I'm working on the next installment of a long running campaign, and I'm wondering if any of you long time DM's can offer some wisdom on how to make this scenario particularly effective.

My party craves immersion, it makes the experience better for all those involved, and when I ran my first adventure(a reasonably scary affair involving a haphazardly summoned daemon) they were experiencing true pants browningly immersive terror.

However, my party also can be a very whiny bunch and usually crave something different. It seems like they take pleasure in combat but the dice rolling and my on the spot descriptions of their damage rolls slow things down to a morass. I want to encourage some character growth and personification of character because I feel my party does not know who they "are" yet.

The next torrid affair in the story(which is right now a carefully constructed conspiracy revolving around a daemon cavorting businessman who is actually an Inquisitor's alias) will be the party escorting their Inquisitor to a meeting of inquisitors throughout the sector, a very droll and ceremonial affair which is broken up by a sudden assassination of one of the chief figures. I want the party to be drawn in like they were in my "scary" story, but I really don't see how to make it happen.

Any thoughts?

Can you provide some more information? Knowing about the pc and the ways the assasination is pulled of might be helpful.

The PCs are a motley collection of experienced roleplayers

1 Scum played by the most experienced roleplayer there who unfortunately is sort of the aloof silent type

1 level headed Imperial World Guardsman(new addition to the party because the PCs previous character sheet got lost)

1 Feral World Assassin played by a rather silly person

1 Psyker who eagerly goes on power trips and is slightly amoral

One of the chief things that affects immersion (to the contrary) is that the former three are all old friends of mine, and so some measure of ridiculousness and joking is not only to be expected but to be a constant factor to struggle against.

The assasination attempt is based around a story from some old WD battle reports for Inquisitor. The assasination attempt will kill a venerable Inquisitor of the order, however, the actual target is Witch Hunter Tyrus and the death was a "wrong place wrong time" thing. The person orchestrating the attempt will be a Radical Inquisitor, Inquisitor Lichtenstien, but this is more of a slow revelation, so they will not know it at the time.

I fear that making this a straight roleplaying "whodunit" would prompt much joking from friends(as most things do) and also seem a little contrived. After all, why would a bunch of Acolytes be called upon to solve a mystery when there is literally a dozen people in the room who have made it there calling in life to do nothing but solve mysteries. I also want to create some moments with pants browning tension, and minimal combat, as that slows things down like no other.

Well, if you want to give them a compelling reason to solve the mystery, make it clear to them (or arrange it) that they are one of the prime suspects and any number of Inquisitors would love to nail them to a cross somewhere for the crime they believe they committed...

Some tense roleplaying on their part would then (possibly) buy them some time to figure out the real assassin, or failing that, at least prove themselves innocent.

The threat of brutal mind probes, excruciators and crucifixion could be considered a good motivator...

Hi Deltrain, thanks for the information.

Bladehate is right with his idea. It is an old but "tried and true" formular to give the suspect the chance to proof his innocence.

Another option (to keep the other Inquisitors from becoming the problem solvers) is to keep as much other Inquisitors "delayed" as possible. Warp stormes go a long way. Other might be simply supspicious/paranoid/carefull and have first send trusted acolythes to check the place first. As a murder occured, they stay where they are and wait for the things to clear up. Not all of them, but enough so that you do not need to come up with 101 Inquisitors.

How to keep things tense?
Good question!

• Stand-off with a group of other acolythes, clearly superior in martial prowess and firepower
  This could happen early on in the adventure, the acolythes are blamed by those other acolythes to be responsible. This might work the best
  if the Acolythes have some time ahead to get familiar with those other "peers" around so they can learn about their skill or hear somebody else speaking of there deeds. The pc either need to play the scene good; have some success on social skill roles or will need to spent (not burn!) a fate point to prevent a confrontation.
• Being stalked by the assassine
  Have a scene where the pc do not have line of sight to the intruder, but have slight hints of him moving about. But not enough to pinpoint him. This is achieved best in a surrounding the offers 101 directions of attack and ambush. In the end, the assasine will make a distraction and flee (since the pc moved into a position to favourable for them so the assasine will not risk the attack. Although he might be able to take out one or two of them before things become a real battle.

Thanks so much for your help guys!

I want to plant the hint that the red herring villain had a hand in this, but I don't want it to be so obvious as scapegoating Thravian Flast( the villain). I was thinking about having the PCs perform a "question and answer session with pain" with the assassin and after uncovering wiped memories finding a vague hint. There's only going to be a dozen or so Inquisitors there anyways so it shouldn't be too bad characterizing them. I may even make the villain, Lichtenstien be their Inquisitor's old friend and the prime suspect(which he did in fact do) but the Acolytes could be setting out to clear his name if they like him enough.

Do you guys have any experience hinting at a characters villainry?

I don't want it to be an M. Night Shymalanesque random twist that Inquisitor Lichtenstien is an evil radical, but I also don't want to give him a red flag as the villain by giving him too much attention. Also, as part of the GW fluff, Lichtenstien took Tyrus' 99 tests of purity and passed them by cheating. How could I incorporate this into the story? I want Lichtenstein to be a character the players admire, then are skeptical about, then distrust, then believe in again only to find their suspicions are true. Kind of like Erebus from the Horus Heresy series. They should like him, him being evil should not be a total shot in the dark

Deltrian said:

Although I do not have experience at "villian hinting", I do not think that the feat you want to accomplish can be performed in one adventure without waving any flags.

A believable build-up needs some time. For "admire him", I would say one or two adventures before that. For getting skeptical, some hints from other groups or acolythes might have been enough. The Distrust, trust again and "the truth" could then have been done in your final one here. But in one adventure? I do not know how.

As Gregor said, its a tall order for one session. But I'm assuming this is a sub-plot in your campaign.

The first and most immediate way to get the players to like Lichtenstein, might be that he's the one who speaks up on their behalf, along with their own inquisitor. The reasons for him doing this, could be that Lichtenstein has planted evidence against another faction and would prefer this "evidence" come to light from another source then himself.

Then as the campaign goes on, and the party follows up on leads (both old and new), they start to realize that Lichtenstein is a shady guy. Perhaps they find some personal journal notes about an inquisitor suspecting that Lichtenstein cheated when he was tested, or connections to some very questionable individuals and groups.

At one point, they would be given the chance to confront Lichtenstein, accusing him of their suspicions. At that point you could throw in some dramatic monologue about how he only did this for the sake of the Imperium, and revealing his "secret" plans to save <important planet, person, organization here>. Many Inquisitors dabble in a bit of radicalism...or at least understand the temptation...so its not too far fetched.

Of course when the players believe him (assuming you can pull it off), Lichtensteins REAL secret plan kicks into effect.

Without knowing more about your campaign, its really hard to get any more specific then that. Gregorius is completely correct though...pulling this off would require a fair amount of patience and skill on your part, and dropping hints that have no meaning in the current adventure, but will suddenly take on new and sinister nuances later in the campaign.

Definitely worth it though, if you can pull it off.

My 2 cents: have the players come upon the (higher level) assassin as he finishes off his target. Allow them to narrowly escape his attempt to eliminate the witnesses, then throw them into situations where they are surrounded by the others attending the meeting, knowing full well that one of them hired the assassin who is after them. Play on their paranoia as you build up to the Big Reveal- in standard mysteries, it is always The Least Likely Suspect... Maybe lead them to beileve it is a very sinister-looking Inquisitor who is being too helpful, but in fact it is his seemingly bumbling but secretly ambitious Interrogator, and the Inquisitor really was just trying to be helpful...

Hmmm... a tangled web we weave.

If you really want to throw your acolytes into a tizzy, try this on for size: 2 assassinations. But the first target was by accident, someone who really wasn't an intended target, and then happened to be 'in the wrong place, at the wrong time'. While the acolytes are busy trying to figure out why this seemingly non-important guy was offed, the real assassination occurs.

Then make them think that they're the NEXT target. Even if the guy (the assassin) is just trying to get out of dodge.

The acolytes could be chosen as the team to investigate simply because they are from offworld, and therefore not invovled in that particular place's politics. Everyone is a potential suspect. And give everyone on the fringe motive (if not opportunity) to kill the target.

They can either be witnesses or assigned investigators, but quickly put them to work figuring out the assassination(s). As they get closer and closer to the Truth, it should gradually dawn on them that THEY have been helping the assassin immensely thanks to the orders of their superiors. In ways that will set them up to fall hard, but through orders that taken individually or in small groups, seem perfectly appropriate. Perhaps its been so cleverly done that it looks like the acolytes are deliberately worming around their orders, (while really they're solving things in the only way they can)...now what?

If you wish to take this scenario to its fullest extent...set it up as ostensibly a whodunnit. But play it as an horror. Inquisitors, though Ms Marples Extraordinaire are also, generally, not nice people. If they're under threat, they'll be deploying every ounce of their wit to keep them moving.

Have it such that the players are drawn towards helping Inquisitors and cells based on affiliations, on moralities, on philosophies, on Inquisitorial Factions.

Having it such that the 'subject of the Conclave*' is actually quite serious and/or close to their hearts. They're being brought along for no purpose other than to get them experience in the world of Inquisitorial politics (and to see if they mess up badly). Of course, the actual thrust of the scenario wouldn't be about that, but that's the background of it.

Flinging them into the deep end of 'being caught in the middle of lots of Inquisitors' might be a valid way to go. Finding out that it's their Inquisitor who's assassinated (and for what they think are actually good reasons [he's an oblationist, for instance]) or vice versa might work rather well.

The sensational bits above could certainly be played up highly. But then having the whole thing boil down to an amalathian/recongregator divide might even further 'entice' the characters' own 'feelings' out of their shells. Bringing in adepts from other places might help too (a backof Deathwatch Astartes further illustrating the divides?), but then having it too complex might simply leave the Inquisitors going 'huh?'. The Amal/Recon/Isstvanian divide is startlingly subtle and, largely, not actually hugely heretical on either side. Playing it without Xenos, Mutants or Heretics might give them just enough of a 'free reign' to really start getting their feel of where their character stands on the battle for the Emperor's Soul.

Anyway, key points:
- Look like a whodunnit. Play it as a survival (mundane) horror. That is: fear for your life, but not because of gribbly spectres in the dark.
- Well, that's it.

Use it as a setting to draw out their own thoughts on everything, not simply as a mystery to be solved.

* Conclave: a meeting of Inquisitors (in 40k, at least)