!

S.K.

Why not try making an adversary, an arch rival if you will, to oppose them. I know the idea of a group of rogue acolytes popped up earlier. Or if your a Ravenor fan (as I am), you could make your own little Molotch. Sure, the PCs can kick down doors, kick ass and take names, then go to the bar to unwind and find random bar girls to sedeuce and they feel like they are important in an aspect of life; but by making it cinamatic you may not get the chance to be the unknown ruler of their alter-lives, but you have fun.

Some of the most memorable games are the ones that become cinamatic. I can't recall how many games I have walked away from saying "**** I wish I had taken notes, that would be a great start to a fan fiction", not because there was the perfect balance between PC and GM, but because we all had fun, we all laughed, we all got into the story. It sounds like the main problem here are game mechanics. The GM is the doorway between game mechanics and an alternate world, where regular people can act out new and interesting lives and personalities. The Mechanics of the game are nessisary for the game to run, but they arnt "The Game". The game is everyone who plays. Period. If you and your players can step away from the sheer mechanics of the game for a few sessions and play just to have fun, not to win, then I promise the situation will resolve itself. If not, pick up the tabletop mini game and put down the rollplaying books.

And a little way to make things interesting for your Psykers: Have an enemy Psyker use 'Weaken Veil', with 5-10 points Overbleed so that they are in it's affected range too. I know, thats nasty, but it should make things more complicated for them and therefore limit them in the use of their powers.

You realize, as a GM, you're letting the party run the Inquisitor?

It should go something like this:

"You left too large of a bodycount and blew the mission"

"Tough, that's on your shoulders, you deal with it"

"... ... ..."

*BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM*

"I just did. Anyone else have a problem?"

Now the PCs have two options. Toe the line or blow away the inquisitor. God help them if they do, send a squad of witch hunter space marines against them. 12 space marines will bring a swift end to their antics.

They serve, hell they *live* at the pleasure of their inquisitor. Not the other way around. If they're the only group nearby when an inquisitor needs them, they WILL conform to what the Inquistor needs, or they will be executed. 'nuff said.

It seems like you've let the group run roughshod over you, which is part of the problem.

If you don't want to player kill, get the Inquisitor all p*ssed off and have him strip them of their equipment until they learn better.