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Shoggy
2014-12-05, 02:56 PM
Hi folks, I've wandered to this board in hope of finding an appreciative audience for a story about bravery, incompetence, and detpacks.

A few months ago my childhood gaming group got back together to play a session of Only War and I tried my hand at writing, since then it has grown beyond what any of us expected. I realize that Only War and its underlying setting are not exactly mainstream around here, but I've tried to keep things accessible and will happily explain or clarify anything that's unclear.

Be aware that this thing gets rather long in the later chapters and there is a significant tone shift after the prologue. Sorry about that, the story has been continuing for a while now and I lack any sort of editor.

The Adventures of the All Guardsmen Party

Since the original thread links and images contain language which may or may not be considered to fit into a subset of words which could possibly be defined as 'naughty' I can only make the html version available.

http://www.theallguardsmenparty.com/


Finally, if any of you folks are up for it, I'm starved for literary criticism. Any input would be most welcome, as well as comments and questions.

Rabidmuskrat
2014-12-06, 12:21 PM
Literary critique? Well, basically, it's bloody excellent and where can I get more? Seriously, I think this deserves to be stickied up along with SilverClawShift's campaigns.

The only thing that I wonder is how much of this is due to the DM being a railroady bastard who basically wrote the story (and the characters) and how much of it is due to the characters being lovable, insane, explosive-obsessed rascals. I do hope its the second one.

Sartharina
2014-12-06, 01:04 PM
After reading the first spoiler box... Holy ****. Your DM certainly has captured the feel of the setting, but I don't know how fun it was (or would be) to play.

Shoggy
2014-12-06, 03:00 PM
Literary critique? Well, basically, it's bloody excellent and where can I get more? Seriously, I think this deserves to be stickied up along with SilverClawShift's campaigns.

The only thing that I wonder is how much of this is due to the DM being a railroady bastard who basically wrote the story (and the characters) and how much of it is due to the characters being lovable, insane, explosive-obsessed rascals. I do hope its the second one.

Glad you liked the stories and if the Silver Claw Shift campaigns are the ones I remember (with the binders and the bugs) that's quite high praise. Thanks.

I wouldn't say that the campaign has been very railroady, our DM has a fetish for building big flowcharts to track what everyone is doing and anticipate our most likely actions. So there's a fair amount of flexibility in the missions though he will rearrange things in the background to fit narrative causality.

I think the primary reason the campaign has been flowing so well is because we're all veteran players and we're all aiming to improve the overall story. Each of us has a pretty good idea what the others are going to do and we tend to act like loud people at a movie and yell advice at each other, someone will suggest that it would be endlessly amusing if Nubby stole something or Doc failed a medical knowledge roll, and half the time the player will agree and shift their actions.


After reading the first spoiler box... Holy ****. Your DM certainly has captured the feel of the setting, but I don't know how fun it was (or would be) to play.

That first session was rough, honestly if we all hadn't known the bugger for about a decade we'd have gotten fed up and demanded an explanation or change of campaign. It paid off in the end though, he set up a very cool origin story and gets to brag about pulling off such a novel mission idea. Thankfully none of the other sessions have been that draining.

Sartharina
2014-12-06, 04:10 PM
With a less competent DM/trusting player group, this whole thing (Especially those first sessions) could easily have been a "What am I supposed to do?"-style thread. But... wow, this has been a fun Dark Heresy campaign to read about, even though it does the opposite of what most advice for running D&D campaigns. (Lots of 'Gandalf's - almost a new one every session! Except they're all incompetent or heretic, heavy 'railroading'... sort of, Players are supposedly insignificant mooks, etc.) Gunner's death was shocking... but I am really confused how Nubby, Cutter, and Sarge survived against the traitor interrogator (Which is as far as I've gotten so far). Doors are useful, apparently.

Shoggy
2014-12-06, 06:53 PM
The secret to a lot of the near misses is that we're allowed to spend and burn fate points (official rerolls and get out of jail free cards) on eachother instead of just ourselves. Our DM usually balances things right so that we're running out as we hit the last few encounters.

Smorgonoffz
2014-12-06, 07:19 PM
Just..........WOW!!!, i really hated the Dm in the first adventure but then the story gets better and better XD.

Also i cannot imagine this campaign without thinkin Discworld guards !!!

Some questions:

1) is nubby's character base on nobby nobbs?
2) is the sergeant name samuel?

Sartharina
2014-12-06, 07:50 PM
Finally finished... and wow. What a final mission. Will more be coming?

Shoggy
2014-12-06, 08:38 PM
Just..........WOW!!!, i really hated the Dm in the first adventure but then the story gets better and better XD.

Also i cannot imagine this campaign without thinkin Discworld guards !!!

Some questions:

1) is nubby's character base on nobby nobbs?
2) is the sergeant name samuel?

We ripped of discworld very heavily back in our D&D days and the tradition continues. Nubby's sheet started as the standard level 1 guardsmen template with "Nobby Nobbs expy" penciled on and nothing else.

Sarge isn't really based on anyone though, he's just the cynical straight-man and therefore bleeds together with other cynical straight-men.



Finally finished... and wow. What a final mission. Will more be coming?

Yes, after the holidays. I am not good at doing outdoor family stuff and writing at the same time.

Sartharina
2014-12-06, 10:54 PM
Now I want to play a WH40k game as a chaos space marine that's a completely chill bro.

blacklight101
2014-12-07, 08:54 AM
Now I want to play a WH40k game as a chaos space marine that's a completely chill bro.

That's a fantastic idea, actually. I may have to do the same. The Dudebro Chapter.

Sartharina
2014-12-07, 08:58 AM
That's a fantastic idea, actually. I may have to do the same. The Dudebro Chapter.

No.... dudebro LEGION. Chapters are for the sissy followers of the Dead God on his Golden Toilet.

flare'90
2014-12-07, 10:35 AM
Do you use the 1st or the 2nd edition of Dark Heresy?
I think the 2nd because of ease of conversion between it and Only War, but you never know.

blacklight101
2014-12-07, 12:18 PM
No.... dudebro LEGION. Chapters are for the sissy followers of the Dead God on his Golden Toilet.

Duh, Chaos. :smallredface:


I'm good like that.


Dudebro Legion sounds way better, like a big chill frat party in space. With recruitment worlds and battlefleets too.

Sartharina
2014-12-07, 12:32 PM
Still - I'm pretty sure that had someone in the AGP or one of their cadets had started laughing during the negotiations with Chaos, the CSMs also would have started laughing as well. Alas, two parties, so alike in disposition, separated by a needlessly destructive war.

blacklight101
2014-12-07, 05:46 PM
Telling my wife about the Dudebro Legion and my son randomly speaks up and says "Dudebro. yeah!" Isn't he a cute little Chaos convert? I hope he follows Tzeench like his mommy.

Shoggy
2014-12-07, 06:55 PM
Do you use the 1st or the 2nd edition of Dark Heresy?
I think the 2nd because of ease of conversion between it and Only War, but you never know.

1st edition since we started with it and have too many rules to easily switch to second. Shame it wasn't out when we started though, would have saved a bunch of time.

Valefor Rathan
2014-12-08, 12:51 PM
Just read the first spoiler tag...

I am in awe...

blacklight101
2014-12-08, 04:15 PM
What was the bodycount on that first spoiler? It got high enough that I'm intrigued, that's for sure. I know you said you as a party had gone through more than 100 in that first spoiler, but do you have a total count? Never having to come up with characters that fast before, I'm honestly intrigued.

I can just see: "Go get 'em, Lil' Jimmy VI!"

Squark
2014-12-08, 04:40 PM
Glad you liked the stories and if the Silver Claw Shift campaigns are the ones I remember (with the binders and the bugs) that's quite high praise. Thanks.

I wouldn't say that the campaign has been very railroady, our DM has a fetish for building big flowcharts to track what everyone is doing and anticipate our most likely actions. So there's a fair amount of flexibility in the missions though he will rearrange things in the background to fit narrative causality. I imagine it also helps that Fantasy Flight Games's systems tend to be pretty improvisation friendly (Very simple statblocks, a focus on theatre of mind, and scaling difficulty has a clear description). Mundane Characters are also a little more predictable than, say, a party with a Psyker, Tech Priest, and faith-focused Priest (And knowing the players as well as the DM apparently does helps too).

Shoggy
2014-12-08, 06:51 PM
Just read the first spoiler tag...

I am in awe...

So were we.


What was the bodycount on that first spoiler? It got high enough that I'm intrigued, that's for sure. I know you said you as a party had gone through more than 100 in that first spoiler, but do you have a total count? Never having to come up with characters that fast before, I'm honestly intrigued.

I can just see: "Go get 'em, Lil' Jimmy VI!"

I can't be exact but can do some math. For JUST PC deaths it was up to 15 a mission depending on if we got reinforcements, so the first night was a mere 7. The next day was Orks and Traitors, which were split into about 12 missions and 8 respectively. I'd say the average death count for each came out to 6 or 7, so call it 120 deaths on that day. It was bloody rough and we got VERY minimal on the characters near the end of the night. Usually it was just a matter of grabbing a template, slapping on a name 2-3 defining characteristics, then winging it in the pre-combat talky part of the mission. The final day was around 6 missions of Orks and 10 Nids, we generally did better in those, but that just gave us more time to reinforce so the figure stayed about the same, so call it another 100 deaths. So round figures, say 225 deaths over 2.5 days of gaming and 37 survivors.

It was grueling and I don't remember the names or anything else about 80% of the characters we rolled, which is saying something for me. What I do remember is recycling characters that didn't even get to talk, filling in some sheets with "X expy" then just parodying various characters (which is where Nubby came from), and refusing to go too deeply into character traits and motivations since they'd probably die anyway.

There were four little Jimmys and one big Jimmy. We called him Jimmy Voltron and he died to friendly shelling during the nid fights.


I imagine it also helps that Fantasy Flight Games's systems tend to be pretty improvisation friendly (Very simple statblocks, a focus on theatre of mind, and scaling difficulty has a clear description). Mundane Characters are also a little more predictable than, say, a party with a Psyker, Tech Priest, and faith-focused Priest (And knowing the players as well as the DM apparently does helps too).

I think the mundane characters help out a fair bit for the improv aspect, just because we rarely get into arguments about what is 'possible'. None of us has ever had to argue with our GM about whether a psyker can summon up the ghost of a dead witness or if a techpriest can make a toaster feel love. Mostly we're able to back everything up with some semi-logical and easily understandable arguments and there's not much dipping into the wiki or sourcebooks.

blacklight101
2014-12-08, 07:33 PM
I can't be exact but can do some math. For JUST PC deaths it was up to 15 a mission depending on if we got reinforcements, so the first night was a mere 7. The next day was Orks and Traitors, which were split into about 12 missions and 8 respectively. I'd say the average death count for each came out to 6 or 7, so call it 120 deaths on that day. It was bloody rough and we got VERY minimal on the characters near the end of the night. Usually it was just a matter of grabbing a template, slapping on a name 2-3 defining characteristics, then winging it in the pre-combat talky part of the mission. The final day was around 6 missions of Orks and 10 Nids, we generally did better in those, but that just gave us more time to reinforce so the figure stayed about the same, so call it another 100 deaths. So round figures, say 225 deaths over 2.5 days of gaming and 37 survivors.

It was grueling and I don't remember the names or anything else about 80% of the characters we rolled, which is saying something for me. What I do remember is recycling characters that didn't even get to talk, filling in some sheets with "X expy" then just parodying various characters (which is where Nubby came from), and refusing to go too deeply into character traits and motivations since they'd probably die anyway.

There were four little Jimmys and one big Jimmy. We called him Jimmy Voltron and he died to friendly shelling during the nid fights.


It sounds every bit of grueling, but oh-so-rewarding there at the end. Hell, I still miss Heavy. Can't get enough of Twitch and Nubbs either- real favorites if I ever was forced to pick two.

All I can really say is: Wow, now that's a story.

I think all you have left to do now is fight some Tau and become Inquisitor yourself. Loving the AGP and I can't wait for the story to keep growing.

Freelance GM
2014-12-09, 10:18 AM
I just finished "What's in the Box," and well, Twitch is a god amongst mere mortals.

He probably has a premature and gruesome death in the next chapter.

Shoggy
2014-12-09, 12:29 PM
I just finished "What's in the Box," and well, Twitch is a god amongst mere mortals.

He probably has a premature and gruesome death in the next chapter.

Thankfully no, but our DM started looking a lot harder at our detpack usage after that. He also started to officially let Twitch blind-roll to see if his paranoia got close to reality on each mission.

FlyingScanian
2014-12-11, 09:41 AM
One question about the "Nubby's Girlfriend" arc, specifically the door(s) (and follow-up of heavily armored goons) landing on Sarge: Did anyone burn any fate points for him to survive all of that (and, if so, how many did he need with that and the follow-up bolot pistol?), or is he just that darn hard?

Shoggy
2014-12-11, 10:59 AM
One question about the "Nubby's Girlfriend" arc, specifically the door(s) (and follow-up of heavily armored goons) landing on Sarge: Did anyone burn any fate points for him to survive all of that (and, if so, how many did he need with that and the follow-up bolot pistol?), or is he just that darn hard?

Sarge was tied with Cutter for highest toughness, was wearing his armor, and the door was ruled to be AP 5 and heavy as hell. The flip side of this was that he was taking fatigue and impact damage and was considered to be encumbered. Our GM was also picking some critical impact effects off the table.

Overall that session didn't have many desperate battles and we didn't even have to burn fate to save Twitch (though he and Sarge did meta game the slightest bit to keep him alive). That said, the fights in the building used just about all of our fate re-rolls for the session. Sarge didn't burn any, but he had to reroll to keep the door balanced on his back and he wasted two trying not to eat that flash grenade. Nubby rerolled to dodge behind the psyker when we were flanked and burned a point to take the sword at thigh level instead of gut and rerolled to get his pickpocket off. There were a few others in there as well, like the rolls to get out of the crashed flier and such, but those were the highpoints.

Also a fate point was burned to save the Guardswoman, because we liked her, she's in the pool now.

Hazrond
2014-12-11, 11:04 AM
Sarge was tied with Cutter for highest toughness, was wearing his armor, and the door was ruled to be AP 5 and heavy as hell. The flip side of this was that he was taking fatigue and impact damage and was considered to be encumbered. Our GM was also picking some critical impact effects off the table.

Overall that session didn't have many desperate battles and we didn't even have to burn fate to save Twitch (though he and Sarge did meta game the slightest bit to keep him alive). That said, the fights in the building used just about all of our fate re-rolls for the session. Sarge didn't burn any, but he had to reroll to keep the door balanced on his back and he wasted two trying not to eat that flash grenade. Nubby rerolled to dodge behind the psyker when we were flanked and burned a point to take the sword at thigh level instead of gut and rerolled to get his pickpocket off. There were a few others in there as well, like the rolls to get out of the crashed flier and such, but those were the highpoints.

Also a fate point was burned to save the Guardswoman, because we liked her, she's in the pool now.

good sir, i finished reading the entire series the other night, and i must say i am envious of how amazing your group is, which character do you play? (twitch is my favorite :smallbiggrin:)

LeSwordfish
2014-12-11, 11:05 AM
Are you allowed to say who you were playing in this thread? I'm very curious.

Kid Jake
2014-12-11, 11:26 AM
Just finished it and it's a good read. Really made me start wanting to put together a Dark Heresy game and I don't think I've touched that book twice since I bought it.

Also, my guess is that you were playing Heavy/Cutter.

Hazrond
2014-12-11, 11:28 AM
Just finished it and it's a good read. Really made me start wanting to put together a Dark Heresy game and I don't think I've touched that book twice since I bought it.

Also, my guess is that you were playing Heavy/Cutter.

my bet is on either twitch or nubby, those two seem to get alot of attention/awesomeness so maybe he is posting to show off how awesome he and his party are?

Shoggy
2014-12-11, 11:29 AM
Are you allowed to say who you were playing in this thread? I'm very curious.

Well spoiler tags exist for a reason

I play Nubby (also Crisp)

Hazrond
2014-12-11, 11:36 AM
Well spoiler tags exist for a reason

I play Nubby (also Crisp)

I KNEW IT, nubby is probably tied with twitch for my favorite atm :smallbiggrin:

blacklight101
2014-12-11, 04:09 PM
My Favorite other than Twitch, you have put together one hell of a cool character right there. Awesome combination of DM and players, that has been quite fun to read.

Incorrect
2014-12-12, 07:05 AM
A tip of the helmet to you for this amazing story. I really appreciate the energy you have put into writing it all, it is truly epic. For the last couple of days I have chosen to read this, over published books.

Several times I thought to myself, this is insane; and shortly after it would just get crazier.
Of cause, inspired by your story I am now itching for grim dark.

Shoggy
2014-12-12, 10:34 AM
Well it's always nice to know you're appreciated.


A tip of the helmet to you for this amazing story. I really appreciate the energy you have put into writing it all, it is truly epic. For the last couple of days I have chosen to read this, over published books.

Several times I thought to myself, this is insane; and shortly after it would just get crazier.
Of cause, inspired by your story I am now itching for grim dark.

You know, I always felt we wound up rather short on the grimdark. It's been a surprisingly light-hearted campaign given the setting. We actually had some much, much darker campaigns back in D&D.

Hazrond
2014-12-12, 11:09 AM
so when do you think we are gonna get more stories :smallbiggrin:

blacklight101
2014-12-12, 11:15 AM
For being as light-hearted as it has been, I thought it captured the grimdark pretty well. Now im just waiting on further adventures of the AGP. I put down the novel I was reading for two days, my wife can attest thats not normal, just to keep reading this.

Shoggy
2014-12-12, 12:40 PM
so when do you think we are gonna get more stories :smallbiggrin:

Not until the new year, I'll be back in a stable location with a fair amount of free time after the 4th. I'm trying to squeeze in what I can between doing stuff with the folks, but I'm not a fast writer.


For being as light-hearted as it has been, I thought it captured the grimdark pretty well. Now im just waiting on further adventures of the AGP. I put down the novel I was reading for two days, my wife can attest thats not normal, just to keep reading this.

For now the only thing I have left is our old D&D Stories:

(first one is long and poorish quality, sorry, non image version below these)
(also these were my first foray into writing, quality may be rather low)

{Scrubbed}

That last one was the standard I set for Grimdark in our DM's games by the way.

Asylum
2014-12-12, 02:44 PM
Just dropped in to say:
Ultra-great stuff, really... frakking... awesome.

Rainman3769
2014-12-12, 07:10 PM
I have LOVED reading these stories. I am just sad I have to wait for more, lol. I don't know if you have ever read the Ciaphas Cain novels, but you have captured their spirit hands down. You have shown just enough of the grimdark and overall crappiness of living in the 41st millenium to make the point, but you have managed to convey the characters' reactions and thoughts to show the dark, comical absurdity of the setting. I love my RP group, but I envy you for yours.

blacklight101
2014-12-12, 09:01 PM
Really cool D&D stories too, I have to agree with Rainman too, I love my RP group, But I envy you for yours.

Manatee
2014-12-12, 09:06 PM
Just wanted to pop in and say thanks for the good read. It took me a couple of days to get caught up on all the shananigans, but it was totally worth it. Looking forward to new entries whenever they get posted. (also subscribing to thread).

Sartharina
2014-12-12, 09:19 PM
The Shane and Tommy stories are extra awesome.

Mr. Tulip was... bleh. If you're going to rip off an established character, you need to emphasize the differences between him and the source material, or at least make it interesting, instead of just regurgitating how he's adapated to an RPG. Nubby was fun to read about because, well... while he's Nobby Nobs, there isn't a single Discworld book I'm aware of where he tried buying Anhk-Morpork an interstellar starship that tried to kill the entire Watch.

Shoggy
2014-12-13, 03:03 PM
Just dropped in to say:
Ultra-great stuff, really... frakking... awesome.


Really cool D&D stories too, I have to agree with Rainman too, I love my RP group, But I envy you for yours.


Just wanted to pop in and say thanks for the good read. It took me a couple of days to get caught up on all the shananigans, but it was totally worth it. Looking forward to new entries whenever they get posted. (also subscribing to thread).

Thanks a lot guys, glad you folks are enjoying them.


I don't know if you have ever read the Ciaphas Cain novels, but you have captured their spirit hands down.

The Cain novels were definitely a major inspiration for all of the group, as well as the stories themselves. I generally put those books down as the most accessible piece of 40k writing out there.


The Shane and Tommy stories are extra awesome.

Mr. Tulip was... bleh.

Yea, just how it works out sometimes.

Sartharina
2014-12-14, 01:23 AM
Yea, just how it works out sometimes.I actually believe it was a matter of presentation. Actual stories of Mr. Lily in the campaign would have been more fun to read than just re-hashing "Hey, it's Mr. Tulip!" (The only difference being Mr. Tulip self-censors himself)

And I also got a strong Ciaphas Cain feel... at least from Sarge.

Squark
2014-12-14, 11:53 AM
And I also got a strong Ciaphas Cain feel... at least from Sarge.I think that's just a result of playing straight man and the general paranoia any veteran guardsman not from Krieg develops*.

*Technically, the Death Korps also expects the worst, it's just a that when "Become a martyr" is your life goal, you don't care as much.

Sartharina
2014-12-14, 12:21 PM
I think that's just a result of playing straight man and the general paranoia any veteran guardsman not from Krieg develops*.I was more thinking the whole "Downplaying just how much individual initiative and leadership he takes" aspects - he says "All they did was follow orders!", and yet... every one of their missions had him take command of the situation and going out of line to save the day.

TheOneHawk
2014-12-17, 12:00 PM
Very very good. Great story. Since you asked for literary criticism I noticed one thing that's been niggling at me the whole time I was reading it. You use the term 'we' when speaking about the entire party, indicating that the narrator is part of the party, but then at no point do you indicate that it's from any particular character's point of view or that any particular character is the narrator. Every character is referred to as they, which grammatically indicates, at least to me, that there's a sixth member of the party and they do absolutely nothing except things that the entire squad does. They have no name, they do nothing interesting, all they do is stand there and whatever the entire party as a group is doing, they do that. Obviously that's not true, but it's how it comes off.

Other than that, very very cool story. I've never liked 40K, always been a fantasy guy myself, but damn that makes me want to go pick up a 40K army of imperial guard and learn to play it.

Caimheul
2014-12-17, 05:37 PM
Read all of it today, and just wanted to say it was FANTASTIC. Thank you sooo much for taking the time to write this!

Shoggy
2014-12-18, 10:28 AM
Very very good. Great story. Since you asked for literary criticism I noticed one thing that's been niggling at me the whole time I was reading it. You use the term 'we' when speaking about the entire party, indicating that the narrator is part of the party, but then at no point do you indicate that it's from any particular character's point of view or that any particular character is the narrator. Every character is referred to as they, which grammatically indicates, at least to me, that there's a sixth member of the party and they do absolutely nothing except things that the entire squad does. They have no name, they do nothing interesting, all they do is stand there and whatever the entire party as a group is doing, they do that. Obviously that's not true, but it's how it comes off.

Other than that, very very cool story. I've never liked 40K, always been a fantasy guy myself, but damn that makes me want to go pick up a 40K army of imperial guard and learn to play it.

Yea the perspective is all mucked up due to it's origin as a player-perspective story. To me it feels like I'm too deep into the story to mess around whole layout (also I still can't be sure who's going to survive to the end) so I'm not really inclined to change things at this point. If I ever try to make something professional of this I'm going to choose a guardsman or switch to third person and work this whole thing over from beginning to end though.

Anyhow if you like the stories but aren't super into the grimdark of the setting I'd recommend the Caiaphas Cain books, they're the tone I was aiming for when I started writing these.


Read all of it today, and just wanted to say it was FANTASTIC. Thank you sooo much for taking the time to write this!

Thanks a lot, I'm a slow writer and it takes me a while to make these, but it really makes it worth it to know that people are enjoying the stories.

Caimheul
2014-12-18, 10:40 AM
Yea the perspective is all mucked up due to it's origin as a player-perspective story. To me it feels like I'm too deep into the story to mess around whole layout (also I still can't be sure who's going to survive to the end) so I'm not really inclined to change things at this point. If I ever try to make something professional of this I'm going to choose a guardsman or switch to third person and work this whole thing over from beginning to end though.

Anyhow if you like the stories but aren't super into the grimdark of the setting I'd recommend the Caiaphas Cain books, they're the tone I was aiming for when I started writing these.

I think you did a good job of getting a similar tone to the Cain books. In a similar vein, it probably wouldn't be too far fetched to treat these as a sort of compilation of the after action reports and thoughts of the various troopers in the cell accumulated by Oak during their service under him.

TheOneHawk
2014-12-18, 11:32 AM
I have no problem with the grimdark of the setting, I've just always preferred fantasy to futuristic for my fiction. I've liked the IG ever since I read a Gaunt's Ghosts novel but I have a lot invested into a Fantasy army and honestly I don't have time to play even that right now, and none of my friends that do roleplaying games know anything about warhammer.

Edge
2014-12-18, 06:01 PM
Well, these tales have certainly warmed the cockles of an old heretic's heart. Eager to see more come the New Year and to see the death toll of these Imperial lapdogs keep climbing.

Bob of Mage
2014-12-20, 06:35 PM
Nice story so far. I agree with the others that you do indeed seem to be channeling a bit of Cain here. Makes for a fun read while staying true to the setting.

Kind of funny that the only half-way decent guy Oak sent you with was the Rupert. The rest were awful at their job. It was like watching them all somehow lose to Brock with their starter. That is quite sad since even Charmander (the one very a major type weakness) had a very good chance of sweeping him. Make me feel like you guys got dumped with all the losers.

By the time I got to the later stories I was always waiting for something to go wrong. That feeling made thing feel a bit silly when they always happened. Sure minor issues would make sense, but sometimes it seems like your party should not be that insanely unlucky. I guess it's an issue with there needing to always be a certain level of action for the players. As a reader I can get by with much longer periods of everything not going to the warp.

As far as POV goes, I find it work for what it is right now. It's the story of a player sharing his game with others, and trying not to have the whole thing foucs on the guy he's playing. Nothing wrong with it for now. If you want to polish it up I would go with a thrid person view. First person would have the issue of having to deal with you having to switch views due to things like deaths.

In the future I hope you get to see some more of the 40K-verse you bring back some good stories (and hopely you don't have too many deaths).

Ravens_cry
2014-12-20, 08:14 PM
I am having trouble with the HTML version, it keeps scrolling up in my browser, the latest version of Firefox on Linux Ubuntu. Could you link, in a PM if anything, to the 4chan version? Much obliged.

Shoggy
2014-12-20, 11:11 PM
http://www.reddit.com/r/HFY/comments/2nysgn/the_all_guardsman_party/

Ravens_cry
2014-12-20, 11:14 PM
http://www.reddit.com/r/HFY/comments/2nysgn/the_all_guardsman_party/
All right, thanks. :)
EDIT:
No, NOT CUTTER?!:smalleek:

Shoggy
2015-01-13, 02:50 PM
New chapter up, external links because sometimes there's naughty words involved:

Screencap version:
http://imgur.com/a/URsER

HTML version:
https://googledrive.com/host/0B3Z9sXPTD9rpN2owNGdVWmdFWXM/agp.html

Demon 997
2015-01-13, 10:11 PM
Shoggy, could you PM me the other stories that got scrubbed earlier? Or email, or reddit, whatever.

I would second that I think your stuff is on a level with the Silverclawshift stuff. I'd be happy to read it published, though it'd definitely need some heavy editing for the transition. Not so much in quality, but just that stuff like this has a different tone, style, and expectations then stuff in a book. How long is each one anyway? My sense is actual text is short story-ish, but you could pretty easily get that up to short novel with you adding a lot more description and detail to where you are and what you're doing.

I think that's the big difference actually. In someone's RPG logs no one cares about detail past "prison cell" or "hosed with lasgun fire" where in a novel you'd need more. It'd also pad it out nicely. Characters would likely need more characterization in a book, just due to more talky bits and people being less accepting of blatant stereotypes.

The overall writing is pretty fantastic and engaging. I'd keep it basically as is for the online stuff.

I know what you mean about people reading and playing off each other. I've done it with improv groups who've been together for a while. Sure, you don't technically know what they'll do once they're on stage, but you can guess pretty well off a few words what their basic character is and where they want this to go. Then you mash ideas into each other and hope for hilarity.

Shoggy
2015-01-13, 11:50 PM
This post has all the other image links: http://www.reddit.com/r/HFY/comments/2nysgn/the_all_guardsman_party/

That said, is the HTML version working for people? It's sort of weird how I bent google docs into hosting it and I'm curious if it loads the images correctly.

Anyway yea, these were never intended to grow so big. The tone/perspective/whatever were aimed at something around 10-20 posts long and more in the vein of a player story than anything. Since then it's gotten a tad out of hand size wise, while not really changing much in the writing department.

The last chapter was 61 posts long.
http://i.imgur.com/W6zw4D5.png

And the whole thing is 371 long (10+19+31+36+44+56+52+62+61)
http://i.imgur.com/UVwf3Id.png

I've just edged out the third bloody Harry Potter book (107,253 words) and I'm heading for the fourth...

Really it's been a weird experience, this is more or less my first foray into writing anything, I've never had any real education on the subject. Someday it might be nice to try for the real thing, but copyright shenanigans mean I'd have to chuck all this stuff out and start fresh. So it's an odd sort of place to be to say the least, too involved to stop, to esoteric to get published (or even properly edited), it's pretty much destined to stay a web series.

Anyhow, glad you like it and thanks for the input.

Demon 997
2015-01-14, 12:33 AM
This post has all the other image links: http://www.reddit.com/r/HFY/comments/2nysgn/the_all_guardsman_party/

No, I was looking for the DnD/Fantasy stories that you'd posted on the last page, but then the mods took down. I'm not seeing those on reddit, but maybe I'm just blind.



Anyway yea, these were never intended to grow so big. The tone/perspective/whatever were aimed at something around 10-20 posts long and more in the vein of a player story than anything. Since then it's gotten a tad out of hand size wise, while not really changing much in the writing department.

I've just edged out the third bloody Harry Potter book (107,253 words) and I'm heading for the fourth...


Okay, that's around what I was guessing. To me that seems like you could fluff up them into 100-200 page novels for each one, or maybe need to combine some. How much of a lag is there between you guys playing and you writing?



Really it's been a weird experience, this is more or less my first foray into writing anything, I've never had any real education on the subject. Someday it might be nice to try for the real thing, but copyright shenanigans mean I'd have to chuck all this stuff out and start fresh. So it's an odd sort of place to be to say the least, too involved to stop, to esoteric to get published (or even properly edited), it's pretty much destined to stay a web series.

Anyhow, glad you like it and thanks for the input.

Seriously man, you've got some real natural talent. With some refinement I think you could be a reasonable published author, at least to the "good Black Library" level. Maybe way more, who knows. I'd definitely say take some classes if you've got time/money/interest.

I still say it's worth keeping poking BL, and even if you can't I feel like you could make it generic easily enough. Pyskers aren't huge parts of most of your plots, and neither are tech priests. Past that you're a generic spec ops force handling weird missions for a generic and weird spy agency basically. Like obviously talk to some lawyers if you really think about going that route, but I think you could keep the core ideas and stories and characters, and just change some details.

It's great getting a chance to chat and give some input. I'd kill to get to play with a group like yours.

Caimheul
2015-01-14, 12:34 AM
HTML version has been working fine for me, and I appreciate the effort you took in setting it up. It works quite well as a web series in my opinion.

Shoggy
2015-01-14, 01:13 AM
No, I was looking for the DnD/Fantasy stories that you'd posted on the last page, but then the mods took down. I'm not seeing those on reddit, but maybe I'm just blind.


Ah my mistake, didn't know those were scrubbed, here's a roundabout link to them via reddit.
http://www.reddit.com/r/rpg/comments/2dn8mc/

I make no promises of quality...

The stories used to lag 2 weeks behind the sessions, now I'm at about 2 months. We play every other weekend and it's been taking three weeks or so to write each chapter.


Thanks for your words of encouragement, it means a lot. Next time I have a gap in my schedule again I'll probably take a crack at talking to some literary folks and doing an edit pass on the archived chapters.


HTML version has been working fine for me, and I appreciate the effort you took in setting it up.

Ah that's good to hear. I wanted a place to save everything with the images and such intact, but it turns out that a google document gets unstable when it gets that long and PDF editors bite.

Demon 997
2015-01-14, 01:19 AM
Ah my mistake, didn't know those were scrubbed, here's a roundabout link to them via reddit.
http://www.reddit.com/r/rpg/comments/2dn8mc/

I make no promises of quality...

Thanks man. I'm going to be skimming the reading for tomorrow so hard... (I'll be fine)



Thanks for your words of encouragement, it means a lot. Next time I have a gap in my schedule again I'll probably take a crack at talking to some literary folks and doing an edit pass on the archived chapters.


I really mean it too. I think I at least somewhat know what I'm talking about, having some fairly high grade college writing stuff under my belt, and a parent whose a professional editor. And just reading a ton, both good stuff, and warhammer stuff. You're easily more fun to read than Ciaphais Cain, and I like Cain.

Fable Wright
2015-01-14, 04:46 PM
Just shotgunned the whole log (HTML version, which is working quite well), including the new material, and I have to say that it was pretty good.

In regards to your writing, which you said you were worried about:
The storytelling was done quite well. You managed to sell the ensemble cast, capture the tone and feel of the setting without devolving into too many details, and despite most of the combat being abstracted away, you've done a very good job keeping up the tension and action in your story. And while there were a few typos or sentences gone awry, on the whole it was very good.

That said, while the writing style did fit a campaign log well, I'm not quite sure how well it would translate into literary works, where the convention goes for much more detail, a slower pace, and a more in-universe perspective; balancing that probably the trickiest part of writing, and what sells.

On the whole, though? Good job, and keep doing what you're doing. I look forward to seeing more.

Demon 997
2015-01-15, 03:23 AM
Just shotgunned the whole log (HTML version, which is working quite well), including the new material, and I have to say that it was pretty good.


Wow. How long did that take you?

Fable Wright
2015-01-15, 11:46 AM
Wow. How long did that take you?
Took me two days I had on break, but that's because stuff kept interrupting me. It was worth the time, though.

Kid Jake
2015-01-15, 12:53 PM
You know, you might want to post a synopsis over on the Campaign Logs Archive (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?392323-Campaign-logs-archive-Story-time!) thread, I think this is the only 40k Journal I've ever stumbled across.

Shoggy
2015-01-15, 02:00 PM
You know, you might want to post a synopsis over on the Campaign Logs Archive (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?392323-Campaign-logs-archive-Story-time!) thread, I think this is the only 40k Journal I've ever stumbled across.

Done, thanks for the pointer.

Kid Jake
2015-01-15, 03:02 PM
Yar, glad to help.

Grytorm
2015-01-21, 01:27 AM
So I am caught up now. Very fun although I do feel kind of sad for Interogator Bane.

Ravens_cry
2015-01-21, 01:46 AM
So I am caught up now. Very fun although I do feel kind of sad for Interogator Bane.
You might say you . . .:cool:
. . . Bonded with the character.
I thought he was a neat deconstruction of the Mary Sue, though, given the setting, how damn safe of a psyker he was made him something of a Mary Sue out of universe as well. I still enjoyed it though, as he got his comeuppance in the end.

Mabn
2015-01-21, 04:18 AM
haven't caught up yet, but this is really a wonderful read.

Shoggy
2015-01-21, 06:13 PM
So I am caught up now. Very fun although I do feel kind of sad for Interogator Bane.

I'm fairly sure we'll see him again someday, our GM had far too much fun with him.


deconstruction of the Mary Sue, though, given the setting, how damn safe of a psyker he was made him something of a Mary Sue out of universe as well. I still enjoyed it though, as he got his comeuppance in the end.

The mechanics that made him work were absolutely terrifying for us, every time he rolled anything less than perfectly our GM would steal from whatever we were rolling. None of us could see when he rolled a phenomena or perils, but after we figured out the basics of how he worked it was obvious. We'd be doing fine, then suddenly lose about 20 points off all of our rolls.

That's the reason we tread so carefully at the end and tried to social our way out of the final battle. We were terrified of him, especially since we'd used all of Fate.


haven't caught up yet, but this is really a wonderful read.

Thanks!

Caimheul
2015-01-21, 10:57 PM
I can't say the ending from the last one surprised me overly much, I figured that was coming, but I just LOOOVE the way each of them ends such that they hint at the next one in some way.... That last line had me laughing my behind off. :smallbiggrin: Am soooooo looking forward to the next one, the new Inquisitor certainly seems like he might be one of the more competent ones.

janusmaxwell
2015-01-22, 04:46 PM
I'm fairly sure we'll see him again someday, our GM had far too much fun with him.



The mechanics that made him work were absolutely terrifying for us, every time he rolled anything less than perfectly our GM would steal from whatever we were rolling. None of us could see when he rolled a phenomena or perils, but after we figured out the basics of how he worked it was obvious. We'd be doing fine, then suddenly lose about 20 points off all of our rolls.

That's the reason we tread so carefully at the end and tried to social our way out of the final battle. We were terrified of him, especially since we'd used all of Fate.



Thanks!

Weirdly enough, I actually thought it was something like this!

My first thought was that the DM had given the guy wicked fate points, but then with the "luck drain" thing going on, I realized it had to be stat driven somehow. My assumption was something like "Everybody in 30m is considered -5 points lower in every stat, while Bane gets +5 in every stat for every person within 30m of him."

On another note, you implied somewhere that you ran into Ivana Crushyu sometime in the future? Has that happened yet or has it just been hinted AT you by the DM?

Shoggy
2015-01-22, 06:03 PM
She's been added to the NPC pool, but didn't join the trip to Tau space, pretty much everyone else did though.

Kaun
2015-01-22, 08:45 PM
it reads really well but i am wondering if it was fun ti actually play?

All the investigation stuff and Inquisitor bs that was happening that the guards really didn't get much involved in, how did the GM handle that?

Was it a quick synopsis about what happened and then straight into the next encounter where you actually had something to do or what?

Shoggy
2015-01-23, 12:28 AM
Oh it's quite fun for us at least, though your mileage may vary.

While the NPCs are doing the leg-work we're getting a fair bit of RP time in and doing a little planning and skill work, our DM's pretty good about making sure the stuff we do has an affect on the story, even if it's something as minor as pissing off one of the NPCs or snagging a few thrones.

When we finish with whatever we were doing the GM usually gives us a brief rundown of what the NPCs did, then asks how much attention we paid and perhaps for a roll. After that we might get some more details or just told what our next orders were. I think it occasionally frustrates him that we'll randomly decide to be interested in things, it means he has to do a lot of planning or be ready to improv.

Anyway, yes there are sections where we're not really necessary to the advancement of the plot, but we like to spend that time acting like a combination of hyperactive children and sarcastic critics. It entertains us.

janusmaxwell
2015-01-28, 01:19 PM
I have a small question that occurred to me just now.

From "The All Guardsman Party and the Discount Spaceship" story, how much of the 2 funniest twists did you guys know about ahead of time or ended up actually being surprising/having to role-play your characters reactions?

The 2 funniest twists I'm referring to are "WHAT DO YOU MEAN 6 RE-FURBISHED GELLAR FIELDS!?" and when Old Bill said "Psyker Holding Cells" and everybody realized this ship was one of the blackmarket psyker smuggling ships. Basically, both times where it was revealed that Nubby was an stupid a$$hat. (Though an entertaining one :smallbiggrin:)

Bob of Mage
2015-01-28, 06:48 PM
Nice to see a new tale uploaded, they are always a fun read. Kind of funny that you now seem to be having a bit more good luck with psykers (only a bit). I'm looking forward to the next installment as it seems to foucs on oone of the factions I like.

Shoggy
2015-01-29, 10:46 AM
Nubby knew everything ahead of time, since it was part of the re-introduction, everyone else was blindsided by both events.

Usually the way the story is set up gives everyone a general idea about what the opposition will be, that time everyone was very confused up until Sarge talked to the tech-priest. The bets were split between a hijacking / piracy attempt, something really sinister about the notes and tech-priests, genestealers, and finding a space-hulk. It was quite the surprise for everyone when the name of the game turned out to be Gellar Field Funtimes. Nubby's player got an unfair amount of flak for not telling anyone.

The reveal of the psyker cells was interesting to everyone, but not as scary or surprising. At that point the **** had already hit the fan and it was just filling in a nice piece of backstory. There was a sort of "oh THAT'S what the underlying plot is" moment and a bit of laughing and facepalming, but no one threw anything at Nubby's player.

All-in-all that chapter had the most successful twists in the story, generally we're a very genre-savvy party.

As a side note the next chapter is being aimed for next weekened.

Bob of Mage
2015-01-29, 11:31 AM
Nubby's player got an unfair amount of flak for not telling anyone.

Sorry I just just had to laugh since I read where you said who you played as.

janusmaxwell
2015-01-29, 11:48 AM
Nubby knew everything ahead of time, since it was part of the re-introduction, everyone else was blindsided by both events.

Usually the way the story is set up gives everyone a general idea about what the opposition will be, that time everyone was very confused up until Sarge talked to the tech-priest. The bets were split between a hijacking / piracy attempt, something really sinister about the notes and tech-priests, genestealers, and finding a space-hulk. It was quite the surprise for everyone when the name of the game turned out to be Gellar Field Funtimes. Nubby's player got an unfair amount of flak for not telling anyone.

The reveal of the psyker cells was interesting to everyone, but not as scary or surprising. At that point the **** had already hit the fan and it was just filling in a nice piece of backstory. There was a sort of "oh THAT'S what the underlying plot is" moment and a bit of laughing and facepalming, but no one threw anything at Nubby's player.

All-in-all that chapter had the most successful twists in the story, generally we're a very genre-savvy party.

As a side note the next chapter is being aimed for next weekened.

WOO-HOO! Perfect way to end the first week of a new semester! *does the happy dance*

RFLS
2015-02-09, 02:27 AM
I just finished reading through this; it was great.

One question I did have, though, is how exactly Bane worked mechanically. I'm going to be running a character in a DH game soon, and the character concept is a complete nervous wreck of a guy who always narrowly avoids dying by manifesting his powers just in time. Were Bane's abilities houseruled, or are they something I can find in a rulebook somewhere?

Shoggy
2015-02-09, 11:34 AM
Bane was a fricken monster and completely houseruled.

The gist of it was that whenever he failed a roll (or even when he didn't crit) he would make it up by stealing from everyone else's rolls. So everyone would roll, DM would calculate his stuff, then we'd find out a hit that should have done 5 did 2 or an easy skill check failed. Also for every theft he did there was a chance for perils/phenoma, but that just meant he had to steal more to make up for it or dump it on Fumbles. Finally who he stole from was range based and determined by roll, sometimes he'd shave 1 off 10 people others he'd shave 10 off of one poor sucker.

Of course there were limits to how much he could take and the DM had all these mechanics set up for him getting warpier and warpier as he strained, but never got to use them because we chickened out on the final fight.


Also for those curious why a new chapter isn't up, I got yelled at for trying to post during our weekend session. Will hopefully post this weekend.

PrincessCupcake
2015-02-21, 03:10 AM
Loving the stories of your group, and can't wait to read the latest adventure!

Also, if you'd like a copy editor to give your stuff a once-over I am volunteering my services. :3

Shoggy
2015-02-21, 11:46 AM
New chapter is up

Here's the HTML, archive, and imgur links to The All Guardsmen Party and the Greater Good:
https://googledrive.com/host/0B3Z9sXPTD9rpN2owNGdVWmdFWXM/agp.html
http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive/38181397/
http://imgur.com/gallery/5uUpI



Loving the stories of your group, and can't wait to read the latest adventure!

Also, if you'd like a copy editor to give your stuff a once-over I am volunteering my services. :3

That'd be great, drop me an email, my address is in the html

Grytorm
2015-02-22, 10:05 PM
Question, so. How many characters has your team lost? It sounds like the skeletons in the poker game on the ship might be your dead teamates. I would need to review the old stories. But I think you lost the sword nut since then, right?

Shoggy
2015-02-23, 12:16 AM
The occupants of the Spooky Poker Room are:

PCs:

Heavy
Crisp
Cutter

NPCs:

An asortment of guardsmen
1 adept
1 psyker
2 cogboys
4 assassins
1 arbite
1 scum
1 khornate
1 cleric (being repeatedly beaten up up the knornate)
About two dozen Inquisitorial recruits
2 adepts
2 arbites
1 infiltrator


The goings on in that room are a matter of much speculation.

Rowan Wolf
2015-02-23, 01:24 AM
Before I get a chance to look at your link I have to say that due to another author I always feel kind of bad for guardsmen, particularly 'honored guardsmen', but once I get a chance to read what was linked I will add to conversion.

Shoggy
2015-02-23, 09:38 AM
Ok, see you in a week or so.

Draken
2015-02-23, 02:02 PM
Hehehe. Weebo. These names are among the best parts.

Also, tyranids on the next instalment? Looked pretty much like tyranids to me.

Shoggy
2015-02-23, 06:12 PM
All I can say is that the next mission is a direct result of our past decisions. It pretty much boils down to "go fix your mess idiots".

Darksalvo
2015-03-01, 12:45 PM
I /love/ this, Shoggy.

I'm eagerly waiting for the new session. :)

Arcades
2015-03-01, 06:54 PM
Hehehe. Weebo. These names are among the best parts.

Also, tyranids on the next instalment? Looked pretty much like tyranids to me.

Necrons, IMHO.

Anyway Shoggy I love your stories, I'm going to steal Bane Jhohns for my DH campaign.

Slipperychicken
2015-03-01, 09:06 PM
I love it, Shoggy. I first read this on /tg/, and I'm glad you're spreading it around. The only significant complaint I have is overusing the phrase "So no ****, there we were..." [with or without comma] starting paragraphs and posts (Ctrl+F reveals 25 separate instances in the google drive doc). Anything gets old when you re-use it that many times, but thankfully, a bit of editing will clean it right up.

Once you get through the editing, maybe you could get an illustrator and turn this into a webcomic/graphic novel. Or just get someone to add helpful pictures to the story. You could probably get a lot of mileage out of the action scenes too, especially near the "survival of the fittest" section.

Also, am I the only one who imagines Twitch like an exaggerated version of Dale from King of the Hill?

Ravens_cry
2015-03-02, 03:08 AM
Reading the latest mission, but please, please tell me your GM actually used sock puppets for the briefing from the infiltrator.

Feddlefew
2015-03-02, 04:28 AM
Heavy is the one without their head and Crisp is the Jolly Skeleton, right?

Draken
2015-03-02, 09:54 AM
All I can say is that the next mission is a direct result of our past decisions. It pretty much boils down to "go fix your mess idiots".


Necrons, IMHO.

Anyway Shoggy I love your stories, I'm going to steal Bane Jhohns for my DH campaign.

Well, yes. Could be a result of the mission that ended with handing the necron ship to a rogue trader.

Could also be a result of the mission to clean a planet of genestealers that kinda got cut short by a certain chaos heretic!

Modus operandi fits tyranids better than necrons as far as I am aware too. But both are ok.

Shoggy
2015-03-02, 11:17 AM
Once you get through the editing, maybe you could get an illustrator and turn this into a webcomic/graphic novel.

Also, am I the only one who imagines Twitch like an exaggerated version of Dale from King of the Hill?

I really would like to get it illustrated, I enjoy having the pictures breaking up the blocks of text and adding little side jokes and such. It's a shame you stop seeing picture books after you leave the nursery, the few adult(ish) ones I've read, like Dinotopia, were quite enjoyable.

Anyway, Dale is a pretty good analog for how Twitch's player talks, but he winds up being fair bit more fearful.

As for the NSTIW, that's an affectation of where I learned storytelling. It's a deeply held belief amongst my people (Raft Guides) that all stories should have that phrase in there at least once. It'll probably be scrubbed out, or reduced to once per chapter, as part of a final editing pass, along with most of the swearing and references to stuff like Pokemon. For now though, you must suffer.


I'm eagerly waiting for the new session. :)

Glad people enjoy these, hopefully the next one will be done faster than the last.


I'm going to steal Bane Jhohns for my DH campaign.

I'd love to hear how that turns out, he terrified us.


Reading the latest mission, but please, please tell me your GM actually used sock puppets for the briefing from the infiltrator.

You bet he did. Got about half way through before he cracked up, then we all just kept dissolving into laughter. It took about half an hour to finish the briefing.


Well, yes. Could be a result of the mission that ended with handing the necron ship to a rogue trader.

Could also be a result of the mission to clean a planet of genestealers that kinda got cut short by a certain chaos heretic!

Modus operandi fits tyranids better than necrons as far as I am aware too. But both are ok.

We really are not the cleanest operators, I'm sure some senior Inquisitor is very angry about how indiscreet we are and how much time has to be spent cleaning up after us.


Heavy is the one without their head and Crisp is the Jolly Skeleton, right?

Yep, at some point I'm going to try and write a little one-off for that room and its occupants.

Ravens_cry
2015-03-02, 01:09 PM
You bet he did. Got about half way through before he cracked up, then we all just kept dissolving into laughter. It took about half an hour to finish the briefing.


Awesome. Pure, unadulterated, 200 proof, awesome.

Cluedrew
2015-03-17, 09:01 PM
Hi, I just got an account but previously I read the entire story (twice) and enjoyed every moment of it. It managed to be both gritty and comedic in a way few other stories (even professional and published) managed to be.

Some literary criticism:
For the most part I only have good things to say, some people find the second person perspective odd but I see it as the personification of the squad itself talking, but do make sure the openings you are adding to the more recent chapters have a punch line. "The Interplanetary Man of Mystery" opening was a little lacking in that regard, to me at least, and left me feeling confused. The other two worked better in that regard.

Every other thing I would say is just a natural consequence of the story being told by a bunch of people playing the game and are worth it for the authenticity of the story. Although I do wonder how the party will grow as time goes one... I guess the definitive answer will come along eventually.

Shoggy
2015-03-18, 01:21 PM
Ah thanks for the input, I'd like to go back and re-work most of the chapter introductions at some point, that one in particular is the worst offender though.

As for party growth, I'm not sure myself where everyone will end up when the campaign finally finishes. Sometimes it seems that most of us are holding static, sticking with what works as it were. Watching some of the NPCs grow and change has been fun though.

Brookshw
2015-03-19, 05:11 AM
This is phenomenal, truly wonderful. I couldn't put it down. Thanks so much for sharing, can't wait for the next chapter :smallbiggrin:

Shoggy
2015-04-07, 01:05 PM
New chapter is up and it's a stupidly long one this time.

Worlds are searched, tech priests cause problems, we thoroughly annoy someone, and we get involved is a battle that's far too big for our comfort.

Here's the HTML, archive, and imgur links to The All Guardsmen Party and the Xenotech Heresy:
https://googledrive.com/host/0B3Z9sXPTD9rpN2owNGdVWmdFWXM/agp.html
http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive/39165875
http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive/39185203
http://imgur.com/gallery/phJ5W/

blacklight101
2015-04-07, 03:26 PM
Sweet, new AGP! Some of the best news i've had today.

Cluedrew
2015-04-07, 05:36 PM
Read it, yet another glory-free chapter of the All Guardsmen Party.

The opening was really good, it had a punch-line, and once again the Guardsmen work their way out of a comically bad situation. Also the new/returning characters we good additions to the regulars.


Oddly, it was almost as if we'd lost exactly ten percent of our ballistics skills due to the unfamiliar terrain.
Some game mechanics showing through?

On a different note, I recently recalled the term "grimbright" and was wondering if this would be an accurate description of the story. I'm exactly sure what grimbright what the term usually means, but it seems to fit here.

Shoggy
2015-04-07, 08:25 PM
I've never heard it before either, but the term certainly fits. It's a lighthearted story set it just about the grimmest setting around.

Brookshw
2015-04-09, 05:38 AM
Another absolutely fantastic read! I was a bit worried when it opened without the phrase "so no sh*** there we were" but you worked it in later so all good!

Mind if I save a copy to read offline?

Shoggy
2015-04-09, 08:28 AM
Another absolutely fantastic read! I was a bit worried when it opened without the phrase "so no sh*** there we were" but you worked it in later so all good!

Mind if I save a copy to read offline?

Amusingly I get a fair number of complaints for using that phrase.

That HTML version is all static, so saving an offline copy should work fine.

blacklight101
2015-04-09, 09:16 AM
I was a little lost without the "So no sh**, there we were..."

That is one of those points I really liked for some reason, like an old soldier retelling part of his story at a bar and exaggerating a little bit (but not really much). Maybe talking to some old buddies he hasn't seen in a while. Hell, maybe even telling his grandkids crap that happened to them when granny isnt around to give him **** for telling old war stories again.

oshi
2015-04-10, 09:42 PM
As a 40k player I personally got a little giggle out of the void / hulking references :).
Loved this one, and the rest of them!

Milodiah
2015-04-10, 10:56 PM
I had just picked up the materials for Dark Heresy and started binging between it and marathon character creation (it's one way I learn systems), and I decided I'd finally take a look at this to see what it's like.

This is simply wonderful.

Game-wise, I do rather like the mechanic of rotating Interrogators, it keeps the players on their toes, makes a good transition between missions, and ensures there's an authority figure to listen to a little and then ignore to go do player-charactery stuff. And on the topic of player-charactery stuff, I've always rather imagined that in game universes there's a checklist somewhere dealing with how to identify PCs. Between Nobby Nubby singlehandedly stealing more than the average party does combined, every NPC authority figure you meet declaring you ludicrously incompetent in that special PC way, the consistent pattern of infiltrations collapsing to gunfights, and the whole "tape explosives to really long poles" technique, you guys are tossing up some massive red flags :smalltongue:


Also, because I'm a curious nerd, would you mind sharing your original Only War regiment build?

Shoggy
2015-04-12, 04:09 PM
Also, because I'm a curious nerd, would you mind sharing your original Only War regiment build?

The guardsmen were members of the 99th Generian Medium Infantry, or as they're know on the org chart: Gener IC Med Inf.

This was the result of five people trying to make a pun out the regiment's name after deciding they wanted to go for the standard guardsmen experience instead of messing around with any of the more flavorful options.

It was a completely normal regiment down the board, Civilized world origin, Line Infantry, Fixed Commander, and only Die Hards and Well Provisioned for the traits. We were quite serious about making it the most boring regiment possible: there was no specialization in the roster at all, everyone had completely standard issue kit, and the regiment was colloquially known as the either the GIs, the Fillers, or the Bland Band.

Freelance GM
2015-04-26, 01:41 PM
Just got caught up on the last two chapters...


That Necron ship coming back to haunt them was a hilarious twist.

Sarge wrangling the Warlock onto the ship was awesome.

Twitch smuggling the Tau off of the ship was awesome.

I'm not entirely sure how the next chapter can possibly get more awesome.

Also, I wouldn't worry about the, "So no ****, there we were..."
It's a pretty sweet catch-phrase to remind the reader, "Hell yes, you're reading about the All Guardsmen Party."

Ravens_cry
2015-04-26, 02:26 PM
In the words of a young, myopic techpriest, 'D-d-did I do that!?":smallcool:

Shoggy
2015-04-27, 01:38 PM
Glad you felt the chapter was up to quality standards, I began to worry when it got so long.

We thoroughly enjoyed the Warlock NPC. It's glorious to sit there be as annoying and assholish as possible. Those scenes took quite a while, since the DM kept alternately cracking up and dissolving into frustrated screaming as he tried to deliver his lines.

As for things coming back, our DM loves to tie everything together. He will tell anyone who's willing to listen that Unintended Consequences are just about the best plot device out there. A lot of birds start coming home to roost in the next few chapters.

Brookshw
2015-04-27, 05:10 PM
Can't wait to see how the group gets along with the space marines.

Lord Loss
2015-04-28, 08:53 AM
Loving this campaign journal. I'm not through reading it yet, in fact I've only read some of the earlier segments. Your GM's campaign background was brilliant an demented. I would never have thought to try that, but it conveys the tone of the setting as no description could.

TheOneHawk
2015-05-23, 05:40 PM
Is this still alive?

Slipperychicken
2015-05-23, 06:01 PM
Is this still alive?

Last I heard, he said the next update would be sometime in may.

Shoggy
2015-05-25, 06:46 PM
Still alive, just going slowly.

blacklight101
2015-05-25, 09:50 PM
Yay, aliveness! Always excited for some more All Guardsmen.

TheOneHawk
2015-05-26, 02:39 AM
Slow is fine. This whole thing is absolute gold so I'm willing to wait for more :)

Demon 997
2015-06-21, 05:37 PM
New entry going up at 6 pm pacific today. WHOOOOO! Nothing like catching them live.

TheOneHawk
2015-06-21, 06:20 PM
WOOT! So excited.

PoR
2015-06-22, 10:18 AM
All Guardsmen Party has been the source of a couple sleepless nights for me over the past year.

Can't wait to read the new installment, I've been loving it so far. Keep 'em coming =)

Shoggy
2015-06-22, 03:35 PM
Despite an absolutely glacial writing pace, the next chapter is finally up!

We head out to catch a cool bug for our boss. Cells are repaired, an incredibly hostile system is visited, Space Marines are met, communications breakdown repeatedly, and a journey is started.

Here's the HTML, archive, and imgur links to The All Guardsmen Party: Tyranid Acquisition Experts:
https://googledrive.com/host/0B3Z9sXPTD9rpN2owNGdVWmdFWXM/agp.html
(Any image loading problems can be addressed by shift-reloading, I'll upgrade the HTML soon)
http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive/40747009
http://imgur.com/gallery/iVHrS//

Townopolis
2015-06-22, 09:42 PM
Aimy is Doc's alt, right? She showed up during the one adventure where Doc was out of commission, so it was seeming like she was his alt, which would imply she was NPC'd during this episode, which would explain the odd change in behavior (suddenly exhibiting heretofore unseen generically feminine concerns). Or is she another player's character, and we're just witnessing her character picking up new dimensions?

Shoggy
2015-06-22, 09:53 PM
Aimy is Doc's alt, right? She showed up during the one adventure where Doc was out of commission, so it was seeming like she was his alt, which would imply she was NPC'd during this episode, which would explain the odd change in behavior (suddenly exhibiting heretofore unseen generically feminine concerns). Or is she another player's character, and we're just witnessing her character picking up new dimensions?

Like most of our long-time NPCs, she's sort of controlled by Committee, with Doc's player taking the primary control. I find her harder to write then the rest, but here's what I'm going for:

Her character traits are generally listed as Noble Born Guardswoman, slight violent napoleon complex, bit of a bitch, PTSD from previous mission. She's become rather focused on her hair as a result of increasing insanity points. She wound up having to pick an Obsession, and since her repeated facial and scalp burns were what pushed her over the edge, the cosmetic damage was the focus we chose for her.

Hawkstar
2015-06-23, 08:52 AM
At least the scout didn't bust out puppets or Letter Blocks in training the guardsmen for the mission :smalltongue:

blacklight101
2015-06-23, 12:34 PM
Quite the good chapter from All Guardsmen. Can't wait for the next one!

TheOneHawk
2015-06-23, 12:56 PM
Love this stuff. Keep it coming!

JustSomeGuy
2015-06-23, 01:11 PM
The pills/legs conundrum, i died.

Draken
2015-06-23, 04:55 PM
The listing of famous regiments our heroes don't belong to was quite priceless.

And I couldn't help but sour a bit on Sister Hospitaler (what is her proper name anyway) because of the Fumbles mutation part.

Cluedrew
2015-06-23, 06:03 PM
[MAY HAVE COME INTO CONTACT WITH SPOILERS]

Before I say anything else:

That man may be insane, but he is sometimes right.

You know who I'm talking about. For some reason I felt he was going to be right this time. Overall, another great chapter, filled with explosions and hilarity. I have a question: When a "flash back" to something that did not appear during the original sequence of events occurs, is that made up or were the original events skipped over to improve the flow of the story? In this chapter it is the loading bay, although Twitch's really big bomb back in the educators episode is another example.

From a literary perspective I also noticed the use of the word "I" which is unusual, usually their is no first person and even though it was connected directly to the narrator, it feels a little odd seeing it all of a sudden. On the other hand I do like that quotes are being used a little bit more, lets the character (literally) speak for themselves. And progress is nice, even given the episodic nature of the story it is good that things keep moving and changing.

I could go on about... a half dozen other things at least but the long and short of it is: Great chapter, will read the next one when the time comes.

Shoggy
2015-06-23, 08:03 PM
Glad everyone's still having fun, especially at Tink's expense.


The listing of famous regiments our heroes don't belong to was quite priceless.

And I couldn't help but sour a bit on Sister Hospitaler (what is her proper name anyway) because of the Fumbles mutation part.

We paused the game while one of us Grabbed the OW book for that part, then just read them off in sequence, it caused much hilarity.

Don't hold it against her, she came around in the end, despite having BURN THE MUTANT screamed at her every day during her formative years. Sororitas be crazy for a reason. Anyhow, our DM wanted to convey that Fumbles' acquiring a minor-mutation and a malignancy was a fairly big deal, not just a -10 per, -10 fellowship, and Night Vision. The little confrontation in the medbay did that wonderfully. (Her name is not a thing yet, but eventually...)


[MAY HAVE COME INTO CONTACT WITH SPOILERS]

Before I say anything else:

That man may be insane, but he is sometimes right.

You know who I'm talking about. For some reason I felt he was going to be right this time. Overall, another great chapter, filled with explosions and hilarity. I have a question: When a "flash back" to something that did not appear during the original sequence of events occurs, is that made up or were the original events skipped over to improve the flow of the story? In this chapter it is the loading bay, although Twitch's really big bomb back in the educators episode is another example.

From a literary perspective I also noticed the use of the word "I" which is unusual, usually their is no first person and even though it was connected directly to the narrator, it feels a little odd seeing it all of a sudden. On the other hand I do like that quotes are being used a little bit more, lets the character (literally) speak for themselves. And progress is nice, even given the episodic nature of the story it is good that things keep moving and changing.

I could go on about... a half dozen other things at least but the long and short of it is: Great chapter, will read the next one when the time comes.

The flashback for Twitch's meltabomb, was Nubby critting an acquisition roll to "see what we brought along". Such a good roll (it boiled down to "you can have anything that's not a Tank"), required a little explanation to be retconned in. It's where it is in the story because that's where the roll happened.

The Fungus flashback is a case of the OB's sort of nebulous nature. The reason that Nubby & co.'s adventures patrolling the ship are unspecified is so when something plot relevant is needed, our DM can sort of add it in. How it worked in this case, was he asked us to roll Knowledge: This ****ty Ship, then we had a sort of Choose-Your-Own-Adventure sidequest with very few rolls. It was railroady, but a very branchy railroad, and was a lot more fun than just being handed a note saying "BAY CONTAINS FUNGUS"

As for the first person pronouns, I speak most of this alloud as I write, and they sneak in as exclamations, generally "Let me tell you", or "I mean". It's bad for consistency, but I've gotten lazy about pulling them out afterwards.

NRSASD
2015-06-24, 03:07 AM
Loving the story so far! Warhammer 40K is too ludicrously grimdark for my tastes, but this story makes the setting come alive when viewed from the reference of five relatively ordinary, rather disturbed guardsmen trying not to die.

And if you want an editor, send me a section and I'll see what I can do. I actually work as a writing tutor on and off, so it'll help me stay in practice.

That line about the room being "99% servitor free, soon as we can find a ladder" was hysterical! Twitch's player should be proud haha. Also, loved the fact that Aimy and Twitch, the two PTSD-ed troopers, hit it off so well with their mutual paranoia of anything not Guard.

LeSwordfish
2015-06-24, 03:28 AM
Like most of our long-time NPCs, she's sort of controlled by Committee, with Doc's player taking the primary control.

I'd imagine that Fumbles is in a similar situation, controlled by Nubby? You can see a certain PCesque quality to him in the latest one.

Shoggy
2015-06-24, 12:40 PM
Loving the story so far! Warhammer 40K is too ludicrously grimdark for my tastes, but this story makes the setting come alive when viewed from the reference of five relatively ordinary, rather disturbed guardsmen trying not to die.

And if you want an editor, send me a section and I'll see what I can do. I actually work as a writing tutor on and off, so it'll help me stay in practice.

That line about the room being "99% servitor free, soon as we can find a ladder" was hysterical! Twitch's player should be proud haha. Also, loved the fact that Aimy and Twitch, the two PTSD-ed troopers, hit it off so well with their mutual paranoia of anything not Guard.

Thanks! It's rather hard to strike a balance between sticking to the rather depressing source material and going full-satire, so it's good to hear people saying I've hit that sweet spot between the two.

Twitch's player IS proud btw. He's very happy with how much love his character's antics have gotten, and how much weight he manages to pull in the group. I just appreciate that he's a constant source of good material.

As for the editing, I have a sort of system set up using the google-doc comment/suggestion system that's been working very well. If you're interested in joining the project, drop me an email and I'll walk you through it. My address is in the FAQ on the html.


I'd imagine that Fumbles is in a similar situation, controlled by Nubby? You can see a certain PCesque quality to him in the latest one.

Yep, Fumbles is more or less Nubby's minion at this point, so I'm largely in charge of his actions. Though as with everything, there's a lot of group participation.

Shoggy
2015-06-24, 11:23 PM
Can anyone give me a quick opinion on the rebuild I'm doing on the HTML archive for these stories?

https://09cd64678bddc0198cca7fef0df8ce7b359fff2d.googledri ve.com/host/0B3Z9sXPTD9rpN2owNGdVWmdFWXM/split/agp.html

Hoping it improves usability, especially on slow connections.

TheOneHawk
2015-06-24, 11:39 PM
Quick opinion is that it's good. Looks more organized. I never had issues reading it though.

Lord_Burch
2015-06-24, 11:58 PM
Can anyone give me a quick opinion on the rebuild I'm doing on the HTML archive for these stories?

https://09cd64678bddc0198cca7fef0df8ce7b359fff2d.googledri ve.com/host/0B3Z9sXPTD9rpN2owNGdVWmdFWXM/split/agp.html

Hoping it improves usability, especially on slow connections.

It looks a lot better; on a tablet, anyways. Now I don't have to deal with images loading and constantly shifting around the page.

Cluedrew
2015-06-25, 06:56 AM
The new layout works, I never had any real problems with the old one, but I think this may be an improvement anyways.

Also thank-you for answering my questions. Don't worry about laziness too much, if you pull out the "I"s in editing to improve consistency that's good and if you don't I'll get over it and enjoy the next chapter anyways. I do like the idea that it is the squad itself narrating the story but this doesn't break that, just a further personification.

Lvl 2 Expert
2015-06-25, 08:31 AM
Did anyone tell you yet this is bloody brilliant? Okay, okay, did anyone tell you yet today? This must be an great campaign to play, right from the start there's this rich world with strong plots as seen through the eyes of this troop of unimportant uninformed characters who's players all really stick with that mindset. The DM gives you some real choices and freedom, and the writing style completely sets the scene for the reader.

Damn you, I should be studying, and I'm not even a third of the way down on the scrollbar yet.

Brookshw
2015-06-25, 11:02 AM
I was trying to figure out what it is about your writing style that I like so much and when I read the first sentence it hit me that it reminds me of the dry wit of Pratchett at times, coupled with a healthy level of fatalism/cynicism that i like it pulp and bokowski (probably misspelled).

Anyway, thanks as always for the new update! Can't wait to finish it.

Shoggy
2015-06-25, 11:53 AM
Thanks for looking at the rebuild guys, just put the new version up.


Did anyone tell you yet this is bloody brilliant? Okay, okay, did anyone tell you yet today? This must be an great campaign to play, right from the start there's this rich world with strong plots as seen through the eyes of this troop of unimportant uninformed characters who's players all really stick with that mindset. The DM gives you some real choices and freedom, and the writing style completely sets the scene for the reader.

Damn you, I should be studying, and I'm not even a third of the way down on the scrollbar yet.

Thanks, and you're definitely right about our DM pulling together amazing plots while still giving us a great deal of freedom. He's a wizard (also an obsessive-overpreparer and compulsive flowcharter)

Y'know he's told us he had the groundwork laid for us arbitrarily deserting to go be Rogue Traders, rebelling against our Inquisitor, sticking entirely to the Minion role, and a bunch of other game-changing forks. Someday I'd like to try building a module (or a plugin game in something like Shadowrun Returns or PoE), but I know it'd lose a lot of that fluidity in the process, and not quite come out the same. Still though...



I was trying to figure out what it is about your writing style that I like so much and when I read the first sentence it hit me that it reminds me of the dry wit of Pratchett at times, coupled with a healthy level of fatalism/cynicism that i like it pulp and bokowski (probably misspelled).

Anyway, thanks as always for the new update! Can't wait to finish it.

Pratchett is a major inspiration for everyone involved in the game (If Nubby and the Rupert weren't giveaways). We've been borrowing heavily (see: Bloodily Ripping Off) from his works since our D&D days, and I believe our current campaign is as close as you can get to the Ankh Morpork City Watch IN SPACE without descending into outright plagiarism. It's always good to hear that the writing style is lining up with that theme as well, thanks.

Brookshw
2015-06-26, 11:08 AM
okay so I'm wondering, how was the dm expecting things to pan out if the party had decided to extract the second group of marines while running for it? It's a meta "what if" question but I can't help wondering how things would have panned out if the party chose the other door.

Shoggy
2015-06-26, 11:43 AM
okay so I'm wondering, how was the dm expecting things to pan out if the party had decided to extract the second group of marines while running for it? It's a meta "what if" question but I can't help wondering how things would have panned out if the party chose the other door.

I imagine there would've been a desperate battle at the boarding point, complicated by our cargo no-doubt. Knowing our DM, the short-term danger would've paid off by making the next leg of the journey easier until the Marines left again and everything started falling apart. He probably would've added a few ork/nid boarders on our ship too, due to the delay in leaving the system. It's the sort of time-line controlled disaster he likes to do.

In fact I think that diverting would've really changed the next chapter's focus to be on stowaway xenos as opposed to what we ran into. Gotta say that would've been very different, and I can't imagine how the next chapter's ending would've turned out.

Brookshw
2015-06-26, 01:16 PM
I imagine there would've been a desperate battle at the boarding point, complicated by our cargo no-doubt. Knowing our DM, the short-term danger would've paid off by making the next leg of the journey easier until the Marines left again and everything started falling apart. He probably would've added a few ork/nid boarders on our ship too, due to the delay in leaving the system. It's the sort of time-line controlled disaster he likes to do.

In fact I think that diverting would've really changed the next chapter's focus to be on stowaway xenos as opposed to what we ran into. Gotta say that would've been very different, and I can't imagine how the next chapter's ending would've turned out. gotcha and thanks for the response. If you don't mind would you please ask them next time you speak to them? Really its just passing curiosity, but, well, cats and all that. BTW, how does your group feel about the story write up?

Shoggy
2015-06-28, 10:53 AM
They find it flattering to say the least (our DM revels in the attention when he posts the chapters on reddit), but try to ignore it when they play.

Oh and they find it very annoying when I try to work on it during a session. I am not allowed computer access anymore.

JenBurdoo
2015-07-18, 06:47 PM
I notice there is now a page on the 4chan wiki for the Occurrence Border. It's making me itch to play just on the ship.

Hawkstar
2015-07-18, 08:14 PM
I notice there is now a page on the 4chan wiki for the Occurrence Border. It's making me itch to play just on the ship.

... same here. There are so many options and opportunities for adventure just on the ship itself! You could get full campaigns with players as The Watch, hydroponic tribals, engineers... or a combination of any of those.

Shoggy
2015-07-19, 10:33 PM
Some hardworking fellow actually went in and put together a lot of good random tables too, they're linked at the bottom of the page.

Demon 997
2015-07-20, 01:10 AM
... same here. There are so many options and opportunities for adventure just on the ship itself! You could get full campaigns with players as The Watch, hydroponic tribals, engineers... or a combination of any of those.

There are a few of us interested in doing just that, playing as an all tech priest (cogbro) party. I'll post more details once it's recruiting.

Endarire
2015-07-20, 03:59 AM
I'm impressed by the campaign journal format. What website template did you use for the image/text format?

Hawkstar
2015-07-20, 07:33 AM
I'm impressed by the campaign journal format. What website template did you use for the image/text format?

You mean 4chan? Or something else?

Shoggy
2015-07-20, 10:39 AM
I'm impressed by the campaign journal format. What website template did you use for the image/text format?

The base styling and color schemes are stolen from 4chan. I changed the images to alternate sides because I feel it makes things look less monotonous. I also didn't want to deal with having images start as thumbnails then expand, so I bumped their size up to around 250px max and resize everything to fit so it doesn't hog bandwidth. There's also a few CSS rules floating around to make everything look nice at most monitor sizes.

Anyway, it's all actually VERY simple from a code perspective. When I put in a new chapter I just copy and paste a bunch of times, and resize + rename all the images. It's not elegant but it's not hard and doesn't require any real programming knowledge.

If you, or anyone else, wants to use this format (or wants to know how to get Google Docs to work as a web host) I'd be happy to walk you through it. Maybe someday I'll build a tool to do it all for people...

Endarire
2015-07-21, 04:19 PM
I'm interested, Shog!

Shoggy
2015-07-23, 03:50 PM
You know this is not what I was supposed to be doing today...

Anyway, here you go:

Shoggy's Guide to Doing a Chan-Journal Thing and Hosting it on Google Drive!

First of all, here's a zip of demo files:
https://drive.google.com/uc?export=download&id=0B3Z9sXPTD9rpX0RPUGhWTE5pMHc

And here's the guide
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Ql0XNgJP_BEuIbLYPmfekPrs7WRCrevDTGw92ntdfPY/

Here's the working demo folder with all the files and the guide in it, just in case someone wants this link too
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0BwzWXZAVz-KPfnVUSGdISGZ2aXV1Z3VIZ1hNVlVDVnZDWGpCaHFVVE8xTXYt eDIyQzktWkE

Do let me know if any of this doesn't work or make sense.

JenBurdoo
2015-07-26, 04:21 AM
How many years have passed in-game for the All Guardsmen Party? Probably doesn't matter too much now that Sarge is an Interrogator and can get them all rejuvenat treatment...

Shoggy
2015-07-27, 11:01 PM
It's not precisely nailed down, but 4-5 years have passed since the party's induction into the Inquisition.

DireSickFish
2015-07-28, 07:59 AM
Recently finished reading this and I'm impressed with the writing quality. I really like all the current characters, it would suck if any of them died by now. Heavy seemed rather one note (granted that was earlier on when only Twitch and Nubby had any real characterization) and Cutter didn't seem to have much to do during downtime. Tink however is getting up to some awesome tech heresy that threatens to get the whole party purged!

Thank you for taking the time to write up your sessions. I've never played any of the Warhammer RPGs and you make it sound like an absolute blast.

Cluedrew
2015-07-28, 06:19 PM
It is true that most of the characters have "grown" over the chapters. Most of the characters had either no personality or a personality based around a single feature at the beginning. Now they are all much more complete and varied characters. And the thing is... although I don't want any of them to die, I'm not sure if I want all of them to live, if that makes any sense. If not maybe I should say the threat of death is part of the all guardsmen party.

Of course I hope no one gets killed for that reason. Because then it goes from the threat of death to just death.

Actually, although it was a darker moment Crispy's death was one of my favourite in the story. Even if he was brought in for that moment and you only saw the end of the story it was still... something about war stories and why we shouldn't glorify these things. Something like that. And he took out a Chaos Space Marine. That was cool. ... Actually Cutter died fighting Chaos Space Marines as well...

JenBurdoo
2015-07-28, 11:21 PM
I wouldn't mind TOO much if one of the PCs was killed or withdrawn at this point, simply because I want to know what other characters the players have up their sleeves. Failer10 (the GM) at some point mentioned that about 15 of the original 37 characters are "still alive" (the rest having been killed offscreen) but that exactly which of them are is determined by what the players want to play next.

I wonder if at some point they will use Sarge's authority to "induct" all the regimental survivors into his retinue, just because they've sort of been together for that long and don't want to break up the larger group. They've certainly dragged Aimy in, even though she wasn't a member of their original unit, and she's basically replaced Sarge as one of the "five Guardsmen under an Interrogator, plus five non-combat types".

Speaking of which, the non-combat NPCs are cool too, and I hope more of them survive as well. Fumbles has become a "regular," the infiltrator was killed off, while the hacker, xenos-expert and sarcastic-puppet-diplomat are still around. The infiltrator and diplomat both had very awesome moments so far, while the other two have stayed in the background.

And then there's a twelfth -- Doc's Hospitaller girlfriend, who we still don't know that much about.

Poblobo
2015-08-26, 07:33 PM
A lurker here. This tale is awesome. Good job and keep going because it's awesome.

Shoggy
2015-08-31, 04:39 PM
I've returned from the mountains and writing has resumed! Here's a short interlude from between where the last chapter left off and where the next chapter starts!

Now, this started as an intro piece, but it became far too large, so I split it off. As a result, the writing style is a bit different from usual, and significantly more raw party dialogue has been left in. So I'd like to apologize in advance if the language gets a little crude, it's Aimy's fault.

The All Guardsmen Party Interlude: Dewarp
HTML: https://googledrive.com/host/0B3Z9sXPTD9rpN2owNGdVWmdFWXM/dewarp.html

SupTG Archive: http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive/42204030/

Silly Image Thing: http://imgur.com/gallery/c0kerRl/

janusmaxwell
2015-08-31, 11:19 PM
Ahh, but an appetizer before the entree! It somehow satisfies, yet wets the appetite for more!

Draken
2015-09-01, 09:05 AM
Daemoniiiiiids.

oshi
2015-09-02, 01:54 AM
I've returned from the mountains and writing has resumed! Here's a short interlude from between where the last chapter left off and where the next chapter starts!

Now, this started as an intro piece, but it became far too large, so I split it off. As a result, the writing style is a bit different from usual, and significantly more raw party dialogue has been left in. So I'd like to apologize in advance if the language gets a little crude, it's Aimy's fault.

The All Guardsmen Party Interlude: Dewarp
HTML: https://googledrive.com/host/0B3Z9sXPTD9rpN2owNGdVWmdFWXM/dewarp.html

SupTG Archive: http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive/42204030/

Silly Image Thing: http://imgur.com/gallery/c0kerRl/

It was very, very entertaining and funny, thanks!
Not sure if it's on my end or yours, but I'm seeing some funky characters in the document, I think they're probably occurring where a trail off ("...") would be, except that you've got some of those working there as well... It's a mystery!

Shoggy
2015-09-02, 08:48 AM
Can you tell me where you're seeing them? It's an encoding thing, but I need to check if I uploaded in the wrong format if your machine is reading in the wrong format.

oshi
2015-09-02, 09:52 AM
Can you tell me where you're seeing them? It's an encoding thing, but I need to check if I uploaded in the wrong format if your machine is reading in the wrong format.

Sure!

even her nurses to hear, she muttered, "Emperor… why'd he have to be an optimist?"
"E's not gonna like dis…" muttered Nubby, "NOT IT!"
nothing but lho sticks and suspiciously-unlabeled bags of pills. "Huh… neat. Anyone wanna smoke?" Behind him Twitch
"S'not my fault, stupid machine spirits being little bitches. No bloody scientific reason…"
"Oh… ****…" [A few lines down from the above]
Oak's lab is." he paused for a second, not quite believing what he was saying, then continued "So yeah, we win, good job people…"
and applied this theory to the current situation. "Yeah... now that we've finally reached it, I can totally see this waystation being full of… of…" she trailed off.


Those are the only occurrences I can find with ctrl + f.

Shoggy
2015-09-02, 10:04 AM
All fixed now. I swear, the encoding settings on Notepad++ arbitrarily flipping to UTF when you copy a file is one of the most annoying things I've ever encountered.

Cluedrew
2015-09-02, 02:34 PM
I actually read the Intermission a few days ago and was going to reply... but then I got caught up in re-reading the old chapters. Still a great read. I'm also thinking of pulling out some quotes about the characters and the party itself for the "Quotes you can build a character off of" thread.

I've got: "Of course Doc wasn't really a doctor, he was a medic. He wasn't really in the business of curing people, just making them more comfortable while they die." and "we could defend a barricade in our sleep (literally in Heavy's case)"/"Heavy has decided that this is all above his paygrade and is making himself comfortable by lying across a row of seats." so far.

Shoggy
2015-09-02, 04:23 PM
I can't actually claim the medic quote, it's from Red vs. Blue.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5lSaevNSg2Q

It's around the 1:24 mark.

We've stolen a fair bit from that series, for instance Aimy is at least partially based off Tex and Sarge has stolen several lines from... Sarge.

Cluedrew
2015-09-02, 08:43 PM
I'll credit it to Red vs. Blue when I write it out then. Although I'm trying to get a complete set before I go forward.

Actually another comment I had but forgot about is that I noticed that there was a change in style for Dewarp. The squad's personification sort of disappeared (the use of "we") and there was a lot more quotes from the characters. Is that a purposeful style change and is it just for the intermission?

The quotes in particular I could see as just a evolution of style, I have noticed a gentle increase in the number of quotes used as the story has progressed, I think the first time we actually get a quote from any character in the party is near the end of Nubby's Girlfriend.

Shoggy
2015-09-02, 11:00 PM
The style change is due to it being an intro-piece that got too long, so I spun it off. I'll be switching back to the usual perspective for the next real chapter, I'm too unfamiliar with this sort of dialogue-heavy normal-book-style to write it anywhere near fast enough to get through the rest of the chapters before the heat death of the universe.

Cluedrew
2015-09-03, 02:07 PM
Thanks for the answer.

One more thing I noticed going back is that there is a link at the start of Heretic Purging. It is to a list of chapters that is on another site, so it is working and maybe a link you want to keep around, but that is a really odd place for it. It is one of the unedited chapters but because it is a link it may or may not be more important to fix. I'm not sure I just thought I would let you know.

Psykenthrope
2015-09-03, 03:49 PM
Just started reading this campaign log, and the only word I have to describe it is beautiful.

JenBurdoo
2015-09-05, 05:42 AM
Always good to see a new All Guardsmen Party episode, no matter how short. I understand there are only two and a half chapters left? :smalleek:

I liked the change of perspective, though I don't know that it would work for longer periods.

Whenever I hear the name Fio, I think of the red-haired aviation engineer girl from the anime Porco Rosso... a picture of her might be a good choice for an image next time you have a section that focuses on him?

In general, I just love the humor, especially the character references to Discworld. They make me want to reread Discworld, Flashman and McAuslan. (If you're unfamiliar with the last two, Shoggy, I suspect you'd like them -- you'll recognize Commissar Cain in the one and Baldrick/Jurgen/Nobby in the other. Basically military comedy with a lot of history mixed in.)

Cluedrew
2015-09-05, 04:40 PM
... Wow, it took me several readings (I'm 2-4 depending on the chapter) and it just occurred to what the deal with the poker room is... or might be. Very cool Easter Egg, sub-plot or set-up. Whatever it is supposed to be, actually it is the lack of clarity that makes this one interesting.

I'm not going to say anything else about it as to not break the mystery.

Shoggy
2015-09-07, 11:51 AM
I've just realized that I haven't linked this here yet. If anyone is interested in playing a game or two on the Imperium's least space-worthy ship, I threw together the base setting notes for the Occurrence Border and a very helpful person created several random tables for it. You can find it all here: http://1d4chan.org/wiki/Occurrence_Border



They make me want to reread Discworld, Flashman and McAuslan. (If you're unfamiliar with the last two, Shoggy, I suspect you'd like them -- you'll recognize Commissar Cain in the one and Baldrick/Jurgen/Nobby in the other. Basically military comedy with a lot of history mixed in.)

I'm familiar with Flashman, but I'll have to check out McAuslan now that you've mentioned it. Thanks.

Also, it'd be better to say that there are 2.5 arcs left. So that's anywhere from 3 to 5 chapters depending on whether I keep splitting them in half. Either way, it's still a whole lot words.


... Wow, it took me several readings (I'm 2-4 depending on the chapter) and it just occurred to what the deal with the poker room is... or might be. Very cool Easter Egg, sub-plot or set-up. Whatever it is supposed to be, actually it is the lack of clarity that makes this one interesting.

I'm not going to say anything else about it as to not break the mystery.

The spooky poker room actually makes another appearance in the next chapter.


Just started reading this campaign log, and the only word I have to describe it is beautiful.

Thanks! It's always nice to hear that people are enjoying these stories.

Psykenthrope
2015-09-10, 07:17 PM
Thanks! It's always nice to hear that people are enjoying these stories.

No problem. So is this a journal of campaign that you're in, or is it a writing exercise of some sort?

Shoggy
2015-09-10, 09:11 PM
Oh it's all a campaign, though it's finished now.

Shoggy
2015-10-26, 04:58 PM
Man I had to dig a long ways to find this thread, that really says something about my writing pace...

Anyway, here's the next chapter of the All Guardsmen Party, (Or at least part of it, no Tyranids are actually delivered in this portion, but I intend to catch up by this weekend or next)

In this chapter a Station is visited, Sarge is inquisitorial, NPCs are suprisingly useful, a black marketeer is contacted, Doc does scary things, a heroic speech is made, and vengeance is promised.

The All Guardsmen Party: Tyranid Delivery Experts
HTML: https://googledrive.com/host/0B3Z9sXPTD9rpN2owNGdVWmdFWXM/deliver.html

SupTG Archive: http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive/43288004/

Silly Image Thing: http://imgur.com/gallery/fzCzz/

Cluedrew
2015-10-26, 05:02 PM
Yes!

Wait no, I got some other stuff to do and by tomorrow I... Oh well let's go.

ReaderAt2046
2015-10-26, 06:55 PM
Man I had to dig a long ways to find this thread, that really says something about my writing pace...

Anyway, here's the next chapter of the All Guardsmen Party, (Or at least part of it, no Tyranids are actually delivered in this portion, but I intend to catch up by this weekend or next)

In this chapter a Station is visited, Sarge is inquisitorial, NPCs are suprisingly useful, a black marketeer is contacted, Doc does scary things, a heroic speech is made, and vengeance is promised.

The All Guardsmen Party: Tyranid Delivery Experts
HTML: https://googledrive.com/host/0B3Z9sXPTD9rpN2owNGdVWmdFWXM/deliver.html

SupTG Archive: http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive/43288004/

Silly Image Thing: http://imgur.com/gallery/fzCzz/

Sarge really seems to have a bad habit of admitting when things are his fault, doesn't he? You'd think after being in the Inquisition for so long he'd have gotten over that.

Shoggy
2015-10-26, 07:54 PM
Sarge really seems to have a bad habit of admitting when things are his fault, doesn't he? You'd think after being in the Inquisition for so long he'd have gotten over that.

Sarge has problems with social situations that don't fit into the chain of command (and he TANKED a fellowship roll there). He does actually purposely go out get a little better at the talky stuff in the future, primarily because of how bad that situation wound up.

ReaderAt2046
2015-10-26, 08:10 PM
Sarge has problems with social situations that don't fit into the chain of command (and he TANKED a fellowship roll there). He does actually purposely go out get a little better at the talky stuff in the future, primarily because of how bad that situation wound up.

Ah, I see.

Doc had quite the collection of Awesome Moments this session, didn't he? The "squirt the security people with the stuff you've just extracted from Gravis's special kidney" thing particularly gave me the shivers. How the heck did that work out on the actual tabletop? Oh, and what was in that crate he was using for the barricade that was such a big deal? It wasn't really clear.

Shoggy
2015-10-26, 10:17 PM
Ah, I see.

Doc had quite the collection of Awesome Moments this session, didn't he? The "squirt the security people with the stuff you've just extracted from Gravis's special kidney" thing particularly gave me the shivers. How the heck did that work out on the actual tabletop? Oh, and what was in that crate he was using for the barricade that was such a big deal? It wasn't really clear.

Yea, Doc's player claims he isn't setting out to be the most sadistic bastard on the team, it just sort of keeps happening that way by accident. If memory serves, our DM was treating Doc's attack as using a toxic sprayer, and the sprayer's damage was based off the toxic attack from a Hive Tyrant with toxin sacs, which was far more than a few low level security grunts can take. I probably didn't mention in the story, but Doc and Val tend to keep their armor on and wear re-breathers when working on Gravis, because even at their level BAD THINGS would happen if they got exposed to any of the stuff the tyranid biotoxin was deploying against Gravis.

As for the crate, a few people in the thread guessed it, so it's not really spoilers I guess. Doc was using the crate holding Gravis' lower half as a barricade, and no one remembered to collect it as they left. That did NOT go over well with the boss.

JenBurdoo
2015-10-26, 10:46 PM
As for the crate, a few people in the thread guessed it, so it's not really spoilers I guess. Doc was using the crate holding Gravis' lower half as a barricade, and no one remembered to collect it as they left. That did NOT go over well with the boss.
Nor did the loss of the powersword, I imagine.

Please tell me your DM made Sarge's player wear a silly hat at the table.

Shoggy
2015-10-28, 11:40 AM
No but we made a little paper dunce-cap for the mini Sarge was using on the board.

Draken
2015-10-29, 09:30 PM
My only regret with this tale is that Sarge did not respond to the Choir Master's angry video with a simple texted response along the lines of "The Inquisition shall respond adequately."

Hawkstar
2015-10-30, 07:22 AM
That last section was absolutely hilarious! Super Deserter Gue'vesa Action Heroes! I'd watch the hell out of that!

Shoggy
2015-11-01, 11:43 PM
Unfortunately Sarge is not very witty, but on the brighter side, yes the SDGDA (it sound better in Tau, I assure you) will be cropping up a few more times.

Destro_Yersul
2015-11-02, 07:22 AM
The All Guardsman Party is hazardous to my sleep schedule!

Also, sounds like Gravis is going to get a fancy bionic lower half! Don't let Tink build it for him.

Slipperychicken
2015-11-03, 01:53 AM
No but we made a little paper dunce-cap for the mini Sarge was using on the board.

Please tell me it has a little inquisition symbol drawn on it.

Cluedrew
2015-12-07, 06:59 PM
Well even though the release isn't official yet I would like to say that it has been worth the wait. Also Shoggy you have my congratulations on pulling through despite all the things that were hinted at in the updates before the release itself.

I should also say I enjoyed Tyranid Delivery Experts Part 1. I didn't at the time because part 2 was slated to come out later that week. In addition to what has been said before I liked how the wording that described Sarge's mistake was almost exactly the same as the last time he made a similar mistake (back in Xenotech Heresy). I should also clarify I didn't double check that, but it is was a pretty distinct phase.

Some of the turns of phase used in this chapter were also pretty good. One of my favourites for some reason was:

Actually, you couldn't really call what Fio was doing tech-heresy, it was more a case of tech-heathenism, him being a xenos and all.I'm not really sure why but there you have it.

Another general note I don't think parts 1 & 2 have to be fused together. Each individually is several times longer than many of the earlier chapters, and if that scroll gets any smaller its going to be very hard to use.

Despite the fact that it is so much longer than earlier chapters I didn't really notice (while reading) because just so much stuff happens. A pretty action packed adventure. The only part I had even mixed feeling about was the Poker Room, I kind of liked it "hidden" and this almost hits you over the head with it. Still scene was pretty good in its own right so it evens out. Also good idea to clarify that Twitch was running out of ammo, I read the part before the clarification twice because it didn't compute the first time.

As for the ending, well that explains some things. I'm tempted to guess where the plot will go from here but there are a number of solid possibilities. I do however see most of them ending up with 'someone' ending up machined gunned or hit with a grenade. Because that is how Guardsmen settle scores.

Shoggy
2015-12-07, 07:20 PM
Well, sorry it took so long, but here it finally is: the conclusion of the whole Zoanthrope Arc

The All Guardsmen Party: Tyranid Delivery Experts Part 2
HTML: https://googledrive.com/host/0B3Z9sXPTD9rpN2owNGdVWmdFWXM/d2.html

SupTG Archive:
http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive/43990923/
http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive/44027113/

Image Thing: http://imgur.com/gallery/wGzlU



Well even though the release isn't official yet I would like to say that it has been worth the wait. Also Shoggy you have my congratulations on pulling through despite all the things that were hinted at in the updates before the release itself.


I should also say I enjoyed Tyranid Delivery Experts Part 1. I didn't at the time because part 2 was slated to come out later that week. In addition to what has been said before I liked how the wording that described Sarge's mistake was almost exactly the same as the last time he made a similar mistake (back in Xenotech Heresy). I should also clarify I didn't double check that, but it is was a pretty distinct phase.

Some of the turns of phase used in this chapter were also pretty good. One of my favourites for some reason was:
I'm not really sure why but there you have it.

Another general note I don't think parts 1 & 2 have to be fused together. Each individually is several times longer than many of the earlier chapters, and if that scroll gets any smaller its going to be very hard to use.

Despite the fact that it is so much longer than earlier chapters I didn't really notice (while reading) because just so much stuff happens. A pretty action packed adventure. The only part I had even mixed feeling about was the Poker Room, I kind of liked it "hidden" and this almost hits you over the head with it. Still scene was pretty good in its own right so it evens out. Also good idea to clarify that Twitch was running out of ammo, I read the part before the clarification twice because it didn't compute the first time.

As for the ending, well that explains some things. I'm tempted to guess where the plot will go from here but there are a number of solid possibilities. I do however see most of them ending up with 'someone' ending up machined gunned or hit with a grenade. Because that is how Guardsmen settle scores.

Glad you're enjoying things, I'll think about what you said concerning the chapter split, a lot of it is just figuring out what to call the chapters, since leaving it as PART 2 seems weak. Either way I'm probably going to go toss an extra into post in there sometime in the next few weeks, its a very abrupt start.

Anyway, I was a little on the fence about the poker scene. I was considering sticking with the vague version for tone reasons, despite our DM playing it all open and clear this time as opposed to previous occasions, but then the art came along, and I got sort of caught up in it.

Cluedrew
2015-12-07, 10:55 PM
How about:

Tyranid Acquisition Experts
Tyranid Transportation Experts
Tyranid Delivery Experts
I just made that off the top of my head but you could do something like that to keep the ark tied together while still splitting the chapters up. Tyranid Containment Experts or a number of other second words could work as well. The main idea is "why not give each chapter its own name in the theme".

Also, the image you are referring to, if it is the one (or one of the ones) I think you are talking about, is a very nice image. I thought it was generic professional art for a moment until I realized it was a little to close to the scene described. The other thing that made me wonder about that scene though was... why is the new guy at the table even there? I believe in... was it the unedited version of Discount Spaceship... anyways, there was some mention of people from outside the party being there but they were ghosts instead of corpses. It has been a while since my last read through that might not be completely accurate.

I kind of feel like I am complaining a bit so allow me to reiterate: The chapter is awesome, good work.

Destro_Yersul
2015-12-07, 11:57 PM
Oh snap, that plot twist at the end.

How many more of these are there going to be?

Rabidmuskrat
2015-12-08, 03:05 AM
There is only one possible reaction to that ending.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA...

Phew. Need to catch my breath. Give me a second.

Okay I'm good.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA...

NRSASD
2015-12-08, 03:15 AM
That plot twist was fantastic! Our poor, poor guardsmen. They can never catch a break. Ever

Also, the poker room painting is incredible! Whoever drew it is an amazing artist!

Lord Raziere
2015-12-08, 04:33 AM
There is only one possible reaction to that ending.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA...

Phew. Need to catch my breath. Give me a second.

Okay I'm good.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA...

That is my reaction to the ending as well. Of course it turn out would like that- its Warhammer 40,000 after all.

Poblobo
2015-12-08, 07:57 AM
Shoggggggggy!
I want to type nonsense on my keyboard at how awesome you are! Who shall die next?

ReaderAt2046
2015-12-08, 11:45 AM
Well, sorry it took so long, but here it finally is: the conclusion of the whole Zoanthrope Arc

The All Guardsmen Party: Tyranid Delivery Experts Part 2
HTML: https://googledrive.com/host/0B3Z9sXPTD9rpN2owNGdVWmdFWXM/d2.html

SupTG Archive:
http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive/43990923/
http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive/44027113/

Image Thing: http://imgur.com/gallery/wGzlU



:o

What.

What just happened?

I guess that explains why the Astropaths registered Sarge's rosette as false, it actually was false. And I find it really funny that the only crime on that list that they didn't actually sort of do was ignore an order to return to base, and that only because their astropath had exploded and they couldn't even receive the order. But seriously, why did Inquisitor Oak get declared rogue? And where the hell does the plot go from here?

Rabidmuskrat
2015-12-08, 12:15 PM
What I'm wondering is whether Oak was declared rogue while the mission was ongoing or was he rogue all along!

If he got declared rogue while the mission was ongoing, and their astropath died and they could not receive messages, can they be held accountable? Especially if he was only declared rogue after they seized the zoanthrope.

I suppose the answer is: "Yes. Warhammer 40k."

Shoggy
2015-12-08, 03:09 PM
Shoggggggggy!
I want to type nonsense on my keyboard at how awesome you are! Who shall die next?

Is it that hard to imagine that everyone will survive and eventually retire from the Inquisitorial life to work on a big farm full of happy puppies?



I guess that explains why the Astropaths registered Sarge's rosette as false, it actually was false.
...
But seriously, why did Inquisitor Oak get declared rogue? And where the hell does the plot go from here?

What I'm wondering is whether Oak was declared rogue while the mission was ongoing or was he rogue all along!

All these assumptions! Maybe this guy is the one who's Rogue, and those could be Alpha Legion Deathwatch marines you know.


Oh snap, that plot twist at the end.

How many more of these are there going to be?

2 more chapters or arcs or whatever. Not sure if I'll split them up or not, depends on how much time I spend fluffing up social and timeskip stuff.


How about:

Tyranid Acquisition Experts
Tyranid Transportation Experts
Tyranid Delivery Experts
I just made that off the top of my head but you could do something like that to keep the ark tied together while still splitting the chapters up. Tyranid Containment Experts or a number of other second words could work as well. The main idea is "why not give each chapter its own name in the theme".

The other thing that made me wonder about that scene though was... why is the new guy at the table even there?

Good suggestions on the naming, I'll use those when I overhaul the site a bit next week.

As for why the Scout was all solid and such, no concrete reason was supplied, but I like to think that it's because he was just so PISSED about how he'd died and the whole Gravis situation.



That plot twist was fantastic! Our poor, poor guardsmen. They can never catch a break. Ever

Also, the poker room painting is incredible! Whoever drew it is an amazing artist!

I remember when our sessions didn't end with "and things got worse". Those were such carefree days.

Poblobo
2015-12-08, 04:22 PM
Is it that hard to imagine that everyone will survive and eventually retire from the Inquisitorial life to work on a big farm full of happy puppies?

I mean... from what I know of Dark Heresy... Well...

... I suppose *technically* it's possible?

EDIT:
SQWEEEEEEEEEE! Ohno.

Fable Wright
2015-12-08, 05:38 PM
...Words do not exist to describe this situation. Was Oak branded a rogue while they were on mission? Was everything they ever did for him illegal?

And more importantly, how is it possible to get out of this mess?

DireSickFish
2015-12-08, 08:22 PM
...Words do not exist to describe this situation. Was Oak branded a rogue while they were on mission? Was everything they ever did for him illegal?

And more importantly, how is it possible to get out of this mess?

A lot more succinct than the "Bwhahaha?!" I was going with. Going to be sad when it ends.

Slipperychicken
2015-12-09, 03:55 AM
...Words do not exist to describe this situation. Was Oak branded a rogue while they were on mission? Was everything they ever did for him illegal?

And more importantly, how is it possible to get out of this mess?

Maybe Oak was always handing out fake rosettes to his inquisitors-in-training? Or maybe he was declared rogue for backing up Sarge after everything that happened on the tyranid mission. Either way, it seems like the AGP's shenanigans (especially Sarge admitting that he had a tyranid on board) are finally catching up with them.


The best outcome I see is, after AGP and Oak get purged, someone takes the OB and studies it instead of just crashing it into a sun like they probably should. That thing is pretty much a menagerie of improvisation, tech-heresy, xeno-tech, and unique warp phenomena.

Cluedrew
2015-12-09, 08:58 AM
Also in reply to DMofDarkness: I think that post has been quoted enough now.
If I would have to guess I would say that Oak was legitimate, but he has been planning to go rogue for quite some time now. I could see missions as far back as Discount Spaceship being Oak preparing for something. Or perhaps he just does "some things on the side" and the Tyranid things got handed to the All Guardsmen Party because Oak knew they were like this: "Ours is not to ask why, ours is to do and to die." That is to say they wouldn't ask any questions and get the job done. Both turned out to be true. Either way I would say Oak got found out before the space station incident certainly and at the earliest immediately before he issued the Tyranid orders and called in the Space Marines (before the Space Marines found out).

As for how they get out of this, the inquisition is probably going to investigate them and the party will either be cleared or given a second chance. Both because of a few references to a "tribunal" in the backwards facing narration and because in this situation anything else would just result in them disappearing. I suppose a breakout is possible, especially is someone makes the mistake of throwing them into the same facility as the Interplanetary Man of Mystery. However it happens I expect the next ark will be them getting out of this situation and the one after will be them dealing with Oak. That isn't certain of course so I guess we will just have to wait to find out.

Ravens_cry
2015-12-10, 04:44 PM
I'll be honest, this update kind of dragged on. I just wanted them to be done with the damn 'Nid!
Though you probably felt the same yourselves. The twist at the end was certainly unexpected, though fitting.

MintyNinja
2015-12-19, 12:08 AM
Just wrapped up to current (Tyranid Delivery 2) and I have to say... wow.

I know knew next to nothing about 40K, other than "Space Marines is a thing(?)" and this was absolutely amazing. Please keep it up.

Brookshw
2015-12-19, 08:44 AM
The story is certainly remaining as gripping as I could hope! You're DM has certainly done a fantastic job with the setting and game so far from what I can see and that's a great cast of characters the players have put up.

Given this is 40K and we're nearing the end I'm a bit scared now, there's really only one way things end it 40K and it's not puppies and rainbows normally (unless they're, dunno, chaos nurgling puppies and some newish fangled necron rainbow death beam maybe, or some Slaanesh nonsense). Maybe I'll be pleasantly surprised but given how close to the setting the DM's playing this....

Poblobo
2016-02-24, 11:24 PM
I'm worried about what's going to happen now...

ReaderAt2046
2016-03-06, 09:48 PM
Well, I've been having AGP-style problems in the Only War campaign I'm in. The GM seems to be trying to run a murder-mystery campaign, but we're a bunch of mudfooted guardsmen who are playing like mudfooted guardsmen, which means we're missing all his subtle clues and just standing around while random monsters pop out of the woodwork to attack us.

Any suggestions on how we can get the plot moving again?

Cluedrew
2016-03-07, 10:42 PM
Well, if my analysis of the all Guardsmen Party would entrench, then wait for monsters to pop out of the woodwork and finally apply lazfire until the problem goes away.

Or you could see if you could get everyone on board with changing up the campaign a little bit, get some NPC brains on board or drop the mystery.

DireSickFish
2016-03-08, 10:36 AM
Well, if my analysis of the all Guardsmen Party would entrench, then wait for monsters to pop out of the woodwork and finally apply lazfire until the problem goes away.

Or you could see if you could get everyone on board with changing up the campaign a little bit, get some NPC brains on board or drop the mystery.

Don't forget detpacks and massive amounts of paranoia.

Lvl 2 Expert
2016-03-08, 10:58 AM
but we're a bunch of mudfooted guardsmen who are playing like mudfooted guardsmen, which means we're missing all his subtle clues and just standing around while random monsters pop out of the woodwork to attack us.

I think a subtle difference here is that the all guardsmen party doesn't just stand around. They run away, or spout crazy theories, or shoot anything that moves. When there are no monsters popping out of the woodwork they loot the room, and the rest of the base, or they "secure" the perimeter, or...

Maybe try to have characters who like to do things. Doesn't really matter what things. If a character keeps hitting on NPC's or likes to ride his motorcross bike around the base or keeps finding injured animals to heal back to health that's a way to have fun and to stumble into plot hooks. You can see over the course of the (early) all guardsmen party adventures that they adopt this playstyle more and more. In the beginning Heavy just sleeps when nothing's happening. When there's downtime at the end one of them is planning a mission and getting NPC's to coöperate, one is playing doctor, one is building gadgets, one is stealing stuff and one is preemptively blowing stuff up. In a way they're taking the setting hostage: make something interesting happen or our ability to screw up gets its next boost. But most importantly it gives the DM ways to interact with the characters on their level. He can advance the mystery plot by getting a team of assassins blown up by your boobytraps. He can hand you an important item by having a shady person pay with it when buying stolen goods, he can throw the kid of the angry general you're supposed to get in trouble with again under your motorcycle. The convoluted plot that makes the setting interesting intersects with the more straightforward world of the lowly guardsmen that makes the game cool to play.

Cluedrew
2016-04-09, 09:01 PM
Hey, I check the posting itself every once in a while. Sometimes when I want to read the story, others times just to check for a progress report. Anyways this time I noticed something.

You actually did you my chapter titles, thank-you Shoggy sir, I am honoured. The All Guardsmen Party is the gold standard of campaign journals that I aspire to and I am happy to be a part of it, even if only in a small way.

Oh and even though it was posted a month ago, since I am already making a post I will chime in that I like Lvl 2 Expert's analysis of how the Guardsmen manage to be interesting, without really being proactive.

Shoggy
2016-04-10, 01:58 PM
Hey, I check the posting itself every once in a while. Sometimes when I want to read the story, others times just to check for a progress report.

Since you're checking status, the first part (of the first part) of the next chapter has been posted on /tg/, and I'll be getting the archive and this thread updated on Monday probably.

Lvl 2 Expert
2016-04-10, 03:48 PM
Hoy hoy, an update!

NRSASD
2016-04-10, 05:10 PM
Ah man, what a place to leave us....

Also, that ork weirdboy was a thing of pure beauty. Compliments to your GM!

Cluedrew
2016-04-10, 06:50 PM
To Shoggy: Thank-you, but I'm going to wait for the full official release. I enjoy reading these things in "bursts" more often and I have nearly infinite patience. Not actually infinite, so that might change, but for now that is the plan.

Shoggy
2016-04-11, 07:36 PM
Well it's only half a chapter, and even then it still isn't properly finished. But if you'd rather not wait until next week, here's:

The All Guardsmen Party: The [REDACTED] Conspiracy, Part .75
Shiny new HTML link: http://www.theallguardsmenparty.com/redacted.html

Lvl 2 Expert
2016-04-12, 12:47 PM
:smallbiggrin:

Lhyonnaes
2016-04-13, 01:40 AM
Always happy to see more AGP. A continual source of laughs and inspiration. :smallbiggrin:

Cluedrew
2016-04-14, 09:03 PM
Hey, I just came up from a one shot role-playing game set in the dregs of the army. You know the guys that get sent in when they don't want to send in anyone they care about. The premise range some bells in my head so I ended up playing a hybrid of Nubbie and Twitch named Jabar. By far the character with most personality in the whole group (impressively, the one introduced as "generic soldier 7" did pretty well).

The highlight was when Jabar handed the superior officer demanding the contraband a package labeled "cigarettes". But the time the officer got the necessary bandages and reinforcements the contraband had mysteriously disappeared.

Shoggy
2016-04-24, 11:48 AM
Okay, for real this time:

The All Guardsmen Party: The [REDACTED] Conspiracy
http://www.theallguardsmenparty.com/redacted.html

Cluedrew
2016-04-24, 06:21 PM
Well, I must say "the surprise twist" actually surprised me because why would things ever go right for the All Guardsmen Party. I found the scene with the singer interesting, because that would have turned out so differently in almost story. As for where this is going next ... well that is only the 3rd worst working relationship with a superior they have ever had.

A good read once again.

Lord Raziere
2016-04-24, 06:34 PM
Second Inquisitor?

who does he mean? the first one didn't seem to stand out, the second one was the ridiculously stereotypical british guy with little common sense, there was a third who was female and evil, the fourth a james bond parody who manipulated luck, then at some point ridiculously british guy returned....and I lost track until Sarge became an Inquisitor.

this guy doesn't seem to match any of those that I remember, because ridiculously british guy always parted with them on friendly terms so......I've no idea who the narration is talking about.

Cluedrew
2016-04-24, 06:50 PM
If I am counting (and remembering) correctly, this is their second inquisitor (http://www.theallguardsmenparty.com/psyker.html).

Shoggy
2016-04-24, 07:10 PM
Well, I must say "the surprise twist" actually surprised me because why would things ever go right for the All Guardsmen Party. I found the scene with the singer interesting, because that would have turned out so differently in almost story. As for where this is going next ... well that is only the 3rd worst working relationship with a superior they have ever had.

A good read once again.

Glad you liked it, we giggled at how the Eldar Waifu Wat Do scene went.

The next chapter is a big return to the whole "We hate our boss, and this job, we don't want to be here" theme.




Second Inquisitor?

who does he mean? the first one didn't seem to stand out, the second one was the ridiculously stereotypical british guy with little common sense, there was a third who was female and evil, the fourth a james bond parody who manipulated luck, then at some point ridiculously british guy returned....and I lost track until Sarge became an Inquisitor.

this guy doesn't seem to match any of those that I remember, because ridiculously british guy always parted with them on friendly terms so......I've no idea who the narration is talking about.

First guy was an over-enthusiastic I AM THE HAND OF GOD, I WILL PURGE ALL THE EVIL type guy, who got his ass thrown in the brig when he tried to boss around a ship's captain.

The Second guy was a pure data-analyzer, like Mycroft Holmes, except far more of an *******. He did a pretty good job of figuring out the big psyker-smuggling plot, but was a jerk to the party.

Third guy was the Rupert.

Fourth was Nubby's girlfriend.

Fifth was the Rupert again.

Sixth was Oak's personal assistant who handled his training camps, he was far too busy to actually interact with the party.

Seventh was Bane Johns.

ReaderAt2046
2016-04-25, 08:44 AM
WOW what a story! So happy to see the Sock Puppets make their return. Really sad that the party screwed up the encounter with the Eldar, though it was kind of nice to see their cynicism bite them in the ass for once.

Just how many wounds did that Daemonid have? Seriously, that thing took a ridiculous amount of punishment.

Shoggy
2016-04-25, 11:17 AM
Just how many wounds did that Daemonid have? Seriously, that thing took a ridiculous amount of punishment.

I'm not really sure, because, among other things, it had a lot of regeneration going on. I think it was probably something ridiculously large to start with (its shield soaked like 200 bolt rounds, which means 3000ish damage) and then the DM was tracking some sort of big mana pool behind the scenes.

I think we surprised him when we decided to split the party, I'm betting he was originally planning to have us dog-pile the Daemonthrope with the marines, then chase it into the base. Or go into the base while the Marines tanked it themselves.

Lvl 2 Expert
2016-04-25, 12:12 PM
What? this isn't even the end! There is more all guardsmen party! All hail the all guardsmen party!

I have to admit, the shipride with the bug had me kind of worried. The adventures of running down the corridors squad just didn't seem quite as entertaining to me as the previous adventures. But this one absolutely made up for it.

Another admission: after the bug teleported to the hilltop I was half expecting to see the insect ship they sent into the warp reappear as some sort of giant abomination. I'm kind of glad the party is still alive though.

DireSickFish
2016-04-25, 03:40 PM
So is Sarge still an Inquisitor? Will that mean he has equal authority to this new guy? Or is the new guy in charge of them all.

Coidzor
2016-05-02, 01:41 AM
One thing I'm left wondering is, just what could that great Hulking man-golem thing that was apparently serving the Magos and also leading one side of the fight in the Evidence Warehouse could have been.

Some kind of extra spiffy heavy combat servitor that was being remote operated by the Magos in an unusual display of awareness of morale and leadership by a cogboy?

Some kind of Space Marine sized cousin of the Cherubim?

Some kind of gene-enhanced individual that's not related to the Space Marine form of gene-enhancement?


So is Sarge still an Inquisitor? Will that mean he has equal authority to this new guy? Or is the new guy in charge of them all.

Greg Sargent is an Interrogator, not an Inquisitor, which means that he basically has a limited, trainee Rosette, like all of the other Inquisitors-in-training that they had been farmed out to up until Sarge's promotion.


WOW what a story! So happy to see the Sock Puppets make their return. Really sad that the party screwed up the encounter with the Eldar, though it was kind of nice to see their cynicism bite them in the ass for once.

Just how many wounds did that Daemonid have? Seriously, that thing took a ridiculous amount of punishment.

I, too, greatly enjoyed the Sock Puppets, as well as the twist about the Diplomat. Helped explain why he was so eager to get Sarge back into his How to Talk to People without putting your foot in your mouth lessons, too.


Glad you liked it, we giggled at how the Eldar Waifu Wat Do scene went.

The next chapter is a big return to the whole "We hate our boss, and this job, we don't want to be here" theme.

I figured either the entire group was laughing or really confused about where the GM was trying to go with that one.

Ooo, that'll be fun. :smallbiggrin:

Shoggy
2016-05-02, 03:15 PM
So is Sarge still an Inquisitor? Will that mean he has equal authority to this new guy? Or is the new guy in charge of them all.
Sarge is an Interrogator, which pretty much means he's Inquisitor Oak's personal minion and can act with Oak's authority on certain matters. He gets a little junior-Inquisition member rosette (I imagine this as a brightly colored plastic version, possibly with training wheels).

The man we just encountered (let's call him Scissy) is a full Inquisitor, though a very junior one (his sort of final exam as an Interrogator was the whole psyker business with the party). So basically as an Inquisitor Scissy outranks Sarge, but since Sarge is Oak's personal minion, the Inquisitor can't really boss him around too much without starting a pissing match. Of course this whole delicate relationship immediately gets thrown out the windows because Oak just cut Sarge and the party orders to go with Scissy and do whatever the bossy little Inquisitors tells him to do.



One thing I'm left wondering is, just what could that great Hulking man-golem thing that was apparently serving the Magos and also leading one side of the fight in the Evidence Warehouse could have been.

In case I decide not to fully explain it in the next chapter for pacing reasons, the Magos likes to grow and flesh-craft humanoid monstrosities. Sometimes their design is based on xenos patterns, sometimes they're based on his own theories, but they're universally made from human-descended genetic material and lack sentience. The Magos refers to them as his "Meat Puppets".

The Magos is nuts.

Coidzor
2016-05-09, 03:10 AM
Well, that's one way to deal with the biomass left by people who are too far gone to be lobotomized into servitors or too inedible to be recycled as food, I suppose.

All magos are crazy, but I'd say that's an interesting spin on it. I suppose that would be one way to get around the restrictions on things like war robots, too.

But then I've always been fond of minionmancy, so my perspective is probably pretty whacked to begin with.

MadHatter
2016-10-06, 04:32 AM
Really love this AAR and looking forward to the next chapter being published.
Feel like a greedy child whenever I go to the webpage to check if it is ready yet :mitd:

bookkeeping guy
2016-10-06, 04:42 AM
XD


So...I haven't read this yet or looked at the link but wanted to post a thought.


Would an all guardsmen party be like a medieval version of Cops ( or Cop show )? XD

It would theoretically have some interesting campaign value if the DM was creative or writer...

What do you think?

Cluedrew
2016-10-06, 07:19 AM
Would an all guardsmen party be like a medieval version of Cops ( or Cop show )? XDThat's not where this goes at all. Although that is what I thought it was going to be at first as well before I read it. I was wrong.

It would be an interesting campaign concept. A chance to look at a different part of an adventures world. Actually now I see the party making fun all the adventurers that wonder through town.

FocusWolf413
2016-10-31, 09:45 AM
He's such a tease.

Coidzor
2016-10-31, 11:22 AM
Would an all guardsmen party be like a medieval version of Cops ( or Cop show )? XD

It would theoretically have some interesting campaign value if the DM was creative or writer...

What do you think?

Doesn't really have much interaction with adventurers, but Guards! Guards! by Terry Pratchett is probably of interest to you, along with several of the subsequent novels covering the Ankh-Morpork City Watch.

Also, you should totally read through the archives if you haven't already by now.

JenBurdoo
2016-10-31, 04:31 PM
I've seriously considered converting the prologue to fantasy. "Everyone build a hundred zero-level commoners. OK, now you're all drafted into the King's Army, off to the Orc-front with you!"

New episode just came out by the way, or ten percent of one anyway. Dunno what the team's mission is yet, but it sounds like they will be back to their roots for a while!

TeChameleon
2016-11-02, 02:50 AM
If there is a new post up, I haven't been able to access it. The site hasn't been updated since May, as far as I can tell :smallfrown: