Acquisition of Servitors

By gorthano, in Dark Heresy Rules Questions

I'm not seeing a scarcity for the basic non-combat servitors or basic combat servitors in any of the books (or any of the books for other games or prior editions for that matter). Am I missing something?

My player wants a servitor to carry around their footlockers of weaponry that would hurt their subtlety if carried openly. From a GM perspective, I'm thinking scarce availability would be pretty reasonable keeping in mind the maintenance/upkeep requirements. Thoughts?

What availability would you guys suggest for the combat servitor in the core book? Rare ?

Edit: I am aware of the various types of servitors with prices listed in Inquisitor's handbook p144, Lathe Worlds p70, Blood of Martyrs p122, Book of Judgment p73.

Edited by gorthano

A Monotask Servo-Skull is of Rare availability. I would expect a servitor to be even higher, especially if it wasn't of a Monotask nature.

I'd probably make a Monotask Servitor, with any of the variants listed for the Monotask Servo-Skull (including a Hauler Servitor, such as the one you suggested), at Very Rare. That could perhaps be reduced to Rare if a member of the party has Peer (Adeptus Mechanicus), although only on a successful roll.. The former Monotask Servitors, or rather Servitor Drones, are on page 396 of the Core Rulebook - Create variants as required, but certainly do not strip it's features away.

The Combat Servitor, listed on the same page as the above, I'd rate at - Extremely Rare - would also be the rating I give the Repair Servitor on page 397.

Servo-Skulls are rarer than Servitors as they need fairly advanced tech to keep themselves in the air and avoiding obstacles. Monotask servitors on the other hand are ubiquitous in Hive Cities and other settlements across the Imperium. When you're talking about a "monotask" that literally means it can only do ONE thing. Examples include welding servitors akin to our modern robotic arms that aid in car manufacturing, mining versions which chisel away endlessly in the vast tunnels upon Mining Worlds, and so on ad infinitum. To have them be anything more than availability Common or Average is a joke as these are built in their billions and can be found everywhere there is even the semblance of an Imperial presence.

For starters I'd definitely not make them the same rarity as a Bolter or Plasma weapon, and for your player's desired "carry-bot" just make it a Common Acquisition imho. Remember though that if he really wants a Monotask, this thing will be rock stupid. We're talking 15-20 Int with similar Per. It will walk into people on the street and get lost if left alone. For a more advanced Multitask model with say, 25 Int and some avoidance parameters built in then I'd go with something more along the lines of Scarce.

Servo-Skulls are rarer than Servitors as they need fairly advanced tech to keep themselves in the air and avoiding obstacles. Monotask servitors on the other hand are ubiquitous in Hive Cities and other settlements across the Imperium. When you're talking about a "monotask" that literally means it can only do ONE thing. Examples include welding servitors akin to our modern robotic arms that aid in car manufacturing, mining versions which chisel away endlessly in the vast tunnels upon Mining Worlds, and so on ad infinitum. To have them be anything more than availability Common or Average is a joke as these are built in their billions and can be found everywhere there is even the semblance of an Imperial presence.

For starters I'd definitely not make them the same rarity as a Bolter or Plasma weapon, and for your player's desired "carry-bot" just make it a Common Acquisition imho. Remember though that if he really wants a Monotask, this thing will be rock stupid. We're talking 15-20 Int with similar Per. It will walk into people on the street and get lost if left alone. For a more advanced Multitask model with say, 25 Int and some avoidance parameters built in then I'd go with something more along the lines of Scarce.

While that might be true, my estimations bear in mind the statistics in the NPCs and Adversaries chapter. If the Hauler would be truly Monotask, truly-so, then I could see it being Scarce but no lower. I am also not of the assumption that the availabilities are rated in a manner where each item listed would be available at the same time and in the same location. Should a Bolter or Plasma Weapon be available, then I would have a Servitor be more-so, but would also make them unique in a place where one would acquire a spear or another low-tech device.

I would not have a servitor be the same availability as Bolas, Bows, Whips, Spears, Imperial Robes, Heavy Leathers, Gas Masks, Backpacks, Dataslates, or Medikits. They're bionically and biological enhanced humans, half mechanical and half biological, with programming interwoven into their nature. The bionics aren't that cheap, alone. With most servitors vat-grown, that is not an inexpensive process either. Because of the cranial & brain implants alone, they're pretty **** advanced, just not so advanced when compared to the rest of the AdMech's wonders.

Then again I suppose it depends on how messed-up your world's economy and non-linear it's technological advancement is...

From a gameplay perspective, what if a party was to requisition a Medicae Servitor and leave it in their place of residence? All sense of healing between tasks becomes easy.

They may be common, and as I write this edit I feel as though I am dragging on, but they are not commonly-acquired by typical citizens of the Imperium.

Edited by TheWorldSmith

The Admech are like > no no no > servitors aren't for you > you dont know how to cherish them and attend to their tender feelings LMFAO

What you're looking are modifiers then, not base rarity. If your players are trying to get a Servitor on a Feral World, make the technological disparity present through a modifer, say -60 or -70.

As for the actual "advanced design", nowhere does it state that Servitors are enhanced in any way, and their bionics are crude and simple by design. In fact a Bionic Arm fit for a Servitor is Availability Average (+10), as that is what a Poor-Quality arm is worth in game. The Cranial Implants are equally simplistic, and its important to not these are not the ones found in the Bionics section, but more akin to those given with Mechanicus Implants. In addition the vat-grown servitors are not as common as you think, most are just people that got arrested for minor crimes and executed, and there are plenty of those to go around trust me.

To the question of the Medicae Servitor, so the party buys one. So what? Its available and exists within the world, so why shouldn't they be able to have it? As for it making all healing "easy", in DH 2E all healing is easy by default, the Medicae Skill is laughably forgiving compared to older systems like Rogue Trader or 1st Edition. If you want to add realism, give it a number max uses before its supply needs replenishing. Furthermore a Medicae Servitor would not be Monotask, and already has an Availability in game of Rare which is fitting for something of its nature. Note that these kinds of servitors are found in nearly every clinic on a Hive World outside of the Underhive.

To the question of being commonly-acquired, this is an entirely different issue. They are not bought by people because people in 40k don't have money to begin with. Your average Hiver is "paid" in food and ration stamps that can be traded in for necessary. Only in the Mid-Hive and above do you usually start seeing Thrones or Scrip or what have you being used. At that point though, servitors do actually become commonplace as shown in nearly all 40k art or stories depicting Hive World life.

The same argument towards rarity for servitors can be said for lasguns. These are, and we can all agree, advanced directed energy weapons. They are not bought by typical citizens of the Imperium and use technology that would make them nigh impossible to get outside of modernised worlds. What availability is a Lasgun? Common.

Keep in mind > on some worlds > certain "things" just aren't there no matter how bad someone wants them to be...

I ran a noir inspired world (aka primitives by 40k standards) whereby there was little to no 40k gear at all available once you got there

Morbid

Well that's a given, I don't think any GM worth his salt would be like "Oh, you're on a feudal world away from the Governor's space station in a medieval castle that can produce at best steel swords and **** you find in the D&D Handbook? Oh sure, roll for that Power Armor, they got one sitting right around the corner!"

What's more important than the obvious is giving the world a sense of depth, as though its part of a larger universe. Take the example of the feudal world or "noir" world you presented. Is there a technologically advanced part of the world that has advanced gear and weapons? If so, how do they interact with the other inhabitants, if at all?

But... that discussion is for a different sub-forum, so I won't waste more space here with it.

I still dispute that they're not commonly acquired (in the sense that I intend, of how easily it is done, not how often), or even available to be so as easily as you would say. They may be common and in a very large population, absolutely, but not for anybody to buy. Most in the service of mid-hivers are probably actually owned by upper-hivers that they serve themselves.

And, as Morbid said, herpaderp-protective-AdMech. They're either expensive, on-loan, or with the AdMech themselves.