Hi there,

one of my players have a SoB character. And after the conclusion of the second mini-adventure, I am already wondering what to offer her when it is her turn to acquire stuff.

We started out with her having a light servo, complete with helmet and stuff. Anything else seemed silly to me. She had a boltpistol, a chainsword, a thrice-blesssed regular sword (good for three daemonic encounters).

In the meanwhile, she got her hand on a bolter, some special ammo and some lumen-runes inscriped into her armour (for an additional level of success in a test for Intimidation or Command).

All fine, all good, but when the current assignment ends (I have send them to Temperance) I wonder what gear she still might fancy. Weapons are always good, but is there anything else that migh be useful to her besides weaponary?

That depends - is she anything but a fighter and are you looking at investigation missions?

Powered Armour, chain weapons and a bolter are all well and good, but maybe consider what she should be packing if you're trying to be subtle?

Equally, holy texts, incense, oils, etc - one of the roles a Sororitas battle sister can convincingly play (other than a sororitas battle sister) is a ministorum cleric of some kind.

Also, "upgrades" for weapons rather than new weapons. A sarissa to stick to her boltgun, for example. Or turning it into a combiweapon.

For the Sororitas, the items of their wargear are as much tools as they are shrines to their holy duties, which means they ought to be richly decorated with religious iconography, well crafted and of a high quality. It also means there's a possibility to have her stick with a specific weapon and just upgrade it over the course of time instead of switching it completely.

Depending on how far advanced your group is, you could also consider a Rosarius, as it's a type of forcefield affiliated with the Ecclesiarchy?

Years ago, I made a table of upgrades and rewards a Sororitas player could buy for "tier points" depending on how far advanced the character was, for a progression from Novice (ranks 1-4) -> Sister (ranks 5-8) -> Veteran/Superior (ranks 9-12) -> Palatine (ranks 13-16). If you're interested, I'll dig it up, but given how it was intended for use in DH/RT/DW rather than DH2, and how it started at Novice-rank, and how it was mostly weapons and armour (plus a few relics), it could probably at best be an inspiration of sorts.

On a sidenote: it's obviously too late in this case, but personally, in a group that does not already start with an Inquisitor, I'd have the Sister start out as a Novice, like it was back in the Inquisitor's Handbook for DH1. This not only brings her station closer to the rest of the party, but also allows you to have her start out with less gear, which in turn means more room for upgrades/rewards later -- including the very act of being raised to a fully-fledged Battle Sister in the Ecclesiarchal Palace on Holy Terra.

I am currently playing a SoB now as well.

There very little mechanical difference between a SoB then a regular acolyte. The main difference is RP, leaving room for the PC to build the SoB any way he wants ...

This system is very versatile so he could be a social PC, a tech adept, warrior, churgeon ... Ect.

And there is gear for each of these types of things. If you give us more information then we could give u better advice.

Hi there,

one of my players have a SoB character. And after the conclusion of the second mini-adventure, I am already wondering what to offer her when it is her turn to acquire stuff.

We started out with her having a light servo, complete with helmet and stuff. Anything else seemed silly to me. She had a boltpistol, a chainsword, a thrice-blesssed regular sword (good for three daemonic encounters).

In the meanwhile, she got her hand on a bolter, some special ammo and some lumen-runes inscriped into her armour (for an additional level of success in a test for Intimidation or Command).

All fine, all good, but when the current assignment ends (I have send them to Temperance) I wonder what gear she still might fancy. Weapons are always good, but is there anything else that migh be useful to her besides weaponary?

Just to clarify, is the character just adeptus sororitas or is she actually a Sister of Battle (Elite advance)? If just adeptus sororitas it would have been perfectly fine for her to not have power armor yet as there are many non combat roles within the adeptus sororitas and since there is an influence requirement to become a sister of battle clearly even the warriors have to earn the title and equipment.

Is the light power armor the actual sororitas power armor from Enemies Within or the regular light power armor in the main rulebook? Is the bolt weapon godwyn de'az pattern or regular? Those would all be some potential minor upgrades.

Some of the armor upgrades from Enemies Within would be pretty good. Hexagrammatic wards, auto senses, really any of them would be appropriate. You could give her a permanently sanctified melee weapon or blessed bolt gun ammo. Weapon upgrades like a motion predictor and custom grip rather than giving her completely new weapons. If the party is pretty high level a Rosarius would be appropriate.

Be careful not to give the Sister of Battle character way better stuff than the rest of the party has access to especially if you're just giving her stuff while the other characters are having to roll for equipment.

The 1st edition book Blood of Martyrs had rules for what equipment would be available to Sisters of a particular rank so you might be able to get some ideas from those rules if you have a copy.

If your group is in the middle of nowhere keep in mind that access to advanced equipment would be far more limited or even outright unavailable.

Hah, found the thing I was referring to earlier!

I'm not sure how useful the table will be by itself (and if I were to work at it again I'd probably make a few changes), but perhaps it can still be of some help in either determining in which order a reward might seem appropriate, or what sort of rewards you could hand out.

For example, something I had completely forgotten about were the armour upgrades (the "Crusader" stuff) which would add +1 (arms, legs) or +2 (body) points of AP to a specific location of the body. However, given that DH2 also introduced Maximum Agility as a disadvantage to heavy armour, I'd suggest attaching this to the upgrades as well, both to represent the added bulk as well as to simply have it provide a downside. Maybe something like the arms/legs pieces modifying Max AG by -2 each, and the body piece by -4.

Also, an example for weapon upgrades (standard, best quality w/ laser sight, combi-weapon w/ targeter)

But, as Skarsnik38 said, the Enemies Within supplement for DH2 is likely to offer some good options as well, and most notably some you do not have to houserule first.

If just adeptus sororitas it would have been perfectly fine for her to not have power armor yet as there are many non combat roles within the adeptus sororitas and since there is an influence requirement to become a sister of battle clearly even the warriors have to earn the title and equipment.

Now, this is just going by GW's material, but transfers between the Orders are more like a thing for quasi-retirement, usually Battle Sisters who are too old or too injured to go on moving into one of the Non-Militant Orders. Battle Sisters are recruited straight away, based on the aptitude they've displayed in the Schola Progenium's Trials of Compliance as well as their novitiate in the Primary Convents or one of the Orders Famulous training facilities.

Before FFG basically rewrote DH1 Battle Sisters with their Blood of Martyrs, however, Dark Heresy had Sororitas characters start out as Novices on "detached duty", like a sort of exchange program where skilled Sororitas recruits are seconded to an Inquisitor's Cell to provide valuable support, learn the art of combating heresy, and secretly keep tabs on things and report back to her convent, thus extending the Sisters' own espionage network.

If DH2 does not have you start as a Battle Sister right away but first requires the player character to prove themselves, perhaps the game once again intends for people to start out as Novices? It'd certainly be a perfect excuse for denying them the advanced, Astartes-grade wargear they are otherwise expected to carry.

SoB Equipment chart:

Does it have a Fleur-de-Lis symbol on it? > Yes: She can have it.

v

No: Does it shoot flames? > Yes: ^

v

No: Is it a relic of the Emperor/Imperial saints? Yes: ^

v

No; She can't have it.

If DH2 does not have you start as a Battle Sister right away but first requires the player character to prove themselves, perhaps the game once again intends for people to start out as Novices? It'd certainly be a perfect excuse for denying them the advanced, Astartes-grade wargear they are otherwise expected to carry.

More or less. Sororitas is a background you can pick at character creation. Sister of Battle is an elite advance you can only get if you are Sororitas and have gained enough influence. Once you do you get the standard power-armor+Bolter/Flamer package and you get access to some exclusive SoB talents.

First, thanks to Lynata for the list. I will check it

To answer all questions in a sum-up:

Yes, she is a FULL Sister of Battles (SoB), and NO, I am not about getting her out of her servo armor (or crying myself to sleep about it that).

Yes, my group is operating in the open with the "firebrand-approach" and NO, we are not playing it stealthy-sneaky-disguisy. We are the torch wielding mobs dream (with all the consequences: we deliberately try it that way). There is no -approach with us, one Assassine aside that does the scouting and perhaps removes one or two guards before the assault.

Yes, I am looking for gear other then weapons, but NO, it should not be "only fluff" but with some actual (edit) in-game use since she is going to spend her "Requisition roles" on it. That being said, she is the "Paladin"-approach to it and still not-so-good in the social skills. She is the assault-style-warrioress of our team-of-three (the Arbitrator does the talking, when it is not about imposing shock-and-awe).

Yes, I am VERY aware that I have a VERY narrow problem, offering only a very narrow field to work in. Still, if somebody happens to have some creative input fitting in the niche, I will be every so -ish

With this information, it should be possible to come up with another couple ideas. I'll give it some more thought too.

Okay, here's a few items I wrote up on the quick. Mostly just stuff I found in the 2E and 3E codices and sought to "convert" to DH2. Hope there's at least something you can use!

Other than the stuff I suggested from the 2nd ed book and Enemies Within in my previous response there are some things from first edition that could be useful. In Blood of Martyrs there is Rule of Sororitas and Litanies of faith. Both are books that give a variety of appropriate lore tests. There is also the seraphim jump pack in there too.

Okay, here's a few items I wrote up on the quick. Mostly just stuff I found in the 2E and 3E codices and sought to "convert" to DH2. Hope there's at least something you can use!

Book of St. Lucius

This holy artefact contains the sermons of the famed Confessor St. Lucius of Agathea. By expending a Full Action, its owner can recite passages from the book to inspire those around her. Any nearby ally who suffers from the effects of Shock may add a bonus equal to the orator's Fellowship Bonus x5 to their next attempt to shake them off.

Weight: 2 kg

Availability: Very Rare

Cloak of St. Aspira

A magnificent cloak of velvet and fur, blessed in the Ecclesiarchal Palace of Terra to ward away the blows of the Emperor's enemies. The cloak adds an additional point of Armour protection against any attack made against the wearer's back.

Used with: Sororitas power armour.

Weight: 2 kg

Availability: Near Unique

Crusader Armour

This set of heavy plating consists of a plackart for the torso as well as greaves and vambraces for the legs and arms to be affixed to and worn with the standard issue Angel-pattern Mark II power armour. Usually carried only by ranking officers of the Orders Militant, they may at times also be released to renowned veterans on detached duty to the Inquisition. The entire set provides one additional Armour point of protection. Due to the rigid construction of the plackart, this upgrade imposes a -5 penalty on the upgraded armour's Maximum Agility rating.

Used with: Sororitas power armour.

Weight: +4 kg

Availability: Extremely Rare

Purity Seal

Devotional scripts and declarations of the bearer's sanctity worn by many Sisters to further protect them from the taint of the impure and the sinful. In the course of her duties, a Sister may bear witness to the most terrible of sights and so the more purity seals borne, the more of such horrors she has had to endure. Each seal is a benediction against the forces of disorder, warpcraft and mutation, a plea to the Emperor for deliverance from evil. The wearer may choose to invoke the inspiring power of the seal in order to automatically pass a single Test for Fear or Deny the Witch. Once the purity seal has successfully protected its wearer once, it may no longer be used for the rest of the encounter.

Used with: Sororitas power armour.

Weight: n/a

Availability: Very Rare

Sabbat Helmet

The standard pattern worn by the majority of Battle Sisters since the mid 38th millennium, the technological marvels woven into this helm allow the Sister to fight on where a less well-equipped warrior would be rendered insensible by adverse battlefield conditions. The helmet contains an integral rebreather and commlink. In addition, the helmet combines a targeter and preysense goggles with immunity to the effects of photon flash grenades, but can only ever provide one of these three bonuses at a time. Switching modes is a Half Action.

Used with: Sororitas power armour.

Weight: 3 kg

Availability: Extremely Rare

Sarissa

These vicious, spiked combat atachments are used by the Adepta Sororitas to add lethal close combat utility to their standard issue boltgun. When used in melee combat, the weapon counts as a spear with the Mono upgrade.

Used with: Godwyn-De'az Bolter

Weight: +2 kg

Availability: Very Rare

Awesome I love this fluff, can't believe you just came up with it on the fly!

I stopped playing the wargame at 3rd edition so these upgrade strike a personal cord.

As always your contribution to these forums is above and beyond!