Hey everyone,

Stupid question, in a sense, and one I imagine has been asked several times before. It's come up several times in my group though, and none of us has a certain or satisfactory answer as of yet.

How does a tech-priest eat, when they all come equipped with the respirator?

Some suggestions were that the tech-priest's respirator can come unlocked and swing back, revealing their mouth. That's fine for Rank 1 tech-adepts, but even then, and especially at the later levels, that seems more like a respirator hinged to their jawbone than any kind of respirator implant.
One idea I came up with is that they eat through their fingers? Sort of intravenously, dissolving little bits of food and then using syringes in their arms to absorb it.

Suffice to say, both of these ideas seem a little strange and result in our Secutor being mocked relentlessly every time food becomes an issue.

I have a feeling that this is part of the 40k art/fluff that has always been ignored (and outside the realm of an RPG it's perfectly fine that way), but I was wondering if anyone knows of anywhere in the background that it discusses this at all, or what kind of cool ideas you guys have come up with.

It's different from priest to priest. Any way you can think of, they probably do. The galaxy is a big place....

There are many ways a TP can sustain himself. He might eat through a vacuum tube, he could have special ports in his mask for it, or he's being powered like the Borg. You can design it how you want it. The one thing you might want to considered is that TPs in the books I read considered food and the need to eat a weakness. In a RT game I once played in, my TP refused to eat and drink with the others, even though he was equipped with a pretty sophisticated design that allowed him to eat solid food using cutlery/silverware and without the need to remove his respirator.

jpomz said:

While a perfectly valid argument, "the galaxy is a big place" is so boring .

I prefer to think that Tech-Priests feed on Nutrient Paste, through a check-valve attachment situated in their chest, as well as on internal electro-graft matter/anti-matter replication & conversion units.

I also imagine that they have pressurised cannisters of water that they attach and replace directly into or onto their body and it's mechanized parts, to maintain hydration levels. They replace these and their intravenous sustenance bags (which helps them not having to administer nutrient paste as often) when they perform the morning prayers and daily oil maintenance.

Fgdsfg said:

You know that's the tagline right?

jpomz said:

Why would a tech-priest see the need for food and sustenance as a weakness? Their precious vehicles need constant resupplies of lubricating oils, fuel etc., but they don't consider THAT a weakness.

Some funny ideas in here. So it's mostly a matter of however the player chooses to hand-wave themselves into being able to eat.

For the most part it's just a banal triviality, but sometimes, like when the acolytes are sitting down to a poisoned meal, it becomes important. I like the idea of them eating nutrient paste and water capsules etc, but then they miss out on all the fun! =)

GreyHunter88 said:

While I would personally be inclined to agree with you, Tech-Priests in general wouldn't. They consider anything to do with bodily functions weaknesses of the flesh. Very few tech-priests consider the human body (or any fleshbound meatbag, really) sophisticated organic machines. The only Tech-Priests I know of that actively consider that viewpoint are the Genetors of the so-called Magos Biologis. And like it says in Rogue Trader: Into the Storm : "A particular and unusual disposition is required to become a Genetor; the tendency to view organic life as a form of machine in it's own right, rather than as the weak fleshy shell many Tech-Priests view it as."

GreyHunter88 said:

Lots of things in this universe is like that. Like was said; "The universe is a big place" . Even by the lowest estimates, there are hundreds if not thousands of billions of tech-priests within (and without) the Imperium, spread across literally astronomical distances. Just because one entire Explorator fleet does it one way doesn't mean that a completely different fleet doesn't do it entirely differently. Not to mention Forge Worlds themselves.

GreyHunter88 said:

I could see the Tech-Priest as the one not even sitting down at the table, just standing in a corner, observing. Trying to choke back gag reflexes as he sees the disgusting charred pieces of fat and muscles, slithering down the wet, slimy, bacteria-infested esophagi of his companions.

Incapacitate him with Shock Batons and EMPs.

GreyHunter88 said:

Well this has indeed come up before at this thread:

http://www.fantasyflightgames.com/edge_foros_discusion.asp?efpag=2&efid=70&efcid=3&efidt=488654

which is also a shameless plug of a sketch I did which I think is rather neat .

The Tech-Priest in my group solved this problem this way:

As part of the "Facemask" that nearly all Tech-Priests have his has a sort of grinding aparatus. You can pull out a little compartment, put some food in, push it back in and it will be turned into delicious paste. Eat up.

oddly enough i always answered this question with " he dose not eat, he plugs himsel into a wall socket or something" kinda like that borg Hugh inthat one startrek episode.