I'm about to start running a Death watch game, for players that play the table top game. Granted all of us are wargammers more then role player but heres the bare bones of the adventure, any advice, or things the flesh out is greatly appreciated. Also, yes just for ease of setting a precidence I'm borrowing from aliens.

Time period note: This is before set before the first recorded contact with genestealers.

Mission brief: Contact lost with a colony world. The colony is on a barely habital rock, thats only value is it mineral resources. Contact with the colony was lost maybe about 3 weeks ago. Last transmition stated unknown organism, attacking the colonist. Possibly brought by last supply drop.

Preatty straight foward determine, why the colony has ceased contact, and determine the threat of the possible xenos life form. How the Xenos was brought to the colony. Plus a bonus objective of secureing a sample.

Due the value of colony exterminatus is not authorized.

Complications: While the death watch are being dispatched, a unit of imperial guard also has responded by sending 2 platoons to investigate.

Sense the guard is not privy to death watch operations, the Guardsmen must not know that the Death watch is there. To add to the fun there are still living civs on the colony, that are a bit trigger happy.

So this is a typical bug hunt, so before the crap hit the fans, lots of build up, odd reading on the auspex, bearly glimpsed creatures in the dark. Building up suspense. Toss in the complications of the Guard units at the colony, that should not know the death watch is there.

LasGunner said:

If you want the scary/horror feel you may consider going wiht a custom xenos threat or something they're less familiar with than genestealers. Things you don't know about are scarier than the things you do know about. You could even then use that as misdirection- use the same basic brief but include that there is suspected genestealer activity, possible infestation, and then pull the rug out from under them. This will also keep them off your story and details in the event tha one of them plays Tyranids and is a lore buff and knows more about it than you do.

So from what I've read, the 'common folk' aren't privy to what the DW does, or who is in it, or why they're there, but there are occasions where they're seen fighting or seen doing something. Also, if they're there to rescue colonists, what happens if a colonist sees them? If you like the idea of them having to hide, I'd simply flesh this complication out a bit- why specifically do they have to do this mission under the radar? Maybe knowledge of their presence in the sector/subsector could compromise other actions they have going on? Maybe the Inquisition is investigating the guard unit/companies and don't want them to be tipped off about the presence of the Inquisition? It could just be an order of 'don't let them see you' but that seems...well boring to me.

As for the civilians, these are perfect opporunities for RP in addition to them being trigger happy (interaction with the IG and their commanders is too), how do the marines deal with unarmed civilians seeking help from the Emperor's finest? Do they fear the Inquisition? Are they afraid of the Marines or do they see them as saviors?

What's on the facility that makes it so valueable a team of Deathwatch is being deployed to check it out? Is it a research station? A holding spot for psykers in training? A rare mineral/material? Is it a strategic location in a grander campaign? Remember in Aliens the plan was to get back to the Sulaco and nuke the place from orbit (it's the only way to be sure), or essentially an exterminatus. The reason they didn't was the alien's pretty much effed up all modes of transport off of the rock (Burke being an ass doesn't count, he was overruled and subsequently devoured).

The only reason that they went to the colony in the first place was because the Company wanted the alien. If that is the plan in your story, you will need to make sure there is a suitably slimy Inquisitor or someone of very high power/influence involved here- first off, the Empire typically deals with aliens by nuking them, not by researching them, and second, it takes powerful people in order to requisition the DW to go investigate something. The DW typically does whatever it wants, and if they think a threat is to great will just blow the planet up, IG squads and all. There is plenty of room for politics and intrigue here I think, and lots of motive, radical versus puritan inquisitorial elements, debts of honor, sneaky heriteks, xenos cults, etc.

Primary Objective Ideas- identfy and pacify the xenos threat, secure the facility, recovering whatever the facility is important for. Secondary objective ideas- secure a living sample, limit civiian casualties, limit facility collateral damage. Tertiary objective ideas include securing any sort of sample (dead), total erradication of the facility and the xenos threat (mainly for xp purposes- if at first you don't succeed, blow the hell out of them).

I would think carefully about setting your game "before the first recorded encounter with genestealers"- you could be ruling out many future scenario options just for the sake of one adventure. I agree with Charmander: a custom xeno may your best bet. Maybe build you playres up to expect genestealers, then spring something completely different on them.

Have you downloaded the freebie adventure - Final Sanction and it's follow-up Oblivions Edge. Both are excellent starter adventures (much better then the one in the rulebook)..

The premise of it will fit with your desires, whilst not getting into canon/background issues. As posted above I really wouldn't go down the route of first ever, unless this is a one shot adventure.

I may self steal some ideas from films and books and they are useful for ensuring a clarified scene setting, however choosing Aliens - the most beloved of films to many as the basis is really pointless - the team will know what they are up against and it is a sort of cheat on the players to basically use the whole film as the adventure.

Trying to keep you main concept I suggest as follows.

I would stick with colony lost contact, but I would say months and months ago, and a routine charter captain there to collect the tithe discovered the colony was completely dead, looked like some kind of xenos attack. He reported it on before moving on to other worlds. This was over 2 months ago, and the DW have been called to investigate, and determine if it was a Xenos threat.

The Colony has useful resources for the Jericho reach a very complex resource that is always in demand. (I use resource as it isn't critical to what it is, feel free to flesh it out.)

Once the team oath and set-off, they will no doubt discuss what they are up against - and no doubt suspect Genestealers.

The colony itself is deserted of all life - no bodies of any kind, though there is evidence of firefights. Maybe they find strange ichor - and evidence pointing to the Genestealers. Also make note that the flora seems to have taken strong hold on the colony - and in fact it may have been gone longer then suspected.

Have them eventually discover the real culprit - Eldar. There is a webway portal, the eldar have come to check their paradise world, found the Monkeigh and wiped them out before going back through the portal.

The DW now have to either close the portal, and sort out a defence for it before new colonists arrive.

For a final battle have the colonists arrive in orbit with a bossy Administrator who wants to get the colony op back up and running. Have the Eldar attack whilst the colonists are coming down.

It has the aliens theme, but finishes very different.

FatPob said:

I'm stealing this, thank you kind sir.

I agree with not making it Genestealers, though they are cute. Have you ever heard of the Enslavers? They are basically a psychic vampire who dominates everyone, much like a Stealer cult, but with humorous South Park "Don't go chopping up zombies all willy nilly like" aspects. That also lends a bit of an edge to staying under the radar, one sees you, they all know where you are.

Perhaps the colony was a cover for a lab experimenting on one of the suckers?

Another idea is you running your mission onna space hulk. thats where my next campaing arc is taking my kill team. it would be spooky considering the warp is very unforgiving and conglomerates a lot of ships together and they are not always in the right order hell some might even work a bit and some should be vaccumed. just make sure that you have a good idea on how long you want them to run through your area. good luck!

I'm struggling with the concept of the guard not noticing the sound of bolter fire and sings of the 8-foot marines passing. I'm not convinced either that any marine party is equipped with the right skill-set to be remotely stealthy. Additionally, I don't see what the 'don't let the guard know you're there' is adding to the mission, apart from a next-to-impossible victory condition.

I'd consider perhaps making it a secondary objective, but not core to the mission.

Also: Dream up a new alien race for it. Anything is possible, and it seems a shame to cramp your campaign by forcing genestealers into it at the cost of putting back the time-line and ruling out -say- necrons from your campaign. It would also rather hose quite a few character backgrounds (ie Ultramarine ones), and require you to remove skills from several Chapter lists (ie the Ultramarine one!)

Marines ARE trained to be stealthy, though, they spend years in the 10th Company perfecting it. In fact, the Night Lords, even when Loyalist, used stealth and terror tactics, even in powered armor. It IS tougher in full kit, but if the marines fight like marines, they can easily hit a target, and fade away before the guardsmen can react. And the guard may know SOMEONE is there, they just cannot know it is Deathwatch.

Also if the marines were to be spotted by the Guards a few well placed bolter shots should be enough to remove that threat

If it IS a stealth mission, simply have them go with stalkers and scout armor. It may be more difficult than a standard 'show up and open up with the heavy bolter' type. Having a mission where stealth is required could be a nice change of pace.

But that said, I'm not super certain why the guard can't know of the deathwatch's presence, unless they're worried that the guard is compromised by the 'nids or something similar that would complicate or compromise their objective.