I have been having some disruptions inside my Campaigns due to the PC's constant questioning as to why my Inquisitor (Balthazar J. Skult) has become nearly god-like in dealing with Daemons and daemon-ilk. They also believe I have gone too far with the character and that I need to pull back some. So I decided to share what he is about and ask for the opinions of others.

Balthazar Jeremiah Skult, A.K.A. The Edict of Fire. Skult has no known past after purging his homeworld of an alleged "deep-seeded genestealer infestation". Details on him are minimal (age: atleast 200, looks 51.) except that his record in service for the Inquisiton is beyond "normal". He earned his nickname The Edict of Fire by "purging" a thousand worlds, some actually infested while others had nothing wrong at all. Upon the last world that was purged records show him talking to a massive dark figure. The figure inserted a purple-glowing crystal into his chest before disappearing into nothingness. From there Skult became a disturbingly knowledgable person. Even though he was of the Ordos Malleus he could recall key facts and details about Heretics and Xenos, as well as many other dark things. Whenever Psykers near him they become increasingly disturbed, up to the point of total insanity.

What no one knows is that the dark figure was merely a Warp entity that existed before the corruption of the Warp. It had survived by constantly moving from psyker to psyker avoid as much Warp corruption as possible in order to maintain its own consciousness. It gave him a shard of pure un-corrupted Warp, the last of the untainted Warp. The creature seeks to use Skult's own ambitions to advance Skult through to the highest possible seat of power. There, the creature plans on using Skult to wage a grand war against the forces of chaos in meager hopes of purifying the Warp (of course this won't happen). Skult has already been led by the creatures influence to a warring world between Guardsmen and Orcs, discovering a Dark Age (Eldar-Tech) Portal device that allows him to flow from one side of the universe to another within a moment. He used this device (and the special aid of the Warp creature) to retrieve a special tome from the Black Library that has given him sight into his previous major investigation: The disappearence of the Ordos Chronos. He remains secret about what he has learned.

To be honest, I get the feeling this is probably breaking atleast a couple hundred rules and events that have already taken place within the universe but it seems like the only way to get some genuine respect out of my PC's (some even fear him). That and I am a total writer at times. So I ask for your thoughts, have I really gone too far? *.*

Your players have already given you the answer. If they think the NPC is too much, then it is. Either they are fealiing like they are the supporting cast to an Author Insert character (not a good thing for players to feel) or their ideas about the universe and what they wanted to get out of the game is not being delivered. Either way, if they all say you need to dial him back, dial him back.

Purging over 1,000 worlds? 'Untainted' Warp? Instant teleportation across the 'universe' (I'll assume you mean galaxy, since universe would mean he could go see where the 'Nids came from)? Going to the Black Library and actually retrieving one of its tomes? Yeah, I think this is overpowered by a lot.

Well it seems to me that he's a bit over the top to be honest. I'd probably scale him down and perhaps move him a bit away from the characters. That way he's less likely to steal the show and you can use him more as a plot device than having and, percieved, invincible character on the stage.

EDITED: Behold, the Gs have spoken!

What Graver said.

It's your game, and the established canon is your's to play with as you see fit. Breaking a lot of the rules, and you are breaking a lot, doesn't matter so much in and of itself.

However, it's your job as the GM to make sure your players are having a good time. It's because they're unhappy with your Inquisitor, not because

I never give my (Human) NPC's powers the players cannot possibly have.
Perhaps an NPC might have an unique psychic power but nothing more.

Gaire said:

I have to say I agree with the above. Even the "purging of 1000 worlds" is overdoing it: most inquisitors aren't complete psychopaths and realize planets are a valuable commodity to the Imperium. Barring a full-on Tyrannid or Daemon infestation, purging an entire world (and by that I mean exterminatus, not just say an orbital bombardment) is something that gets taken seriously; an inquisitor going a bit too zealous with the cyclonic torpedoes might merit a lot of interest by his peers. Such bloodlusr or nihilism can be considered, ahem, excessive. As for the others... no, really, those would be things some of the greatest figures of the setting can't or have failed to do (i.e. Ahriman's attempt to get to the BL), and it's not something I'd like to see in a DH game.

If your players agreed, I'd have said go ahead, but if they don't like it either... well, I don't think it's their fault.

I would like to correct myself on one note as to say that the Players still have fun regardless of my "Over-psychopathic-insane-impossible-Overpowered" Inquisitor. The overall main reason that I did this (to correct myself yet again) is to make my Players not feel like total cannon-fodder. In other words, I tried to make them at least think that the Inquisiton was important enough to choose them for some special purpose, or atleast distinguishing skill. They do have pre-Existing notions of the 40K Universe and some feel that anything short of a Space Marine or Commander will be next to pointless. I can admit, I did over do the character itself and I have broken most of every rule in the enitre fiction that is 40K. The only excuse I have for this is that in such a grim world where my players feel depressed most of the entire time, I merely tried giving them someone of great influence and in turn, by being selected by the Inquisitor, they would at least think they have a spark of something important about their character (ergo: the Fate Points with emphasis.)

I think that's the wrong way to go about it, though. I personally consider the "humble beginnings" to be part of the charm of Dark Heresy. In Rogue Trader or Deathwatch, you start as uber-badasses who can do this and that, but in Heresy, you start small, as one of the faceless trillions. You earn the right to be called a hero. In fact, putting the PCs alongside someone who has been genetically engineered to be a BADASS to the n-th power will imo make them feel unimportant by comparison. If you do continue with using this NPC, please make sure he never, ever steals the PCs thunder and appears with them as little as possible. They must be the protagonists of your game, not the posse of the NPC.

"They do have pre-Existing notions of the 40K Universe and some feel that anything short of a Space Marine or Commander will be next to pointless."

Pointless? In the adventure in the core rulebook itself, Illumination, a party of junior acolytes gets to prevent a daemonic manifestation that would kill a settlement, and there are hints that it might destabilize an entire planet, as well as possibly forming a lasting warp breach. That's part of what new characters are supposed to be thrown at. Yeah, they may start small (note: may) , but chances are by the time they reach rank 5 or 6 they should have some war stories to tell - if they were ever allowed to tell them, of course.

I like to see the Inquisition as the first line of defense against some of the worst the galaxy can throw. If you succeed, perhaps no one will know why a few hab-blocks burned to the ground. If you fail, the players' PC will not only be killed, but the warp portal will be activated and there will be full-scale demonic invasion, or the genestealer cult serving as a beacon luring a hive-fleet to the sector. Your success or failure may mean the difference between nothing big happening and a war that will, in an optimistic forecast, be the death of billions. Frankly, few space marines ever get to make that much of a difference.

Inquisitor Balthazar J. Skult said:

Trickle down awesome is not awesome.

What you want is an Inquisitor that the players have to assume is badass beyond compare merely due to having disposable acolyte servants as capable as the PCs under his control.

The whole "uncorrupted warp" thing reeks of mary sue-ism and really doesn't line up all that well with GW canon. (Psykers feeling increasingly uncomfortable? That's a blank thing.) and the "purging over 1000 worlds" gives him a purging tally that rivals Goge Vandire's. You know, the guy who plunged the galaxy into the worst age it'd been in since the Horus Heresy, and needed the combined force of the Admech and Astartes to take out. Your Inquisitor is more than a little ridiculous.

My Inquisitor had a fling with a now eldar farseer early in life, and as a result when they meet up with each other she apears some what flustered when the PC's are around. Also he is young for an inquisitor about 50 years old, and has a quad barreled bolt pistol, a gift from the Inquisitor who trained him. He also deals with a Spacemarine Kill Team that is on his ship.