Dark Heresy Traits and Passions

TRAITS AND PASSIONS

A FRAMEWORK FOR GUIDING CHARACTER

PERSONALITIES IN THE 41ST MILLENNIUM

IMPERIUM OF MAN

UNOFFICIAL SUPPLEMENT FOR DARK

HERESY

PRODUCED FOR DARK REIGN BY

LUDDITE

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Disclaimer: The following rules are

based on those written by Greg

Stafford for the Pendragon RPG, and

badly and shamelessly adapted for

use with the Dark Heresy

Roleplaying Game.

Dark Heresy, like all roleplaying games,

should be about character, personality

and story. Every character should be

defined by both their deeds and their

feelings. No great character in

roleplaying should be a ‘cardboard cut

out’; a mere two dimensional set of

numbers on a character sheet. Most

players aren’t actors and roleplaying a

character consistently is demanding and

difficult, even for veteran players.

Personality in real life is expressed

through a series of traits, and these

rules attempt to replicate such traits in

order to help the player understand

their character, the setting they are

living within, and to provide a consistent

set of guidelines to help the

representation of a character that might

be quite different from the player.

Traits and passions are used to quantify

a character’s typical behaviour. They

are used to make roleplaying easier by

providing guidelines on how the

character has acted, acts, and is likely to

continue to act. Numerical values are

assigned to and dice rolls made against

them to help the player understand their

character and represent them

consistently.

Why do you need

traits and passions? You don’t.

Many players are happy to play their

character according to their own

definitions, preferring to make and

enforce their own perception of how their

character will act.

This system is offered for those players

that need or want to provide themselves

a guidance framework for playing the

character, and provides the following

benefits.

Reputation Keeping track of a character’s

‘reputation’ becomes easier. Are they

know as good, bad, or simply ‘colourful’.

This becomes easier to assess.

Entertainment The interaction of various character

traits and the interplay between

characters with different personalities

can provide a great deal of fun. Often,

for the sake of ‘game harmony’, players

will abandon or compromise their

character concept. Quantifying the

character provides a more structured

and entertaining way to try and resolve

these conflicts ‘in character’. By

quantifying the various aspects of a

character, internal conflicts become

great fun as the player wrestles with

conflicting parts of the character’s

personality. Lastly, traits and passions

can have a direct effect on the game as

the character is able to use them for

inspiration to achieve great tasks or

perform memorable deeds.

Accuracy Even the best roleplayers will find it

difficult to sustain a character over time.

By quantifying the various aspects of a

character’s personality, It is easy to

remember or refer to a consistent model

of that character’s past and potential

behaviour. Also, the numbers will

change over time, reflecting accurately

how the character changes in response

to his experiences and adventures.

Authenticity Dark Heresy is a roleplaying game

dealing with stories of the Acolytes of

the Inquisition. The game takes place in

the Imperium of the 41st Millennium, in

an age of grim darkness, perpetual war

and of horror and terror that lurks at

every turn. Individualism, democracy,

freedom and justice are seditious

concepts. Merciless brutality and

callous authoritarianism is the norm. A

player controls the actions of characters

that are likely to be very different from

them, and are expected to act

appropriately to their station; but how

can the player know what is appropriate

and correct? Traits and passions

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provide an effective method of

determining what is appropriate and

correct within the setting of the

Imperium. Of course you may play a

radical character that bucks those

trends, but at least you have a clear idea

as what constitutes those trends in the

first place!

Of course the use or otherwise of traits

and passions is entirely optional, but

players may find the benefits of using

them to be worth the effort.

Traits Every character has a series of

personality traits that are paired

and opposite.

Chaste / Lustful

Energetic / Lazy

Forgiving / Vengeful

Generous / Selfish

Honest / Deceitful

Just / Arbitrary

Merciful / Cruel

Modest / Proud

Pious / Wordly

Prudent / Reckless

Temperate / Indulgent

Trusting / Suspicious

Valorous / Cowardly

Chaste / Lustful Chaste characters are in control of

their libido, maintain monogamous

relationships, and refrain from crude

or bawdy behaviour. Highly chaste

people are probably celibate. Lustful

characters engage in intercourse

with many partners. Highly lustful

people are lewd and bawdy, given to

frequent profanity.

Energetic / Lazy Energetic characters are driven and

industrious, well able to motivate

themselves and to work on through

adversity and fatigue. Lazy

characters are inactive, sedentary

and indolent.

Forgiving / Vengeful Forgiving characters are willing to

overlook real or imagined insults and

injuries, whereas vengeful

characters are likely to seek

restitution or revenge at every

opportunity. Highly forgiving

characters are humble, gentle, kind,

and ‘meek’. Highly vengeful

characters are often oversensitive,

vindictive and spiteful, seeing

insults in the least slights, or even

where no insult occurred.

Generous / Selfish Generous characters are liberal in

giving or sharing and free from

meanness or smallness of mind or

character. Selfish characters care

only for themselves and are

concerned primarily with their own

interests, benefits, and welfare,

regardless of others.

Honest / Deceitful Honest characters are genuine,

truthful and sincere in themselves

and their dealings with others.

Honest characters tend to inspire

trust in others as their word is

trustworthy. Deceitful characters

are false, fraudulent, insincere,

tricky liars, and otherwise unworthy

of trust.

Just / Arbitrary Just characters are guided by truth,

reason, justice, and fairness. Often

upholders of the law, they prefer an

accord with what is right and proper,

and will stand against unjust laws or

situations. Arbitrary characters are

guided by chance, whim, or impulse,

and not by necessity, reason, or

principle. They consider their

individual judgment more important

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than any exterior concept of what is

right and are unconcerned with

fairness or the process of law.

Merciful / Cruel Merciful characters are kind,

clement, lenient, benignant, tender,

and sympathetic. Merciful

characters are likely to show

compassion and give succour to

others. Cruel characters are severe,

pitiless and ruthless to others. Often

cruel characters enjoy inflicting

physical or emotional pain.

Modest / Proud Modest characters are moderate or

humble concerning their own merits

or importance. They are free from

vanity, egotism, boastfulness, or

great pretensions, and are not

ostentatious or showy. Modest

characters also pay due regard to

decencies of behaviour, speech, and

dress. Proud characters have and

show a high opinion of their own

dignity, importance, or superiority.

Highly proud characters can be

arrogant.

Pious / Worldly Pious characters maintain a concern

for spiritual reverence, either

expressed as religious devotion to

one or more gods, or simply as a

concern for the higher virtues. Pious

characters care little for physical

possessions or wealth, seeing little

value in it. Worldly characters are

secular and mundane, maintaining

more concern for the physical

pleasures and delights. Worldly

characters see great value in

physical possessions and wealth.

Prudent / Reckless Prudent characters are wise,

exercising good judgment or common

sense. They are careful in regard to

their own interests and conduct, and

are concerned with consequences of

their decisions. Reckless characters

are rash, heedless and incautious,

often exercising poor judgement.

They are careless and unconcerned

with the consequences of their

decisions.

Temperate / Indulgent Temperate characters are moderate

or self-restrained in opinion,

statement, and action. They rarely

indulge their appetites and are not

excessive in consumption. Indulgent

characters lack self restraint and

frequently sate their appetites and

desires.

Trusting / Suspicious Trusting characters are inclined to

believe others without doubt, and to

be innocent or naïve. Trusting

characters assume the reliability of

others. Suspicious characters are

dubious, doubtful and wary of

others, inclined to assume the

unreliability of others.

Valorous / Cowardly Valorous characters are courageous,

valiant and brave and self-confident

in the face of adversity, fear or

danger. Cowardly characters are

craven, timid, unconfident and at the

mercy of their fears.

Generating traits Each trait pair adds up to a total

100%.

Trait values can be generated as

follows, depending on how stable you

want your character’s personality to

be!

Stable character This method is best used for younger

characters that have yet to have

their personality formed by

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experience, or if you are unsure what

you want your character to be.

Each trait is valued at 50%. You

may choose up to three trait pairs

and change them to 80%/20% (or

20%/80%) representing traits the

character is well known for.

E.g. Player Hazel is creating a character

(Angelique) and decides she wants her to be a

young idealist and innocent, just starting out

in the world. She assigns 50% to all her

traits. However Hazel sees her character as

being a real ‘go-getter’ and so changes

energetic to 80% (making Lazy 20%). She

also wants Angelique to be feisty and

headstrong and so also chooses to make

Reckless and Valorous 80% (making Prudent

and Cowardly 20%). These traits are going to

get her into a lot of trouble!

Unstable character This method is best used if you want

a character with a lot of life

experience, or that is ‘damaged’ by

their past!

To generate each trait, roll % dice

and apply the value to the left-hand

trait. The opposing trait is assigned

a value that takes the total of the

paired traits to 100%

The player may adjust up to three

traits by ±10, but no trait can be

taken above 80% by the modification.

E.g. Player Bob is creating a character (Hans)

and decides he wants him to be a hardened

veteran, a graduate of the ‘school of hard

knocks’. He starts with the Chaste / Lustful

values. He rolls % dice and scores 47. So

Hans has Chaste 47% / Lustful 53%, not

particularly notable. He then generates the

Energetic / Lazy values, scoring 17. So Hans

has Energetic 17% / Lazy 83%. Hans is a

work-shy layabout who is always late for

work! As it is over 80%, this laziness will be

well known to his friends. Bob carries

generating the rest of his traits.

Note that any trait valued at 80% or

more is ‘famous’. Anyone who knows

the character will describe that trait

about him.

Using traits Traits are not binding. They

represent the character’s tendencies

to certain behaviour but in no way

bind the player to enacting those

traits. Traits can be used to inform

behaviour, but equally behaviour can

be used to inform traits.

Traits aid in role playing

and decision making Traits can be used in situations

where the player is unsure how the

character will act. Simply roll a %

dice against the relevant trait and if

successful, act generally in

accordance with that trait.

E.g. Hans has Temperate 46% / Indulgent

54%. He’s working a case on Iocanthus and

has dropped into a local bar to unwind. A

local birthday celebration is underway and

all are invited to join. Unsure whether he’d

like to get involved Bob (the player) rolls

against Hans’ Indulgent 54%, succeeds with a

roll of 34%. Hans takes up a jug of ale and

wakes up late next morning with a roaring

hangover.

E.g. Angelique has Just 50% / Arbitrary

50%. She has cornered a local murderous

villain and forced him to surrender. The

villain offers to give Angelique 100 Thrones to

let him go rather than turn him in to the

provost. Hazel (the player) is unsure what to

do so rolls against Angelique’s Just, scoring a

fail with 68%. Angelique pockets the 100

Thrones and lets the villain go.

Traits can also be used to help a

player resolve an internal conflict.

Simply choose two or more relevant

traits and roll a % dice against each.

The trait that succeeds with the

highest Degree of Success (see p184

of main rulebook) indicates the most

likely course of the character’s

action.

E.g. Hans made a questionable decision on a

recent mission, that hindered the group’s

success. None of the other characters are

aware of his error. Hans is writing up the

report of the mission that will be submitted to

his Inquisitor and is unsure as to how he

should report this error; should he be honest,

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although that will cause him to be

reprimanded? Bob decides to roll both

against both Honest and Prudent to decide.

He gains one more degree of success with

Honest than with Prudent and decides to

include details of the incident, hoping his

honesty will count in his favour!

Of course the players could have just

made those decisions, but the traits

help guide a consistent portrayal of

character.

Alternate trait usage –

binding action Alternately you can use traits as

‘binding’. You must act in

accordance with your traits and to

act otherwise incurs a penalty.

Note: consider doing this very

carefully as it is likely to damage the

roleplaying experience for most

players. If you are going to use this,

I’d suggest only using this for traits

rated 80% or over.

E.g. Hans has Just 84% / Arbitrary 16%. He

has cornered a local murderous villain and

forced him to surrender. The villain offers to

give Hans 100 Thrones to let him go rather

than turn him in to the provost. Bob (the

player) is sick of these local villains causing

trouble and wants to simply kill the villain

rather than handing him over. The GM

imposes the Just test which is passed and

informed Bob that his character Hans, must

act in a Just manner or suffer a penalty. Bob

doesn’t care, and kills the villain anyway.

This is fine as the traits should never

interfere with the player’s decisions, but for

action against the dominant Justice trait, the

GM imposes an automatic increase in Hans’

Arbitrary (+2%) and gives Hans 1 Insanity

Point to represent the emotional turmoil he

will feel later.

Modifying traits At any point during a session, the

GM can instruct the player to ‘tick’

any trait. Typically a tick is given

for succeeding at a trait roll or for

acting in notable conformance with a

trait. Players are quite at liberty to

point out if they think they deserve

to tick a trait, or to discuss with the

GM if they feel a tick isn’t

warranted.

Each trait may only be ticked once

per session. A tick may be given to

both opposing traits.

At the end of each session, each trait

with a tick may increase. Roll %

dice. If the total EXCEEDS the

current rating of the trait it

increases by 1d6%, and the opposing

trait reduces by a similar amount to

keep the combined total at 100%. If

both paired traits are ticked, roll for

the higher trait first. Of course both

traits may exceed the roll and

change the trait totals.

Alternately a trait can be modified

voluntarily by expending experience.

Changing any trait by ±5% costs

100xp.

No trait can be raised above 100% at

any time.

E.g. Angelique has both Trusting (50%) and

Suspicious (50%) ticked. At the end of the

session she rolls d% for Suspicious first,

scoring 44%. Her Suspicious trait does not

increase. She rolls d% for her Trusting,

scoring 51%, EXCEEDING her Trusting

value. She rolls d6 scoring 4, so her Trusting

increases to 54% (reducing her Suspicious to

46%).

She also has both Pious (50%) and Worldly

(50%) ticked. At the end of the session she

rolls d% for Pious first, scoring 58%. She

rolls d6 scoring 3, so her Pious increases to

53% (reducing her Worldly to 47%). She then

rolls d% for Worldly, scoring 77%. She rolls

d6 scoring 5, so her Worldly increases to 52%

(reducing her Pious to 48%).

Directed traits Some characters have ‘directed’

traits. That is there are certain

things which they feel rather more

concerned about. Directed traits are

conditional modifiers to a specific

character’s trait.

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When that situation occurs, the

character modifies the relevant trait

by the directed trait total.

Generating directed

traits Directed traits can be imposed by a

GM (as an insanity for example), or

chosen by a player with GM

approval. To generate a directed

trait, roll 6d10 and total the result.

This is the % modifier for that trait.

E.g. Hans, having been betrayed several

times by different people on Iocanthus asks

the GM for a directed trait. His trait is

Trusting 43% / Suspicious 57%. He takes the

‘directed trait – suspicious of Iocanthans’ and

rolls 6d10, scoring a total 38%. Therefore

when dealing with iocanthans he modifies his

Suspicious by +38%, making it Trusting 5% /

Suspicious 95%. Hans is now well known for

distrusting Iocanthans and grumbles

constantly about how treacherous they are!

Directed traits are never modified

once created, but can be removed if

the GM agrees that the character’s

opinions on the situation have

changed sufficiently.

A player should be careful about

taking too many directed traits as

they should represent those

exceptional parts of the character’s

personality. A character should

have no more than one or two at

most.

Passions Dark Heresy is full of intense

emotion, much of it uncontrolled, as

the characters encounter the worst

of the horrors that threaten the

Imperium.

Passions provide a method of

expression those strong emotions, be

they love, hate, loyalty or some other

emotional motivation.

Typical passions include:

Amour

Hate

Loyalty

Love

Amour (Person) The love a character feels for a friend

or some other object. It is a platonic,

non-sexual and non-familial love

that drives the character to cherish

and protect the object of the

affection. Many characters have

strong likes for many things but an

amour for a person is a tangible

passion that will drive and inspire a

character to great deeds. Amour is

the deep friendship felt by lifelong

friends or those people who ‘connect’

as kindred spirits.

An amour must specify a person to

which it applies.

Hate (Object or enemy) To hate is to loathe, despise, abhor,

detest, or just to dislike intensely or

passionately, and object or enemy.

Hate is a powerful passion that

drives a character to great or terrible

feats to oppose or destroy the object

of the hate. There are many things

that Imperial citizens are expected

to hate, but this passion is a

heartfelt detestation that will

motivate the character to act on the

hate.

A hate must specify an object or

enemy to which it applies, for

example; Hate (Orks), Hate, (Traitors

to the Emperor), Hate (Valhallans),

Hate (cowards), etc.

Loyalty Loyalty is the faithful adherence to a

sovereign, government, organisation,

leader, or cause. A loyal character is

an example of faithfulness, support

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and succour to the subject of their

loyalty.

A loyalty must specify a leader or

organisation, such as;

Loyalty (Emperor)

Loyalty (Other Lord, e.g. Inquisitor,

Planetary Governor)

Loyalty (Institution, e.g. Adeptus

Mechanicus, or Imperial Guard

Legion)

Loyalty (Community, e.g. homeworld

or hive)

Loyalty (Group, e.g. Hive gang,

Acolyte Coterie)

Love Love is a profoundly tender,

passionate affection for another

person or object. Love is divided in

its expression.

Love (family)

The love a character feels for his

family, parents, siblings, etc. It is a

platonic love and for many people

the strongest emotional bond they

will feel in their lives.

Love (erotic)

The love a character feels for a

partner, characterised by a sexual

relationship. Such love is often most

passionate, but can be short-lived.

Such a love must be directed at a

specific person.

Generating passions Each passion is rated 1-100%. To

generate each passion, roll % dice

and apply the value.

Note that any passion valued at 80%

or more is ‘famous’. Anyone who

knows the character will describe

that passion about him.

Alternate passion

generation Alternatively, you may start a

character’s passion at a pre-

determined level (typically 20-80%)

either given by the GM or

determined in discussion with the

player.

Using passions Passions are not binding. They

represent the character’s strongly

held emotions but in no way bind the

player to enacting those passions.

Passions can be used to inform

behaviour, but equally behaviour can

be used to inform passions.

Passions aid in role

playing and decision

making Passion can be used in situations

where the player is unsure how the

character will act. Simply roll a %

dice against the relevant passion and

if successful, act generally in

accordance with that trait.

E.g. Hans has Love (family) 65%. He receives

an Astropathic message from his mother

asking him to return to their home

immediately as his brother has been wrongly

jailed. The player is unsure what to do as

they are in the middle of a campaign so he

rolls his Love (family) 65% and scores 12%, a

success. Despite this, the player decides to

continue with the adventure and complete it

first before heading home.

Passions as inspiration Passions can be used to inspire the

character to greatness in situations

where the passion is relevant. In

discussion with the GM, the player

should decide which passion applies

to the situation and why it applies.

The player must then decide which

Characteristic will be inspired by

the passion.

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All Characteristics can be inspired,

with the passion bonus adding to the

relevant Characteristic.

A character can only attempt to

invoke a single passion once for a

scene.

To invoke a passion for inspiration

roll a % dice against the relevant

passion. If successful, the player can

choose to add one of the following

bonuses to any specific

Characteristic; +10, +20, or +30.

If this inspiration roll fails, the

character does not gain a bonus, but

instead gains 1d6 insanity points as

the passion floods through him but

to no effect. He does not count as

inspired.

Inspiration lasts for a ‘scene’ as

defined by the GM or natural flow of

play.

If a character is inspired by a

passion (gaining +10 to +30% bonus)

fails in the task that the passion was

inspired to perform during this

scene, he gains insanity points

dependent on the bonus chosen, as

follows;

+10 = 1d6 IP

+20 = 2d6 IP

+30 = 3d6 IP

E.g. Hans has a WP of 31%. He currently

works for the Inquisitor Soldevan and has a

Loyalty 68% to him. He’s been captured by a

war-merchant of the Silver Dagger Guild and

is being tortured for information about Hans’

investigations into their smuggling operation.

The war-merchant wants to know who Hans

is working for. Hans invokes his loyalty and

rolls 35%, a success. He’s therefore inspired

by his loyalty and decides to add +20% to his

WP (raising it to 51%) to resist the torture.

Unfortunately he rolls 77% and fails his WP,

breaking under torture anyway. As his

inspiration failed to help, Hans gains 2d6

insanity points.

E.g. Hans eventually returns to his

homeworld at his mother’s Astropathic

request to find his family locked in a bitter

feud over land rights with a powerful local

baron (Dieter Rause). Returning from a bar

one night, he finds his family home ablaze.

All his relatives are outside except his mother

who they can’t get to through the flames.

Hans invokes his Love (family) 65% and

succeeds. He decides to add +30% to his

Toughness to resist the flames and heads in

to rescue his mother. He staggers out, badly

burned with his mother choked with smoke

but alive. As he succeeded he does not gain

insanity points. Also Bob (the player)

immediately asks for a new Passion for Hans

– Hate Dieter Rause. The GM agrees and the

roll determines the hate at 23%. The GM

agrees to raise this to 65% (the same level as

his love of family).

Alternate passion usage –

binding action Alternately you can use passions as

‘binding’. You must act in

accordance with your passions and to

act otherwise incurs a penalty.

Note: consider doing this very

carefully as it is likely to damage the

roleplaying experience for most

players. If you are going to use this,

I’d suggest only using this for

passions rated 80% or over.

Modifying passions At any point during a session, the

GM can instruct the player to ‘tick’

any passion. Typically a tick is given

for succeeding at a passion roll or for

acting in notable conformance with a

passion.

Each passion may only be ticked

once per session.

At the end of each session, each

passion with a tick may increase.

Roll % dice. If the total EXCEEDS

the current rating of the passion it

increases by 1d6%.

Alternately a passion can be

modified voluntarily by expending

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experience. Changing any passion

by ±5% costs 100xp.

No passion can be raised above

100%.

Ideals Ideals are those social codes to which

a character may aspire. Any

character may adopt an ideal that

they meet the qualifying conditions

for. If those qualifying conditions

are no longer met, the benefits of the

ideal are lost until the character can

again meet those conditions.

Typical ideals include:

Blessed Ignorance

Hospitality

Imperial Creed

Omnissiah Creed

Blessed Ignorance The Imperium values service and

servitude. The Emperor in His

wisdom knows what is best for

Humanity and all that is required to

be a good citizen is loyalty and faith

in the Emperor. This is known as

‘blessed ignorance’ and is a virtue

professed and held by vast swathes

of Humanity, particularly among the

lower castes who are happy in their

service and consider the

intelligentsia highly suspicious and

probably dangerous.

Requirements:

• 60% or more in all the flowing

traits; Selfish, Honest, Arbitrary,

Modest, Pious, Suspicious

• Intelligence 30 or less

• Loyalty (Emperor) 60% or more

Benefits:

• Gain ‘Directed trait: suspicious of

education or educated people’

+30%

• +5 WP

• +10 Per when using the Scrutiny

skill

Hospitality The passion of love binds people

together by personal emotive ties,

whereas loyalty binds people and

society together through bonds of

duty and hierarchy. The Ideal of

Hospitality is the friendly reception

and treatment of guests or strangers,

and bonds together the society of

strangers and acquaintances. It is

the quality or disposition of receiving

and treating guests and strangers in

a warm, friendly, appropriate way,

as well as the ability to also be an

appropriate guest.

Requirements:


traits; Forgiving, Generous,

Honest, Just, Merciful, Trusting

• Fellowship 30 or more

Benefits:

The benefits of Hospitality apply if

the character hosts a celebration,

meeting, negotiation or similar social

gathering. Then the following

benefits apply to every guest

attending the event;

• All characters present gain +5%

Fellowship

• Non-violence is assured.

All guests present must make a

WP test to commit a violent act.

Guests with the Hospitality ideal

themselves, reduce their WP by -30

before making the test. If the

guest fails, they may not make a

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violent act without gaining 1d6

insanity points. If violence does

break out, all characters present

will attempt to peacefully stop the

violence if possible, or to engage

against the violent character,

supporting the hospitable host.

Imperial Creed The Imperial Creed represents the

Imperium-wide sense of social and

moral rightness. It is the defining

Imperial social and cultural ‘norm’;

the standard of behaviour that the

Adeptus Terra fosters throughout its

institutions and attempts to

propagate throughout the Imperial

worlds. The imperial Creed forms

the basis of the beliefs of the

Imperial Cult.

Requirements:


traits; energetic, Arbitrary,

Cruel, Pious, Prudent, Suspicious

• Loyalty (Emperor) 60% or more

• Must have no Malignancies

Benefits: characters with this ideal

gain the following benefits as long as

the ideal is upheld;

• The character gains the ‘Armour

of Contempt’ talent

• The character gains an extra

Fate Point. This can be used, but

NOT burned. This extra fate

point can only be used if

upholding one of the seven ‘rules

of Imperial Honour’ detailed

above.

Omnissiah Creed The Cult Mechanicus await the

arrival of the Omnissiah, a

prophesised physical avatar of the

Machine God. According to the

Adeptus Mechanicus teachings,

knowledge is the supreme

manifestation of the Omnissiah’s

divinity, and all creatures and

artefacts that embody knowledge are

holy because of it. Machines that

preserve knowledge from ancient

times are also holy, and machine

intelligences are no less divine than

those of flesh and blood. A man's

worth is only the sum of his

knowledge; his body is simply an

organic machine capable of

preserving intellect.

The Omnissiah Creed venerates the

‘Quest for Knowledge’ and devotes

itself to research and exploration.

Their most sought-after technology

is the Standard Template construct

(STC), which is said to contain the

sum total of all human knowledge.

Requirements:


traits; Chaste, Energetic, Selfish,

Arbitrary, Worldly, Prudent

• Intelligence 35 or more

• Must have the Tech Use skill

• Must have at least one cybernetic

implant

• Loyalty (Adeptus Mechanicus)

60% or more

Benefits:

• Gain ‘Directed trait: indulgent

Technology’ +60%

• Forbidden Lore (Adeptus

Mechanicus) and Forbidden Lore

(Archaeotech) count as Basic

skills

Gaining Ideals

Unlike traits and passions, a

character must ‘qualify’ for an ideal

by meeting its minimum

requirements.

- 12 -

A character that meets the

requirements for an ideal, and that

wishes to take it, may do so at the

end of any play session. The

character gains the benefits of that

ideal and should act in general

accordance with the tenets and

beliefs of that ideal.

Losing ideals A character can voluntarily give up

an ideal at the end of any game

session. Alternately a character may

be forced to give up an ideal because

they no longer meet the minimum

requirements (typically due to

fluctuating trait values).

At the end of any game session

where the character no longer meets

the minimum requirements, the

Ideal and its benefits are lost. The

character also immediately gains

1d6 Insanity Points as the lost of the

ideal affects their mental stability.

A character that voluntarily gives up

an ideal gains 2d6 Insanity Points

instead.

Other Ideals There are many other possible ideals

and you are encouraged to create

your own. Simply define what the

Ideal is about, choose the minimum

requirements (typically six

appropriate traits at 60% or more,

plus any other requirement deemed

appropriate), and define the benefit

of holding the Ideal.

Personality

Packages

Personality Traits and Passions can

simply be chosen by the player in

agreement with the GM.

Alternately, traits and passions can

be modified by packages that relate

to the character’s Homeworld and

Career. These packages represent

key biases in specific character

origins or backgrounds.

If these packages are used, then both

the homeworld and career packages

should be applied.

Modifiers are applied after all

random rolls and other adjustments

are applied. No modifier can take a

rating above 90% or below 10%

Homeworld

Packages

Feral World

Traits

Energetic +5, Cruel +5, Proud +5,

Valorous +5

Directed trait – Suspicious (Psykers)

Directed trait – Suspicious

(Technology)

Optionally also;

Directed trait – Suspicious (Cities)

Passions

Love (Family)

Loyal (Tribe)

Optionally also;

Loyal (Emperor)

Hate (Choose something)

Hive World

Traits

Selfish +5, Cruel +5, Arbitrary +5,

Worldly +5

Directed trait – Proud (Hive)


(Wilderness)

- 13 -

Optionally also;

Directed trait – Suspicious (Cities)

Passions

Love (Family)

Loyal (Hive)

Optionally also;

Loyal (Hive Faction)

Loyal (Emperor)

Hate (Choose something)

Imperial World

Traits

Energetic +5, Cruel +5, Arbitrary +5,

Suspicious +5

Optionally also;

Directed trait – Proud (Homeworld)

Agriworld

Temperate +5, Modest +5

Backwater


(Administratum)

Feudal

Vengeful +5

War Zone

Cruel +5, Valorous +5

Dead Planet

Selfish +5, Temperate +5

Shrine World

Generous +5, Honest +5, Pious +5

Directed trait – Trust (Ministorum)

Paradise World

Lazy +5, Honest +5, Selfish +5,

Trusting +5

Passions

Love (Family)

Loyal (Emperor)

Optionally also;

Agriworld

Loyal (Home Community)

Backwater

Loyal (Homeworld)

May choose to not take ‘Loyal

(Emperor)’

Feudal

Loyal (Feudal Lord)

War Zone

Hate (choose one)

Dead Planet

None

Shrine World

Hate (Heretics)

Loyal (Ministorum)

Paradise World

None

Void Born

Traits

Selfish +5, Pious +5, Suspicious +5

Directed trait – Suspicious (Non-

Void Born)

Optionally also;

Directed trait – Trusting (Navigators

and Psykers)

Directed trait – Trusting (Tech

Priests)

Directed trait – Deceitful (Non-Void

Born)

Passions

Love (Family)

Loyal (Home Void Vessel)

Optionally also;

- 14 -

Loyal (Adeptus Mechanicus)

Loyal (Emperor)

Career Packages

Adept

Traits

Selfish +5, Modest +5, Prudent +5,

Suspicious +5

Optionally also;


(Primitives)

Directed trait – Honest (Concerning

information)

Directed trait – Trusting

(Technology)

Directed trait – Trusting

(Administratum)

Passions

Optionally;

Hate (‘book burners’)

Arbitrator

Traits

Energetic +5, Vengeful +5, Just +5,

Suspicious +10, Valorous +5

Passions

Loyal (Adeptus Administratum)

Optionally also;

Hate (Criminals)

Assassin

Traits

Deceitful +5, Arbitrary +5, Cruel +5,

Suspicious +5, Cowardly +5

Passions

None

Cleric

Traits

Energetic +5, Pious +5, Valorous +5

Directed trait – Proud (Ministorum)

Optionally also;

Directed trait – Generous (To

Congregation)

Directed trait – Suspicious (Tech

Priests)

Passions

Loyal (Emperor)

Loyal (Ministorum)

Hate (Heretics)

Optionally also;

Hate (Xenos)

Guardsman

Traits

Energetic +5, Arbitrary +5, Cruel,

+5, Worldly +5, Valorous +5

Optionally also;

Directed trait – Indulgent (Choose)

Directed trait – Proud (Regiment)

Passions

Loyal (Emperor)

Loyal (Guard Legion)

Hate (Choose one)

Optionally also;

Hate (Choose another one)

Loyal (Guard Unit)

Imperial Psyker

Traits

Generous +5, Modest +5, Pious, +5,

Prudent +5, Temperate +5

- 15 -

Directed trait – Cowardly

(Ministorum)

Optionally also;

Directed trait – Trusting (Schola

Psykana)

Passions

Loyal (Emperor)

Loyal (Schola Psykana)

Loyal (Choose an Adeptus Terra

organisation)

Hate (Daemons)

Optionally also;


Scum

Traits

Selfish +5, Deceitful +5, Arbitrary,

+5, Cruel +5, Worldly +5, Suspicious

+5

Directed trait – Cowardly (Adeptus

Arbites)

Passions

None

Optionally also;

Loyal (Gang or other underworld

organisation)

Hate (Adeptus Arbites)


Tech Priest

Traits

Chaste +5, Energetic +5, Selfish +5,

Arbitrary +5, Worldly +5, Prudent

+5


(Ministorum)

Optionally also;

Directed trait – Indulgent

(Technology)

Passions

Loyal (Ademptus Mechanicus)

Hate (Hereteks)

Documents

Dark Heresy Traits and Passions