I've got a 2-parter here for my fellow GMs:

Part 1

Ok, so here is the short story: my players LOVE to see if they can get free gear upgrades (especially when they're playing low rank characters) from the local PDF, arbites, etc. by demanding support in the name of the Inquisition. This gets especially /facepalm when they try to get things like rocket launchers, speeders and ships.

I've come up with a variety of ways to confound this nefarious notion, but I am curious if your players pull the same thing and if so, how you handle it. Is this supposed to be happening?

Part 2

I'm confused by the various rulebooks and supplements in terms of the "covert" or "not so covert" role of the acolytes… some sourcebooks seems to indicate the acolytes work in secret, but others seem to indicate they will clearly need to call in help from IG regiments or local PDF/Arbites (meaning they reveal themselves as Inquisitorial agents). Maybe it's both, maybe it could be either. We've been playing it as "when it suits them they reveal it". Which I'm okay with… except, see part#1. How do you run it?

Looking forward to hearing what you guys have to say!

Exalted5 said:

Yeah, my players do that, too. I usually let the success of that tactic depend on a skill check, either Charm, Intimidate, or possibly a Lore skill (such as Administratum), with the cost and rarity of the requested gear dictating the number of Degrees of Success required to free it up for the PCs. You want the Arbites to supply some extra ammo? A simple success is good enough. Carapace armour? Three Degrees. A Landspeeder? Ten Degrees, i.e. impossible until Ascention. When the roll fails, the PCs are met with a stone-faced functionary who informs them that they need to fill out forms JXY772/6 thru STR998/2 in triplicate, have them noterized and counter-signed by their Inquisitor, and file them with the Departmento Logistica, Section 7A; the reply will come within 2-3 months…

Exalted5 said:

The rules don't give much in the way of guidelines as to what Acolytes can and cannot do- it's mostly left up to each GM's personal preferences. For instance, most of the missions I send my players on are in the 'police procedural' vein, so I've given the PCs Inquisitorial IDs that they flash like badges- very intimidating to anyone who doesn't know the limits of an Acolyte's powers, but they are frequently met by members of the Adeptus who flatly 'outrank' them. Some other GMs treat Acolytes as more comparable to 'police informants', with no real authority or formal connection to the Inquisition; if they get caught on a mission, they are hung out to dry- 'plausible denyability'.

Well, at low to med level my acolythes always work as covert ops. They are nothing special for my inquisitor, he commands roughly hundreds of akolythe cells and they did not even speak with him, only with some interrogators at maximum. I give them the feel of beeing expandable even though they are acolythes and that they have to make a name of their own and cant go bossy around. Rule number one is: Let nobody know who you work for. My Inquisitors do not want their enemies to know that they are there, they want their acolythes to gather informations, dug in the dirt and fix minor problems by theirself. They have no inquisitorial identity nor authority. It is part of their job to finish situations without such kind of bling-bling - nobody said it would be easy. And for important missions where a fake-identity is mandatory they recieve some fake id as officials of an adeptus, diplomats of a rouge trader, something like that. The fear of the inquisiton is that they are everywhere, you know that, but you cant never be sure who or where they are. To let some "throw-away-acolythes" (and that is what they are in my interpretation of WH40k though they are still PCs) run around and shouting out that they work for the inquisiton is an immersion breaker for me.

Later on, when they are high level and have some trust from their inquisitor they get some bigger jobs to do though they are no throne agents but still acolythes. They have nothing that links them to the inquisiton. If they should realy need the help of the local arbites to storm a chaos cultist HQ they have to be smart. They cant jump into the arbites HQ and say "Attack those guys because we say so!". They plant clues for some arbites judges etc with a more puppetmaster approach. They are the grey eminences that act in the name of the inquisition, they are no inquisitorial kill-team that requires a land-speeder with some rocket launchers to start a civil war in the lower habs of a hive world

Adeptus-B said:

This is great… I will add this one to my GM toolbox. Assloads of redtape procedure and bueracracy fit right into the 40k universe. It's so perfect.

The "badge" vs "no badge" discussion (especially as related to immersion) is interesting to me. Seems like a sort of Ford vs. Chevy religious debat, but also very much about what your players would like. I know my players really enjoy "flashing the badge" when they're in a jam - it gives them a sort of purpose. And while the 40k universe is mostly populated with expendable dregs, I feel like the players want to be heroes… maybe a cell that the Inquisitor has high hopes for based on intuition or portents or whatever. I'm interested to hear more on this.

But regardless, this is all great feedback. Thanks guys. Keep it coming.

To address Part 1 I first have to examine Part 2.

In my current campaign, the "Acolytes" were introduced to the Inquisition by way of an attempt to assassinate all of them.

The backstory (pre-campaign) is that each and every one of the "Acolytes" were at one time members of an experimental Acolyte training program, in which the would-be Acolytes were given the basic knowledges and skills they would require to pursue "specialties" for which they had shown naturally high aptitudes. At its core, it was intended to produce a pool of Acolytes that could be used by many Inquisitors to infill sudden "vacancies" within their own cells, minimizing the setbacks (read as fatalities) caused by the inevitable confrontational hazards encountered by all inquisitorial cells. This program was known as the Auditoria. The current PCs attended the Auditoria as youths (adolescents and teenagers), though they were in the final round of students. This final round of students benefited from a form of subliminal mnemonic teaching methods, wherein they also absorbed the subtle yet vital skills and talents needed to hide themselves from the prying eyes of the Adepta. This wasn't done without the knowledge of the wider Inquisition, but it was later decided this particular approach could be a liability to the Inquisition (wherein Acolytes might learn "too much" and subsequently evade the Inquisition to their own purposes), and so the program was scrubbed. It didn't help that the Senior Mentressa of the Auditoria had come under (unwarranted) scrutiny, but that's how the marbles roll within the Inquisition.

The final round of students, unknown to the Senior Mentressa, were "scheduled" for lethal sanction. However, their subliminal training kicked in, and they scattered like roaches, disappearing into the masses that populate Scintilla. That is until they began to put their natural aptitudes to use to find employment…

An organization, currently known to the "Acolytes" only as The Consortium, and yet only vaugely suspected to be the Inquisition itself, retained the services of several professional hitmen and assassination teams in an attempt to liquidate the surviving members of the final round of students. As more students "surface" from the wider population in search of gainful employment that relies on their natural aptitudes (infiltration, stealth, investigation, etc) The Consortium is made aware their sudden reappearance and responds by making attempts on their lives. These former students actually have no conscious memory of their participation in the Auditoria program, and their would-be rescuers (former advisory staff of the Auditoria who were then faced with the unenviable task of convincing the PC of their unremembered histories) experienced some difficulties in regrouping the confused PCs for a lengthy and revealing Q&A session.

A tenative agreement was reached, with some PCs accepting their place in the natural order (like the Assassin PC whose Player chose the Mind Cleansed background package…fitting, really…and the Reclaimator who was "Proven Innocent"), while others (temporarily) withheld their final judgments. Upon the completion of their first outing (read as their first foray into Inquisitorial investigations from which they returned as a group) helped to cement the veracity of their unremembered backgrounds, and the PC were then bestowed the official title of Auditor. Auditors were provided with identification credentials that included the name they are commonly known by, an accompanying pict capture, official papers attaching them to the Administratum (ahem) as for-hire contract investigators, and any licenses (vehicle operation) or permits they might require so they might bear small arms in public during the course of their employment.

As the PCs have risen in Rank, each has been assigned additional titles and corresponding authority rank befitting their role within the cell, and they are:

Auditor Censurist, Specialist Secundus (Assassin, Metallican Gunslinger, Rank 5) Gaius Malfaux, who's responsibility is information quarantine;

Auditor Exculpator, Specialist Secundus (Assassin, Rank 5) Peace, who's responsibility is the determination of guilt (Innocence Proves Nothing);

Auditor Phenom, Specialist Secundus (Sanctioned Psyker, Rank 5) Borba, who's purview is the "paranormal";

Auditor Exhumator, Specialist Secondus (Scum, Reclaimator, Rank 5) Lionus, who's licensing allows for unimpeded access to and from sub-hive and crush zones, reclamation and recyk facilities, disposal of hazardous materials, and the possession of "non-standard" tech;

Auditor Praedator, Specialist Secundus (Assassin, Rank 5) Timur, who's specialty is live capture.

The cell has also been given a credit account. It is to be utilized as payment for local transporatation (taxis), bribes, emergency acquisitions, etc, and they are required to return all receipts to their handlers. They started with a paltry 50 Scint limit, but have earned the responsibility of an increased credit. They've also confiscated a few thousand Scint on payzips that work with accounting systems in much the same way as Electro-Graft Use.

As we will not be utilizing Ascension, I have increased the XP requirements for Rank increase. Upon attaining Rank 6, each PC will be faced with the daunting responsibility of preparing to gather his own inquisitorial henchmen and underlings, and their superiors will begin to consider the disposition of their "ascended" Rank designations (such as Interrogator). In the meantime, they act as under-cover private investigators with remarkably high authority afforded to them through the Adeptus Administratum (ahem). This authority allows them to make reasonable demands for equipment and support from the various institutions of the Adepta, as well as having authority over street-level Magistratum. These PCs are professionals; if a bomb goes off in a salon district building the PCs are investigating, one of them (after everyone makes sure they all still have all their fingers and toes) will wait for local Magistratum officers to arrive on the scene, provide proper identification, and help manage the gathering crowd while the remainder of the cell continue with their search. They have used their authority to contact local and foreign precincts of the Adeptus Arbites to aid in the round-up and incarceration of criminal enterprises, and to request interstellar transportaion. They are quite capable of acting on their own behalf, and in doing so have engendered favorable relationships with outside organizations which they may contact (if given enough time) for investigative assistance or back-up muscle.

Likewise, their Inquisitor has on occasion given them some rather heavy responsibilities. To date, the responsibility with the greatest weight was the loan of a trans-atmospheric transport which would allow them to traverse the great distance between Tarsus and Sibellus during their pursuit of Myrchella Cinderell (see The Inquisitor's Handbook for more on this Callixian criminal). They didn't wreck it. They didn't so much as even scratch it. And, when berthing it at Tarsus Industrial, they sprung for the exrtra cost of a private hangar.

For the most part, the Auditors continue to use the equipment with which they began their careers. A few choice items have been confiscated from their foes, but no one is wielding Power Weapons, no one has worn armour heavier than Flak. Everyone makes attempts to conceal their weapons and keep everything low key (Auto-Pistol hidden in Peace's purse, Hunting Rifle and Man-Catcher left in the boot of the car, that sort of thing), so there are no Meltaguns or Heavy Bolters. So, to address Part 1:

They are provided with replacements for any gear that is damaged or lost in the course of their investigations and prosecutions. The receive exactly the same item, of the same Craftsmanship as that which was damaged/lost (unless it is "unique" in some way…you can't just find heirloom Landrian Renders lying about). If they had personally paid for/acquired a Best Craftsmanship item, then that's what they would get. The costs for standard (read as non-Special) ammunition are waived. They are made aware of alternatives that may aid in their covert operations (such as Mesh-Weave armour, which can look like normal clothing but provide nearly as much protection as Flak), and if they really need something (if it hasn't already been offered) they know they can exert their Rank or priveleges in an attempt to attain what they need (within reason).

Exalted5 said:

I tend to use a mixture of investigations where the PCs have Inquisitorial IDs (and therefore authority) and others where they don't. So if they are being sent in reply to a request for aid they get IDs (e.g Damned Cities) but when they are sent to quietly infiltrate an auction of questionable items they don't (e.g House of Dust and Ash). Later on when they reach higher rank and go on to become Throne agents they are given IDs and they then start to choose when they reveal who they are and when they remain undercover.

I like to see this as a buildup of trust. If they don't screw up the first few times they get IDs they get the chance to have them more often and represent the Inquisition. As for equipment unless they have IDs they get nothing from local sources that they don't pay for. If they do have them then I allow reasonable requests - but my players understand that I am the final arbiter of what is reasonable. Hopefully they trust me not to make atupid decisions about that and if they are disappointed by something they trust that it is for balance when they face challenges that I have prepared. Having said that I think I will be moving more towards skills to test requests for certain things, not sure why I didn't think of that before.

On a couple of occastions I have given them 'blank cheques' for some equipment up to a certain level of rarity, this is based on actions they have taken - so for example they help a noble find her lost brother, she is happy to give them some things in return.

Of course once you get to Acsension everything can be covered by requisition!

The whole concept of DH suits the covert approach. Especially at lower ranks this is how it works best and might be the reason why the Inquisitor in question commandeered the lowly PCs (they do not stand out as much as Astartes for example) in his service to begin with. My PCs often had fake IDs of trading cartels, the Magistratum, a Rogue Trader House etc. Besides this my players sometimes flashed a real Adeptus Arbites badge (from a far away precinct) or the real credentials of a Legate Investigator. They almost never reveal themselves as being part of the Inquisition as they became rather paranoid in this regard. They picked up the Rosette of a dead Inquisitor in mid rank (but gave it back later on) and nowadays at later rank have been given a Rosette of their master from time to time (when in overt missions).
Now in later rank the PCs more and more work in overt missions and are equipped in a way that makes it more and more difficult for them to properly work covert.

Requisitioning “basic things” like Carapace armour from the Arbites will get raised eyebrows and will most probably get scolded by the Inquisitor if he gets wind of it afterwards. This is only OK in my opinion, if it is clear why the PCs need it for the moment (e.g. need a rocket launcher because Plague Zombies are storming the Arbites-HQ and the PCs have a clear view on their leader).

The PCs are not “the Inquisition”. They are the lowly and dispensable mooks of an Inquisitor who wants to see if they can survive and have the potential for more serious duties. He/she does not want that they rock the boat with their actions; otherwise he will substitute them with other potentials out of the trillion citizens within the Imperium.

The Game Master and/or the Inquisition chapter in the DH rulebook describes it rather well how to view the acolytes and their role within “the Inquisition”.

It really depends on the inquisitor. If they are "expendable mooks" then they shouldn't have a rosette. Once they get a rosette, then they carry with them the full force and wieght of the inquisition -- technically any beurocrat responding to the rosette with "fill out these forms" could face (entirely legal) summary execution at the hands of your acolytes. Remember: there is NO limit to the inquisitorial remit shy of the Highlords of Terra and the Astartes.

Of course, consequences for the "misuse" of this authority (and the definition of "misuse") are in the hands of their Inquisitor.

The referred-to inquisitor from the Eisenhorne(sp) books would be perfectly OK with the acolytes demanding the entire planet be at their beck-and-call, frankly. Conversely, Ravenor would have a conniption fit, as he prefers covert, only playing the Inquisition card when absolutely needed.

TLDR: Don't give your players rosettes if they are "disposable mooks with no signifigant authority". Once they bear a rosette, the outrank EVERYONE who isn't another Inquisitorial agent, a Highlord of Terra, or a Space Marine (and they are arguably on even footing with the latter two).

You give your players Rosettes? Do you know that these are ultimate badges? The insignias of an inquisitor himself. The Novel Inquisitors only gave their rosettes on a short time base for a specific task to wield their authority but only an inquisitor is ever allowed to wear it on a regular schedule.

Also the Inquisition has only limited power above the Astartes. An Astartes follows the order of an inquisitor because he likes to do so. If his chapter commands tell him otherwise he will not follow an inquisitor. There is no strict hirarchy between these organisations, there are even chapters that have avtually fought openly with the inquistion and are to powerfull, tolerated and respected to have to fear any punishment for this. It is a matter of a balance of power.

Also a High Lord of Terra is absolutly out of reach for the most inquisitors. These are arguably the most powerfull individuals in the entire human controlled galaxy. Each of them is the head of a mighty organisation and protected by serverants of his own military forces and the inquisitorial troops located on terra. They speak in the emperors name to rule the imperium, the inquisition is only allowed to watch them and act if needed, but if they do and get uncovered this could lead to a war between the involved factions. For every inquisitor that tries to command a high lord with his tiny rosette, there are hundred others that will stop him.

I see the "acolyte rosette" as more a badge connected to the real Inquisitorial one, it shows they are acting in that person's name and authority. It is trust that their acolytes won't abuse their name or power that name commands, but it only commands as much respect as a servant to an Inquisitor would command. The lower the person you try to impress, the more likely it will work. A friend of mine explained it best, what you can do is based on power. You can boss around people underneath you (Inquisitor to a mere PDF platoon), but your equals can tell you to frak off (most notably with Space Marines and AdMech). With some Inquisitorial badge or ID they can intimidate and boss around people who can't risk standing up, but not those who have their own power. It maybe scan open doors and get an audience, but that is the limit with the higher ranking folks (Magos, Governors, Generals, RTs, etc.)

I agree to Cymbel as that is also my point of view. You can only back on that power others believe you can enforce with your own powerbase. And a throne agent with a badge of office is just that, a throne agent. In the food chain of WH40k someone is nothing near an astartes, goveneur, general or magos. It is never a good idea to boss around as a nobody and kill a general of a regiment just because he does not agree with you, I guess the regimental command squad would not be impressed if you show them something like some kind of a badge when you left the office with the slaughtered official. And Throne Agents that slaughter every Servant of the Administratum just because some paperwork would have no chance under the command of any inquisitor I can imagine.

Yes, some Inquisitors are bossy assholes but at least they are full inquisitors. But after all the Inquisition acts in the shadow, they are the grey emineces that guard the imperium and as such I cant believe they would employ acolythes that are that stupid/limited that they can get things only done by openly anouncing who they are just to get a vehicle and a heavy weapon. In most of the novels they only show who they are when they do the "dramatic entrance move" and **** realy has to be donel, a situatuon on the edge of a knife where everything else has failed and you have to give up your cover for the sake of the mission.

Bu if an inquisitor would want some goons that say "respect my inquisitorial authority" and shoot around they do not need acolythes, they need their personal military. And that is exactly why lots of inquisitors acutally maintain their personal troops with fancy black armour and quite obvious "I" paintings on it. In my understanding an acolythe cell is a formation of special individuals that form into a self sustaining unit that can be sent away with specific mission objectives. Thats what it is, a cell, and later on they might become a personal candre when they have proven themself numerous times and achieved a level where they might speak in their inquisitors name. But thats it is, they speak in his name, not with his authority - thats a big difference.

That is a great summary Fieser Moep, especially with only announcing themselves when everything has gone to hell and the support is needed. The other scenario is that they have infiltrated, used false IDs, covers, maybe hiring themselves out as mercenaries but when they need to HAMMER the cult, then they can show some influence and get an arbites squad and some gear for them to assault, or enlist some PDF, this does bring up the question though, who can you trust? Would make a great surprise to have them inform the PDF they need help in crushing some cultists and have said PDF turn on them (partially) as the cultist PDF shoot the loyalist PDF.

Well our group has worked most of the time under cover ID, as Mercs, Nobles and their Staff or Auditors from the Admin, but we have others as well.. We like to keep who we are a secret until we need help.

My Moritat PC has 1 as Brother Jaka Ipper, a Mendicantine Missionary which he uses often as walking around cover.. and allows him to stay close to his priest, who he has a odd bond with.

As for getting stuff from locals, beside what we "pickup off" the dead. We rarely ask for things from locals in the name of our boss.