My players will be uncovering the location of a Talisman of Vaul soon. There needs to be something/someone between it and them. They can't just walk over this part of the game. Normally, as mentioned elsewhen, I make stuff up during the game. This won't do this time. The path to the BF is roughly this:

Secure crashed Eldar starship from Hereteks. The webway portal on the ship has been repurposed (with a good chunk of Adranti technology), and now leads to the vast Augustus Stern-class Star Fortress Eventus Noctem (similar to a Ramiles-class starbase, but larger) filled with rogues, hereteks, cultists, outlaws, and assorted scumbags. They've taken over the abandoned facility, and someone in there knows the location of the Talisman. Getting to him shouldn't be too difficult, but resisting the urge to cook everyone on board? That will be hard.

Eventually, I suspect they'll sabotage the fort's fusion reactor, escape on a warp-capable vessel of some sort (fitted with a heritical Adranti Auto-navigator) and make for the Blackstone Fortress itself.

How much more resistance to their efforts should I offer? I want it to be a good fight, but obviously, this is the end of the first arc of our game, the one we've been working toward for a year.

I have DotDG, so suggestions from that book are welcome. I have my own ideas, but I thought I'd ping you folks for a bit of variety and possible overkill...

Harlequins? I mean, if mon-keigh are traversing the webway and stumbling upon a Talisman of Vaul, I think the guardians of the webway and the Black Library may take issue with that.

Here are some ideas for the imagery: http://wh40k.lexicanum.com/wiki/Harlequin

Rules wise, just take an eldar or dark eldar, increase the agility/dodge and the strength of their weapons but take away most, if not all, armor.

Another option could be some Blood Pact or similar chaos IG or a small group of Chaos Space Marines (though I hesitate to introduce any Space Marines into DH, personal preference). I believe Abaddon took control of at least one Blackstone Fortress, so fluff-wise it seems ok.

Lastly, you could fill the Fortress with metric butt-loads of space critters. Sort of like a traditional D&D dungeon crawl, but in space. And scary. Hell, to make it really creepy, Luke's training in Dagobah comes to mind (when he fights Vader/himself).

Jephkay said:

I have DotDG, so suggestions from that book are welcome. I have my own ideas, but I thought I'd ping you folks for a bit of variety and possible overkill...

Oh just rub it in why dont you LOL.

I know, have their tickets to the BF be delivered via AMazon dot Communists.

I would recommend that after they face the hereteks, the Dark Eldar show up as well to plague their "gooder" brethren.

I like the Harlequin idea. One of our players had a whole army of those acro-bastards back in the day (1990 or thereabouts). His brother now has an Eldar army. Once of Prince Yriel's pirates (sneaky fella by the name of Cael) helped transport the group to their current location, so he's probably manuvering his own group to intercept them at the Eventus Noctem (or will, once he figures out what the PCs are on about).

The other suggestions are great. I, too, am somewhat reticent to include too many table-top elements (CSM especially). But perhaps one Aspirant Chaos Lord (call him Iago, I suppose) leading a group of hereteks, mutants and others in his own search for the Talisman. He'd love to present it to his own Lord Abbadon, wouldn't he?

So... the areas of the 'Noctem nearest the docks are civilized (mostly). Here we have low end scum and some mutants. Deeper in, beasties and Iago and his band of malcontents. Deeper still, a Space Crusade dungeon crawl from the old days! At some point Cael and his boyz (and girlz) show up, along with Iolanthe Rathbone's Acolytes led by the vile Eisengrimm. This will clench it for the PCs that someone within their master's organization is leaking info to Rathbone. They'll have something to do when they get home.

This brings me to the involvement of Cael and company. They know that their master is known to use the decadent Eldar Xeno-scum from time to time. (Rhynn is known as The Grey Hand among the Calixis Sector's Eldar population, the PCs themselves have been referred to as the Fingers of the Grey Hand) The two times that Cael has appeared, he's been an ally. This time, however, he'll want to prevent the group from accessing the Talisman. It could get tense.

As for the Dark Eldar, we played PtU. The DE leader got away in the last fight. It would be good continuity to bring him back for more fun in the depths of the Eventus Noctem.

Other NPCs include:

Acturus Rhynn - The party's Inquisitor

Dione - Sororita, Rhynn's Prime Acolyte, the person he trusts above all others. She reminds him of his daughter who was killed so many years ago.

Marcellus Ong - A cyborg trapped in a vat of green life-sustaining fluid. He hates his life, and is plotting the overthrow of Rhynn and his Acolytes. Served alongside Rhynn's master and his master's masters for centuries. Still serves Rosenberg.

Hieronymous Rosenberg - Excommunicate Traitoris Heretic Inquisitor, pulling Iolanthe's strings, wants the Talisman for himself.

Wolfe - Hive Scum, friend of the party's Scum - Captured by Rathbone, he's been transformed into a malconid and will be hunting the group when they return to Sibellus. (Malconids are wall-crawling, razor-clawed, mind-wiped killers. Rathbone has uncovered the secret to creating them, and is not above using the party's buddies as weapons)

Constantine Escher - Diminutive Necromundan Genius, loyal follower of Rhynn.

Those Acolytes from Purge the Unclean - the remaining few members will be in on the hunt for the Talisman along side Eisengrimm.

It occurs to me that I don't run games, I run high-tech, low-life soap operas.