Ecclesiarchy and Cultists

Sisters of the Emperor

The Battle Sisters of the Orders Militant are the mainstay of the Adeptus Ministorium's armies. Utterly dedicated to the protection of the Imperium,Battle Sisters are trained and equipped to the highest standards. Inquisitors, especally those of the Puritan faction, are often keen to include Battle Sisters in their retinues for this very reason.

Sisters Repentia are the outcasts of the Adepta Sororitas. Guilty of transgressing the rigid codes of their orders many take to a solitary existence, determined to earn their absolution alone before returning to their convent filled with the Emperor's grace once more. These individuals represent an invaluable ally to an Inquisitor, as their furious desire to repent takes precedence over all other considerations - a state of mind more than one Inquisitor has taken full advantage of.

Adepta Sororitas Characters

Equipment: The equipment available to an Adepta Sororitas character will vary depending on her mission and rank. A Sister Repentia is likely to be armed with a variety of wargear, acquired during her quest for absolution, but is unlikely to carry any Rare or Alien equipment. Sisters Repentia will never wear power armour.

Adepta Sororitas from the Orders Militant will be equipped with power armour, and are likely to carry bolters, bolt pistols, chainswords, power swords, etc, but will not carry any alien equipment.

No Adepta Sororitas character will ever have psychic powers of any sort.

Special Abilities:

Acts of Faith: Adepta Sororitas are amongst the most pious adherents to the Imperial Creed in the Imperium, and are capable of calling upon the grace of the Emperor in times of direst need, sometimes with miraculous results! Before the game begins, roll a D6; the character has this many Faith points, which may be spent during the game to attempt an Act of Faith. The test costs an action to attempt, and the character must make an unmodified Willpower test. If this is successful, the character can choose to use any one of the following exotic abilities once that turn: Fearsome; Frenzy; Regeneration; Word of the Emperor. Acts of Faith are not counted as psychic powers, and so may not be nullified.

Sisters Repentia: A Sister Repentia may not use Acts of Faith until the GM has determined that she has earned redemption (see Sister Anastasia's profile).

All Sisters Repentia have the 'Only in Death Does Duty End' special rule, as described in Sister Anastasia's profile. Should the GM decide that the Repentia has earned her redemption, this rule will cease to apply, to be replaced with Acts of Faith as described above.

The Ecclesiarchy

The Ecclesiarchy is a galaxy-spanning organisation based upon the worship of the Emperor. One of its many divisions is the Schola Progenium, which is responsible for the upbringing and training of orphans of those who have served the Imperium. These children are known as Progena, and most of them will end up within the Ministorum or the Adeptus Terra. Some may even find office in a planetary government, while most girls are destined for one of the Orders of the Sisterhood. Many military leaders and special forces are brought up by the Schola Progenium, including Navy officers and the elite Storm Troopers and iron willed Commissars of the Imperial Guard. It is the task of the Drill Abbot to give specialised combat training to these children. Many are Imperial Guard veterans who have been ordained as Abbots, though a few are products of the Schola Progenium themselves.

Drill Abbots are famed for their stubbornness and tenacity, coupled with a rock solid faith in the Emperor. These are the main qualities they instil in their pupils, along with the ideals of humility and sacrifice. Of course, these mental strengths are backed up by considerable combat skills, especially in hand-to-hand fighting. Drill Abbots are ferocious warriors, stirred by the endeavours of Saints from the past, their hands guided as if by the Emperor Himself.

Drill Abbots are a very special type of preacher, being excused from the normal duties of delivering sermons and ministering to the faithful. In appearance, though, they wear all of the normal priestly accoutrements, including robes, symbols of faith and purity seals, and devotional scripts.

It is not uncommon for Drill Abbots to wield heavy, brutal close combat weapons such as power hammers to pulp the heads of the heathens they fight. Some wield Staffs of Belief, which are carved from trees grown in the Garden of Saints on Terra; or the vicious Axe of Retribution that has a sharded, double-headed blade that rips through flesh and inflicts horrifying injuries.

To back up these close combat weapons, a Drill Abbot will normally have at least one gun, usually a heavy duty service pistol picked up whilst in the military. This can be complemented by numerous short swords, knives or mauls, or possibly an electro-baton which delivers a numbing shock and is usually employed to discipline wayward Progena. As veterans of real combat, many Drill Abbots sport prosthetic limbs and artificial organs, usually proudly displayed as trophies of honour rather than concealed beneath synskin or clothing.

In battle, the Drill Abbot lays about himself with his hammer or staff, bellowing hymnals and curses, fired with holy ire and sacred rage. They are staunch fighters, used to the hardships of military service and the stern living conditions experienced in the Schola Progenium abbeys. They are courageous and highly disciplined, a combination of both training and their fervent faith.

Ecclesiarchy Characters

Equipment: Although the Ecclesiarchy has great wealth and resources, as an organisation it embodies Imperial superstition regarding technology and so its agents rarely use Exotic or Legendary items.

Special Abilities: Members of the Ecclesiarchy never have psychic powers.

Cultists & Fanatics

The teachings of the Ecclesiarchy are not a loving creed, as they were incepted to praise the Emperor above all other things and to give Mankind the faith and willpower to continue the endless fight against rebels, aliens and the forces of darkness despite horrendous hardship and torturous agony. There are countless factions of belief within the Ecclesiarchy, each preaching a slightly different message. Some are more common than others and in the dark times of the 41st Millennium the most apocalyptic, militant faiths have many supporters.

These doctrines are highly xenophobic and violent, its members sworn to expunge all sin with fire and blade. For some cults their focus of hatred is very limited: mutants, witches or aliens. For others, such as the Redemptionists, they see sin in every creature, which must be purged through bloodshed; it really is a dogma of kill or be killed in the most extreme cases.

Although ostensibly pro-Imperial, such militant factions can often pose more of a threat than the heretics they seek to destroy. Their mob mentality and ability to rouse a populace into a frenzied witch hunt, blinded by its all-consuming need for the guilty and blasphemous to be cleansed, can cause serious problems to any planetary government, upsetting the precarious balance of power which allows a world to continue to exist in a galaxy that contains a thousand and one threats. Such organisations can also be callously and cynically manipulated by individuals for their own agendas, and often act as a front for even more nefarious activities.

Creeds such as the Redemptionists can be highly organised, literally acting as a separate church under the auspices of the galaxy-spanning Ministorum. Preachers and Cardinals loyal to the militant cause can supply arms and armour; although officially the Ecclesiarchy is banned by Imperial mandate from having any 'men under arms', these militias are often given weapons and accoutrements of faith by the Ecclesiarchy.

An Inquisitor, particularly one who is young or overzealous, can put such reactionary cults to good use, and on occasion it serves their purpose well to stir these hordes into a frenzy, either to achieve their aims or to provide confusion and anarchy as a cover for their own activities.

Behind his mask and robe, a Fanatic is still a man, with a man's weaknesses - petty jealousies, ambitions and opinions. Whilst the fervour of faith is upon him, the Fanatic will fight hard and strong, believing Justice, Right and the Emperor are on his side. However, once isolated from the mob, only the most strong-willed Fanatics can be of use, and it is these who will most commonly find their way into the warrior band of an Inquisitor, spurred on by his strong leadership.

Flame weapons are a weapon of choice for militant Fanatics, as the Emperor is often symbolised as the cleansing fire in these religions. Other than these, spiked maces, whirling chain-axes and chain swords and other weapons which rend and tear flesh in a scourging manner are also extremely popular.

Cultists and Fanatics Characters

Equipment: Fanatics are generally poorly equipped by the standards of a proper military force, but an indulgent Inquisitor may provide more advanced weapons and equipment from the Inquisition's stockpiles. Fanatics won't have Exotic or Legendary weaponry, and only the most favoured will have Rare items.

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