Does anyone know what the background reason is, that the Ordo Sicarius Alternate Rank (from Daemon Hnter) gets access to the talents Psy-Rating 1 and Minor Psychic Powers. I rerally don't get what the Ordo Sicarius per se has to do with Psykers or Psychic abilties and why one of their initiates should suddenly get access to Psychic Powers. I can accept Psychic Powers evolving in an Adept/Loremaster who studied thosands of sometimes forbidden tomes or in a sort of randomly occuring Nascent Psyker, but the Officio Assassinorum monitoring branch of the Inquisition sort of actively training it? Somehow strange...

Any ideas?

Going from the info I gathered from http://wh40k.lexicanum.com/wiki/Ordo_Sicarius

The super secret police of the super secret assassins who to most don't exist... some of the most deadly persons in all the Galaxy of Man. Why would they need psychic powers? Seems to me like they would need any edge they can get! And remember that some of these agents are also members of the Assassinorums as well.

Game Mechanics wise, I would also point to how nice it is to have some of those mind reading and detection powers when you are trying to ferret out heresy, corruption and such from the Officio Assassinorums.

Do you have some certain problem with the player learning these skills? Are you the player?

It doesn't make any sense for a character to learn these skills just by taking a particular career path. It's lame and part of DH's depressing slide into power creep.

Just my own opinion.

Abaddon87 said:

I don't have a problem with the advance personally, but there are other ways to ferret out heresy and corruption.

How about Scrutiny +20, and Talented: Scrutiny. Chuck in Heightened Senses* Smell, Sight and Hearing and you have a walking lie detector who notices the tiniest shifts in someone's pheremones, body language, and speech giving an additional +10 to the roll. Try decieving that guy.

*My Feral World Death Adept has Scrutiny (no bonus yet) and all these heightened senses. I agreed with my GM that these would add to scrutiny in appropriate situations. He's like a dog when it comes to assessing what sort of mood someone is in, instinctively knowing whether they are being shifty or deceitful.

Zakalwe said:

I would say if you feel that adding psychic powers to your character doesnt fit then dont do it. If its part of a package see if your GM would allow a sub of another skill or enhancment or trait. Especially of you dont feel you actually need the powers gained through being a psyker.

It doesn't make sense. At the power level of Psy Rating 1, all you can hope for is manifesting a few (sustained) minor utility powers without opposed WP checks. The Radical's Handbook has some candidates too, like Without a Trace. No overbleed to improve chances or effects. No Psyniscience skill to help detect corruption.

Most important, there are so many ways to detect psykers, showing psychic talent is very likely to blow any cover you might want to assume as an Ordo Sicarius member. One would expect the OA to periodically check all their members for corruption (and for newly developed psychic potential). Even the fluff story for the Ordo Sicarius Initiate alternate career rank is bogus. A trusted servant to a Lord Militant an amateur psyker? Not checked for malign influence on such a high-ranking person? It wouldn't happen.

Abaddon87 said:

I am the GM actually and thought about presenting this alternate rank to our groups Assassin. He somehow seem the only one in the groop without any viable alternate career rank (though the normal ranks are fine enough in my opinion). In my campaign a certain Inquisitor Marr want to propose this option to the Assassin.

It would not really fit his character (or any other character for that matter) to suddenly gain psychic powers (let alone learn them...). Even then, according to (my view of) the 40K fluff it is simply not possible to just learn Psychic Powers like they are from readily available "Magic Tomes" (like in D&D or whatever). You can train Psychic abilities of course, if you have the innate ability to be a psyker (or suddenly gain it through the Nascent Psyker trait) or you could learn vile sorcery from forbidden tomes and a lot of research. A non psychic character suddenly gaining Psychic abilities in a way he gains Concealment or Dual Shot is simply not right somehow...