So, I've got a player who LOVES Warhammer 40k. I'm only just getting into it, but I'm the only one of our group who enjoys GMing. So, as I'm reading through the rulebook, he calls me and asks if he can make his Mechanicus PC a Psyker.

He meets all the requirements, but he says he can't remember any Mechanicus Psykers and is worried there's some fluff of reason he can't play it.

So, I told him about these forums, asked to hold off until I got an answer, and posted this. So, is there any fluff reason an Adeptus Mechanicus cannot, later in life, develop psychic powers and serve his Inquisitor as a Rogue Psyker? (This Inquisitor is VERY Radical, btw). I'd let him play it, but he's uncomfortable playing outside the lore.

I can say that, in Dark Heresy 1 Tech Priests could not take the Nascent Psyker elite advance from the Inquisitors Handbook, nor the Wyrd background from Radicals Handbook nor the Mind's Eye Opens transition package from Ascension.

So, there is a *lot* of precedent in the old Dark Heresy rules for a Tech Priest not being able to be a psyker. Why? IIRC, I've heard it said that their Cranial Circuitry eliminates the necessary brain centers.

Also, from a sheer game "balance" point of view, they already have their own kind of "magic" from the various Tech Priest only Talents.

I can say that, in Dark Heresy 1 Tech Priests could not take the Nascent Psyker elite advance from the Inquisitors Handbook, nor the Wyrd background from Radicals Handbook nor the Mind's Eye Opens transition package from Ascension.

So, there is a *lot* of precedent in the old Dark Heresy rules for a Tech Priest not being able to be a psyker. Why? IIRC, I've heard it said that their Cranial Circuitry eliminates the necessary brain centers.

Also, from a sheer game "balance" point of view, they already have their own kind of "magic" from the various Tech Priest only Talents.

Thanks, I'll let him know.

There is a very few tech-priests who can have psychic powers. Most of them have already given their soul to the ruinous powers, and they only do demonic rituals (think about Forgefiends/maulers, ect).

But DH1 didn't allow it, at all. They are already one of the strongest careers imo, so they don't need this extra power.

But DH1 didn't allow it, at all. They are already one of the strongest careers imo, so they don't need this extra power.

*COUGHpsykermutationCOUGH*

The issue is that most forge worlds would be likely to ship off their psykers to the black ships and never see them again. Psykers are unpredictable, and the mechanicus don't like that. Still, it's possible. Your techpriest could be from a borderline heretical forgeworld that are interested in experimenting on psychic abilities. Or maybe he manifested his psychic powers later on, once he'd already left the Mechanicus to join the Inquisition.

It's a totally doable background, and not overly OP considering how spread thin he'd be with his XP.

A Mechanicus Psyker probably manifested his powers after he became an ordained Tech-Priest -- I doubt the Mechanicus would bless such a flawed specimen with the gifts of the Omnissiah Note that this makes the character an Unsanctioned Psyker, which means their powers are more unpredictable and less controllable. It also comes with all kinds of social complications as the player would have to conceal their power from all but their close allies. This is not necessarily a bad thing as it can lead to many enjoyable role playing moments, but it also restricts the player to more "subtle" Disciplines (Telepathy and Divination, mostly -- it's hard to stealthily immolate an entire room full of heretics, for example).

I'd allow it in my game, but first I'd make sure the player understood the risks inherent in being an unsactioned psyker in an organization as traditional as the Mechanicus. Unless their Inquisitor is particularly "open-minded," he may have serious issues with this as well.