I'm currently a nascent psyker, and I plan, once we hit ascension, to get sanctioned, and then ascend to death cult.

How will this work?

Will I retain my free minor power use? Will I get psy ratings? The ability to level up in the psyker talent tree? What can I do with it?

It doesn't work. The Nascent Psyker "advance" is intended to remove the character from play. That's why there are no rules for it; because the character is supposed to be gone.

So if you want to do it, you'll have to come up with your own rules from whole cloth. Like you'll have to come up with your own rules for playing as a ghost.

Hmm. Odd because that doesn't make any sense. As a nascent psyker and a trusted member for the inquisition, you would likely be whisked away for sanctioning, which is exactly what I'd like to do.

Well, make up rules we shall.

By fluff, sanctioning takes decades of time.

EDIT: Isn't there some option in Ascension for giving a character a psy rating? Or is that only for Inquisitors?

There is a path called "The Minds eye open" grants +1 psy rating unless you are a psyker (nascent excluded)

I was always under the impression that nascent psykers are actually a variant of "normal" psykers, and given their nature, are almost always hunted down by the big I. Its been forever since I've seen the rules for them, but aren't they just capable of naturally focusing a few minor powers? And just as easily causing some sort of psychic phenomena?

I would say nascent psykers actually can't be sanctioned, as they fall under the "exceedingly dangerous, kill on sight" category of psyker. Remember, the sanctioning process isn't 100% survivable.

Sanctioning as a process is only performed upon psykers deemed as "safe enough," not "any and all."

Nascent psychers are very powerful as they gain 10 - WP Bonus random psychic powers per session from any discipline. These are not minor psychic powers. On top of this, these powers can be used automatically without power roll. The downside off course is that each use generates psychic phenomena (not to mention the possibility of being attacked by your fellow players).

In Inquisitor's handbook it say "It is possible that if found strong enough, and if they survive their training, the character could return as a sanctioned Imperial psycher".

Exeviolthor said:

In which case I would require that the character have Psy Rating 1 in order to prevent breaking further alreadybroken Ascension.

Yeah NP is meant to let characters go out in a massive pyre blaze of glory. It's unbalanced because it's a death sentence for the character as he turns into Dark Phoenix.

The whole nascent psyker 'upgrade' seems very odd to me. It is in essence an upgrade that makes you immediately one of the most hated and dangerous outlaws in Imperial society - an unsanctioned psyker.

Here's how the process of sanctioning should run:

1. Nascent psyker is discovered somehow.

2. The local Adeptus Arbites (if you're lucky) get to you before the Ministorum or local lynch mobs string you up from the nearest lamppost/tree.

3. The Arbites restrain you in the cells of their blockhouse (no canon details on how - i have 'Black Cells' where psykers are kept in stasis). You will be held here until the next Black Ship arrives. This could be YEARS.

4. The nascent psyker is transferred to the Black Ship. Onboard they must surely be kept in stasis, or in some psy-dampened retraint, otherwise how does a Black Ship with 1000's of unsanctioned psykers on board possibly survive?!?! The trip to the Adeptus Astra Telepathica institutions on Holy Terra could well take years or even decades.

5. Once on Terra, the real work begins. The nascent psyker is 'tested'. IF found wanting, or not strong enough he'll simply be fed to the Emperor to help power the Astronomican. If strong enough he'll most likely go through the Soul Binding and be bound into lifelong service to an astropathic Choir. Only if of exceptional psychic and moral strength will he be sacntioned as a psyker, and released into a lifetime of Imperial slavery, serving the Imperial Guard or some other Imperial institution as a Sanctioned Psyker.

By the time all this is done, decades will have passed.

Pretty much 'nascent psyker' is a fast track to rolling up a new character…

Nascent Psyker is not an upgrade at all. Don't look at it as if it were. Like the daemon in the flesh one in the RH, whatever it's called, it is a way to kill off a character colorfully.

Going back to the original question, in Ascension it says that the "Mind's Eye Opens" path is accessible by Nascent Psykers. Therefore, based on the desciption of this path your character can become an Interrogator, a Primaris Psyker or a Sage.

In all cases the character must start with a Psy rating of 1.

Elduir Darkwing said:

How it works will depend entirely upon how your GM says it works. Your input and desires will be considered if the GM is competent.

You should use the 'Mind's Eye Opens', or a GM allowed variant. If you are not sanctioned (a period that generally gets set as 5 years for ongoing campaigns) you are looking at an eventual death sentence, but not by the Arbites as someone mentioned, but by the Inquisition itself. It is entirely the work of the Inquisition to root out renegade witches and force them to submit to the will of the God-Emperor or be purged. Should your Inquisitor try to shield you in any way, he will get branded as a radical in the least extreme and purged in the other.

Your Nascent package will be changed as per those rules, i.e. you get a Psy rating of 1, a couple of minors and one discipline. This is the only exception that I know of that allows someone with less than a Psy rating of 3 to get disciplines.

You do not get the ability to gain further Psy powers if you stay an Assassin. Period. No death cult will have you in any event if they find out that you have a Psy rating. That option went away the day you became a Nascent.

To improve your Psyker abilities and gain further Psy ratings you will have to embark into one of the classes than allow for it, i.e. Primaris Psyker, Interrogator (and then you MUST take the Psyker's Gift to improve those abilities) or Inquisitor (same restriction as Interrogator).

If a GM is feeling lenient, he may allow an option for something like Desperado and then let you take Psyker's gift for that instead of one of the usual packages for that class. But I don't recommend that.

It may seem harsh but that's the grimdark universe of 40k.