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.

Methods of Exorcism

In OC terms, it does not matter what exact form the Exorcism ritual takes. 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 sacred salt to create a circle around the target, ‘sealing’ it in, 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.

A character can benefit from being Exorcised of Corruption only ONCE per day - this limit does not include Exorcisms resulting from Overwhelmed corruption cards that dictate they involve Possession which are resolved as 'Exorcising Daemons' (see beneath). A failed Exorcism does not count to this limit.

An Exorcist can exorcise Corruption in the following way:

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

• It costs the Exorcist 0/1/2/3 points of Willpower to purge Corruption depending on if the individual is Brushed/Touched/Marked/Tempted. This Willpower is usually bid blind - the Exorcist must guess how severe their target's Corruption is and spend Willpower accordingly.

• Before starting the ritual Exorcist performs a Power Test. If they pass the ritual will be successful. If they fail, a complication has occurred: they must draw from the Exorcism Risk Deck and work the complication into their ritual.

• Once an Exorcist has committed Willpower they may begin a five minute ritual. The exact form of its ritual depends on the Exorcist. It is common to loudly invoke the name of the God-Emperor or Omnissiah. This process is painful to the subject, who feels the warp-taint burning from their flesh. They should roleplay appropriately (inform them beforehand to ensure they know).

• 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 calls 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).