Long story made short, my players are making a very long Endeavour where they are following a path through several Koronus worlds in hope of finding a lost colony founded during the Dark Age of Technology and getting their hands on precious archeotech (which they are going to find, of coruse!).

Aside from the nameless bulk of items they are going to sell to the Mechanicus for Profit and glory, I though it would be fair to give each player a single cool archeotech item for their characters to use. The books have several weapons, but I want to give them something more interesting and fun than just a bigger hammer. This is where I need your help, fellow forumites.

I'll introduce you to the crew and their interests:

1- Torian Kilminster (Rogue Trader): a fair Lord-Captain who likes to spend his free time within drugs and women (generally both at the same time xD). He recently married a noble women with strong ties with the Underworld to improve his Dinasty's resources and have heirs.

*Item Ideas: I though that something which improves Fellowship (maybe though Unnatural Fellowship) would ve really useful for the player and he may like it. But only that seems too mechanic, I want more flavour on it.

2- Jericho (Arch-Militant): First Officer of "The Lazarus" and veteran of several wars against Chaos worshipers, where he lost both arms. While not particulary fond with implants and cybernetics, he is obsessed in improving his bionic arms with Skiitary Arm-Weapons (the ones in Lure of the Expanse). That's why he sees this journey as a way to get reputation with the Adeptus Mechanicus and get permission to get thouse arms.

*Item Ideas: I don't want to give him an archeotech arm, since he is really workign hard to get on well with the Mechanicus and that would just make his effoets worthless. What do you give to an Arch-Militant which is not just a +1 weapon?

3- Gracchus (Missionary/Torchbearer): rised in a Death World and only survivor of his mining colony, he's a devoted and strong man with a clear mind and simple plans. He's working hard to traint and equip a small but powerful army of zealots to better serve the Emperor and the Dynasty. He's also the survival expert of the group.

*Item Ideas: the player really wants a Multicompass, so I though giving him an Archeotech version of it. Any ideas?

4- Undynne (Explorator): also a war veteran against chaos worshipers, she exceeds as both an excelent engeneer and a deadly Heavy Weapon Support. She blames herself and her unpure flesh for every soldier who died along her side. That's why she's trying to perfect herself through bionics and implants, so it doesn't happen again.

*Item Ideas: I'm really stuck here, since I really don't know what to give her. :S

Of course, feel free to add anything you can imagine, even if it doesn't fit my ideas. Anything helps. =)

1) Emotion mask - A collar studded with many precious gems and jewels, that glimmer and sparkle.
Once worn, it adjusts itself to the wearers emotions, and can be used to portray those emotions in the manner its wearer requires.
Viewers will think the wearer more empathetic, more in tune with their ideas, or more intimidating.

2) Eye for Battle - Implant, helmet accessory or monocle. This device functions as a local Augur, working on many frequencies to accuratley map the area.
It also has a Combat Cogitator with Battle-Hardened Machine Spirit, that relays tactical information to the wearer through the eye-piece. Ranges, speeds, likely manouvers, weapon capabilities and many other facts and predictions combine into a formidable advantage in any combat.

3) The Multicompass determines location so accurately it incidentally blocks Teleport attempts within a 5m radius and triggers Warp Instability on any Daemons attempting to enter that area.

4) Spider-limbed: A servo-harness type collection of Mechadendrites that provide the Multiple Arms Trait.

What about some kind of Dark Age of Technology drug for the the Rogue Trader? Something like a hallucinogenic amphetamine. Making it highly addictive would be interesting to since he would have such a limited supply of the stuff....

I'm not sure that something like a first age drug would work as a reward, although it would make for a fun adventure arc.

for the RT, what about a dark age pheromone emitter. it would help with social situations (particularly with debauchery) but might trigger impure gene tests and wouldn't work over vox systems. Or you could find his ancestor mentioned honourably in dispatches, the sort of thing that carries great weight in imperial social circles.

for the Arch militant, how about a single use uber weapon like a vortex grenade? This would be powerful but only having one would make him think long and hard about using it, plus he would not have it on him all the time
.

Took me a bit but here is an old thread that may help you. Hopefully it didn't derail toawrds the end. It starts out strong.

The rogue trader description made me think about an archeotech device I once used in a Dark Heresy scenario, that might be useful in this case. It's a rather large machine requiring its own space aboard the ship, and has to be disassembled and reassembled when transported. When used it completely rejuvenates the subject. No rejuvenat treatments necessary anymore. First time you use it you'll feel invigorated (+5 to Ag and +5 to Fel, maybe +5 to Str/T/Per if you feel generous). Of course you will have to use it each year otherwise the years will catch up to you. Did I mention it has the habit of occasionally inflicting a mutation? Especially if someone was to try using it more then once a year...

An archeotech item for the arch militant I would keep simple: archeotech power armor. Virtually never runs out of power. Make it best craftsmanship, so he'll really have a small treasure there.

The multicompass could be some sort of HUD that aside from location information would also note any potential threats and/or possible ambush locations, granting a bonus to perception whenever that situation occurs.

For the explorator: How about finding half of a "Rite of Duplessence" in a stasis vault. You know, the procedure where the brain of another member of the Adeptus Mechanicus is integrated in the mechanical body of the explorator who can communicate by thought with each other. The secrets the vault brain could tell the explorator! Especially the secrets that no one is supposed to know of course.

Hi!

Mis 2 tronos:

For the RT: Some item having to do with Slaanesh (maybe a sexual spell book or viagra of chaos) would be an excellent first step towards (chaos) enlightenment.

L

For the RT:

Something amounting to a hypno-anything is always nice. Have the target make a willpower save, and if he fails the RT gains +20 on peaceful social interactions. If he passes the test, however, something about the RT just doesn't seem right. Suspicions may arise, resulting in anything from -20 to the lrelevant character levelling accusations of witchcraft, downright hostility or any other such results. A good method of putting this into practice is to have it always affect Mooks and unimportant folk, drawing him to think of it as a flat bonus, until you start encountering those who would have the strength of mind to resist... Furthermore, maybe this could take the form of a stunningly elegant and flambuoyant necklace, but perhaps it appears that it only has three of the gems still in the setting. I wonder what may happen should he recover further gems...

For the Arch-Militant

Why not give him some armour that gives non-direct combat boosts? IE A suit of ultra-light power armour. Give it 6 AP (All) with advanced helmet systems with a Targetting Monocle, +10 str, no Ag penalties, void sealed, built in mag boots, vox, lamp pack (flashlight), impellor (for manoeuvres in the void). Who knows, maybe there are further modules missing that could be found and added...

For the Missionary

Firebats. He has a cadre of elite religious soldiers? What better way to make them great then a pile of custom storm trooper carapace armours with flamer coils and tanks built in, running along to release torrents of flame below the arm? Have them count as best quality Flamers, give them an extra 2 AP on the back but if it penetrates it sets off an explosion. Maybe emblazon the suits with ecclesiarchal motiffs from before the Age of Apostasy?

For the Explorator

My favourite prizes were Servitors. I was a Genetor who bordered on the Heretekal, and designed all sorts of devious and devilish servitor patterns and put them into production along the Reclamation bay. Maybe have her find a gene-tank that allows incredibly efficient servitorization that also super-powers the subject? The catch, of course, being that the subjects must go into the tank alive! Maybe, however, the subjects' minds are not always completely wiped, and eventually some of them might start remembering, if not who and what they were, that they were rather unhappy about being turned into servitors! Have it produce, rather then combat servitors, 5 Praetorians per batch, but roll a d% for each one produced. On a roll of 95+, the servitors go into a frenzy against their masters in 1d10 x 1d10 days after production. For every 5 produced, add +10 to the d% to reflect system anomalies, until a "frenzy-servitor" batch is made, then apply a -10 until 5 are produced, since the anomalies in the system were purged. This provides her with a huge source of powerful and perfectly loyal servants, but at the cost of human lives and the downside of never being able to fully count on them. I would also apply a limit, maybe have it require an upkeep test at +0 or -10 every few batches as the amniotic fluids need replacing and the parts that are implanted must be restocked.

If the Arch-Militant commands the house troops in battle, how about some sort of archeotech tactical cogitator with hololithic displays? Firstly, it would look way cool. Potential bonuses it could give would be something like a +10 to Command and Lore: Tacticae Imperialis and War skill rolls. Oh, and have it quote Sun Tzu every now and then.

The re-juv tank idea is a great one for a hedonistic RT.

For the missionary, how about adding into the multicompas a few other pieces of gear, like a vox, auspex, teleport homer and that psy-sensor thingie from DH.

Explorators are always hard to shop for... one option that may lead to further adventures would be scraps of data that hint at a colony where he might find remnants of STC tech. Cliched I know, but what is a 40K RPG without some cliches! Or, depending on the amount of inter-party rivalry that your group has, the plans to make the archeotech batteries that the rest of the PC's toys need to opperate.

Maybe also just to round it out, something for the party to enjoy as a group, like an archeotech shuttle. Nothing to extreme, just something like an aquilla but a bit more maneuverable, better augers and a best quality power field.

Thanks everyone for the wonderful ideas!

Please, keep them coming. =D

This is what I have made so far inspired on the awesome ideas everyone gave me. An Archeotech Battle-Monocle for the Arch-Militant and an Archeotech Multicompass for the Missionary. I really accept better name ideas for them or any constructive criticism.

1-Archeotech Battle-Monocle (Rarity: Unique)
*At the beginning of each combat, roll 1d5 to represent how much information has the cogitator managed to successfully compile previous to the encounter. Each turn after the first add 1 to this number, to a maximum of 5.

*The character adds this bonus to his Initiative and five times this number to his Weapons Skill, Ballistic Skill and Dodge Tests for the rest of the encounter.

*In Mass Combat, the character can also use the Battle-Monocle to project holistic displays and relevant information of the battlefield. This grants him a +10 bonus to all Command and Scholastic Lore (Tactica Imperialis) Tests during the battle (and any other relevant Test at the GM’s discretion). Needless to say, this doesn’t work during Space Combat, unless the character is performing Command Tests due to a Hit and Run or boarding action.

*Finally, the Battle-Monocle works as a micro-bead capable of emitting highly encrypted frequencies to the rest of the character’s allies. Anyone trying to hack this frequency sees his Tech-Use Test Difficulty increased by three steps.

2-Archeotech Multicompass (Rarity: Unique)
*This artefact can display relevant information about its surroundings, granting the character a +20 bonus to all Survival and Navigation (Surface) Tests.

*Due to their advanced holistic displays and information of the character surroundings, the Archeotech Multicompass gives the character a +30 bonus to all Awareness Tests to notice approaching or concealed individuals in a radius of one kilometre for as long as the character is actively using the device. At the GM’s discretion, certain artefacts or factors may hide the individuals and reduce or nullify this bonus.

*Finally, the device works as a weather manipulator, slowly changing local weather patterns to accommodate the character’s instructions. This process is slow, and requires the character’s full attention for at least an hour (more complex changes require more planning time). During the planning period, the character may choose to set the artefact on Slow Mode or Fast Mode, and then make a Survival or Tech-Use Test based on the chosen Mode. Slow Mode requires a Challenging (+0) Test while Fast Mode requires a Very Hard (-30) Test. Success means the weather manipulation will take 3d10 days for Slow More and 3d10 hours for Fast Mode to complete itself (the character and the compass no longer need to be on the area for this to happen). Additional Degrees of Success may improve the character’s weather manipulation in any way the GM sees fit (more complex changes, less time for changes to take effect, longer duration of the effect, greater are of effect, etc). On the other hand, failing the Test by two or more Degrees of Failure will cause unpleasant results in the surroundings, probably the opposite to the character’s intentions (the severity and consequences of this are up to the GM).
Needless to say, the planet must have atmosphere for the changes to happen, and the device can’t manipulate the weather in ways impossible to the world’s atmosphere (again, this is at the GM’s discretion).

*As a strange and probably unintended effect, using an Archeotech Multicompass’ capability to manipulate the weather inside a starship while the Gellar Field is functioning will cause it to flicker and automatically shut it down for 3d10 turns. The unpleasant consequences of this while travelling though the Inmaterium are up to the GM.

I was thinking that rather rolling 1d5 for the Battle-Monocle the character could just add a flat number for easier bookeeping, adding his INT Bonus to Initiative and (INT Bonus x5) to Weapon Skill, Ballistic Skill and Dodge Tests.

What do you think?

I think your bonuses from the monacle may be a bit over the top. Maybe drop them to a x3? If you gave that to my PC, I would make a bee-line for that implant that grants Unnatural Int at best quality (name escapes me just now), spend XP on int up to 50 (not too unreasonable a spend) and gain a permanent +50 to WS, BS and dodge. Even the random roll version will build up to a +25 bonus. Youch!

Hygric said:

You mean the Cortex Implant, I though about it while writing the Monocle. That's not a big problem on that game since my friend doesn't like implants at all (actually, none of my friends except the Explorator does).

But I get what you mean, even a +25 could be a little bit too much.. Maybe I could add a flat +1 for Iniciative and +10 bonus to Weapon, Ballistic and Dodge, but the device also incorporates thee funcions of an advanced Pict Decoder. The character can then use the high definition holistic function to reproduce such images for other or even use the mucro-bead frecuency to make live transmitions of everything he hears and sees.

*bump*

I'm still not sure about the artifact for the Rogue Trader and the Explorator.

RT has enough ideas already imo. As for the Explorator, how about an auger array that on top of normal stuff can detect warp energy in a 200 m radius. Giving a readout of whether it's a trace or an active source, how strong it is and such more. A veteran of wars against Chaos should be interested in something like that.

General reach: 100 m for all functions. 200 m for warp energy due to the very distinct trace it leaves in realspace.

I know I am late to the party, but still...

For Torian Kilminster (Rogue Trader) how about the Ebon pleasure-Simulacra ?

This comes in the form of a very human (female) sculpted simulacra (the closest thing to man-emolating servitor-machine the Tech-Priests will tolerate) with four arms. The surface
material of the simulacra is made of an material reminding of wet clay (and needs to be lubricated before each use!). Once lubricated, the material has as sweet smell to it that arouse
a mans fleshly desire and the unspeaking (but by no ways “silent”) archeo-tech simulacra is
very well versed in the arts of serve these urges.

Game Effect: Somebody who used the service of the Ebon Pleasure-Simulacra will count as having the “Chem-Gelt” Talent (if he wishes so).
Plot Hook: The RT´s wife might not be very happy about this placing…and perhaps the thing is addictive?

For Jericho (Arch-Militant): A casket full of MERAA-Plates to enhance armour. “MERA” is meant to be short for “Micro Explosive Reactive Armour Additions” and comes in the form of
large, rubber-like sheets (each about 10mm thick). These sheets can be cutted into smaller parts which can be easily attached to the surface of a rigid, solid armour (AP:5+). Upon a high-velocity impact (like a Bolter round) the MERAA reacts with an small explosion (hence the limit to AP:+5 armour) and is thereby countering some of the projectiles penetration power.
Game Effect: All explosive Weapons get their AP reduce by 2 against a MERAA enhanced armour (and yes, I know that ERA does not work on personal armour..but hey, it is 40K Archeo-Tech!)

Regarding Gracchus (Missionary/Torchbearer) & his archeo-tech Multicompass
How about giving the device the additional functions of a good quality Auspex without any changes in size & weight?

For Undynne (Explorator) a Force-Field implant which works like a Force-Field of any class you would like to allow… but with the side-effect that Undynne is able to extent the radius to (TB)meters. After TB round where this is done, Undynne has to pass a Toughness test or will gain a level of fatigue.

Gregorius21778 said:

Actually no. So far I've only made the archeotech items for Jericho (Arch-Militant) and Gracchus (Missionary). You can see the items and their stats on the previous page (although I need to make some errata for the Monocle, since as it is it's bonuses are very breakable). So, thank you very much for your ideas. They are very helpful.

For the Rogue Trader I'm making an amulet (or other piece of jewelry, maybe a ring) which grants him Unnatural Fellowship (x2) and other set of perks.

I really like your idea about the Force Field implant. I'm going to work out that idea a little bit and add some weird perks to it as well to make it more balanced with the treasures of the other players.

If anyone else has some archeotech ideas and want to share, I'll be happy to hear them...and maybe steal them from my games as well. =D

As to the force field's perks... perhaps allow it to alter it's surface to aid in concealment. Obviously this could be a simple opache color with the option of taking a half action to create a blur field that can both mute colors or enhance them to stunning levels.

In-Game effect:

-Free action, to give the force field any single color and block sight to inside the field itself.

-Half action, can either be used as somthing similar to an eldar holo-field (-30 BS/WS to hit) but also imposes a -30 on any attempts at concealment while it is opperational, or a chameleonine cloak (+30 to Concealment).

If the radias of this field is expanded beyond the user, then after a number of rounds equal to the user's TB, a toughness test must be made to maintain the field or it fails and cannot be reactivated for 1d5 rounds.