I've recently gotten a stable dark heresy group up and running and we've had two sessions and it's gone well. They're all new to 40k and most are new to roleplaying. So far we have a psyker, arbite, assassin and tech priest.  And a fifth player making a character tomorrow. They had no issues picking what they wanted and I loved that they picked different ones so I didn't have to persuade them to do so as I prefer a diverse group.

Now, they all showed interest for several characters yet none, not one showed much interest for playing Adept or Cleric. I've tried, but it seems like a difficult sale compared to the other careers. Any tips?

Run a game where you can't shoot your way through all the "investigations", and where they can't flash their =I= badge around to force cooperation.

You'll find Adepts and Priests useful when you need to interact with people and/or perform research/paperwork. People like to play useful classes.

Watch Fringe and tell me you don't want to play a morbid professor with expertise in biology, psychology, chemistry and electronics (and drug problems). 

 Currently I'm playing a slightly modified Edge of Darkness, problem is most of the people are babbling idiots when it comes to social interaction the damn Arbite is pretty good at inquiry, or they beat the crap out of a suspect. As per the Edge of Darkness they can't show the badge, and when it becomes an option there will be severe consequences.

Okay, so I can try to sell the adept in as an expert investigator kind of career?

Adept is essentially the embodiment of "Knowledge is power." (especially if you take the slightly more radical background package of "Thy name I keep")

Cleric is really more of a jack of all trades type. Well off enough to be socially capable in many situations (they can preach to the poor or the rich), as well as having enough to prop themselves up in combat (flamers, chainswords, etc.). If you run with the BoM faith talents it can get pretty nifty.

As an aside, I've always dreamed of having a one shot campaign where all the players are adepts locked in an administratum building, where there has been a murder. Essentially, an all adept game of Clue.

Its right up there with my dream of a Christmas one shot of Rogue Trader, where Kristoff Kringleson, captain of the Emperor's Sled, must deliver presents (supplies) to all the good boys and girls, and coal (exterminatus) to the vile xenos before the end of the night. All while the GM is narrating the game in the same verse as Twas the Night Before Christmas.

I know what you mean. My group is made up of an Arbitrator, an Assassin, a Guardsman, a Psyker and a Tech-Priest and I fear no one of them would ever play an Adept.

I think it is easier to get players to play a Cleric. It is important to emphasize how important the Imperial Creed is to the common citizen (and even the higher ups) of the Imperium. Clerics are almost always respected and about no one dares to cross the Ecclesiarchy either because of its worldly power or because of its spiritual monopoly.

They have a good income as well whcih works as an argument for some players. Further, I think the Cleric (and to a lesser degree the Adept) has access to about the most interesting alternate career ranks in the whole system. Beginning with the Black Priest of Maccabeus, which always fascinated me as one of the first published alternate ranks, and not ending with the Banisher and Arch-Exorcist one could make great characters backgroundwise as well as ruleswise. They also tend to be great leaders/primes of an Acolyte cell.

The Inquisitor players a large hand in what the group decides to make as well, I find.

For example, I am currently using an Amalathian Puritan- so bureaucrat adepts and pious clerics are a must on the team! So much so, I've had three clerics running at the same time, along with an adept [and a "puritan assassin" and scum.] Selling the cleric is very easy if you stress out the zealous nature of the setting and expose them to Cleric NPCs and other such figures- showing them how cool these guys is a great way to convince others to play them :P 

 Well, in my group clerics have always been a favourited role.

In terms of their attribute, skill and talent advancement they make very solid melee and ranged fighters and are outstanding in social interaction. They might not have the best talents, but for sure they are on of the three jack-of-all-trades classes.

Additional they have the authority of the adeptus ministorum and because every citizen of the imperium has to be a religios man this gives you some power too. And with a higher rank, this gives a shitload of power. There are not much individuals that argue with a Hierophant.

Additional you can take even Fate-Talents and become a beacon of imperial faith. I mean… HELLO!?!?! How awsome is that?

So every campaign that keeps its balance between slaughter and real investigation recieves a great benefit of having a cleric in their ranks. This might be the class with the largest influence in the whole setting.

If none of the PC's in your group have been designated as the team medic then you might be able to persuade them to take on the adept role due to the fact that the sister hospitallier from blood of martyrs and the verispex adept from book of judgement are able to take the medicae skill from rank 1 although, in the case of the verispex, you need spend 100 XP to buy the medicae skill as well as buying the medical kit whereas the hospitallier gets that equipment from the very beginning.

The verispex can also get access to various scholastic lores at rank 1 as well though.

In my opinion there are no career that is a must have in the group.

Most of the core rules are combat oriented, and it is pretty easy to sit and watch the weapon and armor list and get all excited. New players will need a little guidance to discover the other aspects of the game. The best guidance is probably a gentle easing into non-combat role playing and make it an important part of your campaign - after all this is was sets role playing apart from the table top game.

In my experience players will go for the skills that are useful in your campaign - so make those skills useful. :-)

I must admit the only Adept we’ve seen in our games is the Sister Hospitaler variety. The Cleric on the other hand? Well our Cleric is a nutcase pyromaniac who burns all in the name of the Emperor. We’ve never had a problem encouraging people to play a Cleric.

BYE

Actually playing a cleric now rank 6 almost 7 in the latest campaign of dark heresy Imcan tell you that it is my favorite role so far.

I'm the best melee fighter of the group and the only one using evicerator and heavy flamer depending how the story goes, and I'm the second in wounds points just after the imperial guard.

I'm also the one with the highest fellowship and have more or less all the talent needed to start, stop riot and recruit a little army of fanatics for the game or persuade people to let us do our job without blowing apart our cover as inquisition agent.

By the way I've also take the faith talent  quite lately but with 3 powers at my disposal I can sometime get the group out of trouble.

Remember the Emperor protect but there is no shame helping him… to do so and cleric character.

 Well, speak of the devil. The guy who was going to join thought we were playing Black Crusade and suddenly he said "Oh, dark heresy? I'll play an adept then". I have no idea how, I just went over the classes, I DID try to steer him towards adept when giving him a summary of the classes. Priest is a hard sell though, they don't have a clearly defined role or specialty. And we're norwegian! Religious? Granted, most of us have had to chase away Jehovas witness we're just not that religious, not our parents and especially not us younger people so I think we have a hard time getting into the role of a fire and brimstone preacher in the same way as the other things. But I'll try, whenever someone has an…"accident"

I've always thought that the "fire and brimstone" part of the cleric was what appealed to me the most. I haven't been on the player side of the DM screen but I could definitely see myself as a cleric screaming "BLASPHEMER" at people.

Especially when you consider when we played warhammer fantasy rpg I was constantly screaming "BURN THE WITCH". So much in fact that our group wizard was loath to use his magic because he was afraid we'd burn him on the spot.

Primateus said:

 Oh I like the idea as well, but it's a more difficult role to get into because it's just…i can't explain it but it just doesn't click with how we view priests, the few we have. Our priests mostly speak to old people and are quiet nice people, the other kind we haven't had…oh, I don't know. Before my time. Before my grandparents time as well. It's just weird. Everything else we have no relation to, or we play relatively close to experiences or stereotypes.

And the lack of a clear, focused speciality. So I suppose I should try to put the emphasis on…whatever they do well better next time someone is making a character. I'll have to look at their career a bit closer.

I've said it elsewhere before, but I had an absolute blast playing my Noble born Banisher Cleric with a chantry background (almost gave him the pilgrim background to play up the 'poor' aspect even more). But that's the thing: there was some thought put into the character, his background and motivations. He was never a beast in combat, but not the worst. Definitely able to pull more social strings than an Adept, but slightly less knowledgeable.

Of all the classes, I think the Cleric is the most well rounded and at the same time the most fun to RP in this grim/dark universe. So many possibilities, but only if you are willing to put some effort into it.