an idea on recruitment

[*Furyou Miko]

So, I had this thought the other day. We know that Marines progress logically through Scout - Devastator - tac/assault - stern/van - termie with individuals being split off for specialist (eg tech, pilot) training when they show talent... so, how do Sisters advance?

 

Seraphim are special snowflakes. But how do they decide who goes into the retributors, dominions, celestians?

 

I think that maybe during basic training, they identify which novices show aptitude for certain combat styles. Those who are skilled at finding chinks in enemy armour become Retributors (hence Rending), those who favour aggressive tactics and pay little attention to ammunition expenditure become Dominions (Scout and Twin-linked), those skilled with a blade are Celestians (2 attacks and Strength bonusses) and those who show calm under pressure and patience become Line Sisters (fearless and preferred enemy).

 

I suspect that Battle Sister squads also contain those picked out for leadership/officer training, providing the main pool of recruits for Sisters Superior. It makes sense to put those with a calm, steady hand in charge of the more unruly or specialised Sisters.

[CaptainHelion]

I always figured that standard Line Battle Sisters were the first stop after training. Any Sister that showed any special proclivity for particular tactics or weaponry usage would be transferred into the appropriate squad somewhere along the line. Although, I must say, I've never really given it much thought.

[Fibonacci]

There is this: http://wh40k.lexicanum.com/wiki/Adepta_Sororitas#Ranks_and_Positions

 

So --

Ballte Sister

Retributor

Dominion

Seraphim

Celestian

Sister Superior

Palatine

Canoness Comander

Canoness Preceptor

Canoness Superior

Prioress

Abbess of the Adepta Sororitas

 

I'm not sure how acurate it is or what it is based on.

[*Furyou Miko]

Ballte sister? Is that a curry?

[Fibonacci]

lol

 

No, that's my blood sugar getting to high and I fumble my Dex rolls ...

[SinnerBeta]

A rough draft skipping sub-ranks for now:

 

Novice - just got into the Order, trains in flak armor (to get used to wearing armor), lasguns (to learn about the most common weapon in Imperium just in case) and various autoguns (to learn about recoil). Advances to Battle Sister.

Battle Sister - usually early twenties, completed her training and fights under Sister Superior.

 

Now we develop the concept of Trinity: a Sister must posses Zeal, Wisdom and Faith, each represented by one of the Trinity of Holy Weapons. Depending where you excel you either become (from the most common to rarest):

Dominion (you must be swift and always ready to hunt - Zeal)

Retributor (you must have patience and strategic mind - Wisdom)

Seraphim (you must be pure as if blessed by the Emperor himself - Faith)

 

After many years of service you can become a Sister Superior, leading a squad of either Battle Sisters or Dominions/Retributors/Seraphims (depending on whom you were earlier).

 

Becoming a Celestial not only would require you to MANY years of service, but also exceeding in all three area and some more stuff.

[*Furyou Miko]

I like Sinner's idea - I think that the list from the Wiki is just someone's personal opinion, I certainly don't remember any sources.

 

Since posting that this morning, I have remembered that Celestians were portrayed as Veterans in Faith and Fire - get enough beads on your rosary and you become a Celestian - but then, each bead represents a deployment and that book also had Miriya getting demoted by being stripped of her rosary (discounting all her previous deployments?)

[Hanska]

No, no, no... do NOT mix rules and fluff.

That said how are, let's say, dominions chosen? If we belive codex:WH all sisters with special weapons are called dominions, some squads meant for fast deployment just have more of them.

My theory is that it goes the same way as it goes in modern armed forces. Basic training includes training with special and heavy weapons and those who seem to excel with a particular weapon gets chosen.

[Fibonacci]

I like Sinner's idea - I think that the list from the Wiki is just someone's personal opinion, I certainly don't remember any sources.

 

Since posting that this morning, I have remembered that Celestians were portrayed as Veterans in Faith and Fire - get enough beads on your rosary and you become a Celestian - but then, each bead represents a deployment and that book also had Miriya getting demoted by being stripped of her rosary (discounting all her previous deployments?)

IIRC, and Ihave a memory leak worse than anything Microsoft ever put out, in those books any special weapon sister was a Dominion.  So a normal squad would be lead by a Celestian, be supported by a Dominion and a Retributor then filled with 7 Battle Sisters.

 

Then going to game terms, a Dominion Squad is a squad with several special weapons.  Same with Retributors.

 

I don't think James ever touched on Seraphim in those books.  Sister Stern was a Seraphim (or shouldn't that be a seraph?  not sure how GW uses the words) but other than her Canoness coming to claim the body there is no real mention of where she fits in the orginization.  I can see where there is some rank involved in all this but I think for the most part, they are roles.  Skipping back into the moderen day, there is no reg saying that a lance corpral has to be the one carrying the SAW but more often than not, he will be.  But then not every LC will have a SAW and not every SAW will be carried by an LC.  So a typical Dominion Sister could rank anywhere between a PFC and a buck Sgt inclusively but she will at least be a trained more than a Battle Sister with some expierence.

 

I like Sinner's idea.  That could fit with a Order's story nicely.

[RolandTHTG]

Using the FFG sisters info (from Inquisitor's Handbook and Blood of Martyrs) the experence levels of a sister don't differentiate between regular Battle Sisters, Retributors, and Dominions. Seraphim are those specially selected for their faith and valor, though they eventually get rotated back into regular units (though it is implied that they are then likely squad leaders or being directly trained for that.)
Celestians seem to be a special sort of veteran, one driven by faith in the emperor and hated towards his foes, even more than a normal battle sister. The regular honor them equal to Palatines, and it is often from their ranks that future Superiors/Covenant leaders are drawn.

 

FFg also says the Rosary/Chaplet (the official name) has a bead for each act of penance (or one per ten for more experiences sisters, up to apparently 1 bead for every thousand acts). The beads are of course adamantine, so that they are not lost in battle or otherwise destroyed.

[*Furyou Miko]

Wyrm - the rosary is the string of beads, the chaplet is the icon that hangs from them.

 

Also, that's part of why I don't like the FFG Sisters fluff. >< It makes light of their combat experience by changing the decoration from measuring combat experience to measuring the number of times they fethed up, and it turns Faith into some kind of weird space magic.

[RolandTHTG]

Huh, Inq Handbook refers to the Chaplet as an Icon-amulet (so the icon + mounting) while BoM's fluff paragraph talks all about the beads, and doesn't mention the Icon.

While I agree that the beads feel better as a combat counter instead of a sin counter, I actually like the Faith mechanics (at least the Inq Handbook version) It runs much different than psychic powers and feels more like something that is faith-based instead of from the warp.

[mince on toast]

battle sister first under the instruction of a superior who guides them in everything from prayer to war

then split into

-dom or retributer depending on personal skills

seraphim in the books or fluff seem to be elevated to a level close to the celestians but are also a specialist unit

game wise they seem to have it all which is strange

i always thought celestians were the personal guard of the cannoness and ranked higher by virtue of their faith and battle skills

having to work there way through the ranks which means from the front alongside the cannoness.

they always seem to be in the sister superior/matron type role none of which shows in their rules

repentia are outside the chain until redemption is earned

[*Furyou Miko]

Mince - the weird dichotomy between Celestians and Seraphim is because when the codex was first released, the rule was that Seraphim taken as a bodyguard for a Canoness could swap their jump packs and bolt pistols for a bolter and bolt pistol if she didn't have a Jump Pack. In the 3e codex, they split them off into a separate unit, Celestians, who have struggled to find their place in the codex ever since.

[Hanska]

Mince - the weird dichotomy between Celestians and Seraphim is because when the codex was first released, the rule was that Seraphim taken as a bodyguard for a Canoness could swap their jump packs and bolt pistols for a bolter and bolt pistol if she didn't have a Jump Pack. In the 3e codex, they split them off into a separate unit, Celestians, who have struggled to find their place in the codex ever since.

Actually the bodyguard seraphim had bolters they could swap for jump packs and bolt pistols.

[*Furyou Miko]

Yeah, I'm going to put that speech to my down impediment.

 

>> Other way round.