Investigations

In the broadest possible terms, the Imperium in the 41st Millenium is built on ignorance and lies. There are threats in the galaxy that gain purchase simply by being thought about, and if the average Imperial citizen truly knew what dire threats surround and permeate the Imperium, then all semblance of control the Imperium has would surely collapse.

Servants of the Inquisition do not have the luxury of ignorance. Every character is a veteran of the shadow wars fought by the Inquisition behind a veil of secrecy to achieve its own ends, as well as preserve the sanctity of the Imperium. To know what you know is no blessing; understanding is a Curse in this dark millenium, and a life sentence of service to the Inquisition.

Lore is acquired from certain Traits. All characters additionally gain one Lore for free at character creation, representing the basic training the Inquisition has given them even if not their former lives. If your character obtains a lore twice by acquiring two different Traits which grant it, this has no additional effect.

The Lores

There are five core Lores that have a direct impact in the game:

Malleus Lore represents a specialist in studying, interacting and combating the forces of the Warp, be they the ruinous powers themselves or the myriad daemons and other psychic entities that live within that nightmare realm. This Lore is considered threatening to the very soul of someone who learns it, and as a result those who bear it are encouraged not to share their knowledge, lest they damn the innocent.

Xenos Lore represents a life spent studying, fighting, or even speaking with the myriad alien life forms that threaten human life across the entire Prosperitas Sector, as well as a basic understanding of the strange relics left behind on certain worlds within the Sector.

Hereticus Lore represents a fundamental understanding of the internal threats facing the Imperium from human foes. Be they the cults and armies of the Archenemy, or Rebel and Separatist movements that seek to divide or change the Imperium from within. Hereticus Lore represents a life dedicated to studying, hunting or otherwise interacting with divergent human cultures.

Medicae Lore represents more than basic medical training: it represents the finest education at the hands of lecturers in a Medicae Schola, and years learning about the body and biology, rather than representing the simple first aid training used by base medicaes. It has forensic value in identifying causes of death where they may not be immediately obvious, and represents the ability to carry out research into medical issues or perform medical actions not immediately pertinent to healing mechanics such as the dissection of corpses, study of diseases and understanding of Alchemistry.

Mechanicus Lore is not the operation of machinery; all characters are assumed to be familiar with the operation of technology associated with their current or previous role in the Imperium prior to becoming an agent of the powers they answer to. Mechanicus Lore is an intimate familiarity with the workings of machines, the science that makes them function and their repair and manufacture; such things are lost secrets in this age, obscured by the rituals of the Adeptus Mechanicus, with this Lore you understand the need for those rituals and might even have gleaned some knowledge about the truth of machines obscured behind them.

Educational Background

If a character selects any Lores, they will need to complete the educational background section of the character sheet. Educational background defines how a character acquired their knowledge. Some servants of the Inquisition became so because of their life experiences: soldiers of the Imperial Guard who survived an encounter with a xenos monster and killed it, Arbitrators who stumbled across Cults performing dark rites, Scholars who found ancient texts containing forbidden secrets. Others were born into Inquisitorial service or recruited young, and have spent much of their lives studying the secrets of the Inquisition.

A character’s educational background is important; it helps frame the context for the Game Team giving you hints about things you witness in downtime and it helps you flesh out how your character acquired their education in these secrets in an Imperium that is largely filled with poorly-educated Citizens. This needn’t focus entirely upon the five core Lores, this is a great opportunity to note other areas of ‘mundane’ interest that your character specialises in.

Focus

For every Lore you select you will be asked to fill out your Focus within that Lore. Focus is the special interests your character holds within that Lore, for example an interest in the xenos more palatable to diplomacy could be a good example, or a specialisation in understanding the passage of the soul after death might be another… these can be as specific or as broad as you like. Try to keep to roughly a paragraph of text, or a few concise bullet points.

Investigations

As much as talent with a gun might get you somewhere in the 41st Millennium, a sharp eye and an inquisitive mind are just as valuable. Indeed some of the greatest threats of the dark times that characters live in are better defeated with a combination of research, investigation and hard evidence, then they are via resorting simply to direct violence to against an opponent.

Investigation Scenes

Present in some areas of play will be investigation scenes. These non-combat encounters range from the obvious scene of a crime to an archaeological site. Scattered around a scene (and requiring a degree of hard-skill searching) will be a series of paper clues related to items within that scene or a ‘gut feeling’ a character with a specific Lore might feel when presented with the scene as a whole.

Each of these clues will have written on it which of the five main Lores, or otherwise which Traits or even background features the clue relates to. You may only open a clue if the description listed on it fits your character; otherwise, it simply doesn’t twig to you that it is relevant to a scene. Should you discover a clue that you lack the Lore for you should either make every effort to find another player in the scene who can read it, or (to the best of your ability) to ensure it is replaced or remains with whatever prop or location it is associated with.

Investigation scenes will not always be present, clues can appear outside of them and may appear organically within the game world around player characters; a dead body in a doorway while you are making your way across a Hive-bridge to face down a corrupt Noble might well lead down a path to discovering an insidious Genestealer cult.

We encourage you to limit yourself to reading only a few clue cards in a scene, this allows for multiple characters to participate in an investigation scene and creates a more collaborative roleplaying experience for all involved.

Removing Evidence

When you have finished examining a clue, you should make every effort to return it to where you found it, or keep it with the prop it relates to. If you wish to remove evidence, you must first remove the elements of a scene that a scroll relates to, before removing the clue itself and returning it to a Referee; for example, if a Xenos clue describes alien tracks visible in a muddy patch of ground, you must spend time actively disturbing the earth and physically obscuring the tracks.

If a clue relates to a ‘gut feeling’ based on a certain Lore then it may not be removed; if the clue is for whatever reason destroyed then please report it to a Ref so it can be replaced for the benefit of others.