# Black Crusade - Renegade.



## Traitor Guard (Feb 4, 2013)

Hey all,

Before I begin I first like to apologise if this is in the wrong subforum.

I have recently started playing Black Crusade, and this would be my first experience of RPing, and would like to make a Renegade.
I have a story I would like to use and base my character around but I have a few questions.

First and foremost is; What is the advantage of the Renegade? Chosen have the astartes armour and all the upgrades that come with being an astartes. Psykers are psykers. Apostates are master-manipulators... but what does Renegade have going for it.
I will confess ignorance and admit to not having read the rulebook cover to cover, I'm working on it but it's a big book.:read:

My other question is more related to tailoring my character around my character idea and it still being useful. For a little spoiler, without giving too much away, this guards(wo)man has been corrupted by a psyker who, among other things, showed her glimpses of her future that have been seared into her memory. This allows her to tell when certain things would happen, like one of the glimpses showed her being ambushed by orks, so when that comes to pass she notices the details before the fact and is prepared. This I would show with high perception and agility... does that sound right?

And one more "broad" question; Is there an advantage to not taking additional weapons/wargear/equipment etc. For instance if I was to just stick with Renegade default gear... do I get brownie points or some-such to get more talents/traits... or, you know, anything else? 

These are probably really stupid questions but hey...

Thanks.
a humble traitor.


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## Jack Jack (Nov 16, 2008)

The first advantage of the Renegade over the Chosen is that the Renegade is human and not a legionnaire. Although it may sound like a disadvantage, as legionnaires have much better raw stats, start with an impressive array of bionics and traits and can carry over 400 kg of loot, humans are simply more likely to sneak unnoticed into imperial territory, where they can spread havoc, madness and corruption *from within*. Among humans, then, the Renegade is the most likely to go on undetected for decades, mainly due to it's insignificance in imperial society. Also, the renegade is the second best human fighter there is, which is unfortunately not saying a lot, and he was clearly designed to be the first. It's just your bad luck that Mechadendrites-type weapon bionics are just that good, and those are restricted to a single archetype.



( This means the best human warrior archetype is the Heretek, who can most notably gain points in his machine trait at will with a rare acquisition, and can also start the game with two badass combat good-craftsmanship bionics of the player's choice, I recommend two servo-arms, which deals as much damage as a legionnaire melee weapon and give the heretic the multiple arms trait, so use your starting xp to get two-weapon fighting and swift attack and you can attack multiple times with your servo arm AND the weapons in your normal hands. Then, use the rules for trading on your first acquisition to trade your carapace armour for a terminator armour and you're ready to take on and fell a hated Grey Knight in close combat - I may add that, as the GM of my playing group, I find this seems perfectly legit) 


If you want your renegade to work in battle, you need to decide from the start if he is gonna excel in ranged or close combat fighting. This is important because your adroit special ability gives you an additional degree of success on the characteristic test of your choice, and you want that to be either ballistic skill or weapon skill. Personnally, I would chose ballistic skill, because once your character acquires a Terminator armor, the rules says that he can uses even heavy weapons with one hand, and any one-handed ranged weapon may be used to make attacks in close combat. Also, you can use trading rules to lower the acquisition modifier of a terminator armour to + 0, making it eligible as a starting acquisition choice, trading useless stuff like your starting best-craftmanship laspîstol and your starting carapace armour, both of which are entirely useless once you don the terminator armour.

Unless you want to play to the strenghts of the human side of your renegade : stealth, infiltration and deception. That's the other way to build your character and it will require and entirely other approach. You may want to invest in a concealable force field instead of armour, concentrate on powerful single-shot pistols for close assassinations, or a long-las to make for a surprisingly deadly sniper. Again, remember that, as a human, you are not as versatile as a Legionnaire, you must chose a single way to kill and rally support in the name of the dark gods and stick to that. If sticking to a single set of skills is not your cup of tea, or if you want more honest open warfare, I recommend you take a legionnaire instead.

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I can help you more if you give me feedback on how _you_ want to play your character.

But, roleplaying is much more about collective storytelling than it is about stat blocks and rolling dices. What you really need to worry about is ask your game master what are gonna be the themes of the story, and how can you make your character fit into that.


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## Traitor Guard (Feb 4, 2013)

Ah, thanks, that cleared up my confussion about the Renegade nicely. 

To give an indication as to how I want my character to play, I'll give a bit of the backstory I've been working on away.

The character I'd like to make is a female member of the Imperial Guard. Now, during one of the many "glorious" missions her and her regiment were sent on she came into contact with, and was subsequently corrupted by, a psyker.

The psyker corrupted her for a reason, saying that she had been chosen. Showing her glimpses of her potential future if she shed the weight of the Imperium, the Renegade gained a unique insight into her future allowing her to, on occassion, recognise a situation before it developed.

The psyker then accepted her fate and the renegade shot her, fulfilling the psykers promise to Slaanesh.

The renegade then returns to her regiment to sew corruption among it's ranks.

So, TL;DR I would like a traitor Imperial guard, with a focus on Ballistic Skill, Perception and Manipulation. But I would like her to use IG equipment. So carapace armour, las-weapons or auto-weapons, chainswords etc. I don't mind upgrades, and any advice is welcome, but terminator armour isn't exactly inconspicuous. :grin:

I understand this character would be more useful in infiltration scenarios but I have a Nurgle aligned Heavy Bolter wielding Chosen for all out combat, so I'm fine with that.

How does that sound, I'm really new to this and I'd like to make this character but I'd like her to be useful too.

Thanks.
a humble traitor.


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## Jack Jack (Nov 16, 2008)

Imperial guard use flak armour, not carapace. Unless she comes from a storm trooper regiment, in which case you may ask your GM permission to have a hellgun instead of a boltgun in your starting equipment, because those are standard issued in stormtrooper regiment.

And really don't leave home without a good-craftsmanship force field.


Next, you need to fill out your character's motivations. Did she shed the burden of the imperium solely out of self-preservation ? I ask because storm troopers are typically very dutiful and would rather die than be traitors.

The Renegade archetype is all about revenge. To a renegade, the crusade is personal. Maybe she knows of a powerful Imperial official who betrayed her or her kin and she wants to see all of that nobles works to crumble to dust as she dances naked on the ashes of his charred-down body. 
Madness is also part of any black crusade character (hence why they are not affected by insanity points : they're all aldready insane!) so you might be interested in thinking about how that madness manifests. Are her premonitions about her possible future real, or are they mere lies and illusions ? Or perhaps are they the confusing manifestations of a slaneeshi love-poison slowly corroding her mind and her senses for a dark and sinister purpose ? Will it all be for the good or for the ill of your character ? Where chaos is involved, nothing is certain.

Work hard on your character motivations in order to "get" her. Why is your character sowing corruption, why does she does that ? Why why why why. If you haven't figured it out, why is the most important thing you can ask about your character. Write out the answer, read them to your GM and fellow players and see how that sounds. 

Let me tell you a story about one of our play experience : once, we played a medieval game set in our interpretation of Mount and Blade's Caldradia. 

The full recalling is here, but the important part follows un-hidden. 



We spent the first session planning, as a group, the whole campaign in advance, where one of the characters would be a prince claimant to the throne and how the other characters would be his companions, one had the money, another one had the army, and a last one was a deceitful liar. We then established that the Noble with the army was in fact a gambler, and in much debts, and that he was following the prince in the hopes of getting a reward that would clear his debts, the rich merchant was also a gnostic - a historical heresy - that wanted the kingdom burnt to the ground in vengeance to the church, he supported the princes' claim because he felt the prince's extraordinary incompetence at ruling could accomplish just that. The last one was in fact a foreign (Rhodok) spy attending the court of the current king and he supposed that the princes incompetence would he get to the throne would create such political turmoil in the kingdom that a glorious republic like that of his own nation could emerge. Also the prince himself only wanted the throne in order to marry his cousin, because we made our fictionnal kingdom a matrilineal patriarchy : you get to a social position by marrying the daughter of the wife of the guy who had it before you, but it's the man who actually exercise said position. So the overarching goal of the campaign is to have the Pope pronounce the marriage of the prince and his cousin. 
Then we divided the play in five arcs, each focusing one one of the characters gifts and his flaws. The first arc was about the prince rallying support with his charisma and luring traitors with his guilliblity. The second was about the merchant using his money to bribe his agent in positions of power within the court of the current king, while planting an heretic or two which, if discovered, who make the church, herm, "reluctant" in pronouncing an eventual royal marriage for fear of condoning heresy. The third act was about secession and warfare, with the Noble getting glorious victory with his armies and his skill at using the confusion among the loyalist rank in the second act. It was also at this stage that the extent of his gambling became apparent, culminating in the group failing to pay their soldiers and the mercenaries "taking pay from the land" before disbanding. In the fourth act, the spy would reveal it's true allegiance to the other characters, and inform them that his sponsor had gratiously offered funds for the rest of the campaign, that where put to good use and eventually won them the war. At the end of this act, the spy character was to be murdered by the noble character in order to prevent a foreign country from infeodating the whole kingdom. Althought legally dubious, the nature of the spy's work would turn out to make it impossible for the foreign ruler to back up his claim with evidence. The fifth act had the characters successfull in their rebellion and further turning on each other as their agendas started to diverge.



The important part is that it was all decided with the group, in the first session. It made all the players very engaged in the story, and, althought there were not any spoilers, it gave a real feeling to the players that their characters were part of the world created by the GM, something more than I have ever been able to replicate since even by using the established canon of 40K. It was genuine roleplay. It was awesome. 

So suggest you take a minute to talk to your GM and your group how each characters fit, not in the campaign, but in the story.

Hope your experience will be enjoyable.


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## Traitor Guard (Feb 4, 2013)

The "plan" was that she was enticed to shed the Imperium for not only self-preservation but also she is shown by the psyker, wether true or not, her fate if she remains part of the Imperium.
She sees her regiment deployed to defend against impossible odds whilst citizens are evacuated, the mission is folly as no evac ships arrive nor any reinforcements. She has to bear witness to her entire regiment being wiped out due to failings in the Imperium.

Her motives are two-fold;
1. Simple revenge against the Imperium that has failed her time and time again. The Imperium that demands the lives of herself and her comrades for nothing in return. They are bounced from one warzone to another with no time to consolidate their losses or recover. She wants revenge for being seen as nothing but ammunition for the Imperium to waste at will. But if it had to focus around any one person, it would be the Warmaster of the Achilus Crusade, the one who deems her expendable.
2. Plain, unadulterated, selfish hedonsim. A desire for all the things Slaanesh can offer that the Imperium denies.

Her premonitions are truthful and they benefit her greatly. Or she believes they have all been truthful but seeing as she has murdered someone because of what she believed they would do, there is no guarantee that all of the premonitions have been accurate. :spiteful:

Oh and I said carapace armour because that's what the Renegade starts with anyway. :dunno:

I appeciate the help, all a bit confusing at present.
a humble traitor.


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