Role-playing Rants: My favorite player characters: Part Five

Allow me to take you on a journey into the grim and dark future of endless war, blind zealotry and cynicism - the dystopian world of Warhammer 40,000 awaits.

Even though WFRP is my default go-to game, I do play other titles as well... occasionally. One of them, and one that I enjoy a lot, is the Fantasy Flight Games' 1st edition of Dark Heresy. Now it wasn't always that way, as those who read my blog for some time, know already. I used to dislike DH a lot, but that was a long, long time ago. Currently I only have fond memories of this game, and would very much like to run it in the near future.

Anyway, my players created quite a few and interesting characters during our times together, when we were discovering the many and varied dangers of the 41st Millenium. I want to tell you about a few of them.

1. Solomon Victus, a ruthless and ambitious arbitrator (played by Martin)

Sometimes you just find the perfect artwork for a character. This picture just screams "Solomon Victus"! (artwork by SirHanselot)

A ruthless planetary enforcer with some very loose morals, Solomon wanted to rise above his station by any means necessary. While being completely loyal to the Golden Throne, Victus had little to no problem with dirty, underhand tactics, such as extortion, bribery and blackmail. He became the de facto leader of the "Talon Company", the Inquistion cell that he was operating in, and quickly developed a few bad habits. One of them was... blood drinking. You see, after encountering a Greater Daemon of Khorne on an Agri World, he amassed enough Corruption Points to finally get a malignancy. He did a decent enough job, hiding it from the rest of the party, as they've never learned about it. While being brutally interrogated by a heretic, he almost tore his throat out with his teeth. There was also the legendary "double Tranters jamming during a stand-off with a bounty hunter" situation, in which Martin rolled a botch, twice, for his customized Tranter pistols. Hilarity ensued.

As with most Dark Heresy characters, Solomon survived to the very end of our games. We've dropped the system abruptly, due to a few "technical" issues, and even though we've returned to it after a few years, albeit only for a short time, the guys never replayed their characters. I like to think that Victus is still out there, making his way to the top, being a scumbag and doing his best to remain under the radar of both his enemies, as well as allies. He was certainly a memorable anti-hero, and one that Martin roleplayed exceptionally well.

2. Garvel Lug, the luckiest scum in the galaxy (played my Mark, rest in peace)

Switch that shotgun to autogun, and it's basically Garvel, in all his scummy glory!

You know, Mark always had a nack for playing scummy, good-for-nothing characters, but Garvel Lug was really something. A Void Born scum from the deepest pits of a huge, interstellar ship, he was playing by his own rules and took no shit from anybody - be they inquisitors, feral world barbarians, gangers of daemons of Chaos. His trusty Armageddon Pattern Autogun served him well, during his work for the Holy Ordos. Garvel had slain many witches, mutants and other heretical refuse with it, but he was also profficient in utilising heavier equipment, such as various heavy stubbers. To this day we remember fondly his trigger happy reaction when confronted with the animated suit of armor, which belonged to kidnapped Solomon Victus. The thing is, Garvel wasn't 100% sure that it was empty, as he unloaded an entire ammo belt from a heavy stubber into the thing.

Lug had lost his hearing early in the game, when a Slaught's energy weapon blew away both of his ears and horribly scarred his face. He didn't cared though, and after securing a set of basic auditory augmetics he continued his job of kicking ass and taking names. He had the luckiest rolls against corruption, mutations, illnesses and insanity. I swear to Throne, he almost never failed these, and the ones that he did fail, he simply re-rolled with Luck. His grim sense of humor, stoicisim in the face of overwhelming odds, and fondness for strong spirits, as well as cheap lho sticks, made him a truly unforgettable acolyte. He is still out there, travelling the galaxy with the rest of "Talon Company" and making the Emperor proud.

3. Ferrus Frag, a primarch-obsessed guardsman (played by... me!)

The closest represntation of Ferrus that I was able to find, but a very fitting one! (author unknown)

Yeah, believe it or not, I also RP'ed a Dark Heresy character once. Well, twice, but the second time was so bland and inconsequential that I even barely remember it. That said, my first foray in the Dark Millenium, as a player, was a truly memorable experience. I've rolled a vat-born guardsman from the Lathes, Calixis Sector's main industry centres. Everything about this character was based on random roll. His place of birth, his looks and his name - Ferrus Frag. I'm not even kidding. Add to the fact that he had silver eyes and jet-black hair, and you can probably guess why he got kinda obsessed with Ferrus Manus, primarch of the Xth Legion Astartes, the Iron Hands. From quoting him (actually all the quotes had been made on the fly), to inspiring others with speeches about the "primarch watching us", to gushing about the Iron Tenth, Ferrus was certainly a very enthusiastic and irritating character. 

Exactly how I wanted him to be.

Despite his disciplined and straight arrow approach to life (his ultimate goal was to join the Storm Trooper regiment), Ferrus was a useful addition to the "Talon Company". His Lathe background made him a tech-savy specialist, and he once saved another acolyte's life, by disarming a bomb, which attached itself to the poor man's hand. He was also the designated driver for the team, mastering all sorts of ground vehicles, and (if I recall correctly) he was even able to fly an atmospheric shuttle. Although take that last bit with a grain of salt. I did RP'ed that character back in 2013.

Ferrus' first engagement earned him a multi kill, when he threw a frag grenade (see what I did there?) inside an elevator, filled with murderous servitors. When the bloody thing hit the bootom of a hab complex, there was very little left of the rogue cyborgs. Unfortunately the long attrition and the demands of duty, surely took its toll on poor guardsman. He went insane and started believing that the primarch was really talking to him. The rest of his cell felt rather uneasy about this whole situation, but before anything could be done about this, we've switched from Dark Heresy to Hunter: The Recknoning. I've never RP'ed Ferrus after that. I still miss him, from time to time... especially since he managed to secure himself a sweet, sweet archeotech pistol at the very end of our game!

So there you have it, 3 memorable Dark Heresy characters from long, long time ago. Seriously, 2013 was 7 years ago, but sometimes I feel like it's still going on... Oh well, time's strange sometimes. You can't do anything about it. Anyway, I hope that you've liked these anti-heroes of the 41st Millenium, and who knows? Maybe in the future I will be able to write about even more, hapless acolytes of His Imperial Majesty's Holy Ordos? That would certainly be something, eh?

Next time, for my 151st post, I will once again switch game systems. This time to my second favorite one of all time, if not THE favorite (sorry WFRP). Those of you who've stuck with me for some time, probably know which game I am talking about. Until then, stay safe, and... happy hunting.

Inherit the Earth

Until next time!

Xathrodox86