1. Families

Interlocutor

IMCore Role

"Then by your own admission, you are guilty of heresy. I suggest you surrender. The alternative is far less pleasant for you."

— Inquisitor Horst, over dinner with the Imperial Governor of Cel

Interlocuters prefer to solve problems with words, not weapons. In the ultra-militarized Imperium, some soldiers and even planetary leaders see this as weakness. The wise, however, know that a cutting word can be as ruthless as any chainsword. Although violence is very often a necessity in the 41st millennium, it is not always the first or even the best option. Sometimes, even a band of stone cold killers needs to navigate the social web of the Imperium. Whether in the vaulted halls of power or the darkest corners of the criminal underworld, wherever words are needed, Interlocutors ply their trade.

The approaches of an Interlocuter are as varied as any fighter, from honeyed words to cruel threats, and occasionally simple honesty. Some Interlocuters focus their skills on a single approach, while others adapt as the situation warrants. Some act as ruthless interrogators, while others can extract pertinent information from a target without them even realising they are under investigation.

Interlocutors can open doors, sway minds, and even change the course of wars with their words. As with any tool, the trick is knowing which words and approaches to employ in a particular situation. Successful Interlocutors are adept at reading people. Words are often merely a façade, while the truth hides amongst the flicker of an eye, the twitch of a lip, or the subtle shift of an expression from genuine confidence to false bravado. Success requires not only gauging a counterpart’s reaction second-by-second, but picking up on any number of minor clues. The tomes in a noble’s study might show their personal or professional interests, or the cut of a garment give away the wearer’s hive of origin. These small details are powerful tools in the arsenal of an accomplished Interlocutor.

Interlocutors are not necessarily friendly or charming. Theirs are the skills of intimidation, ruthless negotiation, deception, and even brutal interrogation. In a party, the Interlocutor takes the lead in social engagements, or at least those falling within their strengths. Often, a discussion or negotiation can avoid combat — always a desirable outcome, except for characters eager to martyr themselves. Even in the din of combat, an Interlocutor’s words can be a powerful weapon, spurring an enemy's surrender, or at least, a mutual ceasefire.

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Abilities

Talents (A - B)

Air of Authority - IM Talents

Requirement: 2 Advances in Presence

You exude confidence and command, your mere presence influential to many. The first time you meet a group, you can make a Challenging (+0) Rapport Test. On a success, you gain +1 Influence with that group until the end of the mission.

Briber - IM Talents

Requirement: 2 Advances in Intuition (People)

You have a natural instinct for who can be paid off, and how to manipulate them with an appropriate ‘donation’ of Askels. You have Advantage on all Intuition (People) Tests to gauge whether someone would be amenable to a bribe. Additionally, you decrease the cost of any bribe by 10% for every Advance in Rapport (Haggle) you have.

Talents (C - D)

Dealmaker - IM Talents

Requirements: 1 Advance in both Intuition (People) and Rapport (Haggle).

You are skilled in trading and know how to close a deal. During a negotiation you can make an Intuition (People) Test. If you succeed you gain the benefit of one of the following effects:

  • You learn what the target would accept as a bribe, be it an object, specific information, or an amount of Askels. Not everyone can be bribed.
  • You decrease the cost of anything you buy from the target by 10%.
  • You increase the cost of anything you sell to the target by 10%.

Distracting - IM Talents

Regardless of your usual personality, you know how to be particularly vexing by interrupting people with disruptive, irritating, or offensive outbursts that are extremely effective distractions.

You can use this Talent once per encounter to interrupt another individual making a Test, imposing Disadvantage on their Test. In combat, this Talent is used as a Reaction.

If you purchase this Talent again, you can choose to gain one of the following:

  • Centre of Attention: When you are within Immediate range of an individual that isn’t your ally, you may choose to inflict Disadvantage on Tests that target makes which anyone other than you.
  • Stunning Interjection: Once per encounter when you use the Distraction Talent, your target is Stunned (Minor) until the end of their next Turn.

Talents (G - L)

Gallows Humour - IM Talents

Requirement: 2 Advances in Rapport (Charm)

You find humour in the darkest of places, and can use it to bolster the morale of your allies, keeping them alive in the direst of times. As an Action, you can use Rapport (Charm) to make a joke that can stabilise someone in a dire situation.

  • If your target is Fatigued, Frightened, or Stunned, you can make a Challenging (+0) Rapport (Charm) Test to remove the Condition.
  • If your target is Dying, you can make a Challenging (+0) Rapport (Charm) Test. If you succeed, your target does not die at the end of the round, and instead can survive for another 1 + SL rounds.

Gothic Gibberish - IM Talents

Requirement: 1 Advance in Linguistics

Gothic Gibberish is the appropriately verbose name given to the practice of talking rapidly and incessantly to confound a target by burying them beneath a deluge of obscure information.

You can use Gothic Gibberish by making a Rapport (Charm) Test opposed by the target’s Discipline (Composure). Your target must share at least one language with you, and neither of you can be in combat. If you win the Opposed Test, your target is Stunned for as long as you continue to spout nonsense. Creatures Stunned by your Gothic Gibberish may do nothing other than stare at you dumbfounded as they try to catch up with or understand what you are saying. They may attempt another Discipline (Composure) Test opposed by your Rapport (Charm) at the end of each of their Turns, or whenever the GM deems it fitting — even Gothic Gibberish can’t hold someone’s attention if a firefight breaks out nearby!

Lickspittle - IM Talents

You are a bootlicker, a brown-nose, a grovelling lackey and a sycophantic toady — but that almost always gets you what you want. You gain Advantage on any Test made to suck up to a superior.

Talents (M - R)

Overseer - IM Talents

Requirement: 2 Advances in Presence (Leadership)

You’re practiced in instructing others to work just as well as yourself. As an Action, you may make a Challenging (+0) Presence (Leadership) Test to aid an ally or subordinate. If you succeed, your target may use your Skill instead of their own for the next Test they make.

Unorganised

Awareness (PER) - IM Skills

Awareness measures a character’s ability to notice their surroundings with all of their senses. This includes recognising when things change, but also when things seem contextually out of place due to social and environmental factors. Characters who focus on Awareness diligently hone their senses, often noting subtle changes that seem trivial to the uninitiated. This can include changes in pressure, temperature, subtle aromas, and even the patterns of a location’s environmental noise.

Discipline (WIL) - IM Skills

Discipline is a measure of a character’s ability to stubbornly resist outside influences. This usually requires a high degree of self-control, particularly in stressful situations, and thus makes it a valuable tool in a person’s arsenal to protect them from the dangers of the darkness. The Daemon, the psyker, the Mutant, and the xenos all offer temptations of the mind, the spirit, and the flesh, and succumbing to any of these can lead to irredeemable levels of corruption. "The faithful must remain vigilant in their asceticism and self-control. Otherwise, even the slightest misstep toward comfort and complacency can grant a toehold to heresy".

Intuition (PER) - IM Skills

Intuition is the skill used when noting that something seems amiss with a person or place. It is used for reading social cues and body language, as well as noticing when the arrangement or the feel of a location is somehow wrong. Those trained at recognising when something is off can use the errant subtleties to discern something of what is actually going on. This skill covers detecting body language or similar patterns of behaviour. Examples include recognising social missteps or noting when the ceremonial murals have been hung incorrectly.

Linguistics (INT) - IM Skills

Linguistics measures the character’s ability to understand and translate written and spoken languages. Those who are more adept at this skill are more fluent in the languages they know and may also know a broader range of tongues. Individuals study languages, their history, and their tendencies toward drift. This improves their proficiency with the languages they use every day. It also helps them decipher localised changes and historic inconsistencies to reveal the author’s intent. That knowledge is critical for reconciling confusing missives and decoding complex cyphers. All citizens of the Imperium are automatically fluent in spoken Low Gothic.

Presence (WIL) - IM Skills

Presence measures a person’s ability to direct the actions of others or extract information from them, simply through their comportment. Posture, dress, and style of speech all contribute to success in such attempts. The mere clip of a Commissar’s boots is often enough to hush an entire barracks of Militarum troopers, while an icily delivered ultimatum may be all it takes for a seasoned Enforcer to disperse a crowd of desperate rioters. Ultimately, however, maintaining the correct bearing comes from practice, training, and familiarity with the subject.

Rapport (FEL) - IM Skills

Rapport measures a character’s knack for getting other people to do something they otherwise might not. Sometimes this requires promises of future favours—or at least the implication of them. In other cases, money or other assets may change hands. Typically, though, the negotiations become easier the more the subject of the persuasive efforts expects to benefit from the exchange. When the benefits become more one-sided, then negotiations can be far more challenging. Rapport allows characters to get away with doing what they want without resorting to threats. A Militarum trooper wheedling an extra power pack from the stores should know just how to ask the quartermaster to ignore the oversight, while an Ecclesiarchy Preacher would do well to learn exactly which of his congregations fears to play upon in order to whip them into a frenzy. In some cases words alone are not enough, and a handful of Askels or a promise of future aid must be supplied to seal the deal.