Good evening all. I am about to start a group of new players in Dark Heresy. We are going to do the complete Haarlock Legacy Trilogy, and one of my female players has asked about playing an Adeptus Sororitas. I am a little concerned about the banishment aspect of their powers in relation to some of the daemonic forces in the campaign. Has anyone run these modules with a Sister of Battle, or does anyone have any suggestions?

I have no experience with this campaign, but perhaps I can give some general advice:

How about playing a Sister from the Inquisitor's Handbook, rather than Book of Martyrs?

Apart from being much closer to the original GW fluff (the IH version is much more about being a holy crusader rather than some sort of space wizard) and also sporting an easier integration with the group (starting as a Novice with carapace and las weapon rather than a fully-fledged Battle Sister with power armour and bolter), the Acts of Faith in IH are also somewhat more tame than the many "spells" they get in BoM.

For example, the worst thing that a Sister from the IH could do to a Daemon is inflicting her Willpower Bonus (multiplied by the Degrees of Success from a Willpower Test) as unmitigated damage, and to do this she'd have to burn a Fate Point - obviously not something the character would pull off all the time, or even once. And this is the only way she could actually harm a Daemon; a lighter form of this Act of Faith merely repels the creature.

As someone who has played both the IH and the BoM version of a Battle Sister, I'll also say that I found the former to be more fun as it has a milder advancement scheme compared to BoM, where a Sister starts out with a notable gear advantage over the rest of the party, but will ultimately lag behind in terms of characteristics, skills and talents once your group progresses to higher ranks, as the advances are extremely costly.

I believe almost anyone who is accustomed to GW's fluff about the Sisters will enjoy the IH version more than BoM, as its presentation of Sororitas characters is much closer to the original material - from the considerably more vague Acts of Faith to the stronger focus on a mixture of "normal" combat and various religious skills (singing, lore, etc), all the way to the fluff.

Thanks, Lynata!

I was only looking at the IH version. I haven't put any thought into the other book. The biggest problem will be her playing a stern, serious character. Normally she is a flighty, fun-loving character. Not sure how she will handle the Sororitas' restrictive viewpoints.

None of my players are really knowledgeable in the 40K universe. Only two have a passing knowledge, so while we have dinner before character creation, I am going to show them The Vaults of Terra's history videos.

I'll let my player make up her own mind after giving her all the info. I'll let you know how things turn out!

Ah, I see! Yes, in that case the mindset of the character will probably be a bigger issue than any anti-daemon powers. Especially if you have some characters in your group a Sister would (should) be sceptical about, such as a Psyker, or anyone who doesn't really embrace the Imperial Creed and/or behaves in "suspicious" ways. The character's own actions will, of course, be rather limited as well, if the goal is a portrayal in line with the original material and the background of this faction:

"The Adepta Sororitas is a penitent organisation where constant hardship, deprivation and arduous work are part of an unrelenting devotional regime. The slightest deviation from approved stricture results in the severest chastisement."

- Codex Imperialis

This doesn't mean that a Sister cannot be fun to play or see in action, though. It really depends on how much your player can get into the mindset of such a character - and isn't this what roleplaying is all about? It certainly is a challenge, but one that can be very rewarding!

Normally I tend to shy away from recommending Black Library due to the novels' tendency to introduce different, often conflicting ideas to the setting, but I found "Faith & Fire" as well as "Hammer & Anvil" from James Swallow to hit just the right spot between "too normal" and "impersonal cliché" in regards to the Sororitas characters, which is probably the hardest trial for players intending to slip into the role of an elite, fanatical warrior who has been indoctrinated since childhood. Making a Sisterhood character fit into the narrow mold presented by her organisation, yet still gift her with her own sliver of personality and quirks, is not an easy thing, but as the individuals of Miriya's squad in the novels show it is certainly possible.

In a way, it is a challenge not too dissimilar from playing a Space Marine in Deathwatch or one of the Alien characters in Rogue Trader - they all are not truly human and represent an utterly different culture, but that doesn't mean it can work out.

Otherwise, perhaps ask your player what she sees in the Sororitas. If both of you agree that it might be too difficult, there could be alternatives to accomodate both these favoured aspects as well as the player's cheerful attitude.

On the other hand, if none of your players really know 40k, there is little risk to ruin anyone's immersion even if she fails to portray the faction accurately. In fact, I would say a number of novel authors "missed the mark" there as well.

Anyways, Here is a short story from an archived GW website about their own Inquisitor RPG. It provides a glimpse onto how a Sororitas is "made" (even providing an age range for how old she'd be at the various stages of her life; useful for character generation!) and might serve as inspiration for how fanatical the Sisters are.

And Here is a quick description of the six Major Orders from a White Dwarf article - the Sisterhood is a single organisation and its Orders are not much different from one another in mindset or traditions as they all have a singular origin and leadership, but as you can see on the picture, there are minor quirks hailing from the differences between the Founding Saints. Perhaps it'd help your player pick an Order for her character as soon as she finishes her novitiate at Rank 4.

If either you or your player would like to read some more material on the Sororitas, just give me a poke - I've got a little collection of their fluff as presented in the studio material, and I think it deserves to be shared, especially given how little known some of it is these days.

Thanks, Lynata!

I was only looking at the IH version. I haven't put any thought into the other book. The biggest problem will be her playing a stern, serious character. Normally she is a flighty, fun-loving character. Not sure how she will handle the Sororitas' restrictive viewpoints.

None of my players are really knowledgeable in the 40K universe. Only two have a passing knowledge, so while we have dinner before character creation, I am going to show them The Vaults of Terra's history videos.

I'll let my player make up her own mind after giving her all the info. I'll let you know how things turn out!

Secondly, as long as she doesn't act wildly out of character (such as actually acting heretically, etc) it shouldn't be an issue, should it? While a "stern, serious character" might be the norm for Sororitas, there is nothing saying that all Sororitas are uptight battle-nuns.

I kinda like the idea of a happy-go-lucky easy-going young-ish Sororitas - albeit fanatically dedicated to the Emperor. It kinda reminds me of those priestesses bickering outside the Denerim Chantry in Dragon Age: Origins.

That's what I meant with it being a matter of interpretation - and one that will be heavily influenced by how much one has read about the Sororitas, and in which sources.

As for me, coming from GW's original fluff, I just have a hard time seeing them as potentially "happy-go-lucky" or "easy-going", considering that we're talking about teenage girls who grew up (from infancy) in a Schola Progenium facility being taught and beaten by these guys before being transferred into a Sisterhood that preaches that " the purpose of life is to suffer " , accordingly practicing a lot of castigation and really not leaving much room for any innocence.

For all intents and purposes, they're child-soldiers, and they grew up in a terrible environment where individuality and hesitation were cast out with a good beating and countless hours of drill and penitent duty. They never knew the love of a mother, and they never had a normal life - this is what makes them treat the Sisterhood as their family, and why they are so incredibly indoctrinated and stubborn that they are capable of performing "Acts of Faith" that may look like miracles to some.

There's a German movie about life in one of the Third Reich's elite National-Political Educational Facilities, and I tend to recommend it as inspiration for Schola Progenium backgrounds: trailer for "Napola"

Though even Napola cadets would have the "advantage" of having the experience of at least some years of a normal childhood, unlike a future Battle Sister. As the Chaos Prince Parmenides said in Daemonblood: "What has she ever questioned? They teach her and she believes."

But yeah, as I said earlier, if the group isn't well versed in 40k as a setting, such nuances are unlikely to attract attention. I may just warn about an issue that will never actually come up, for even if the player might break with the mold, who would actually notice?

I suppose the most important thing is that the players' immersion in the game remains intact, and as far as possible contradictions are concerned, it is true what they say: "ignorance is a blessing".

There is no problem with a sister being reasonably open minded about anything except her faith.

Faith and Fire / Red and Black , as said, capture this quite well; a veteran sister sororitas like Mirya has been 'out in the world' enough and is expected to ask intelligent questions, and one detached to inquisitorial service (rather than a battle squad) would probably be in that situation precisely because she is more capable than most of seeing 'Grey', if not always accepting it.

If she can't you're going to have a hell of a time getting through some of the situations in the Haarlock series.

Inquisitor's Handbook to Blood Of Martyrs sororitas don't make much difference for this setting. I know that sounds silly when you compare the amount of free stuff a Blood Of Martyrs battle sister starts with but in the Harlock Series:

I'd still stick with the Inquisitor's Handbook, though. It offers more options and is more suited for producing a character who's a mix of militant and scholar. Blood Of Martyrs is best used as a starting point for Ascension-level characters.

The Faith Talents aren't too powerful but the ability to resist insanity and corruption is nice (and very characterful). If you're too concerned about Faith Talents then talk to her and ask her to spend XP on other things - there's no shortage of lores that will be very, very useful to the party, and things to help resist fear and illusions are not a bad thing to have...

One thought which might work well: Are you running the House of Dust And Ash first, or going straight into Tattered Fates ? If you want to make her start thinking (in character) about more...awkward subjects like "when is a heretic not necessarily a heretic?", then...well...

Second and Third heirs to important families, or orphans from 'dead-end branches' of such families also get sent to the scholam as well as guard brats.

A couple more thoughts:

There is no problem with a sister being reasonably open minded about anything except her faith.

I think it's a fairly important element to consider that a character like this would have grown up in an extremely sheltered environment where even "everyday things" (everyday for other characters) such as humour or romance have little chance of seeping through into daily routine (simply due to the limited interaction the children have, and how they are being treated by the Drill-Abbots and, after transferring into an Orders Famulous compound, their Sisters Superior).

This would lead to an Attached Novice on Inquisitorial duty almost receiving a sort of "reality shock" when being confronted with life outside the convent walls, though this does not only bring restrictions but also a ton of roleplaying potential. I think this could be an interesting facet to play for such a character!

(The Schola Progenium background in the Inquisitor's Handbook actually comes with an appropriate trait somewhat related to this quirk; if I remember correctly it leads to Schola graduates having difficulties interacting with people that don't quite fit into the idea of the world that has been drilled into their little heads.)

Also, the Sisterhood runs on regulations that go far beyond the comparatively simple tenets of the Imperial Creed ("pray to the Emprah, hate the alien, obey your betters, rat out heretics in your neighbourhood"), such as fasting on specific days, practicing corporeal mortification, or following a certain daily schedule consisting largely of prayer and training.

If anyone is interested, I can post a couple of fasting days from the White Dwarf Liber Sororitas, just in case the Sororitas player wants to include this into her portrayal ("I can't eat today. Neither should you." ).

tl;dr: Someone who can be openminded about anything but his/her faith could be a Priest; the Sisterhood is a bit more extreme. At least the way I've always read about it...

Inquisitor's Handbook to Blood Of Martyrs sororitas don't make much difference for this setting.

Aside from the BoM Sister being turned into some weird spellslinger (that was a serious turnoff for me!), I think some of the Acts of Faith there are more dangerous against daemonic enemies? It's stuff that has to be purchased as Talents, though, so the player character likely wouldn't have it for quite a few ranks anyways. I have no idea how fast characters progress in this campaign ...

If you're too concerned about Faith Talents then talk to her and ask her to spend XP on other things - there's no shortage of lores that will be very, very useful to the party, and things to help resist fear and illusions are not a bad thing to have...

Indeed! Sisters are holy warriors, so both martial as well as religious aspects should be present in the character's skillset. Even stuff like Singing has a reason to show up on the character sheet.

Second and Third heirs to important families, or orphans from 'dead-end branches' of such families also get sent to the scholam as well as guard brats.

...which provides a readymade reason why she could be the Inheritor PC, and not know it. Which could lead to all sorts of spiritual anguish when she's the only one who can control some of the Haarlock Dynasties more heretical malarkies. It's alright to use heretical xenotech to save a whole sector, isn't it? Err....Umm.....Aaaaaaggh!

Ooh. This has quite some potential.

[...]

There's a German movie about life in one of the Third Reich's elite National-Political Educational Facilities, and I tend to recommend it as inspiration for Schola Progenium backgrounds: trailer for "Napola"

Though even Napola cadets would have the "advantage" of having the experience of at least some years of a normal childhood, unlike a future Battle Sister. As the Chaos Prince Parmenides said in Daemonblood: "What has she ever questioned? They teach her and she believes."

[...]

While certainly harsh, the insular circumstances you describe, I would say, actually lends itself perfectly to a naive and "happy" person. There is room for an average amount of about zero doubt or confusion within the Sororitas and they really are completely and utterly brainwashed to "know no better" (as to whether this is good or bad..).

Dear lord, now I'm imagining a young woman just burning the hell out of a group of heretics while giggling like a schoolgirl and then go "What?" like it's the most normal thing in the world.

And I absolutely love the idea of a Sororitas taken out of her element suffering a form of "social shell-shock", coming from a lifestyle that to her, for all intents and purposes, is "perfect". You have your 6-, 8-, 10-, 14-, 18-, 20- and 22-o'clock prayer, followed by training, studying the Emperor's will and communal exercise with the rest of the girls.

What more could you possibly want?

Ah, that's how you meant the happiness! I guess I mistook your meaning for more of a "normal" funniness rather than a sense of naive, innocent complacency.

Maybe Yandere would qualify, if you allow the romance part to apply to a Sister's zealous dedication to the God-Emperor.

Ah, that's how you meant the happiness! I guess I mistook your meaning for more of a "normal" funniness rather than a sense of naive, innocent complacency.

Yes, I suppose such characters have the potential to be a bit creepy, at least the outliers who do not conform to an attitude of iron-willed serenity.

There must be an anime stereotype for that somewhere ...

Maybe Yandere would qualify, if you allow the romance part to apply to a Sister's zealous dedication to the God-Emperor.

Yes!

I am imagining her being like "Hi, how are you, fellow friends of the Emperor ? I've made cake out of SI nutritional supplement C31, to turn that frown of yours upside down! I don't understand why you are pouting anyway. That hab-block was rife with sedition. The children are with the Emperor no- Ahw, shoot, I forgot the frosting!"

I'm not saying that this is what all the Sororitas are, and I imagine that Battle-Sisters are, for obvious reasons, several steps up when it comes to militarism, but there is absolutely nothing preventing massive brainwash, intermittent torture and happy-go-lucky-ness existing together.

Look at any young woman from just about any isolationist religious sect for references. Can be the cutest things ever until you start pushing the boundaries of their pre-established perception of the world.

Edit: I now want to play a character concept I call 'The Happiest Hospitaller' so hard.

Edit: I now want to play a character concept I call 'The Happiest Hospitaller' so hard.

Hmmmm, can I borrow this with my own interpretation, I think I can work this some how to my ongoing OW campaing.

Especially creepy when you consider that in GW's fluff, Hospitallers actually do act as torturers as well, and are supposedly quite good at it.

(for some reason, FFG's fluff is contradicting this, which I find to be a shame)

Also, just because these pictures illustrate it so nicely ... more Yuno!

Though I almost dig this one even more. It just about screams something exuberant.

"This is just like at the shooting gallery! "

... maybe I should give that show a watch some day.

Especially creepy when you consider that in GW's fluff, Hospitallers actually do act as torturers as well, and are supposedly quite good at it.

(for some reason, FFG's fluff is contradicting this, which I find to be a shame)

Also, just because these pictures illustrate it so nicely ... more Yuno!

[...]

Oh dear lord, that they could be torturers hadn't even occurred to me.

But hey, I can work that in too.

"I honestly do not understand why you are complaining. If you weren't prepared for this, you shouldn't have let the Emperor down. If you would just confess, you'd feel much better. The Emperor would understand! Honest!"

Hah! Considering the Ecclesiarchy's teachings, she might well believe she is doing the victim a favour, in some twisted way.

Aside from the BoM Sister being turned into some weird spellslinger (that was a serious turnoff for me!), I think some of the Acts of Faith there are more dangerous against daemonic enemies?

Mostly only the same ones that are in the Inquisitor's Handbooks as things someone with Pure Faith can do to daemons. As noted, things like 'holy touch burning daemons' is all well and stuff but if you really want to sit there, burning through your faith points and occasionally poking murder incarnate with your bare fingers whilst it tries to stab you with a rent in the very fabric of reality, you need your head examining. For the most part, the talents that matter have other talents as prerequisites and so on, so shouldn't make too much of a difference over the course of a Harlock legacy campaign unless you hand out XP like popping candy.

The most ridiculous one is soulstorm. Even if you want to take a Blood Of Martyrs Sororitas, leave this one the hell alone. It's incredibly characterful but does turn her into a freakin' nuke at the appropriate moment.

The others - things like divine guidance - are mostly in there as a nod to the tabletop acts of faith (which are also "ooh, look, random miracles"*). Again, it works for ascension and especially as a deathwatch character because it helps match the marine's blatant higher stats and unnatural stat bonuses in a more subtle way. More importantly, they tend to benefit everyone , not just her, and are relatively subtle in effect (at 'normal' levels, anyway). Divine Guidance is a perfect example, in fact.

Oh dear lord, that they could be torturers hadn't even occurred to me.

But hey, I can work that in too.

Yup. Well...near enough, anyway. In Codex Witch Hunters it wasn't so much that the Hospitallers were torturers themselves as they worked with an Inquisitor's Interrogators, to make absolutely sure a penitent/interogatee didn't die earlier than planned. It'd be terribly inconvenient - both spiritually (for the penitent) and tactically (for the inquisitor) if the massive internal electrical burns from the porta-rack finally caused a coronary half way through the agonised confession...

Dear lord, now I'm imagining a young woman just burning the hell out of a group of heretics while giggling like a schoolgirl and then go "What?" like it's the most normal thing in the world.

Again, it depends. The point I would make is that different orders will be very different from one another; the Ecclesiarchy is no more a uniform, monolithic faction than is 'the Inquisition' or 'the Adeptus Astartes'. You'll have reflective orders who are aware that the sororitas need to interact with people outside the order, as well as those who are ridiculously insular. Especially on the Famulous or Dialogous side. Anyone who has to deal with the Imperial Nobility on a daily basis is likely to have their faith in humanity tested severely.

Whichever preceptories supply the Strike Forces used on recalcitrant astartes chapters, for example, have no discernable need for social skills, but a smaller convent whose primary role is the protection of pilgrim routes (not the shrine at the ends of the route, the sororitas also garrison the route and or pilgrim ships themselves) is going to need to deal with scared, normal people.

I'm pretty sure you will find the giggling pyromaniacs in the militant squads (or more likely in the dominion squads, but that's spliting hairs...).

Most importantly, a Canoness Commander or Canoness Preceptor can't help but be more clued up about the world around her, simply because however insular the order, unless it's a shrine garrison she has to deal with it, politics and all. Most such order officers aren't cretins, and won't assign the giggling pyromaniacs to an inquisitorial investigation team, which she knows is going to be going undercover (lying, ignoring fast days, not wearing appropriate devotional icons), trying to gather evidence (speaking unto the heretic and the unclean, handling the work of the Xenos), etc, etc.

That said, a suitably naive personality is to be expected - no matter how worldly she may be by sororitas standards - as Lynata correctly remembers, a Schola Progenum character has a fellowship penalty when dealing with the scum of the galaxy. I also quite like one of the rules for Shrine World characters - it's just a little thing but they have the Ecclesiarchal Creed beaten into them (possibly literally) so deeply that they need to make an easy intelligence check to remember not to make the sign of the Aquilla at inappropriate moments (such as half-starting to say grace when sitting down in disguise to a meal in an underhive cantina)...

We had a character like this in a previous game; a shrine-world born priest who generally believed the whole creed and that all humans revered the Emperor and were kind and noble to one another, that inquisitors were paragons of virtue and that the homeworld of the God-Emperor's proxies - the Archcardinal and the Lord Sector - must be a near paradise....

His first mission was Edge of Darkness . The scene in the kitchens was fun.

* But then you can say that about everything in the tabletop game. Apparently every skirmish featuring more than one tactical squad has a captain in attendance, Saint Celestine has lead every battle the Sororitas have ever fought, Commissars shoot about five people a day to keep in practice, and never miss or fail to wound, but refuse to use their super-duper-death bullets when shooting the enemy, and a guy with a back banner can somehow get out of the assault ramp of a land raider.

The others - things like divine guidance - are mostly in there as a nod to the tabletop acts of faith (which are also "ooh, look, random miracles"*).

Something that got lost in BoM is how Acts of Faith (in the TT fluff) are deliberately meant to be vague and ambiguous - an obvious nod to "miracles" in real life. Thing where superstitious people would go "this was the Emprah's work!!", even though it would be explainable by a variety of factors such as skill or coincidence. Indeed, Codex fluff even flat-out states that these abilities are "miraculous to the unschooled ". That's kind of a big reveal right there.

And this is what saddened me about BoM. The expensive advancement scheme made her less of a warrior, whilst simultaneously turning what was meant to be a combination of extreme training and strength of will into a sort of supernatural power, as if a Sororitas herself wasn't actually badass, it was just something else working through her.

Again, it works for ascension and especially as a deathwatch character because it helps match the marine's blatant higher stats and unnatural stat bonuses in a more subtle way. More importantly, they tend to benefit everyone , not just her

Nnnno. Really not. In GW's fluff and rules, Sisters get equal arms and armour, but obviously not in FFG's world. Unless you're tweaking her gear, a Sister will be much more vulnerable, and deal less damage than any DW character. What's more, the majority of her abilities are group buffs, so in essence it only serves to make the Marines even more awesome whilst turning the Sororitas character into the party's buff *****, to borrow an MMO term. A serious disservice, imho.

The games just aren't meant to tie into each other; the differences in "power level" are too big to just port something over as-is. If someone really wants to play a Sororitas character in DW, there are ways that would result in a more faithful (hah!) representation.

Yup. Well...near enough, anyway. In Codex Witch Hunters it wasn't so much that the Hospitallers were torturers themselves as they worked with an Inquisitor's Interrogators, to make absolutely sure a penitent/interogatee didn't die earlier than planned. It'd be terribly inconvenient - both spiritually (for the penitent) and tactically (for the inquisitor) if the massive internal electrical burns from the porta-rack finally caused a coronary half way through the agonised confession...

Yep:

This is a tricky one. Whilst the Ecclesiarchy is no more uniform than the Astartes, the Adepta Sororitas certainly are:

A lot of Canonesses are probably somewhat more wordly than the Sisters they lead, having been exposed to the "dirtier" side of the Imperium for a long time, yet still having the strength of mind to persist and keep their faith, by whatever means (probably just a finer distinction between things, seeing shades of grey and being forced to make sacrifices in the name of "the greater good" rather than just white and black). It is perhaps an irony of their station that newly-made Sisters are more innocent and pure than their leaders...

That being said, Novices wouldn't be trained in their later Order, anyways, but rather an Orders Famulous training facility. The Inquisitor's Handbook even mentions one such place in the Calixis sector (the Abbey of the Dawn) - an interesting tie-in with a little-known detail of the original material (given that the topic of a Sister's novitiate is barely discussed anywhere; I only know it from the fluff articles about Rosetta Anastasia and Ephrael Stern that were hosted on GW's website once).

Perhaps this could serve as a sort of justification for how a "giggling pyromaniac" (that description really made me grin) could end up in an Inquisitorial cell anyways. Her Sororitas mentors (who are living in a completely isolated environment and grew up just as sheltered as the girls they train) may have either misinterpreted her personality, or perhaps considered it a small price to pay for her faith, and possibly other talents and skills she may possess.

I also quite like one of the rules for Shrine World characters - it's just a little thing but they have the Ecclesiarchal Creed beaten into them (possibly literally) so deeply that they need to make an easy intelligence check to remember not to make the sign of the Aquilla at inappropriate moments (such as half-starting to say grace when sitting down in disguise to a meal in an underhive cantina)...

That is a lovely detail. Honestly, I think it should be part of the Schola background, too - or at least the Sororitas one.

Yep:

"Sisters Hospitaller are often called to serve the Inquisition in a number of capacities. To a Witch Hunter, a surgeon's ability to keep a subject alive despite the most grievous of injuries is most useful. In the persecution of heretics, even a Sister Hospitaller will put aside her compassion, so great is her chagrin should a man turn his back upon the Blessed God Emperor of Mankind."

- 3E C:WH

I almost blew milk out of my nose. Chagrin. This is just too perfect. There is no end to the amount of pouting possible when someone turns his back upon the Blessed God-Emperor of Mankind. Really. It's their own fault. They should've listened, we just want their best.

"Why don't you love Him!!! Why!!!" *insert sound of chainscalpel rending flesh*

- heard during one of the Inquisitor Renors interrogation sessions when Hospitaller Selena was "treating" the quilty.

My mind just creates image of Sister of Battle with trempling lower lip, sulking and pouting.

Wow! Who would have thought such a simple question would deliver a multitude of responses! We are doing character creation tonight, so I will be sure to bring up a lot of your points to my player. If this goes anything like our other games, I am sure the character mix will be brilliant.

To give you an idea, we are running a Savage Worlds-ruled Star Trek game. here is our crew:

Andorian Captain: Stickler to the rules, but often has breakdowns when the crew doesn't do what they are told

Deltan Doctor: Keeps forgetting to take her anti-pheromone shots and ends up with half the crew trying to get in her pants

Caitian Helmsan: Insanely curious and often wanders off on his own either on ship or on planet.

Vulcan Science Officer: Thinks all the rest of the crew are idiots and has his nose about as high in the air as his ears

Tellurite Engineer: Treats his staff like slaves and does as little work himself as possible

Nnnno. Really not. In GW's fluff and rules, Sisters get equal arms and armour, but obviously not in FFG's world. Unless you're tweaking her gear, a Sister will be much more vulnerable, and deal less damage than any DW character. What's more, the majority of her abilities are group buffs, so in essence it only serves to make the Marines even more awesome whilst turning the Sororitas character into the party's buff *****, to borrow an MMO term. A serious disservice, imho.

The games just aren't meant to tie into each other; the differences in "power level" are too big to just port something over as-is. If someone really wants to play a Sororitas character in DW, there are ways that would result in a more faithful (hah!) representation.

Oh, believe me, she's better than she looks, and often puts the Astartes right in their place. We have one in a Deathwatch game I currently GM for. Remember, I'm talking about the Palatine Ascension archetype, not just a battle sister:

• Yes, she gets a less lethal Godywn-De'as pattern bolter not a ridiculous astartes-calibre Godwyn. But hers is Best Craftsmanship, meaning it never jams, and it's still powerful enough that a hit is automatically lethal to human/gaunt hordes.
• She can still use the standard 'requisitioning things from the order' rules, meaning she can trade it in for a (lower craftsmanship) Godywn-De'as Stormbolter. Which, as with its bigger brother, is one of the scariest crowd control weapons going except for...
• ...A pair of hand flamers, a jump pack, better Pilot (Personal) than the assault marine and gunfighter skills. Oh, no, wait, she has that, too. In short, she's proven to be the second best horde-killer after the devastator.
• The 'Miracle Worker' trait also allows her to use one act of faith as a 'burn' instead of 'spend'. This is hideous . What has become universally referred to as " plus plus extra holy fire "* - blessing the hand flamers ammunition - has brought down quite a few elite-level opponents.
• An Influence score can get you things that requisition will struggle to (which fits, as she's the Inquisitorial Agent-At-Large attached to the kill-team).
• When the Kill-team has had attached disposable guard grunts, the fact she has Talented (Command) and fellowship silly makes her the best at holding the minions together in the face of something scary. There is a reason that in the last major battle, the PDF companies she was leading (as opposed to the ones the other kill-team members led) ended the mission with more survivors than the rest of the regiment combined.
• Yes, she's not as tough. To start with. Until you bear in mind that her powered armour is actually just as good - because she has best quality (again) Sabbat-pattern armour and is senior (and smart) enough to take a helm. And, as a suitably verging-on-sainthood heroine of the order, she can take the Aspirate Cloak and the Mantle of Ophelia (which she did, even though it cost her a couple of points of influence and a few missions to acquire). Which gives her Unnatural Toughness x2 and something closer to artificer plate, making her every bit as hard to hurt as the Astartes.

* Regardless of what comments may have been made about more sublte Inquisitorial Investigations, in a Kill-Team the giggling pyromaniac fits in just perfectly .

I'm just not convinced. Too many differences and too much special treatment just for common ground. As a long-term fan of the Sisterhood, this is not what the Sisters were meant to be or represent.

a ridiculous astartes-calibre Godwyn

Even in the Dark Heresy and Deathwatch rulebooks, all bolters have the same calibre - 0.75 inches. It's only due to Space Magic that Marine rounds still hurt more, just like their flamers burn a few degrees hotter. One could probably come up with a set of excuses to explain this phenomenon (longer charge? superior materials? etc), but I maintain they wouldn't make much sense in context, and stand in conflict to the original fluff.

And I apologise for having gone off a tangent here, but this topic just tends to trigger my nerdrage. It's one of the pet-peeves I have with the system, and where I believe GW's own Inquisitor RPG did better. At least everyone got the same bolters there...

Well, we had our character creation last night. We ended up with:

Arbiter

Psyker (with 5 insanity points)

Adeptus Sororits (with Hatred: Psyker)

Techpriest (with 3 corruption points)

Cleric

Assassin (with 5 corruption points)

My player decided she was up for the challenge of running the Sororitas. When I described her as "Judge Dredd with breasts and a Religious Fanaticism that makes the Spanish Inquisition look like a sorority hazing", she got the idea. I also told her that she would not hesitate to run into a burning building to rescue children, but if she discovered the children were mutants she would chuck them right back in the fire.

I started the players with 1000XP, so when we got to the second level choices, she asked me about the hatred talents. Given that her boyfriend is playing the Psyker, I saw an evil glint in her eye as she chose Hatred: Psyker. She also jumped at the chance to own Brass Knuckles. I think she will take well to the role. I'm going to give her some reading material to get her into the mindset of the AS. Mostly selections from the old Sisters of Battle Codex, and a little from the Witch hunters codex.

All in all, I think we will have a fun little group. On a side not, the Cleric is being played by a woman who has never roleplayed in her life. I'm preparing some extra background info for her. We are going to run through the Edge of Darkness module first to get everyone comfortable with their character. When we are done, I am awarding everyone enough XP to get to fourth rank, then we will start the Haarlock Saga. I'm going to give the players the opportunity at that point to change their skills and talents to better fit their play style if they like. Any characteristic boost they bought will have to stay however.

We went with the carapace armor and las weapons. Aside from the brass knuckles, she bought a las carbine and a sword. She was drooling over the chain weapons, but she will have to wait for those.

The fun part is, Edge of Darkness has the party masquerading as mercenaries, so she would be advised to leave her carapace armor behind and blend in using the provided flak vests. Then, in the first haarlock, you know what happens there. it's going to be awhile before she gets to use the good armor.

The arbiter, Psyker and Cleric are all from the special hiveworld background from the IH. (sorry don't have my book in front of me) The assassin is the special background package that is void born in the IH. The techpriest is from a forgeworld, and his background roll actually put him at a major forgeworld.

I hadn't thought about the Psyker's healing. good point on that. Thanks for all the info. That last article is perfect to make her background from.