I've been planning out this adventure, here is the premise:

The acolytes stumble upon a mob war between two cold trade factions: the Amaranthine Syndicate(sl. infiltrators for low level players, dominators if high level players) vs. an upstart group, lets call them the Disposition Guild. The Disposition Guild's secret is it's led by a rogue eldar(ranger if low level, pathfinder if high level) named Pride. set either a predetermined round-limit or hitpoint-limit before Pride makes a run for it. Don't tell the player's that part, it's their own fault if pride escapes for future adventures.

I got the idea from reading Creatures Anathema. I figure that seeming as how he would still have a spirit stone, he'd just be a particularly perverted eldar instead of a dark eldar. The adventure would take place on a hiveworld. It would have five acts: introduction, investigation, the plot thickens, climactic attack(a three-way siege between the Slaugth, the Disp. Guild, and the Acolytes), and conclusion(in the form of a sniper battle). For the sniper battle, I plan on drawing up a map composed of several small, multi-story buildings.

If the acolytes manage to kill Pride, after a few unrelated missions, have their victory come back to bite them in the *ss in the form of Pride's vengeful bigger brother or sister(can't decide which) named Despair(whom I plan on using a modified version of Ulthyr's stats). Despair is at the center of several heretek cults, and as an added bonus, give her connections to a radical inquisitor(if your group"s PC's are in the service of a radical inquisitor, he's the one for added GM cruelty points). As your acolytes begin the hunt for Despair, they run into rangers sent by Ulthyr(he does not approve of the Disp Siblings' tech shenanigans). So, the players must now get to Despair before the rangers, all the while evading kill-teams sent by her Inquisitorial contacts/clients, and either capture or kill her. And what the heck, let's throw in Dark Eldar looking to get in on the fun and Slaughth looking to finish off their rivals. If your acolytes had the good sense to pick up Pride's spirit stone, and bring it with them, they can get Despair to come along peacefully if presented with the spirit stone. Unless of course their inquisitor is a puritan, for obvious reasons, unless your acolytes make a deal with a radical inquisitor or one of their puritan inquisitors, radical subordinate.

What I need to figure out:

1) I need a starting event

2) I need stats for a Pathfinder. (should I just make it a ranger with double the WS and BS, or what?)

If anyone has any ideas, please join in.

1. As a starting event i would have the PCs bust down a little armsdealer while they Inquire to get new ammo/toys. Strangely he has two Eldar Shuriken Catapults in his stock although he seems too small to have so good contacts. He tells them about the newcomers, the Disposition Guild. While they talk to him some 'businessmen' enter the shop. They want to have a little talk with the armsdealer, and they don't take 'No' for an answer. Unless the PCs show them an Inquisitorial Rosetta they won't back off and start a fight. After the gunsmoke has cleared they will learn about the other group, the Amaranthine Syndicate, and that little rivalty between them. How can your PCs resist that temptation? While the two Groups fight it out they have good chances to sneak in and take a little look around to find any leads/connections to illegal Xenos artifacts trading and other heresies.

2. I boosted the Eldar Ranger Profile a little bit, since as a Guild leader he must be good at 'talking' to people.

WS BS S T Ag Int Per WP Fel

45 60 31 37 5²5 43 54 41 43

Add Barter +10,Blather +10, Carouse, Evaluate +10, Inquiry +10 and Scrutiny +10 to his Skill List.

1. Sniper battles suck. I will flat out tell you this from experience. Sniper matches are slow, and take for f*cking ever unless someone rolls really well. Unless there's something else going on (which usually there isn't), the rest of the party sits there and watchs as the two snipers plink at each other for 20 or 30 minutes.

2. Edited because apparently at 1am "hiveworld" and "craftworld" look identical. Duh.

Sun Stealer said:

I wouldn't simply double the WS and BS...

More appropriate additions to the Ranger would probably be +10 to BS, Ag, Per and WP, and the following talents: Lightning Reflexes (double Agility Bonus on initiative rolls), Mighty Shot (+2 ranged weapon damage) and Sharpshooter (no penalty on called shots). If you want to be really nasty, take into account the fact that the Eldar are a psychic race and as such it's not exactly unreasonable to add Psyniscience, Invocation and Psy Rating 1 with the Chameleon and Unnatural Aim minor powers - especially when you consider that Unnatural Aim can stack with aiming actions if you've got enough time (you can rack up a +60 to hit with three half actions then, for a total chance to hit of 125%). I'd make the Ranger Long Rifle best quality as well, so it can't jam.

N0-1_H3r3 said:

Duly noted. And suitably taken for my game. Thankyou and my PC's will no doubt despise you for the rest of their short lives.

Zarkhovian_Rhythm said:

Meh. What's the loathing of a few more PCs to any self-respecting GM? I do what I do for the misery of player characters everywhere

TheFlatline said:

Then you're doing it wrong. Perhaps I should have said a roaming sniper battle. Never fire twice from the same place. They also work in pairs. As for your other acolytes, they should be working trying to find the enemy sniper, flush him out, and flank him. Also throw in traps, skirmishers from all sides wandering around, civilians, etc. A sniper battle is not just a game of "shoot the target", it is a battle of wits and discipline. Pride though wily and cunning, should not be omniscient, both Pride and your sniper-acolyte must find eachother first. Also you should have the battle start with the acolytes having to roll to dodge an initial sniper shot. Remember, Pride isn't fighting to the death, if hiis wound-count is getting low or if the battle is going on too long, he should try to get out of there, not a panicked retreat, but a measured withdrawal.

N0-1_H3r3 said:

Exactly! Hence my sig.