Exorcism (Exorcists)

Exorcism is a word bandied about in the Imperium, it is not unknown for the Priests of the Imperial Faith to have those amongst their number who claim to be exorcists, and many are the lay followers of the Faith who practice ritualistic "exorcisms" in their daily duties. These are placebos and theatrical displays to reinforce Faith at best and the providence of charlatans at worse in the eyes of the Inquisition.

"True" Exorcism is an esoteric practice that relies on rites of Sanctic Sorcery, the rarest form of warp manipulation and a secret guarded jealously by the Inquisition and a few other secretive organisations within the Imperium. It is a dangerous, and often deadly, line of work for an Inquisitorial agent, as to grapple with the cloying stuff of chaos metaphysically imperils the soul and body both.

The Ordo Malleus and the Inquisition at large forbids its Agents from exposing Exorcisms to innocent bystanders, who are often euthanised or mindwiped if they witness one

Methods of Exorcism

In OC terms, it does not matter what exact form the Exorcism ritual takes, there is an exception to this later that some rituals require the exorcist to establish a warded circle this takes the form of a simple circle drawn in chalk, blood, salt or some other esoteric material - some players have found it easier to represent this using symbols on pre-made mats or using various props to mark out a circle as well and this is fine, the general rule is that it should take some time to set up one of these where it is required - in some circumstances we may inform you that we cannot actually draw on floors due to the requests of the site hosting our game, in this circumstance if you have nothing prepped to represent a circle it is perfectly fine to roleplay drawing one out even if there is nothing there.

Your character has studied esoteric lores about the nature of Daemons and the rites which cast them out in the process of learning this lore, and is likely to have very fixed ideas about what types of Exorcism are both effective and safe. Your character is aware that Exorcism involves interacting with the powers of the Warp and is therefore not without risk; the training staff of the Ordo Malleus stress the importance of sticking to set forms and rituals to avoid unexpected effects.

Some common traditional methods which are found in Exorcisms are:

• The invocation of the name of the God-Emperor or Omnissiah in Low or High Gothic or Binaric.

• The use of holy water blessed by a priest cast upon the target’s flesh, the application of sacred oils and unguents where the target is mechanical or a machine.

• The use of religious gestures (sign of the Aquila, sign of the Cog) or religious icons and incantation of prayers, psalms and forms of words such as those found on the Prayer and Liturgy page; binaric hymns sacred to the Cult Mechanicus.

• Physical scourging or symbolic wounds inflicted upon a living target – the use of fire and heat has symbolic value to the Imperium.

• Attempting to rouse the Machine Spirit of a possessed machine to resist corruption via extolling its virtues and publicly speaking its great deeds.

Any of these methods will likely be effective, as well as any roleplay appropriate to your character’s background and characterisation.

If your character loses faith in the efficacy of their methods, you must see a Ref before conducting an Exorcism.

If you attempt to carry out an Exorcism while you are Tempted by Corruption, it is highly likely to fail. You must see a Ref before attempting it.

Exorcisms are violent processes; the warp resists being driven from the flesh once it has taken purchase. Exorcisms do not require the target to be willing, or believe in the spiritual authority of the Exorcist; they are enacted through the Exorcist’s strength of will alone. This makes them dangerous for both the target and exorcist; the corruption might well fight back.

Exorcising Corruption

Perhaps unsurprisingly given their name, the primary role of Exorcists in the Holy Ordos is providing esoteric first aid against encroachments of the Warp upon the mind, body and soul. These are afflictions to which Inquisitorial Agents are often exposed by the nature of the Hidden War against the Archenemy.

An Exorcist can attempt to purge a level of Corruption from another character - there is no mechanical way to tell which 'level' of corruption a character is on, it relies entirely on observing the level of unusual/corrupted roleplay from the individual and the Exorcist making the best guess and bidding the correct amount of Willpower (see beneath) to purge it (or overbidding to be sure);

• The target of an Exorcism does not need to be willing, but if they are not they must be Subdued or restrained (in a manner all the players involved are comfortable with) in order to be Exorcised.

• A character who is Brushed (1), Touched (2) or Marked (3) Tempted (4) or has Embraced Chaos (5) may be exorcised by bidding the appropriate level of willpower (denoted in brackets) and then performing a 5 minute exorcism ritual.
  • The Rituals required to deal with Brushed/Touched/Marked are subtle and usually less obvious, requiring the Exorcist to use holy oils or blood to anoint the skin and chant a few mantras for example.
  • A character who is Tempted (4) or has Embraced Chaos (5) must be contained within a Warded Circle (see above) and are often quite loud and obvious when performed.

• Before they begin the ritual roleplay the Exorcist performs a Power Test - if they pass, the ritual continues as normal, if they fail then a complication has occured: they must draw from the Exorcism Risk Deck and work the complication into their ritual not all complications cause the Ritual to fail.
  • If a Complication occurs that would cause the Ritual to fail then there is no requirement to perform the full five minute ritual you can choose to initiate the complication at the best possible dramatic moment.

• At the end of the ritual, the Exorcist should notify their target "If you were at Brushed/Touched/Marked/Tempted or below, you drop one level of corruption".
  • If the Exorcist underbid, the ritual fails.
  • The Willpower bid is spent even if the ritual fails.
  • There is usually no immediate surefire indication of success or failure - the target may roleplay the weight of corruption lifting from them.
  • A character who has been exorcised cannot attack or make or be Exorcised again until they Recuperate.

Consequences of an Exorcism and The Emperor's Judgement

A character who is tainted by the effects of the Warp can usually be Exorcised without significant permanent effects. The Exorcist's methods may leave them scarred, or the Exorcist may choose to impose a Penance upon them to assist in keeping their soul pure: however, in general these Exorcisms do not require lasting mechanical effects on the subject to be successful.

However, a character who has Embraced Chaos by using one of the boons offered to them by the Dark Powers, or by casting off negative effects by willingly jumping to their Tempted level, must face The Emperor's Judgement.

• Roleplaying The Emperor's Judgement: Exorcisms for characters in this state are typically more extreme, more painful and require physical damage to be inflicted upon the subject, either by the Exorcist or at their direction.
• Physical consequences: As a result of their brutal scourging, characters who have undergone The Emperor's Judgement cannot exceed half their maximum Endurance for the remainder of the event.
• Spiritual consequences: The Exorcist must assign their subject a penance. This is a pattern of behaviour they must follow to protect themselves against the temptations of the Warp. For example, they might be required to pray after every battle, or to act as a servant for one of their fellow Imperials. This penance is usually calculated to specifically offset the Temptations of the Dark Powers facing the subject.
• Should the subject fail to follow this penance, or willingly break it, they have willingly fallen to Chaos. They gain one use of their Tempted boon and immediately become Overwhelmed.

Exorcising Possession and Demons

Dealing with Possession or Banishing a Daemon is a far riskier proposal. Possession refers to the act of another sentience entering a body and subsuming control of it. Beings of the Warp, including Daemons, use it to enter reality but some particularly sinister Psykers and other beings have been known to do it too.

• The target of this Exorcism or Banishment must be Subdued, Bleeding or otherwise unable to move freely and must be kept within a Warded Circle for this to work.

• Up to three Exorcists may participate in this Exorcism or Banishment.

• Exorcists must blindly bid an amount of their willpower to purge the Possession or Banish a creature that may be pooled from every Exorcist involved. If they outbid the will of the being opposing them, they may proceed - otherwise all Exorcists involved must draw a card from the Exorcisms Risks Deck and resolve it to be able to proceed.

• They may then, depending on the outcomes of the complications - proceed as above with a five minute ritual.

• • If they are attempting a Banishment they must know a keyword or part of the True Name of the Daemon for this to be anything more than a temporary exclusion from reality. Some greater entities will simply not be affected at all if you don't know either of these.

• If the Exorcism or Banishment succeeds the being is driven from the flesh it is possessing or from reality.
  • All Exorcists and a Character who has been Exorcised are unable to attack or make calls until they Recuperate.

Combat Exorcisms

Unfortunately for Exorcists, Daemons do not tend to stand patiently still while waiting for an Exorcist to draw a Warded Circle around them to 'trap' it. While it is possible to partially complete a warded circle and 'trick' a daemon into it before finishing the process, doing so before the Daemon can cut down the Exorcist or trap someone inside the circle with it is difficult. As such, most Exorcists go into battle laden with holy icons, holy water, sanctified salts and a vast panoply of rare materials that repulse or weaken supernatural creatures.

An Exorcist may expend ONE Supply or Willpower to:

• Make up to five calls of Sanctic Weaken at 3s intervals. This may be repeated for additional cost in Willpower or Supplies. They must be within melee reach of their target to do so.
  • This is physrepped by throwing (larp safe) vials of holy water or sanctic salts, miming tossing it on the target (please don't use liquids, some of our kit has electronics we'd rather avoid getting wet), or striking the target with silver stakes - brandishing or pressing holy icons against it.

The effect of this can vary immensely. Here are some examples of its use:

• A corpse animated by psychic will or the warp or a Player Character possessed by a lesser daemon (such as some card decks suggest) can be purged or prevented from rising again by calling Warp Weaken once.

• A Daemon or Possessed NPC can be affected by Sanctic Weaken allowing them to be harmed by mortal weapons.

• A Daemon or Possessed individual (including PCs) can be kept Weakened long enough to draw a circle around them safely by coordinating uses of this call. When the circle is finished make it clear to them you have trapped them (some powerful daemons may still break free).