I got Disciples yesterday and I have to say...boy, what a book! It's 100% awesome and I am happy to see that FFG is developing the game into exact the same direction I'd want it to go.

However, when I read about the Night Cult, I discovered something that has me worried, for it seems that I fell victim to the general lack of a cohesive background in the 40k universe.

Until now, I thought it perfectly fine that the Tech-Priest of our group regularly collected the bodies of dead enemies to turn into servitors...however, unless I misunderstand something, that would fall under the reanimation of the dead and would be heresy...

Could someone please help me out of this dilemma? Or tell me if I misunderstood the passage and the dilemma actually isn't one?

How is that the fault of "lack of cohesive background"? when have dead bodies ever been used to create servitors? Lobotomised criminals and vat-grown clones, but where is it mentioned that they've used dead bodies?

sounds like you're blaming the background when you should be blaming the player for misunderstanding what a Servitor is - unless you can find a source saying they use dead bodies to make them.

Servitors are not corpses- they are still living (albeit lobotomised) humans. They need to be fed (usually paste) but are the reason that the Adeptus Mechanicus avoid computerisation- servitors organic human brains perform the calculations or actions programmed into them.

If your Tech priest is collecting body parts then they might be used for Servo Skulls (though normally only highly respected servants of the Emperor are honoured by serving him on in death). And no one is entirely sure if Cherubim are made from dead babies or not.

Well, your dead enemies might have been delivered to a laboratory for a thorough autopsy, looking for hidden signs of corruption and traces of illegal surgery ...

Well, one example that I know of is the "retinue" of the Lady Ismenissa from Chapter War (novel of the Soul Drinkers series) who uses those of her children who didn't survive to adulthood as servitors to attend to her every need.....

I'm always leery of using anything from the novels as a reference unless it's also supported by wargame fluff - lest we delve into the S&M marines of the Space Marine novels.

Additionally, who's to say Lady Ismenissa isn't a heretic with heretek Mechanicus priests? I mean, the Soul Drinkers were borderline heretics themselves (if not outright heretical) by that point. They've got no room to be throwing stones.

If you're reffering Space Marine it was as I recall a single novel and not a series. Howeevr I will take the Astartes of Mr. Watson (Ian not Ross -- no offense Ross ) to 'fluff' anyday hands down. Tastes differ. Although as to the actual topic you make a valid point (re: Lady Ismenssia) Also 'dead' may be subjective, since the brain is the primary 'engine' if you're just making a cogitor and the individual never reached brain death then what does the state of the corpus really matter?

If you and or your GM has not had issues to date with this and niethier of you knew previously and being a Hertek would ruin your concept, then maybe eithier your character was ignorant, might actually unknowingly belong to a Heretek Mechanicus Cult you may be able to use this as a nice hook as you realise the error and report to your Inquisitor, now you're an Inquisitorial aggent inside a Heritical orginisation that you can help bring to justice (and thus redeem yourself...) Or perhaps your Inquisitor's a Radical, and knows while you don't... Or you and your GM could just have a 'ooops' kind of 'redo' and just ignore the past occurences or ignore that aspect of Heresy as regards the AM it is after all 'your game' and shouldn't be 'ruined' on account of not knowing every aspect of the often incconsistent and constantly flucuating Warhammer 40,000 background and mythos.

You might also want to find out how they were reanimating the corpses into servitors.

However, it could very well bring up some interesting plots regarding your heretical tech priest not to mention the ones he was giving the corpses too. For example he could have 'seen his error' and now working to stop the blasphemous practice.

I would also have to agree the whole servitor, flying skull and cherubim issues are pretty creepy and I see as a distraction to the game by moving it from dark to macabre. Nephilim got a bad wrap for treating people as cattle, WH seems to be just as bad if not worse by making eugenics the norm.

You've got two options as far as I can tell.

1. You gloss over the fact as the player was never in intending to play a Heretek. In your 40k, it is A-OK to use corpses for servitors.

2. Unbeknownst to the Tech-Priest, what they have been doing is heresy, the magos who taught them is actually a notorious heretek. The Admech starts hunting down the Magos' associates. Do the Acolytes bail him out, or leave him to the dogs?

On a related note, I just wondered what peoples view would be on animal servitors ?

Definitely Heretek in my view, but I can't shake the idea of an AdMech with a monkey servitor called Siegfried.

RichH said:

I disagree - the issue is the debasement of abuse of the "sacred" human form - animals should be fair game.

RichH said:

They exist. That's the point at which you move into the realm of Psyber-animals (sometimes used as familiars by psykers, but not always). Reportedly, Magos Arkhan Land, who discovered the STCs for the Land Raider, Land Speeder and Land Crawler (the latter being a large tractor used on thousands of agri-worlds) had a Psyber-Monkey, though Psyber-eagles (particularly ones augmented to have a second, blind head, as an organic equivalent to the Aquila) are more common.

Concerning augmented animals - take a look at "Special Security Enforcer Barbaretta" and her Cybermastiff from the Inquisitor miniatures.

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