Recruitment!

[Kal'Shriek]

So...

 

 

how does the recruitment (or whatever) for the inquisition work?

Would, say, anyone worthy be chosen or are they handpicked at an early age to be trained?

 

 

Used search first but didnt find any good answers.. <_<

Been thinking of creating a daemonhunter army based on greyknights mostly but with an inquisitor.

 

thanks!

[Vindicatus]

Usual route : students are plucked from the Schola Progenium and taught more specific things relevent to their particular trade. Later on, they get tagged on to some low level duties, and ramp themselves up from Acolyte to Interrogator to fullblown Inquisitor.

 

Off-shoot route : Inquisitors are in constant need of people willing to serve in the name of the Emperor, particularly those that show aptitude for certain aspects of the trade. A particularly dutiful and cunning Arbites member might get tapped by the Inquisition after aiding in a raid or investigation, for example. He would tag along with the Inquisitor's retinue, and the Inquisitor would be able to keep an eye on him to see if he's worthy of the task. Then he'd likely be taught little things here and there, trusted with assignments in support of the Inquisitor, and eventually asked to officially become an Interrogator.

 

I'm sure it's a deal more complicated than that, in some cases, but that's the general quick-n'-dirty.

[Lord_Caerolion]

I know it sounds like a cop-out, but however the Inquisitor wants. Many would be recruited because they have the talent, directly from their previous work, so a good adept or enforcer would be "requisitioned" by the Inquisitor for an investigation, and if the Inquisitor was happy with their performance, they might be invited to stay. Some probably are raised from birth, but that would be by far one of the least common methods of recruitment.

[Kal'Shriek]

I see. That was almost as I thought.

 

But are they only picking enforcers or from the arbites?

För example would they pick soldiers from other parts of the imperial guard?

[Inquisitor Fox]

An Inquisitor will pick whomever they need from whereever they need, whenever they need them :rolleyes: The have the authority to steal anyone from any walk of life anywhere in the Imperium (up to and including Astartes.. though really they tend to ask, best to stay on good terms with the Astartes after all. The Astartes of course, have another view about this authority thus the difficulty).

 

They may well approach a Guard commander and say "I require a squad of your finest." Or they can take whatever psyker or astropath they need, tech priest, accountant, former whatever, etc. Really it's whatever route you can conceive.

 

Many Inquisitors themselves, by current lore, are chosen from the exceptionals brought in on the Black Ships. That's another common origin point.

[Luther - the fallen]

They may well approach a Guard commander and say "I require a squad of your finest." Or they can take whatever psyker or astropath they need, tech priest, accountant, former whatever, etc. Really it's whatever route you can conceive.

 

I might just have to make an accountant in my Inq. retinue after reading that. :P

 

as for recruitment, Inquisitors are often chosen from the unfortunate souls onboard the blackships, or simply stumbled upon during Inq. business.

 

Their retinues however are chosen for their skills in a particular field often eg. Death cult assassins or IG veterans for combat duty, sages due to their processing abilities (like in Eisenhorn where his sage was chosen by another Inq after being infected with a virus that forces him to store any and all knowledge he comes across). heck, some of the more radical Inq's might even clone specialists and train the clones from an early age to become the perfect [insert needed retinue member here]

 

that's my take on it anyway.

 

Luther.

[ItchiBuh]

I agree with most people here. Who ever the inquisition wants, the inquisition gets (within reason).

If you are looking for more specific details I can recommend the Role Playing Game called Dark heresy. In that game you play as an Inqusititors retinue, his acolyte. It has some background details.

 

Also, I recommend a serie of Black Library books, base on Dark heresy. You follow a group of acolytes and also get a bit of onformation about how some of them are recruited. Here is a link to the first book, called "Scourge the Heretic".

http://www.blacklibrary.com/all-products/S...he-Heretic.html

 

Kind regards,

Rune

[AlexHolker]

Who ever the inquisition wants, the inquisition gets (within reason).

"You there! I require the services of your establishment's finest bartender. No, you can't ask why, I'm an Inquisitor!"

[ItchiBuh]

Well, yes.

 

What I mean within reason is, that planetary governers, Commissars and Space Marines might not comply.

The first 2 might be go on trial for treason, but the Space Marines ... Well, they are different.

[The Holy Heretic]

I really doubt, the inquisition gets a lot of recruits from any form of armed forces, being trained as a killer rarely makes much of a people person :)

[Vindicatus]

Since when does surrounding a warehouse and lighting it on fire with a myriad of Chaos Cultists inside have anything to do with being a people person?

 

You're not there to play Dr. Feel-good, you're there to expunge the taint of the witch, the heretical, and the taint of Chaos. That means pointing fingers, kicking in doors, and damning entire city blocks to die in the fiery inferno of purgation.

 

I'd think that being trained to squeeze the trigger without the constraints of morals as much as it is confidence that this person NEEDS to die for the betterment of the Imperium would be a good thing.

[Kaled100]

The Thorian Sourcebook has a section on recruitment, as well as some other good material on the Inquisition. It's written by Gav Thorpe and is available free from the GW website;

http://www.games-workshop.com/gws/content/...amp;aId=4900004

[Chengar Qordath]

Since when does surrounding a warehouse and lighting it on fire with a myriad of Chaos Cultists inside have anything to do with being a people person?

 

You're not there to play Dr. Feel-good, you're there to expunge the taint of the witch, the heretical, and the taint of Chaos. That means pointing fingers, kicking in doors, and damning entire city blocks to die in the fiery inferno of purgation.

 

I'd think that being trained to squeeze the trigger without the constraints of morals as much as it is confidence that this person NEEDS to die for the betterment of the Imperium would be a good thing.

Have to agree there; every Inquisitor needs some reliable combat specialists. There are plenty of examples of Inquisitors even using mentally regressive mutants or drugged-up penal legionnaires in their retinues when they need some extra firepower, let alone properly trained and disciplined soldiers. Of course, while dumb muscle is very useful, such people would never make it past the rank of Acolyte in any sane Inquisitor's retinue. On the other hand, someone with a military background and a working brain could make a reasonably solid Inquisitor, but that's true of just about anyone in an Inquisitor's retinue.

 

I have to wonder where the idea that Inquisitors need to be good with people came from; most of our canonical examples, like Eisenhorn and Ravenor, tend to have slightly more tact than a sledgehammer to the face. Besides, if lack of interpersonal communication skills is really that big of an issue for an Inquisitor they can just have a member of their retinue who's in charge of handling that kind of thing.

[Vindicatus]

Or worse (better?), a psyker with a knack for illusionism. What better way to deal with the public eye than to make people think they're being treated to a kindly face and a few nice words?

 

I have to agree that yes, a certain amount of tact is necessary, but like mentioned above, inquisitors like Eisenhorn or Ravenor had no issues putting foot to ass for the sake of the Imperium when the need arose. (Less so in Ravenor's case; I don't know many floating wheelchairs with rotary boot attachments)

[Lord_Caerolion]

Well, yes.

 

What I mean within reason is, that planetary governers, Commissars and Space Marines might not comply.

The first 2 might be go on trial for treason, but the Space Marines ... Well, they are different.

 

Hell, even the first two can be recruited, although only with the Commissar is it easy to do so. Recruiting a Planetary Governor is technically possible (they are a member of the Imperium, after all), the only problem being the potentially devastating effects of suddenly removing a planetary governor, the accusations of Recongregationism (and possibly Istvaanianism) that would certainly follow, and the fact that any organisations who liked the governor being where he was are probably doing their best to make life difficult for the Inquisitor from now on.

 

Really, the only limits as to who an Inquisitor can "legally" recruit/requisition (because hey, they're the Inquisition, they don't ask for new members, they just take them) is that they cannot requisition the Adeptus Mechanicus or Adeptus Astartes, as these are both technically allied to the Imperium, not a direct part of it. They can still ask nicely for a Magos to assist their investigations, but they can't go to the nearest Forge World, point at a random Magos, and loudly declare "you are now working for me!"

[Stormshrug]

Who ever the inquisition wants, the inquisition gets (within reason).

"You there! I require the services of your establishment's finest bartender. No, you can't ask why, I'm an Inquisitor!"

 

One of the mystics accompanying an Inquisitor I field is modeled as a cook. No, he was definitely drafted for his "latent psychic potential," and not his excellent soups.

 

-Stormshrug

[The Holy Heretic]

If an inquisitors only skill is to charge in and yell:"Burn The heretic!", he'll have a lot of trouble finding the heretic in The first place, for that he'll need people skills. He'll also need them to recruit his agents/retinue to make sure his candidates have what it takes.

 

There are no shortage of dumb brutes and fanatical zealots in the 40k universe, PDFs, marines etc. So why would you want an inquisitor to be just like these? Instead you'll need a man that understand humans and their treacherous nature - and who can then call in the dumb brutes, when they're needed :)

[Kal'Shriek]

Lots of answers here! ^_^

 

Seems like it's allright to field an inquisitor based on an imperial guard commissar then!

Personally I think they make a perfect base for any inquisitor, both the models and

their role!

 

 

Thanks!

[Lord_Caerolion]

Oh, definitely. Dark Heresy even has rules to have your character as a sort of Commissar.

[Eremiel]

In my DH game, most of the players came in "through the usual channels". Arbitrator and guardsman were requisitioned based on skill sets. Psyker was "saved" from serving as the appetizer for the Throne (possibly to face an even more horrid end later...), cleric was pulled from the Ecclesiarchy based on skills. And in a Crowning Moment of Awesome, our one and only scum player was brought into the group using the scene from Escape from New York. Up to and including the injection of "nano-bombs" that can be set off by the party leader. Good times.

[Guest Cate]

After read loads of Black Library books and been GM for a couple of Dark Heresy campaigns I am pretty sure that a Inquisitor can point at someone and say "Join my group or meet the emperor at his throne", there are exceptions to this. He would have to negotiate for some people and maybe write contracts for loan of others, I am thinking of the Navigators and Mechanicus, both groups stands a bit outside the usual Imperial society, they probably wouldn't downright refuse, but there would be a mutual understanding that they are on a loan from their respective organisations. Space Marines are not ideal people to become a acolytes for the inquisition, they are soldiers used to work in groups with other Space Marines, they are not the sort of people who are unnoticeable for undercover work, Space Marines are on the other hand tied to the inquisition by oaths and mutual agreements with individual Inquisitors or by being a part of the Deathwatch which is a part of the Ordo Xenos. The Grey knights are Ordo Malleus personal guards, but they would never work individually for one specific Inquisitor as an acolyte.

Several Sister of Battle have become acolytes for Inquisitors, but not the Sisters we think of mostly, the ones in power armour wielding bolters, the ones who join are either novice sisters with special talents which the Inquisitor needs, or from the dialogous and hospitaller parts of the sisterhood.

 

This is spoilers from several BL books, Cain, Eisenhorn, Scourge of the Heretic and Innocence proves nothing.

 

Inquisitors snatch people from the guard as they see fit, in the Scourge of the heretic two guardsmen becomes acolytes, other people in that group are arbite, redemptionist assassin. psykers and mechanicus, another inquisitor in that book have a burglar as an acolyte. In the Chiapas Cain books Amberley Vail, Ordo Xenos, have a couple of different personalities as acolytes, a penal legionar and a fruit vendor comes to mind. She wasnt that interested in a blank guardsman as she saw him fit to be an acolyte for the Ordo Hereticus, she didn't alert the hereticus about him, but anyhow she could have snatched him if she wanted. Eisenhorn, Ordo hereticus, have a large cadre of acolytes one of them starts out as a joy girl.

 

 

The acolytes an Inquisitors want are from all parts of the Imperium, but all have special talents, guardsmen who survived battles with daemons or large groups of chaos cultist and didn't wet their pants, psykers, assassins, street brawlers, administratum personnel with perfect memory, linguists, medical personnel, pilots, charismatic priests and so on. Inquisitors would probably shun away from famous people who have a hard time to blend in to crowds. Governors, famous military personnel, cardinals, rogue traders or cultural famous people. The Inquisitors power is tremendous as they can force military commanders to help them out and even petition to Space Marine commanders to attack certain targets or planets. Few people living inside the normal Imperial fold wouldn't dare to refuse an Inquisitor, after all they have the power to order the destruction of planets, or so the normal Imperial citizen believe.

[Chengar Qordath]

Nice post Cate; the only thing that isn't spot on is that not all acolytes need to be suited to undercover work. For that matter, there are plenty of Inquisitors who use different methods than Eisenhorn's style of sneaky undercover work. Sometimes the right tool for the job is a blunt object you can use to repeatedly smash heretics until they're all gone.

[Guest Cate]

You are right about that, not everyone is suited for undercover work, thinking of Amberleys psyker for one, completely bonkers psykers are not the most perfect sneakers. Radiclas with their daemonhosts and mutants also comes into mind. But a Space Marine would be so special as an acolyte and strange I wouldn't imagine it happen, but never say never, there are some strange stuff in the 40k universe. ;)

 

Sure there are high profile persons in a Inquisitor, but they are probably more like contacts that the Inquisitors can use from time to time, a cardinal who send Missionaries to a special planets, Rogue traders who ferries other acolytes in secret, Governors who house the acolytes and gives them alibis at special occasions and famous people who hide the Inquisitor in their entourages. Seeing these person on the battlefields would be kind of strange, except for the rogue trader, but a RT would probably be considered a special character with his own retinue in a 40k game.