Saturday 29 December 2012

Living Stone Magazine Issue #1

Introducing Living Stone - the gaming magazine with a British sensibility focusing on cross-media game design, creative content and useable gaming material to provoke,  provide inspiration and entertainment for mature gamers and game designers.



Issue 1 features:
  • Front cover by Jon Hodgson
  • Editorial Column by Ian Livingstone
  • Tabletop game scenarios and rules expansions
  • Short Game Reviews written by game designers, focusing on
    • Tabletop
    • Gamebooks
    • electronic crossovers and notable digital games.
  • Game designer profiles Retrospectives and Interviews
    • Albie Fiore - from dungeons deep to cryptic crosswords
  • Game design + production articles
  • Minigames
  • Decades
    • What was going on in the games industry: 1973, 1983, 1993, 2003. 
  • Letters page
  • Zine reviews
  • Classified ads (5p a word)
  • Ads, lots and lots of glorious ads - Fantasy Flight Games, Black Library, TinManGames, Atlas Games, Steve Jackson Games, Cubicle 7, WoTC, 22Cans, Esdivium Games, LoTFP,
  • Half page cartoon by Lew Stringer
A4 96pp, Black and white interior, some pages 2 colour. 4 colour covers, full-page color ads inside covers. PDF & Print.

No, no, it's not real.

Post originally due to the imminent launch of Gygax magazine, which follows the design of mid-80's Dragon magazine and I thought well, Steve and Ian probably had more of a direct influence on my gaming than Gary, so I thoight I'd do a hommage and reinvent early 80s White Dwarf  for the world of today. Half an hour later - ta-da!

And then Ian gets a CBE in the New Years Honours List on his birthday too (congratulations all round!). And that's one reason there is a "programming for non-programmers" series in there. Ian has worked really hard to get ITC education in the UK moving on a different track "teach children to create technology rather than just being passive users of it", and while Living Stone magazine is not aimed at children, a series of articles about writing a game or a game aid could be very interesting, and a fitting nod.

While I'm here, talking about Fighting Fantasy and stuff, Jonathan Green is running a Kickstarter to write his "History of Fighting Fantasy" book You are the Hero. There are about 7 days left, and it needs another 4k to fund.

And speaking of Kickstarter,  imagine Living Stone magazine is up on there, gauging support,  would you pledge to help make this happen? Would you subscribe? Conversely, if your name is above, would you contribute? would advertisers advertise?

Monday 17 December 2012

Dungeons & Dragons & Demons & Drugfiends

Silent post. I'm just going to post these images and make no comment regarding them, so draw your own conclusions. Or better yet, draw a map and populate a dungeon.

Jay Lynch | Last Hit | BOGEYMAN #3 |1970 found at

Trampier | AD&D Players Handbook | 1978


Larry S. Todd | Tales of the Armorkins #1 | 1971 | via or via

Sutherland | Kobolds |
Roslof | Goblin (left) | Kobold (right) AD&D Monster Cards | via
Trampier | AD&D Players Handbook (1978) via
Deitch | Night Toad | via

Friday 7 December 2012

Trolling for Podlings

Podlings, The Dark Crystal, Brian Froud,  1982


...but when podlings eat a banana, an amazing transformation occurs...

Trolls, TheHobbit, Weta,  2012
...because podlings are Bannana-trolls.



Calm down Derek, it's only a movie - Ed.

Friday 30 November 2012

Oldhammer: UPS: Armour

How to calculate Point values for armour in Oldhammer,  finally! You've all been waiting for this, I'm sure, with baited breath. So without further ado, here goes:

Typical armour profiles:
“tech level” - int required Item Saving move penalty PV published PV*  Effectiveness
4 Shield 6 0 0.5 0.5 1handed weapons only / front attack only
4 Shield 6 00.5 0.5 1handed weapons only / front attack only
5 Flak / leather 6 0 0.5 1
5 Chainmail Armour 6 -0.5 0.5 0.5
4 Metal Breastplate 6 0 1 1
5 Chainmail Armour 6 0 1 1
5 Plate 5 -1 1 1
5 Mesh 5 -0.5 1 1.5
5 Refractor field 5 0 1.5 2
4 Metal Breastplate + shield 5 -0.5 1.5 1.5
5 Full Plate Armour 5 -0.5 1.5 1.5
5 Chainmail Armour + Shield 5 -0.5 1.5 1.5
5 mesh+flak 4 -1 1.5 2
5 carapace 4 -1 1.5 2 cannot use shield or other armour
5 Full Plate Armour + shield 4 -1 2 2
6 conversion field 4 0 3 3area within circle of the attackers strength blinded for 1 turn on a d6 4+ )unless armed with Visors 0.5 pts)
6 powered armour 4 0 6 6
6 powered armour +flak 3 -0.5 6.5 7
4 Armoured mount 2
1 5
6 Torquemada  armour 2 0 16 17.5 always saves on a 6 despite any modifiers
4 Mount 1
1 6
6 stasis field -1 0 25 8 total immunity cannot be used 2 turns in a row

The table combines WH40K RT and WHFB 2E

Calculating the costs of basic armour is very straightforward, and it is basically balancing two things, the defensive save given and the movement penalty caused by the weight of the armour.

  • Every point "to save" +1 PV.
  • Every half inch of movement penalty - 0.5PV
  • Effectiveness:  (i.e. shields only protect the front and stop using 2H weapons) then half points

If there is no movement penalty, the lightweight factor is used to increase the final PV:

Savelightweight factor
1-23.5
3-42
5-61


And that's the Point Values calculated for your basic armour types. In 40K RT some get rounded up, some down, it's a little bit arbitary. So there is some deviation between the Oldhammer and publish stats. We can live with that.

Needz Moar Roolz:


Intelligence levels

All armour requires a minimum Intelligence of 4, otherwise the creature is just too stupid to use it effectively (the Troll, for example) - however different technologies require higher intelligence. This is based on the points value paid for the armour.

PV costRequired Int
0.54
25
36
4+7

It should be noted that the required Intelligence score is that to use the equipment - not to manufacture it. So whilst it might take the Grand Artificier Grégoire Trozzolo III (Int 11) to forge a suit of Torquemada Armour, it only takes a Termite of 7 intelligence to use it. If a Magickal Grimoire, Operating Manual of High Age Technology, Spellbook, Eldritch Crystal or other such information source can be discovered that explains the proper installation and use of a given piece of equipment, and the user can roll under their Intelligence on 2D6, then they can learn to use the equipment. Such sources of information may be as rare or as common as the level of science-fantasy in the setting allows, the scenario demands, or the Games Master decides.


Natural save

Some monsters have naturally hard skin. "Scaly as a Troglodyte, tough as an Ent", as my old Gaffer used to say whilst pruning the rhubarb. To qualify for a natural save the creature must have a minimum Toughness value of 4 and for every 2 points of Toughness an additional 1 point of save may be bought at a cost of 1PV per point - the natural save is not automatically included in the base PV.

T      Save   PV
46+1
56+1
65+2
75+2
84+3
94+3
103+4

For example, a T10 Deth Ogre could be assined a natural save of 6 for +1PV or a natural save of 3 for +4PV.

Movement penalties do not apply to natural saves (nor does the lightweight factor). Natural saves cannot be bought as part of a Hero profile upgrade, it must be an inherent standard feature of the race. For heroes with unnatural mutations such as scaly skin this will be covered in the forthcoming Oldhammerish supplements: Reams of Khaös: The Lists and the Unplanned, and Moar Reams of Khaös: The Graves of Dorkness. (Deluxe limited edition hardback, £99).

X2 Type Armours

X2 Type Armours operate at an order of magnitude above ordinary armour. X2 Type Armour always gives a save despite modifiers on the roll of a certain number (i.e. Torquemada Armour always saves on a 6) these cost:

3.5 * the number of 'always save pips' * the calculated PV for the armour, rounded up.  

X2 Type Armour requires a minimum Intelligence  of 6. This type of armor automatically fails on a roll of 1, so it isn't impossible to cause a hit on it (even if the attacker using improvised weapons which give a +1 to Save).

Made from Genuine Teflonium

Many campaign settings contain a rare and wondrous material, Mithril, Adamantium, Pyrexil, Technetium or Teflonium. The basic rule for these materials is:
  • +1 save for their type
  • incur no movement penalties 
  • cost 50 times the PV of their equivalent normal items

Teflonium armour gives us some balance issues regarding expenditure to effectiveness. Power Armour looks incredibly cheap for its similar save and move when compared to a suit of Teflonium Plate and Shield. These issues can only really be addressed by world-building and judging the relative availability of materials. If one finds themselves in the unfortunate situation where they need to balance a unit of Teflonium armoured Wood Sprites against some Torquemada Armoured Kafflyk Spayce Nastzees, then I suggest both pay the lower price, and the excess PVs handed back to the player to be distributed elsewhere.

The Infinite Invulnerability Armour

Armour that would give invulnerability (i.e. saves on a 1+) and have no movement penalty will normally cost 50 points. Such armour, is of course plainly ridiculous, game-breaking, munchkin-riddlled idiocy, rendering the unit or character unkillable. Therefore they must be severely limited in some dramatic and entertaining  or otherwise strategically crippling manner - such as only useable in the first round of combat and disable the user from doing anything during that round (i.e. the Stasis Field [WH40KRT]) or having a 50% chance of transforming it's wearer into a GM controlled Greater Schpawn ov Khaös. (See RoK:LaU p.666) These detrimental effects subsequently halve the PV of an IIA to 25. Note, that Infinite Invulnerability armors still suffer save modifiers.

Ultimate Armour: Infinite Invulnerablility Teflonium Forged Torquemada Armour

Before you ask, a suit of of Teflonium Forged Torquemada armour would cost in the region of 2450 points, and it's wearer could still die of a pointy stick thrown at it by a gobbo. This is why people in the grim dark future do not wear helmets all the time, because a life without risk of death is pointless, no fun in a gaming environment.  If you wanted to add an  IIA-style force-field to that, then rest assured the ful PV will be matched by the forces of Khaös who come to reclaim the artefact as soon as it is used in combat.

Female Warrior in Infinite Invulnerablility
Teflonium Forged Torquemada Armour

Yes, I've started drawing She-ra Steampunk
WH40k Judge Dredd fan art with 8-bit accoutrements.


Spell-like effects

We've already discussed some spell-like effects with regards to Infinite Invulnerability armours. However some armours may have strange or detrimental effects. Such as the Conversion field [WH40K:RT] which blinds all those around it. Again, like all other effectiveness issues, these typically halve the points cost of any armour, and the effects may be negated with some additional equipment purchase (i.e. obligitary steampunk goggles at a cost of 0.5PV per model)

Beneficial spell like effects should be costed separately (as spells, runes, khaötic mutations or whathaveyou). The possibilities of magic items are wide ranging and varied and will be dealt with extensively in the forthcoming supplement Oldhammer: Reams of Cups and Saucery - an innovative beverage based magic system and tea-party mini-game that brings to life the awesome power of magic in the Oldhammer world (limited edition hardback £99, due December 2025).

Stacking Armour

Some armour is easily stackable. Chainmail armour can be combined with a metal breastplate and shield, for example. Or powered armour can be overlaid with leather (it's the 80's - even cyborg terminators sent from the future look better with a leather jacket on). Full PVs are paid for each piece of additional armour, with an additional movement penalty of 0.5" for stacking the armour (even if the armour itself has no movement penalties).

Armour of purely magical, ethereal or field-generator type can usually be added without movement penalty but no more than 2 of this type can be mixed (safely).

The Fear Factory

Finally, IIRC, correctly high tech weaponry causes Fear in those unaccustomed to it. So if the "tech level" of the armour is more than 2 points above the intelligence of an enemy within 6", it should cause Fear in that unit, unless otherwise immune.

Commentary:

Even a cursory comparison between Rogue Trader and WFB 2E shows that Powered armour is literally Full Plate without the movement penalty, and in that regard, it scales very nicely as medieval space armour. In a gritty pseudo-medieval setting, we can expect armour to slow you down, and super fast armour to be very expensive, wheras in a grimdark science fantasy we can expect super fast armour to be quite easily available to a certain Tech Level.

The only thing that messes up the scale is Mithril (Teflonium) - which in terms of a Tolkienesque setting makes perfect sense for its cost reflecting narrative scarcity, but if we want to expand out the system to encompass all types of fantasy / science fantasy, or rationalise our PVs into a purely tactically aligned system -  we have a bit of a hiccup. Potentially we could use Teflonium as a system-wide signifier for scarcity, so potentially anything could be made of Teflonium if the setting has some ultra-rare resource - in a stone age style game, bronze weapons could be effected by a Teflonium Modifier. But this begins to encompass situational modifiers which could be better handled by a full economics system.

The Natural Save section is based on examination of profiles of creatures like Trolls, Troglodytes and Treemen in 2nd Edition Warhammer, but to my knowledge the toughness/save/cost formula has never been explicitly published before, it is obvious that this is how the statlines were calculated.



Thursday 25 October 2012

Heroines for Warmongers

Citadel Orcs, marching to war under the baleful visage of Baroness Thatcher - the Iron Lady.
Margaret Thatcher's head on a Citadel Orc Banner

The Iron Lady, on a banner for Orcs of the White Hand - slaves to Saruman, the evil wizard from Lord of the Rings who lives in Isengard, the Iron Fortress. Painted by then Citadel staff painter Colin Dixon and first appearing in White Dwarf 81 (September 1986), although the photograph above is a different source.

Was there satirical or even political intention in the image? Tried to email Colin to ask, but just got an automated bounce-back, maybe he's gone undercover. Even without intention, the alignment (pun intended) of the then Prime Minister with forces of inhuman evil, may certainly be read as an anti-establishment message, if not an overtly political one. It wouldn't have been the only British fantasy institution to do so at the time, just ask Sylvester McCoy or pick up any copy of 2000AD from the period. Of course, M. Thatcher would go on to win the 1987 election and hold a 3rd Parliment, one assumes voted in by a legion of olive skinned goblinoids, and she becomes an immortal footnote to the Warhammer universe as Empress Margaritha in WFRPs The Enemy Within campaign - surely a deeply cherished accolade.

I have a hazy mental image of a Dwarven banner depicting Arthur Scargill (Trade Unionist and leader of the National Union of Mineworkers in the 1980s) on it, but can't seem to find a source. Perhaps it was Neil Kinnock (leader of the opposition, later vice-president of the European Commission). Maybe it doesn't exist at all but comes from a parallel universe where the editorial jurisdictions of Ians Hislop and Livingstone became strangely merged - 1986 being the year that Hislop took over the editorial reigns of Private Eye, and Ian Livingstone stepped down as the editor-in-chief of White Dwarf...

And speaking of bizarre conglomerates, fast forward to the year 2012 to a more politically apathetic Britain, where people riot on the streets against ennui and radicalists after social reform go urban camping and produce a nice little book explaining economic terms in a slightly less clear nd more fluffy manner than a GCSE text, while extolling the virtues of Waitrose. Apathy and weariness abound, the land of Albion is double-headed up by the unholy alliance of a Conservative and Liberal coalition. And Games Workshop subsidiary Forgeworld give us this beautiful Curs'd Ettin sculpted by Edgar Skomorowski.

Nick Clegg and David Cameron:
AKA the Dick Cleggeron



The Curs’d Ettin can be easily identified by its singular deformities and cruel intellect.
They are born, so it is said, of an ancient treachery against the Dark Gods themselves.

The Conservative Party, led by David Cameron: 306 seats
The Liberal Democrats, led by Nick Clegg: 57 seats


Special rule: Two-headed: The Curs’d Ettin has two distinct personalities
which war for dominance and control.

"safeguarding national security, supporting our troops abroad, tackling the debt crisis, repairing our broken political system and building a stronger society" - Cameron
  "bold, reforming government that puts fairness back into Britain" - Clegg


Option: Gibberer: One of the Curs’d Ettin’s heads has devolved into infantile imbecility,
drooling and wailing constantly.


Coincidence? Probably.

Its hard to imagine a stock-market traded toy company even making the slightest political jest. Yet lurking behind the layers of grim-dark there may be a flicker of social consciousness going on, a little bit of intentional satire gnawing at the edges of the entertainment brand.

 The Cleggeron is available from Forgeworld for about £40 . I'm quite tempted to get one and paint it up,  in Braveheart-like entirely pseudohistorical woad patterns one head Conservative blue, the other Liberal yellow and set him against some LE8 McDeath's Crazed Caledonian Commandos to 'gamify' the impending Scottish referendum "Yooo can toss oor cabers, but yoo will nae tek oor freeedom!". 


The Dick Cleggeron
Originally painted by John Blanche (Via)
Party Political Warpaint photoshopped on by me.


Maggie was no stranger to fantastical portrayals, and seeing how we like ladies (or Baronesses) in armour around here:

Sunday Times Magazine cover (21 April 1980)

Saint Celestine | Games Workshop

I shall leave those images silently hanging, in a John Berger-esque manner, and return to the theme another time.

Moving swiftly on, the source of the Orc Thatcher banner:


Heroes for Wargames | Hardback | Paper Tiger | 1986

Heroes for Wargames (1986), penned by then head-of-sales at GW Stewart Parkinson and published by Paper Tiger. If you don't already have this book, you really, really should get it. It's awesome. Not convinced? Here's some more dodgy camera-phone snaps:

John Blanche: triple headed Minotaur
There is a tonne of old lead painted up and on parade in this book, Chaos Dwarfs,  normal Dwarves, Skaven, Judge Dredd, Eternal Champion, Beastmen, Chaos Warriors ...the list goes on... the book, being published in 1986 kind of straddles two eras, one the era of Chalk and Devers Tabletop Heroes and solid-based citadel, and the other, the era of 'eavy Metal and slotta-bases.

John Blanche: Cthulhu Inferno
Several full-page John Blanche pieces, including Dwarf Lord of Legend box art, Zombie Dragon, McDeath booklet cover,  as well as black and white concept art for Slann (titled "Demon Frogmen" - nice), Chaos Warriors, Knights of Law, Orcs, as well as other black and white pieces by Dave Andrews (some Lichemaster, some others) and other concept art from Tony Ackland and a few from Jes Goodwin, all on crisp white semi-gloss paper that reproduces them beautifully...

John Blanche | Slann and Orc concept sheets


Dave Andrews "Underground Maze of Death"
A fair few dioramas,  a couple of battle scenes (skaven, skeletons, disciples of the red redemption -all around Dave Andrews cardboard buildings  - appeared in Ravening Hordes I think) and some others I'd never seen before. There's some photos of the lads work-benches and some over-the shoulder shots of them pretending to work. The Mad Max poster seems very popular...

Dungeon punk orc, Lord of the Rings Goblin

To be honest, there are about only 14 pages out of the 128 that just seems like filler - black and white photos of miniatures - granted they are sharper photos than the Citadel Compendium images, but they pale in comparison to the artwork and painted miniatures. And the text is a bit basic - explaining what RPGs and Wargames are about, and covering the basics of painting and how models are made - the 'eavy Metal articles from the same period are much more enlightening on that front, but the images here are generally much better quality and larger, and the glossy art stock really helps them sing. The heavy use of chiaroscuro means the figures shapes aren't as clear as they could be - it's evident that the 'art' being referred to is the tradition of oil-painting, rather than say, sculpture. The only other critisism - for a coffee-table book about 'the art of fantasy miniatures', neither the sculptors nor the painters for the individual figures are credited, which his a bit of an oversight. Still, every page raises a smile, and is probably the nicest, most old-school book on Citadel you can get.

Get it at Amazon: Heroes for Wargames .there are a few copies for under a tenner - well worth it methinks. The over £50 probably best left on the shelf. Also ebay.

Thursday 18 October 2012

Codex Astronomica

Brothers Rejoice! For we have uncovered a sacred remnant from The Dark Age of Technology, an ancient tome of strategy and lore:

Wayne Englands cover to WD101
Small Paul Bonner Goblin
So, after having bought WH40K:RT at Games Day 87, and playing the heck out of it, the book started to fall apart. Instead of attempting a sympathetic rebinding, I ripped it up and hole-punched the lot of it, and put it into a A4 ring binder, using dividers to separate sections, and reinforcing the holes so they didn't rip in the heat of battle...

WH40K Equipment
The folders starts out with the Standard Template Construct Rulebook
Warhammer Siege. .
And then it grew. At some point I picked up Warhammer Siege for fiver in a GW sale, when they used to have sales, and added that in some time later...

Realm of Chaos
These are the White Dwarf Articles
Most of the Realm of Chaos books was published in WD before making it into the hardbacks, and most of those articles are to be found in the binder...

Ian Millers amazing Chaos blades.

Genestealers section
Genestealers. This got reprinted in a paperback (Compendium? Compilation? Chapter Approved?) but as I already had all the WD articles, didn't see the point of those...

Expanded Imperial section, note the early Terminator design
An interesting glimpse into early Terminator armour, again a WD article.

Gangs! Drawings by John Blanche
Development on Confrontation / Necromunda appeared as WD articles - it was just about 40k Gangs at that point, not really a settled game.
Eldar - illustrations by Jes Goodwin.
(sorry about the low-quality pic)
Waaargh the Orks!
Paul Bonner Ork Weirdboy drawing
Again, culled from WD articles
Waargh the Orks was a massive 2 volume set of Orkish rules, one half fluff, one half crunch. However, GW had already published 90% of the material in WD, and that is collected here.
Back Cover: Wayne England Ork
So there you have it! Now if I could only find the half-Zoid, half-Airfix cyborg dinosaur that my Space Orks used to travel round with...

Wednesday 17 October 2012

The Mighty Thor!

The 1960s cartoon version of Marvels Thor on the Youtubes!



I'm not sure what's going on at Youtube these days, they seem to have a lot of old cartoons and tv series that are still best-before copyright expiry date. Maybe they sorted a way of paying the rights owners and all this stuff is legit now? Who knows.

Anyway, it's fun to have this running in the background whilst I'm working - the bright solid colour palette and the fantastic Jack Kirby artwork used captain-pugwash style to tell the tales of derring do, riding rough-shod over Norse mythology. I love the low-tech, full on, bare bones graphic quality of the series, it has a vigor and energy that is really quite insane (in a good way). Maybe break out some Marvel Super Heroes RPG - another copyright WTF? and start putting on silly voices. Loki seems to have been Skeletors voice coach - que high pitched strangulated laughter.

Clearvision have the DVDs for  £5, including postage in the UK, so I'll get around to placing an order eventually...

Anyway, begone - back to the drawing table with you Zhu!

Monday 8 October 2012

Otherworld Old School Dungeon Adventurer Miniatures Crowdfunding

Yes  Otherworld Miniatures are getting on board the miniatures crowdfunding phenomenonon, with an excellent* range of dungeon adventurers.

DA1 (front) Kevin Adams

DA1 (back) Kevin Adams

Set 1 is a box of 12 adventuring type human men, set 2 adventuring demi-humans, set 3 adventuring women, set 4 hirelings and henchmen.  All are set to be gritty fantasy adventurers, tooled up for some serious old school dungeon delving (yes, even the women will be sensibly attired).

Sculpting duties are going to Kevin Adams, John Winter David Soderquist and Patrick Keith based on concept art by Paul Gallagher and Des Hanley, each boxed set will be supplied in FeldHerr foam with front cover case art by (unannounced, but he's very good, highly prolific and you know his work) and back cover and design by me!**

Completed Stretch Goals include Equipment packs, Treasure Items, Campsite, Cart and Mule - which are added in at various funding levels. Forthcoming stretch-goals include  War Dogs, Barrels & Crates and Wizards Familiars (both Mundane and Magical).

Otherworld Miniatures - Dungeon Adventurers - Indiegogo

** yes, yes I know. I actually jumped in and put down the first backing (in at level 7) after seeing kevs greens and pauls concept art before Richard dragged me in to work on the project, so yes, I really do think its good, and I'm not just saying it.

Friday 28 September 2012

Thee Inquizition ov Thee Psyker Youth

Is Games Workshop really an access point for the Temple ov Psychick Youth?

Temple of Psychic Youth Tatoos.
Original black & white TOPY tattoo and scar photos, page 11, Thee Grey Book, circa 1982
via:



GW Inquisition Logo

Psychic Youth: Themes: 1982 via RHO-xs

Inquisitor Rulebook (detail)
T-shirt by Dust la Rock (2012)
Beautiful and sold out


++CHAPTER APPROVED++

TOPY Temple Ov Psychic Youth, is/was a dis/organisation created by industrial musician, Genesis P Orridge, which positions itself as a modern occult movement and fan-club for his music, such as with band Throbbing Gristle and Psychic TV. Radical free-thought, and influential on writers such as Grant Morisson MBE and within the chaos magick scene - Liber Null and Psychonaut and all that transformational sigil jazz. The membrane between sub-pop-culture and occult mysticism has always been quite thin (just ask Alan Moore) but it's nice to watch the process of osmosis. The logo itself is reasonably meaning free, but has some resonances with the papal cross, and the identifying mark for Zyklon chemical company, famous for their type B pesticide.

Games Workshop are a stock market traded company that make "the best model soldiers in the world", including the Human Empire and the ever present forces of chaos. The Inquisition is mankinds first line of defence against chaos daemons as they manifest themselves through rogue psychic humans, and have appropriated a mark that has previously resonated with religious dogma, genocide, psychic occultism and industrial noise. Quite fitting no?

Of course just by itself, the Psychic Cross is probably just a simple geometrical form, that might be found in a million arbitrary places - but with the imposition of the skull (as the initial tattoo image illustrates) the similarities between the two symbols are really quite striking.

+++TRANCEMISSION 23 ENDEAD+++