Hello !

I hope I will not ask a silly question, but ... I am wondering.

If I understood correctly: There is a lot of inquisitors and a lot of different philosophies. No real regulation organism exists, excepts the peers. Inquisitors are very powerful and just speaking its name or show its symbol could suffice to obtain full collaboration (exception of the heretics, of course ).

Now ... How someone could verify that the supposed "acolytes" are really from the inquisition ? Yes, they can show "rosette", papers ... but ... They could have been forged.

Let's take an example: I am a renegade who knows some information about Inquisitors ... for instance name and "symbol of authority". I could use it to gain some access, influence in the hierarchy. Or just to scare to death/force small people.

I think we could transpose the problem to this century and have the same discussion: It's not too difficult to appear and do thing like a cop.

Any thoughts about this ?

Btw, It could be an interesting idea of scenario.

I'd say forging such items is absolutely possible, and the consequences could be quite dramatic.

The reason it is not even attempted very often would be a mixture of fear and respect, as well as utter cluelessness of how the Inquisition actually operates. The vast majority of villains may not realise how "disconnected" the Inquisition as an organisation actually is, and misinterpret it as a far more uniform body than it actually is, wrongly assuming that it keeps tabs on everyone's activities -- when in reality, the Inquisition is highly fractured, and most information an Inquisitor has about another Inquisitor is acquired by espionage, barely sanctioned data probes and double agents.

In this way, the Inquisition's secrecy and the many myths surrounding it are providing a shield against infiltration.

At the same time, aforementioned internal espionage also runs a certain chance of exposing false Inquisitors almost by accident. If the fake messes with something of interest to an actual Inquisitor, revealing the rosette and/or accessing the object of interest may trigger a notification for any Inquisitor keeping an eye on this region. They'd take a closer look, expecting another Inquisitor and trying to collect intel about them just to prevent a potential rival from messing with "their" stuff.

Woe betide the fake Inquisitor if said investigation reveals that none of the other cells operating in the area have ever heard of this person.

On a sidenote, the Inquisition Illustrated Guide mentioned that "the authenticity of a rosette, no matter its outward design, may be verified by the ordo coding encrypted in its structure". This leads me to assume that most of the time (such as when dealing with a squad of enforcers or civilians), just flashing the symbol might suffice, but for major requests (usurping control over an entire PDF or requisitioning a Navy starship), authorities may require authentication, which may or may not reveal the fake depending on the quality of the forgery. At the very least, I assume said authentication would notify the ordo or officio planetia that would have issued the rosette if it were real, creating another opportunity to alert the real Inquisition.

tl;dr: a fake Inquisitor could absolutely create some chaos, but depending on how careful they are (where and how the rosette is used), it would only be a matter of time until the real =][= comes looking.

Oh, I don't even mention infiltration, but instead usurping the power of an inquisitor.

I agree it would not go unnoticed, but it depends on the usage of the "name". It's the same for the acolytes who are losing subtlety.

For instance, a renegade (or its clan, whatever) could have killed a isolated acolyte, retrieved its rosette and used it/forged a new one for diverse purposes. As for example something not too shiny: pressurizing some organization or citizens, who will never complain. In this case, flashing would definitely suffice.

That being said, a rosette has " ordo coding encrypted in its structure".

I guess that some sort of tech-item would be needed to verify it. I'll check in the inventory if something would fit in. I am wondering which kind of "organization" or "people" would have access to this. Definitely some Medium PDF base, administratorum/arbites main building.

It would be fun to disturb some players with a false acolyte

In my campaign, the Acolytes were issued Inquisitorial Cognomen which contain datacrystals thatcan be accessed with any conventional dataport (such as on a dataslate); these display full biometric records of the Acolyte (down to DNA), plus extra coded data that can be accessed by authorized users (Adeptus Arbites or higher). This usually allows the Acolytes to prove that they are "on a mission from the God-Emperor". Now, weather or not it's a good idea to actually carry these Cognomen while undercover (and potentially subject to search by heretics) is another matter...

Hey there,

I handle it the following:

The common people don´t have a clue. They know that there is an Inquisition, and showing SOMETHING to them while saying one is an Inquisitor (and: acting the part) will work unless you have some very clever/suicidal/callous individuals along.
It is not like they would even know the Name of even one Inquisitor or would have seen such a Symbol ever before, and if you would have them answer honestly, they would wish to had having it that way for the rest of their lifes.

The local authorities (minor) will act just the same, but in the Background, there will be desperate attempts to reach a suprior (unless either being ordered NOT to do so...perhaps with a successful test for Intimidation or Deceive). This will lead to

The local authorities (Major) or the Adepta are power I somehow expect to have technial means to verfiy an electronic identification code that is given by a machine-Spirit included into the Symbol of authority the characters do wield. All these are good for is telling "yes, that is a valid Inquisiton code" or "that is rubbish" or "that was valid once". Still, this takes time, and on worlds lacking technological infracstructre (or any means of advanced civilization!), this will simply fail, as well as being on some mining outpost that is not even having an official Gov.

Please take note: I by-pass the "newly minted Inquisitor" inccident by assuming that an Inquisitor was an Interrogator before and there is already having "an ID".

Of course, if the GM has fun with it, there is this whole world of outdated codes, of planets where you cannot REACH the cogitator for verifications only with three days travel on horseback and such.

In a pinch, it all boils down to: is the NPC willing to risk death by hindering the work of the Inquisition in not accepting the Claim of that Person wiedling this letter of Investigation / Icon of the =I= ?

About abuse: Of course, a ruthless criminal who has the guts can abuse this to ist fullest. Especially, on some backwater world. BUT the Arbitrators and the Inquisition will make sure that such an inccident, once uncovered, is dealt with and the punishment is PUBLIC or made public, so that everyone that how knows would think twice.

Personal note: it is one of the great issues of the game itself. One better tries to wave it away, unless one can have fun with it.

The Imperium is big on paperwork. The rosette is uncommonly used low level teams.

Taking over investigations. Killing without consequence. Commandeering vehicles. Torturing civilians. Confiscating evidence.

These all require authority and/or subterfuge.

For expedience most groups assume that they have authority. It saves them bouncing between cover identities all the time and running from the Arbites and Enforcers.

Yeah, good point - I suppose the problem may seem more "acute" due to Dark Heresy letting Acolytes run around independently from their master, whereas in the original material the smallest operational unit of the Inquisition is ... the Inquisitor, and their agents rarely leave their side.

I played around with the idea of an electoo (maybe containing coded data) that appears on some body part (mostly the hand or the head) of the acolyte at will. To verify its authenticity one would have to scan it with an appropriate tool.

This would make forging one a bit more difficult and it would stealing one unnoticed almost impossible (a lost hand/head will be noticed in most circumstances).

This would make forging one a bit more difficult and it would stealing one unnoticed almost impossible (a lost hand/head will be noticed in most circumstances).

Can lead to creepy scenes where criminals run around with "looted" facemasks and other body parts, too!

This would make forging one a bit more difficult and it would stealing one unnoticed almost impossible (a lost hand/head will be noticed in most circumstances).

Can lead to creepy scenes where criminals run around with "looted" facemasks and other body parts, too!

And that could be a lot of fun.

Mechanically, that's part of the difference between using your own influence score and the Inquisitor's I guess.

But yes, theoretically a hive ganger could claim to be "working for the Inquisition" - after all, the difference between a junior acolyte of the inquisition (who won't have a rosette) and a convincing liar.....is purely a question of whether they're believed.

After all, an Inquisitor can easily prove who he is, but a junior acolyte.....it would be the equivalent of saying to someone today "Sir, we're from the FBI and we really need your help" and flashing an ID card in a wallet. It's not like most people have any way to tell if it's forged - do you know what your local police department's ID cards look like? They just mentally register Badge, Gun, Cheap Suit and figure it's easier to help than press the issue... you may get caught out after the fact, but that's an impact on subtlety for the future, not on getting what you want right now.

If you have a rosette, then yes, I would say that any Adeptus organisation would be able to validate it, as would any major non-adeptus organisation. They might not know how the validator works, but it's likely to be visually obvious or impressive - plug in the rosette or signet ring and the nearest display screens are overridden and start displaying the heraldry of the Holy Ordos - leaves little room for argument.

The one time I've seen it done 'on camera' in a black library novel is Ravenor - a Magistratum officer (think senior Sanctionary) who's just arrested an acolyte gets quietly handed a rosette in his office. He notes that he's seen forgeries before, removes an auspex from a locked draw on his desk, and says "this one, however, is genuine."

The one other thing to note is that - assuming they ever find out you've done it - I would imagine that the legal penalties for illegally impersonating an agent of the Inquisition are.....rather creative.

I always imagine the imperium to be beraucracy at its worst. i have created id's that can actually be higher or lower depending with the situation. it may be some form of paper a badge or even a crystal. always take into account the persona of the inquisitor. does he want everything perfect or he simply doesnt care? usually there will be a code identification. inquisition uses higher clearance codes ,that for example a local enforcer would struggle to identify but that would still register as inquisition to him. as you move higher it becomes easier. with that in mind forgery of such a code would need skilled people to do it ,advanced tech equipment or even higher influence but in the end yes it can be done. in coclussion dont be too specific on how every item works and is identified,unless is mission specific, but give the feeling that its hard too forge such an identity but not unheard of. someone previously noted that even rumors and fear of the inquisition can work against such an act but then again how would anyone know unless they were involved directly. if still your players need to know excactly how their id works then i propose this. in my campaign i use 3 levels of clearance. first is a paper with an iquisitorial seal in high gothic stating that the acolyte is under the authority or business of (name) inquisitor. 2 level is kind of the same paper or padge or id but now the acolyte has the power in the name of his master to use resources that are privileged for him. that can be anything you think is appropriate for your inquisitor. for example calling the sisters of battle. last is the rossete that is really difficult to forge and if it happens consequences are far too severe.

hope this helps!

Hello !

I hope I will not ask a silly question, but ... I am wondering.

If I understood correctly: There is a lot of inquisitors and a lot of different philosophies. No real regulation organism exists, excepts the peers. Inquisitors are very powerful and just speaking its name or show its symbol could suffice to obtain full collaboration (exception of the heretics, of course ).

Now ... How someone could verify that the supposed "acolytes" are really from the inquisition ? Yes, they can show "rosette", papers ... but ... They could have been forged.

Let's take an example: I am a renegade who knows some information about Inquisitors ... for instance name and "symbol of authority". I could use it to gain some access, influence in the hierarchy. Or just to scare to death/force small people.

I think we could transpose the problem to this century and have the same discussion: It's not too difficult to appear and do thing like a cop.

Any thoughts about this ?

Btw, It could be an interesting idea of scenario.

I'd say the main thing preventing this is the mysterious and intimidating nature of the inquisition and the idea that they are always watching. However that being said I'm sure it happens. Forging a rosette that would pass under the scrutiny from higher up imperial organizations would be very difficult but having one good enough to influence low level law enforcement or random citizens would certainly be possible. As others have said authentic ones are usually described as having advanced codes in them and genelocks and other sorts of id and security measures and details.

As a self regulating organization it is up to other legitimate inquisitors and acolytes to keep an eye out for misuse of power whether its someone posing as an inquisitor or an actual inquisitor doing things he shouldn't.

Oh, I don't even mention infiltration, but instead usurping the power of an inquisitor.

I agree it would not go unnoticed, but it depends on the usage of the "name". It's the same for the acolytes who are losing subtlety.

For instance, a renegade (or its clan, whatever) could have killed a isolated acolyte, retrieved its rosette and used it/forged a new one for diverse purposes. As for example something not too shiny: pressurizing some organization or citizens, who will never complain. In this case, flashing would definitely suffice.

That being said, a rosette has " ordo coding encrypted in its structure".

I guess that some sort of tech-item would be needed to verify it. I'll check in the inventory if something would fit in. I am wondering which kind of "organization" or "people" would have access to this. Definitely some Medium PDF base, administratorum/arbites main building.

It would be fun to disturb some players with a false acolyte

In the rulebook in the GM part about crafting the inquisitor one of the examples it gives for how someone can become an inquisitor is by simply deciding to be one and killing anybody who challenges you. So a powerful noble could just decide that he should be an inquisitor one day and starts using his resources to purge heretics. It also gives the example of killing an inquisitor and just taking over. Presumably easier for someone who was already one of his agents and familiar with his network but seems like it would be technically possible for someone else to do it.

I feel in general most acolytes won't have a rosette of their own. Maybe an Interrogator would. More often a cell will have some sort of less influential writ of authority or something. The group I'm in now doesn't have anything. We've been relying on our adeptus affiliations (mostly the arbitrator's id) to get out of trouble and after killing a few cults alongside law enforcement allies we've revealed our true master and by that point they just kind of believed us considering they've seen our odd methods and effectiveness first hand. At that point I guess they figure even if we are lying, we seem to be loyal to the emperor and seem to get the job done so might as well help us with whatever we need.

Could be fun to have a group discover part way through a campaign that their inquisitor doesn't actually have any legitimate claim to the title!