okay so, i think that the vet might be a bit of a psyker. there are a bunch of different levels of psyker and personally, i think that the vet fits snugly into the “omicron, xi, nu, mu, lambda, kappa” level. the reason i think this is because of the voice of command and the volley fire/executioners stance ability(ies). i’ll explain, the VoC being able to pick people up with just shouting is something a psyker could possibly do by healing wounds just enough using the power of the warp channeled through the voice. the vet and the people around them could reason that the vet is just that inspiring and think nothing else of it until a blank comes around. as for VF/ES, the vet unwittingly channels the warp to make priority enemies more noticeable while also unknowingly buffing themself using the power of the warp. the vet could reason that they just focus really hard on the targets they see as important and the guns were just always as good as they are during VF/ES.
tell me what you guys think and maybe share your insane theories too.
all non-psyker characters have some sort of ability that completely defies reality, ogryn can shoot free bullets randomly and make his guns incendiary by being angry, zealot can literally make healing golden light flow out of a reliquary that they keep on hand, I think ultimately it’s intended as just “gameplay stuff” and not actual canon.
However I really like the theory that the whole I Am a Warrior chant at the start of the game is letting the rejects tap into a shared psychic potential (which is why we can also tank being shot in the face through toughness)
the gunners sight can be explained with cybernetic enhancments, either built in or helmet built.
The voice of command is built around the concept of charismatic leaders who command such presense they can make stunned soldiers snap out of their stunned stand. real world examples accross history in firefights.
as for restoring toughness, couldn’t explain that. Unless it had some basis on being a sort faith based resistance to pain that crumbles when the pain gets too much.
40K is full of stuff like this. Sister’s of Battle are able to manifest things through the power of faith, all without being Psykers. Guardsmen have (in some tabletop editions) been able to run across the battlefield faster than tanks and jump pack infantry because an Officer yelled “Move Move Move!” at them. Thinking too deeply about it gets weird fast.
Yup I think of VoC as a moral boost. The part where is stuns and knockbacks can be shuffled to the faith category, for me. The heretics being blinded by the emperors light gasping at the might of the Imperium.
If he had psyker limits I think we would see some of the enemies’ heads explode when he shouted. Also, if we include mechanics, peril would also be present or at least some kind of warp influence.
So when I break it down to its very core I would look for the warp when relating things to psykers. Toughness and regen I akin to save rolls, let’s just say we roll a lot of double 6’s in darktide .
Executioner’s stance is probably just enabling a device attached to the weapon (you can see the Veteran switching something on their gun if idle when triggering it).
My big theory is that Sefoni is a Daemonhost - who in their right mind would have a Psyker of immense power just floating in a tank, speaking psychically to everyone? Some of her dialogue (w/ Krall in World’s Worst Cargo Elevator) says that jinxing is a real phenomenon in the 40k universe, and she did Something to Morrow.
With how creepy she is, the tattoos on her body, and her clear psychic strength, plus the trend of Inquisitors making Daemonhosts for giggles, it all adds up to some warp entity possessing someone’s body, erasing their soul and taking it over for themselves. There’s no contest of will to be seen here - Sefoni is well and truly in full control, and all of the gadgets attached to her are to restrain her.
My crack theory is that it’s a Tzeentchian daemon possessing her, and Grendyl, in a fit of pure idiocy and desperation, struck a deal with the Trickster God, asking it to turn the tide of the War for Atoma in their favor, by granting the Strike Teams undetectable boons. It would explain why our characters are able to survive hundreds of missions without losing limb or mind (PC deaths are non-canon), and kill thousands of heretics all the while.
Tzeentch goes along with this because as the god of change, he’s natural enemies with Nurgle, the god of stagnation and decay. He also thinks it would be funny to help the Imperium for a change, and get back at his best frenemy.
he’s probably not a full psyker, but instead just one of the wyrds - a so low in his psyker abilities person that’s not considered to be aknowledged as threat to society by Inquisition or Imperial government, but allows them to do stuff like becoming invisible or scream so hard that he knocks down people around him (Wyrd - Warhammer 40k - Lexicanum)
this can work with other characters (even with ogryn, Cassia as (more as a joke) an example for that - Cassia (Ogryn) - Warhammer 40k - Lexicanum)
if you need an explanation to anything thats happening on Atoma or Mourningstar you can just remember Cicatrix Maledictum which brought us huge grow of psyker-ability population
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