Emailed in back when this was something being openly discussed:

My question:

I am casting this to General because I don't know where to send it. I have a question concerning a portion of the new book for Dark Heresy Second Edition Enemies Beyond. This is a specific rules question I haven't seen addressed in the forums. The exorcised background does not give the acolyte in question Insanity or Corruption, while giving them a Malignancy, and yet if they are exorcised later they gain Insanity and Corruption from this particular exorcism. I just wanted to understand either the intent of this or if this is a mistake that will get addressed in the FAQ when that gets updated.

The answer:

It’s indeed the intent. Those who survived possession and exorcism with a strong enough degree of will and spiritual purity that an Inquisitor deemed them worthy of becoming an Acolyte (namely PCs with the Exorcised background) don’t have any Insanity or Corruption associated with that background in character creation. The aim was to represent that if they were insane/corrupted from the experience, the Inquisitor likely wouldn’t select them. The possession/exorcism that occurred earlier in the Acolyte’s life is meant to be a unique event, such that the Acolyte is the one-in-a-billion who survives it and it worthy enough to serve an Inquisitor.

Mkay. Thanks for getting an official ruling on intent, even if I'm definitely tossing it out the window for my campaign.

Yeah, official ruling or not I won't be listening to that.

Neither will I, just felt it important to post the answer.

What will you be doing?

I'll be giving enough CP to have the malignancy, and equivalent IP for the background.

Will you also be giving out a resistance to gain further Corruption/Insanity? That's actually a huge benefit of the gained-in-setting version of being Exorcised. Keep in mind that Corruption and Insanity in the 40K games are not unlike Black Crusade's Corruption or your life total in Magic - only the last point really matters, so gaining ~20 Corruption/Insanity while halving further gains basically means that you have ~160 to lose rather than 100.

I personally see no reason to restrict it in a passive-aggressive manner. It's balanced for a Background, and I figure that any such character is probably that "one-in-a-billion" who's managed to (perhaps after a lot of spiritual cleansing and assistance?) come out with zero net Corruption and Insanity. Sure, finding that one human is extremely unlikely, but finding that one human given that they're part of the retinue of an Ordo Malleus Inquisitor is not terribly uncommon.

Personally no, but it depends on how much of a fight the rest of the group puts up about it. If it's even an issue.

Well, my method is the Exorcised background is no longer Exorcised. It's now 'Ruined Life' or some-such, haven't decided on the exact name. Basically, it describes anyone who was on a planet where they were normal... Until the orks invaded, or the daemons incursed, or the Dark Eldar raided. Where other people died or hid, you fought back. You have a malignancy due to exposure/the dark thoughts from the bad days, and a better chance of ignoring Fear after seeing your life destroyed in front of you by inhuman monsters, as well as Hatred towards whatever did it.

As-is, I will never allow the Exorcised background in my game as it stands; it breaks off into 'seriously?' territory. Sure, it's balanced. It also doesn't reflect the effects of being Possessed and Exorcised.

I will figure out a cost to make the effects of being Possessed and Exorcised (Corruption, Insanity, Lores, everything) an Elite Advance if someone wants to make a character like that; it isn't something one can purchase in-game, though. That becomes story-line stuff.

You people do what you want, but if you consider the stuff that the Illuminati has been doing:

"The Illuminati is mainly composed of humans who have not only survived possession by a Warp entity, but also managed to do the seemingly impossible, i.e. cast out the daemon from their own bodies. The experience of sharing a mind with a daemon has completely changed their outlook on the universe, and given them a unique understanding of Chaos and Warp entities in general. In the process of freeing themselves from daemonic possession, they have also mastered the Chaos within themselves which is the root of all human corruption by the Ruinous Powers."

I don't think possession necessary ends in corruption of the soul if the individual shows enough willpower and that's what happened here. If a player wants this background, you shouldn't force negative houserule effects on him, unless he doesn't mind.

It's your game, do what you want, but I stick to RAW.

http://warhammer40k.wikia.com/wiki/Illuminati

Are they even considered canon anymore? They haven't been mentioned for like 5+ years.

Yeah, the Illuminati are what, one in quadrillion? Even rarer? No, my players aren't going to be freaking Illuminati level at CC. That would be a generally game-breaking Elite Advance that'd take tens of thousands of experience to qualify for; I'm not even sure what the cost would be. And it isn't something you'd just buy after character creation. 70 Willpower would be a must as well, in my mind.

For any mundane (which the players are at the higher tier of at CC), the events of Possession and Exorcism are far too traumatic for a malignancy and talent to represent. It also cuts out the benefits of being Exorcised; the Lores, the resistance to Chaos and Insanity, etc.

Like I said, I'll let the mechanics continue to exist, as they're what I'd consider a good Background for people whose lives have been overturned and traumatized by some horrible anti-Mankind force. It sure ain't the results of a Daemon hitching a ride in their body.

Consider how rare Untouchables are, especially when ending up as an acolyte for an inquisitor, and that option is available as well at character creation.

The characters won't necessary be Illuminati, they probably won't have driven the demon out just by themselves, but they had a strong enough degree of will and spiritual purity to keep themselves sane and pure. It is possible, perhaps through an immense amount of faith in the God Emperor or whatever.

Perhaps they went through years of penance afterwards to cleanse their minds and souls of any residual corruption.

Make your players come up with a good reason why they are still pure and it should be fine, otherwise make them take insanity/corruption.

They should make that demon seed thing they had in 1st edition an elite advance and have it have the requirement of Exorcism...heck I may do that anyways.