Hi all.

New here so forgive me for not knowing how to post a topic.

Anyways onto my question.

For my next session i plan to have the kill team go into a space hulk to help a mechanicus salvage operation into retrieving a raider class vessel thats attached to the hulk.

Now my questions is what kind of things will the kill team encounter on the hulk and how much of it.

I plan on using modified versions of Hull Ghasts from Creatures Anthema and various teams of Xenos and Chaos wondering around the hulk looking for random stuff.

Thanks in advance.

Welcome aboard! There's a whole supplement on Space Hulks, the Ark of Lost Souls, including a space hulk mission generator; and if you want to surprise your team, you might want to check this thread too: http://community.fantasyflightgames.com/index.php?/topic/84142-space-hulk-vermin/

What's the composition of your KT?

Thanks for the info my friend!!

Anyway, currently the kill team consists of a Storm Warden Tech Marine, 2 Ultramarine Tactical Marines, 1 Ultramarine Librarian. The reason why i have 3 ultramarines in the party is because the 2 tactical marines are used as filler for the two people playing and they make a decent back bone to the party.

When i get a couple more people into the game they can choose any speciality and chapter they want.

I did the mission out of the core book as the first session and it went well. Hoping the next few sessions go according to plan as well.

I would suggest forming a very clear idea of what kind of environment you want to create in your head.

Superficially a Space Hulk could be compared to either a Hive City with many interlocking layers or simply a derilict hulk in space. However it is not quite either of these things.

First off it has the potential to be incredibly unstable, particularly in real space without the power of the warp to bind pieces of the hulk together. The danger of floor and ceiling collapse or even worse an entire section of space ship breaking off into the void should be ever present.

Second the warp has the power to twist and mutate even inanimate objects. Therefore the PCs could find themselves walking down halls twisted like thick lengths of liquorice string or even more bizzarre phenomana like Escher staircase.

Thirdly the Imperium has a great interest in boarding and exploring Hulks rather than just destroying them out of hand. This is because there is always the chance of treasure in the form of ancient technology, knowledge or some other reward. Be sure to make sure the PCs feel the mission is worthwhile. Even if they don't get to personally keep any of the 'loot' it can still earn them renown to say they found some relic blade or other.

Fourthly and related to the third point the Space Hulk can have parts from any age. It can be a great opportunity to give your take on what humans were like in any particular millenia. For example imagine the PCs exploring the bridge of a ship from the 17th millenia. How would it be different? What was their culture like?

Fourthly and related to the third point the Space Hulk can have parts from any age

Or species!

I would suggest forming a very clear idea of what kind of environment you want to create in your head.

Superficially a Space Hulk could be compared to either a Hive City with many interlocking layers or simply a derilict hulk in space. However it is not quite either of these things.

First off it has the potential to be incredibly unstable, particularly in real space without the power of the warp to bind pieces of the hulk together. The danger of floor and ceiling collapse or even worse an entire section of space ship breaking off into the void should be ever present.

Second the warp has the power to twist and mutate even inanimate objects. Therefore the PCs could find themselves walking down halls twisted like thick lengths of liquorice string or even more bizzarre phenomana like Escher staircase.

Thirdly the Imperium has a great interest in boarding and exploring Hulks rather than just destroying themout of hand. This is because there is always the chance of treasure in the form of ancient technology, knowledge or some other reward. Be sure to make sure the PCs feel the mission is worthwhile. Even if they don't get to personally keep any of the 'loot' it can still earn them renown to say they found some relic blade or other.

Fourthly and related to the third point the Space Hulk can have parts from any age. It can be a great opportunity to give your take on what humans were like in any particular millenia. For example imagine the PCs exploring the bridge of a ship from the 17th millenia. How would it be different? What was their culture like?

Thanks for these ideas ill most certainly use them.

My ideas have been forming into a series of good ideas that have come from the Space Hulk mission generation stuff form Ark of Lost Souls.

The mission ill send them on has to deal with them recovery a dark age style ship which the enviornment will be small and effiecient with various hazards all the way.

Im going to add elements simliar to pandorum where theres mutant versions of the crew using the ghilliam and hull ghasts from the ark of lost souls npc appendix. A good one is that a huge nest of them will be huddled around the engine core for heat and stuff like that while the core teeters on a breach that will probably nuke everything in the core.

I plan to also use chaos reavers looking for a chance to steal some nice dark age tech from the wreck.

Since itll be a dark age vessel, itll be realtivily small and easily mapped out. The class will be a raider class thats only a few hundred meters long.

The majority will be spent on the dark age ship getting the systems up and running so it can be towed back to space dock.

Oh one other thing. Some of the ancient spaceship tropes (basically haunted house in space) that are easy to develop for games such as Dark Heresy and Rogue Trader can fall a little flat in Deathwatch.

This is because in Dark Heresy etc the PCs play normal humans. Even Guard characters can be fairly easily overwhelemed. Therefore you can use all the classic tricks from Alien, Pandorum and so on to create a feeling of claustraphobia and paranioa before the monsters attack.

In Deathwatch the players play 7 foot+ armoured Space Knights who basically don't feel fear and are equiped and trained with the stated aim of wiping out whatever foul xenos/mutant gribbily has the misfortune to bump into them.

Consider these two example

Example One. Dark Heresy

GM: You creep down the ancient rusted passage ways of the abandoned ship. You must be near your prize of the abandoned cargo hold. Odd eddies of dust spin in the low gravity enviroment and your foot steps are loud and hollow as the old steel plates beneath your feet reverberate from your weight.

Your path is illuminated only by the torch on the Guardsmans lasgun at the front of the group. Throughout the journey there has been an odd scrapping from within the walls and you can't shake the feeling that something lives here. But what misbeggoton void horror could make this dismal place their home?

You approach the main crew entrance to the cargo hold. You just need to enter, claim your prize and then bug out of this awful place.

PC Guardsman: I open the door

GM. Even through your gloved fingers you can feel the slickness of slime on the handle

PC Adept: I really hope that's just WD40....

PC Cleric: Everyone get weapons ready...

PC Guardsman: I open the door

GM: With a slow loud creak you pull the door too. Inside is stygian darkness. At first you think the hold is empty and then with mounting horror you realise that dozens of red eyes are staring back at you. You shine your torch over them and see that here are at least two dozen twisted mutated figures...Holdghasts....starting back at you....with a roar the pack lurches up and comes runnign towards you

PC Guardsman: Oh crap.

PC Adept: RUN!....

Example Two: Deathwatch

GM: You creep down the ancient rusted passage ways of the abandoned ship. You must be near your prize of the abandoned cargo hold. Odd eddies of dust spin in the low gravity enviroment and your foot steps are loud and hollow as the old steel plates beneath your feet reverberate from your weight.

Your path is illuminated by your helmets augemented visual systems . Throughout the journey there has been an odd scrapping from within the walls and you can't shake the feeling that soemthing lives here. But what misbeggoton void horror could make this dismal place their home?

You approach the main crew entrance to the cargo hold. You just need to enter, claim your prize and then bug out of this awful place.

PC Assault Marine: I open the door

GM. Even through your gloved fingers you can feel the slickness of slime on the handle

PC Devestator: I really hope that's just WD40....

PC Tactical: Everyone get weapons ready...

PC Assault Marine: I open the door

GM: With a slow loud creak you pull the door too. Inside is stygian darkness. At first you think the hold is empty and then with mounting disgust you realise that dozens of red eyes are staring back at you. You shine your torch over them and see that here are at least two dozen twisted mutated figures...Holdghasts....starting back at you....with a roar the pack lurches up and comes runnign towards you

PC Tactical Marine: 'Taste Flame mutant scum' Squad Mode abiltiy Fire for Effect. 'Taste flame AGAIN!!'

PC Devestator: 'The Holy Heavy Bolter of Antioch will strike you down!

PC Assault Marine: 'You do me an injustice brother leaving but a few of the unholy wretches to die upon my chain blade'.

GM:...In a hail of flame and Heavy Bolter rounds you cut down the majority of the mutant horde. The few stragglers are cut to pieces by the Assault Marine...

PC Tactical Marine: Well...that was a freebie.

In summary if you want to go for horror elements in Deathwatch choose your NPC opponents carefully. Basically the players feel fear so you can play on that, but their characters don't. Therefore you have to choose the enemies well. The Beast of Thule makes a good adversary to build tension because it is perfectly capable of tearing the Kill Team to bits. A Horde of mutants ala the Descent not so much.

Play with the physics to mess with the characters' orientation. The various space-faring vessels fused together give an excellent opportunity, even without the warp effect. For example, when you cross a doorway, you enter a different vessel. It is fused to the previous one upside-down, so you walk on the ceiling among glow-globes. After a nauseating second you feel the pull upwards, towards the vessel's floor. You realise the gravity generators are still active - you might activate your magboots, but if you let to of your weapon, it will fall up.