Hello everyone.

I've been researching the Web for campaign ideas and finally came with a with an array of several GM's campaigns. I am currently processing huge amounts of infomartion and it's so cool !

Now, for this spot not to be TLDR, I will do a short plotline description:

1. The party needs to enter a subsurface prison on an asteroid to extract information from an ex-Eversor Assassin, who knows a lot of infromation about their Radical Inquisitor. I am currently developing this part.

2. To enter the prison, they need to get a sentence. Since usual scum gets killed upon making crimes, the party needs to do something that will make them be sent to a top-notch isolated prison for heretics, radicals and xenophiles.

3. ...???

I am planning on making them infiltrate and do crimes with chaos cults/government overthrowers/blashphemers and I want to spend them doing that at least 2-3 sessions. After they do enough they will be brought to a scheduled court hearing and immediately sent to a desired location.

Now, what should they do? I am currently out of ideas on who they will infiltrate to and what would they do that could keep them busy for several sessions.

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Hope to hear from you, people!

Thanks in advance.

You should probably choose a different temple of assassin. Eversors aren't doing anything when it comes to telling or keeping information. If the acolytes release them the Eversor will tear through them and suicide themselves.

I'd go Callaidus myself. They are generally spymasters anyways and information gatherers.

Don't make them do anything. Tell them that they need to get into the prison and let them come up with ideas for how to do such a thing. There are other ways of making it into a prison than getting sentenced, and if they want to go that route let them come up with the crime.

If this is in Askellon. Where are they currently, where is the prison, what kind of sentence do they need to be sent there and not just outright executed.

You should probably choose a different temple of assassin. Eversors aren't doing anything when it comes to telling or keeping information. If the acolytes release them the Eversor will tear through them and suicide themselves.

I'd go Callaidus myself. They are generally spymasters anyways and information gatherers.

Sure, why not.

Don't make them do anything. Tell them that they need to get into the prison and let them come up with ideas for how to do such a thing. There are other ways of making it into a prison than getting sentenced, and if they want to go that route let them come up with the crime.

Well, I have to come with starting environment, at least... Don't you think?

If this is in Askellon. Where are they currently, where is the prison, what kind of sentence do they need to be sent there and not just outright executed.

I am a newbie GM and I haven't yet paid attention to that... There was no necessity for it. Let it be Askellon, though.

I thought of a prison that contains Xeno species, xenophiles and hereteks to be experimented on. The crimes they did would be smuggling xenos artifacts, summoning daemons using chaos literature (like Libris Maleficarum ), overthrowing governments on mineral-rich death worlds, etc.

Well It's your game, you don't have to change the assassin if you don't want to, but they are different and do different things.

I mention starting environment lower, but telling them "You are going to infiltrate X cult and do Y thing to get Z sentence" can be a bit stifling. Whereas saying, "Your job is to get sent to this prison and retrieve some information from somone being held there. You could get sent there by committing crimes yourself (probably the easiest), or you could infiltrate the prison in some other way if you have an idea of your own.

These are some things you should think about then. Read the sector setting section of the core rulebook and see if something sticks out to you. They sort of are necessary. Knowing where they are tells you what stuff they can do if they are criminally bent. Knowing where the prison is tells you about the prison (Is it an orbital prison? Is it on a Deathworld? Is it on a Shrine World?), and knowing the limit to the crime they can commit keeps them in check of a sorts.

So this seems like it would be a small prison to say the least A supermax sort of thing, but these crimes are generally just death sentences except the smuggling thing which is under the purview of the Adeptus Arbites. So to get sent there you seemingly have to be valuable to the Imperium for information. But it also means you have to get noticed by the right people when doing the crime or know how to get to the prison and inside of it.

Maybe this is some sort of Inquisitorial Black Site? (Perhaps they have the assassin there to get the information themselves but the warband's patron wants it first for some reason.)

A good way to get arrested rather than just shot is to be part of the social elite.

Is one of the agents a member of an Adeptus, such as the Ecclesiarchy or the Administratum? Does one of them have a noble background? Or do they have the capacity to forge appropriate identities?

Ordinary citizens tend to get dealt with quickly and harshly by local enforcers, using local laws, but once a member of an Adeptus is implicated, that's when the Arbites move out, as this guy/gal actually has the right to a trial.

I'd avoid getting associated with heretics, though, as this may well get the characters into deeper trouble than they bargained for. Simply using their (real or fake) authority to embezzle funds and then let themselves get caught should suffice and get them into the slammer without the risk of some Inquisitor showing up to torture them for information about hidden cults.

The problem with 'prisons' in 40k is that they exist for a more specific purpose than our ones, and it's mainly petty crime. Theft, murder, arson that sort of thing. Anything that's minor enough not to affect the state of the Imperium or the Imperial Creed. If its too big, they'll just get executed.

Prisoners are kept to be used as meat. Mostly for the Imperial Guard penal legions and for turning into servitors. There is no re-rehabilitation. Prisoners are a resource just like any other.

There are psyker prisons that planetary governments use to hold rogue psykers until the black ships come take them away, but it would be unlikely a temple assassin would be put there.

Now, if you're talking about highest level treason or someone with potentially universe changing knowledge, like this assassin, either the Inquisition knows about it and have him hidden away in some black ops site on an unnamed asteriod in some unnamed system that maybe 5 people know about. And the prisoner isn't in a cell so much as a stasis pod for eternity.

OR

The inquisition doesn't know about it yet and your warband has to try and verify the existence of this assassin in a penal prison population, find out what he knows, and report it back to the higher ups who will have him taken to this black ops site on an unnamed asteroid, yadda yadda.

Your choice of assassin is also harder to fit here. Eversor assassins are generally more of a shock and awe/terror type assassin. They have a potent mix of combat drugs in their system which puts them into a bit of a frenzy and you generally put them near an enemy warcamp and say "Kill everything there".

As mentioned earlier, Callidus is the spy/shape shifter. This would make it much harder for the warband to work out who the assassin actually is, but would make much more sense for the prison infiltration scenario you are planning. You could even do the whole, assassin kills the boss of the biggest mob in the prison and assumes his identity.

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That aside, another option for the party is to approach a number of prisoners scheduled to be delivered to whatever prison you decide to go with, and 'take their place'. If they do it right, they might get the favour of a local crime syndicate, and they can be sure they're actually going to get where they plan to go, rather than commit a random crime and hope they get sent where they want to go.

Thanks everyone for the advice!

As ThenDoctor suggested, I could do nothing and let them roll. And I am kind of stuck at this step. I could give the party a line: "You need to infiltrate the X prison as prisoners to extract the Y information from Z prisoner by any means necessary" and that's it, but it seems kinda ehhh.

Like, should I do actual mission development? With actual social interaction, twists, encounters, etc.? I'd really love to give them the kind-of-GM power and let them do decisions, roll dices and see their success and failure while tracking the Subtletly level in narrative, but I don't have structure for it.

If it's not narrative, I have no idea at the moment on how to go on with actual mission on infiltration crime organizations or something else...

I need help here.

What do you mean by actual mission development and actual social interaction/twists/encounters?

Because what you're describing is the game.

Again just ask the players how they want to go about it, and roll off that. New GMs tend to over worry about that sort of thing. Just explain that you're new, take it easy on you, and give you a break as you all figure it out.

A good example of a prison complex you're looking for is Sheol 17 from The Lathe Worlds in Dark Heresy First Edition. Yes it's in the Calaxis Sector, but you can transplant it and change some names without anyone knowing.

A list of crimes and punishments is found early on in the Book of Judgement from Dark Heresy First Edition. Look for a crime that falls under the discretion of the Holy Ordos, and that way their own Inquisitor can sentence them to the prison complex. IF all else fails. Or they're looking for ideas of what crimes to commit.

What do you mean by actual mission development and actual social interaction/twists/encounters? Because what you're describing is the game.

I mean when I develop a mission, I develop plot, city maps, encounter maps, hidden secrets, references for future missions, etc., etc. Everything, that makes a session - a session.

So I got a little confused when you said: " Don't make them do anything. Tell them that they need to get into the prison and let them come up with ideas... "

I thought that you meant not to develop anything but instead let them come up with what they will do. Like, they decide whom they encounter, whom they buy, kill, what they do and la-la-la.

Heck, I am still confused.

You create a world, a setting as it were, and you populate with whatever you feel is appropriate and/or interesting to the story you want to tell. These elements should have everything you mentioned: personality, backstory, motivations, weaknesses, strengths, etc. This is not just for people, but places, objects, defenses, vehicles, weapons, etc.

Once this framework is created, your job as GM becomes to loose your players into it and play the game, be that what it may. Maybe the players want to infiltrate as guards, maybe they want to sneak into the prison, hell maybe they want to do a lightning raid in a Gun-Cutter with guns blazing, who knows? Don't stifle the creativity of your party, let them create the situation for you by reacting to the world you have created for them. And then... you get to have your fun by having the world react to them... and all the juiciness that entails.

Vichn, do you have experience as a GM in other systems? How much experience as a player do you have? What about in the theatre, performing arts, or literary areas?

It'd be good to know what we have to work with here - especially your experience with RPGs in general.

From what's been said so far, it soundss like you're being a bit overwhelmed? Maybe you might want to look into running a pre-written adventure, which are a great example of how much you might need to prep before play, but especially how little you actually need to.

As always is, the worst thing to do as a GM is work day and night, only to find out that you're not using most of the material you have on hand.

What do you mean by actual mission development and actual social interaction/twists/encounters? Because what you're describing is the game.

I mean when I develop a mission, I develop plot, city maps, encounter maps, hidden secrets, references for future missions, etc., etc. Everything, that makes a session - a session.

So I got a little confused when you said: " Don't make them do anything. Tell them that they need to get into the prison and let them come up with ideas... "

I thought that you meant not to develop anything but instead let them come up with what they will do. Like, they decide whom they encounter, whom they buy, kill, what they do and la-la-la.

Heck, I am still confused.

No, not really. We have different ideas on prep. I think you're demanding too much of yourself and not letting the book work for you.

You've no need to make a planet, Askellon has quite a few you could use. No need to craft encounters when the world defines what there is on the planet and you can gauge the number of them with the encounter system.

All the other stuff is just things I tend to come up with on the fly.

Tell the players, "You need to infiltrate this prison. How do you want to do that?" Let them give you an idea of what they will do. Go from there in terms of GMing.

It's ok, you're fine being confused. Don't let it overwhelm you, and let the game system work for you.

Some things you should know before the game:

The prison - Where is it, a measure of it's forces, the general layout, some notable npcs, where the assassin is, how they are being guarded, what will the assassin do if they are released.

The acolytes - Where are they starting? Are they on the planet the prison is on? Or are they to be sent there on a ship once they are caught? Whatever planet they are on have an idea (very rough little seeds of an idea) of what trouble they could cause if they bite and say "We want to do some crime and get sent to the prison."

That's about it, note the page numbers of the enemy stats you think you might need and don't worry too much.

Vichn, do you have experience as a GM in other systems? How much experience as a player do you have? What about in the theatre, performing arts, or literary areas?

1. No, I've been GMing Dark Heresy 2e only.

2. I'd say about 30 hours DH2e and 20 hours D&D 5e. Regarding PC RPGs - THOUSANDS OF THEM.

3. None, unfortunately.

Some things you should know before the game:

The prison - Where is it, a measure of it's forces, the general layout, some notable npcs, where the assassin is, how they are being guarded, what will the assassin do if they are released.

The acolytes - Where are they starting? Are they on the planet the prison is on? Or are they to be sent there on a ship once they are caught? Whatever planet they are on have an idea (very rough little seeds of an idea) of what trouble they could cause if they bite and say "We want to do some crime and get sent to the prison."

That's about it, note the page numbers of the enemy stats you think you might need and don't worry too much.

I am developing a prison, I only had trouble with the first part on getting sentenced.

Thanks for the tips. I am going to brainstorm some more time and post here if any more questions arise.

Vichn, do you have experience as a GM in other systems? How much experience as a player do you have? What about in the theatre, performing arts, or literary areas?

1. No, I've been GMing Dark Heresy 2e only.

Oh aye? I'd love to hear what you've done so far! How did you manage previously?

Oh aye? I'd love to hear what you've done so far! How did you manage previously?

Well, previously I did not plan anythying layered like this. I also read a lot of mystery/horror/sci-fi books through the life so I don't have troubles with plot design.

We are currently finishing our second mission. I could do a fast plot description if you're interested.

I ask the party for the feedback after each mission to see what they liked and didn't. So far they seem to like my plots.

I didnt read the responses so bear with...

QUOTE:

Now, for this spot not to be TLDR, I will do a short plotline description:

1. The party needs to enter a subsurface prison on an asteroid to extract information from an ex-Eversor Assassin, who knows a lot of information about their Radical Inquisitor. I am currently developing this part.

I'd just make it some assassin and not the very best type in the galaxy > with worlds of Trillions x Trillions over im sure there are alot of assassins out there who have none of the fancy training / branding of the 3 best types but are in their own right very effective - statistically speaking...

2. To enter the prison, they need to get a sentence. Since usual scum gets killed upon making crimes, the party needs to do something that will make them be sent to a top-notch isolated prison for heretics, radicals and xenophiles.

Make their "paperwork / files" say they are political prisoners being held for a swap or other politically charged reason (now they can't be killed outright)

3. ...???

I am planning on making them infiltrate and do crimes with chaos cults/government overthrowers/blashphemers and I want to spend them doing that at least 2-3 sessions. After they do enough they will be brought to a scheduled court hearing and immediately sent to a desired location.

Whatever they do > at the end of the day > they have to be seen as important enough to be kept alive - politics usually covers this avenue

I'd go for "white-collar" crimes with a side dose of violence but maybe not killings done by the PC's hand > let those chaos aholes do "that bit" of the dirty work

Now, what should they do? I am currently out of ideas on who they will infiltrate to and what would they do that could keep them busy for several sessions.

- Swindling Resources

- Putting People into Offices so other can Benefit

- Changing Historic Records to better Benefit somebody today
- Changing the formula of a food-stock (aka gruel recipe) so its more profitable but at the cost of Troop Nutrition
- Causing "stocks" to flucuate (there are trade unions, guilds, and cartels out there)

- Etc and what not

All of these prosaic approaches are heavy enough to get the PCs put in maximum but not foul enough for instant liquidation

At the end of the day the Authorities need to know "who's responsible" because it sure aint the PCs > LOL

Stay GAMING

Morbid

Thanks everyone for the tips!

Unfortunately, I have too little time to develop proper crime scenery. I will develop it in a separate mission some time later.

Regarding the prison: I decided to drop the party near the port where they have to get themselves on board as prisoners without any gear, weapons or armor.

without any gear, weapons or armor.

Are you outright denying them their gear? Or giving them the chance to smuggle it?

Are you outright denying them their gear? Or giving them the chance to smuggle it?

I will allow them to take several small objects that can be easily concealed. They will have to come up with how they conceal it, though.

And they will have opportunities to obtain something at the prison... if they manage to hide it.

Are you outright denying them their gear? Or giving them the chance to smuggle it?

I will allow them to take several small objects that can be easily concealed. They will have to come up with how they conceal it, though.

And they will have opportunities to obtain something at the prison... if they manage to hide it.

And how are you defining small? Are you telling them beforehand you're bottlenecking gear? What about mechanicus implants?

Basically tell your players you're doing this beforehand to give them a heads up.

And how are you defining small? Are you telling them beforehand you're bottlenecking gear? What about mechanicus implants?

Basically tell your players you're doing this beforehand to give them a heads up.

I thought I will allow implants. However is it possible to remove a mechadendrite? I don't know Mechanicus in detail. Is this things built in the body or it can be dismantled?

Of course they will be told that before deploy! I am not a party-spoiler GM.

I thought I will allow implants. However is it possible to remove a mechadendrite? I don't know Mechanicus in detail. Is this things built in the body or it can be dismantled?

Of course they will be told that before deploy! I am not a party-spoiler GM.

It's possible to turn them off, Tattered Fates has a convention about it. Mechandrites are basically attached to the nervous system.

I don't know what kind of GM you are, so I was just pointing it out.

I thought I will allow implants. However is it possible to remove a mechadendrite? I don't know Mechanicus in detail. Is this things built in the body or it can be dismantled?

Of course they will be told that before deploy! I am not a party-spoiler GM.

DH1e Lathe Worlds has information on removing and reattaching mechandrites listed under the Lathe Factor career.

Hello everyone.

I've been researching the Web for campaign ideas and finally came with a with an array of several GM's campaigns. I am currently processing huge amounts of infomartion and it's so cool !

Now, for this spot not to be TLDR, I will do a short plotline description:

1. The party needs to enter a subsurface prison on an asteroid to extract information from an ex-Eversor Assassin, who knows a lot of infromation about their Radical Inquisitor. I am currently developing this part.

Well if this a Inquisition Black Site, I can see it having the Eversor Assassin in his Stasis Tube as an Emergency Fail Safe should the prison be overrun or control is lost. You know in case of emergency break glass.

A regular prison, well yes the Eversor Assassin in his Stasis Tube is there, but well the issue is, do to paperwork mistake/coverup no one knows that what they have in the Storage Level below the prison.

Either way the info they are looking for is his "Stasis Tube" computer that holds all the missions he has been on. Of course the party needs to access that without, waking up Sleep Beauty. If they do, well RUN RUN RUN and use the rest of the site to delay him, while you make for the only shuttle hanger and boost for orbit.

2. To enter the prison, they need to get a sentence. Since usual scum gets killed upon making crimes, the party needs to do something that will make them be sent to a top-notch isolated prison for heretics, radicals and xenophiles.

Well there is more ways to gain access: they could be new staff transferring in or an inspection team there to check out the site.