Would it be possible for an Arch-Heretek to somehow find a way by which to bind a C'Tan shard in human form, or at least a form that looked human, and cause it to forget its own godlike nature?

A bit of context: A while ago, my Explorers encountered a renegade forge world called Irtaufe. irtfaufe was exiled by the Adeptus Mechanicus and declared excommunicate traitoris for its worship of a graven idol that the Magi of Irtaufe believed to be the Omnissiah reincarnated in human form. She was able to repair devastated machinery, appease machine spirits with but a whisper, and perform other Omnissiah-esque miracles. However, she herself does not understand her abilities and has become a notable NPC who often accompanies our explorator, with whom she has become close friends, as said explorator is also a radical due to his firm belief in science, not faith. His lack of reverence for her is what makes their friendship work.

When they first met her, she had retreated from her royal palace to an isolated lab, because she had discovered that her Magos custodian,who was sort of like her surrogate father figure, was experimenting on mutants and killing them tot ry and replicate her abilities (for the good of the forge world, of course). She tried to solve the answer of her powers on her own, using dark tech that SOMEONE (hint: the big bad of the campaign) had supplied to her from inside Irtaufe's inner circle of magi.

I created this character not intending for her to become so integral to the campaign - if ever asked how she can do the things she can, I would have just said she was a very powerful psyker or something - but she is now become the campaign's primary MacGuffin. My explorator is trying to figure out how she ticks, my astropath wants to try and use her abilities for profit, my Rogue Trader is trying to dodge the Mechncium in case they discover that he is sheilding her from them, and my missionary wants to burn that tech-witch for whatever lets her interact with machines so innately.

Now that she's become such an important figure, and the party's attempts to discover who the arch-heretek that supplied her with chaos tech on Irtaufe truly is have taken front and center, I feel that she needs a really kick-ass explanation. I was idly reading through the old Necron codex when I cam across that passage about the C'Tan who "are gods of the physical universe" and can "manipulate reality and matter with a thought". Given that our explorator is an untouchable, I need a non-warp explanation for her powers (which she has used to heal him a few times), and something Necron-y or C'Tan-themed seems like the best route.

So here's my explanation: A long time ago, the Arch-Heretek of Irtaufe (let's call him Big Bad) was exiled from the Mechanicus for the usual xenotech heresy and so forth. He wandered around for a bit and discovered a C'Tan shard, and realized he could use this to turn the religious fanaticism of the Mechanicum against itself (he like irony). The plan was for half the Mechanicus to begin worshipping his DIY god-girl, and end up fighting the other half with the two factions destroying each other.

But could he even do that?

If anyone has a better idea, or you see plot holes/things that could be changed to make more sense, please point it out or make more suggestions.

Oh Holy Throne didn't we learn anything from the "civil discussion" about Space Marines in a Rogue Trader?

Anyway... the short answer is in your campaign, you are free to do whatever you want, however you want it, with whatever justification you want, and as long as you and your players have fun then go for it.

The even shorter answer is no.

The slightly longer answer will draw your attention to the rules for a C'Tan Shard in Deathwatch, and the fact that this is meant to be an end-of-campaign boss for a group of maximum level Deathwatch marines. As I understand the latest update to the Necrons, yes they were capable of imprisoning the soul-devouring Gods into shards that were then used to fight against the Eldar, but Necrontech is leaps, bounds and several Dark Ages of Regression beyond what the Imperium is capable of.

Now there's still probably a C'Tan God sleeping underneath Mars, so the idea that this shard is trying to undermine the Mechanicus so that it can supplant the Void Dragon, and then conquer the galaxy is a good one, but I can't see a way to justify the Shard being under anyone's control. The ILLUSION of control is certainly do-able, but I think this should all end with the C'Tan Shard summoning its Necron army and trying to murder everyone in your campaign. And probably succeeding.

The "civil discussion?"

Something tells me that said discussion was less than amiable.

Indeed, the technology to bind a C'Tan is totally beyond the Imperium - however, in my campaign Big Bad would not be using Imperial Tech, having moved on to xenos and chaotic devices. I don't know if that changes your answer at all.

I agree that I can't see a way to justify a shard being brainwashed into thinking it's a human. Putting in writing, it sounds ridiculous.

Is there a way that the idol could be unconsciously tapping the power of the C'Tan shard from somewhere else? Perhaps the Big Bad has the shard locked up somewhere, and the idol is unknowingly siphoning its abilities due to some sort of mutation or xenotech augmentation. Necrodermis fingernails? (Kidding, kidding).

It would have to be Necrontech, because harnessing the C'Tan was the tipping point between the war between the Necrons and everything that ever existed ever, so presumably none of them ever got the hang of dealing with it. Chaostech is possible because (again assuming the backstory hasn't changed) Necrons hate the Warp, so there could be some blasphemous ritual going on that is keeping the C'Tan "contained" while still channeling its power.

That would be an interesting twist. The Heretek thinks that its his mastery of ancient technology giving him all these powers, but turns out it was just the Warp all along. Oh those wacky demons living beyond our comprehension. My only concern with that potential twist is I'm pretty sure that Chaos hates the Necrons as well, what with their whole "launching a campaign to cleanse all sentient life and rob Chaos of their power" almost working.

You could maybe have the technology harnessing the Shard be Necrontech however. A Rival Necrontyr dynasty has been using it through an unwitting human proxy to siphon power away from one of its rivals while their newly awakened tomb determines how best to proceed. The climactic fight then comes as two Necron dynasties clash with their full force, while your Explorers have maybe one or two extremely minor detachments sent after them, ideally allowing them to just barely fight their way to freedom with no idea as to what bizarre Xenos war they were caught in.

Comments:

Yes, it is possible - as in, a C'Tan Shard can mimic a human being convincingly.

Can you compel one to do so? Err.....probably not. C'Tan shards are, as noted, greater-daemon level threats.

That said, a shard is a randomly broken-apart fragment. Not all shards -even shards of the same C'tan - are identical, which implies not all shards are equal. Which (if you allow for a bit of a mental stretch) means that a particularly small or weak shard might be more susceptible to manipulation and chicanery. Note that 'small' or 'weak' when talking about a fragment of a god are still very relative terms!

The main detail; if a C'Tan is being mentally messed around with, then there are, as Erathia implied, relatively few factions that could achieve it. The Adeptus Mechanicus, heretic or not, for all their knowledge and arrogance, aren't one of them. The factions which could are:

(a) The necrons. A Cryptek might have tried to fashion a more 'controllable' shard - one that could be used more regularly than as a last-ditch weapon of mass destruction, and didn't need to 'live' in a tesseract vault all the time.

(b) The eldar servants of the old ones (especially the great harlequin). I'm not sure why they'd do this rather than just try and kill it, but "For Teh Lolz" is more fitting for harlequins than other factions, at least...

© The C'Tan - either a rival (unlikely) or the C'Tan itself.

Remember that the Necrons overthrew and essentially crippled, imprisoned and enslaved the C'Tan and now use them as combined power sources and occasional superweapons. I cannot imagine the C'Tan (at least those shards with enough intellect left to understand what's happening) particularly enjoy this process.

A C'Tan which manages to escape its captors will be hunted down - both by the Necrons and the Eldar - and this one 'went to ground'. Hid in the form of a human(ish); as the galaxy's dominant species. It's only a tiny shard, in raw power terms, and only recovering its awareness slowly.

Most importantly, its incomplete awareness, and the fact that it only just survived the experience of its escape (the entire necron force accompanying it were destroyed and it barely survived itself) has left it with no real memory before the Magi of Irtaufe found it and woke it up. It doesn't remember being a C'Tan - doesn't know what C'Tan are.

But the more it uses its abilities, the closer it gets to recovering its memory of what it really is, and having its former personality reassert itself. A suitably traumatic experience - especially one which comes close to breaching its necrodermis (not that it knows it has one!) - may complete the process. Given that C'Tan react really badly to the warp, the 'dark tech' might do just that under the wrong circumstances.

Which will be fun for everyone, obviously. C'Tan are really, really nice individuals...

...No, wait. The other thing.

How human/humanoid is this thing? Given that you used the phrase "graven idol" but also "human form"...

hahahahahahahahaha RT crews never cease to surprise me
A C'tan this time, wow.

Next, someone will get a pet Great Unclean One. : D

(not criticizing you, I actually really liked the concept/history)

I'd be inclined to make the campaign a bait and switch. Having the assumed big bad actually be working for the greater good (Not the Tau greater good just a universe that is slightly less grimdark) and the icon being a fully aware C'Tan shard that is consciously limiting its powers and mimicking the abilities of the Omnissiah in order to further its own ends.

Those ends being to be below the notice of those potentially able to harm it (Necrons and potentially Eldar) and to gather up more shards of itself and gradually return to its former power. The Rogue Trader and other PCs are potentially very valuable to her because they travel freely and are generally willing to go 'treasure hunting' to find things she needs.

Perhaps the Big Bad originally intended to use the C'Tan as a weapon against the Omnissiah worshipping fanatics but with his heretical ways of scientific investigation, lack of blind faith and willingness to use xenos technology he has discovered what is really going on and now he is attempting to appear like he is helping the C'Tan while in secretly testing for any weaknesses that can slay the monster he has unwittingly released.

Since you are the GM i would say "Do what you think is right"... There are some examples of for instance an ultramarine's replacement hand arbsorbed necron/c'tan power...

However if she has that kind of power, it consider that it will slowly kill her as it gradually awaken, and time is ticking to find a solution... It could be a shard that a lodged within her (and impossible to detect) or just tied to her mechanic part... however even if it is "damaged" and will never awaken (or kill everyone)... someone (probably the necrons) is likely to come for her... And then woe betide anyone who stand in their way...

Had a necron charcter that went on such a manhunt... Not a pretty result...

Here's a lame-ish thought. It might hearken back more to when the C'Tan and Necrons were good and boring, rather than meh and Tomb Kings made of metal, but if this C'Tan Shard sat in place, for ages and ages, and fed on nothing, it might have dwindled, and as it's essence faded, so too might its might and memory. The Outsider C'Tan gobbled up many of its siblings, while the Nightbringer killed many more. If most of her Shards had been consumed, she'd lose what they knew, and the power they had, leaving her a pale shadow of the Star-God she once was. What we then get is a being made of necrodermis, but nothing more powerful than the average Warrior, and much of its power now focused on manipulating tech, or feeding the life-force of another. In this sort of way, I could see her seeming very Human, maybe even soft and naive, but still be much more than one, though this backstory could also keep her from ever Awakening into much more, if you don't want her to.

I've got an NPC Melfina-knockoff in my story, who is a high-end Necron experiment, long forgotten and discontinued. She seems Human, but is actually Necrontech, and has the Navigator gene (but without the ability to garner mutation), so weird Necron experiments are also possible.

Necron character?

This is possible?

Necron NPC, as I understood it. I would laugh any Necron PC out of the room I'm in, personally; your own mileage may vary, especially with the silly new Necrons. This one seems more a trophy found, proven useful, and treated like a crew member, even depended on, but still an NPC.

Necron character?

This is possible?

Only with house rules...

Necron NPC, as I understood it. I would laugh any Necron PC out of the room I'm in, personally; your own mileage may vary, especially with the silly new Necrons. This one seems more a trophy found, proven useful, and treated like a crew member, even depended on, but still an NPC.

Well, it was one of the antagonists... The players got quite a shock trying to fight a Necron that is not just a automaton, but an icecold and cunning -but also innovative and adaptive- Commander that had countless years of experince...

That said, he was inspired from a Necron PC i played... The group was already an odd alliance from different race (not rogue trader though)- though the gamemaster was pretty surprised when i told the idea, but since i already had both character-story and a discribtion of the wars, event and necrontyr society... Surprisingly the character worked very well XD

-error-

Necron character?

This is possible?

Only with house rules...

Necron NPC, as I understood it. I would laugh any Necron PC out of the room I'm in, personally; your own mileage may vary, especially with the silly new Necrons. This one seems more a trophy found, proven useful, and treated like a crew member, even depended on, but still an NPC.

Well, it was one of the antagonists... The players got quite a shock trying to fight a Necron that is not just a automaton, but an icecold and cunning -but also innovative and adaptive- Commander that had countless years of experince...

That said, he was inspired from a Necron PC i played... The group was already an odd alliance from different race (not rogue trader though)- though the gamemaster was pretty surprised when i told the idea, but since i already had both character-story and a discribtion of the wars, event and necrontyr society... Surprisingly the character worked very well XD

Hmm along the same line would I be able to play a Minion? I'm thinking there may be a problem with the language barrier, but some of their speech is close to English. Would the bright yellow colour distract though?

Wee-due wee-due wee-due wee-due wee-due. Hehehe.