**Caution Contains Spoilers**

Whilst GMing my group of Acolytes through the events of Rejoice For You Are True the Cell’s Psyker picked up an addiction to Farcosia, which isn’t too bad until you realise that the narcotic is made up from distilled psyker brains (if I can remember correctly). The Psyker in question managed to fail all tests relating to the drug, including multiple attempts at discovering its warp signature (I made him roll these whenever he got close to the Tech-priest, who was carrying a sample of the drug around with him). When the substances true nature was revealed he managed to keep his cool however, and even expressed an interest in taking several of the samples found in the temple with him for “ further investigation ”.

My question to you is what effect do you think this should have on him? The book seems to suggest that normal Psykers wouldn’t even want to be in the same room as a Farcosia sample, let alone drink it. Should I give him insanity or corruption, or maybe even both, for willingly taking it? Do you think he would have a change of being able to track down any more of the stuff, and if so what would the cost be for such an item?

Any ideas on this subject would be much appreciated.

I got the impression that a Psyker would have to be forcefed this stuff or it just wouldn't be imbibed. I don't have my book with me to read up on it but Insanity sounds like a definite outcome. Corruption is only supposed to happen where daemons and the warp are directly involved. Corruption isn't a corruption of character, it's pure evil invading you body and soul.

Yeah I got that impression to, but the Psyker was oblivious to what it was made of at the time of addiction, and when he did fine out he was hardly even fazed by it.

The only reason I suggested corruption was because under Farcosia's description it say that it has been used " for ritual purposes by some cults dedicated to the Ruinous Powers "... Thats probably just a coincidence though. And from what I can understand the user can also see parts of the Immaterium when under its influence (then again if that were harmful then it would already be listed under the durg effects -- I fail).

But yes, definitly insanity then, thanks..

Well, Psyker powers can call to the Warp and make Corruption happen, but if you decide to have farcosia cause Corruption I would reccomend it be small (1 or 2 points to represent the weakened wall between the Psyker and his or her Warp signiture). Insanity is your better bet, agreed.

Well, a chance already gone was to declare that the knowledge of what his drug actually is made from had "scared him straight". Another problem is that at the end of the adventure Farcosia will be deemed heretical.

I would put and end to this. After each mission of "Purge the Unclean", it seems that the acolythes are tested a lot for this-and-that. Let this testing reveal his addiction. The =I= will then have the decision to either get rid of him or to put him to a forcefull withdrawal. Later should be the option. Again, remember. Farcosia wil be heresy. If your =I= isn´t "radical", he will not allow this.

Please take note: If it would be a simple drug addiction, it would run along with it. The thing is that a psyker simply is not meant to addicted to such a thing ("in game paradoxon"). At this point, I normally only look for the next way out.

Gregorius21778 said:

Well I did make him take a -30 Willpower Test to resist screaming/passing-out when he found out. He managed to pass that on a 01.. In retrospect that was probably a bad idea though.

Gregorius21778 said:

Nice idea, however I’d rather not get rid of him just yet. I’ll probably make him and the Guardsman who also took Farcosia, go on a special mission of repentance, to see if they truly are dedicated to the big =I=’s cause.

Thanks for the feedback guys

See, as I understood it though, if you so much as brought a dose of that drug near a psyker they would be instinctively repulsed and refuse to imbibe it. I thought it mentioned psykers being repulsed by it without having to necessarily even know what it is made of. I don't have my book handy to reread it though.

I'm pretty certain that Psykers didn't even have to make any tests, they automatically felt the warp signature of the drug and would be repulsed by it, therefore making it impossible for a Psyker to get addicted to farcosia. That's how I pretty much ran it in my campaign.

Well, I actually feel exactly opposite of everyone else here, and think you handled this right. Don't give him an excuse to break the addiction easily, though if he tries to get more it should become a very big and dark secret from his boss. Insanity is appropriate, an maybe a one time corruption hit of one or two points for the increased warp signature and the source. If the psyker in my game ends up taking the stuff I'm having it boost their abilities, and increase the chance of things going horrifically wrong.

My players got kinna banged up in that adventure so while they where getting patched up I said they got hit by a dose of de-tox

I'm on the side of I don't see a Psyker getting addicted, in fact even if they failed all the rolls i'm sure they'd at least hate the taste of mushed up psyker brain juice.

I think that a psyker could get addicted but would be scared out of taking it when he discovered what it was. However since your player seems alright with drinking human brain mush than I feel that some courption is needed....only about 1 or 2 from repeated doses all thanks to still taking it knowing what it actually is.

RedSkull said:

Corruption is only supposed to apply when the warp gets it's tendrils in your character whether from Daemonic possession, dark pacts, unholy corrupting fire, or a particularly bad attempt to harness the warp for your own ends.

Insanity should be used to represent the degradation of the human mind through non-warp actions and experiences. Such as being ok with consuming brains.

This distinction is IMO very important because while a massively insane character can often continue to serve the imperium indefinitely, while even the smallest amount of corruption can have dire consequences for a character.

Mark It Zero said:

That may be but IMO the idea of just killing for the sake of killing or opening the warp more and more just to invite the chance of possession. Things along these lines also suggest a courpt soul. So then why not hand out a couple points to reflect this idea. Yes the book says that coruption should be handed out from just those things. but even in PtU there are a few suggestions for giving out corpution for certian acts that has nothing to do with either the warp nor demons.

RedSkull said:

As far as I know there has been discussion of corruption in some of the modules being too freely handed out because certain things were in the works before insanity vs. corruption was clearly defined.

So IMO if you do something which invites the warp to seek you out it's still only Insanity until the warp actually does seek you out and successfully corrupts you. In essence, you commit dozens of murders which causes your sanity to slip. Corruption is not yet a factor however dark powers have taken notice and begin to assert their influence, from here on if you play into the hands of the warp you will begin to accrue corruption.

My PC becomes addicted to prostitutes of an especially proscribed variety, my sanity begins to slip as my addiction grows. Slaanesh takes notice, hmm a tasty soul to corrupt and so ripe. My character starts experiencing dreams drawing him into further and further depravity of an increasingly sinister nature. The urges begin to grow violent. Only then begins the degradation and only if my PC can't fight their baser urges in the face of a daemon's temptations.

It turns simple insanity and corruption gains into a long dark struggle with forces unspeakable. The character is not damned yet until he allows himself to listen to dark influences. Sanity is fleeting, corruption is forever.

Well I can see the point that you are making but I still believe that croupt acts themselves should be penalized with repeated use. Thus a croupt act links to crouption points being gained. Not many just one or 2 that seems very reasonable IMO.

I agree with everything you two are saying about Corruption. I'm also recognizing Farcosia as an attempt to hemmorhage a wider rift between the Warp and the Materium through the brain of the psyker, thus to allow the psyker a form of psychically-induced euphorea. If that isn't the Warp getting its tendrils deeper into the psyker, maybe I'm missing something?

I also agree that repeated use only warrants one or two points of Corruption - just enough to remind the user of the full implications of what s/he is doing. And I also think a reasonably large dose of Insanity (two or three d5's sounds about right) is in order for repeated use as well.

I agree. If a substance has a warp signature and/or increases warp signature in any way, then there is a legitimate argument that it causes or increases Warp exposure, which thereby leads to corruption points.