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Zenos
2008-09-06, 11:45 AM
I just got my hands on the DH core book, and my brother and I are going to have a practice run, I'll be playing an Guardsman (I'm an IG person) with a focus on shooting (49 Ballistic skill). My brother is playing a voidborn tech-priest, and I am wondering how to get a good first adventure. I would welcome some suggestions for plot hooks.

Otherwise, feel free to discuss anything else about DH here.

Comet
2008-09-06, 12:01 PM
Can't really help you with plot hooks at the mo, other than saying that I find it better to start with something simple (catch a cult leader, investigate a shady businnesfamily in the hive city...)

I'm here just to say that DH is a nice system, and I really like the w40k setting. And I'd like to add this: there have been a lot of DH topics popping up lately havent there?
(Not saying this is a bad thing, one of those topics was started by me after all. Have fun with Dark Heresy! :smallbiggrin:)

Zenos
2008-09-06, 12:06 PM
Yeah, maybe start off with their boss telling them to kidnap a guy for a happy dose of advanced interrogation technique (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/EnhancedInterrogationTechniques).

EDIT: And by the way, what equipment would be wise to have? Other than basic equipment I only have a backpack and a micro-bead.

Masked Jedi
2008-09-06, 01:01 PM
I've played a bit, and I'm reading the rulebook. It's a good game, nice combat mechanic. It really expects you to die or go insane, so if that's your type of game, go for it. I'm not a big fan of the WH40K setting, but that's just me.

Comet
2008-09-06, 01:29 PM
And by the way, what equipment would be wise to have? Other than basic equipment I only have a backpack and a micro-bead.

If you can afford 'em, explosives. Can't go wrong with a fistful of fire. Saved our asses during a raid that went horribly wrong. :smallamused:
In all seriousness, I don't have the book at hand so I can't really give any sound advice on that part either. Weaponry is always good to have, as nearly everything else can be improvised/looted on the scene. Just go with whatever seems cool.

I'd also recommend some armour, if you don't already have some. I didn't get any and I regretted it. Alot.

Zenos
2008-09-06, 02:41 PM
If you can afford 'em, explosives. Can't go wrong with a fistful of fire. Saved our asses during a raid that went horribly wrong. :smallamused:
In all seriousness, I don't have the book at hand so I can't really give any sound advice on that part either. Weaponry is always good to have, as nearly everything else can be improvised/looted on the scene. Just go with whatever seems cool.

I'd also recommend some armour, if you don't already have some. I didn't get any and I regretted it. Alot.

I'm playing a guardsman, of course I have armour. I also have a shotgun and a lasgun, I also forgot to mention I have a pair of grenades. The techpriest has a flak vest or something like that, although he might need more armour. Anyways he has more money than me, so he should be fine buying a little more protection.

Bryn
2008-09-06, 02:49 PM
Hey, I can actually post in this latest Dark Heresy thread! :smallbiggrin:

I finally got my hands on the book in GenCon UK, and I think I've fallen in love with it. It's a great system, very brutal, dark but also with a sense of humour. The psychic powers system is fantastic - the psychic phenomena tables have so many great entries. In some ways, it's extremely over-the-top; the critical injury tables will confirm that.

I haven't actually played the system yet, but the book is generally very accurate to the background of 40k; there are a few exceptions, and I don't necessarily translate rank in a career path to rank in the Imperial Guard etc., but for the most part it captures some of my favourite parts of the 40k universe and definitely nails the flavour.

The book also looks great, even if the illustrations are mostly from other 40k sources, the design of the pages looks great and what new illustrations there are look very fine indeed. I always enjoy comparing the Cleric's picture to the DnD cleric.

If anyone is interested in playing Dark Heresy, I'm trying to get players for a game to try out the system here (http://z13.invisionfree.com/40K_Online/index.php?showtopic=689) [/duckluck (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ShamelessSelfPromoter)]

Guardsmen are extremely lucky: a free suit of Guard Flak Armour is nothing to be sniffed at. You get a bunch of free weapons with your career path, and I'm not sure how to advise on replacing it with better quality versions. Can anyone tell me how often jamming comes up, and if it's worth replacing melee weapons to improve it?

Lazy Zomb
2008-09-06, 02:50 PM
Guardsmen Flak probably the best armor you could find for awhile, so you're good, but you're buddy is gonna want more than a vest - less skin showing, the better.

Edit: Jamming happens 6% of the time with most SP weapons (excluding shotgun and stub revolver, I believe). Theoretically. There's a reason My scum carries four autopistols around, and it isn't because statistics chose to work right.

2 rounds in a row (plus a fate point spent!) that I jammed those things right before the big battle.

Zenos
2008-09-06, 03:01 PM
Guardsmen Flak probably the best armor you could find for awhile, so you're good, but you're buddy is gonna want more than a vest - less skin showing, the better.

Edit: Jamming happens 6% of the time with most SP weapons (excluding shotgun and stub revolver, I believe). Theoretically. There's a reason My scum carries four autopistols around, and it isn't because statistics chose to work right.

2 rounds in a row (plus a fate point spent!) that I jammed those things right before the big battle.

1. The tech-priest is sitting right next to me, unfortunately he doesn't have that much money, so he can only afford a flak jacket and a flak helmet. better than nothing I suppose.

2. Good our classes carry Reliable las-weapons then.

Blockhead
2008-09-06, 08:58 PM
*Pokes Z-Axis*

'ello! I'm one of the players in Z-Axis' Dark Heresy game, also a member of this site wouldn't you know it. I don't have a copy of the game rule book myself, but if you can find a GM that's willing to explain the rules to you then I would really recommend playing (Z-Axis' game has rules explained).

I'm playing as an Imperial Psyker, the other people in the group (at this point in time) are playing as 2 Guardsmen and an Assassin (another person might be joining later). Because of the large focus on fighting that the other 3 people will be doing I decided to not buy any armour (as I would be doing the least amount of fighting) and just go with general equipment and buy stuff later. I think the game is generally better with more people, ideally 4,5 or 6, as this would allow a sense of a team to take hold with each team member bringing their unique skills to create a formidable fighting force. It's also probably a good idea to either start off light, as the other people suggested or boost your character to a higher level, allowing for more skills and money.

Zenos
2008-09-07, 10:06 AM
We've played a small game today. Itr was simple storm in, shoot the guards and wrestle a merchant down to take him back for interrogation. We went through the guards like hot knife through butter, probably thanks to a generous amount of explosives tossed through windows, then we had a drawn-out grapple with the merchant who was trying to escape. Then I looted him (I had lower income so my brother thought I should take the money), which game me enough thrones to refresh my supply of grenades and leave me with 150 thrones, any idea of what to buy with it?

Zenos
2008-09-08, 09:34 AM
Okay, I bought a drop harness (I think we'll be doing a mission where we drop from a cliff or something onto a rooftop) and a red-dot sight for more mobile accuracy. Also, the Tech-priest is going to play an Assassin as well, which is fine with me, as long as he manages to handle both at the same time without mysterious meta-telepathy.
I am thinking of a little mission where the players are tasked to find a guy and beat him him up. Why? Because he owes the inquisitor money (hey, you have some unassigned capable people on a backwater world and a guy you don't like. Why not?) Too bad none of the PC's have Inquiry and the like as trained skills.

Bryn
2008-09-08, 10:12 AM
That idea could lead to so many interesting plot-points! Maybe the man who owes the Inquisitor money turns out to be a Genestealer cultist, or have scarred symbols of Khorne in his flesh, or tries to hide with the local crime family. Plus the reasons why an Inquisitor, of all people, needs money - this could lead to some interesting details about their master. I think you've inspired me...

As for whether or not they need Inquiry... you should be able to work around the lack. Maybe have the Inquisitor tell them where to find the guy, and have an easily obvious route regarding where he's gone as opposed to making them ask around and search for him.

SolkaTruesilver
2008-09-08, 10:40 AM
I am GMing a game for the moment. 2 of my players are away for a while (a Feral Psyker and a Noble-born Cleric), so I decided to play a prologue mission with the Void-Born assassin and the imperial-educated Guardsman.

Their mission was to make contact with their superior officer (the cleric), but that one got captured by gang member paid by a rival noble house. In payment, the gang received 3 Gun Servitors and 3 Combat servitors.

So, the idea was that the 2 players would be first contacted by a rival gang faction (after they fail to meet with the cleric), and strike a bargain to recover both the cleric, and neutralise the Servitors. In a medium spaceport ran by gangs, 3 Gun and 3 Combat servitors can easily tip the balance of power strongly into one way or the other.

The thing is, the players didn't knew what was the "new weapon". They decided to help their ally-gang to ambush a roaming gang. I decided to put 1 Gun Servitor. The battle went almost well for the 2 players + 4 Allied gang member Vs 4 Gang Member + 1 Gun Servitor + 1 Gang Boss, with the assassin sniping the Servitor initially.

1st Round)
- Servitor guns down 2 of the allied gang members in 1 attack.
- Stealth Head Shot against the servitor! 10 damage.. darn. Nothing
- Everybody else just look around, trying to find the sniper

2nd Round)
- Stealth shot against the servitor's leg! 26 Damage! The thing blow up for good..
- guardman throw a grenade among the gang members. 3 are hit, 2 of them loose all woud points, the other (the boss) is not even scorched, the lucky bastard

the rest was quite bloody, I have to say. Personnally, I think the guardman should have used his autopistol for suppressive fire while the sniper shot them one by one.

They told me they liked the game. I don't know how they plan to free their cleric AND stop the Servitors, but I'll enjoy looking at them :smallbiggrin:

The rest of the battle got really bloody.

Zenos
2008-09-09, 11:27 AM
I think I'll make the guy have a mark of nurgle. As to what the inquisitor needs money for, I have not decided yet, any suggestions?

Zenos
2008-09-11, 01:38 AM
Oh great, he is making another character, a cleric with high Fel and WP and possibly INT, at the expence of bad combat ability.

Ossian
2008-09-11, 02:35 AM
Thread Hijack!

Hi folks: what exactly is this WH40K system (and relevant expansions, sourcebooks and stuff)? I know there is a WH fantasy RPG. I was not aware they had created a 40K ruleset for it. Or is it an independent system? Just curious...

O.

(Hijack over)

Tsotha-lanti
2008-09-11, 03:29 AM
Separate but similar system. Character generation and advancement is one of the biggest differences I spotted in my brief reading (everyone has one class they stay in, and advances cost varying amounts; a Guardsman has an easier time raising WS and BS than a Psyker, etc.).

Zenos
2008-09-11, 09:32 AM
So far it has only one additional sourcebook along with the core rulebook, the Inquisitors handbook which allows you to use the Sisters of Battle as a playable class and some other stuff, I don't have the IH though.

Victor Thorian
2008-09-11, 09:38 AM
Dark Heresy is best and I have both books. And those free supplements they let you download on the website, too.

I have no people around to play right now though. DUH!

Zenos
2008-09-14, 01:07 PM
Last night we played another game. First, we were sent to collect money from a guy, first, the Tech Priest managed all Logic rolls I threw at him, so much I dyubbed him Zuriel the Logic. Then they found the guys apartment, which was barricaded from the inside, so they cut throughthe door with lascutters to find the guy had escaped through tjhe window, so they rappeled down and the techpriest managed another Logic roll to determine he had went to the subway. Then they ran there and found he was boarding the train. They went onto the train where he shot at them with a revolver. After a short firefight he was unconcious and they took the money from him. They also found out he had a mark of Nurgle and delivered him to the Inquisitor.

More to come later.

SolkaTruesilver
2008-09-15, 04:42 AM
Hehe.. last game, the players assaulted a mafia stronghold with the help of some of a rival gang. They spent the whole game doing recon, and planning. At the end, they managed to exchange the new guard shift for their own assault team, and infiltrate the compound. 12 allies + 2 PC Vs 24 Ennemies + ? Gun/Combat Servitors

The combat was pretty bloody. They got introduced to the incredible utility of suppressive fire to neutralise large gangs. The Guardman PC threw a frag grenade at the middle of 3 ennemies, but missed. The grenade ended up between FIVE of them (with 1 combat servitor, lucky bastard), he killed 3 with it, and got all the wounds from the servitor..

But later in the combat, there is a gun servitor coming up and preparing to kill him with a huge twin-linked autogun full autoburst. The combat servitor got a few critical hits, but was only stunned at a critical level of 5. The guardman throws a Krak grenade at the Gun Servitor, and rolls double-10!! LUCKY BASTARD!!! With an EXPLOSIVE CRITICAL of 10+, the Gun servitors's ammunition explodes, doing 1d5 + 6 points of damage to.. the Combat servitor. The combat servitors explodes too..

That was hilarious!! But the game session ended with some sort of stalemate. The reinforcement for the PC just arrived, but the mafia entrenched themselves into their warehouse and set defensive positions. Maybe there are more combat/gun servitor inside, and they have a third PC hostage (he was the McGuffin for the whole rescue quest anyway).

But they have to act fast. Maybe there are ennemy reinforcement coming up soon...

Zenos
2008-09-15, 10:41 AM
Continouing the session on Saturday, the inquisitor (named Enigma) asked them to travel northeast over some mountains and over some steppes to retrieve a minor holy relic for him before he left the planet, which would be one week until then.
So they drive over the mountains on the first day and are ambushed by six guerrila soldiers (there's a civil war going on in the area, between the planetary governor's sect and the rebel's sect), luckily the guardsman is a good driver and all three were fairly optimized for combat, although it has been the toughest fight so far (meaning, we took the most wounds in that combat) then they had to spend a day healing at Fort Russ (a military instalation, duh) where they borrowed an armoured car and went for a boring two days drive over the steppes to a holy shrine on a sleeping volcano.
There they had to sort through asome problems with the eccentric blind nuns before they got the relic. Then the shrine was attacked by a rebel gunship which destroyed the shrine, but it seems the rebels were insanely bad shots, as I always rolled at least 80 on the dice to hit.
Then they had a fairly pleasant ride back to the spaceport, where they had to drive onto the landing ramp to reach the inquisitor on time. Then they
delivered the small ring and got a big suitcase of money for their troubles and a last order. More about that in the next episod... post.

Zenos
2008-09-15, 01:59 PM
*Draws a deep breath*

Then the PCs were to "investigate" an arms manufacturer. They did so by rappeling themselves down the cliff overhanging the corporations main building after having sniped a guard on it. They see another guard and shoot him too. Good so far. They enter the main building and kills a civilian guy working in a storeroom and then fumble about with an encrypted password and a key card, and even the tech priest's amazing logic skills doesn't help. Luckily the assassin has security and manages to bypass the alarm system so they can just make a big hole in the door with lascutters. The techpriest downloads the corporation files into his data-slate. Then the alarm sounds.
They run out into the lobby, where the receptionist points a revolver at them. They promptly shoot her until she falls unconcious and kills a couple of guards by the same method. They run out and are pursued by a LOT of factory workers with revolvers and such weapons, but they threw grenades at them, killing some four or five people, can't remember. They walk up on a heli-pad. They find an eldar Dire Avenger standing in front of them.
You know what happens next? The assassin shoots the right arm clean of the eldar warrior and drags him into the ornithocopter for interrogation. They then manage to avoid some surface-to-air missiles and make their escape.
I meant for that eldar to be a tough boss enemy :smallmad: but then again, they've made an enemy of an eldar warrior, so he'll probably take revenge some way or another (by the way, he gets rescued later whilst the PCs are busy killing insurgents).

EDIT: Also, it seems that everytime the Tech-priests player actualy roleplays what he does he has insane luck with his rolls. As he says "Roleplaying for better rollplaying".

Zenos
2008-09-16, 12:07 PM
I am now making an arbitrator focused on forensics, whilst the other guy is making a psyker of unknown powers. These will join the three others.
Now we have a Five Man Band, but I am not sure they will actualy follow the Five Man Band roles so closely.

EDIT: Also, which are the best skills and talents for some good ol' fashioned detective work (And maybe some less ol' fashioned forensic science)? We're at 1700 exp, roughly.

Zenos
2008-09-17, 04:54 AM
Ah, well, I've made the arbitrator. He has a bunch of interrogation and search type skills.

Exarch
2008-09-17, 01:54 PM
Keep the updates coming, OP. I love the 40k universe and want to play Dark Heresy...I have the game, but it's hard to organize a game. So, keep us updated with yours!

Zenos
2008-09-17, 04:36 PM
Then the PCs (still the same session) were trying to look for something to do. They came across a bank where a bunch of policemen were besieging a bunch of insurgents who were robbing the bank to fund their war. So the Guardsman and the tech-priest enter the bank by a service tunnel and the assassin goes up the second floor. They meet up inside and charge into the lobby and shoot the guy who is holding various civilians hostage with an autogun. Then the policemen charge at the bank and the PCs shoot a guy armed with a heavy stubber before he manages to shoot the law enforcement guys. Then, when the policemen have taken down the remaining robbers with extreme prejudice they continoue into the building.
They first go to save the hostage directors, and then I just copy-pasted the ending scene from Mile High Club of CoD4. It was slightly different tho', mainly because they managed to shoot the hostage in the shoulder before they got the insurgent. Then came a funny scene where an insurgent tried to kill himself by pointing an autogun to his chin and firing, botched it by not managing to do enough damage to make the death swift, so he shot the techpriest in the hip before bleeding to death.
Then they breached the armoured vault where the two remaining insurgents were bunkered up with lascutters, threw a frag in and attacked through. The assassin got in a fist-fight ith an insurgent and took six damage before he just decided to shoot the guy in the face, whilst the other guy was decapacitated by fire from the guardsman and the techpriest.
The police did next to nothing important :smallamused:.

EDIT: Then they got money from the bank for saving them and went to buy some cameoline clothes. I am fairly unrestrictive as to what they can buy.

EDIT2: And about that guy who tried to suicide himself and failed, I saw an episode of Dr. G where she found out a dead guy had tried to commit suicide by shooting himself in the chin with a shotgun and didn't die before he shot himself again with a shotgun in the temple, so don't come saying I am being unrealistic.

Zenos
2008-09-19, 10:25 AM
The other guy's psyker rolled the divinations table today for a finish. He gt mutations first, but it was wyrdling so I let him take another one, which was willpower. I then game him a "free" mutation, which turned out to be no pain. But since it was "free" mutation, I also said he had bad tactile senses.
He is already planning to fall to Tzeentch.

EDIT: He also voluntarily took one corruption point "for fluff".

Destro_Yersul
2008-09-19, 03:07 PM
Yes, listen to the voice in your head, little plaything. It is chaos, and chaos will make you strong. Give you the power to do anything. Make you a god amongst men...

I wish the games I joined for this lasted longer. Neither has lasted even past the first adventure. :smallfrown:

It's a fun system though, so enjoy it.

Zenos
2008-09-19, 04:08 PM
For the next adventure I am thinking:

My players, don't read this:
Seriously, don't.
It'll ruin the investigation part
They'll somehow be sent to investigate a village. There, they will find a cult of mutants worshipping Nurgle, and find out the cult is going to "bless" the drinking water of the village. Either they fight the cult of super-strong and tough mutants, or they fight off the ensuing mini-zombie apocalypse.
Preferably both, in that order:smallamused:

Any tips for pulling this off?

Robert_Frazer
2008-09-20, 07:45 PM
Some suggestions, Zenos:

How do the mutants figure into the society of the village? Mutants are gross, twisted aberrations and even on worlds where they're tolerated they're an underclass that doesn't walk about freely. A village is too small to have its own mutant slum, of course, so there needs to be a specific reason justifying their presence.

Are they sponsored by an indulgent (and gullible) Preacher who is endeavouring to repair their minds even though their bodies are a disgrace to the Emperor, whilst the evil mutants themselves are taking that well-meaning but foolish cleric for a ride? Is there a labour camp in the countryside where mutants are confined, whilst the villagers themselves are mounting a NIMBY campaign in protest at having mutant filth in the vicinity of their pleasant rural idyll? Are the mutants rogues and runaways hiding out in the hills (and the water table), whom the local PDF are finding unusually difficult to dislodge? Or are they covert infiltrators from outside, who have mutations that are not immediately obvious and who try to keep their perversions concealed (wearing their jacket all day even when it's hot, for instance) whilst they conspire?

The reason for the mutants' presence can also be extended into the "somehow" which explains why the party would travel to the village in the first place. In the first example I gave, a Preacher openly supporting mutants is naturally highly irregular, so the Acolytes have been dispatched to observe him and make sure that he's not a pawn of a darker power. The Preacher's genuine innocence (albeit due to his ignorance, and ignorance is no excuse...) is a red herring to distract attention away from the mutants themselves, and makes the investigation phase deeper and more complex. In the second example, the unusual vehemence of the protest group piques the party's handling Interrogator's curiosity and makes him wonder if the mutants have done anything in particular to provoke such pointed outrage. Consequently, he sends the Acolytes to survey the labour camp and see if there have been any breaches in security or powerful mutants amongst the inmates.

In the third example, the fact that the military can't yank a few miserable scabby dregs out of caves definitely shows that the mutants are strangely powerful, enough to indicate that shenanigans are about (however, this scenario would entail very little investigation, except in following trails to hideouts). In the fourth example, some dangerous mutants could have escaped from confinement, leading to the whole country being pored over with a fine-tooth comb in a grand manhunt. The sector your party has been assigned includes the village, but the fact that a number of newcomers have arrived in the area recently doesn't help identifying the runaways, and the Acolytes can't just strip-search the villagers for fear of spooking their targets.

As an aside, I noticed your "preferably both, in that order" comment. This alarms me - yes, it's the Grim Darkness Of The Far Future and disaster is the norm, but you must give your party the opportunity to genuinely save the day. If you force the zombie apocalypse on them then all of their prior efforts in the investigation section will have been wasted time and energy, because they can't halt the "bad end" no matter how quick and brilliant their deductions are. That would be frustrating for the players.

Bryn
2008-09-20, 08:20 PM
As an aside, I noticed your "preferably both, in that order" comment. This alarms me - you must give your party the opportunity to genuinely save the day. If you force the zombie apocalypse on them then all of their prior efforts in the investigation section have been wasted because they can't halt the "bad end" no matter how quick and brilliant their deductions, and that would be frustrating for the players.
In agreement with everything Rob said, and to add to that last point (quoted), Dark Heresy is a system in which players can, and will, die*. If they barely survive a hard fight with mutants, they will be in no state to deal with a zombie apocalypse. You might want to be careful, lest you end up with a TPK, which is an undesirable outcome for any roleplaying game, even Dark Heresy.

As an alternative to the above ideas on how the mutants are hiding, it would be possible, albeit less interesting, to have them all lurking completely unknown to the townsfolk above. This could have intesting implications for the village. Maybe the village is built on the ruins of an old hive city, destroyed (perhaps by one of 40k's really huge weapons) in a long-forgotten war and covered over by dirt and muck over the centuries hence. To the villagers, it's just a big hill, but in fact much of the underhive still remains intact. This is where the mutants are lurking - they could even have been born in the underhive itself, themselves unaware of the town until recently.

This could tie in with some of the other ideas: the preacher knows the consequences of harbouring mutants openly, and so he's hiding the mutants in the underhive away from the suspicious eyes of the Emperor-fearing villagers. Otherwise, he still believes he can save them despite their mutations, but it's not immediately obvious. This could lead to an investigation prior to the discovery of the mutant cult with the players having no idea what on Terra is going on.

I love 40k/Dark Heresy: it has so much potential for great plots.

*Or so it would seem from the rulebook. But I might be wrong.

Zenos
2008-09-21, 07:04 AM
I think I'll first have them just investigate and ask around, then, when they get deeper into the plot make them fight a mutant with unnatural strenght and scaly skin mutations who was disguised as a bodyguard to a local healer. Then they will investigate some more and find out that healer is a nurgle sorceror leading cult who are going to "bless" all the water on the planet, having started with the a neighbouring community to the PC's are investigating. Then they will have to intercept the cult before they poison more rivers. Then when they have managed to make sure the planet itself is fairly safe, as a secondary adventure they may decide to save the still un-tainted citizens of the zombified town, which I may reward with fate points. The zombies aren't gonna be tough, more like brain-leaf thralls. Just a lot of them.

Robert_Frazer
2008-09-21, 11:59 AM
Again, why are the Acolytes in the village? You can't just bus them to the countryside, pitch them out on the village green and tell them to frolic in the fields until they find something interesting - the lack of direction would leave your players uncertain and rudderless, and the lack of context to frame the adventure, and the lack of an objective to search for, would be dull and dispiriting.

If you've settled on the scenario that you convey in your last post, then here's a suggestion as how it might unfold:

The zombie outbreak has already consumed the neighbouring town - the irruption is a surprise, and the Acolytes are hastily pulled from their current activity by their Interrogator to work damage control. The PDF have already cordoned off the town and are successfully shooting down any Plague Zombies trying to escape, but they're leery about infection and are reluctant to press in and cleanse the town itself.

The Acolytes thus have several tasks.

-As a mandatory main-plot action, a captured Plague Zombie can undergo a gruesome dissection to determine the vector of the plague - is it a virus or warp-magic, was it transmitted by ingestion, aerosols or biting, and so on. This is an important scene where the Acolytes (with the assistance of an Inquisitorial medicae from another cell if the Acolytes themselves lack the suitable investigation skills) will work out that the disease was polluting the water supply, informing them of what to look out for during the investigation phase. Also an opportunity to make light corruption and/or insanity tests due to a noxious atmosphere laden with foetid, rank evil that the undesirable procedure is carried out in.

-As a sub-plot, a number of PDF wondering aloud about the nature of the plague need to be "persuaded" to believe that zombies don't exist and these are just people undergoing a psychotic episode from a feverish, ulcerous infection.

-As a sub-plot, the Acolytes could mount a thunder run into the town to rescue survivors who've barricaded themselves in the town's central shrine. Afterwards, they need to use their fellowship skills to talk their way past the panicky PDF cordon, which is frightened about contamination and liable to drive the party back into the town on a hair-trigger.

-As a sub-plot, have the Acolytes make perception checks while in the officer-commanding's headquarters at the cordon. If they pass, they notice a map of the area which has plotted the incidents where wandering Plague Zombies have been shot down by the pickets. They describe a perfect circle around the town... the deduction to make is that the cult is psychically controlling the Plague Zombies, and has been sacrificing a few of them to gague the extent of the PDF's investment, in preparation for a big push of zombies against a weaker section of the cordon. If the Acolytes are on the ball, work this out, and alert the officer to it, he'll have his men readied enough for the zombie onrush to be thinned out by a mortar barrage before it hits the cordon, making the subsequent fight to contain the zombie thrust easier.

This initial episode in the poisoned town sets the scene and ups the stakes, giving the Acolytes something to fight for - unless the culprits are found, this horror will be perpetrated further. It also provides a sense of urgency, because the villains will be planning another pollution soon.

As virtually the entire town had degenerated into Plague Zombies, the Acolytes can appreciate that this is an operation of some magnitude - it won't have happened overnight, and the perpetrators must have been resident in the area for some time to prepare the atrocity. This gives the Acolytes a reason to remain in the area, and opens the investigation phase for them. They must then survey locations and interview characters in the surrounding villages, and use the information and evidence gathered to identify the villain. If the players are getting bored with the environment, you can intersp this with a couple of excursions to other locations, tracking down people who've left the area recently in order to make sure that they're not cultists making their escape.

Once the Acolytes decide to probe the correct villain, you can lead them on to the fight against the mutants and the exposure of the Nurgle cult that you describe in your post. The longer is takes for the Acolytes to discover the correct suspect, the more zombie outbreaks occur in the villages surrounding the town as the cult remains free to work its mischief. You can thus quantify the degree of your players' success in the adventure (and scale rewards appropriately) by the number of villages they manage to save.

Zenos
2008-09-22, 09:49 AM
Again, why are the Acolytes in the village? You can't just bus them to the countryside, pitch them out on the village green and tell them to frolic in the fields until they find something interesting - the lack of direction would leave your players uncertain and rudderless, and the lack of context to frame the adventure, and the lack of an objective to search for, would be dull and dispiriting.

If you've settled on the scenario that you convey in your last post, then here's a suggestion as how it might unfold:

The zombie outbreak has already consumed the neighbouring town - the irruption is a surprise, and the Acolytes are hastily pulled from their current activity by their Interrogator to work damage control. The PDF have already cordoned off the town and are successfully shooting down any Plague Zombies trying to escape, but they're leery about infection and are reluctant to press in and cleanse the town itself.

The Acolytes thus have several tasks.

-As a mandatory main-plot action, a captured Plague Zombie can undergo a gruesome dissection to determine the vector of the plague - is it a virus or warp-magic, was it transmitted by ingestion, aerosols or biting, and so on. This is an important scene where the Acolytes (with the assistance of an Inquisitorial medicae from another cell if the Acolytes themselves lack the suitable investigation skills) will work out that the disease was polluting the water supply, informing them of what to look out for during the investigation phase. Also an opportunity to make light corruption and/or insanity tests due to a noxious atmosphere laden with foetid, rank evil that the undesirable procedure is carried out in.

-As a sub-plot, a number of PDF wondering aloud about the nature of the plague need to be "persuaded" to believe that zombies don't exist and these are just people undergoing a psychotic episode from a feverish, ulcerous infection.

-As a sub-plot, the Acolytes could mount a thunder run into the town to rescue survivors who've barricaded themselves in the town's central shrine. Afterwards, they need to use their fellowship skills to talk their way past the panicky PDF cordon, which is frightened about contamination and liable to drive the party back into the town on a hair-trigger.

-As a sub-plot, have the Acolytes make perception checks while in the officer-commanding's headquarters at the cordon. If they pass, they notice a map of the area which has plotted the incidents where wandering Plague Zombies have been shot down by the pickets. They describe a perfect circle around the town... the deduction to make is that the cult is psychically controlling the Plague Zombies, and has been sacrificing a few of them to gague the extent of the PDF's investment, in preparation for a big push of zombies against a weaker section of the cordon. If the Acolytes are on the ball, work this out, and alert the officer to it, he'll have his men readied enough for the zombie onrush to be thinned out by a mortar barrage before it hits the cordon, making the subsequent fight to contain the zombie thrust easier.

This initial episode in the poisoned town sets the scene and ups the stakes, giving the Acolytes something to fight for - unless the culprits are found, this horror will be perpetrated further. It also provides a sense of urgency, because the villains will be planning another pollution soon.

As virtually the entire town had degenerated into Plague Zombies, the Acolytes can appreciate that this is an operation of some magnitude - it won't have happened overnight, and the perpetrators must have been resident in the area for some time to prepare the atrocity. This gives the Acolytes a reason to remain in the area, and opens the investigation phase for them. They must then survey locations and interview characters in the surrounding villages, and use the information and evidence gathered to identify the villain. If the players are getting bored with the environment, you can intersp this with a couple of excursions to other locations, tracking down people who've left the area recently in order to make sure that they're not cultists making their escape.

Once the Acolytes decide to probe the correct villain, you can lead them on to the fight against the mutants and the exposure of the Nurgle cult that you describe in your post. The longer is takes for the Acolytes to discover the correct suspect, the more zombie outbreaks occur in the villages surrounding the town as the cult remains free to work its mischief. You can thus quantify the degree of your players' success in the adventure (and scale rewards appropriately) by the number of villages they manage to save.

This looks very good. I think I'll use some of these ideas.