Tattered Fates a Detailed Review (Spoilers)

I have to admit, it’s been a strange month of weird events. Besides travelling across Germany and sampling every beer I could afford and a few I could not and secretly admitting that Lady Gaga is some sort of seductress sent by the dark powers to obsess my mind with poker faces, it is also a month with a release of a new Dark Heresy book.

Which is good and bad. Its good because any new book is a good sign for the line that will probably soon be over shadowed by its new born cousin, Rogue Trader. Bad, because unfortunately it is an adventure module, something I usually find a bore and a grand waste of money and time. You see, I never run a module or pre-written adventure due to my large ego that convinces me that I don’t have to pay $25 for an adventure when I can write my own. And so far I have found all the adventures for Dark Heresy to be very lacking in refinement and satisfaction for complete use. As they tend to shoehorn adventurers and acolytes into the story instead of just naturally flow. So far, none of the adventures have ever felt like the PCs were they by choice, which while is very 40K in nature, is very dissatisfying for most players I know.

But does Tattered Fates live up to my expectations or does it rise above the preconceived failures I already placed on it?

Unfortunately that answer is a resounding, yup, both! Now on to the review.

The review is broken into five subsections, being as follows: Utility, Presentation, Story, Structure and The 40K Effect.

Utility: This section of the review is to cover the uses of the book outside of the adventure itself, what can be used on long term basis and what new aspects are added to the game. In truth, Tattered Fates comes out a little ahead of other adventures in this aspect, adding some new critters (such as the Spindle-Maw), some new antagonists that can be inserted pretty much into any setting or adventure (the Gambler and Cyborg Gladiator come to mind here) and a new approach to elite advances and packages that reflects the characters’ recent encounters and adventures (here, being a package referred to Red Cage survivor).

While some themes of the utility are strictly left for the setting, such as the Gazetteer on the planet Quaddis, it is still interesting to read and provides enough information to start, set or place an adventure on Quaddis before the events of Tattered Fates, or if it survives the adventure, then adventure Tattered Fates. But it falls short as it could have been longer and more detailed and perhaps had a Origin option for characters from Quaddis, adding the Pleasure World as a viable background to the Dark Heresy game.

Overall, there are parts to the book that every GM can find a use for at some time in the future, even if the adventure is never used as is.

Presentation: As always, this Dark Heresy book is beautiful to look at. From its layout and its page art and its page borders Dark Heresy books continue to be the best looking RPG books on the market. I always know I’m looking at a DH book, just from its beautiful presentation. But this one isn’t perfect. Riddled with typos, the book at times looks and feels rushed or amateurish, and with art that is recycled from other sources, including the free PDF Edge of Darkness adventure, it gets a bet frustrating. But largely the biggest flaw is the lack of character or encounter illustrations. We get such a brief description of a few things and yet no real detailed covering of them. A picture of the Spindle-Maw or Arachnae Servitor would have gone a long way.

Story: Here we go, the heart of any adventure is its story. And Tattered Fates has one. It is just not a complete one or well executed in this adventure. I find it is the big flaw of the book. Not enough details are worked out as set in stone, instead relying too much on giving GM free reign. Which can be ok, but not always a good idea. Things like who is a Haarlock descendent should be TOLD to the GM and not left to personal choice. It would make the events that flow easier to organize and outline as an adventure.

While I know this is part 1 of a 3 part adventure, a more detailed outline of exactly what the Heron Mask is doing would have been nice instead of even the GM having to piece it together to figure out WTF is going on. While the overall story connects together and does make sense, there isn’t a moment when reading the adventure that the reader goes “ah, of course” instead he is often left going “yeah, but, what” and leafing through the book trying to reconnect the dots he may have once thought he had connected.

Structure: The pace and structure of the adventure is pretty much a gambit of run for your life, run through the town and run a LARP and then followed by more running for your life. From the start the PCs are shoehorned into the adventure (the classic, you wake up, in prison, naked and so forth syndrome) and have no choice but to run through the first part of the adventure or die (part one being the Red Cages).

The second part becomes “we have to follow this path or we die” as well, as the whole planet is doomed to die at the 13th Hour syndrome kicks in. Again the PCs are given a simple choice, investigate or lay down and die. This investigation will hopefully lead to part 3 where essentially the GM has to juggle 37 NPCs, decide who the villain is, who the hero is, who the Haarlock is and the PCs essentially resort to sitting on the sidelines hoping that bad guy A beats bad guy B and then they can beat bad guy A and be Good Guys C! Course, with some creative GMing, some good players and a few good breaks the entire scenario can be different, but in essence, you want to beat the Widower? Then you best help Heron Mask!

So Structure gets a big fat F. Not that it is a bad adventure, it is just not well outlined or played out and will take a GM some work to piece together and sensible style, feel and effect for running the game. Something a pre-written adventure should already have in spades.

The 40K Effect: Yes, it is very 40K.

Overall, I rate the book as excellent. Get it. It is the first adventure for Dark Heresy that I was actually able to finish reading before succumbing to utter boredom. While not perfect, it has a lot of potential for a little extra work for the GM.

Thanks a bunch for the review!

OK, thanks for the review, but I gotta ask: moderately useful, pretty but badly edited, incomplete story and bad structure = excellent, buy it?

LuciusT said:

Im a pretty harsh reviewer and realize most people like things I dont (hence why Vin Diesel still has a career). The sections on Quaddis and the few new critters/antagonists added to the elite package are well worth the time and price, despite the typos.

And chances are the story is incomplete as it is part one of a 3 part Haarlock trilogy (though with the House of Dust and Ash, its more part 2 of a 4 parter).

And I cant get Lady Gaga's Poker Face out of my head, so obviously Im being punished for not "getting" the story here.

Peacekeeper_b said:

Great point. What's up with that (Vin Diesel) ???

Peacekeeper_b said:

Think I've technically run every book adventure for DH and in the process learned quite quickly that you don't run them as written because they're frequently just way too **** hard for what is essentially ordinary PC's and kill them all horribly without a chance in hell, railroaded progression through the story line and elements to them PC's wont enjoy or simply too cheesy in areas. So I spend hours butchering the absolute crap out of the adventure making sure the NPC's are challenging and interesting, having alternate means of solving the problems in them so they make use of their other non-combat skills if they want... and given how nasty combat can be because I am pretty brutal, you probably dont want it

Good review, PKB. Here are my SPOILER PACKED thoughts.

I think the book's excellent too. The new art is great (and in places truly brilliant) and I really like the Quaddis gazzetteer section. I like the time and effort the authors have put into creating a unique but plausibly 40k setting that works on all levels: visually, thematically and historically.

I like the Haarlock backstory, the way the adventure ties so neatly into the history of the entire sector and foreshadows the forthcoming Rogue Trader game. I like the villains (Beast House, Disciples of Hayte and other, nastier and unique baddies) and the way the the whole thing FEELS like a good Dan Abnett Ravenor novel.

I have a couple of minor gripes: the whole "You wake up in a pit and horrible creatures are coming to get you" feels a little forced, but I guess it's probably as good a way to leap straight into the action as any...

I also would have loved to know more about the widower. An interesting and high powered creature who is the focus of the whole adventure and a link to both the Haarlock family and, apparently, the Tyrant Star is given almost no backstory at all, and no real attempt is made to plausibly explain its motivation, other than to hint at a blend of suicidal tendencies and revenge....why is it suicidal? Why does it want revenge?

These minor gripes aside, I think this campaign is shaping up really well, with what looks like a coherent and well thought out overarching metaplot that ties into the whole DH and RT line of books. If FFG play their cards right here, this thing could end up being better than the Enemy Within campaign for WFRP, as it promises to have a tighter and sharper focus and a more robust central plot.

I actually think the adventure needs more direction, but open ended direction. Right now it seems more open ended without direction. Its like a make with a destination marked out but no route there and no names on any location.

Again, being only the beginning of a 3 story arc, it may become a better and better book based on what is to come.

Definately how the Thousand Thrones should have been done.

MKX said:

Which means (in essence) you would be better off if you would be handed 4 vague scenarion concepts then 1 written scenario for your money?

Topic:
Now I do not know what to do about "Tattered Fates". The "source material" provided sounds good. Especially since WH40K-RPG is still kinda "uncharted waters" when it comes to imperial society and living in a bigger imperial city (not a hive!).

On the other hand, I have an adventure where my pc do not seem to get a direction where they are pointed at (big problem for at least one of my groups), they get "force feeded" (BIG PROBLEM in all of my groups) and in addition, they are supposed to be "great NPC´s little helpers".

Hopefully, my store has a copy of this one soon. I really need to eye this up myself...

There are ways around the shoehorn. Since part of the first phase of Shattered Hopes involves a captured Inquisitor, I would recommend just admending a prologue to the adventure where the PCs have to go undercover to find him, and the easiest way is to either A) Track a band of Beasthouse Slavers or B) be captured by the Beasthouse Slavers in order to get delivered to the same location, with a heavy preference for B.

Peacekeeper_b said:

I think that the problem may stem from the fact that any GM running the campaign at the moment doesn't have any more of a clue where the metaplot is going than the players. I agree that as the rest of the arc comes out, GMs will be able to see the broader picture, and probably find neat ways to tweak the adventure to get the best out of it.

Gregorius21778 said:

Which means (in essence) you would be better off if you would be handed 4 vague scenarion concepts then 1 written scenario for your money?

Not really, there's always a lot of stuff in these adventures that I don't always have the luxury of time to do up myself (gotta work, gotta eat) so I keep them in mind if I need a horde of grunts, odd NPC statted up, decent pub, markets, maps, planet details and bits of plot hook that didn't fit in but I might be able to use later on in something else I think would be better suited to the moment. My own games meta-plot differs from the FFG adventures though so book adventures are in a way sort of side-track adventures.

MKX said:

Gregorius21778 said:

Which means (in essence) you would be better off if you would be handed 4 vague scenarion concepts then 1 written scenario for your money?

Not really, there's always a lot of stuff in these adventures that I don't always have the luxury of time to do up myself (gotta work, gotta eat) so I keep them in mind if I need a horde of grunts, odd NPC statted up, decent pub, markets, maps, planet details and bits of plot hook that didn't fit in but I might be able to use later on in something else I think would be better suited to the moment. My own games meta-plot differs from the FFG adventures though so book adventures are in a way sort of side-track adventures.

True, Ive used many of the NPCs and Maps and even a hand out of two from different adventures to add as filler, fluff or McGuffins in my own games. The Barking Saint has, based on how often I used it, obviously become a franchise pub.

However, places like drive thru rpg do sell lots of blueprints, maps, deck plans and other game aids. But not all have the 40K feel or the Dark Heresy theme to them.

Many Call of Cthulhu adventures can easily be adapted to Dark Heresy, and the game takes on a whole life of its own when the PCs are viewed more as Agents of THE Inquisiton instead of Acolytes of A Inquisitor.

Good review.

I don't write most of my games, I write a few and tailor the published adventures to my group. Each game I add one extra encounter (which may be in the middle of an existing encounter) tailored to one of the characters. It's a time thing. I like devising my own adventures, but if I'm doing that, I'm not getting work done on my projects (I'm writing a novel amoung other things). This week I'll spend the entire night on a ship-born side adventure as the players travel toward their next mission. Just a one shot: after the mission briefing, before they get to their destination.

One thing I'd like to play with is to have one of the players be a Haarlock. I haven't started House of Dust and Ash yet, but as I remember the adventure, it sounds deadly for the Haarlock character. Maybe whoever has the most fate points when we start out...

Anyone have any thoughts on running player Haarlocks?

P-P-P-Poker Face-P-P-Poker Face!

That aside, great review I may have to get this >.>

cyclocius said:

Dammit, just when I had it out of my mind!

Haha, my friend lent me the single of it, apparently I asked for it :'(

Nojo509 said:

I have considered having one of my players' characters find out in House of Dust and Ashes that they are related to the Haarlock line. One of the objects up for auction in the adventure is a painting with some very interesting and unique qualities.

-=Brother Praetus=-

Actually Bro. Praetus, I wondered if that is what the game is meant to hint at...there is some reference to the Widower manipulating events to bring the characters to the Haarlock mansion...I wonder if your idea is actually already there in the subtext? However, I do have a habit of reading far too much into things!

Good review - sounds like a good addition to the Dark Heresy line. I like the idea of being able to squeeze more out of it once I am done - I think all the best adventures should have the potential to morph into settings once you have run though the main plot.

Interesting review. Although I had to skip a few sections where I felt spoilers were close (because im not the one who's going to be the GM during Tattered Fates).

Personally my biggest issue with Tattered Fates is the price. It almost costs as much as Purge the Unclean does, and that book contains THREE adventures, while Tattered Fates only contain one for roughly the same price. Sure its bound in hardback and so forth but personally I think its kind of unnecessary to bind adventures in hardback and then make the customers pay for it. Sure it looks better on the bookshelf, but im paying for the role-playing experience. Not for having a fancy book.

My wish is that FFG were to use hardback covers for major sourcebooks (since these will be read a lot more than one adventure that probably will only be read during one playthrough), and keep the adventures in soft cover and that way reduce the price.

To summarize:

Major source books + hardcover = good

Small adventures + hardcover = bad idea

Oh and by the way: im still waiting for Ordo Malleus to burn that daemon called "Lady Gaga". It is so blatantly obvious that she's a spawn of the warp sent to reduce the overall quality of mankind's music until we all succumb to a state of cultural decay. Purge that daemon!

Lightbringer said:

Hmm.. so how does it continue from the introductory scenario The House of Dust and Ash?

PearlChoco said:

It's up to the GM. I think they're technically stand alone pieces that can be linked. With Tattered Fates being the first in a trilogy of adventures.

PearlChoco said:

PearlChoco said:

It's up to the GM. I think they're technically stand alone pieces that can be linked. With Tattered Fates being the first in a trilogy of adventures.