One of my groups recently crossed the Rank 4 threshold with some XPs to spare, and most of them are thinking about picking up an advanced speciality. I have a (Templar) Chaplain, a (Salamander) Forge Master and a (BA) Epistolary already in the pipeline, and the two undecided players are contemplating picking Keeper and First Company Veteran, respectively. The way I see it, this is too good an opportunity to ignore in order to enhance the role-playing aspect of my campaign, so I decided to go down the following route:

I will let them spend the XP and gain access to certain advancements and special abilities (decided by me on a case-by-case basis), but I'll withhold most of the goodies for now. To get access to all the aspects of the Speciality, I plan to create trials (presented by the senior officers of the speciality in question), and only after all of those are cleared will the player be truly elevated from an aspirant to full Chaplain/Epistolary/whatever status. The nature of the trials revolve around three main elements. One is the prerequisites list of the Speciality: a Chaplain needs WP 45+ and Fel 40+, so he'll get a trial based on Willpower and one themed around Fellowship. The second is the personality and Chapter of the introduced NPC senior officers: to stay with the example of the Chaplain, one introduced ranking officer is a Fist, so pain gloves will feature in the players WP trial. The third is pretty much a wildcard: an amalgam of the Chapter beliefs and available background fluff for the chosen speciality - for the Chaplain it involved writing up unique Litanies of Hate (fortunately the player is fully on board and very much involved).

The advantages I hope I'll get from this are more quality RP, as the players are forced to get to know and use the practices and tenets of the cult or secret society they choose, the feeling of achievement on the players' side, and to a lesser degree a multitude of plot hooks I can introduce rather easily this way.

Now, after the rather long-winded explanation, my question: Did any of you use something similar? If yes, what elements, to what effect? What do you think could be a good trial for a Techmarine or a Librarian (both on the field or back in the Watch Fortress)? Do you possibly recall any background material detailing such an elevation in a Loyalist Space Marine environment? As you can see, the Chaplain route is already partially fleshed out, as I slowly compiled a rather large GW and BL reference collection - an appreciative audience does wonders, after all. I'd appreciate a few pointers or ideas regarding the other trials though, to make the process feel more vivid.

Yes. I use similar role play techniques as it builds in game mechanics into the narrative in an organic way. However I do all the Rp stuff first before the players spend the xp. In other words a Pc who wanted to be a Forge master would need to complete the relevant sub plot trials before spending the points. Otherwise the players can be left in a limbo if they fail.

Also I normally give additional xp for these trials but they are awarded to the PCs in the form of relevant marks of distinction.

First of all, you raise good points, I didn't factor in the possibility of the characters actually failing the test. My problem with the proposed approach stems from how I pictured the trials in question: For most of the trial sequences, I have in mind a few "off-screen" tests of existing skills and talents. These trials can be taken any number of times (but, say, only once between encounters) until the character passes them. Examples:

An extended Willpower test for the Chaplain in the Pain Glove, with varying modifiers. In case of failing the test, I'll chalk up a few Insanity points.

An extended Crafting test for the Techmarine to create his own artificer armour (which later becomes his standard issue). I'll have to think about what happens if he fails.

It's not fixed yet, but possibly an extended Forbidden Lore test for the Libby.

It takes a minimal time per player to do these, and so far I generally gave out more or less the same amount of XP to players (mostly sticking to the Core's proposed ~500 XP for 4 hrs of playtime), using the Renown system to reward characters. Now, not every player goes for an Advanced Speciality yet, and the Libby still has to wait till Rank 5 to apply. I have five players, so I can't give enough limelight in the form of tests to the two aspirants ready to go in order to rack up enough XP to buy a Mark of Distinction (which is 1000+ XP at the cheapest, meaning at least 8 hours of play, one complete session, for each).

I still plan a minor sub-plot as a part of the tests for each, and here to offer a MoD to the central player makes perfect sense (I've been looking for ways to introduce those, and your proposal seems to be the solution), but generally I do feel that allowing some of the advances from the AS tables can be used to represent a period of apprenticeship. Now that I gave it some thought, I'm not particularly bothered by a possible gap, I'll just think of the few advances prematurely taken as Elite Advances, with the extra cost already paid in form of the prerequisite cost of the Advanced Speciality.

Now that I think of it, I guess the best would be to present what I have so far. 'Ere we go:

Chaplain trials for the Black Templar player

Trial 1: Rituals and Lore (also partly Fellowship)

Quest-giver: Salamander Termie Chaplain Kotar (blatantly stolen from the cover of First Founding, because awesome picture)

a) Write Litanies of Hatred for all major enemy factions. It's ready. Player seemed to enjoy creating them, so I might throw in other lists (exhort each speciality in the Kill-Team with a small speach/litany, exalt one typical deed of each Loyal Primarch or somesuch)

b) Study the history of ancient heroes in the DW in Erioch and motivate the kill-team or allies with these stories during a mission - tEC background fluff will be heavily used.

Trial 2: Willpower

Quest-giver: Chaplain Magno Stoan, Imperial Fists (FF p. 55)

a) I figured other Sons of Dorn would be the best choice to present this type of challenge, and if a Fist tests WP, there's only one way to do it: the Pain Glove. It's presented above, and still needs some fine-tuning, but for the sake of completeness: an extended Willpower test, ranging probably from +30 to -30, bonuses apply, in case of failure character gets some Insanity

b) A Subplot lifted from AoLS p. 97: Adamant. The Battle-Brother must pass all Willpower Tests (of any kind) he attempts during the mission. Will be used during Trial 3.

Trial 3: Exemplary Deeds

Quest-giver: Chaplain Jorge Martinez, Crimson Fists (HtC, p. 59)

This will be the choppy sub-plot, I'll send him after some significant enemy of the DW. Might be a Daemon to mess a bit with his WP tests (see Trial 2), or possibly someone guarding a lost relic, I still have some time to decide. Here he might earn a Mark of Distinction.

So, seeing the full picture, what do you think? I'd like to hear your opinion.

Edit: there's also the piece of fluff in RoB, where it says "Once a Deathwatch Chaplain takes his vows he will seldom see his old Chapter again, instead giving himself entirely to the Long Vigil and the duties of the Deathwatch." The trial probably needs to include something to highlight the weight of this choice, but I have no idea yet what it could be.

I'm necromancing this, because it would make no sense to start a new one, and I still need some help - sorry 'bout that.

The Forge Master and Chaplain promotions went down very well, but I'm still stuck with the details for my Epistolary. The only reference I found was a conditional field promotion in Paul Kearney's elusive Umbra Sumus, but it wasn't a very sophisticated process - for some reason the task force needed a Codicier (they didn't explain why), so the Chief Librarian grabbed a promising young Epistolary and granted him the title temporarily, permanent title pending on the after-action report. That's not much to start with So, do you guys have any ideas, pointers or references on how such a promotion would go down in fluff?

How about an unknown or not well known xenos race that uses psychic powers, and the librarian is tasked with investigations on the use of psychic powers from that xeno race. Maybe set some thresholds he has to reach, in order to declare the investigations (or parts of it) as completed. Like "Witness x (different) psychic powers the enemy uses", "Block x enemy psychic powers using a psy-hood", or "Provide x psychic active corpses/different species/captives from that xeno race".

For example one of our GMs recently started a campaign based on XCom, it's an unknown xeno race that has different species using psychic powers.

Hmm, not a bad idea. I'm sending them on Samech this weekend, they'll have some interesting Chaos enemies - sorcerers, daemon engines and similar warp-tainted niceties -, so I can easily set it up as a trial. But what do you think, how would be best to set it up on the Librarium's side? "We could not help but notice your talent, and would like to offer a greater role within out organisation"? Or have a bigwig informally pull him aside and make it clear that the next mission will be considered a test?

Good question. I guess best would have been to start involving the librarian in the 'tasks of the librarium' from the beginning, and granting him the epistolarius like a promotion for long time commitment our successful investigations on a major topic. I guess using this also depends on how much about the warp-taintery is known in advance to the mission and how much of feat it is to sort it out.

On the other hand, if you're planning on a warp-heavy mission, the epistolarius rank might as well be granted to him afterwards without hints in the advance, as kind of 'You proved to have an outstanding strong mind withstanding the corrupted temptations of the warp'. But I guess this also depends on how the mission works out, as you never know when your librarian decides to summon a demon prince ;-) (Funny side note: In our group the last 3 sessions that involved a librarian had a demon prince spawning)

if you're planning on a warp-heavy mission, the epistolarius rank might as well be granted to him afterwards without hints in the advance, as kind of 'You proved to have an outstanding strong mind withstanding the corrupted temptations of the warp'.

This one is a good solution, and in our specific case I think I'll go with it - thanks! But what I'm thinking about more and more is the order of priorities when elevating someone within the Librarium. Does raw psychic talent (and, obviously, the candidate's control over it) come first, or other qualities? I mean, if you have two candidates to one slot, one displaying a greater affinity to the Warp, and the other excelling in strategic thinking, forbidden lore and the in-depth knowledge of the Dewey decimal system, what do you do? Which one comes first? Do you pick the more talented one and try to teach him how to not solve all his problems with his powers (leaving the second ordering books around at home), or the second, and try to improve his psychic output (and let the first stay a one-trick-pony of a battlepsyker seconded to a line company for some time)? Or did I set up some completely artificial categories, and it cannot be simplified so easily? I'm at a loss...

I guess it's the same general issue as the one I had with Apothecaries, namely how can I, as a GM, emphasize that the specialisation is a multi-faceted one, and there's more to the Librarian's job than shooting progressively more powerful lightning bolts from his hands.

Good question... well, my lore regarding librarium is not the best. But I learned saying 'it depends' is almost never wrong, so I'd go with that. In this case I guess the qualities that are in focus depend on the chief librarian and his point of view. Besides that, the epistolary has a role to play in the librarium which he should qualify for, sadly the lexicanum offers only little information on that.

Possibly you could present the Librarian with some sort of challenge that can only be solved through judicious use of psychic powers, of the sort that leaves everyone awestruck by the display of power. Perhaps this could constitute encountering a vast psychic intelligence, leading to a duel with mind bullets, or else if your Librarian prefers weapons to psychic powers have them fight on the psychic plane, the loser's mind being completely destroyed in the process (brain-splattering goodness) while the rest of the kill-team duels some enemy reinforcements with actual bullets to keep them busy. Following their return to the Watch Fortress the Librarian is hurried into seclusion, and nobody explains why the mind probes are being attached. Cue extensive Willpower Test. They are then quizzed extensively on their knowledge of the Immaterium, Imperial history and other things from the normal to the intergalactically fethed-up. This could be either an Intelligence Test or an actual quiz for the player if they prefer. Afterwards, they are returned to the Kill Team, and together all told that the Librarian has qualified for promotion (after which run whatever sort of promotion ceremony seems fitting).

The Forge Lord could do something involving fixing up a Titan, being called on to orchestrate the construction of defences for a major city, or having to reforge a legendary weapon once thought lost, for example.

The Keeper and First Company Veteran receive their promotions after the Kill Team is sent to organise joint ops with a Strike Force from the FCV's Chapter and some other forces. The FCV must please the Strike Force's gruff commander - works best as the First Company commander - who is angry at him for leaving the Chapter, while the Keeper deals with other fractious allies. The end result is that the Keeper is lauded by Sector Command for keeping a difficult situation from imploding, and they make him an official Deathwatch Emissary while the grumpy commander ends up inviting the FCV aboard his Battle Barge and granting him Terminator Honours, marking his ascension to the First Company's Veterans.