Hi. I'm new to GM'ing a Dark Heresy campaign, but not to Dark Heresy. It's the first RPG game I've ever played and I simply love it. In fact, I'm in two campaigns on different days as a player.

The main theme of the campaign is around the Tyrant Star, and involves a mad cult trying to invoke the end of the light of the emperor. I'm also planning to add in a third element, not connected to Komus or the cultists. Well, I have six players currently, two of them psykers (=disaster waiting to happen ), and perhaps about to add a 7th (and I'm not sure how I will be able to handle 7 players).

There's just so many sessions I can include cultists & warp creatures as antagonists and I don't want my players to get bored. I don't have the 'Creatures Anathema' book, unfortunately, and have to rely on the core-rulebook. I have managed to create my cultists from the book (their stats, traits, talents, skills). I would like to include sentient xenos but I don't have the stats for them. I don't know much about the Warhammer 40k universe, though.

Any advice or suggestions for a new GM?

Thanks.

Andy

I know, depending on where you get your gaming books, that DH books can be a tad hard on the wallet. But seriously ... pick up Disciples of the Dark Gods and Creatures Anathema. I would also recommend the GM's Toolkit, the Radical's Handbook, and the Inquisitor's Handbook, if you don't already have them.

Other than that, it's not too difficult to use the antagonists in the core rulebook as a base to create your own. That's the wonderful thing about bad guys ... they come in all shapes and sizes and flavors. Just give them what they need to perform the role you want them to, maybe adjust characteristics here and there, swap out some gear, and presto: you've got your own cultist template, or daemon, or xeno, or servitor, or whatever.

But if you want to know what official versions of certain Daemons, cultists, Eldar, Orks, Slaughth *shivers*, and other things look like, the above-mentioned books are priceless.

Grab at least CA and IH, in pdf if nothing else, gives you and your players more toys to play with, more options are always nice. Other than that, most of the books are pretty optional, and you can handwave a lot of the cultists/monsters you use once you get a good feel for the game.

You could do worse than get a copy of Warhammer 40k Rogue Trader. The original tabletop game rulebook all this comes from is crammed with useful info, weapons, vehicles, plot ideas, background, the different races etc. Don't know how easy it is to get these days, but it is a useful read and there is a lot less blah in it than in some of the DH books.

Regarding Resources:

I would recommend the IH, as well as at least one book, Creatures Anathema or disciples, that gives you some more things for them to fight. Also, Millandson usually takes care of this, but check out http://www.darkreign40k.com/drjoomla/index.php It's a good site to find fan-made material to add to your games.

Regarding Fluff:

Check out http://wh40k.lexicanum.com/wiki/Main_Page for what is, in my opinion, the best resource out there for finding info on the fluff. Also, don't stress about getting everything right.

Regarding Players:

Doing seven at once is hard. (Haha, I know.) However, it can be a blessing in disguise. If you have a story that can easily explain story absences, it will ensure a good turnout for every game. I know, from experience, it can be hard to get that many people together on a regular basis. If you want to, it also allows you to split the party into two separate sessions without having too few players in either game.

That's all for now.