Just bandying around some ideas for my next DH campaign, for my long-term party after they finish the current campaign.

That said; any of my players GET LOST!! You know who you are!

Gone?
Right.

So the concept for the campaign is such:

An Imperial world comes under attack from an Ork Waaagh!
During the invasion a young man becomes a figure of hope, leading civilian forces to several surprising victories over the Orks. Rumours begin to circulate that the man is the reincarnation of the God-Emperor himself.

When the Imperial Guard arrives to relieve the planet's belagured PDF, they find the world hostile towards them; the PDF now follow their 'prophet' rather than Imperial Creed and oppose the Imperial presence.

As well as fighting a war against the greenskins (who control half the planet by now), the IG also finds itself fighting against the prophet's forces, with the thousands of remaining civilians caught in the middle.

Due to the prophet's presence, Inquisitorial forces have been called in to investigate and eliminate him and his followers, and this is where the PCs come in.

After my last campaign all the characters are fairly kick-ass, around rank 6 (i think that's right; they've all started down their 'specialisation' paths on the advance scheme) so they'll be working as fairly high-up agents of the Inquisition.

Can you guys think of any interesting plot twists or events I can throw at them?

The general plot I'm going for is that the 'prophet' is actually an unwilling pawn of an anti-Imperial cult. The twist being that he IS actually a distant decendant of the Emperor (not a Sensei, but the grandson of one) and quite a nice bloke; he just wants to save his world from the Orks.

All feedback appriciated.

Have your PCs eventually meet this decendant and feel the "holy" prensence then let them make the choice.

Even better have a cultist of the runious powers in there trying to convert this man to his cause. If that doesn't seem to be working well then have this man attempt to convice the PCs that the grandson is indeed possed.

The thing to keep in mind for this adventure would be lies and double crosses.

There's a division of Inquisitors, puritans not radicals, who seek to bring the Emperor back to life. I can't remember what they're called , but they also seek out those who are gifted with the essence of the Emperor's reincarnation.

If you wanted another group or character for your acolytes to work with, fight against, and work around, then an Inquisitor belonging to this group, his retinue, and/or his acolytes would be a good idea.

Sorry, I still can't remember the group's name. I'm sure someone else will recall it quicker than I can get home and find my Inquisitor book.

First of all, I would suggest to stay away from this "emporer-linage-thing" due to "background issues":

It´s is part of the fluff that the past is in deep darkness...so how shall some-one be able to proof that the lineage of someone goes back to the emporer himself?

But in generall, I think the campaign idea is great! The pc can go for their target and you can throw in any kind of extra obstacle in form of orc forces.

Nice things to throw in:
Get the pc captured/besieged/cornered by orcs..and rescued by the forces of "the prophet". (a little corny, I know)

A little series of follow ups:
Your pc (supported by loyalist guardsmen; perhabs two dozen men; three chimeras and three sentinels?) travel to a settlement where traitors forces had been spotted. After securing the settlement (resistance: NON) the pc can start to question the populace about the whereabouts of the force. The people of the settlement refuse to answer. What will the pc do to get the informationen?

After they know where to go to (a forma agri-combine, complete with fuel tanks and little work shops for harvesting machines) they find out that the traitor forces have access to substancial armoured vehicles (perhabs 6 to 9 sentinels? Or two battle tanks? ). Can they sneak in and find a way to disenable the machines in order to minimize their loses in the attack?

They succeeded on the attack and caputered the traitor leutenant. After a long (and bloody) interrogation, he spills the last whereabout of the prophet (know to him!). The pc get moving, just to find the place (a forma cloister) under siege by orc forces. Their forces aren´t strong enough to beat the orcs AND the traitors, but simply waiting bears the risk of incoming enemy reserves (orcs or traitors, it does not matter).

Nice ideas Gregorius!

Another idea I had, rather than the 'son of the Emperor' idea, was the the prophet was effectivly a 'living saint' or similar.

Well, Headhanger- the 'puritan' group you are looking for is the Thorians, who believe that portions of the emperor's spirit can reside in certain earthly avatars, and sek to find one strong enough to hold all of it (they get their name from the belief that Sebastian Thor was one). There is a 'radical' group with almost identical beliefs known as the Horusians- gotta love the fine line at the extremes,it's so easy for ultra-puritan Thorian to slip over into Horusianism...

Especially considering that all resurrectionist cults (both 'special cases', like the Emperor, and general) are considered heresy, and banned not only by the Imperium but the Mechanicum as well...

Headhanger said:

Resurrectionists aren't necessarily heretical. Technically, Thorianism says the Emperor will come back. Where the Heresy comes in is when groups or individuals attempt to artificially speed up the process and there are several groups of those. Some of the most insidious are the division of Inquisitors known as the Illuminati, which also have subdivisions. Officially, they've been written out of the fluff, but you're the GM, you can do what you want.

As for the "Emperor's Lovechild" tack, I don't see what's wrong with it. The mere notion that Jes..err the Emperor had offspring is sheer Heresy in and of itself. Don't go overboard though. You want to make the players think the plot will destabilize the Imperium, but if it actually happens in your game, then what? Sometimes you get players (who in 40k play Eldar or Chaos) who think it's a good idea to help the bad guys whereas the assumption is they're working FOR the Emperor.

Of course, it could just be a rumor....

Say the guy is good. Turns out he's a "Living Saint". Unfortunately (perhaps for him) there is a Cult who is fostering the idea he's the Emperor's progeny. No matter how much he publically denys it, the idea takes hold. Even the "innocent" Imperial Citizen who venerates this guy is a candidate for execution, because the mere idea that the Emperor had sex is heresy. Just ask any Sister of Battle.

What do you do? What happens when the Orks are defeated? You still have a planet full of heretics. Yet, the majority of this heresy could be stamped out by calling in the Ecclesiarchy and re-education the population, perhaps resulting in a new Saint and Icon of Imperial worship...or will the players be vile enough to call for Exterminatus? Some good moral dilemmas there.

I like this idea. The mysterious Cult posing as a legitimate Cult fostering heretical beliefs and using a popular leader adds another layer of depth to the original idea.

Wow, those are some great ideas Maxim, thanks!

I definately have to write this campaign up and post it here.

I may be a little late in coming, but plot twist possiblities.

Make it that the Prophet is actually extremely loyal to the Emperor but his cult has gone out of control and he's really nothing more then a figure head anymore.

Have a Thorian Inquisitor there who orders your alcolytes not to kill him, but rescue him, directly counter-manning the players Inquisitors orders (who is many light years away). Do they listen to the Inquisitor who is there on planet (risking angering their boss) or do as their Inquisitor says (and risk being arrested by the Inquisitor on the planet)?

Have the prophet's forces rescue a bunch of the IG... and have parts of IG fall under the sway of the Prophet's charm problem is which parts are under his sway.

In the end the Alcolytes face off against the Prophet himself, but suddenly find that for some reason they need the Prophet. Maybe the Orks are attacking, and its the Prophet and only the Prophet that can save them and the remaining IG. Have it so that the Alcolytes understand that to let the Prophet help means he'll disappear and be unable to be caught and brought back before he and his remaining forces skip planet, but to kill him means their deaths.

Have the "Prophet" be nothing more then a talented General, but the true prophet, the one with the leet powers, is nothing more then a young girl. Do your players execute a child, let her go, or fight the entire planet to take her off world?

The Prophet is actually a powerful Psyker Xeno Inquisitor, with many many politcal connections and allies within the Inquisition. Why is the Inquisitor really doing all this? What is his purpose, and has he gone over to the side of Heresy, or is he well within his limits? If he has gone over to Heresy for real, how are the Alcolytes going to prove is guilt to the rest of the Inquisition? Do they let him go or execute him immediatly and hope they have enough evidence to prove their case? Extra points if the Inquisitor denies that he's a heretic and truely believes he's just doing his job.

The prophet is actually a demonhost, a rather powerful one, and the ork attack is his doing, so that he can corrupt the planet to do his bidding. Do the Alcolytes have the power to destroy this demonhost, especially with the IG busy fighting off the Orks and the Prophet's forces?

The prophet really is a Saint, and his appearance threatens the status quo of the Empire, causing the Almathians to want him dead and gone. Do the players help the Almathians, or do they support this holy man and figure?

I might be a bit late in comming in with idea's, but this campaiugn to me has more potential for investigation, stealth and intrigue?

I always use Combat as a counter-point in my campaigns, and I think it would work in this one as well, use few encounters with Loyalist and 'Rebel' forces and maybe the Orcs, but try and make the party use a bit of guile rather than brute force. Make them try and convince the "Prophets" forces that they are not hostile?

I like the idea of the "Prophet" being a saint, or a Pseudo-Saint who has had his vision clouded by Chaos, and his followers turned to evil.

I would love to run this campaign, lots of pontential stealth and intrigue, which is what I love

Great idea.