Alex's characters 1 & 2 of 5
Heres 2 (of a probable 5 i am brainstorming) characters i've been working on for the Dark Talons. The others are still in their infancy and i'm not so happy with their rules yet but they will get done eventually. For now its just these guys. Let me know what you think. I'll post my own thoughts about the chars just after their entries.
1. First Disciple Hezek.
Under the example and tutelage and guidance of Kilm Vanshal many of the dark talons have embraced possession as a further escape from any ties of mortality. But none have risen so far and achieved so much since this trend began as Hezek, first disciple of Vanshal. Deeply fanatical but utterly loyal, Hezek is captain to the contingents of possessed now massing the ranks of the Dark talons and it falls to him to lead and control them in war.
Pts 170
Name | WS | BS | S | T | W | I | A | Ld | Sv
Hezek | 5 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 3 | 10 | 3+
Wargear. Power armour, Frag and Krak Grenades, Demonic Talons.
Special Rules. Demonkin. Demon Brotherhood, 5+ invulnerable save, Fearless.
Weapons. Disciple Hezek is armed with demonic talons that count as a single power weapon.
Demonkin. Disciple Hezek is possessed by a demon of the warp and acts accordingly. At the start of every game he must roll a D6 to see which power he receives from the possessed abilities table (pg 29). On a roll of 4, instead of rending his weapons now count as pair of lightning claws. On a 6 he receives the warptime psychic ability.
Demon Brotherhood. Hezek may be accompanied by a unit of possessed chaos marines, if this is the case roll a single D6 when determining possessed abilities for both Hezek and his unit of possessed. When in a unit this result can be re-rolled once. You must accept the second result.
My reasoning behind Hezek as a character creation was really due to Vanshal. After leading many Dark talons to safety and giving them new purpose I could see many admiring possession and the gifts/knowledge it gave. I would believe the cult of possession within the Talons would be high. So I went and made a character based on that.
2. Torturer Issatroth.
The mysteries of the flesh held dark paths for Issatroth. The once apothecary saw soon after the betrayal the effect chaos had on men; regeneration, advanced growth and even resurrection. He soon became obsessed with trying to find ways to control this great power to heal. He had soon concocted wide range of agents and chemicals which he had psykers imbue with the powers of the warp. The effects were varied, some worked wonders other formed hideous mutations and grotesque monsters. Retrave ordered his work unfit to be performed on battle brothers and soon he could find no volunteers to test his crucial work. And so he began to stalk battlefields for limbs and bodies and soon he requested from Van Gaur to take prisoners. The usual slave rabble would have its fittest and its strongest removed for Issatroths next grand concoction. This brutal but thorough testing gave Issatroth the title of torturer rather than healer. He designed and created the Dark Talon weapon to draw blood and tissues from every race and enemy which he gave to the greatest champions among his brothers knowing well that they would fight only the strongest. Even after the second Betrayal when much of his data was lost with the retreating Van Gaur, Issatroth would not be denied his test subjects or experiments.
It was only when Fabius Bile heard of Issatroths work did he seek out the Dark talons. Issatroths pleas to master Retrave to dock saw that their meeting would go ahead and both learned much. It was however clear that they needed to learn more. The exchange was not only information, Issatroth gave to Fabius a talon and all of the mutagenic ichors he had created. In return Fabius altered the weapons to feed directly into the omophagea of the astartes allowing not only collection but incorporation of genetic material into the Astartes genetic structure. Along with this Fabius gave to Issatroth and the Dark Talons several suits of terminator armour, with the understanding that he could come and go as he pleased within the chapter.
Issatroth now leads one of the only Terminator squads available to the Dark Talons and Master Retrave has given him the right to pursue his mission on the many battlefields they fight across.
Pts 170
Name | WS | BS | S | T | W | I | A | Ld | Sv
Issatroth | 4 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 10 | 2+
Wargear. Terminator armour, Dark Talon, Combi-bolter.
Special rules. The True Talon, Twisted Narthecium, 5+ invulnerable save.
The True Talon. While many of his brethren have been issued new Talons and some aspiring champions have taken up wearing imitations, Issatroth has in his possession the original as worked on by himself and Fabius. All others are inferior copies wrought from its brilliance. The Dark Talon upon piercing the body then begins to drain the target of bodily fluids through a series of tubes linked to the almost needle like claw tips that can pierce armour even if the larger part of the claw cannot. Most go into shock immediately from serious blood loss if they are not killed outright. The blood is collected and some is absorbed by Issatroth and incorporated into his DNA. The infusion of the warp in this device also allows memories, feelings and combat styles to be stolen along with physical matter.
The Dark Talon carried by Issatroth counts as a lightning claw with the following additions. Infantry models hit by the dark talon have their initiative reduced to 1 in the next round of combat as they go into shock from blood/memory loss. After causing an unsaved wound on a troop squad Issatroth gains preferred enemy special rule against that particular squad. The Talon has no effect on Necrons.
Twisted Narthecium. Issatroth is still an apothecary no matter how far he has fallen. He will attempt to save one of his brothers should they fall in battle. The first time an unsaved wound is taken by the squad that is attached to Issatroth he will use his temperamental warp drugs on them to attempt revival. Roll a D6 and consult the table below for results.
5-6 = Success. The wound is ignored and the model continues as normal
3-4 = Mutation. Something has gone horribly wrong with the mix and the model becomes a mewling mass of flesh. If the player controlling Issatroth has a spawn model he can be replaced with that, if not the model is removed as a casualty. The spawn counts as a single independent model from the squad and Issatroth (it’s worth 40 victory points if killed.)
1-2 = Failure. The mixture is flawed and has no effect. The model is removed as a casualty.
Issatroth I spent quite a lot of time mulling over. He’s probably far too powerful for what we want but that’s for you guys to decide. I think he’s got a lot of character close to Fabius bile and that was very much what I wanted from him. I wanted to use the ties to Fabius to make a character who could learn from him.
