I suppose it's down to GM fiat, but i don't want to give the players access to too much. But what is the precedent for Inquisitors and starships; do they own their own? What sort/size?

signoftheserpent said:

It's a complex question with no good answer, really.

In general, Inquisitors don't often own voidships for themselves, for several reasons. First and foremost, there is little need for them to possess such vessels, because they can use them anyway when it becomes necessary (whether for transportation or orbital bombardment, there is always some ship around that can do the job, and Inquistors can be... persuasive).

Second, Warp-capable ships are excessively rare and expensive, so any Inquisitor wishing to possess one for himself is in for a lot of explaining before his peers, and "I wanted a stylish ride" isn't an acceptable reason. This ship could be an invaluable asset to the ever-needy Imperial Navy, or it could explore and conquer new worlds under the command of a Rogue Trader - what duties of yours are so important that you absolutely must have it all for yourself?

Finally, a voidship is obvious as hell, and a voidship bearing Inquisitorial symbols, double so. Not all Inquisitors have a problem with that, but those who hope to enter a planet unnoticed can forget about owning a voidship.

That said, in addition to being able to commandeer pretty much any vessel the Imperium has, the Inquisition most certainly has a number of voidships just for itself, but they're a shared resource of the Ordos (or, presumably, one Ordo). It's theoretically possible to gain enough control over the operation of such a starship to effectively call it your own, but abusing this power can lead to trouble from one's peers.

Then again, it's conceivable that some Inquisitors will own ships, gained through various methods and used for various purposes.

Excellent answer/explanation, I agree with this.

Most of the points made so far have my full support but i'd like to throw out there one thing.

In the Eisenhorn/Ravenor trilogies the Inquisitor and their retinue make use of a Rogue Trader's vessel that is held on basically a permanent retainer. There is also use of a personally owned gun-cutter (think thunderhawk sized, non-warp capable vessel) which is ferried about by larger warp-capable vessels such as the aforementioned Rogue Trader's ship.

I personally endorse the idea of allowing a group of players to have something of gun-cutter size. Generally they have quarters for half a dozen crew comfortably, and can transport a fair bit of cargo - i'd reason about a tonne. They are well armoured and have an armament that, while powerful when operating atmospherically, isn't all that powerful in space. There's stats for one in Into The Storm i believe.