aka, how do your acolytes make money? Aside from the time-honored tradition of looting the bodies, that is.

I think I misunderstand your question, because the RAW for income is in the book, ironically under the sub heading titled Money in the Armoury Chapter...

I mean, non-book methods. Because frankly, that salary is pretty slim. So conning you Inquisitor into giving you a bank account, taking over a hive-gang and running it for profit, using your psychic powers to cheat at cards, petty theft, not-so-petty-theft, blackmail, protection schemes, bank heists, graft, taking bribes, freelance assassinations, taking out life insurance policies on your target, brothel operation, drug smuggling, selling xenos artifacts, etc.

Have your players become private security contractors in their down time in missions. This will lead to many new adventures and perhaps spice things up from the normal routine of investigate and purge.

Right at the moment, they simply don´t. At this is met by me. I had to GM a group of "Vampire" where the first thing one of the players was all about was "we have awesome powers, let´s rob a bank!"

Other then this, they are somewhat into looting...but not "old school". For example, they leave weapons where they are (mostly), but are actually having some kilo of street-level Obscura.

Well, the book suggests that earned titles might increase salary, and that the Inquisitor might reward players with a raise for good performance. Also, having a trade or performer skill automatically puts players in the Trading social and income class, according to the IH. There are also suggestions for roleplaying Trade (Merchant) which might be applied to a wide range of activities, from running a business to negotiating a hit or bounty to fleecing a mark.

Or you can combine them, with an adept being the manager of a business, the scum and/or priest handling negotiations, arbitrators and guardsmen the private eyes and muscle/security, assassins the hit men, tech-priests doing the obvious, and psykers assigned depending on their disciplines..

Nigh7gaun7 said:

Are your players acolytes of the Holy Inquisition, or the sort of criminals that acolytes of the Holy Inquisition should either arrest as heretics or turn over to the Arbites for prosecution of lesser crimes?

And doesn't the Inquisition have limitless funds and the authority to requisition whatever it needs? If the equipment your acolytes want to obtain is something that is necessary for them to conduct a mission for their Inquisitor, why should they have to "earn money" to get it? The heresy they're investigating must not be very urgent if they have time to do this kind of stuff "on the side." Taking over a hive gang, drug smuggling, etc. Those things would be a full-time job IMO.

I just can't understand why an Inquisitor would want his or her acolytes to spend their time doing this kind of stuff and not thwarting the enemies of Mankind.

Dark Heresy is mostly missing the important section named "Mission Budget". Your Inquisitor should give you the mission. Then he gives you the resources he thinks you need to carry out that mission- be it transport, Thrones, Accomodation, additional weaponry or authority over local forces.

Thats why the Acolytes shouldnt need to live hand to mouth and moonlight while in the service of the Big I.

SJE

SJE said:

In my campaign, they didn't, and rules as written, they shouldn't be solely expected to survive just on that monthly wage (or rather, they suggest that those values be adjusted or supplemented as required by the situation, the group's successes and so forth).

I, personally, only gave them the wage during downtime - it's a monthly retainer fee, given to them when they're not actively involved in an investigation at their master's behest. It was entirely distinct from mission-related funds and rewards for successful operations (mission specific funds and equipment beyond transport was fairly rare - the rewards were expected to be sufficient for the group to equip themselves adequately for the tasks they were expected to undertake).

I'm never going to be able to afford Good Quallity Auger arrays or Cybernetic Sences on 150 thrones a month, unless I get lost in the Warp for a few hundred years, and continue to collect pay..........

I say, investigate heretics that have money. After all, unsuccessful heresies (by which we mean heresies that don't have money) clearly aren't all that much of a threat.

Nigh7gaun7 said:

Well, that's always been the FBI's approach. The more lucrative a particular crime is, the more interested the Feds have traditionally been because when the bust is made and the assets are siezed, the cash often goes into the FBI's annual budget (and depending on the size of the score, there's plenty of extra to be stashed away for a rainy day). This behavior has largely changed since 9-11, (although it will probably eventually change back) but it just goes to show you that a nation-spanning orginization with vast powers still has low-level agents who are willing or forced to skim a bit off the top and do well for themselves. Acolytes may be given a 'mission budget,' but given their relative unimportance, particularly early on, there is little to suggest that this budget would be unlimited or even -in some cases- sufficient to the mission at hand.

Actually, that reminds me. There was one fellow on here, a while back, who said that part of their party's Adept's duties revolved entirely around payroll and requisitions, and a great deal of what rescources they had at their disposal depended on how successful he was at his bureau-craft. This seemed like a fun solution to me, and a reasonable one. An inquisitor who gives his employees a budget is likely to track his acolytes expeditures. This leads, inevitably, to paperwork and the unforgiving life of the Adept. This is also reflective of how real-life clandestine cells operate, with one 'money man' handling the scant resources and equipment loadouts, along with payroll. Even the US government's agents, however, often have less than what they need to get a job done. Getting more resources is possible, but it takes time and paperwork...

Nigh7gaun7 said:

Up until they summon something from the warp.

Bilateralrope said:

Yeah outscourcing services to the Immaterium is fairly ceap these 40k days. You pretty much can't get better and cheaper mayhem, corruption and true horror anywhere else.

Well, in my campaign the Inquisition got it's throat ripped out from the inside. So, the Acolytes are nearly very much on their own. The only person whom has come up with schemes to gain extra money is the Scum, but since he has a decent reason to be making that Trade Money (pg.239 of IH) in the main rulebook with Armourer, he hasn't done his normal conning/stealing.

It really, really helps for one of the party members to be a noble. Start from there, and build.

Not only do I have high income, I rarely need to pay for things. We need accommadations? I imply I'm in town to arrange lucrative business deals between the local worthies and my family's extensive trade network. They fall over each other to offer me and my "bodyguards" lodging in their manor houses. Then, I arrange those lucrative trade deals. I've set up a rare wine export business, a bulk food-for-mercenaries deal, a secret agricultural center on a mining world that would otherwise import all its food because only I and my business partners have figured out how to farm there...

And don't loot trinkets off of corpses. Loot facilities, businesses, organizations. Knock off a corrupt noble? Don't steal his jewelry. Instead, arrange for your cousin to sit in as regent over his lands and holdings until an untainted and rightful heir can be found, however long that may be. I mean, the peasantry would fall into disarray with their cruel overlords removed; someone has to keep them in line and collect the taxes. When the Inquisition takes someone down, they seize his assets. Get in on that. Biggest thing I've stolen so far was management rights to a multiplanetary shipping business with a million employees and a half-dozen cargo spaceships. Nothing warp-capable, all in-system... but still, a profitable acquisition.

Last session we took down a Count, a Baroness, a Marquessa, assorted minor aristocracy, and a renegade Inquisitor. As you can imagine, I'm quivering with glee in anticipation of the... post-purge resource management opportunities. Gonna see if I can get my daughter a castle.

Brother Domis said:

You, you I like.