High Grandmaster Munstrum Ridcully

## **Munstrum Ridcully**

**High Grandmaster Munstrum Ridcully, the Oracle of Avernus** is the current head of the Adeptus Astra Telepathica of the Imperial Trust and an Honorary High Council Member.

## Munstrum Ridcully

### Relatives

Many Oath and Blood kin amongst Avernus's leadership

## The High Grandmaster

One of the latest councillors to arrive before the death of the Emperor, Grandmaster Ridcully was dispatched to Avernus by the Imperial Telepathica to establish a training facility upon the planet and study its wildlife, after a long career in the Imperial military.

However Ridcully, through insane luck and mad ability, exceeded all expectations when he was swept up in the birth of Ynnead, following the newborn Goddess into the palace of Slaanesh and witnessing the pair's cataclysmic clash.

Although the experience left him blind it elevated his abilities and understanding to a new level and has allowed him to grow the Telepathica to a remarkable level.

## History

The exact specifics of Ridcully's life before he came to Avernus are unclear. Only that he graduated from the Lancre Schola Psykana, served as an Imperial Battle psyker with a specialisation in divination and eventually was selected to head the Avernite Schola.

Although he suffered a brief crisis of faith in the aftermath of the Emperor's death, he worked through it almost entirely without outside aid, and soon became a key part of the Trust's systems due to his ability to warn it of oncoming threats, as his skills at divination were amongst the greatest of humanity.

These skills were elevated further when he witnessed the Birth of Ynnead, and the severing of the Eldar's connection to Slaanesh, and although he was rendered Blind, his power was increased and his mastery of divination grew until it reached that of a young eldar farseer.

For the next few centuries, he would grow his control and power further whilst saving billions of lives through his predictions of threats and saving key individuals from death, especially on Avernus. However, his second encounter with the divine came with the plot of Tzeench. Following Arbiter Oakheart's defeat of the Changling a massive search was launched to find the rest of the plot, and Ridcully was, of course, pressed into service. However, he not only found them he went a step further and peered into the mind of Tzeench for the barest moment, uncovering the great mutator's plans. This pushed him over the edge into transcendence, his skill matching some of the best Eldar seers in the galaxy.

When he saw the Green Tide approaching Ridcully volunteered to watch his third divine experience, where he prepared himself to view the awakening of the Orkish Gods. It was here that he first encountered Eldrad Ulthran, who hid him from the Eyes of Magnus the Red and Kairos the Visir of Tzeench, to watch the awakening unfold. When it occurred none were ready for the sheer power that was unleashed, but where Ridcully should have shattered he survived, battered yet otherwise whole.

It was this experience that pushed him forward even more, making him unparalleled amongst mortal seers, with his only superiors-now in the ranks of the immortals, like Eldrad. It was also in this that it was learned that Ridcully had changed at a fundamental nature. His constant impossible deeds had imprinted upon the warp and he had earned the Archetype of the Blind Seer, marking himself a nascent god of Ascension.

In the aftermath of the Awakening, Ridcully contacted Eldrad and acted as a go-between for the Eldar, forging the pacts that would facilitate the Grand Conclave, whilst Ridcully stepped onto the galactic scale, his visions easing the Eldar's burdens and letting them redistribute forces to win grand victories as they prepared for one of their grandest goals.

Isha, mother goddess of the Eldar, has been kept so long by Nurgle that the memory of her is practically a dream. However, the Ynnari have never given up hope, and so they assembled a team of their best seers to scout the way into Nurgle's dark mansion. Ridcully was included in that number, and with the promise of great rewards snuck into the mansion as Nurgle's was distracted. Through the gardens of plague, the pantry of pestilence, the vast kitchen where the God produces its endless contagions. This was as far as Ridcully needed to go, but he pressed onwards, through the paths worn by the Great God himself, to a seemingly decrepit door covered in moss. There he placed his hands upon it and felt the touch of Isha through the hole she had worn in Nurgle's defences, passing to him a gift for her Children, and bestowing him with her Blessing.

Fleeing from Nurgle's retribution, as the God immediately sensed his intrusion, Ridcully escaped, bringing the scroll containing Isha's gift to the Eldar, who now look to him with a vast degree of awe.

In the current era, Ridcully's penultimate act of galactic note was his discovery of the secret hiding place of Ahrah, the Dark Phoenix, saving the galaxy from Khorne as the full Eldar god of War and the ascendant Avatar. For the Trust his constant divinations possibly made the difference between defeat and victory in the harrying of the Hive Fleet.

This was followed by his participation in the rescue of Isha, accompanied by Areatha the Ancient Wanderer, the Ancient One, and He-Who-Walks-Obliquely. Bad luck prompted their discovery, but they successfully fled Nurgle's domain, before destroying Cadia in a colossal battle with pursuing Exalted despatched by the Ruinous Powers to apprehend them. In addition, Ridcully is now effectively the Godfather of the "Child of Hate" born from Isha during her captivity, and rescued alongside her. These events have catapulted Ridcully's prestige among the Eldar to new heights, even as they have also drawn deeply unwanted attention to Avernus, threatening the very survival of the Imperial Trust.

## Personality and Relationships

Ridcully is an eccentric, bombastic, and strong-willed man, whose natural inclinations are made worse by his powers which make at times make it hard for him to focus on the here and now, rather than the other side of the galaxy in a few hundred years.

Despite this, for those who can look past this, he is a true friend, albeit one who possesses a dark side of his own, as he tends to place immense pressure on himself and his abilities, falling into deep guilt for his inability to rescue Isha, despite the impossibility of him even opening her chambers, never mind escaping with her. He has also been struggling with his own ascension into a god, trying to square its probable inevitability and likely necessity with his own religious beliefs, something that his discussions with Lin helped with, but were not ever to wholly deal with.

* **All people** - Due to Ridcully's precognition it is not uncommon for him to answer one side of a conversation on his own, as well as many other peculiar traits that are off-putting for many.
* **Fredrick Rotbart** - After so many years of working together, Ridcully and Rotbart highly respect one another, both as people and professionally. The two especially work well together with Rotbart in command, and Ridcully fine tuning his decisions through divination.
* **Xavier and Tamia** - Two of his closest and most skilled students, Ridcully's bond with the two is practically parental, or at least a crazy uncle.
* **Jane Oakheart** - Although she initially had misgivings about him, due to his nature as a psyker, her own odd nature, and the fact that he's aided her against chaos psykers hundreds of times, have made them close allies. Indeed, she trusts his visions so much that even when all evidence pointed to Jacob's demise in the caverns, Ridcully's insistence that he was alive kept her own hope high.
* **Jacob Oakheart** - Son of Jane and destined for greatness, Ridcully saw or intuited many things in Jacob's future. This prompted him to teach Jacob many skills that were useless to a normal human, like how to use basic psyker powers. However, when Jacob gained these powers these oddities suddenly made much more sense. Jacob sees Ridcully as sort of a crazy granduncle.
* **Ophelia Jameson** - The first stable alpha on Avernus, it was Ridcully that saw Ophelia's powers emerge, and who was there to take her from her parents moments after they did so. Part of her life since early childhood, he taught her many of the things that she considers as easy as breathing today, and she sees him as an odd, but loving granduncle.
* **Areatha** - Areatha's centuries of experience with beings even weirder than Ridcully meant that the two were always able to understand each other, coupled with the fact that she was one of the few beings capable of keeping up with him in his field. Although the two quarrelled over her decision to pursue her own ascension they were able to make peace and share a strong bond.
* **Saint Lin** - Ridcully and Lin were always able to be close to one another, supporting each other through their shared desire for knowledge, caring for youngsters, especially psykers, and teaching others, with Lin frequently giving Ridcully counselling and advice through the tumultuous events of his life. Ridcully was there to witness Lin's final sacrifice and was one of the two individuals he informed of the immeasurable pain he endured. Ridcully misses him.
* **Esmerelda Weatherwax** - Esmerelda Weatherwax and Ridcully were close friends from the Lancre Schola, and when he discovered she was still alive they were both overjoyed. Although this joy turned to dash when she died enroute, he and she were both happy that they were at least able to say proper goodbyes and see each other one more time.
* **The Eldar** - Amongst most Eldar Ridcully is viewed with immense awe, due to both his status as blessed by their goddess, and the frankly impossible feats he has consistently been able to achieve. There have even been mutterings of adding him to their pantheon when he ascends. In the meantime his retinue of Eldar seems to grow ever larger, whilst his divinations prove more and more critical to the galaxy's survival.

## Character Sheet

Age: 597, rejuved to 30

**Martial**: 13 + 21= 34 (+70 martial bonus)-*The combination of his long military experience and his precognitive abilities makes High Grandmaster Ridcully a great general, though he is an even better military adviser.*

**Intrigue**: 13 + 29= 42- *High Grandmaster Ridcully's master of Divination and great experience make it near impossible to hide any secrets from him, with even death not being enough to avoid his postcognative efforts.*

**Administration**: 10-5=5- *High Grandmaster Ridcully has trouble focuses on the details of the here and now which are the base of all administration, and as such has learnt to delegate all administrative tasks in order to avoid disaster.*

**Learning**: 13 + 18= 31- *High Grandmaster Ridcully has learnt much about the Warp during his long life, and discovered even more. His education outside of this field remains spotty however.*

**Piety**: 13+46= 59- *High Grandmaster Ridcully's unbending faith and utter self-knowledge is enough to easily resist the whispers of the deep Warp, which he is constantly exposed to as a result of his skillset.*

**Diplomacy**: 8-5=3-*High Grandmaster Ridcully combines few social skills with being even more strange then most psykers. As such he should never be used for anything resembling diplomacy.*

**Combat**: 14 + 31= 45(+605 combat bonus)- *High Grandmaster Ridcully is a nightmare to fight on the battlefield, always being one step ahead of you and impossibly accurate with both bullet and warpfire.*

**Power**: 39+ 20= 59 (1,325\*1024 =1,356,800)- *Despite the fact that he was born a Delta-level Psyker High Grandmaster Ridcully has the brute psychic strength of a strong Alpha-level Psyker, due to his steps down the Path of Ascension.*

**Control**: 17 +45= 62-*High Grandmaster Ridcully has near perfect control over his Warp powers, and is able to use them with a level of precision that is literally inhuman.*

(204/9+13.5=35.5)

**Nearly Completed Developed Archetype of the Blind Seer** (39 Power, -11 Control, -1A, -8D, \*1,024 power multiplier, +7 to trait chance, increases bonus granted to others by +20, constantly sees major turning points, can re-roll an additional roll every turn, greatly increases chance of allied heroes gaining traits, +10 to all divination rolls)- *High Grandmaster Ridcully has been a witness to multiple divine events in his time, a fact which has changed his relationship with the Warp and given him the Archetype of the Blind Seer. The Warp now moves with him, transforming him from a strong Delta-level Psyker into a powerful Alpha-level Psyker as well as giving him insight into key events happening all over the galaxy, and into how to best aid others. On the downside he is more likely to be cryptic, less likely to explain himself, if such a thing is possible, and more likely to be drawn to events of great significance. Over the years he has stepped further on this path no less than seven times, gaining ever more influence in the Warp and getting ever closer to Ascension.*

**Paragon Control Trait: Unseen Observer** (can't be detected using divination from less then Grandmaster level Diviners, it is impossible to observe or predict his divination without divine level skill or relevant paragon trait)- *High Grandmaster Ridcully has near perfect control over his Warp Signature, which makes it impossible to detect him with divination for all but the most skilled of seers. When this is combined with his own divinatory abilities it makes it near impossible to predict what he will divine, or to detect his observation.*

**Paragon Power Trait: Sees no Barriers** (can ignore psychic wards and interference below the divine level for divination, greater chance against divine level wards or interference)-*High Grandmaster Ridcully's experiences have developed his sight to the level where he can easily see past any merely mortal attempts to ward him out or cloud his eyes, and is far better at getting past divine precautions than any mortal has the right to be.*

**Artifact: Olhixcocl's Defence** (+100 vs Psychic effects, +1 armour, block first hit each round)-*The small size of Olhixcocl's Defence belies its ability to halt even the greatest of attacks in its tracks, an abiity that its first wielder used to fight against the larger monsters of Avernus, and that Ridcully can use to protect himself against the Greater Deamons of Chaos. For a while.*

**Paragon Piety Trait: Self Assurance**(never fails resistance roll when his base roll is higher then enemies, immunity to mind or soul influencing effects below Paragon, +100 to rolls to resist mind or soul influencing effects)-*High Grandmaster Ridcully has seen the birth of Gods and the thrones of Chaos and remained himself. This is due to his deep knowledge of who he is, and his refusal to be changed. By anything.*

**Artifact: Ghosthelm of Vaul** (+2 Control, invisible to daemons, +100 to resisting warp effects, halve effect of miscasts)-*High Grandmaster Ridcully has been gifted with a Ghosthelm forged by a Avatar of Vaul, which renders him invisible to daemons of all types, and provides him with a great deal of protection from the dangers of the Warp.*

**Divination Paragon Trait: Oracle** (no distance or scale penalties for divination, can use divination on Gods without opening with greatly decreased risk, increase level of diviner needed to detect or predict divinations by one tier)-*High Grandmaster Ridcully sees further and looks deeper then should be possible. In his time on Avernus he has witnessed the birth of a god and followed it into the very throne room of the Dark Prince, spied on the domain of the Abomination, and even divined the intentions and motivations of the Changer of Ways itself. These feats show a talent for seeing the actions of gods which is unheard of in mortals*

**Grandmaster Primaris Psyker** (+4M, +2D, +3P, +8C, +7 Power, +10 Control)*- Munstrum Ridcully is a Grandmaster Primaris Psyker, one of the greatest human psykers in history. He has a mastery of his powers that few mortals can boast of, and those few are often millennia his elder.*

**Paragon of Divination**(+8M, +6I, +6C, +2 Power, +8 Control, +60 to Divination rolls, +15 to success chance of any re-roll always choose the highest when re-rolling, can provide one re-roll per flank in his theatre, can provide two re-rolls per turn to a battle he is involved in, always rolls twice and chooses for actions he and his unit take, can use Emperor's Tarot re-rolls in far more situations, can provide two re-roll per year, has 50% chance of re-rolling crit fails, can re-roll successes)*- High Grandmaster Ridcully is one of the greatest living Seers, with only the most skilled of the Eldar Farseers and the most powerful Daemons able to match him. This skill is invaluable on every level, from the personal to grand strategy.*

**“Unparalleled Among Mortal Seers”** (+9M, +13I, -4A, +1D, +19P, +6C, +10 Power, +22 Control, +50 to divination rolls, incredibly unlikely to be overwhelmed by psychic phenomena, +10 to major visions, major bonus to diplomacy with Eldar, major bonus to diplomacy with Warp Entreaties +5% of inner circle cultists found, +20 to all rolls against Abomination Cultists, +50 to all rolls against Angyls, +5% number of Abomination Cultists found, get one free Greater Divination action per 5 years targeted at a distance of over 1,000 LY, occasionally gain visions of events of galactic significance)-*High Grandmaster Ridcully is probably the greatest human Seer in history and the witness to more divine events than any other mortal. These events range from the the Birth of Ynnead and her first fight in the Thrones room of the Dark Prince, to the Halls of the Abomination, and the Awakening of the Ork Gods. As such he is constantly seeing events far beyond the range of normal seers. His title as “The Oracle of Gods” is well deserved, and has spread far beyond the Imperial Trust.*

**Avernite Bi-centenarian** (+6C, +2P, +1I, -2D when dealing with non-Avernites) –*Having survived two centuries of life on Avernus Ridcully have proven himself to be an expert warrior, the bearer of a strong will and very alert to danger.*

**Faith Reforged** (+5P, +1 Power, +3 Control) – *High Grandmaster Ridcully's faith has been tested in the most severe circumstances and come out stronger than ever.*

**Survivor of the Pink Skies**(+2P, +1C, +1 Control +5 to all rolls against daemons)-*Having proved himself against the most dangerous foes in the galaxy during the First Daemonic Incursion High Grandmaster Ridcully has had his faith and combat skills tested.*

***Devoted Seeker of Knowledge*** (+3I, +12L, +1W, +2 Control)- *High Grandmaster Ridcully has spent much time gathering knowledge of both the Warp and the galaxy in general. This has awakened in him a fascination with knowledge itself, and all the good and ill that can be done with it.*

**Better than you have tried and failed**(+4P, +4 Control, +100 to resisting Warp based effects, can resist all forms of warp effects, half negative effect of all Warp based effects on Ridcully before other rolls (including miscasts))*- High Grandmaster Ridcully has proven himself to be incredibility gifted at dissipating Warp energies that should fry him. He describes what he does as sort of like rolling with the blow in melee, and letting the power flow though him without impact. Whatever he is doing, it is incredibly hard for Warp-based effects of any form to take purchase on High Grandmaster Ridcully.*

**Battle-Forged** (+3C, less likely to die) -*In the Second Daemonic Incursion, High Grandmaster Ridcully found himself the prey of the Honoured Bloodthirster Kurrun Ashstriker, who was immune to almost all of his powers. This forced Ridcully to push his combat skills to a new level in order to survive, if only just.*

**Blessing of Isha** (+3P, immunity to non divine disease and poison, +200 to resist disease and poison, +50 vs Nurgle, +50 to all healing rolls, +20 D and +100 to diplomacy rolls when dealing with Eldar, Honored reputation with Eldar)*- High Grandmaster Ridcully has been blessed by Isha, the Eldar Goddess of the Harvest, Fertility, Life, Healing and Growth. This blessing greatly increases his talents at healing, renders him immune to all but the most vile of plagues, and greatly colors his interactions with the Eldar, who seem to be adding him to their pantheon...*

**Survivor of the Gilded Skies** (+2P, +1C, +5 to all rolls against daemons)- *Having proved himself against the most dangerous foes in the galaxy during the Third Daemonic Incursion, High Grandmaster Ridcully has had his faith and combat skills tested.*

***Finder of Secrets Known and Unknown***(+5I, +5L, +3W, +2 Control, +20 to all rolls against cults, +10 to all research rolls, +15 to all divination rolls seeking secrets or other little known information)- *High Grandmaster Ridcully is unmatched when it comes to finding out secrets of all types. This ranges from locating hidden chaos cults to the secrets of the Warp or even the unknown truth behind the Emperor’s birth.*

***Adviser of Heroes*** (+2 Control, +25 to fateweaving rolls, increases bonus granted to others by +10)- *As the Blind Seer High Grandmaster Ridcully is best when he is assisting heroes in their work rather then acting in his own right. This assistance can range from the slightest of nudges to the most obvious enchantments.*

***Seeker of Truth*** (+1I, +1L)- *High Grandmaster Ridcully has a drive to discover the Truth, no matter what it is.*

Headmaster Munstrum Ridcully was one of the greatest Primaris to have come out of the Lancre Scholastia Psykana. His talent for offensively using his precognition to a level rarely seen outside of the Eldar led to him being considered one of the most useful Primaris Psykers of the Imperium for many years. Through decades of combat his power grew from above average for a Delta-level to a high Gamma-level, a growth that was matched by an increase in his control over his powers which, while not perfect, is still very good. Ridcully was assigned to Avernus to run the Scholastia Psykana in the hopes that he would be able to pass on his talents to the psykers that have been emerging on Avernus.
Headmaster Ridcully had a brief crisis of faith after the death of the Emperor, but overcame it and strengthened his faith in the process.

## Trivia

* Ridcully consistently has had some of the most outrageous luck in the quest, with the most notable instance being the Green Awakening, where he had to roll above 90 four times in a row in order to survive unscathed, and succeeded everytime.
* Ridcully is the Trust's first, and for centuries only, Galactic-tier asset.
* Almost every named Avernite character would have likely already died or been seriously maimed if not for Ridcully.
* Ridcully forced the reveal of the Archetype system far earlier than Durin had intended due to his consistent nonsense.
* Ridcully looks like, dresses like, and occasionally acts like Munstrum Ridcully from the Discworld series, to whom he is a reference. However, he is physically younger and has a white blindfold across his eyes. He also hunts with a Super-Exitus Rifle rather than a crossbow.
* Ridcully is terminally unable to do paper work, and without his faithful assistant Zeno the administration of the University would have gone to hell long ago.