So I recently found Dark Heresy (and related Rogue Trader and Deathwatch) RPG, and really enjoy them. I have been a long time reader of Black Library novels, but never played the table top game. I haven't had any luck getting a local game going, and don't really enjoy roleplaying online much, but this weekend I had some time to kill so I decided to whip up some characters for fun. I thought I would share them for comments/criticism/inspiration.

I generated stats using the same baseline of (4), 6, 8, 10, 11, 13, 13, 16, 17, 19 dropping the lowest (the 4) and assigning the rest to the stat I desired. I generated the stat line here:
http://www.random.org/integers/?num=10&min=1&max=20&col=5&base=10&format=html&rnd=new

I figured I would post a mini stat block and explain a little of how I went about building each character.

Nihilius, Culexus Temple Assassin Initiate
Origin: Mind Cleansed Career Path: Assassin
WS 37, BS 39, S 33, T 33, Ag 36, Int 30, Per 31, WP 33, Fel 11
Movement: 3/6/9/18 Wounds: 11 Fate Points: 2

Skills: Awareness (Per) Trained, Common Lore (Tech) (Int) Basic, Deceive (Fel) Trained, Dodge (Ag) Trained, Intimidate (S) Trained, Speak Language (Low Gothic) (Int) Trained, Survival (Int) Basic
-10 on all Interaction skill checks
Talents : Basic Weapon Training (SP), Jaded, Melee Weapon Training (Primitive), Pistol Weapon Training (Las and SP), Thrown Weapon Training, Unremarkable, Untouchable
Insanity: 5 +10 WP vs. Fear, Mind Control, and Possession; Fail-safe Command
Gear : Hunting Rifle (16 rounds), sword, knife, compact las pistol (1 charge pack), stimms (3 doses), charm, black bodyglove
XP spent: 400

The Ascension career Vindicare Assassin made me think of building other temple assassins, and an Untouchable Assassin screams Culexus. If he makes it to Ascension he would probably even take the Vindicare career, since the only thing really specific to Vindicare about it is the equipment which can be tweaked easily enough.

Uriah 17-Theta, Adeptus Mechanicus Skitarii
Origin: Forge World Career Path: Guardsman
WS 31, BS 42, S 31, T 37, Ag 33, Int 31, Per 30, WP 33, Fel 22
Movement: 3/6/9/18 Wounds: 11 Fate Points : 2

Skills : Awareness (Per) Trained, Common Lore (Machine Cult) (Int) Basic, Common Lore (Tech) (Int) Basic, Drive (Ground Vehicles) (Ag) Trained, Speak Language (Low Gothic) (Int) Trained
-10 Common Lore (Imperial Creed), -5 on formal interactions with Ecclesiarcy
Talents : Basic Weapon Training (Las and SP), Melee Weapon Training (Primitive), Pistol Training (Las), Sound Constitution,Technical Knock
Insanity: 7
Gear: Hammer, las pistol (1 charge pack), las rifle (1 charge pack), shotgun (12 shells), guard flak armor, uniform, 1 week rations
Cybernetics : Common craftsmanship Cyberarm (left), Common Craftsmanship Augur Array, Common Craftsmanship Vox Implant
Spent XP: 400

Taking a Forge World Guardsman and applying the Cyber Rebuild version of the Cybernetic Resurrection Elite Advance to represent previous augmentations instead of life saving surgeries, we have a skitarii.I thought 3 implants were a reasonable number (average on a d5). I went with a cyberarm just for the iconic look for a mechanical arm. The Vox Implant is from the Rogue Trader Corebook, and a Augur array is just useful.

If your Gamemaster will let you start with a little more XP than the normal 400, we can go a little farther with this idea.

Silon 51-Mu, Adeptus Mechanicus Cataphractii
Origin : Forge World Career Path: Guardsman
WS 31, BS 42, S 41, T 43, Ag 32, Int 31, Per 30, WP 33, Fel 14
Movement: 3/6/9/18 Wounds: 10 Fate Points : 1

Skills : Trained, Common Lore (Machine Cult) (Int) Basic, Common Lore (Tech) (Int) Basic, Drive (Ground Vehicles) (Ag) Trained, Speak Language (Low Gothic) (Int) Trained
-10 Common Lore (Imperial Creed), -5 on formal interactions with Ecclesiarcy, cannot Swim, cannot be healed by Medicae
Talents: Autosanguine, Basic Weapon Training (Las and SP), Chem Geld, Disturbing Voice, Melee Weapon Training (Primitive), Pistol Training (Las), Prosanguine, Resistance (Cold, Fear, and Toxins), Technical Knock
Insanity : 16
Gear: Hammer, las pistol (1 charge pack), las rifle (1 charge pack), shotgun (12 shells), guard flak armor, uniform, 1 week rations
Cybernetics: Common Craftsmanship Augur Array, Common Craftsmanship Vox Implant, Common Craftsmanship Rebreather Inplant, Machine (2)
Spent XP : 500

The Cataphractii are the heavy infantry of the Skitarii, and this guy is a walking tank. Between his inate Machine armor, high Toughness, and any armor he can strap on, he can soak up a lot of damage. I would like to see him outfitted more like a Stormtrooper (hellgun and carapace).

Grak, Ogryn Auxilliary, Volg 3rd “Mercy Bringers”
Origin: Hive World Career Path: Guardsman
WS 44, BS 36, S 53, T 45, Ag 27, Int 26, Per 30, WP 31, Fel 23
Movement: 3/6/9/18 Wounds: 17 Fate Points: 2

Skills: Awareness (Per) Trained, Intimidate (S) Trained, Speak Language (Low Gothic) (Int) Trained, Speak Language (Volg Hive Dialect) (Int) Trained, Survival (Int) Trained, Swim (S) Trained, Tech Use (Int) Basic
-10 Concealment, -10 Survival, -5 Int test outside “civilization”
Talents: Basic Weapon Training (Las), Basic Weapon Training (SP), Jaded, Light Sleeper, Melee Weapon Training (Primitive), Pistol Weapon Training (Las), Sound Constitution, Unshakable Faith
Traits : Size (Hulking)
Gear: Hammer, las pistol (1 charge pack), las rifle (1 charge pack), shotgun (12 shells), guard flak armor, uniform, 1 week rations, Imperial Guardsman's Uplifting Primer
Mutations : Brute (Core Rulebook pg.336), Hulking (Rogue Trader pg. 369)
XP spent: 400

Here is my rendition of a playable Ogryn. Using the Hive Mutant adaption from Radical's Handbook, but instead of a "mutant" he is an "abhuman." I feel it captures the nature of the ogryn pretty well. He wouldn't have to be from Volg specifically, I just decided I liked the idea, and the Deathwatch corebook contains a list of units in the Crusade including one from Volg so I used it. I did need to use a Mutation from the Rogue Trader Corebook to get the size increase to Hulking for a more believable ogryn. Alternatively, you could go Brute and Hideous Strength but without the size increase it just doesn't feel right.

Magdela, Sister of Silence
Origin: Famulous Protege' Career Path: Battle Sister
WS 37, BS 34, S 30 (40 in armor), T 33, Ag 33, Int 33, Per 31, WP 31, Fel 21
Movement: 3/6/9/18 Wounds: 11 Fate Points: 2

Skills : Ciphers (Sororitas battle-sign) (Int) Trained, Common Lore (Ecclesiarchy) (Int) Trained, Common Lore (Imperial Creed) (Int) Trained, Forbidden Lore (Psykers) (Int) Trained, Literacy (Int) Trained, Speak Language (High Gothic) (Int) Trained, Speak Low Gothic (Int) Trained
-10 on all Interaction checks, +10 Charm, Deceive, and Scrutiny with high authorities in formal situations
Talents: Basic Weapon Training (Bolt), Hatred (Psykers), Melee Weapon Training (Primitive), Unshakable Faith, Untouchable
Gear: Sororitas power armor (no helmet), bolter (2 magazines), shield robes, Chaplet Ecclessiasticus, Scoriada, Ring of Sufferage, Rule of the Sororitas, writing kit
XP spent: 400

While building Nihilius, I started thinking about the Sisters of Silence from the Horus Heresy books. They don't really have any support for being around anymore in 40K, but that leaves unexplained what happened to their order. So I decided to build one. Since in 40K, the Sisters of Battle have the main responsibility for overseeing the Black Ships, it is also fairly easy to blend this into the current setting as well. There are only really two changes from a normal Battle Sister. Since Sisters of Silence vow never to speak, I exchanged Performer (Singer) for Ciphers (Soroitas battle-sign), and with the addition of Untouchable you lose Pure Faith.

I look forward to building some more characters, and hopefully finding a local game to play in soon. I would love to hear any comments on my ideas, or hear your own.

These are very inventive. Bravo.

However we have stats for Ogryns (or at least one Ogryn), and just like in the TT they are about as strong as, and tougher than, "standard" (= Rank 1 Deathwatch) Astartes and considerably stupider than 26 Int (which isn't even near the minimum for a normal PC, in fact it's higher than the standard ststs given for Dregs and such). They have a TB of 10 and 30 Wounds (or at least this one does). Ogryns are just not buildable using the PC creation system.

The Sisters of Silence did not survive the Inquisitorial purge of the Ecclesiarchy after Goge Vandire's apostacy. The church made a power-play to seize control of the Imperium from the High Lords of Terra... and ultimately lost! Fortunately the saving grace for what was left of the Ecclesiarchy was the source of it's defeat, as well as one of it's own. The faith, loyalty and unstoppable drive of Sebastian Thor and the crusade he launched tipped the scales for the Imperium's loyalist forces and earned the ultimate survival of the Imperial church, although not without some at the time radical changes. Because the Sisters of Silence directly served Vandire as both bodyguards and harem all of them were executed for gross heresy and high treason.

The Decree Passive dates from this time, as does the creation of the Ordo Hereticus.

In particular, the Ecclesiarchy was forced to agree to some very stringent and inviolate conditions in exchange for it's continued existance. Never again was it to be allowed to field a significant military force, so the Decree Passive explicitly forbade the church from maintaining a force of "men at arms". The church then disbanded the Brides of the Emperor (the Sisters of Silence being a subset of this order) and replaced them with the "newly created" Adepta Sororitas, a fighting force composed entirely from nuns (as well as several former Brides of the Emperor) and thus exploiting a loophole by claiming that they were compliant with Imperial Law since they did not have any armed MEN! The Inquisition were FURIOUS over this development and threatened to have the entire Ecclesiarchy condemned as traitors and heretics! Eventually a compromise was reached whereby the Ecclesiarchy would be able to maintain a relatively small force of their new "Battle Sisters" but ONLY if the sisters were to be oath-bound in perpetuity to serve as the Chamber Militant for the newly forged Ordo Hereticus in addition to their nominal duties to the church. Having little choice in the matter, the church complied.

Your sample character ideas look pretty interesting and are definately creative.

ZillaPrime said:

That's not right.

Amongst other things, the Sisters of Silence have literally nothing to do with the Ecclesiarchy. They pre-date its existence, and served the entirely distinct role of Psyker-Hunters for the League of Blackships of what would become the Adeptus Astra Telepathica during the Great Crusade era, their forces often allied with those of the Legionnes Astartes when particularly powerful Psykers were known to exist amongst enemy forces. They are all nulls and untouchables, and all but their most junior initiates are sworn to an unbreakable vow of silence, communicating through the use of several different forms of sign language, and they were based primarily upon a citadel on Luna. The eventual fate of the Silent Sisterhood is unknown, though it is possible that the organisation ceased to exist in any significant or useful capacity due to casualties suffered during the Horus Heresy.

Goge Vandire's bodyguards were, as you correctly noted, known as the Brides of the Emperor, but that particular organisation has its origins within a cult of warrior-women native to San Leor; the Adepta Sororitas was formed entirely of the four thousand remaining Brides of the Emperor, given that their actions at the very end of the Reign of Blood saw Vandire dead - their leader, Alicia Dominica, passed the Emperor's Judgement upon Vandire and executed him herself.

Aside from being organisations of female warriors, the Sisters of Silence and the Sisters of Battle have nothing to do with one another.

Shouldn't an ogryn be able to walk a bit faster? M 3 feels a bit slow.

It would be classed as hulking or massive so would get an extra movement bonus

From what I read in the "Visions of Death" art book from BL, the Sisters of Silence were used to bolster the forces when the Emperor tried to get into the Webway. Their null ability was very effective in fighting the demons of the warp