yes, that is the goal, the main villain is supposed to die, so I guess I just have to drop hints and let things escalate

If your players have missed a lot of the clues and you want to give them a chance (a situation I'm all too familiar with) have a rather foul-smelling informant claim to be a member of the Inquisition or related to some contact that they have and provide a lead for them to follow.

After all, the God of Stagnation wouldn't want the God of Change to succeed.

Thanks Erathia, gonna remember that hint, they will probably need it

Thanks Erathia, gonna remember that hint, they will probably need it

Bear in mind, though, that if they need the hint, the plot is going to be further advanced in its progress when they get it.

And, of course, if they don't take the hint ... bad things will happen.

Before, or as the plot enters its end game, it may trip a few additional tripwires/warning system, giving them one last chance to hastily attempt to derail it, but it will be much more difficult to stop everything.

It's Tzeentch, there's no one end result, it'll have multiple effects, and if they don't start early enough, they're probably not going to manage to stop all of them before they happen, so they'll have to be playing catch-up with mitigating the effects while trying to stop later effects.

Particularly unwise players may, upon managing to stop the first effect/event that they discover, decide their job is done. They would be wrong. Punish them for their failings, and insufficient paranoia.

I love the last sentence

Update number 2.

The most extraordinary thing happened, they gave the higher officers a trial. The master of ordnance had stashed illegal substances on higher officers where several of them had security posts at the broadcasting station. 10 of the officers were executed on the spot, but the remaining 18 received a trial.

All claimed they were innocent of course(but they still had to be executed since they had failed to stay out of suspicion and failed to maintain control over their own quarters). but one were discovered to have 4 pages describing the 4 ruinous powers. Of course this was planted in order for the Master of ordenance to convince the explorers about the future ritual, performed by the slanesh cultists, which they personally need to stop, while he has time to go for the broadcasting station.

The next step is to manipulate the Dark Heresy characters (who are special guards) to help him take over the broadcasting station. This will be done by convincing them that the rogue trader has been captured and that the current one is an imposter.

All hail Tzeentch

Lots of mustache twirling, beard-stroking and just as planned. Plots within plots... within plots. It get so deep that, when the players get to the bottom, they are screwed, but don't even know it.

"Get to the bottom"? What is this "bottom" you refer to?

There are always more layers, so much so that even if you think you got the mastermind, they were being played by someone else, even if they didn't know it. Always.

100%. I am also using Tzeentch and think of it to myself as an infinitly deep pool and telling you to swim to the bottom

If you're still planning on having a Nurgle informant pop up at some point, why not take it the whole way and have a small nurgle cult on board the ship that is actively trying to stop both of the other cults. When everything starts going to hell, the Nurgle cult can then step forwards and offer their assistance to the Rogue Trader (I see the Nurgle cult being likable, friendly and devoted to preserving the status quo with the kind of loyalty that any captain would desire from all their crew... just smelly and praising Grandfather Nurgle instead of the Emperor). Make it big enough to actually be able to help quell some of the unrest and bring the ship back into some level of order. If the Rogue Trader accepts, then they will suddenly find themselves at odds with the Witch Hunter and those crew members that are still loyal to the Emperor; If he declines/attacks the Nurgle cult then the Nurgle cult will become a new faction in the cluster **** of a mess that is going to be the lower decks, attacking everyone with equal valor. Maybe even have them go after either the medical or food supplies to taint the ships stock... or seize the life support system so they can start pumping stuff into the air that would make Grandfather Nurgle proud.

It gives the players the option of having an easier time of taking back their ship, but having to take a big old step into Chaos corruption to do it (In this case, most likely having to kill the Witch Hunter).

EDIT: If you wanted to tempt them further to join chaos, have the Nurgle Cultists be good enough crew members that siding with them would improve the standard skill of the crew once the whole matter is settled; Likewise, fighting/killing them would further lower the standards of the crew (In addition to all the other losses that this conflict is going to bring about).

That is a great idea! unfortunately I already had them meeting a Nurgle informant :/

That is a great idea! unfortunately I already had them meeting a Nurgle informant :/

Great! Means there is evidence to support there being a cult for Nurgle on board.

If / when your at a loss for those powers that be....

I'd look in Cthulhu Mythos since alot of this stuff is either derived from it or is very similar...

See Nyarlathotep and Yog-Sothoth for potential Tzeen goodness

Stay Gaming!

Morbid