I'm going through my morning routine thinking about a campaign I've been requested to run next week in an all day session when a question pops into my head. I wonder what it would take to make an Adepta Custodes a member of the Inquisition or at least a campaign NPCs? As if the case with many questions it brought more, one of which I soon found my mind wrapping around more than the original. What sort of campaign could be run on Holy Terra or at least the home system? It occured to me that it might be difficult as only a few options occured to me, including inquisitor v. inquisitor in a Skaven-esque battle for power, or a heretical campaign where traiters/xenos attempt to infiltrate the heart of humanity. It also seems to be that it might be ideal for a high-level group, however I'm not beyond thinking its possible for fresh players so long as their familiar with the lore.

So here's my formal challenge to all my fellow GMs out there. Come up with an adventure that takes place on and/or around Holy Terra. Specifics including events, npcs, and locations are a plus. Also any logically ordered progression events that leads to a meeting of His Holy Majesty is an uber plus. Speculation is welcome, but the exchanging of adventure seeds is the main intenet.

I think any mission that would take place on a Hive would be appropriate. For that is about what Terra is. A number of hives that tend to be far better protected and have much darker secrets. The palace will probably be off limits but Terra itself would be a repository for all kinds of lost or forbidden tech. And don't forget the various high lords and administratum offices there. Political backstabbing is just as likely there as anywhere. A mission to discover who killed a high noble or some administratum official would be appropriate. Was the murder to cover the theft of an ancient tome or forbidden tech? Is there a power play as someone tries to move up the political ladder?

Move out a bit from Terra and you have Mars. The home world for the Adeptus Mechanicus. Has some ancient technology been rediscovered there that could be heretical? Are the titan factories being sabotaged? Are supplies being diverted for some unknown reason?

Granted I didn't answer your specific questions but those can all be adventure hooks to get a start. Part of it would depend on the characters. If there is a Tech Priest than Mars would be a good choice for an adventure. You could always combine the two. Someone on Terra of Mars points the characters to something on the other planet.

As for an encounter with the Emperor I'd forgo it. The unknown mystery tends to be greater only as long as it's unknown. Maybe viewing him from a distance but no closer. He is the single most protected person in the Imperium. If the Acolytes can easily approach so could someone else with less benign intentions.

Any old school D&D player reared on Deities and Demigods would use this opportunity to kill the Emperor, and take his stuff.

bogi_khaosa said:

...One problem...BURN THE HERETIC!!!

Anyway, I think Waste had a lot of good insights. All the basic political backstabbings and normal crime solving would be aplenty on the teeming homeworld of man. Though, I've always been of the opinion that such matters were left to the arbites as they are the police force, whereas the Inquisition are trained to take on only things that deal with Chaos, Xenos, Mutation, and Rebellion. In which case, my sense of challenge came into play since as Waste said, Terra is the most protected part of the Imperium. Would there even be any of these? Then again, perhaps there would be, but in much more isolated incidents. Though it skirts the edges between the big four enemies, and the ordinary enemies, I think a campaign to discover and purge Holy Terra of a persistant secular force would make for interesting adventures.

Another possability just came to me for the more "radical" of GMs. Granted, running a game on Holy Terra is pretty radical already, but I've heard theories in the past (not ones that I suscribe to mind you) that Terra is future Warhammer World, transformed after milennia. If a GM ran with this concept, there may very well be a minor ordo on Terra dedicated to eliminating the vestiges of Terra's past. To be more specificm say every so often on this version of Terra a ghost of the past may arise through one means or another, such as a Skaven Under-Terra that lingers yet still near the planet's core, or perhaps Vampires or Necromancers that operate in the highest of secrecy amongst the masses. Perhaps Elves or Dwarves survive in magical stasis somewhere only to reawaken and threaten to taint the populace with their presence. That might make for some fun cross-over adventuring, though personally I've never been in agreement with that theory.

I think it would be more interesting if they were wiping out vestiges of Terra's real past. Perhaps there is a heretical group that found an ancient proscribed text called the "Bible" or something like that. Though obviously that would bother a lot of players.