Hi,my tech priest player has fellowship 02 and wants to buy the machinator array.

The problem is the fellowship reduction of 5 that will take the player's fell to -3...

In the characteristic damage table a fellowship of 0 renders the character a servitor or similar,what do you think?

can he buy it taking his fellowship only to 1 or he can't?

Thanks

Considering the sheer amount of implants certain Ad-Mech magoi have, I'd think it's safe to say that the fellowship damage stops at 01. He's hideous, he can't relate to others except in purely intellectual matters and he's certainly not going to be invited to any parties.

RAW you would need to uppgrade Fellowship with xp before you could take Machinator Array (unless you wanted to become a servitor), but it's really up to the GM. Personally I would not allow it, a character with that low Fellowship is hardly human anymore, and remoing even more is going to create something which just does not belong in a group of people.

Then again, I would probably put some serious restrictions on anyone with 03 in fellowship in the first place

@Honn

Firstly, DH techpriests flat-out can't upgrade their fellowship. Ever.

Secondly, you might want to take a look at the crit tables, specifically energy criticals on the head. Would you really say that the question of which techpriests can or can't take the Machinator Array depends on who has gotten his face burnt off beforehand?

I would say to stop reducing Fellowship at 01.

I would keep track of how far below 01 the character is and use that as an automatic Degree of Failure per -1 below 0 penalty to all Fellowship tests anyone makes while the Tech Priest is around. By anyone I mean party members and NPC's as no non-Mechanicus people can hide their disgust while around the Tech Priest. I wouldn't apply this penalty to AdMech personnel they interact with as he is obviously a true beliver.

@Cifer

Oh yeah... didn't think of that

Then no, I guess I wouldn't play it like I said, I would stop the damage at 01.

Honn said:

Well not official, some of us allow Tech-Priest's to use the Explorator's Fellowship advances from RT . After all, they're really pretty much the same career in most respects. I believe this was bantered about at some point both here in Rules Questions and in House Rules . But, yeah, per RAW, Tech-Priests are kind of hosed in the social scene.

-=Brother Praetus=-

Thanks for your answers,i think i will stop the fel damage to 01,that specific character got a lot of damage from fire that reduced his fellowship.

Ya, the Ad Mech members got kind of screwed a bit with the change of system focus. A good thing to keep in mind is that the basic errata for the Magos "Heed the Higher Call" in the "Knowledge is Power" box mentions that the Ad Mech members can use their INT instead of FEL in reguards to buying talents, Peer and Good Rep, that have a FEL requirement. My group has taken to applying this to a bit more, as roleplay dictates, as you don't really associate with a Techpriest for the witty social banter, but for their big old robotic brain. But again, that falls a little bit into the house rule area.

I see no reason not to allow TPs to 'Elite Advance' their fellowship, either by getting access to the explorator career or simply making appropriate bids to the GM based on one reason or another.

Having said that, the -5 Fel bonus could be interpreted in other ways. In my mind, sacrificial/written-off stats should be discouraged. S/T near zero represents someone who's at the very edge of existence, per near 0 would be someone almost wholly confined within their own brain etc. In some senses, I'd be inclined to say "Well then your character becomes an NPC unless you find a way of retaining your fellowship."

Alternatively, go whole hog at -3. Accept that they can still compete on 'really easy' (+30) tests and that, by virtue of having -3 Fel, they're actually more Abominable Intelligence than man. Give 'em some corruption points, that'll sort 'em out!

(Actually, I find this last paragraph wholly compelling and will use it as my go-to inspiration for near-0 Fel from now on...)

Filadan said:

I tend to go a little further, allowing Mechanicus characters to use Logic in place of Inquiry when communicating in Mechanicus-specific (binary) languages with other Mechanicus characters. In such a situation, social niceties are irrelevant, and only the rapid and efficient exchange of pertinent data has any meaning... while the rest of the group looks on in confusion as two Tech-Priests squeal at each-other like dial-up modems for a few moments upon meeting.