I am just beginning a Dark Heresy campaign and am wondering about the acolytes income. I recognise they get a monthly income, but are there any guidelines on how often they should get this or what if there is a few months of downtime in the campaign? Also, is the income a balanced part of character advancement so they get the better equipment as they increase in rank?

I am experienced in WFRP, but there the poor to rich difference between a sword and a best quality sword is no where near as game balance altering as an autopistol vs. a bolter and power armour.

Anyone have any insight or guidelines on how much the PCs should earn as they advance?

I usually play it like this, after a mission they get one amount of payment on top of whatever amount of money they found in the mission unless they are deep undercover in which case they are on their own for money.

Monkey Bloke said:

The reason for why the income is class based as per the rules in the beginning of the armoury chapter is because is because the acolytes don't work for the Inquisition all the time. They only work during missions. When they have "downtime" they most likely find something else to occupy themselves with, based on their particular expertise. (Hence why the income of the Scum is random, because it's hard to predict what kind of a heist a Scum will try to pull off)