Hi. Damned Cities is our first scenario in Haarlock Campaign. Next are HDA, TF and DS.

Yesterday we have stopped at the moment, where the Acolytes have killed Marshal Skarmen. Until our next session next week, I'm thinking on what kind of deal could be proposed to them by the mirror daemon.

I think something along the lines of:

- the information must be tempting, practically useable and unveiling the plot to a reasonable degree;

- if the Acolytes accept the deal, they are not receiving Fate Points for the mission and get lots of Corruption Points instead;

- the Acolytes' choice must be non-evident.

Currently, I'm considering the following options, in addition to mentioning the Blind Tesseract:

- daemon will warn them against the initial trap in TF, thus allowing them to escape the Red Cages part (it is not that crucial for the TF plot, right?);

- daemon will warn them against the Gilded Widow;

- daemon will hint at the fact that one of the Acolytes is a relative to Erasmus Haarlock (just imagine their astonishment );

- daemon will propose a Dark Pact.

Which of the above options (or all of them) would you suggest to use, based on your own experience? Should I adjust the price of such knowledge?

Is it possible to run TF without being trapped in Red Cages, or am I missing something?

egalor said:

I have to strongly desagree with you, because, IMHO, the Red Cages part is crucial to the plot of TF.

Indeed, it's when and where the PC first encounter the head of the local pilgrims of Hayte's conspiracy and the local head of the House of the Beast, also.

These encounters make them able to understand what's going on (i.e. the pilgrim's are the "real" threat, behind the House).

DarkLoic said:

Yes, you're right.

But what if I introduce the following changes to starting the TF (provided the acolytes have been warned by the daemon of the Red Cages trap):

- the Acolytes are ordered to search for the missing inquisitor Karkalla on Quaddis;

- they enter the Red Cages from the city as a fully equipped Inquisitorial acolyte team (by stealth or how they see fit),

- they find Karkalla and also learn about the Pilgrims of Hayte and the Beast House?

Would that work, how do you think?

They could just get an invitation from from the Inquisition and skip 90% of the adventure.

bogi_khaosa said:

That's incorrect, because finding out about importance Gabriel Chase getting an invitation there is a major part of TF, while Red Cages is merely a dungeon crawl of arbitrary length containing bits of plot, which could be easily introduced otherwise (see my suggestions above).

I'd still appreciate some more comprehensive comments, if any. Thanks!

Well, bogi is sort of right though, even if it sounded a little flat.

Warning against the initial trap in TF sounds a little too mundane for my liking in regard to the ancient secrets a daemon could know.

Something among the lines of the Gilded Widow, the Widower (e.g. its weakness) or maybe even the machniations of the Beloved (who deals with daemons and got his information regarding the PCs from daemons IIRC). The relative of Haarlock theme could also work. Maybe you could combine these informations with a dark pact, preferably with the scion of Haarlock of course.

Luthor Harkon said:

As the daemon is not allowed to speak too much about Haarlock, I think I will drop hints about the weak spots of the Widower and use the Haarlock relative theme. A Dark Pact maybe too would be a nice occasion to try it out on my party. In any case, this will only work if the Acolytes decide to deal with the daemon, which might be a difficult choice considering one of the Acolytes is a Firebrand Redemptionist ))

This means I will leave the Red Cages intact.

Thanks for helping me decide.

There are a few things to keep in mind. First, the daemon desires nothing more than to be free and escape to the warp and put as much distance between him and the coming Haarlock as he can. That is his basic motivation, and probable dark pacts with the acolytes will come second.

Second, he cannot reveal too much about Haarlock as he is bound by him.

Third, this is a daemon, so everything he says - with this particular daemon in particular - will be a half truth, a veiled lie, a cryptic riddle. He will certainly not have anything to say about mundane threats such a trap in the Red Cages or which team will win the Calyxis Super Bowl. I'd prefer answers that require interpretation: maybe he can reveal something about the Widower, but the acolytes will have to do the deductions themselves.

Remember, some of the names if this entity are Beggar of Truth and Shade of Misrule, so he will no doubt be an oracle of sorts, but chatting with him will never be easy.

That said, the information he has on the Blind Tesseract is vital if you wish to play Dead Stars after Damned Cities. If the acolytes banish the daemon back, they will never get that clue. In my campaign this happened. But that's okay, the clue was way too plump and straightforward anyway so I'll work this piece of revelation in a Haarlock adventure of my own.

The Laughing God said:

Seems fair. I'll run it as a kind of oracle then, dropping clues which will come handy (if remembered) when dealing with the Widower. I still want to propose a dark pact, anyways.

And a few local lottery winning numbers wouldn't hurt as well

egalor said:

If you have a Firebrand Redepmtionist in your group but you still plan the option of a daemon pact/daemon deal for your (other) pc... best prepare a "make-a-new-character-session" with the Redemptionist players as well! A daemon deal would lead to a "departure of ways" for sure!

Back2Topic:
Given a hint about the Widower is the best solution imho. If you need something oracle-style, the Mirror Daemon could mention that "You will face the many faced foe. And at this time, manifest time is your only true weapon". Since there are a lot of masks involved in the Carneval, this will confuse them a lot at the beginning till a certain "a-ha!!"-Moment might strike them at the end.

Another mysteric musing could be "Caught in a web of anothers design, the best thing to free oneself is a binding to the spider". This will ensure that
the pc are more willing to cooperate with the SpiderBride (instead of a death by her hand while doing PapaGrists bidding)

Last but not least "A gifted dagger will always end in your own back" (as a warning of the possession dagger Heron Masks intents to slip to the pc). If you do want to skip the arena introduction, Heron could send them the letter and the dagger via a courier boy. He might have learned of the pc and their doings by daemonic spells & visions, cast by one of his retinue or granted in the desecrated cathedral. In that case, you might need to ensure that the pc do not carry to much of good weapons into town AND change the dagger to an energy blade. Otherwise, they pc will not be teased to take up the rather simple and ineffective weapon at all!

Another option would be "Memories of Blood & Ancestory" as part of a pact. The Haarlock-Scion of your group would thereby either gain substantial (+20? )bonus for all scenes plaid in "the Tesseract" or might even be consideres under the effect of this one defensive Prophecy-Psi-Power (which names dodges me right now... no books at hand since I am at my work-break). This could even be granted when dealing with threats destinctively Haarlock...like the Widower. The CP for this should not be to high, so. It is of only limited use, after all! If you play "House of Dust and Ash", the Scion could get some brief warnings of things that will happen about a minute before they happen. This should be restricted to parts of the trap... like the attack of Greel and his Mourners or the different stages of the unwinding trap the House turned into.

Hey, thanks for the comprehensive input. I will use it next week during the conversation with the daemon.

The Laughing God said:

Hey, I'd be interested in knowing what ideas you have for custom Haarlock adventures! Stretching the trilogy out somewhat seems to be key, because I feel otherwise the jumps are just a touch too drastic.

Mnesimache said:

I haven't tied everything together yet. I have run Damned Cities, which tells the players a bit about the Haarlock line and a cryptic hint by the Mirror Daemon that 'the Dark Traveller' (whoever this is) is returning.

Next will come the Ship of Fools adventure (see the thread in the Gamesmaster section of these boards) in which the acolytes learn that various factions and power groups in the sector are out to seize the Haarlock's Legacy.

Then they will be recruited by Silar Marr and sent to the House of Dust and Ash. More power groups, and a telltale warning that indeed Erasmus Haarlock is returning.

From there on, I will have to connect things to Tattered Fates, as the official in media res beginning of that adventure doesn't suit me. I will probably introduce an Order Dialogous Battle Sister who was tasked with chronicling the Haarlock line, and whose genealogy of that ill-fated house will shed more light on the internecine warfare and the doings of Erasmus.

Ooh, the idea of the chronicles of Sunder would be very interesting. Perhaps that might be a use for "Explicator Lorelei Dekanta" from DOTDG!

It's interesting to run Damned Cities first, and I like what you're doing with the "Dark Traveller". I'm running House of Dust and Ash/Tattered Fates (trying to work on integrating the two) and then Damned Cities, moving on to Dead Stars. Obviously there's some mileage to be had in having the players track down the location of the Tesseract themselves, getting permission to go there, interviewing surviviors of the original Mara massacre, but it's just trying to drip-feed the Acolytes more information about the Haarlock dynasty and his activities as they proceed.

Mnesimache said:

Refresh my memory .. what are the chronicles of Sunder and who is Lorelei Dekanta?

There might be a bit of trouble with running Damned Cities after Tattered Fates .. after all, DC is hardly about the Haarlocks. The Haarlock link is entirely absent from the main plot and only by coincidence discovered when the daemon starts to speak. That's why I ran it first, as a coincidental brush with the Haarlock saga, after which Marr is informed and they are drafted into his service.

Apologies, I got things mixed up slightly. Your mention of the Dialogus made me think of the Haarlock Legacy; particularly in Disciples of the Dark Gods, at the start of The House of Dust and Ash the pre-made "Inquisitorial contact" is given as Lorelei Dekanta, a former sororitas. You could use her and have her looking into the genealogies of the Haarlock Dynasty at her Inquisitor's behest.

Aside from the obvious thing that Damned Cities is released after Tattered Fates, there are ways to link them together. One of the optional discoveries in Gabriel Chase is a chart showing many of Haarlock's holdings across Calixis. One of them is the Folly on Sinophia. It's possible that after the madness at Gabriel Case, their Inquisitor orders them to check out another of Haarlock's Holdings. When they arrive on Sinophia, they are caught up in the murder investigation, not knowing that these two lines of enquiry are much closer than they might think...

Of course, I'm not trying to say you should run DC after TF - your way is interesting also, and entirely valid. I'm just looking at expanding the trilogy somewhat. I want the Acolytes to slowly find out more about Haarlock and the Haarlock Dynasty, having him move from "lost rogue trader" to "kin-slayer" to "monster" and then back to "man". When they face Haarlock down, I want him to be quite a tragic character, with the idea that he did everything to try to bring his daughter and his wife back.*

(*In my games, the internicine war between the Haarlocks was started by an Istvaanian Inquisitor. The players wil find this out towards the end - that Haarlock's wife and child were killed by an Inquisitor - how will this change their view of what he's done?)

Mnesimache said:

I like, I like!

What if Haarlock finds out .. would he wage a private war against the Inquisition?

Honestly, I haven't given that aspect too much thought just yet. I figured that the players would find out in the Tesseract exactly how Haarlock's wife and child die. I have plans for Haarlock escaping into the mortal plane, and then acting as a Davey Jones (from Pirates of the Caribbean)-esque character. (That's based on this resource from Dark Reign: http://darkreign40k.com/drjoomla/index.php/adventures/plot-seeds/1276-the-haarlock-files-adventures-and-plots) And so perhaps he will take vengeance on the Inquisition.

I've been told in other threads that I've gone on too far in the future, but I've enjoyed speculating about things. I'd like my Haarlock to become a tragic character. In the Tesseract, I rather like the idea of my characters meeting Haarlock himself (or a version of him) in a relatively peaceful setting. It makes me think of Picard in the Nexus in Star Trek: Generations - perhaps seeing a happy Haarlock with his family, and having the acolytes sit down and speak to him. For much of the Legacy, Haarlock is this character over the horizon, distant and terrible, but they only see him once on Dusk, before they win. I want my characters to become more intimately acquainted with the Legacy and with the man. Perhaps they will convince Haarlock to abandon his crusade and give in to death - if so, before he dies he'll tell the Acolytes to ensure the Inquisitor (maybe even Marr!) is punished for his misdeeds.

Since each of your players characters have their own distinctive motivations and it is a desperate, trapped oracle-daemon we are talking about here, take the time to think over what might tempt each individual character. Make it really tempting, even if it is something that is realisticlly unobtainable. Once you have a rough idea of what they might bite on, then when they find the mirrors take each player aside in private (the daemon is whispering to them telepathically, reading their thoughts, offering to say, do, promise whatever it must to obtain it's own release!). Play through the psychic discussion with each player separately like this and you just might get a bite! Most groups when offered a deal as a group will quickly reject it, either out of deep personal convictions and roots in the Imperial Creed or the desperate desire to appear pious and upstanding in front of a room full of Inquisitorial agents!

I know of a group that had a character obtain (and USE!) a daemon-blade and a HALO device without most of their team knowing about it for a while, so such things are certainly possible.

Edit: Forum keeps glitching and cutting off this post.

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