<div class="quoteheader"><div class="topslice_quote"><a href="https://elliquiy.com/forums/index.php?topic=219943.msg10900447#msg10900447">Quote from: deadmanshand on 17-01-2015, 23:46:41</a></div></div><blockquote class="bbc_standard_quote">I realized something lat night writing my intro post (while half dead from exhaustion) that I hadn't thought about. I am exceptionally familiar with most parts of Warhammer 40k. I could write Eldar (the cool Eldar not the S&amp;M Space Elves), Space Marines, Imperial Guard, Chaos, or Orks without even having to consult a wiki unless I wanted to remember a specific name. Same if I wanted to use Tyranids or Necrons but I came to the understanding that I know jack all about the Astropaths. I mean I know how they come to be and their role and the like but I am not familiar at all with their fluff beyond that. Plus I made him Machine Cult and I know only slightly more about that.<br/><br/>Kind of amused me to be honest.<br/></blockquote><div class="quotefooter"><div class="botslice_quote"></div></div>Three bits for you then:<br/>1) Astropaths are psykers who are shipped to terra with A) a talent for telepathy B) sufficient faith as to be trustworthy but C) lack the will and/or power to reliably resist daemon possession. To correct this they are gruellingly trained and then soulbound to the Emperor, which makes them capable of true astropathy, shoring up their power and will with a direct bond to the Emperor. Astropathic communication is sometimes likened to communicating the idea behind a metaphor concealed in a cypher, messages are broken down into a metaphoric/symbolic language (akin to, for example, reading portents, or tarot cards) then encrypted and transmitted. The code is consistent enough that its not terribly difficult to<em>decode</em>for another astropath, but your basically delivering<em>Maras XI is under attack</em>not "MarasXI is under attack". Content, not a exact message.<br/><br/>2) Astropaths have a very hard time operating outside of Imperial space, they are to some degree, physiologically reliant on the... din, of other astropaths to keep themselves stable, they can always hear each other, thousands of voices singing into the ether... silence drives them nuts. Further more, the process of Soul Binding and their training tends to leave them wasted and frail in body. Neither of these are desirable qualities in a Astropath who will be working far from the boarders of the Imperium, or who will be living a life of battle and adventure. For this reason Astropath 'Transcendents' are created, these are psykers who lack the<em>normal</em>failings of a Astropath; often individuals of higher quality and character, both in mind and body. Rare and highly prized, ATs serve Crusade fleets, Rogue Traders, and others with a need for a more durable and stable astropath. The kind of thing you are... is not the same kind of thing you<em>usually</em>see when stories bring up Astropaths; your as different from those poor sods semi-permanently wired up to broadcast towers and floating in conductive goo as a primaris battle psyker is from a hedge witch.<br/><br/>3)Your not a techpreist, so you not only dont need to know much about the Admech, but you would be punished for doing so. It is the nature of the Machine to guard it's secrets jealously, they are not for the Uninitiated. Pray to the machines and equipment you work with fervently, do quirky stuff like insist on not eating until after you clean your favourite gun, be Super Respectful to any techie types we run into, and make the Cog instead of the Aquila when everyone is being polite, and youll be playing a scion of a forge world perfectly.<br/><br/>(hopefully that helps some)