This is an idea that I’ve seen on several other RPG sites, a thread that’s sole purpose is to be a treasury of story ideas that other GM’s can borrow, tweak if need be, comment on ones they enjoy and then post one or two of their own.
I’m calling it Ready-Aim-Fire because it’s easier to pick up a story idea when it’s broken down for easy consumption.
Ready:
The bait for the PC’s to grab a hold of. This would be the part of the story that gives some ideas on what information would be needed to start some PC’s down this stories track.
Aim:
Background information or just a more detailed idea of where the story is heading. This is the meat and potatoes of the post.
Fire:
This would be the ending, the catch or the twist. This is how the story finally pans out, the “who done it” part or setting up for a future storyline.
+++
Rogue Trader -
Ready:
An endeavor (or contract obligation depending on the Warrant of Trade) has been given to the RT and his crew to establish a permanent scientific settlement on the planetoid of Ecandis IX Beta-Alpha, a habitable planetoid will subtropical climate. This planetoid is a moon of a moon (Ecandis IX Beta) of a gas giant (Ecandis IX). This settlement’s job will be to examine the gas giant of Ecandis IX to understand its properties and see if it has anything valuable to the Imperium. Also, the system has void buoys that state, “Danger! Turn back upon Imperial Decree!” This shouldn’t stop the RT and his crew because they have been warned of the void buoys and informed that something is amiss in the system, but the money’s really good.
Aim:
The real reason for a permanent scientific settlement on a backwater planet’s moon’s moon is to observe the gas giant Ecandis IX for any signs of warp disturbance/creature or xenos threat. When the RT gets to the planet he/she will discover that the gas giant is of enough mass to form a sun and make this system binary, yet for some reason the gas giant has remained in its planetoid state. The RT and his crew will begin to discover strange warp signatures and distress calls coming from what appears to be nowhere, strange shadows are seen in the gas giant’s clouds. Finally, every psyker begins to feel drawn towards the gas giant as if something familiar is pulling them towards it; they’ll stare at it for a time and lose themselves in the echoes coming from it.
Fire:
During the endeavor a celestial alignment will occur with Ecandis IX B-A coming between the gas giant and the large moon the small moon rotates around; also Ecandis IX Beta will blot out the sun for a lengthy time. During this alignment the gas on Ecandis IX will part in the area of shadow from the alignment. This opening will allow an enormous warp creature to step through into our reality, it never has the ability to leave the gas giant but when it senses life on Ecandis IX B-A it will reach its enormous tentacles across the space between the planetoids and begin an assault on the minor moon. Its attacks will rake across the minor moon, scouring the moon of life and habitation by absorbing everything into itself. Will the RT fight back with his ships or will they flee.+++
I’m actually going to be using this one in my upcoming RT game so I hope you guys enjoy it.
Depending on how this turns out I'd like to start two more, one in the Dark Heresy and one in the Deathwatch Gamemaster's forums.