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Talk:The Assignment

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Quarantined content

Ordinals Description
Zeta
Epsilon
(11)
(12)
Manifesting early, these levels of talent (and those above) require the immediate attention of Imperial authorities and represent a true security threat.
Delta
Gamma
(13)
(14)
Delta and Gamma level psykers exhibit extreme levels of psionic ability. Unless discovered quickly, death or possession are common results of the untrained mind being unable to handle this level of mental energy.
Beta
Alpha
(15)
(16)
Exceedingly rare and dangerous. Mainstream Medicae Imperialis discussion agrees that current human beings do not possess the necessary evolutionary development to contain Beta and Alpha levels of psionic talent. As such, the great majority of those discovered at this Assignment rating usually suffer from mental instability.

NOTE: Sources checked to not contain references: Eisenhorn Omnibus, Ravenor Omnibus, For the Emperor, Dark Heresy: Core Rulebook, Dark Heresy Second Edition: Core Rulebook, The Inquisition (Background Book), Rulebooks (2nd [+ Dark Milennium], 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 8th, 9th editions)


Discussion #1

Now this is curious... according to this, a Tau grade individual has no ability to recognize psychic prowess. Ironically, so does the Tau race. So it begs the question- did we name the Tau due to this comparison, did they choose it? Or is this just a hilarious coincidence? --Lygris 20:41, 19 September 2008 (CEST)

One would assume someone at GW thought it would be funny to name them this, as it is a fairly random name in itself. Otherwise it may well be random luck, but that seems too unlikely. I doubt the Tau, if they named themselves, knew of the Imperial psychic connotations.--Jonru 20:45, 19 September 2008 (CEST)
Hmmmm. If I recall correctly, the first encounter with the Tau was supposedly by Rogue Trader fleets who encountered them. They were scheduled to be wiped out, saved by a Warp storm that randomly showed up. Perhaps they overheard the term and the name was... adapted by them? Curious. --Lygris 20:54, 19 September 2008 (CEST)

What is the Emperor's and Malcador's levels according to this? Also is Tzeentch zeta plus? Deranzo (talk) 14:21, 15 March 2023 (UTC)

Alpha Plus

Regarding this particular passage: "Alpha-Plus psykers can, however, be of great benefit to the Imperium if detected early. A collection of the greatest Imperial servants are reported to have been Alpha-Plus; including Gideon Ravenor, and Brother-Captain Stern."

I know for certain that Ravenor is not Alpha Plus (he is Delta), but I cannot find any source of Stern being an Alpha Plus. It seems unlikely that such an uncontrollable individual as an Alpha Plus would be able to advance to such a high rank as a Grey Knight. Can anyone verify the source or should I remove the passage? --Cherubael 06:59, 6 April 2009 (UTC)

I'd say remove it, (1) Alpha Plus psykers as a plot device were meant to be similar to weapons of mass destruction, (2) it has already been established in the article that individuals above Beta are usually unbalanced (3) it would be unlikely for Stern to be an Alpha plus psyker if he has so many problems with the daemon M'Kachen. --Dark Angel 2020 18:24, 11 May 2009 (UTC)

No source = removal. --Inquisitor S., Großmeister des Ordo Lexicanum 22:32, 11 May 2009 (UTC)

Now someone has added Tigurius as an Alpha Plus level psyker...? --Dark Angel 2020 16:12, 17 May 2009 (UTC)

Clean up a little?

Although it's fairly straightfforward, there is a little confusion on this page. Is an Eta-level of higher strength or lower than an Iota? maybe if it was cut up into vertically descending groups with the description on the bottom? --Goldblade 15:53, 11 September 2010 (UTC)

Difference between ratings on the same "level"

So, what's the difference between Rho and Pi, or Zeta and Epsilon levels? Has it ever been specified?

PS: If this sounds a strange question, it's because despite being an avid fan of WH40K, I unfortunately suffer from the total lack of any WH40K materials in my locale. Life is cruel. MarqFJA87 (All things are below Justice. All things are encompassed by Mercy.) 23:17, 25 September 2010 (UTC)

We don't know (for now). --Inquisitor S., Großmeister des Ordo Lexicanum 17:17, 26 September 2010 (UTC)

Scale confusion - blanks/pariahs

Seems to be a certain amount of disagreement between articles going on.

This article states: "Usually referred to as Untouchables, Pariahs, or Blanks. These individuals are so inert in the Warp as to actually exhibit negative psychic influence upon others. Primarily manifested as a small region of "blankness" surrounding the individual, it is impossible for psychic powers or warp creatures to penetrate this space."

Whereas the article on Blanks and Pariahs explicitly describes a difference between the two. Namely that Pariahs are null-entities which have no warp presence whereas Blanks take this a step further and nullify warp activities within a certain area. That said I'm not that familiar with Pariahs as I don't remember reading the term anywhere, although I am familiar with blanks and untouchables (thanks to the Caiphas Cain series and Dan Abnett's Inquisition novels); so I could be missing something. In which case the articles should probably be clarified.

On a side note, the aforementioned article and the actual article on the Culexus Temple simply described Culexus assassins as Pariahs (implying Omega class) whereas this article seems to classify them as even further below that (Omega-Minus). However if the scale does go down that far why are Blanks considered Omega rather than further down given the greater potency of their anti-psyker abilities? Furthermore the Culexus article itself states: "but it is speculated that the warp energy separated from its targets by the null aura of the Culexus is held in this device and then unleashed"

Which seems to me to be indicative of a Blank rather than a Pariah.

All in all it seems a bit disjointed. Can anyone shed some light on this rather chaotic little issue?

Exarch 16:48, 3 June 2011 (CEST)

1.: Some life-forms are mentally under-developed, so they don't respond to psychic contact. -> normal blanks (source: somewhere in the Lexicanum)
2.: And then there is a special kind of mutant: the Untouchable/Pariah.1 Although being some kind of psyker, he is ranked at the very bottom of the scale to emphasize his ability to suppress psychic activity.unsourced An Untouchable is immune to psychic effects that would affect him personally and he suppresses to a great degree psychic powers who "pass by", within a radius of several meters.1
Source: 1 : Dark Heresy: Disciples of the Dark Gods, p.28 --DetlefK 17:40, 3 June 2011 (CEST)

References tidying up

It isn't really hard to see how the references are quite unsightly on this page. I know that nigh every information about the Assignment comes from a one page of lore, tightly packed with information. But I don't think referencing it at the end of every paragraph, or even in the said scale case at the end of sections' titles is appropriate, I invite someone to tidy it up, as I will try, but I doubt it'll help.--Brownpandanotgrizzly (talk) 22:26, 21 November 2023 (UTC)