Hey guys, it's been quite a while since I've made a post on here, but that's partially because my game has been running rather smoothly. (Over a year old, and almost to the grand climax!) But I've run into a road block. More or less, I made a nice "dungeon" for my players to explore because I wanted to give them a nice dungeon crawl (mostly D&D vets before we started), but they're all upper level players already toting around custom gear. What possible goodies could I have them find that aren't chaotic in nature, though those will be there too. I mean, sure I could keep doling out custom gear, but I'm limited on the technological side due to the setting. Let me give you the situation and hopefully you guys can help me out.

Player Situation: On step two of staging a coup against a corrupt inquisitor in charge of a crusade. They are currently tracking down another inquisitor to gain her support. Unfortunately, she was tracking down yet another inquisitor who went MIA, which brings them to...

Setting: Planet Ubel, a once feudal world beset upon the Hive Fleet that decimated the sub-sector before a chaotic plague wiped it out, leaving this once lush land a dark, windy, deathworld. The inquisitor they're after tracked her target to a keep in a ghost city. Beneath the keep, hidden passageways lead to natural caves, which lead to once inhabited broodhive.

The Secret: The MIA inquisitor was a secret radical with a daemonic pact with a greater daemon of Nurgle. He was seeking a way to resummon the daemonic plague to wipe out the crusade's enemies, which lead him to this keep, the origin of the plague. As it turns out, the King of this keep was a sorcerous servant of Nurgle, who summoned the plague by sacrificing himself (and his subjects by extension.) The radical follows his master's instructions to resummon the plague by sacrificing the embryo of a tyranid hive ship (long story, but it was there deep in the hive.)

So yeah, that's the situation, and I'm trying to figure out what treasures to give the group. Also, before anyone goes suggesting xeno artifacts, the group's inquisitor is an ordo xenos puritan.

...yeah, I'm in a pickle...

So...

your Dungeon is a natural cavern system on a once-feudal world half-eaten by Tyrandis? Said cavern syste with the "nest" of some Nids before they got extinct on this world. It is somehow although the lair of some nurgle cultist that fended of the fleet?

Well, first of all credits for a good radical idea ("we must use the powers of Nurgle to beat back the Nids!"), but since your dungeon is "natural cavern" and the only once that occupied it before are Nids and Nurglecultists, I do not see how anything useful could show up that is neither Nurgle/Chaos nor Nid/Xenos.

This might seem like an obvious or even stupid question, but:


What do your players want ?


My players tend to make it fairly obvious when they want or desire something:

"Oh I'm saving up for Power Armour!"
"I'm hoping to get a second Tranter."
"When we get back I'm putting the money into a new scope for my rifle."

And so on.

I'm not saying you should just give them what they want, but it could be a useful starting point to working out the things that might be appropriate (ie. the guy who wants Power Armour doesn't find power armour, but he finds a large donation box from the original Nurgle Cult, and inside the rotted wood there are still quite a few thrones that might get him part of the way to that shiny new suit of armour, etc.).

As long as the rewards make sense in context (ie. they don't find a mis-matched crate of stuff that just happens to useful to each of the individual characters), it could work.

BYE

1st, actually it's a keep, or rather, two story castle with a series of hidden passageways/dungeons, which lead down to a cave system which connects to the hive. First the nids attacked the sub-sector, and the cultists managed a mutual destruction by summoning the plague. The radical is there to re-summon it. To eliminate the enemies of the crusade.

2nd, as for what my players want...well, as I've said they're high level and have most of their material wants already. Other than that they want more conceptual things such as minions, clues towards unrelated plot points, family honor, etc, etc. I mean, I plan on there being a few daemonic artifacts, thrones, and obviously primitive class weapons. The problem is that none of that stuff sounds like anything they'd go out of their way to get. Thus making any dangers in the way of getting them come off as pointless afterward.

In terms of what sort of players we're talking, all are second to last rank: guardsman, (combat) scum, 2 arbites, an assassin, and a telekinetic psyker.

A pet hormagaunt each?

One good way to get items there is to have a digestion pool nearby. The tyranids have consumed everything and returned there, and there might be some extraordinarily hardy things left. Though how you actually retrieve something from the middle of a digestion pool is another matter.

Done right the Conan award (big wild party, get drunk/high and get laid) can be awesome reward fpr players and character. On the other side this demands a few survivors or a big party at the ship when they get back up.

If you run a tight campaign with few opportunities to relax, do stupid stuff without bad or fatal consequences the roleplaying opportunity can be great. And you can cross off some insanity points too, since the character manage to shake of some off the horrors they seen and relate to normal humans again. At the party they can get some native riches, like ceremonial weapons or necklaces made of -rare- materials, rare pearls, or mineral or something even more exotic. That would be worth a fortune sold at some civilized place.

I think w176 is on the right track here. If your players are already rockin' out the custom gear, and you're hurtling toward your climax, it's time to go for non-loot options in the rewards.

Fame, renown, favors from a planetary governor or other ranking official of the Imperium. Something that can be used later to influence a situation...

"Well, acolytes, you've saved this planet from certain doom. If ever you need a regiment of our PDF, you just let me know."

Dream on from there...the possibilities are endless.

Hi Milova,

thanks for putting me right on my assumption.

Then let´s see... everything organic might have decayed. Not for "because of Nurgle" but for "because of age!". You do not want anything chaos/xenos, so some "residue" of this source is OUT.

The plaque was casted, spread like wild and everyone died, right? So, their still might be the skeletons of both the cultists and the Tyrnids down their. Since "Kraken Tooth Daggers" are valuable, one might be able to fashon a weapon or an item out of the skulls... bad thing is, some residue of the plague might be left in the bone...

If it was a keep, you could add some best quality armour, but his simply might be medivial and thereby of no use to your team. Same thing about medivial weapons. Hack, they really weren´t fighting Tyranids with this, where they? Brave bastards!

you could "award" them an elite skill package. Forbidden Lore (Xenos) if the gather some remains and are allowed to study it (that isn´t really radical, is it?). Our "good Reputation" with a puritan faction after they end this mission. If some residue of the plaque is still their AND they survive it, "Resistance: Posion&Illness" could be granted.

Hmm, some good suggestions, though the party's out since this was turned into a deathworld, but I do like the idea. I suppose one reward for this might be new comrades, and the favor of another puritan inquisitor (malleus) since in the process they'll get the chance to rescue them. The radical inquisitor views himself as righteous so when his three retinue members discovered his secret they turned on him, but he didn't have the heart to kill them. Instead he imprisons them in the treasure vault with a big beastie. If they save those guys, that could be three new NPC retinue for their inquisitor (especially since they just recently lost two.) Then the inquisitor they're looking for they'll find trapped with her retinue forced to watch as the radical carries out his ritual. Upon saving her, not only will they gain her cooperation with the coup, but her personal trust.

Beyond that, some nice gold, chances to corrupt or rebuke with chaotic items, possibly a misguided tyranid critter, and they're currently running with a pirate crew so I don't see why a party can't be done...

Milova said:

While you talk about gold, how about gems? If this was a nobles keep the weapons of his personal knights (his retinue fighting the last line while he prepared the ritual) might be studded with gems.

If your plague was some weird flesh-eating thing it might have left alone horn and more lizard-like components. In this case, hair would oddly have remained, same as nails. If the local Tyranid offspring where more into "like lizards", you might even have some hides lying around that could be fashoned into xeno mesh armour (Nids are beyound natural, so their hides might be beyound primitive! Hack, some of them survive open void!)

Perhaps some spiders and/our bugs or other small vermin are strangely alive...somehow immun against the plaque. This specimen would be pretty valuable because their blood could be the key to an antidode...

Gregorius21778 said:

Genius idea sir! I will have to make note of small critters that survived. I also like the left over 'nid armor. You guys have given me great ideas, and I'll need them as the first session is tonight!

Or better yet! Combine your idea with the tyranid pet idea. A small strain of nid developed in the last moments of the Norn queen. A small Tyranid that is immune and will carry the strain until reabsorbed by the hive! I'm thinking turtle-like...

Good idea's all around here!

Once the players have the gear they want/need it's best to stop giving equipment but give them with 'story-items'. An archeotech puzzlebox that does 'something (good hook to start a later storyline), some object that ties in nicely with a character's background/interests. There were some great ideas already mentioned.