So, I have been hopping around between the various game threads, and spending some time at DW stuff. One of the thoughts that they often have is including Inquisitors in with a Kill Team, but that requires a significant amount of high-end gear to have a squishy Human, even an Inquisitor, stand with the Space Marines, and not die for it. My dilemma, however, is how might the Inquisitor get said gear? In Ascension, Influence gets you stuff, but numerous things are -30 or worse, on Influence rolls, and that doesn't even include ownership. Add to that the likelyhood that an Inquisitor built to go with them probably caps out at Influence 50-60, and they will often fail checks to acquire their gear. I don't know if there are some hammered together rules for an Inquisitor getting Requisiton as a DW player character (Rank and Renown are alien to them), but I had a little dumb thought. Maybe, just maybe, they could spend an Elite Advance to get something akin to Signature Wargear, allowing them to not have to make a -50+ Influence check, or some such, for each and every piece of gear they will need. At higher levels, at least, it seems almost a more likely way an Inquisitor, like Coteaz, or such, could have acquired Artificer Armor, or maybe even Termie Armor, like they can get in the Malleus (TT, I guess anyone could try from Daemon Hunter's writeup). Otherwise, the books are filled with many things that it would be very hard to ever get (I know, it's the point, but still).

What are people's thoughts? Could an Inquisitor PC pay out the bum to SW a really hard to get item, or are they forever restricted to difficult Influence tests vs Near-Unique items? I'd imagine it is really only more appropriate for Deathwatch, but if a high-ranking Space Marine can prove to his Chapter that he deserves Artificer Armor (only attainable by EA, I believe), just based on his actions, one would think that an Inquisitor could do the same, with his organization, every once in a great while. Otherwise, only a Lord Inquisitor could wear Terminator Armor with the Space Marines (no one else could succeed the -70 to -90 Influence test to get it, and that's just the armor, then you have other stuff).

What are people's thoughts on those who are meant to have unilateral authority? This isn't just for Deathwatch, that's why I posted it here, but if you want to say yay or nay for individual settings, that's cool.

from france

personally i use the rolls table but if a player played well in the past and have a good story i give him two options. the first is a solo adventure to get the item the second is to lower the difficulties to have it. it depend on the time available.

venkelos said:

Rites of Battle gives some guidelines about joint operations (page 72). Those normal humans accompanying a kill-team may add, as a bonus to a single acquisition test for that mission, 25% of the Requisition Rating of the mission.

Rogue Trader characters may burn Profit Factor for a +10 bonus to the test for each Profit Factor burned (Into the Storm, page 223)

Throne Agents may permanently lower their Influence by 1d5 to automatically succeed at a test (Ascension, page 15)

If you're balking at the "burning" part, please bear in mind that the normal humans generally always have their power base, be it Profit Factor or Influence. The Requisition that the Astartes get is granted on a mission-to-mission basis only, and is much more limited in scope. Also note that the Astartes generally can't get something "just because" outside of a mission. If that Tactical Marine wants a suit of Terminator Armor, chances are he's going to have to first build up the Renown (which can take a while), and then be assigned enough Requisition for a mission to use that terminator armor at all. An Inquisitor, on the other hand, if he wants a suit badly enough, can burn some influence to get a suit of Terminator Armor. Since they're burning influence to automatically succeed regardless of modifiers, chances are that that suit of terminator armor is going to be tricked out to high heaven (hexagrammic wards, artificer-quality construction complete with silver and adamantine inlay, etc.). What's more, it's his suit of terminator armor, which means he can bring it along wherever he wants whenever he wants, barring, of course, mission requirements. Finally, the Inqusitor can do this long before the Tactical Marine acquires enough renown for the mere right to wear that Tactical Dreadnought Armor.

Of course, Rogue Trader groups trump even the Inquisitor, or haven't you seen a starting Rogue Trader group burn some PF to acquire a tricked out Battlecruiser?

Anyway, to answer your question, I really don't think that the Signature Wargear talent is really necessary for the Throne Agents. They've already got something that, in many ways, trumps Signature Wargear.

-Kirov