Am I the only one who doesn't see Garret as a Scum or Assassin? The Hammerites are obviously the Tech-Priests of Mars and the Tricksey Lord is a cult of Tzneetch. The Keepers could be a massive cell of Acolytes (they're a little trickier). I can see the City being on some feudal world.

Perhaps if I knew what you were talking about I could reply!

Maybe he is talking about Garret, the main protagonist in Thief games.

What are Thief games?

Luddite said:

Wot 'e sed!

Peacekeeper_b said:

The Thief series. Started with Thief - The Dark Project back in... well I cant remember when it came out. There is this new invention on the interweb called wikipedia. You should try it!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thief_(series )

Thief is a great, great series. The definitive sneak-em-up which oozes atmosphere and has a solid setting and plot. I'd recommend starting with Thief 2 if you decide to go investigating; the level design in the original is a bit labarynthine and the control system slightly odd. That said, you need to play the original to experience the Return To The Haunted Cathedral level.

As for shoehorning Garrett into an entirely foreign setting, I'd go with assassin. He's an extrordinary sneak and not bad at fighting, though he generally avoid the latter. He is most definitely not a people person, which rules out Scum.

I looked up Thief in Wikpedia and it gave me a defination on the word thief:

So I belive in order to increase the quality of replies and the forusm in general people should refer and explain a bit more so that people can see what they are talking about and does who does not know what they talking about can look i up if they wish.

So if you refer to a book you write: in the novel [novels name] by [authers name]

In the case of a game you write: In the game [name of the game and number] by [company name] This iinformation might be obvious to you but there is actaulyl very few books/games/main characters name you cna fling out and be sure that everybody and their body knows. Even on a nerd forum like this. Also keep in mind there are always people new to the universe.

(Original comment deleted by me for getting caught in a rare moment of snarkiness. I will say that I think the quality of these forums is fairly high and it seems unnecessary to be asking for an improvement in people's posting habits.)

On topic, Thief was a lot of fun, at the time one of those rare 1st peron games where the point stay as far out of the line of fire as possible. It's definitely got some interesting ideas for both 40k and Fantasy plots. I could see it as a good starting point for some games or sessions with a single player and a GM. And I'd agree that the main character would make a good assassin.

OK, the Thief series are the as-yet-untouched awesome grandaddy of stealth games. My bad for those who haven't had the chance to experience this level of awesomeness. I feel for you. It's steampunk medieval coolness that has to be experienced to be believed. For those who have played all of them, how about The Cradle (a burned-out insane asylum-turned-orphanage)? I had to play it during the day. Freakin' SCARY! I can totally see that as a Chaos-tainted building.

The Cradle is the single scariest thing I've encountered in all my years of gaming. It more than makes up for the flaws that Deadly Shadows had.

Snidesworth said:

Did you play at night? I couldn't sleep after I played!

Oh, see if I knew it was a video game thread I would have passed it up.

It's worth a peek regardless of if you're a v-gamer or not.

Snidesworth said:

I had to stop playing when I reached the knocking door - it was that creepy. Took me an hour or so to start playing again.

I LOVE the Thief series.

TalkingMuffin said:

Is that in Thief I or Thief II? I got as far as the betrayal in the first game (the part in the story after you first meet that noble who turned part of his mansion into a sort of funhouse) but not that far into the second. Awesome game either way.

Getting back to the original question, I would have to agree that Garret belongs in the Assassin class. Scum eventually takes you down a split where you're a ganglord or a con man; two things the sneaky, kill 'em quietly Garret is not. In particular, I would consider the Freeblade path and possibly the Moritat origin package (for Garret's traditional weapons) or the Sons of Dispater if you want him to have a more modern arsenal.

The creepy building's in the 3rd Thief game, "Deadly Shadows", which despite it's mixed reception, was awesome! It's called "The Cradle"; a once-insane-asylum-turned-orphanage (or was it the other way 'round? I forget). You have to sneak around what's basically the newer House on Haunted Hill and it is freaky! Pouring the still-warm, decades-old blood of a child down a drain so that her ghost can leave? Yeah, that's just one of the "WTF?!" moments. The groaning, twitching inmate-ghosts (who look a lot like The Jackal, from "13 Ghosts") are terrifying. Having them grunt and sniff when they almost spot you (think the Nurses from the "Silent Hill" film) makes your heart race! The Hag's also about as ******-up as you can get, with eating kids and all (but she's not in the Cradle...thank goodness!).

Here's one link with a few snippets about it. I'd LOVE if they had it on XBL as an Xbox Original! I got SC: Chaos Theory and adore it! ("If you're gonna' kill me, us your blowpipe!")

http://forum.ebaumsworld.com/showthread.php?t=221647

Anyway, The City could be some crazy quasi-feudal metropolis that your Acolytes come across. Hell, I had it in Exalted as a Shogunate city that was trapped in the Wyld and the Hammerites were a religious order that found ancient texts pertaining to Autochthon and used his knowledge to fight the pagans of the Wyld and their fae master, the Tricksey Lord. As far as Dark Heresy goes, you could make the pagans follow an aspect of Tzneetch (sp?) and the Hammerites are lost disciples of the Omnissiah. Kooky.

TalkingMuffin said:

Ah, never played Deadly Shadows. Since Ion Storm was almost on the way out at that point, pretty much everyone I knew panned it. But yeah, the hammerites and the mechanists could be lost members of the Tech Priests who argue about the difference between mass production and merticulously hand-crafted artifacts, the Keepers would be a somewhat Radical group of Adepts and Assassins (studying evil so you can kill it better is something I thought the Inquistion didn't do,) and cults of Tzneetch and Slaneesh would have a fairly strong foothold in the city's darker quarters.

i haven't played thief, but i'll highjack this thread with a quick reference to another simillar thief character.

Grimjack - 80's sf action comic character. IMO, he would blend very nicely in wh40k setting. ( en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GrimJack ). iwould recommend it for GM's as an inspirational source. you can even read it for free on: www.comicmix.com/comic/comicmix/grimjack-the-manx-cat/1/

Along side "Rule of Rose", the "Thief" series was one of the most intense stories I've ever seen played out through cutscenes in a game. Even if you haven't played the game you should look up the series on YouTube. (here is a good place to start: Bwahaha! )

The Cradle is by far the most frightening level I've ever played in a computer game, even surpassing "Fatal Frame", which had some very spooky moments; s a rule I do not get scared by fiction, but in this instance I was lead to do so.

I don't think one would need to create a setting specifically for Garret in order to get him into DH. I think he'd slip into the universe quite easily - the names of the organizations would be changed, but given 40k's atmosphere, tech, xenophobia, etc. I don't see any real stumbling blocks.

I do wonder if he might not have some small psyker ability - or some other touch of the warp to cover the use of glyphs and how he (as any Keeper can) make himself virtually invisible even when in plain sight. (as the quote goes: "It's not an easy thing seeing a Keeper, especially when he doesn't want to be seen.")

The Keeper organization itself is one of the many secret groups which populate the 40k universe. They are unaffiliated in the struggles of the Empire, instead using their knowledge and skill to learn the secrets of others and preserve the true histories for future generations. They could be limited to one planet or star system, but it would be just as viable to make them a major - though silent - presence throughout the Empirium. The Ordo Hereticus has damned them as witches, of course, but those of the Inquisition who know of them aren't always certain what to make of the group ... they must be collecting all this knowledge for some kind of endgame, but what?

They might well even have agents in the Inquisition - or at least as their aids - serving as spies to not only locate secrets, but keep an eye on the doings of the organization from within.

Like any massive organization dealing in secrets, some of their members or even whole cells sometimes fall victim to the seductive nature of the warp - such as happened to the Hag. (don't want to spoil anything for those who might yet play it) Usually they prefer to take care of internal problems themselves, but sometimes the Inquisition is forced to get involved.

As for Garret's tech level ... he does have a few interesting gadgets throughout the games - his eye (though I'd actually make the zoom effect useful), the remote viewing balls, etc. I would keep his gadgetry fairly infrequent, as the thief's best weapon was always his own skill and wits.

Steampunk-ish technology mixed in with a feudal environment? Machine and crafting orientated religion a major power? Sounds like Garrett, if he was plonked down in the 40k setting, would be on Heterodyne, Mechanicus ruled feudal-tech experiment that it is.

The Keeper assassins weren't exactly cuddly, either! They could be psychically-enhanced combat-servitors, which given their ability to disappear, makes sense. Man, this whole thread's got a bunch of ideas swimming around my head now!

The assassins were a scary bunch - combat servitors with stealth capabilities. Thankfully it would seem they only send the assassins after their own fallen breathren - though I suppose another threat could possibly give them reason to use them outside the organization. It would have to be something pretty serious, though, since I would expect their usual response to threats would simply be for the whole cell to disappear and reestablish somewhere else in the area.

Note, I had almost forgot, recall too that Keeper glyphs can hide even entire buildings or - possibly - a ship. As the glyph abilities were only vaguely discussed in the games one could justify doing all sorts of things with them.

A secret cult that monitors signs and portents to keep the forces of Chaos at bay? Yeah, count me in for them being in 40k! The Keepers might be something the Radicals embrace, even protect, due to the prophecies the Keepers watch.

Especially considering that there are few good prophets in the Emperium; Radicals willing to listen and believe might get some very good use out of the cult. (though, nothing is free - especially knowledge)