Looking at the rules for Infamy, a starting PC with Infamy 20 is equivalent to the lord of a cruiser-class vessel or a leader of a minor warband. Does that mean that he can start with such assets (or the equivalent - like a cult, Dark Mechanicus forge, holdings on a world)? I'm just left wondering where the PCs' Infamy stems from since for the vast majority of non-CSMs, it's certainly not going to be found solely in personal prowess (characteristics, skills, and talents).

Do Heretic begin as big wheels in this game (similar to Rogue Trader PCs) or is a group of 'fringer scum' like in Star Wars/Traveller/Serenity more likely?

I think, gm permitting, you can safely be assumed to have a few regular cultists at your beck and call. I believe, though, that given what PCs are capable of in general, your influence at that point if you're not set up as part of an organization to begin with is then mostly composed of gear and having gotten that far. You ARE in a warband, but there's a possibility its one of those orky democratic meritocracy ones [aka a party of player characters] where decisions are taken with reason and discourse; which is odd enough for chaos to begin with.

In other words you may just have that influence for having survived this long as "Old Boberto the renegade, veteran of the ancient war", or "the one sorcerer on the continent". The important thing is that you're in some way known, and that you've got the appropriate pull as a result. A 'normal', generic lord-captain of a small vessel would be just as 'important' in the grand scheme of things as you, but he's an officer and you're a combat-freak that likes to stare down armoured vehicles.

The ratings'll be roughly as polite.

Kiton said:

I like this answer a lot. BC is the system I'm the most unfamiliar with by far. But I would ask your GM what their vision of the game is. I play a Psykers in the BC game i am in. He is a prisoner in a penal colony so he gets much less starting gear than average. That's not being ripped off by the GM but a feature of our particular game. It makes me feel that prison. Each game may have a new standard regarding a PCs social pull and wealth based on game concept. Try asking your GM about your assets. I'd say the above post highlights the default assets very well

I'm still not too sure what the default assumptions are regarding the warband of a group of starting PCs. Is it composed of just the PCs and the Minions they've paid xp for, or are the PCs the leaders of something larger? The Infamy suggestions seem to suggest that it would be quite weird for someone with Infamy 20 to not have followers of some kind, and even more so for a grouping of such infamous heretics to be 'all chiefs and no braves'.

That's entirely up to you. So long as the scope fits, its all good. A few examples of what they might be:

-Semi-trusted, fairly powerful underlings of a chaos lord; part of an organization [that means backing, a place to rest and re-arm, some warm meat to sacrifice once in a while] not yet struck out on their own: A common "first adventure" after all seems to be getting your hands on a ship/artifact/whatever for said boss and then turning it on him to go forge your own path in the galaxy.

-The big leaders [in that odd oligarchy called "five murderhobos at a table all in charge" of a moderate "cultist problem" currently facing some hapless planet: They're more 'on their own', having dependents/cells/etc instead of being in the middle of a heiarchy, but having much more "people" influence within their own circule.

-Bridge crew of a small raiding vessel; even more alone out in the void, but with the freedom the examples above are still working on obtaining.

-Powerful, well-known, but ultimately 'lonely' mercenaries hired by various forces: Nothing but they and their minions and a nasty reputation.

So the game doesn't really seem to hard set a default, unlike the other WH40K games where the default starting position is fairly clear. This can be good or bad, but it's going to require some clarifications among players and GMs right from the start to keep everyone on the same page.

For a starting level character I would let them call on 3 to 5 characters as part of their retinue, say each of these are equal to a DH character with somewhere around 3,500xp. Each of those might be capable of attracting a similar number of Cult Zealots, and Mutant Devotees.

Of course each member of their retinue would have their own goals, so they may not always be around when a PC needs them. if the PCs fail to accomplish their goals, waste their talents, or otherwise squander them it would only be a matter of time before they get a chainaxe in the back.

Plus if you come up with a sheet and a bit of backstory for each of them it gives your GM a ready made cast for you guys to interact with.