Hey there my fellow Orkalytes of the Greenskinquisition. I've been away a bit but in the meantime I've been developing a Sisters of Silence career path option and would love feedback etc!

Designers notes: (if you're not interested in my methods, feel free to skip ahead to the career stuff)

Why? Well, variety is the spice of life eh? I know the game doesn't need another career path but I like to give folks options. What I wanted to develop for the SoS was an In your face warrior type focusing on melee and martial prowess. My first cycle through had literally no shooty support at all, however when I reviewed the known material and artwork, a lot of the depictions still show guns (plus hey, it's a universe of guns right?) so I had to go back to the drawing board. What I ended up with was an investigative tree which focuses on being better at shooty with a bit of medic support and a military tree which gets to the juicy melee bits with just a dash of off-hand shooty.

Also I tried to fit them into the setting by using the available fluff in a way that would make sense, and so I'd love to get feed back on the history portion of the write up. This included generating a general "personality" for the average Sister in hopes that it would give an indication on what to expect from such a character (much in the way the SoB are described in the IH book)

The two biggest challenges I think are 1.) coming up with a creative way to communicate with your team (I envision a lot of "Shiala gestures to open the door") and 2.) Class balance. On that Second one I'm concerned both from the RP perspective and mechanically and why I've come to my ever creative community to rip my creation to shreds! (kidding) but seriously you guys are great and I love how creative you are.

Thanks for your time and patience!

for quick searching: (cntrl + F on most browsers)

A1 - Overview and History

B1 - Characteristics, starting goodies, special rules

C1 - Ranks and Advances

D1 - New Talents

E1 - Special thanks

Sisters of Silence

sacred duty to the Emperor

A1

Overview-

The little known militant arm of the Adeptus Astra Telepathica whose origins predate the Horus Heresy,
and were internally referred to as the organization's Departmento Investigates. An all female order akin to
the Adepta Sororitas but with the distinction that all the sisters are blanks. Recruited from Untouchable stock
these warrior-investigators served in all Aspects of capture and transportation of psychic individuals and as guardians
against physic assault on the battlefield.

At one time the sisterhood functioned as most Imperial agencies of the era with multiple cadres but due to substantial losses
over the Milena and the rarity of their stock they have only recently began to recover the numbers to establish such an
organizational structure. The Storm Dagger Cadre is currently the most prominent Cadre and their enclave is located in the
sister's previous citadel on Luna the Somnus Citadel.

History-

The sisters were active in every theatre of the Great Crusade though primarily used for their particular specialty in
dealing with Psykers. Two of their most notable battles include an incursion with the Jorgall and the direct assault of
Prospero with the Space Wolves against the the Thousand Sons traitor legion. During the defense of Terra at the height
of the Horus heresy the sisters were able to commit their full forces to the defense of the palace. However, following
the heresy their numbers would be so diminished that they would not recover their influence or power for many Milena.
For the time being their numbers would focus their efforts on manning the black ships and their sacred charge to bring
the sacrifices needed to sustain him on earth.

In 546.M32 as the sisterhood was just beginning to recover from the events of the heresy they were called to action
in a futile defense against the Officio Assassinorum when the Grand Master Drakan Vangorich usurped control of Terra
and slew the High Lords of Terra. They were to defend the astropaths still loyal to the High Lords, and while they
fought valiantly, their strained numbers were no match for the might of the Assassinorum. No sister was left alive
on or near Terra, including Luna, leaving only those residing on the Black ships as survivors. This blow crippled the
sisters leaving them only with a few thousand, barely enough to man the Black Ships, and ensured that the sisterhood
would have little influence on history from this point forward.

now, nearly 10 Milena later the sisterhood's numbers have begun to stabilized and the organization can begin to
once again exert their presence among the greater Imperium.

Duty-

The duty of a sister of silence is paramount to her existence, for without it she is nothing. This is the creed of the
sisters, for they are taught that they are soulless and to atone for this they must fill the void with purpose and duty.
Because of this the sisters are very driven and goal oriented, each task completed a measure of their reason for existence.

The Holiest duty the sister can perform is to bear a psyker to the black ships to sustain him on earth, this task above all
others is the focus of each sister. To that end A sister sees them self not as an executioner but a warden of the psyker and
looks not with disdain or contempt upon them but with solemn respect, for they know the psyker gives their life for the
most sacred reason possible.

Now as the sisterhood recovers from the ravages of a Milena they move forward to fulfill sacred and ancient oaths to the
inquisition to aid in the hunting of the psyker and to defend against the perils of the warp.

Misc-

A sister of silence is a peculiar individual in that their view of the warp and psykers is a sympathetic and unimposing one,
brought on by their particular immunity and the already disturbing nature they themselves exude.This mentality puts them at
odds at times with the more fanatical organizations within the Imperium, most notably the Ecclesiarchy, and there is a long
standing bias against the Sisters of Silence from the Adeptus Sororitas with the latter believing the former to be just as
unnatural as mutants and psykers. Regardless of bias, none can deny the importance of the Sisters' sacred mission within the
Imperium and the skill and expertise in which they conduct themselves in completing this task.

It is said even those of the ranks of Adeptus Astres hold the sisters in high regard for their martial prowess and history
of service to the Imperium. In particular the Space Wolves, whose battle on Prospero would have been for naught had the
sisters not been there, place great respect on the Sisters. Ever since those ancient times they have shared a special
alliance essential to the continued survival of the Sisterhood.

Sister recruitment

Recruitment into the Sisterhood is a tedious and extremely taxing process as it is perhaps (next to Astres recruitment) the
most difficult to perform. This is directly related to the rarity of blanks in human populations and further exacerbated
by the gender exclusivity.

By planet type:

Feral Worlds: Due to small populations and the superstitious nature of most feral worlds these worlds yield fewest
recruits for the Sisterhood. However these recruits are amongst the most desired as feral worlders tend to breed
recruits better suited to the Sisterhood's tenants of martial prowess and self reliance.

Hive worlds: When it comes to recruiting blanks it often comes down to numbers, and as Hive worlds have the greatest
populations in the Imperium, the greatest number of Sisters come from these worlds. The greatest difficulty is that finding
any one individual is extremely difficult in the Hive world system and rigorous searches are required to find any one
candidate.

Imperial worlds: While less common than their Hive world cousins, Sisters from Imperial worlds tend to be abundant as well
due to the highly developed nature of the societies and technological levels therein. Finding individuals in Imperial
worlds is also alot easier due to the organization of the population.

Void Born: The life of a Void Born blank is even more precarious than that of a normal void born, however as it is the
sisterhood's duty to man the Black Ships (and the pariah gene responsible for blanks is hereditary) it is not uncommon
for whole generations of a sisterhood cadre to be exclusively from Void Born stock. While socially as awkward as
a tech-priest at a formal dinner in social interactions, these sisters are the most well adapted to the ideals of
the warp and its dangers.

B1

Characteristics -

WS 100/ 250/ 500/ 750
BS 250/ 500/ 750/ 1000
Str 250/ 500/ 750/ 1000
T 100/ 250/ 500/ 750
Agi 250/ 500/ 750/ 1000
Int 250/ 500/ 750/ 1000
per 100/ 250/ 500/ 750
Will 250/ 500/ 750/ 1000
Fel 500/ 750/ 1000/ 2500

Starting Talents-
Oath of Tranquility (t)*
Melee Weapon Training (primitive)
Thrown Weapon Training (primitive)
Sprint or quick Draw
Pistol Training (SP)

Starting Skills-
Speak Language (low Gothic) (int)
Literacy (int)
Awareness (Per)
Common Lore (Adeptus Astra Telepathica)

Income -
Use the Trading Classes (Assassins) Monthly income to determine income and starting wealth

Starting Gear-

a good quality sword or a standard quality sword and an autopistol with 1 clip, Knife, 10 throwing knives
Feudal plate or black Body glove, Sisters Robes (good quality clothing), 3 doses of stimm

Special Rules-
Sisters of silence follow the Untouchable background package (page 38 Radical's handbook) except for the following
amendments:

The starting (400)xp for a new character is treated as spent when choosing this Career

Psychic Disruption: the line "Powers[…] will have their threshold increased by 10, plus […]
any associated test will have their difficulty increased by -20" changed to the line "Powers[…]
will have their threshold increased by 5, plus […] any associated test will
have their difficulty increased by -10"

Unsettling Presence: Changed to Null Personality

Null Personality: A sister of silence receives -10 penalty to all Interaction tests or -20 to test
requiring a verbal component (example: barter/interrogate) when dealing with non-Sister of silence
non-Adeptus Astra Telepathica characters. +10 intimidate skill tests that don't use verbal components

C1

-Advances

Novice Sister- rank 1

Awareness - 100
Common Lore (Adeptus Astra Telepathica) - 200
Dodge - 100
Drive - (ground Vehicle) - 100
Literacy - 100
Trade (artist) - 100
Speak Language (low Gothic) - 100
Swim - 100
Basic Weapon Training (primitive) - 100
Basic Weapon Training (SP) - 200
Pistol Training (las) - 200
Pistol Training (SP) - 200
Sound Constitution (x3) - 100
Sprint - 200
Thrown Weapon Training (primitive) - 100
Quick Draw - 200

Null Maiden- rank 2

Ciphers (ThoughtMark) - 100
Concealment - 100
Carouse - 100
Climb - 100
Logic - 100
Lip Reading - 100
Medicae - 200
Resistance (cold) - 100
Resistance (heat) - 100
Scholastic Lore (Adeptus Astra Telepathica) - 200
Double team - 200
Ambidextrous - 100
Forbidden Lore (Psykers) - 200
Hatred (Psykers) - 200
Heightened senses (sight) - 200
Paranoia - 300
Sound Constitution - 100

Null Sister- rank 3

Awareness +10 - 100
Ciphers (Acolyte) - 100
Dodge +10 - 100
Forbidden Lore (Adeptus Astra Telepathica) - 200
Intimidate - 200
Lip Reading +10 - 200
Pilot (Civilian Craft) - 100
Search - 100
Silent Move - 100
Swim +10 - 100
Tech Use - 200
Basic Weapon Training (Las) - 200
Disarm - 200
Counter-Attack - 200
Heightened senses (sound) - 200
Sound Constitution - 100
Sure Strike - 200

Shield Maiden- rank 4

Acrobatics - 100
Ciphers (BattleMark) - 100
Disguise - 100
Forbidden Lore (Warp) - 200
Scholastic Lore (Astromancy) - 200
Resistance (poisen) - 100
Search +10 - 100
Slight of Hand - 100
Blind fighting - 200
Foresight - 200
Hard Target - 100
Insanely Faithful - 200
Leap Up - 100
Light Sleeper - 200
Melee Weapon Training (chain) - 200
Nerves of Steel - 300
Rapid Reaction - 300
Sound Constitution - 100
Swift Attack - 300
Takedown - 200
Two-Weapon Wielder (melee) - 100

Oblivion Knight- rank 5 (Militant)

Climb +10 - 100
Contortionist - 100
Dodge +20 - 100
Drive (ground Vehicle) +10 - 100
Pilot (space craft) - 200
Berserk Charge - 100
Die Hard - 200
Frenzy - 100
Iron Jaw - 200
Lightning Reflexes - 100
Melee Weapon Training (shock) - 200
Melee Weapon training (Power) - 200
Nerves of Steel - 100
Pistol Training (Flamer) - 200
Sound Constitution (*2) - 200
Step Aside - 200

Knight Commander- rank 6 (Militant)

Acrobatics +10 - 100
Ciphers (BattleMark) +10 -100
Pilot (personal) - 100
Search +10 - 100
Secret Tongue (military) - 200
Security - 200
Tech Use +10 - 200
Crushing Blow - 100
Dual Strike - 200
Fearless - 200
Furious Assault - 100
Jaded - 100
Meditation - 100
Null Extension* - 300
Pistol Training (Bolt) - 200
Sound Constitution - 100
Two-weapon Wielder (Balistic) - 100

Warp Anathema- Rank 7 (Militant)

Acrobatics +20 - 100
Intimidate +20 - 100
Contortionist +10 - 100
Pilot (Military Craft) - 300
Speak Language (High Gothic) - 200
Tech Use +10 - 200
Assassin Strike - 100
Battle Rage - 100
BladeMaster - 200
Crippling Strike - 100
Lightning Attack - 300
Precise Blow - 200
Peer (Adeptus Astra Telepathica) - 200
Pistol Training (Melta) - 200
Pistol Training (Plasma) - 200
Sound Constitution (*2) - 100
Wall of Steel - 100

Vigilator- rank 5 (Investigator)

Carouse +10 - 100
Ciphers (OrsKode) - 100
Concealment +10 - 100
Forbidden Lore (Adeptus Astra Telepathica) +10 - 100
Intimidate +10 - 200
Lip Reading +20 - 100
Scholatic Lore (Astromancy) +10 - 100
Scrutiny - 200
Secret Tongue (Acolyte) - 100
Security - 200
Shadowing - 100
Tracking - 100
Trade (artist) +10 - 100
Basic Weapon Training (Flamer) - 200
Chem geld - 200
Heightened senses (touch) - 200
Iron Jaw - 200
Pistol Training (Flamer) - 200
Sound Constitution - 100
Step Aside - 100

Witchseeker-Rank 6 (Investigator)

Awareness +20 - 100
Chem-Use - 100
Dodge +20 - 100
Forbidden Lore (Psykers) +10 - 100
Forbidden Lore (Warp) +10 - 100
Intimidate +10 - 100
Medicae +10 - 100
Slight of hand +10 - 100
Arms Master - 200
Deadeye Shot - 200
Decadence - 200
Die Hard - 200
Fearless - 200
Hip Shooting - 100
Insanely Faithful - 100
Jaded - 100
Melee Weapon Training (power) - 200
Nerves of Steel - 100
Null Suppression* - 300
Master Chirurgeon - 200
Rapid Reload - 200
Sound Constitution - 100

Witchseeker Pursuivant- Rank 7 (Investigator)

Chem-Use +10 - 100
Disguise +10 - 100
Medicae +20 - 200
Search +10 - 100
Security +10 - 100
Shadowing +10 - 100
Tech Use +10 - 100
Tracking +10 - 100
Basic Weapon Training (Bolt) - 200
Independent Targeting - 300
Gunslinger - 200
Marksmen - 200
Basic Weapon training (Melta) - 200
Basic Weapon training (plasma) - 200
Mighty Shot - 100
Peer (Adeptus Astra Telepathica) - 100
Pistol Training (Bolt) - 200
Sound Constitution - 100
Talented (choose 1 skill you have) - 300
Total Recall - 300

Sister-Commander- Rank 8

Awareness +20 - 100
Cipher (Astres Battle Sign) - 300
Forbidden Lore (Ordo *choose one) - 200
Forbidden Lore (Psykers) +20 - 100
Logic +10 - 100
Medicae +10 - 100
Scrutiny +10 - 100
Search +20 - 100
Tech-use +20 - 100
Deflect shot - 200
Hatred (heretics) - 200
Hatred (daemons) - 200
Meditation - 100
Peer (Adeptus Astra Telepathica) - 200
Peer (Ordo *Your Inquistors Ordo) - 300
Peer (Military) - 200
Peer (Adeptus Astres) - 500
Pistol training (Melta) - 200
Pistol training (plasma) - 200
Sound Constitution (*2) - 100
Wall of steel - 200
Warp Cage* - 500

D1

new Talents-*

Oath of Tranquility: An Oath of Silence and purity which shields the mind and soul. Reduce Insanity
and corruption points gained by 1 (to a minimum of 1). Characters with this Talent are not allowed
to use verbal(they can understand but cannot speak) communication with other characters.

Null Extension: You may use a full round action to Increase the threshold penalty to 10 and the associated tests to -20 for Psychic Disruption. This effect last a number of rounds equal to your will power bonus.

Null Suppression: You may use a full round action to reduce the area of effect of Psychic Disruption up to your will power bonus in meters. This lasts a number of rounds equal to your will power bonus.

Warp Cage: As a full round action you may suppress your own blank field to project it up to 1d10+Willpower bonus meters away.
Psykers caught within the field have any currently manifested powers fizzled out, may not use psychic powers while within it,
and must make a very hard willpower test (-30) or be stunned for (Willpower bonus) turns and even if successful are forced
to flee the zone before they may act normally. Any Warp entity trapped in the area is completely displaced from realspace
for the duration of the suppression but will snap back into reality once it is dropped. It takes a full round action
to sustain the Warp cage and each round after the first adds 1 level of fatigue.

E1

Special thanks to:

Both the Lexicanum website and teh 40k wiki for the articles related to the development of this and also the the wonderful community we have here!

p.s. Sorry mods if this is in the wrong location!

~Skeletor

(sorry for the back to back posts)

I had no idea how ugly the formatting would be once I posted this. I can get you a .txt file if you would prefer, just PM me or let me know on here and I can hook you up with a copy.

A few things.

You have the stats that have a 100xp basic advance and only one with a 500xp basic advance, only one career in the game gets that, the cleric, and that is because he is a jack of all trades that never really becomes the best at anything.

As an extension to that the combat focused career path gets every melee talent and skill under the sun that along with the cheaper stat advances that vastly unbalances the character and leaves the melee dedicated builds of the Guardsman and Assassin in the dust.

At a glance I would say the career looks like a better version of assassin with extra bells and whistles, from a mechanical side it really needs some limitations to drop its power level.

The roleplaying limitation of being unable to speak rarely works in round table rpgs. It promotes the idea of making a character purely for combat and nothing else which in an interaction and investigation driven roleplay game is just not good. Unless you want players sitting quietly and waiting for combat the Oath of Tranquility needs changing.

I agree with Nabjulhu's mechanical assessment, and also wonder if the projection/warp cage abilities aren't a litle too powerful. And why did you change the effects of Psychic Disruption? Aren't the Sisters blanks with additional training? Or are they some strange variant?

However, I really like the idea, and I think that the Vow of Silence can make for some interesting roleplay opportunities. I do think it will be difficult, and that the players should know what they're getting into. But I have an idea that might make it manageable. Maybe.

How about you have a skill (or Talent) called something like "A nod is a s good as a wink to a blind horse" (or probably something shorter and more 40K appropriate) which will let you roll a Fel/skill test to allow your Player to communicate in words that which the Character communicates through gestures. Perhaps limit the allowed messages to relatively simple and short phrases, but it will allow "normal" people to play extraordinary characters.

In principle this is no different than the Psycher saying "I fry his ass" and toll a dice to have his character manifest bioelectrical lightning from his fingertips.

An example.

Sister Obnoxious wishes to signal to Adept Godolkin that she hears suspicious breathing noises from behind the closed door.
Her player says "I nod towards the door and signal that I hear noises". The GM says "Roll Signs" (or whatever. Ciphers, perhaps? Finally a use for that skill)
Her player rolls and succeeds, and everyone smiles as Godolkin nods understanding and whips out his flamer.

A failure might have had such interesting consequences as Godolkin thinking he should open the door to let in Hunk the Skunk who forgot his key, or whatever the GM might feel appropriate

The point being: Just because the Sister can't speak, doesn't mean that the player can't.

Darth Smeg said:

Perhaps make Ciphers (Acolyte) a package skill for the sister, and/or Cipers (War Cant)? Take away Awareness as some form of compensation to maintain balance?

IdOfEntity:

Ciphers (thoughtmark) general communication, (battlemark) combat communication, and (Orskode) a machine readable variant for thoughmark are the Sisters main methods of communication (within the organization and to translators).

Thoughtmark in particular I put at rank 2 and figured it'd be one of those things that the Sister would have to 'teach' to the others since the greater Imperium doesn't train in their particular sign language. Of course left to GM discression. if that feels too jerky of clanky a method though I do like these options.

Darth Smeg:

I sorta felt like the psychic disruption as its written in the radical's hand book is a little too powerful and in the situation where you're standing next to your psyker buddy was too punishing to them for having you stand near them (at lower ranks). That's why I added the extension talent later (rank 6 militant) since it would better represent that "unleashing yourself on your enemy" feel. They are as far as fluff tells basically the same as blanks but as an offical organization dedicated to training and martial prowess I sorta wanted the blank nature to be more refine (sorta how the astres psykers are a bit more refine than non-astres)

Warp cage was meant to feel powerful but be costly (can't do anything while you use it or channel it and eventually you'll have to let it go or pass out) but its definitely a talent that I want to make sure isn't overbearing. It really is there to be that holy "awwwww yeah" ability like a really good faith power or psyker power and sort of a reward for surviving to rank 8. If you guys have a suggestion for bringing it more in line or think it should just be removed though let me know

Banjuhlu:

Maybe my info is wrong but when I did up the characteristic costs there were 2 careers with no 500xp base costs: Cleric and the IH Adeptus Sororitas careers (I don't have the BoM book to know the BoM stats for the Sororitas). Most of the classes have 3 base cost 100xp cost with a mix of 2-3 500xp base costs and the rest 250xp (and 1 n/a for tech priest lol).

Since the SoB rational was pretty much just a Role playing 'cost' for their increased power I figured that the rp cost would be alright for The Sos (that and not being able to directly benefit from psychic/faith powers or psychic healing) so I tried to keep it comparable to the SoBs with tuning (the 500 for fel) that made sense.

It's not that I'm unwilling to change anything in this department I'm just unsure of what to change to bring them more in line with the other careers without taxing them too much for the blank feature

I would say the idea as such is cool.

1. Numerous close-combat talents fit in quite well, actually. Granted, they could make a character look over-powered at first glance, but then it's only melee. Like the saying goes, "a lasgun in my hand will even our chances, a fusion blaster will give me 100 points' advantage"

Besides (IMHO) a reasonably few players tend to master every close-combat discipline and trick available; most stick to a single - favoured - style. To this end, a variety of available talents and skills allow to build different characters (much like Guardsmen, by the way, who have loads of different shooting talents).

2. In case of physical attributes I fully agree with the previous statements; three Easy and only one Difficult attribute make player's life too easy

I would suggest changing Toughness from Easy to Average, and making Intelligence a Difficult attribute. This would give us two Easy, two Difficult and four Average attributes, which is more in line with what other classes get. Fluff-wise, Sisters - raised and trained in silence, deprived of human speech - would have a hard time becoming great thinkers. They won't be dumb, of course, but with most of their time spent on martial training, fasting and silent prayer…

3. Plasma / melta weapon handling talents are pretty much common for every militant career, so maybe substitue them for something? In example, you might like to include some Exotic weapon training talents, focused on Ordo Hereticus witch-killing equipment. It would make the character useful for the group, and at the same time won't let him overshadow the plasma-toting Guardsman.

4. To better illustrate SoS aloof demeanor, I would also suggest removing their more 'social' and 'wild' skills from their career list (things like Carouse, for example), or maybe just move them to higher levels of sisterhood.

5. What - IMHO - should be removed:

5.1. Adeptus Astartes combat ciphers (level 8). AA Chapters are vastly different in demeanor, of course, but I doubt any of them would look favorably on the prospect of sharing their combat protocols with some obscure outsiders.

5.2. Paranoia talent (level 2). Paranoia suggests an overtly-alert mind, which is somehow at odds with the Oath of Tranquility

5.3. Frenzy talent (level 5 Militant) and all Hatreds - due to the above-mentioned reason.

6. The daemon-banishing part of Warp Cage needs some changing (IMHO, again ). Perhaps it's better to make the SoS and the daemon in question to roll an opposed WP-test? Success on SoS part would mean 1d5 damage per degree of success for the daemon (bypassing his toughness and armour). Success on daemon part would bestow insanity on SoS (1d5 per level of failure, I think…).

Also, if SoS ever rolls an unmodified 100 when attempting to use the Warp cage, she will suffer Soul Sear result from the Perils of the Warp table (substitute corruption for insanity here).

The IH SoB is not a good career to base anything off it also suffered from the every advance under the sun problem with little to offset, the career that replaced this one unfortunately went a bit too far the other way to the point where after rank 6 the SoB now is largely irrelavent without some serious GMly intervention.

That said however you will notice that although the IH SoB gets no 500xp basic stats all her combat stats beyond her BS which of course has no impact on melee all cost 250xp, you career on the othergand makes 2 majorly important combat stats as cheep as possible.

Because of what you currently have available with regards to talents I would seriously consider dropping Toughness to a 250xp base to bring some balance in.

As to the Witch Cage Talent I would suggest changing/dropping it from a purely fluff perspective. Being a blank is not a controllable thing per se, it is the lack of/a reduced warp pressence tied to the physical body of the blank that nulls the warp around them, they dont shape it or control it as there is nothing there to actually shape or control

Really like as I love the silent sisterhood from a background perspective.

Thoughts:

Reference to The Beheading is cool, but doesn't quite make sense - the sisters don't protect the trained astropaths and are not deployed on Terra itself (that's why the City of Sight has the Black Sentinals, accepting that they're less protected from psychic powers but don't interfere with the running of the Telepathica, and the weak/insane psykers have been filtered out prior to this point), much like the fact that the Cullexus Temple is located off-planet.

Also, pariahs only have normal (ish) human lifespans, and whilst rare, are common enough that a single Inquisitor (Eisenhorn) who operated out of a single subsector could put together an organisation of them with his own resources. Equally, it's not like astartes, where reducing a chapter to a few dozen means the next 'generation' is smaller too, and the next only so much larger, and so on; training aside there's nothing biologically done to the sisterhood; pariahs are born all the time. It would not take two thousand years to recover - if the organisation wasn't well on the way to recovering in a couple of generations (say 200 years), it wasn't going to.

That's actually the big question with the sisterhood - we've seen inside contemporary (M41) black ships and Psykana facilities in novels from Inquisitor to Red & Black to Scourge The Heretic. They're not there. And there seems to be no good reason (yet) why not.

Skills:

Oath of Tranquility shouldn't be a starting talent; the novices haven't taken the oath yet - that's why they get used as translators.

On a related note, she should have access to Thoughtmark as otherwise she has nothing to translate.

Battlemark should be Rank 2 at maximum, because it's how a Null Maiden receives orders in combat.

Would suggest Secret Tongue rather than Ciphers for the two, but just a personal preference.

Advise wrangling on the investigator track for handling sisterhood psyber-hounds.

Warp Cage - don't mind being able to throw untouchable ability at someone, but I don't see it switching off you - it's what you are, at a cellular level.

Gear:

Might consider a respirator in starting gear - the lower face half-mask is a very distinctive bit of sisterhood gear.

Most excellent Feedback guys! Once I get things tightened down and balanced out I'll have to make a pdf with this stuff in a better format for those of you who would like it.

So here's where I'm at:

I got back home and checked my books and talked with a friend who had BoM so I could look at those sisters aswell and what I came up with is that every career except the BoM sisters all have 3 100s then a mix of 2-3 500s and the rest 250s (the BoM sisters have 2 - 100xp and 1 - 500xp). I liked the idea that the monistary life style would probably hurt the int base as Erborn said, but placing the rogue third 100 is a to-do. What I've done is done a write up of 4 possible setups and want to see what feels right to most of you guys: (hi-lighted the 100s for visual clarity)

WS 100/ 250/ 500/ 750
BS 250/ 500/ 750/ 1000
Str 100/ 250/ 500/ 750
T 250/ 500/ 750/ 1000
Agi 250/ 500/ 750/ 1000
Int 500/ 750/ 1000/ 2500
per 100/ 250/ 500/ 750
Will 250/ 500/ 750/ 1000
Fel 500/ 750/ 1000/ 2500

WS 100/ 250/ 500/ 750
BS 250/ 500/ 750/ 1000
Str 250/ 500/ 750/ 1000
T 100/ 250/ 500/ 750
Agi 250/ 500/ 750/ 1000
Int 500/ 750/ 1000/ 2500
per 100/ 250/ 500/ 750
Will 250/ 500/ 750/ 1000
Fel 500/ 750/ 1000/ 2500

WS 100/ 250/ 500/ 750 * personal favorite 1/2
BS 250/ 500/ 750/ 1000
Str 250/ 500/ 750/ 1000
T 250/ 500/ 750/ 1000
Agi 100/ 250/ 500/ 750
Int 500/ 750/ 1000/ 2500
per 100/ 250/ 500/ 750
Will 250/ 500/ 750/ 1000
Fel 500/ 750/ 1000/ 2500

WS 100/ 250/ 500/ 750 * personal favorite 2/2
BS 250/ 500/ 750/ 1000
Str 250/ 500/ 750/ 1000
T 250/ 500/ 750/ 1000
Agi 250/ 500/ 750/ 1000
Int 500/ 750/ 1000/ 2500
per 100/ 250/ 500/ 750
Will 100/ 250/ 500/ 750
Fel 500/ 750/ 1000/ 2500

Adding:

Ciphers (ThoughtMark) starting skill base (replaces scholastic lore)
wrangling to rank 5 or 6 on the investigation branch (taking suggestions here)
rebreather (? if that doesn't seem to over the top for a starting character)
Ciphers (BattleMark) moved to rank 2

Removing:

Paranoia
Carouse
decadence
Warp Cage (in it's current state, still taking suggestions here. -see below)

Continuing to look over:

Better continuity with the story for their remergence (thanks magnus) maybe a resource problem within the telepathica?
Ciphers (astres battle sign -see below)
Plasma/melta training replacement (I like this idea but need ideas on what to replace)
Chem geld
Possible homework/Origin constraints

--Warp Cage:

The humble beginnings of this comes from an interpertation on my part about a character (Sister-Senior Celia Harroda Warhammer40k wiki) in which she fights a Bloodthirster and sort of freezes it with her presence and then banishes it. The effort kills her though which is what implied to me that a trained Sister can somehow exert the blank "Field" through force of will onto something else. Of course I didn't want to make a talent that was a "kill the character button" so I tried to make a more broad less character leathal variant

After reading BoM Faith powers (them being able to res people, share fate points, and stop psychic powers) I'm a little less concerned with how powerful I made the talent, but with the feedback from you guys I know its still not in the right place

In general I'm trying to avoid the eventual "Why not play career X with the Untouchable background package" comment

-- Ciphers (astres battle sign)

This comes from something I read on the lexicanum where it specifically mentions them using the astres battle sign and there is even imagery of SoS surrounding Leman Russ, a pretty respectible position to be so close to a primarch. However I can see the arguement that these may (in each event) be special individuals or isolated incedents. I'm not married to it but wanted to see if this really felt like it needed to go

side notes:

Magnus- I used the novice rank more as a place marker (mechanically) for rank 1 much in the way assassin has ranks like night-hawk and sell-sword (they essentially just stand for names of ranks and don't directly to my knowledge affect your status within a given organization). An SoS character should effectively already be a sister (though perhaps not as distingished as a long time veteran) much like an SoB. But I appreciate staying closely tied to cannon if possible so if you had a better suggestion for the rank naming structure I would love feedback

Erborn- I'm hesitant to pull Frenzy/hatreds out of the trees because they represent +hit modifiers for melee based attacks. With the lack of targeters and a range bonus to hit it seems (to me) that melee oriented characters need to work a little harder to find +hit in the system. I know its a little of that game mechanic vs. story telling conflict so if somebody would like to chime in and alieviate my concern (or confirm it) please do

I feel like I'm forgetting something but I'm sure somebody will point it out

"This comes from something I read on the lexicanum where it specifically mentions them using the astres battle sign and there is even imagery of SoS surrounding Leman Russ, a pretty respectible position to be so close to a primarch. However I can see the arguement that these may (in each event) be special individuals or isolated incedents. I'm not married to it but wanted to see if this really felt like it needed to go"

That wasn't from a specific event per se, but it was a specific relationship - Sisterhood troops were deployed en masse alongside the wolves at prospero, and Leman Russ had a coterie of null maidens around him at the Council of Nikea. The reason for the relationship is Russ' non-to-subtle role as the Primarch who's job it was to murder other legions if required; and both of those incidents involving suspected or actual misdoings on the part of astartes psykers (specifically the Thousand Sons).

That said, astartes battle sign is a sensible skill for the militant track. During the crusade era the legions were the Imperium's primary fighting force, and not being able to converse (at least at a "stop/go/cover me!" level) would be stupid

Hi Skeletor. thanks for the invitation to comment. I like what you have done and most of what I have to say has been covered by the others.

I would like to know more about how the organisation has survived through to the present.

Also, why did they have the vow of silence in the first place?

My main concern which has already been expressed is that the militant makes an Imperator Mortis look like a bit of a *****. I think your original stat advancements were okay, but if you go with the new 100xp for Agility, then I have to say its OP. And take out Assassin Strike. It just doesn't feel right to me.

Good write up though. I originally was thinking it wouldn't fly because of the no talking thing until I read what Darth Smeg wrote which leads me to think of a variation of Secret Tongue Acolyte, where if other PCs take it then they can understand your signing and then so long as they can see your character then you can talk 'freely' at the table.

Oh, and how about throwing in Hatred - Officio Assassinorum for a bit of colour?

Hey Skeletor! Thank you also for the invitation.

I also Like what a lot of the others have posted for corrections. I would personally add that your writeup calls the sister's "Holy duty" to deliver their charges to terra. That being said, You might consider adding more in the way of Non-lethal weapons (Shock mauls and webbers are prime examples) as well as skills such as takedown and unarmed warrior talents (From RT and others) to allow for more non-lethal responses. (Not all 'Candidates' go willingly! )This also helps differentiate the SoS from the other combat classes.

The fourth variant looks best, IMHO (the one with WS, Per & WP being easy attributes).

About Hatred & Frenzy talents:

As far as I know, SoS doctrine establishes one must maintain 'inner peace' at all times, so it just seems a bit strange for them to possess such talents. Hatreds… well, maybe; hatred can be methodical, and bring greater focus instead of being an all-consuming urge to kill someone. But Frenzy just seems wrong (much like Battle Rage, Berserk Charge, etc).

On the other hand, fighting in a cold and detached manner has its own benefits. For example, you might consider allowing SoS to use Perception score for Dodge tests (to reflect her ability to anticipate enemy movements; something like this was already described in the books - I can't remember where, though ).

Also, instead of Hatreds, I would suggest giving SoS a new talent and a group of corresponding skills. Something like "Know Thy Foe" and "Combat Tactics". The talent in question will allow SoS to add +5 to her WS value for each level of appropriate Combat Tactics skill when fighting a certan foe. Maximum bonus would then be +15 (for +20 skill level), with a possibility to push it to +20 with a "Talented [skill]" talent.

In example, SoS with Combat Tactcs (Eldar) +10 would get +10 bonus (+5 for Trained and +5 for +10 level) to her WS-tests when fighting Eldar.

Warp Cage & alternative packages:

I would suggest looking into the Nemesis novel by James Swallow and Eisenhorn omnibus by Dan Abnett for inspiration.

In Eisenhorn we could see an Inquisition-sponsored organization of untouchables called Bequin's Distaff (an acolytes cell, in DH game terms). The Distaff is first mentioned in Malleus and then gets eliminated in Hereticus, but the idea as such could prove to be a good alternative starting package. Maybe the "investigative & more shooty" version of career could be tailored to it.

In Nemesis we encounter a being called Black Pariah - this has more to do with Culexus Temple of the Officio Assassinorum, but I guess could also be adapted for use in conjunction with SoS profile; something like a 'radical' (not to say heretical) elite package for untouchables.

Either way, the Warp Cage talent could be used as a defining tool, changing in nature for each package.

For 'normal' SoS it could work as a daemon / psyker smiting instrument (doing some WP-based damage and / or enforcing immediate Fear / Instability test). For 'inquisitorial agent' package Warp Cage could be used to actually trap a daemon / psyker, locking it in place. For a 'radical' package Warp Cage should be somtheing entirely else - an ability to consume and adopt the personality of a slain person, in example.

Its seems like I got here late and most things have already been said. What I would like to add my voice to is that I like the idea and that I hope we'll see more of this as the project goes on. In regards to the Warp Cage it gav me a very powerful feeling as something that can effectively work as an "I win" button which I'm not to hot on. I can't say if this type of thing exists in the fluff but I would perhaps tone it down a bit since the Sister already has a significent advantage when dealing with warp or psyker based opposition.

A quick update:

working on a lore revisions that I think you guys will like! (Thanks to Magnus for his work on this one). I think I've got a new variation on Warp cage that will bring it into lines with other powers or relative strength. I'll probably go with the WS/Per/WP variant on characteristics as it looks like that one fills a niche that doesn't exist currently.

Zaka - I like the flavor hatred, will try to fit it in. looking into assassin strike

Erb - great points, I really like the combat Tactics stuff but will go into more depth on that later

Rad- Thanks for reminding me about the web pistol and I like the non-lethal ideal, looking more into tools like that.

Also, I'm thinking about doing up an "official" looking write up to make it look like a proper supplement (complete with art) but I want to know if you guys are actually interested in something like that, and if so, if anybody has a place I could host it from?

Skeletor said:

I know that I'd be interested in it. And in regards to somewhere to host it you could always try at DarkReign.

First of I want to say that the community input has been fantastic and I really appreciate your guys's input so far, I really think it's helped make this career feel more legitimate for play and a rich opportunity for players to roleplay. Thanks guys!

Went through the feedback and combed through the stuff and here's what I have for you:

The new characteristic table:

WS 100/ 250/ 500/ 750
BS 250/ 500/ 750/ 1000
Str 250/ 500/ 750/ 1000
T 250/ 500/ 750/ 1000
Agi 250/ 500/ 750/ 1000
Int 500/ 750/ 1000/ 2500
per 100/ 250/ 500/ 750
Will 100/ 250/ 500/ 750
Fel 500/ 750/ 1000/ 2500

removing:

Assassin Strike
Battle rage
Frenzy
Fearless ** more below
Basic weapon training(plasma)
Basic Weapon training (melta)
Pistol training (plasma)
Pistol training (melta)
Ciphers (Astres battle-sign)

Adding:

Exotic weapon training (web pistol)
Exotic weapon training (webber)
Combat master
Concealed Cavity
Fear not the warp** more below
Hardy
Resistence (fear)
New Warp Cage** see below

Fluff related:

Ciphers (Space wolves battle-sign) fluff
peer (Space wolves) fluff
hatred (Officio Assassinorum) fluff

Continuing to look over:

Psyber-Hound handling alternative rank (focus more so on man capturing and tracking + your very own Psyber hound!)
Excrutiatus - either alt rank or acsension rank, need to do more research (pick up some sorcerous hunting skills to add to psyker hunting+ Ruby eyes!)
Still taking suggestions on non-lethal and exotic weaps as options

Warp cage:

To activate this ability you must spend a fate point and take a full round action. Through force of will you extend part of your shadow in the warp to a location up to (willpower bonus) +5 meters away filling a 1 meter area. Any Psykers caught in the area will immediately take 1d10 + Willpower bonus damage through armor and toughness and have any currently active psychic powers fizzle out. In addition, while the psyker remains in the null zone they cannot menifest psyker powers and must make a difficult (+0) willpower test or be stunned a number of rounds equal to your Willpower bonus. Lesser daemons (those with less than 50 will power) caught within the area outright snap out of realspace and return once Warp Cage ends. Because of the twisting chaotic flow of the warp around Greater daemons (those with 50 will power or more) the air around them chills and they stiffen a little but are otherwise agitated and uneffected. This ability may be sustained each round as a full round action but inflicts 1 level of fatigue.

Developer thoughts: I went through the other supernatural abilities available to high level characters and found that there was some fantastic stuff. What I noticed though is that there tended to be a harsher cost for these abilities. So I descided that for such a fantastic skill I needed the investment to make sense in a play sense, so that it wouldn't be a no brainer to use every combat you get into. So I descided to tack on a fate point cost, since this was one of those really big flex plays where fate should really come into play. I also wanted to define it better so that you know exactly how your gonna use it: You're gonna target a spot, namely one a small demon or psyker is occupying and you're going to make that a null zone and they are gonna hate life. It's not super long range, so it's still a matter of getting in that range (which can be dangerous). Then to bring it in line with even the ugliest brutal faith powers it's got a threshold where it can't affect the big ugly boss daemon.

I came to this design after reading up soul storm, which is rediculous, and to be honest unless I'm reading it wrong you could attain soulstorm as early as rank 2 if you were a BoM Sororitas. I feel like this brings Warp Cage more in line with similar abilites, you feel rewarded for taking it, but isn't so overbearing that it feels necessary

Fear not the warp:

gain immunity to fear from psychic, warp, and daemon related sources. Beastial, Xenos, and other 'natural' sources affect the character as usual.

Developer thoughts: For fearless (frenzy also) and fear not the warp it was a matter that Erborn brought up to me that I felt was a good point. The Sisters are brought up on a serene mind set and both fearless and frenzy have conditionals that make them out to be you're mostly psychotic and that's what the talent is about. However I ran into the situation where these are also 2 of the primary ways of gaining Immunity to fear and as all the combat focus classes has one, both, or the other it seems wierd to leave the sisters with nothing (as far as my research has shown, let me know if I missed something). So my solution was Fear not the warp, it would give fear immunity but still have a clear drawback in way like the other two.

The other side of this conversation is that the Sisters are (next to the SoB) semi combat focussed career that has a good will power characteristic and with resistence (fear) they might just be fine enough without. I can buy that arguement and I'm not big on creating a bunch of new stuff specifically for the sisters (beyond the extended blank skills) but I'll see what you guys feel on that.

Lastly I want to comment on something that I think is a great idea, but I don't want to make it part of the basic package for the sisters (as it's in line with my not wanting to create too many unique features for the career) and that is what Erborn brought up about combat tactics.

I think it's a great sort of 'reward' type talent that a GM could give players the option of for vigorously fighting a particular foe. As a show of coming to understand the combat methodology of his foe and getting better at anticipating thier moves. What I'd like to do is add it to the final PDF as an optional rule for gms to play with (with Erborn's permission since it was his idea)

Because the career has access to Jaded which grants immunity from non-supernatural sources of fear by including Fear not the Warp you are still makeking the SoS Fearless however she does not suffer the detrimental effects of Fearless in that she is forced to remain in a fight.

Actually, the idea with Tactics skills was originally presented in the Deathwatch line of products, so I really can't take the credit here. They have a different grouping (Void Combat, Aerial Assault, etc) and not tied to WS, but the general idea - increasing the chance of character's survival in certain fights - is very much the same.

The updated Warp Cage ability is great, by the way

Skeletor said:

I think this looks about right.

Skeletor said:

This looks good as well. Possibly I would think that having Space Wolves is a bit narrow for them since its fairly certain that the group won't have much interaction with Space Wolves. I would suggest that in addition to Space Wolves maybe there would be some Ciphers and Peer stuff related to Adeptus Astra Telepathica as they may come in more often and be more practical than the Space Wolves. Thus I would ask what you think about giving the Peer (Adeptus Astra Telepathica) at a lower rank than its previous is and get in Good Reputation (Adeptus Astra Telepathica) at level 7 or so instead?

Just a suggestion.

EDITED: And then I realized that Good Reputation requires a Fel 50 so its perhaps not very likely for a Sister of Silence. I do however still think that Peer (Adeptus Astra Telepathica) should be on a lower rank.

Skeletor said:

This looks awesome! Good work there.

Skeletor said:

Sounds about right.

Banjulhu said:

Jaded doesn't make you immune from nonsupernatural sources of fear; that's in Rogue Trader, not Dark Heresy. In DH it keeps you from getting Insanity Points from them.

Update: June 22

Hey guys, sorry it's been a while since I had an update. I'm pretty close to a ready product for the career, thanks to your guy's help, so I've begun to switch my focus to presentation stage. I'm going ahead with a nice pdf setup using a the DH book template for the career chapter and advances. I'm using mostly existing artwork but (what's been taking most of the time) I'm also providing some personal work to the project for a bit of flavor.

Because of my work schedule and social life, it may be a little bit of time before the finished product is ready but I'll keep you informed. If you have questions/suggestions/comments feel free to post them here or message me. When I do get the finished product done I'll start a new thread that will have a link to where it's hosted, and I'll probably have a link in my signature aswell.

As part of the finishing process I would like to get some volunteers (2 to 3 should work well) to generate a couple sisters for me (along with some other characters) for a final balancing pass. If you're interested, let me know here or by PM as I have some specifics I'm looking for feedback on.

Thanks again guys for sharing your time and creativity with me in this process and while I know it's not a lot but I'll make sure each of you get the credit you're due for contributing to the project.

As a developper of a character generator (in french) for DH & RT and a big fan of SoB, I'd like to know if I could use your SoS's career's work in my program ?

I'd be more than happy to have you use the career in your character generator. I'm still in the process of developing the art assets for the pdfs at the moment so it'll still be a little while before it's ready. If you are looking to get it in sooner let me know and we can work out the details