PDA

View Full Version : Space-ship horror campaign (40k theme)



profitofrage
2011-04-05, 07:52 AM
Ok so im running a Dark heresy campaign set in a strike class frigate
(for those of you who dont know thats a roughly 1.6km long .4k wide .4k tall ship with a mess of guns.)
Basically They have entered warp and the gellar field has "flickered" due to a malfunction. This means the ship and everyone in it has been exposed to the raw powers of the warp for several seconds. The only reason many are still alive is that the gellar field did correct itself and turn back on, and being a highly prized inquisitional vessal had large sections fitted with various anti-warp blessings.


Basically the PC's were in one of these specially protected sections and thus were lucky enough to survive it...however the gellar field may well malfunction again..scans showing that something is attempting to destroy it from the inside. They are to make there way through the ship and its occupants to get to the gellar field generator.

Basically..the setting is "haunted ship" Considering its vast size and population, and chaotic nature of the warp. I want the playground to throw at me any number of terrible HORRIBLE..down right insanity inducing situations for the PC's to stumble across as they traverse the huge ship.

Any suggestion is fine, even if you dont know much about 40k, I just need horror style situations that could occur.
Suggestions on how to make the whole occurance scarier for the PC's are also welcome.

Yora
2011-04-05, 08:02 AM
While different in origin, this is almost exactly the premise of Dead Space. A small team of technicians trying to get a massive ship running again before the zombified crew kills them.

What's the exact effect of the warp? Does it just drive people crazy or does it cause mutations, or does it outright alter reality itself?

profitofrage
2011-04-05, 08:04 AM
Yea there are distinct similarities, the main difference is that due to the nature of the warp I can take it in ANY direction.
I could have mutants forming...people just turning psychotic...spirits haunting the halls. alternate realities..shifting walls...silent hill. Anything.
My main issue is im spoiled for choice and i cant focus on specific encounters.
Id love for people to suggest awesome spooky scenes that could occur or they think would be awesome to occur.

EDIT:


What's the exact effect of the warp? Does it just drive people crazy or does it cause mutations, or does it outright alter reality itself?

The warp is like cuthulu's nightmares. It will drive people mad...corrupt there bodies to the point of mutation..or simply cirrupt there minds till there no longer human. Worse is manifestations could form out of nothing, hideous demons rise up or the ship itself possessed.

Yora
2011-04-05, 08:15 AM
What works very well in Dead Space and is actually much creepier than the monsters are those people who have survived.
The "headbanger" should be quite well known by now, but there's also a nurse who just stands next to a bloody corpse and laughs. And never stops.
And the one who butchers a man strapped to a table alive with a saw. :smalleek:

I think insanity works even better than just fully mutated creatures that have lost any traces of humanity. Also kill survivors off left and right quite unceremoniously. No dramatic buildup or using it to showcase a new powerful monster. Just have for example one survivor talking to the PCs for a minute and suddenly a monster comes round the corner, tears his head of, and hen gets shot immediately by the PCs. And that's it. People don't die for reasons or with any relevance for the plot, they just die.

supermonkeyjoe
2011-04-05, 08:17 AM
A section of the ship has become organic, the corridors convulse like a gullet and secrete slimy matter everywhere.

A portion of the crew have been petrified, although they seem to change pose and move around when no-one is looking.

a section of the ship has lost all gravity, it's eventually discovered that the artificial gravity is working correctly but everyone who enters the zero G area is now being gradually pulled towards a large open chamber where a gaping maw has attached itself to the ceiling.

An empty mess hall, everyone seems to have just vanished although there are very obvious tracks all leading into one particular room...

GolemsVoice
2011-04-05, 08:19 AM
How about having them talk to a seemingly normal crewmember, only to find his corpse later at the opposite end of the ship, with evidence that he must ahve been dead at the time they spoke to him.

Or the PCs walk into an airlock, when suddenly the doors slam shut. Then, after awhile, the door starts to bulge out, and a metallic demonhead is trying to bite them, horribly stretching out of the metal.

Or a room where gravity has been reversed. While this is not horrific per se, the view of an entire cargo hold floating peacefully can be a nice change of scenery to the real horror. Also, it will probably be disorienting as hell, if the PCs don't bring gravity boots.

Mr.Bookworm
2011-04-05, 08:22 AM
A few general tips.

1) Well, first of all, go look at what a succesful horror story does. Amnesia: The Dark Descent is an absolutely excellent horror game, and you can pick it up for 10 bucks right now on Steam. Watch the first two Alien movies, read some Stephen King and Peter Straub. Get classic and check out some Lovecraft, Shelley, and Stoker. Also, I highly recommend you try to find a copy of Danse Macabre by Stephen King. It's all about horror, and it gives very good suggestions.

2) One of the most important rules in writing is show, don't tell. Chuck that out the window for horror. Force your players to imagine what lurks around them, because they can always come up with something scarier then you can if you only dance around the subject. Showing the monster prematurely is a sure way to kill the tension.

3) The basis of almost all horror stories is normalcy that is slowly perverted as the story goes on. There's a reason every single horror movie starts with a peaceful slice-of-life sequence. The college kids at the party, the family going about their day in peace, the best friends traveling, the crew going about their business on their ship, and then it starts going wrong. Someone accidentally gets killed, the skies turn dark, they pick up a distress signal, and it keeps getting worse and worse.

profitofrage
2011-04-05, 08:22 AM
@Yora
I love the idea of having the PC's find one sane survivor only to have them killed in front of them. I agree in that id prefer creepy occurances or insanity striken people rather then JUST mutants attacking the PC's

@supermonkeyjoe

I love those suggestions..especially the organic hallway...VERY creepy.

@GolemsVoice
Like the idea of meeting Dead survivors...perhaps have it help them..or guide them to the objective?



I myself had an idea of the party meeting a man who gets torn limb from limb by seemingly nothing right in front of them...only to meet him again later..confused and horrified unsure whats going on...only for it to happen again...the third time they meet him hes cowering on the floor..driven mad...muttering about "It just wont stop coming"

EDIT:
@Mr.Bookworm

Thank you very much for the advice, I will try my best to capture that build up of tension...Its a bit hard since the players KNOW that ounce the gellar field goes off on a ship in the warp your lucky to be alive. But having them make the first few trecks through abandoned dark corridors might build up enough tension for when they meet there first "blood smeer" e.t.c

GolemsVoice
2011-04-05, 08:39 AM
Your players will know THAT something will come, but not WHAT, and that's what you must work with. So your players will expect horror, and you will deliver, of course, but leave them hanging a while. Maybe they talk to a crewmember who seems totally normal, but sweats a lot and is nervous, like he is hiding something. Your players will expect something to happen, but, hey, turns out that guy is just totally panicked. Make the first encounters normal, so that they will be kept on the edge, constantly waiting for something unusual, but also unsure about WHEN it will finally happen.


And Mr.Bookworm's thrid advice is gold. Horror is about the intrusion of the unfamiliar and horrifying into the familiar and secure. Thus: include some encounters that show the players that there is NO SAFE PLACE. The crew quarters? Ha! The ship's chapel? Well... of course!.... not. Or not long. Include scenes of daily life turned upside down. A deserted mess hall, the food still standing on the table, spoons and forks sticking out. A set of uniforms hanging over a bench, just waiting to be put on for this day's work. Make it clear that people have been there, while making them ask "Where are they NOW?". And don't always show them. Sometimes it's best to have your players imagine what happened, and only provide clues, like blood splattered, or signs of gunfire.

profitofrage
2011-04-05, 08:45 AM
All very good advice. I think that may be one of hte harder parts for me, since the people i will be gaming with dont always care to pay attention to small things like that. Im going to have to really drive it in to them.

Avaris
2011-04-05, 08:47 AM
Given this is the warp, an interesting ongoing encounter could be a 'talkative' demon. An entity that has taken an interest in the players, and mocks and hinders them... or maybe even offers to help in exchange for something later down the line. Neatly sidesteps the classic 'OMG SHOOT IT!' response...

profitofrage
2011-04-05, 08:51 AM
Funnily enough i have this Avaris

The Acolytes previously had to storm through a mountain fortress that a rouge Inquisitor had been using to stash a collection of terrible artifacts of xeno and daemonic origin.
Getting through the labyrinth tunnels of it they were beset by a (pyramid head inspired) Daemonhost...while having to listen to the peircing words of a Daemon weapon that offered to help them kill the beast chasing them.
BOTH creatures will be onboard the ship, the sword taking a larger role however.

EDIT:
Do you have any suggestions on how such a thing could make a great second coming? tips on how to make sure it doesnt get old?

Avaris
2011-04-05, 09:12 AM
Well, assuming the demons are still bound to the host/weapon (rather than being destroyed at the last encounter) an interesting take would be to have the bound demon 'leaking' out. For example, while in the areas of the ship most affected by the warp a demon sword could be carried by a manifestation of the demon that is trapped inside. Whether the players realise that it is the demon and not just a poor crewmember using anything to hand to survive is up to them. Similarly, the demon host could have a dark shadow puppeting it.

I think the most important thing with this is that the players are now near the demon's home turf. That changes their relationship with them. The demon may sometimes offer suggestons, or just sit back and watch, occasionally intervening... in my mind, the demon appears almost entirely human so as to contrast with the other demons avaliable. Maybe it even stays the hand of other demons... "Not now brother, this is not their time."

Quietus
2011-04-05, 09:15 AM
2) One of the most important rules in writing is show, don't tell. Chuck that out the window for horror. Force your players to imagine what lurks around them, because they can always come up with something scarier then you can if you only dance around the subject. Showing the monster prematurely is a sure way to kill the tension.

Ah, but this is where the line is. Show don't tell still applies in horror - but you don't show the monster, that's true. The difference in horror is having an NPC show up and go "Oh god, it was horrible, the bodies everywhere!", as opposed to showing the PCs the room full of corpses, all of them dead from wounds that could only have been inflicted by the weapons found on the ship. But.. none of those weapons are present now..


Funnily enough i have this Avaris

The Acolytes previously had to storm through a mountain fortress that a rouge Inquisitor had been using to stash a collection of terrible artifacts of xeno and daemonic origin.

I'm not sure what sort of answers you could get from makeup.

profitofrage
2011-04-05, 09:15 AM
I like the idea of the sword taking on its own form.
The daemonhost and the sword are actually great enemies, although thats not revealed to the players just yet. The idea of the Daemon watching and influencing what occurs on the ship is a very interesting idea that I might have to use.

Great ideas so far everyone keep them coming XD

Jan Mattys
2011-04-05, 09:18 AM
I suggest watching "Event Horizon".
Basically, it's a movie about a ship disappearing into space (went through a black hole or something, can't remember) and reappearing after a while. A crew is sent to investigate, and
it turns out the Ship had gone to Hell and had come back. Yeah, Hell with capital H, and while the original crew died there, the ship itself is now possessed. Not (or not only) filled with demons, but actually sentient and evil.

Anyway, I suggest working on the atmosphere, first and foremost. You can (and have to) give your players some monsters to fight, but the feeling must always be that there's something else, which is much worse than simply a "bigger monster", at the end of the road.

Suggestions for building up tension include partial logs recorded in the ship's computer (which can be at first reasonable, and then worse and worse while the possessed guy lost his intellect to the warp entities), noises and creaks from the hull slowly interposing with screams of unknown nature... and so on.

Another interesting movie you can draw inspiration from is (surprisingly) Doom. Yeah, the movie of the FPS... I enjoyed it (all you need to enjoy it is a no-high-expectations attitude and LOTS of popcorn). :smallbiggrin:

nyarlathotep
2011-04-05, 09:21 AM
While different in origin, this is almost exactly the premise of Dead Space. A small team of technicians trying to get a massive ship running again before the zombified crew kills them.

What's the exact effect of the warp? Does it just drive people crazy or does it cause mutations, or does it outright alter reality itself?

It's actually a lot more like the 40k movie that dead space is an adaptation/homage to Event Horizon.

And yes I know Event Horizon isnt really 40k movie but if it doesn't fit perfectly.

profitofrage
2011-04-05, 09:23 AM
I have actually watched event horizon. Its sort of fanon that event horizon was humanities first "warp jump" without a Gellar field to protect them.
The grusome possesed doctor (i think he was the doctor...i can barely remember) is basically a small scale DaemonHost.

I like the data logs idea, though the even happened immediatly...ill have them walk into an extremly old looking part of the ship...them not realising that this specific section broke off in time..those within having had to spend months in the same hell the others spent meer moments.

Yora
2011-04-05, 10:01 AM
Number 3 in "Demon-Mutant-Aliens" infest a wrecked ship in deep space would by System Shock 2. Though that one doesn't get into the demon aspect.

profitofrage
2011-04-05, 10:08 AM
Although the idea of a infested ship in space would be fun. Im looking for more ideas as to what to do on the ship there currently on.

Any more ideas from the playground?

Kuma Kode
2011-04-05, 08:58 PM
I second System Shock/Event Horizon. Having the ship's AI or spirit or whatever being a villain would be interesting. It's not something they can fight with guns, but it's omnipresent.

profitofrage
2011-04-05, 09:06 PM
I like the idea of the ship itself being possessed. The parts of it shielded from the warp now feel like cancerous tumors, so the daemonic ship seeks to rid itself of the peices...shaking violently or seperating corridors all in the hopes the sections protected will disconnect or be destroyed.

I really would like smaller scale events though, things the PC's could bump into...deal with...then move on to the next horrible occurance.

Kuma Kode
2011-04-05, 09:24 PM
Well, you need a theme. Start with something you want to build around, then drop things in that can be fluffed and related. Horror encounters may be good, but if they're random and haphazardly arranged they'll feel arbitrary, like walking through a haunted house attraction on Halloween. They will have more impact if you have them relevant to one-another or at least attached to a certain theme.

Some randomness will stir things up, but too much will ruin it.

profitofrage
2011-04-05, 09:30 PM
The theme is warp corruption, the ship has been dipped into a big goey bucket of it.
The issue is that with warp corruption the possibilities are endless as to what could actually occur. What are running themes is insanity, mutation both of the body and of the soul. Daemonic and psychic influence in the form of daemons, daemonic manifestations, ghosts, possesions and slaughter en mass.

If my PC's dont come out of the session with a new "mental disorder" or a minor mutation due to corruption I havnt done the campaign right. (both of those are mechanics in DH)

I understand your point on randomness, and Ill do my best to keep that feel that all the occurances are linked...that there all the terrible consequences of traveling unprotected through the warp.

Ravens_cry
2011-04-05, 09:37 PM
Remember, it is just as much, if not more, about what you don't show than what you do. The monster you can't see is more scary then the one you do. "Things that go bump in the night" is scary because you don't know what went bump. It could be innocuous, it could be something much, much worse.
The ship creaking and groaning around them, movement just outside of line of sight, more footsteps then party members, something moving in the walls, all add up to more scares then just going "BOO!".
What they don't know will scare them.

profitofrage
2011-04-05, 09:44 PM
Thanks for the advice, I understand how important it is. Especially after playing games like amnesia.

I like your idea of the PC's suddenly hearing more footsteps then there are PC's but not seeing anything around them.

This is what id like, examples of how i can add to that creepy atmosphere. Or build up to horrific moments.

Surrealistik
2011-04-05, 09:53 PM
The ship itself becoming a possessed and partially 'biological' daemonic entity is a great idea. In areas where the warp has affected it the most, the halls are living, breathing, pulsing flesh, radiating corruption and mutation. Roiling, throbbing tendrils snake throughout the halls, along the walls and ceilings, merging seamlessly with cables and machinery, slowly creeping and expanding into uninfested areas (possible 'time limit/pressure' element).

Horribly mutated warp zombies aimlessly patrol the living halls, seeking to rend the flesh of anything not likewise damned, as do random daemons called in from the Warp. The zombies cannot be truly killed unless their head and torso are completely destroyed, and will reanimate at a speed dependent on the level of corruption in the immediate area.

In the meanwhile, the daemons that possess the ship psychically call out to the PCs, gradually eroding their sanity, and will, subjecting them to hallucinations (full blown hallucinations of your choice, or as if hit by a hallucination grenade, etc...), and warp taint (insanity/corruption points/mutations). They may even directly assault the minds of the PCs, terrifying them or seizing temporary control of their faculties (as per the Psychic Shriek, Terrify, Compel, or Dominate powers). These psychic attacks are stronger and more frequent in heavily 'infested' areas.

Heavily infested/corrupted areas, in addition to a disturbingly organic, amorphous, living architecture, also feature thick, moist black/blood red miasmas that heavily limit visibility (counts as heavy fog). This miasma does _not_ limit visibility for daemons, or the ship. These areas are continuously subject to the effects of both Weaken Veil and Daemonic Presence. For each Psy Dice used with a Psychic Power here, +5 is added to both its Psychic Phenomena and Perils of the Warp rolls if any. The Fling, Psychic Crush, Push, Telekinesis and Precision Telekinesis powers may be used by the possessing daemons in these areas. The daemonic psychic powers have up to a Psi 6+ rating in these heavily infested areas.

profitofrage
2011-04-05, 10:00 PM
thanks Surrealistik
I like the idea of the fog and the regenerating warp zombies.
The living flesh coating the walls Im definably going to be using, it would be a perfect way to show the PC's that there getting closer to the worst areas of the ship.

There are no psykers in the PC Party, this means i dont have to worry about the ships effects on psykers..there is however an untouchable in the party (hence why they were chosen to do the task). This means that for all the cool insanity inducing hallucinations or whisperings...im going to have to think of ways to involve the null. It essentially means that the player playing the null misses out on half the content :S

Mr.Bookworm
2011-04-05, 10:06 PM
Ah, but this is where the line is. Show don't tell still applies in horror - but you don't show the monster, that's true. The difference in horror is having an NPC show up and go "Oh god, it was horrible, the bodies everywhere!", as opposed to showing the PCs the room full of corpses, all of them dead from wounds that could only have been inflicted by the weapons found on the ship. But.. none of those weapons are present now..

True, true. I probably should have been a bit more specific.

Another bit of advice: Abuse the hell out of notes. If everyone has a laptop, IMing works great, and if not, good old-fashioned post-its work just as well. Use notes to show one character things. For example, maybe they all enter a room, and in your description, you leave out the obvious blood-spattered, twisted statue sitting in the middle of the room. You pass all of your players a different note, each of them describing something different in the middle of the room.

A few more ideas/examples:

1) The characters walk into a room, and the door slams shut behind them. Something, covered in shadows and blood, comes out of nowhere and pounces on them. Don't even bother statting it up, make up some damage rolls, and have some fun with the critical tables as they die one by one. When they are all dead, the characters come to, standing, holding their weapons, at the spot where they "died" in the room. At each of their feet is a body, killed in the exact same way they "died".

2) Mirrors. Mirrors are scary as hell. Pass one of the players a note that she sees her reflection die gruesomely at the hand of an unknown creature, her corpse thrown up against the glass as her blood splatters the "window".

3) They walk onto the bridge, and everything is normal. The chaplain is singing the praises of the Emperor, servitors and crew members are going about their business, and the captain is barking orders from atop the control throne. Everything is shiny clean. Now, one of two things happen. Either they freak the hell out and start shooting, which does nothing to the (harmless) illusion, and they miss the daemon sneaking up behind them. Or they play along with the (harmful) illusion, and expose themselves to the honeyed words of the hidden daemonhost.

profitofrage
2011-04-05, 10:16 PM
I absolutly LOVE the window idea.
Passing notes is going to be tricky since there not the most serious roleplaying group ive been with.

Surrealistik
2011-04-05, 10:19 PM
Keep in mind that the possessing entities can sense the Untouchable by his 'void' and 'absence' and will have especial enmity for him, since they are powerless to directly harm or corrupt that character. To compensate for this, they will often attempt to persuade or coerce the other PCs with telepathic powers to attack the Untouchable. In heavily infested areas, they will employ telekinetic powers like Fling in addition to these other methods, or perhaps utilize the living walls, tendrils and appendages to harm him.

Note that the Weaken the Veil, and other active effects that impact Perils and Phenomena apply to daemonic as well as PC use of psychic powers.

A break down of the various areas and the general traits specific to them:


Uninfested: Psi 0.
-Possessed ship cannot use psychic powers here.
-The possessed ship is a faint, almost inaudible whisper at best and cannot inflict any harm.

Lightly Infested: Psi 1-2,
-Possessed ship can only use lesser powers here.
-Resisting the ship's mental corruption here is typically an Easy (+30) WP Test.
-Area Traits: Slow daemonic/zombie regeneration. Organic growths and physical manifestations of corruption are minimal, slight and subtle.

Moderately Infested: Psi 3-4,
-Possessed ship can use lesser powers, and Telepathic powers listed earlier.
-Resisting the ship's mental corruption here is typically a Routine (+20) to Challenging (+0) WP Test.
-Area Traits: Daemonic Presence and/or Weaken Veil. Light blood red/black fogs. Moderate speed daemonic/zombie regeneration. Area features moderate overgrowth of 'organic' elements; being in these areas for prolonged periods can result in Corruption Points.

Heavily Infested: Psi 5-6,
-Possessed ship can use lesser powers, Telepathic and Telekinetic powers listed earlier.
-Resisting its mental corruption here is typically a Difficult (-10) to Very Hard (-30) WP Test.
-Area Traits: Daemonic Presence. Weaken Veil. +5 rolls to Psychic Phenomena/Perils per Psy Dice. Heavy blood red/black miasmic fogs. Rapid daemonic/zombie regeneration. Area is overgrown in throbbing organic growths, veins and tendrils; walls are alive and pulsating; bones, teeth and horns protrude from the walls, faces and hellish mouths filled with sharp teeth scream and snap along the surfaces. Being in this area for even a brief period can result in Corruption Points.

profitofrage
2011-04-05, 10:28 PM
Im going to HAVE to use those rules now.
Also i like the idea of the ship slowly trying to get the other PC's to kill the untouchable.

Also in terms of the weaken wiel effecting daemonic psychic powers, im assuming thats a homebrew since the "daemonic" trait specifically says daemons cant incurr phenomina. Never the less its a homebrew that im going to have to use, it sounds to tasty to pass up

Kuma Kode
2011-04-05, 10:46 PM
I'm not terribly familiar with the WH40K universe (though I like what little I've heard), but I did throw in a horror plotline into an otherwise Mass Effect style space opera d20 Future. The plot revolved around an alternate dimension, and its effects on the timeline of the universe.

It was more subtle and from an outside-in point of view, rather than in-your-face in-the-thick-of-it view, but you might be able to draw something from it.

The party acted as a transporter for a group of university students doing their first exo-planetary field study. The choice of geological location was a moon with an elliptical orbit around a gas giant. The orbit caused the crust to flex and move, which heated the core and liquefied the methane, which shot up into the atmosphere through geysers and fell back down, coating the moon with a constant sheet of methane ice.

The moon was also notorious for emitting strange radio transmissions, but this was discounted as legends.

In a rivine, the group hung out while the NPC ordinaries did their thing, taking samples and chit-chatting or whatever. One of the PCs had a gravitic hammer and was happily smashing ice chunks for the students, and began to pretty much mine himself a tunnel.

To everyone's surprise, he hit metal. Smooth metal. After some more excavation, the group discovered a metal hull, and one of the doors. There was no evidence of a crash, and the ice at that depth was over ten-thousand years old. This placed it in a starfaring void; the Deva (roswell grey style aliens, most advanced playable race) were not yet starfaring that long ago, but the Ancients (stock powerful mysterious precursor race that disappeared) had long since been gone at that time.

The party entered cautiously, and found a strange powder covering everything like fine dust. They scanned the wreckage with their ship's sensors, and beamed the results to the engineer's portable computer, giving her a rough layout of the ship (which did not appear to be like any known ship). They made their way to the ship's helm, finding nothing on their way. No bodies, no robots. Nothing. Upon reaching the helm, the engineer set about trying to power it up and hook her computer into it.

What they found in the logs shocked them: it was written in Terran, the human language. The ship's logs were dated several hundred years in the future, but no information about what happened to them. Even the ship seemed to have no records of the events that brought the ship here. They checked for escape pods: none were fired.

As they downloaded the ship's information, they discovered the ship was a Nova class (no ship model by that class existed) sent to recover a lost ship known as the Aurora. The psionic characters began to feel dread, and told the group to hurry. The feeling drew closer, and even the non-psychics were feeling it. The telepath felt that the souls of whoever crewed this ship were trapped in limbo, stuck in a time they were never supposed to occupy, and he recited a Catholic prayer. Immediately, the radios began to emit a strange, alien wail (http://www.nasa.gov/wav/123163main_cas-skr1-112203.wav).

They wanted to leave, but also wanted to know what had happened to the people, as the telepath and the rest of the team took the radio noises as confirmation that whatever happened here was against god and nature, and that some poor souls were suffering for it.

They saw glimpses of shadows, moving shapes, as they wandered the halls. They found photos and clothing in the crew quarters, untouched and restfully laid as if for the morning. There were no signs of a struggle. They found the medical bay, which they were surprised to find seemed to be occupied. Laying on the table was what appeared to be a dead body, covered by a sheet. They removed the sheet cautiously, but found nothing. The table was empty.

The mess hall had food still on the tables, frozen for over ten thousand years. The dust was thick and undisturbed, with the exception of two hand prints on the table. The telepath turns on the radio recording, and begins to spend power points to use his missive power (telepathic communication). He asks questions, hoping to record a voice like an EVP. Things like "what happened here?" and "is there anything we can do to help?" He saves his last use for when they leave. Before they close the door and bury the ship again, he sends the ghosts one last message: "I'm so sorry."

They analyzed the recordings, and found voices embedded in the wailing, responses to his psychic messages:

"My god, the stars! Where are the stars!"

and

"You can't escape, no one can. Not even the souls of those who have died here."

The group was sad the campaign crashed before the plotline was explored. If nothing else, I assume you can use that sound clip.

The idea I picked up with that adventure was: run with your players. Don't just plan everything ahead; everything after the prayer was improvised. The player introduced a spiritual/religious aspect to the horror adventure, and I ran with it instead of ditching it because it didn't go with the plan. That are you going for with the feel? Do you want Lovecraftian eldritch horror or do you want something with religious undertones? Maybe both?

Ravens_cry
2011-04-05, 10:50 PM
The players find a trail of bloody footprints that lead to a closed door. If they open the door . . .there is nothing there.

profitofrage
2011-04-06, 12:47 AM
awesome ideas, keep em coming :D

Venerable
2011-04-06, 02:30 AM
Two ideas:

One, the mad engineer. He's constructing a device to bypass the engines and return the ship home. He wanders the ship, "liberating" parts of working systems and adding them to his ever-growing device in Engineering. If confronted about the thefts, he replies "No worries, man, I'm just building the machine, okay? It'll be alright, don't worry, I'll get us home." All the while, he's disassembling critical systems like Comms, Environment, and Propulsion. Then the players discover what he's building in Engineering...

Two, the rescue/salvage team. The PCs encounter a rescue[/salvage] team, obviously not from the ship... but the other team completely ignores them. Doesn't look at them or respond to anything they do or say. It's as if the PCs didn't exist... or were already dead.

dsmiles
2011-04-06, 05:22 AM
@OP: Ever seen Event Horizon? :smallwink:

hamishspence
2011-04-06, 05:31 AM
@OP: Ever seen Event Horizon? :smallwink:

The OP has:

I have actually watched event horizon. Its sort of fanon that event horizon was humanities first "warp jump" without a Gellar field to protect them.
The grusome possesed doctor (i think he was the doctor...i can barely remember) is basically a small scale DaemonHost.

dsmiles
2011-04-06, 05:33 AM
The OP has:

Yeah...I just skimmed the thread. It's a pretty awesome concept.

profitofrage
2011-04-06, 05:58 AM
Yes it was a great concept, It actually fits rather well in terms of what a warp jump would do..albiet to a lesser extent to 40K.
Basically the situation is event horizon^3 on a ship Much much larger ship (1.5 km long .4 wide )...with a HUGE crew population (30500 people).

Mr.Bookworm
2011-04-06, 06:00 AM
...does this mean that Laurence Fishburne is the God-Emperor?

Yora
2011-04-06, 06:24 AM
One thing that most horror fiction of that type seems to do is that the change happens extremely fast. Something happens and when the lights come back on, the main characters are already in a completely transformed environment, even though it takes them 10 minutes or so to realize that.

Since the ship gets affected because of a malfunctioning protective shield that can successfully restart itself, I think it would be interesting to have the players be completely aware of the gradual changes. Have the characters start with some trivial task and suddenly the whole ship rumbles for 3 seconds but then it stops and everything seems to be fine. Then they either continue with their task, or get called to deal with some malfunction on the ship.
Since the players will probably know that it's a space horror adventure, use that opportunity to mislead them. Have the ship picked up some strangely mauled corpses or an ancient artifact on the last planet before they entered warp, and the players will naturally assume that those will be the source of the following problems. But those are really completely unrelated and serve no actual purpose for the adventure.
After the protective shield malfunctioned, changes are gradually. At first some doors jam and people on the other side get killed by faulty air support. Then there's a contamination with toxic substances, a secondary reactor completely burns out, the coms on the bridge seem to have all failed, and then there's a security alert in the med-station with the toxin-victims. Chase them from one task to the next, but instead of actually fixing something, there's always something much more pressing and disasterous until after 4 or 5 such incidents of escalating severity, order on the ship breaks completely down and nobody has any idea what's actually going on.

profitofrage
2011-04-06, 06:34 AM
No lawrence fishburne isnt the emperor....but he might be one of the lost primachs.


Unfortuanatly I may have messed up a huge oppertunity to introduce the catastrophy. The players knew it was coming, since I am often a tad to open with my plans for them as a gaming group (to make sure there interested in doing it). So instead of the build of I had them meet there superiors in a special sectioned off area for a debreifing.
When the gellar fields deactivated for a short while they were immediatly told what had occured and were then given the immediate orders.

GolemsVoice
2011-04-06, 07:11 AM
Well, they know what will be coming, but you still can use Yora's ideas. W40K technology is all but reliable, so maybe the accident that trapped three men in vacuum WAS accidental. But... maybe it was NOT.


Another idea, kind of random: One, or all, of the characters begin(s) to see shapes and shadows moving around other people. These shadows seem to reflect the eprson'S mood, and give hints about his thoughts and plans. But do they show the truth? Does everyone see them? For example, they enter a room. A mechanic sits there, sobbing. The shadows show sadness and despair, but also something else... madness? Also, there is a connection between the mechanic and a nearby plasma cutter. The shadows surrounding it look violent...

Your players are in a dilemma now: do they dismiss these phenomena, and save innocents if they are right, while opening themselves up for traps if they're not, or do they shoot him, and save themselves, with the risk of killing innocents if they're wrong? This could also be a nice way of introducing your demonhost, and raise some party conflict, if you desire such. (After all, each player can see the other characters motives. Or he may think he can)

profitofrage
2011-04-06, 07:54 AM
Oooooooh that sounds really cool actually, I could definably tie that in somewhere (or everywhere).
Moral choices are always delicious in a Dark Heresy campaign! so any more would be most welcome.

2xMachina
2011-04-06, 07:58 AM
Hmm, maybe let the players (except the untouchable) see the moving shadow. Is it real? Or do they see the shadow because their minds are also affected?

The horror is that the PCs who see it aren't sure they are ok. The untouchable may begin to doubt the sanity of the others. Is he the only one unaffected?

Also maybe let them all see something, but the rest of players are hallucinating something normal at that time. Is the untouchable really seeing something, or is he also affected?

dsmiles
2011-04-06, 11:06 AM
Yes it was a great concept, It actually fits rather well in terms of what a warp jump would do..albiet to a lesser extent to 40K.
Basically the situation is event horizon^3 on a ship Much much larger ship (1.5 km long .4 wide )...with a HUGE crew population (30500 people).

I believe you misread my post. I was referring to your game concept. :smallwink:

profitofrage
2011-04-07, 05:42 AM
Oh thank you :) Its nice to hear encouragment.