Hey friends, I made this strange background thing a few days ago and I thought I'd submit it for your intellectual ravaging. The character I originally designed it for uses family heirlooms (an xbow and a warhammer) to hunt daemons. A sort of Van Helsing type character, if I'm honest.
The Hunter’s Code Adherent Background Package
The acolyte may never train any weapon skills.
The acolyte receives Melee Weapon Training (Primitive), Pistol Weapon Training (Primitive), Basic Weapon Training (Primitive), and Thrown Weapon Training (Primitive).
The acolyte receives no weapons or ammunition from their Career and instead receives the following:
The acolyte receives two Primitive weapons of his choice from the Pistol, Basic, Melee, or Thrown category. These weapons are automatically considered to have the mono upgrade and gain its effects (i.e. Pen +2 and loss of Primitive quality)(this is a unique application of the mono trait to non-melee weapons). This upgrade may be manifest however the player chooses (exceptional craftsmanship, runes, rituals, mysterious alloys, etc.). This weapon selection excludes the Haywire Rifle, the Nail Driver, the Boarding Pike, and the Suppression Shield. Additionally, the GM has the final say on which weapons are acceptable.
Melee weapons selected in this way gain the Balanced trait (or lose the Unbalanced trait). If the weapon is Unwieldy, it becomes Unbalanced instead. If the weapon already has the Balanced trait, then it deals +1 damage.
Ranged weapons selected in this way gain the Accurate trait (or lose the Inaccurate trait). If the weapon already has the Accurate trait, then it deals +1 damage. It also gains the Reliable trait (or loses the Unreliable trait). Furthermore, the Reload of the weapon is halved (round down), to a minimum of a Half Action.
The acolyte also gains 30 ammunition for their ranged weapon(s), if they chose one. In the case of thrown weapons, the acolyte receives 3 of them, unless the weapon is also Melee, in which case they receive only 2.
The acolyte may not use any weapons aside from these granted by the Hunter's Code Adherent trait unless they obviously have no chance of harming their enemy otherwise.
Examples:
Sword 1d10+1 R Pen 2 Balanced
Scythe 1d10+2 R Pen 2 Unbalanced 2H
Axe 1d10+1 R Pen 2
Flintlock Pistol 15m S/-/- 1d10+2 I Pen 2 Clip 1 Rld Full
Composite Bow 40m S/-/- 1d10+3 R Pen 3 Clip 1 Rld Half Accurate Reliable 2H
Hand Crossbow 15m S/-/- 1d10 R Pen 2 Clip 1 Rld Half Accurate Reliable
Notes:
It is clear that these choices change some of the balance of the original melee weapons (although, they're shortly abandoned in favor of high tech weapons, normally). In this case, it's encouraged that the player reflavor (refluff) their weapon as they see fit (within reason). If the player desires a paired set of weapons (e.g. 2 swords or 2 flintlock pistols), their dedication to the style costs them some versatility.
Final Note:
As the player is to use these weapons for their acolyte's entire life, it is recommended that the GM allow upgrades to be made to the potency of their weapons to match those of higher tech levels. This can be attributed to the acolyte's increased familiarity with their weapon, the addition of (more) runes, blessings, or etchings of power. Or perhaps the Emperor simply guides their strikes or shots more surely because of their unwavering faith. In effect, the Hunter's Code Adherent is a cosmetic choice with a few drawbacks (namely reload speeds on ranged weapons) so an effort is made to not punish the player overly much.
To balance slightly better the early game, it is well within reason to remove the mono trait from the weapons initially.