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
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.
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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
provide an effective method
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
of 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
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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
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.
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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,
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
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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.
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.
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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
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.
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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.
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.
-9-
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
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
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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:
• 60% or more in all the flowing
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
 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:
• 60% or more in all the flowing
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
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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:
• 60% or more in all the flowing
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.
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.
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.

Losing ideals Modifiers are applied after all

A character can voluntarily give up random rolls and other adjustments
an ideal at the end of any game are applied. No modifier can take a
session. Alternately a character may rating above 90% or below 10%
be forced to give up an ideal because
they no longer meet the minimum Homeworld
requirements (typically due to
fluctuating trait values). Packages
At the end of any game session Feral World
where the character no longer meets
the minimum requirements, the Traits
Ideal and its benefits are lost. The Energetic +5, Cruel +5, Proud +5,
character also immediately gains Valorous +5
1d6 Insanity Points as the lost of the
ideal affects their mental stability. Directed trait – Suspicious (Psykers)
Directed trait – Suspicious
A character that voluntarily gives up (Technology)
an ideal gains 2d6 Insanity Points
instead. Optionally also;

Other Ideals Directed trait – Suspicious (Cities)

There are many other possible ideals
and you are encouraged to create Passions
your own. Simply define what the Love (Family)
Ideal is about, choose the minimum Loyal (Tribe)
requirements (typically six
appropriate traits at 60% or more, Optionally also;
plus any other requirement deemed
appropriate), and define the benefit Loyal (Emperor)
of holding the Ideal. Hate (Choose something)

Hive World
Personality
Traits
Packages Selfish +5, Cruel +5, Arbitrary +5,
Worldly +5
Personality Traits and Passions can
simply be chosen by the player in Directed trait – Proud (Hive)
agreement with the GM. Directed trait – Suspicious
Alternately, traits and passions can (Wilderness)
be modified by packages that relate

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Optionally also;
Optionally also;
Directed trait – Suspicious (Cities)
Agriworld
Passions Loyal (Home Community)
Love (Family)
Loyal (Hive) Backwater
Loyal (Homeworld)
Optionally also; May choose to not take ‘Loyal
(Emperor)’
Loyal (Hive Faction)
Loyal (Emperor) Feudal
Hate (Choose something) Loyal (Feudal Lord)

Imperial World War Zone

Hate (choose one)
Traits
Energetic +5, Cruel +5, Arbitrary +5, Dead Planet
Suspicious +5 None

Optionally also; Shrine World

Hate (Heretics)
Directed trait – Proud (Homeworld) Loyal (Ministorum)

Agriworld Paradise World

Temperate +5, Modest +5 None

Backwater Void Born

Directed trait – Suspicious
(Administratum) Traits
Selfish +5, Pious +5, Suspicious +5
Feudal
Vengeful +5 Directed trait – Suspicious (Non-
Void Born)
War Zone
Cruel +5, Valorous +5 Optionally also;

Dead Planet Directed trait – Trusting (Navigators

Selfish +5, Temperate +5 and Psykers)

Shrine World Directed trait – Trusting (Tech

Generous +5, Honest +5, Pious +5 Priests)

Directed trait – Trust (Ministorum) Directed trait – Deceitful (Non-Void

Born)
Paradise World
Lazy +5, Honest +5, Selfish +5, Passions
Trusting +5 Love (Family)
Loyal (Home Void Vessel)
Passions
Love (Family) Optionally also;
Loyal (Emperor)

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Loyal (Adeptus Mechanicus) Cleric
Loyal (Emperor)
Traits
Career Packages Energetic +5, Pious +5, Valorous +5

Directed trait – Proud (Ministorum)

Adept
Optionally also;
Traits
Selfish +5, Modest +5, Prudent +5, Directed trait – Generous (To
Suspicious +5 Congregation)
Optionally also; Directed trait – Suspicious (Tech
Priests)
Directed trait – Suspicious
(Primitives) Passions
Directed trait – Honest (Concerning Loyal (Emperor)
information) Loyal (Ministorum)
Directed trait – Trusting Hate (Heretics)
(Technology)
Directed trait – Trusting Optionally also;
(Administratum)
Hate (Xenos)
Passions

Optionally; Guardsman

Hate (‘book burners’) Traits

Energetic +5, Arbitrary +5, Cruel,
+5, Worldly +5, Valorous +5
Arbitrator
Optionally also;
Traits
Energetic +5, Vengeful +5, Just +5, Directed trait – Indulgent (Choose)
Suspicious +10, Valorous +5
Directed trait – Proud (Regiment)
Passions
Loyal (Adeptus Administratum) Passions
Loyal (Emperor)
Optionally also; Loyal (Guard Legion)
Hate (Choose one)
Hate (Criminals)
Optionally also;
Assassin
Hate (Choose another one)
Traits Loyal (Guard Unit)
Deceitful +5, Arbitrary +5, Cruel +5,
Suspicious +5, Cowardly +5 Imperial Psyker
Passions Traits
Generous +5, Modest +5, Pious, +5,
None Prudent +5, Temperate +5

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 Directed trait – Indulgent
Directed trait – Cowardly (Technology)
(Ministorum)
Passions
Optionally also; Loyal (Ademptus Mechanicus)
Hate (Hereteks)
Directed trait – Trusting (Schola
Psykana)

Passions
Loyal (Emperor)
Loyal (Schola Psykana)
Loyal (Choose an Adeptus Terra
organisation)
Hate (Daemons)

Optionally also;

Hate (Choose another one)

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)
Hate (Choose another one)

Tech Priest
Traits
Chaste +5, Energetic +5, Selfish +5,
Arbitrary +5, Worldly +5, Prudent
+5

Directed trait – Suspicious

(Ministorum)

Optionally also;

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