Dear all,

I have a question regarding something that occurred recently and I need your assessment how to handle it.

After the Haarlock Legacy I sent my Acolyte group on the Jurisdiction mission from Book of Judgement for a more routine and alleged run-of-the-mill mission as some sort of vacation…

As the PCs are already mostly at the end of rank 7 I pimped the scenario a little in regard to the opposition. Thus in the final encounter the Bishop wielded a Baptismal Mace and had a poor quality Rosarius, the Ogryn Servitor had an Assault Cannon instead of a Heavy Stubber, the Frateris Militia had the option of involving themselves in the fight and I included two Arco-flagellants coming from side chambers.

The groups Psyker (and prime) thought it is a good idea to use the Chameleon Psychic Power (i.e. -30 to hit) and charge towards the Ogryn Servitor right away wielding his Force Sword. The Ogryn Servitor walked around the altar and targeted the Psyker from Point-Blank (we use BC rules regarding Semi- and Full-Auto Fire), rolled a 02 and turned the Psyker’s right arm to a red mist in a fusillade of armour piercing rounds (i.e. the Psyker had to burn a Fate Point to survive this).

As this was at the beginning of a long session (our once in a year all weekend long session…) I decided that the character was not unconscious (he is a part-time Biomancer after all) and thus the player not sidelined for the next few hours. Unfortunately it happened what should not happen and a few rounds later the Bishop hacked the Psyker’s leg of at the knee in melee, causing a T-test to die and he of course failed the roll without having another Fate Point to survive.

As it was sort of a GM mistake to allow the character being dealt a fatal blow just rounds after the player burned a Fate Point and also because the players really cling to their characters (they play them continuously since 2008 with an XP-stingy GM), I decided that the PC has the chance of a Cybernetic Resurrection as shown in the Inquisitors Handbook (page 87 I believe). That fit especially since the moon is described as being the second largest place for servitor construction in the Claixis Sector after the Lathe Worlds and the PCs and because the Mechanicus had the intention of giving back a favour to the Acolytes.

Now my real question: The Psyker player does not feel well with his halved Fel as he was sort of the social person in the group (with skills/talents like Command, Deceive, Charm, Inquiry, Intimidate, Air of Authority) and primed to become Interrogator. As he is a Biomancer (and Telepath) with the Regeneration Psychic Power he wants to regenerate all biological components (as mentioned in the Power’s description) getting rid of the cybernetics step by step. Besides his now cybernetic arm and leg, this would include less clearly defined organs that led to him becoming Chem-Geld, Prosanguine, and Resistance and gave him 2 AP overall. Do you think this should be (made…) possible? If possible at all, it would take a couple of months resting time altogether in my opinion.

What do you think of this “scenario”? Should I allow it or not and how?

I'd say allowing it would be fine, but you'd want to implement some hefty penalties. Perhaps it takes that much of his power that a point or two of his Psy Rating is permenantly burned out?

I second the idea of it reducing his Psy Rating. It's such an arduous process that the Psyker loses some ability because of it. Perhaps allow him to purchase his Psy Rating back at some point, but I feel that it's reasonable to reduce it for the time being. That's a reasonable penalty.

Oh, and I would also suggest an added trait. Fear: Ogryns or Fear: Servitors - The character must succeed a Difficult (-10) Willpower Test to close against a foe of the type described.

I feel that also helps roleplay possibilities.

I disagree with the permanent reduction of Psy Rating. That's gimping a Psyker more than reducing his Fel, and is unneccesary punishment considering he already burnt a Fate Point.

But let it take some time, and let his stats reflect his crippled and regenerating state. Reduce his physical characteristics (ie toughness, strength, agility) for a while ( a game session, not more), but leave it at that.

As you said, this is partly your own fault for not letting the Fate Point do it's work (save his life in the encounter) in the first place, so don't make the player pay for it.

Thank you all for the input.

Reducing his Psy Rating is too harsh in my opinion as well. The player already feels rather punished with the status quo. His physical characteristics were already rerolled due to the rules of Cybernetic Resurrection (as long as he is mainly cybernetic). I plan to give him his old stats back part by part while regenerating his organic parts.

As we mainly use the rules from Black Crusade, we also use the Regenration Psychic Power from Tome of Fate where it is stated that it takes 1D5 weeks in “passive mode” to regenerate fully and/or regrow limbs/organs. So I plan to have him regenerate about 10-12 times each 1D5 weeks to fully get rid of all the implants, thereby losing its functions (Autosanguine, Armour Points etc.) step by step and having a nearby surgeon and/or Tech-Priest to de-implant the cybernetics itself.