So, I may or may not have a DH1E campaign on my hands. This is where I'll ask any questions I have if/when it gets going.

I have plenty of experience reading RPG books, and a pretty solid knowledge of the 40k universe. Unfortunately, my actual PnP RPG experience is limited.

I have played six or seven sessions in a D&D 5E in person campaign with an excellent GM. I have run single sessions of older editions of D&D, but only with one player, since I never had a larger group. I have built dungeons for D&D, and rolled copious characters for a (smallish) variety of systems.

My players, well, I may have about three at the moment, and none of them have any prior experience in PnP RPGs or the grimdark, but all of them are interested in both things (well, actually I haven't met one of them yet, so I'm not sure if they will be into the grimdark, but the other two are interested).

So, I will be asking for help as I go, and putting my ideas here for you to see. I'm not sure just how much time I'll be able to devote to this going forward . . .

I'm excited!

Please offer any advice you want to give! The Emperor wills it!

There is only one method of becoming good GM: you try, then try again and again. Sometimes you fail - it's inevitable - but if you learn from this, then all is ok.

When writing an investigation-based mission, never have the discovery of a major clue hinge on a single Skill check. It may sound good in your head to say "If the PCs succeed in a -10 Search roll, they find the vital clue that allows the mission to advance to the next stage"; in reality, what you are doing is saying that there will be something like an 80% chance (given the very high likelihood of failure in this system) of the mission grinding to a screeching halt at this point. If a die roll logically should be required to find a particular clue, try to mitigate the odds of failure by structuring the situation so that the whole party checks, rather than just one character, and don't hesitate to grant bonuses beyond those narrowly defined in the rulebook (for example, allowing the use of an Auspex to grant +20 to a Search test). Even so, the dice can go against you, so whenever possible try to build in multiple avenues to discovering any given clue.

Surprise your players at every step. Don't turn your game into a bolter porn session. Also be careful with certain classess in DH 1Ed. Some of them can be outright broken and destructive towards your game. I know this from experience and, sadly, it put me away from Dark Heresy for many years. Read Eisenhorn and Ravenor, they are perfect source of lore and atmosphere for your games.

The Emperor protects fellow GM.

-Also be careful with certain classess in DH 1Ed. Some of them can be outright broken and destructive towards your game. I know this from experience and, sadly, it put me away from Dark Heresy for many years.

Yeah, everything from Book of Judgement on needs to be approached with extreme caution- a lot of it is potentially game-breaking. The Crimson Guard Career from The Lathe Worlds , for instance, is not even remotely scaled to the original Careers.

I only have the core book and the UG, so I'll be sticking to those mostly. Maybe some equipment from Blood of Martyrs for Sister of Battle NPCs (of course there will be Sisters, but not as PCs!).

I only have the core book and the UG, so I'll be sticking to those mostly. Maybe some equipment from Blood of Martyrs for Sister of Battle NPCs (of course there will be Sisters, but not as PCs!).

You should track down a copy of Disciples of the Dark Gods . It's a fun read, and will spark tons of ideas for cool missions.

I only have the core book and the UG, so I'll be sticking to those mostly. Maybe some equipment from Blood of Martyrs for Sister of Battle NPCs (of course there will be Sisters, but not as PCs!).

You should track down a copy of Disciples of the Dark Gods . It's a fun read, and will spark tons of ideas for cool missions.

I'm sure I can find a "copy".

Thanks for the recommendation.

The mini-campaign book "Purge the Unclean" has a couple of cool adventures and can be used as a source of inspiration for your games. Try it out.

The mini-campaign book "Purge the Unclean" has a couple of cool adventures and can be used as a source of inspiration for your games. Try it out.

On the plus side of this the game within the Core Book has ties into Purge the Unclean as well.

The mini-campaign book "Purge the Unclean" has a couple of cool adventures and can be used as a source of inspiration for your games. Try it out.

On the plus side of this the game within the Core Book has ties into Purge the Unclean as well.

And it is quite a good one as well. "Shattered Hope" was very nicely written for an introductionary adventure.