I have a set of rank 6ers that have a decent amount of gear. I would like to give them a run for their money once in awhile but most of the stuff in the books I find that is tougher also has fear factors to them. While I like the fear factor aspect of the game I do not want to constantly have them check to see if they faint and wish mommy was there.

If you have Creatures Anathema you could send them against eldar or genestealers. That´s a sure way to give them on hell of a challenge without fear runing the scene.

Nothing like a proper genestealer cult to doom a hive!

Cool, genestealer cults, single genestealer on a ship at warp, lots of dark places to hide and combat will be brutal when it happens possibly get the players jumping at shadows. As for high lvl challenges without fear of course, if you don't want them to test for fear don't make them. You can always adpt the monsters/creatures/bad guys anyway you want, you are after all the closest thing to the Empourer in your game.

If you don't like the Fear mechanics, just don't use them. Maybe give enemies with Fear ratings a little bonus to their stats instead.

As for enemies which are not "fear-inducing", any adversary which is essentially human would qualify. Rogue psykers, renegade Storm Troopers, Radical Inquisitorial agents, disloyal Imperial officials, heretic Tech Priests and so on all make for challenges which do not resort to Fear in order to be difficult.

As mentioned before, the various well-known Xenos cultures could also qualify. Eldar, Kroot and Tau are powerful without being terrifying.

Vehicals can be a good threat, corrupt guardsmen not so bad, guardsmen in a Sentinel now thats another story.

Ork Warbosses dont have exceptional fear factors, and really by rank 6 the character are probably familiar enough with them to not go running at the first sight. They do have high intimidate skills, but that is more for influening a horde of orkz.

Eldar Pathfinders in Camo can be fun(no fear there until your neighbor's head explodes maybe)

Deathcult Assassin's who are either, corrupt, think one of your players is corrupt, or opposses one of the members of the team(rival cult/scum character) Give em some toxins if want to increase potential danger.

Incoming Artillary fire/mines, IEDs.

Extreme enviromental conditions-Higher Grav/Less Grav, Very Acidic/Alkaline percepitation, Heavy Fog, High/Constant Noise pollution, High volcanic activity- these can all add to a situation.

I hope those examples help. I am away from my books atm, but if like what I have presented so far I can look into them for more ideas.

Thanks for all the suggestions, I thought about scraping the fear aspect before but overall I think its a large part of the setting itself. They did not want to play a demon heavy game so I was fine with that. Just was wanting to push them more than I have already.

scscofield said:

To take another angle on this, how resistant are the PCs to fear? By rank 6, it's generally a good idea to have invested at least some xp into willpower and talents to stave off the effects of fear. If they've invested nothing in those, then fear would be a bigger problem than usual in DH. That said, if every enemy is fear-inducing then it can be good to mix things up a bit. Some good suggestions above. I especially second renegade mechanicus. Near-alien thought patterns combined with lethal technology and ingenuity, free of the constraints of the mechanicus or petty sanity.

Something else that might be used are some of the enemies from Rogue Trader, or even a deathwatch. A handful of Tau do not have a fear rating and can be quite deadly.

Something else that might be used are some of the enemies from Rogue Trader, or even a deathwatch. A handful of Tau do not have a fear rating and can be quite deadly.

Unfortunately, they're also on the wrong end of the galaxy.

If your group is rank 6 and not immune to petty fear it just means they have been very sheltered =P.

Keep in mind that failed fear checks often grant insanity points. There is an easily overlooked rule on the Insanity section that grants immunity to Fear 1 at 20 IPs, and immunity to Fear 2 at 40 IP, Fear 3 at 60 IP and so on.

If your Acolytes are Rank 6 and aren't at least immune to Fear 1, you must have been a merciful GM =).

In Ascension, they do list a Planetary governor who wishes to get his planet free of the Imperium's rule as some 2-bit adept decided his planet should pump out more minerals, dus turning his beautiful world into a polluted landscape. He's got no fear factor, just that EVERYONE on the planet backs him.

IMHO, one of the scariest non-fear generating adversaries is....another party of characters. Acolytes from a rival Inquisitor. Radical Acolytes. NPC's based off the character classes with the same skills, Fate points, and pimp gear that your PC's have. These make for a great challenge.

If you want something less 'human', Dark Mechanicus or rogue Tech baddies are a great choice. Make up a machine "monster" to throw at the PC's - give it a big pneumatic hammer or an eviscerator, a gun or three, and enough armor and wounds to make beating it down a real challenge.

One of the worst things I experienced as a PC was getting attacked by a horde of sewer rats after having to shuck my armor off to avoid drowining...nothing gets yoru adrenaline pumping like being stuck treading water and having to beat a horde of vermin off your head.