Hi folks! So i'm going to be running Final Sanction on Thursday and after reading a few posts it seems to me it can last quite a while. Unfortunately this is going to be last session for them acting as a "something a bit different" game from their usual DH game (and also cause they've just finished their current DH adventure), reason being I'm heading off to increase my scholastic lore.

I still want to give them a taste so I thought either just a random Space Marine bash or a cut down version of Final Sanction itself, and that's where you lot come in.

They'll only have about 5 hours and I'm curious what you think I can fit in a session like that? The groups not often too serious, probably about 6 players and I plan to use the Final Sanction prewritten characters even if I don't use the adventure.

The plus side is I won't need to explain rules except for the demeanors and a basic idea on hordes since they've played DH for so long.

Cut the number of turning Points in the battle for the Chapel.Cut the number of locations (Rag Markets, Imperial Stores, Spaceport). Do quick narrative travelling.

When running FS myself I had to do it in about 8 to 10 hours total. Thus I omitted Rag Markets totally and ran Cathedral and PDF base pretty quickly. In order to cut the FS to 5 to 6 hours I would run it like this:

- cathedral (shortened) - 1 hour

- rescue governor - 1 hour

- rescue astropath - 1 hour

- have astropath point out where the big genestealer is, have governor and assassin give artillery support and pass everything untill final battle, narrating the travel, artillery bombardments to clear the way and such only in passing - 1 hour

- epic final battle - 1 hour

Polaria said:

I skipped on the resuce astropath fight. It's not really necessary as it's just another horde fight and doesn't make all the much sense. I'd rather focus a bit on the role-playing interaction with the Hollow Guard and trying to be admitted, as well as some role-playing opportunities with the Governor and others. It helps set the mood a bit as some noble passants in the street politely applaud the Marines passing by or withdraw in fear or appraoch them and take a bow and talk about the honor of being blessed by the presence of the legendary Space Marines or whatever.

My thoughts is this - make the fight at the cathedral as long as you're having fun with it, if necessary throw 2 turning points at the players at the same time to speed things up. The point is in letting them get a sense of the scale of the game and the enemies (I'd rule about 1D2 or 1D3 rebels killed per point magnitude loss) as well as horde and turning point mechanics (it's an demo scenario after all).

Usher them to the governor quickly and give them a sense of the despair in the normal streets as well as of the party going on at the Governor's mansion and the reaction of all the respective people.

Then the fight with the Genestealers to save the Governor. Here the point is to get across to the players how dangerous some of the real opponents can be (and in close combat the Genestealers will pwn the players). You don't need all 8 Genestealers, as soon as you have taught the players a lesson, the rest can vanish across the roofs, etc.

Then a bit role-playing with Elsharna. I had my players wonder about her prophecy a while and ask for it at the Gov's mansion. One of the servants overhears the conversation and tells the players politely of the abandoned factory ("Excuse me, sir, I don't know if this is important...." :-).

Then the fight in the factory you run with the GS playing with the players, drawing their fire by forcing them to -20 half-action snapshots in the distance or d doing hit-and-run tactics, trying to isolate players in the pipelines and all. All just a matter to scare the players (and they will be scared after the mansion).

Once you have only 30 mins left or so, you'll let them find the broodlord, make a quick bossfight (don't make him too hard, be lenient... it's a demo game after all). Then wrap it all up.

Just my suggestion.

Alex

Alexes suggestion cut right into the heart of the matter. I would not skip the role-playing opportunities with the astropath. She is just so adorably 40Kish with her tower and Hollow Guard. The horde fight is something you can pass if time is tight.

For the most memorable fighting Cathedral is great for introducing the players to the scale (5 marines vs. 300 mooks) and has plenty of opportunities for wading through hail of bullets, saving guardsmen from death and so on. The governors ball with genestealers is a great intro to the REAL opponents after the hordes of mooks. And, naturally, make the end-fight as scary as possible with ambushing stealers and labyrinthine factory.

Polaria said:

Ha! You got it wrong; just like me, I have to add. When playing FS I missed the proper scale of the chapel battle and only realized it after re-reading it afterwards.

Please allow me to quote frokm FS:

"Outside the chapel, the 600 men of the 117th Lordsholm PDF under Captain Ascote (Syndalla), are under assault from a large contingent of rebels, easily in the thousands ."

I didn't read it right and presented it to my players a factor of 5 to 10 too small. After the players have broken siege they may end up having slaughtered 300 mooks, that's true. But there are many more present (shooting their rifles towards the chapel) who will simply flee in terror seeing their fellow rebels turned into mincemeat by the Deathwatch in no short order, their faces speaking of unspeakable terror.

Alex

Now that you reminded me I dug up the old character sheets from when I ran FS. Our devastator had the habit of counting (approximately) how many mooks they had killed. I think the mission end-tally was somewhere around 900 of which a bit short of 300 died in Cathedral. Yeah, the Cathedral fight is huge, but the marines don't need to do it all just by themselves.

Thanks for the suggestions guys! I know a lot of this adventure is "oh hi there! it's another horde -BANG!". I like the idea of playing up the rp entry to the house of echoes. Right from the start i've wanted to show both the awesome might of the astartes (like in the cathedral battle) as well as their ability to still negotiate or talk without waving a bolter at people.

The battle at the start is very good, and gives the players a chance to flex their personalities.

Remember, and this will shorten the battles, that each PDF unit they rescue can be used to counter 1 horde. Maybe just give more pdf resources to speed it up.

The players in my session got 5 together and utilised them to smash through a couple of places, however it is playable easily in 5 hours.