I am a new GM, not new to the universe of warhammer though
The main question is which of the two introductory adventures would be better to use and any other general advice would be very good (and yes, I have read Eisenhorn)
New GM running introductory adventure
I highly recommend you run the Edge of Darkness off the DH support page. Avoid the demo adventure Shattered Hope it tends to kill off parties. The intro adventure in the main book is okay. The adventure in the GM guide can be problematic. The end xenos are extremely dangerous unless the PCs have heavier weapons, and there is really no warning to the PCs that they will need to gear up for the final fight.
I agree, Edge of Darkness is a fine adventure to run for an introduction to Dark Heresy (and is very easy to run for a GM, all it requires is for the GM to read it several times and become familiar, as almost all rules you'll need are contained in the adventure itself.)
I'd actually vote for Shattered Hope first and then Edge of Darkness.
Now, Shattered Hope pretty much sucks as far as adventures goes but bear with me. If you are completely new GM you are likely nervous and not quite sure what's what. in the art that is game mastering. Shattered Hope would give you a first taste and hopefully ease of some of that tension. It's dead easy to run with lots of tips on how to run it and as a bonus it will let you try out most of the important rules at least once. It is perfect for a quick start up game to try your luck with. And it is short, good for an evening or so.
After that you would be totally ready (or not
) for Edge of Darkness which is another beast entirely, in all the good ways.
Just my two cents.
bladerunner_35 said:
I'd actually vote for Shattered Hope first and then Edge of Darkness.
Now, Shattered Hope pretty much sucks as far as adventures goes but bear with me. If you are completely new GM you are likely nervous and not quite sure what's what. in the art that is game mastering. Shattered Hope would give you a first taste and hopefully ease of some of that tension. It's dead easy to run with lots of tips on how to run it and as a bonus it will let you try out most of the important rules at least once. It is perfect for a quick start up game to try your luck with. And it is short, good for an evening or so.
After that you would be totally ready (or not
) for Edge of Darkness which is another beast entirely, in all the good ways.
Just my two cents.
I did this with my group and it worked out well. Yes, Shattered Hope sucks hard as far as story is concerned. Yes, someone's brand new character might die or be forced to burn a Fate Point. The point is, it was released before Dark Heresy was, so it assumes that both the GM and players are learning the game. In short, it is a one session rules tutorial masquerading as a mission. The main map itself has room to expand on and there is obviously plenty of opportunity to add scenes and encounters on the trip down into the mines as you see fit. Once you are done with Shattered Hope you might have a player decide that their character concept needs a little reworking or someone may have died horribly.... This allows your players a chance to rebuild and revise things as needed. Once people know the basics of how the game plays and they have their characters in order then launch into Edge of Darkness or Illumination. Let's face it, if you are going to mangle a story line you might as well mangle a weak story line and get it out of the way. Run well, Edge of Darkness will have your players talking about it for a LONG time to come!
ZillaPrime said:
bladerunner_35 said:
I'd actually vote for Shattered Hope first and then Edge of Darkness.
Now, Shattered Hope pretty much sucks as far as adventures goes but bear with me. If you are completely new GM you are likely nervous and not quite sure what's what. in the art that is game mastering. Shattered Hope would give you a first taste and hopefully ease of some of that tension. It's dead easy to run with lots of tips on how to run it and as a bonus it will let you try out most of the important rules at least once. It is perfect for a quick start up game to try your luck with. And it is short, good for an evening or so.
After that you would be totally ready (or not
) for Edge of Darkness which is another beast entirely, in all the good ways.
Just my two cents.
I did this with my group and it worked out well. Yes, Shattered Hope sucks hard as far as story is concerned. Yes, someone's brand new character might die or be forced to burn a Fate Point. The point is, it was released before Dark Heresy was, so it assumes that both the GM and players are learning the game. In short, it is a one session rules tutorial masquerading as a mission. The main map itself has room to expand on and there is obviously plenty of opportunity to add scenes and encounters on the trip down into the mines as you see fit. Once you are done with Shattered Hope you might have a player decide that their character concept needs a little reworking or someone may have died horribly.... This allows your players a chance to rebuild and revise things as needed. Once people know the basics of how the game plays and they have their characters in order then launch into Edge of Darkness or Illumination. Let's face it, if you are going to mangle a story line you might as well mangle a weak story line and get it out of the way. Run well, Edge of Darkness will have your players talking about it for a LONG time to come!
that is exactly was what I was thinking, BUT, and its a big BUT, I haven't got dark heresy and I am going to run the adventure to see if my friends like the game, I am not going to buy it if I don't have anyone to play with