W40K: Arbitrator not very successful

Question

Some months ago I joined an advanced (in term of career) W40K/Dark Heresy campaign with an Arbitrator, the master is good and the players are funny and prepared. But honestly I'm not sure how an Arbitrator could 'work' not just in our campaign, but in any W40K campaign.

I mean, how often it happens that you have to kill without the possibility to concede a regular process? How often do you stumble around xeno technology and knowledge you shouldn't possess? How often are you out of your jurisdiction and can't act? From what I understand, I should have executed me and my party (which has a psionic, and I know it) so many times I couldn't count them.

I'm sure I miss something, but still the feasibility of an Arbitrator in an adventurer's group, to me, seems pretty low. Tech-priests with their mechanical arms? Sure. Assassins with big rifles? Obviously. Guardsmen full of rockets and grenades? They can't miss in a group. But Arbitrators, I don't know.

They don't have many social abilities, they are not good with weapons... Personally my character has 49 intelligence, maxed. With good skills, the ones with +20, I can arrive to 69, but they are not many, and so I often fail my checks. This isn't right for a pc with around 10000 xp, it mustn't be, he must have a strength, somewhere.

So I don't know if I'm missing something, but honestly I think something isn't right here. Any help for this Arbitrator is accepted.

Answer 1

I will focus mostly on the system part, as the roleplay part might end up in a different question or be better answered by somebody else.

You are not a Specialist

The problem you have here is that you are playing a Jack-of-all-Trades. So he will always look bad if you compare him to specialist characters.

Sure, you do less damage than characters focused on damage, like Assassins or Guardsman. You are less social than a Cleric. You know less stuff than an Adept.

BUT. You do more damage than a Cleric or an Adept. You are more social than an Assassin or a Guardsman or an Adept. You know more stuff than an Assassin or a Guardsman (and maybe a Cleric, not sure about that one).

Basically, where everyone is "Good" in one thing and "Kinda Bad" in the rest, you are simply "Kinda Good" at everything (the "Bard Syndrome").

Don't Play Like a Specialist

If you try to find "the one good thing you are good at" and do only that, you are going to have a bad time.

The one thing you are good at is versatility: use it!

Get vibroblades and bolt pistols. Get flame weapons. Get dual-weapon talents to boost a bit more versatility (twice the same weapon? two different range weapons? a melee and a range weapon?). Get Quick Draw, to switch between modes faster.

Use it during Combat to keep everyone busy. No one is safe: you can charge a guy, or shoot another, or burn a third one, or potentially shoot and burn two different guys, or even the same guy. Try to always have the correct tool for the enemy at hand.

Get good quality, as you potentially depend more on your equipment than other Careers.

Get Sound Consitution as often as possible, you will need it.

You might want to take Drive, focusing on repulsors, and use a Vehicle in combat. But I have not applied this one myself so I'm not sure how it would work, and there are plenty of situations where it might not apply. But when it does..

Answer 2

Remember that you're working for the Inquisition

First off we need to address a couple of things in your question regarding the fiction of the world. Keep in mind for the following that basically anything an Inquisitor says is law (which is a broad generalization, but helps for our purposes)

How often are you out of your jurisdiction and can't act? From what I undestand, I should have executed me and my party (which has a psionic, and I know it) so many times I couldn't count them.

To address the Psyker point first. Pskyers in the service of an Inquisitor are most often sanctioned by the Empire, so as a law-enforcer, you don't need to worry about them since they are not doing anything wrong. Even if they are unsanctioned, the Inquisitor can tell you that the Psyker is fine, and to leave them alone.

For your Jurisdiction, you are working for an Inquisitor. If something isn't in your jurisdiction, you make it part of your jurisdiction. This might be complicated by the fact that you might be on a mission where you aren't supposed to reveal you are working for the inquisition, and that you have no way to prove that you're working for them. Nevertheless, you have been given a mission by the Inquisition, and it's your job to carry it out.

Skill Checks

They don't have many social abilities, they are not good with weapons... Personally my character has 49 intelligence, maxed. With good skills, the ones with +20, I can arrive to 69, but they are not many, and so I often fail my checks.

Couple of things that could be going on here. There are several difficulties of checks, from -30 to +30, and I'd guess your GM is giving you many +0 (Difficult) skill checks. The GM might need to switch that up a bit.

Also, if you aren't getting an opportunity to use your skills, talk it over with the GM, but you probably have a high Inquiry or Scrutiny check, so you're good at sniffing out information, so use that to help the group get to what they need to kill/recover/etc.

Combat skills seem to hit more often because you can get a whole lot of bonuses to hit, especially with firerams: +30 Point blank range, +10 Aim, +10 Hulking Creature (etc).

Also keep in mind, you are Acolytes and Acolytes even at higher skill levels are kinda putzy. Now, if you're running an Ascension game, that changes with the Ascension career path, where you can get Assassins that can dodge the universe imploding.

General Advise

You should have at least one decent combat Talent, even if it is just Basic Weapon Training (SP), and use your skills to their best advantage.