Hi,

for some friends of mine I want to game master a one shot scenario.

I have a (hopefully) solid idea but could need some help to flesh out details.

So the idea is that the Space Marines arrive at a planet where the imperial army fights a rebel uprising. High in orbit they are instructed by an inquisitor who confesses that he has sent some acolytes on this plantes decades ago. Their last report tells about hints of a genestealer cult and they tried to investigate and infiltrate.

Mere days ago the battle cruiser in orbit received an encrypted message by and for the inquisition. This message contains an emergency call by an acolyte the Inquisitor recognises and tells about a Brood Lord in a forgotten industry complex.

My fist question:

On the one hand I would like to play out the arrival at the industry complex by some vehicle rules in the new Rite of Battle. But what vehicle or vehicles to give the players and what have the enemy rebels? Just to roll some dice and feel good or skip it at all?

Next the players make their way into the industry complex. There they encounter another surviver of the acolytes. He is nearly insane and screams about a trap. Just as the Space Marines try to interrogate him they are attacked by some Combat Servitors - Genestealer - Rebels - whatever!

A wild chase starts through the tunnels while the survivor trys to escape the Marines try to get him before the enemy can shoot him down. Since they are in some old tunnels I thought about additional features like fire or steam blasts to make movement and vision more interesting.

Finally they reach the heart of the complex just to encounter that the emergency signal has been a trap and they are in the middle of a dire threat. For the emperor.

I thought about a big hall with a lot of cover and other features to use the enviroment like closing doors to block further income of enemies.

When the Space Mairnes leave this complex and can be reached again by vox traffic they here about a brood lord uprising in an imperial temple. Let's go to the final conflict. While imperial forces fight with defending rebels at the outher walls they kill team is directly deployed in the heart of the temple complex just to face the brood lords and his minions.

Final question: How to make this final battle more interesting with additional features? Enviroment?

Constructive comments?

Best regards,

TechVoid.

TechVoid said:

Let your players choose what vehicles they want to use. Offer them a pool of vehicles from which they can pick one. This will make the beginning more interesting as your players will have to plandiscuss their tactics how to invade this industry complex: Ground forces like tanksair forces like Thunderhawks? (Unfortunately, this implies that you have to be prepared for every variant, but I'm sure this won't be too much effort.)

Graf said:

So you think this might be interesting for the players to plan anheadchoose the vehicle?

I mean I could totally skip this situation by simply saying 'The thunderhawk deploys you a few metres away from the industry complex!'

My intention was to set them down somewhere outsite - wheter at an imperial outpost or not - and let them proceed with a ground vehicle. Since every Space Marine posesses (!) this skill. Maybe an astartes bike for everybodyan astartes transport. And then a simple attack by another vehiclesome rebel forces with a heavy weapon. The Marines could jump out of their transporterbring doom to their oponents.

Cheers,

TechVoid.

I wouldn't skip this situation – en contraire: I would let my players completely decide (and play out) how they get to this factory, crossing a town-at-war with ongoing engagements between imperial troops and rebels: Their chosen vehicle will decide what encounters will arise: Street barricades, snipers and urban fights against ground vehicles, flak and difficulties when they are trying to land if they choose the air-way.

For your final fight, I would suggest to make use of the different fractions: What will happen when rebels, Space Marines and Tyranids encounter at the same place? Who will be fighting against whom? Don't let just all attack your players – it will be more intense if there will be a real chaos in which noone knows whom to fight first. The enemy of my enemy...

Maybe there will be some hostages (or, better said, living food supplies for the Tyranids) who have to be rescued, so your players have to take care whom they shoot and what weapons they use.

By the way: One question I asked myself while I read your adventure (so I think your players could ask the same, so you should have a good explanation): What is the reason why someone is sending a false emergency signal? Who attempts to entrap the Acolytes and Space Marines – and why does he do so? Why does he want them to enter that factory? An intriguing answer to those questions could put you adventure on a higher level as it will trigger new contexts, new interrelations – and of course new encounters.

Graf said:

A very valid question and I think I did not write anything about it.

I another thread I asked about the behaviour of Tyranids especially Brood Lords where I wanted to know how cunning these creatures are.

So as a rough explanation I would say the following:

The Tyranids have landed on the planet decades ago and started to infect and infiltrate into the civilization. After the second or third generation of their hybrid spawns it became moremore difficult to hide and the Inquisition became involved in investigations. Sadly for the acolytes some of them were captured and 'turned' by the Genestealer's kiss.

Several years later the Tyranids are on the verge of success: The Brood Lord became powerfull, the Hive Fleet is coming and the cult starts open revolts which finally involved the imperial army to regain control of the planet. But the Brood Lord knows that sooner or later the Deathwatch will arrive since the presence of Tyranids will be discovered. But to buy some time he sets an immediate trap for the first Deathwatch Team to arrive - using the 'turned' acolytes - and hopefully crush them. There is no reason why the Deathwatch should not send another Kill-Team but while the second Team might be on its way the shadow in the warp is crawling near the planet...

I hope this is some solid background and given more time with the players one could play one or two missions befor or after this mission.

Finally I must confess that it is somehow similar to the introduction adventure but I thought for myself to be more linear since we have exactly one session. And although one could argue about linear missions I hope that the players have a solid motiviation for their mission, encounter a turning point and engange the final conflict.

I know that their might occur some logic gaps but since at least one player is totally new to the system there will be an equal focus on the rules besides the story.

So forgive me if I did not put too much effort in a 100% consistent story arc.

Best regards,

TechVoid.

I'm not sure how intelligent such a Brood Lord isif they do plan with the Deathwatch – I always considered them to have a rather animal-like way of thinking.

But never mind how consistent your backstory is: To be true, you don't need a detailed backstory at all. You could simply show your players that someone has arranged that trap – without revealing who the grey eminence is. This will make that unknown enemy behind the plot even more spookier.

Or the "trap" could simply be no trap at all, but a bad coincidence. Maybe it's simply a lost emitter of an Acolyte who asked for help before he was killed. The emitter (which is still active) will lead the rescue team to the place where the Acolyte died – a place quite in the middle of his enemies. So you don't need an explanation at all because it's no trap planned by a foe, but simply a very bad coincidence...

I'd probably just drop them in whatever vehicle I wanted to and hand-wave it. If it's a one-shot, then vehicle rules will just bog things down. Vehicles being awesome also detracts from the players being awesome. As a one-shot you should really stress everything you can in order to make the players feel utterly awesome.

Yeah,

maybe you are right. Yesterday we played with a lot of vehicles. Defending a little town with air support of a Thunderhawk against an arriving Tau force. It was quite awesome although our marines just handled the 'foot-troops'.

So yes, it was a lot of fun, even if our marines did not the whole job. So yes, maybe for beginners it might be better to keep the focus on the Kill-Team.

Cheers,

TechVoid.

Graf said:

If we go by old genestealer patriarch background they are extremely intelligent.

And there was the Space Hulk novelisation that came out when the new collecters 3rd ed spacehulk came out which gives us a brief bit of an insight into the spacehulk broodlords thinking. (though it gets the librarians forceweapon wrong if i recall correctly so isn't a flawless source)