Dear fellow GMs,

has anyone of you thought about including one or some of the villains and/or radical Inquisitors presented in DotDG and RH respectively for the auction in the House of Dust and Ash? In my opinion there are too few people around at the auction and (some of) these ‘villains’ would fit rather well. I simply want to have so many dubious people around there, that my PCs become frightened enough so that they cannot decide how to deal with whom and in which way. So far I plan to include Coriolanus Vestra and Tobias Belasco and maybe Inquisitor Arcturos as well as maybe an undercover Acolyte group of a radical Inquisitor (some Xanthite or even Phaenotian (sp?)). What do you think? Or has anyone already ideas and/or experiences in this regard?

I appreciate any input.

Hi,

For our run-through of House of Dust and Ash I added in a few characters, some that had already been met and some that were there as plot seeds for later events. In the end other than for plot seeds I didn't use them.

To be honest if you underplay the situation well enough you can quite easly get the party jumping at shadows, a high point from our run-through being when are Arbite spent a good 5min threatening a servant because he was convinced that the guy was some form of assassin simply because id mentioned that the servant 'slipped on some wet floor, but managed to keep his feet without missing a step'. The key seems to be to keep description to a minimum for the main characters, that way you can 'loose' them in a crowd of very vague npc's so that the pc's have no idea who to be cautious of.

Another fun one i find is to put restrictions on what the pc's can carry weapons wise. For House of Dust and Ash I limited my team to dress weapons only, and nothing in the auction chamber. This made for quite a tense dash to there quarters to arm up when the finally kicked off

Hope that helps

Surak

Luthor Harkon said:

WARNING! HEAVY SPOILERS!

I would suggest to refrain from adding such "prominent figure" into such an situation. It is very likely that either

a) you get them killed
b) your pc get them killed
c) they´ll end up doing the pc´s job (escaping; with the pc just following them)

Surak said:

The 'crowd' simply does not seem big enough for me yet. Maybe I should ideed include more 'harmless' people. Restricting weapons sounds like a good idea. This way they have to use any xeno weapons that were sold at the auction...

Gregorius21778 said:

Well, how 'prominent' are they? They are sought after by the Inquisition for sure, but then the auction is a hot-spot for heretics throughout the sector it seems (Captain Haarlock was rather prominent (even if notoriously) after all). Still, if they are 'too prominent' for my PCs to encounter, what are they good for anyway? I think about giving my PCs these WANTED writs from DotDG a few sessions earlier.

They might get killed indeed, but it will be hard as these guys seem rather resourceful if you ask me. Even then, none of them seem far more 'powerful' then Master Nonsuch, who might also escape 'and do the PCs job' (ie. escaping) either so to speak. (Escaping does not automatically mean the PCs can follow.)

Don't get me wrong, I appreciate your critique, but I do not see the problem.

Actually, I think it's a great idea. I wish I had thought of it.

But in the case of the 'high and mighty' among your choices, I think I would instead include their agents ... acolytes, bonded emissaries, etc. IMHO, these people would not likely risk their own lives/reputations for this auction. Even Belasco, who is desperate to get his hands on a Halo Device, would not likely risk his person for this. Not when he's got the wealth to purchase the best servants money can buy.

Luthor Harkon said:

I think you get me wrong. I am not against using them. I am against using them in the "House of Dust and Ash".

WARNING! SPOILERS!

The house is nothing but a huge death trap, pitting "pc vs. npc vs. the situation" in a "free-for-all". Okay, some of the npc are/might become allies to the pc, but it pretty much sums up the "overall picture".

All of the named figures are rather powerfull and/or resourcefull individuals which would throw a lot of weight into the balance (no matter which site of it!). And somehow it is hard to believe that they would attain without there own "entourage" (openly attached to them or covered in the roles of other "bidders") which aren´t going to be push-overs themselves.

As already mentioned, I expect that they either

a) die due to the pc (players are a creative and destructive bunch)
b) die due to the circumstances
c) do the pc´s job (getting out / undoing the the scheme of the Mourners) and thereby turning the focus of the adventure away.

"Option A" & "Option B" would be a plain shame in my eyes. These figures are rich oppurtunities that shouldn´t be "burned" like that. Which doesn´t mean that I see it as prohibit to kill them. But introducing and erasing them same evening...no, I say it would be shame.

"Option C" is tied to "avoiding option "A" and "B". If the "VIP" find a way to get out, the pc only have to join them or simply follow them / there steps (unless they are teleporting out or something similiar). Which has the eminent danger of turning the focus away from the pc. While a lot of players can stand this, a lot of other players simply won´t.

My options would be to send agents of them. This way, the road is opened to introduce them more slowly which might allow for a longer "on screen time".

The adventure actually encourages you to add any NPCs you think would fit into the adventure. I included Inquisitor Soldevan's favored Interrogator who was there for the Book Unbound as well as agent of the Serrated Query who was there for the same. I also threw in a couple of nobles who were way out of their depth and merely served as fodder for gory death scenes.

I added several more items to the auction too, mostly useless stuff butt here were a couple of nice weapons in there.

It worked out well in the end, the nobles died as did the Serrated Query agent. The Interrogator however escaped with the Book Unbound and my players even helped him acquire it.

@Sister Cat

Maybe you are right, but in case of servants it would somehow diminish the villains impact. It would even be hard for the PCs to reveal in any way who these servants are working for and thus to make the real antagonists known to them. I think none attending the auction actually know that they risk their lives. Furthermore I am not sure how they risk their reputation this way; they either have none or do not think they risk it anyway. In my vision the auction is a meeting point for the high and mighty after all. And can servants be trusted? Especially if it has to do with stuff like Halo Devices. The villain has to decide for himself what is worthwhile and what not. Most probably the term Halo Device is not written on top of these devices.
In the end I do not know how to involve servants where the involvement of the mentioned villains becomes more or less clear to the PCs (and if not, it makes no sense to include them at all).

@Gregorius

They absolutely would attain with their own entourage. A very able entourage that is for sure.

Option A & B: These guys are certainly Touched by Fates and would get away one way or the other (even if its in a "beam me up, Scotty" way). If the PCs are indeed creative and destructive enough to somehow pin these heavily guarded villains, they deserve it in my opinion (after all there are still a lot of other resourceful villains in DotDG (and RH)).

Option C: Yes, but as I mentioned, there are other rather resourceful people around (e.g. Master Nonsuch) which might be able to escape either. I mentioned above what I fear regarding the use of servants (i.e. In the end I do not know how to involve servants where the involvement of the mentioned villains becomes more or less clear to the PCs (and if not, it makes no sense to include them at all)).

@Ferau

I sholud really include more 'harmless' people like the nobles you mentioned that die in a quick and gory manner. Did your players realize that a Serated Querry operative was around (and if yes, how)? Did your PCs knew the guy they were helping was working for the Inwuisition or even for which Inquisitor? Did he escape with the PCs or alone and how?

Luthor Harkon said:

I do see your point. However, if you look at most of the other attendees, with the exception of Master Nonesuch and Lanus Cisten, they are all there as agents for someone else, some higher power so to speak. In fact, the Dramatis Personae even hints that Vymer and Quill might have a connection to Belasco (indirectly, I'll grant, but still). Remember, when he fled the wrath of his disgraced family, Belasco took the family's cadre of assassins with him. As you say, no one probably knows that there is a Halo Device up for auction, but what better place to look for one than in the effects of a long lost, legendary Rogue Trader like Haarlock. And, Belasco is a wanted man, both by his family, and by the Ordo Xenos. Why risk his person on a 'maybe'? Rather, I would see a monster such as him sitting cozy and comfy back at Gloriana hive while his agents try to acquire what they can. Meanwhile, he could have the rest of cadre of assassins ready to ambush anyone who does make it back from the Burning Isle, and take anything they have acquired.

As far as how the involvement of the villains becomes clear to the PC's when they are only dealing with servants of the villains ... investigation, shadowing, spying, eavesdropping, etc. All the things acolytes are supposed to do. Let's face it, good help is hard to come by, and at least in much literature, even the supposedly competent servants of villains almost always make fatal mistakes. I'm sure the PC's could find evidence tying these servants to the villains ... assuming they look. JMHO. And, it's your game, so if you think differently, by all means include them. I am not trying to tell you how to run your game, just sharing my opinion.

Luthor Harkon said:

I did have a few other extra NPCs in there that were harmless, several of whom died before the auction.

My players only figured out the identity of the Serrated Query operative after they allied themselves with the Interrogator. In the hours before the auction the players, the Interrogator and the SQ operative were doing this sort of dance around each other.

Eventually the Interrogator was able to figure out my players were =I= after careful use of a vox-thief and some poor vox discipline from my PCs. There was a tense meeting shortly thereafter where the Interrogator made his offer and an uneasy alliance was formed. In the run and gun that followed the Interrogator was disemboweled by the SQ agent who was promptly slaughtered but my PCs actually went to the extra effort to extract him. It was all very exciting.

I think of adding Heron mask with him kiddnapping the Scions he uses in the next adventure.

Sister Cat said:

Maybe Tobias Belasco became too desperate in the meantime and therefore risks it and/or he became too paranoid to trust any of his servants. After all, the Imperium of Man is a feudal society where mighty Rogue Traders are the first to set foot on planets, where Navy Captains hold banquets with Planetary Governors while most of their servants never leave the machinarium or toil endlessly in the local manufactoria and where Inquisitors sometimes don their Power Armour to go in person where the **** hits the fan. You know, if you want a job done properly, do it yourself.
I appreciate your opinion and it’s not that I want to discuss ‘against’ it. I simply want to convince myself and see (i.e. discuss) whether it is reasonable to include them (or one of them) in person.

Nice. Putting a vox-thief into one of the PCs pockets sounds great and will most probably drive my players mad with paranoia when they find out.

Dalnor Surloc said:

That would have been my next question. How other GMs handled the transition from HoDA to TF and whether they used the abstract way as described in TF or whether they really overwhelmed the PCs in a certain way (the hunter from the Beast House come into mind). I would not include the Heron Mask yet, as it is not really him who abducts the players. How about the Jackal Mask guy instead?

Luthor Harkon said:

Okay, I can see that ... IF Belasco knows, or has a very high suspicion, that there actually is a halo device there. Then yes, in that case I could see him going in person ... with as many highly-trained, and heavily-armed bodyguards as he could get away with, along with some high-tech tricks (disguises, etc.), and reams of false identification papers.

I handled it by having the PCs being sent to Quad(whatever) and being jumped upon arriving by beast house slavers armed with shock maces, webbers and various non lethal grenades. There are few things more amusing than the PCs being webbed and hallucinating...