On a National Treasure-eque journey that I am planning for my players, one of their points of travel will be Terra.

How can a Rogue Trader in a registered Slaughter-class Cruiser (registration done by Blood Ravens) get to Terra without being blown up?

To be more specific...they will be in orbit in the same exact spot that the Vengeful Spirit once held when the battle between the Emperor and Horus took place. So over the Imperial Palace...

Here, they will be met by an ancient space marine who will give them a piece of the puzzle they are trying to solve.

From there? The next impossibility...gain access to the Vengeful Spirit itself to open a secret compartment in the throne Horus once sat upon for the next piece...

You might want to scale this one down a bit- if there was a plot that involved all the elements you mention then REALLY powerful people are going to be getting involved. Also, a warship from out of system probably isn't going to be allowed to park itself right above the Imperial Palace under ANY circumstances.

Interesting idea for a campaign, but I'd say you need to scale it down a bit to make it work. Like have the focus be Drusus and the Angevin Crusade in the Calixis Sector instead of the Horus Heresy. In fact, that would be a very easy plot to tie in to the PCs coming across the Light of Terra in Lure of the Expanse.

Well I may do some more thinking and move these events back a bit towards the end of their journey.

In the adventure before, the players help defeat a Black Legion strike cruiser and gain a map that promises to lead to a artifact that can show the past, no matter where or how long ago. The Black Legion wishes to use it for military intelligence (and help bind the other Legions to them) as they can select a destination and look at troop movements. The players see gelt signs as any Imperial agency would pay a fortune for it.

They don't get far before they are ambushed by Karrad Vall's Wolf Pack, intent on getting the map back for Abaddon. They are saved by the Blood Ravens, but lose their ship. The Blood Ravens give them the former Chaos Cruiser and some space marines for the extra firepower.

Their next destination is the cemetary world of Agusia. The next map is there along with a couple of relics whose roles will reveal themselves as time goes by. They fight a horde of undead skeletons with a skeleton psyker as their leader in taking the map.

This map leads them out into the Halo Stars where they find a warp gate hidden in the Warp. One of the relics brings the Gate into real space and another activates it. This will take them to some far flung location that is as of yet...undetermined, but is significant and very far away from the Expanse.

From there? I have half-baked ideas about some pretty major events that may indeed be better of being scaled back a bit.

Still, anyone with a bit of Divination will know that the players are searching for something that can change the Imperium (and thus the galaxy) for all time. Eldar, Chaos, the Inquisition, and so on will have their own reasons for helping the players, stopping the players, or taking over their quest to see the benefits for themselves.

Yeah, time for some new ideas. The main theme isn't bad, but it is actually impossible for them to do what you're asking. A Rogue Trader's power is greatest when he is beyond the Imperium, and reduces as Imperial power grows. Even the greatest RT will be nothing compared to the powers that inhabit Terra and will get no special treatment.

Also, the Vengeful Spirit is still in service in the forces of Chaos and in all likelihood is in the Eye of Terror. Even if it isn't, it will be surrounded by hordes of Chaos ships. You need to turn down the scale of this adventure, or your players are just going to be a tear in the rain and be ruthlessly beaten down by greater powers.

Anyways, the Imperium is a big place. Warp Travel alone to all these far flung locations would be a huge risk and would take years.

Too true. Like I said the plot is still in development. We hadn't run the adventure of cat and mouse with the strike cruiser yet.

I have a new player who may be joining. A Dark Eldar altered to look human. His Kabal uses a abomination crafted from enslaved brains of psykers to mimic the Divination powers used by their light cousins. This creature has pointed to the players as being the key to finding the relic that can see into the past. The Dark Eldar Kabal believe that this relic will help them defeat the Kabal of the Black Heart and take control of the dark city. He is to help the other players until they have secured this artifact (though the players do not know at this time that they will be seeking it) and then summon the fleet with another enslaved Astropath brain (or another method of commincation across the Webway) and take the artifact by force.

This Dark Eldar is trained to be familiar with Imperium tech and biology to be able to hamper the player ship if need be and take the place of ship's medical expert (once he tracks down and murders the nameless npc at port)

vastrix said:

And this is where I just abandon any attempt to advise you on setting canon and how to make your campaign fit it.

Well, as long as you and your players are having fun...

Tantavalist said:

+1 QFT

Not exactly my first choice, but the player is ga ga over Dark Elves and Dark Eldar. So for his first character I'm allowing it.

Can't say how long he'll last, but it will be interesting as he plys his trade. I have seen some home brew rules for Dark Eldar characters. I'll just need to cobble up some costs for him to advance and while I found rules for killing enemies...not much for Torture and it's benefits. I'm thinking it would be a special use for the Medicae skill.

HeavensThunderHammer said:

As much as I hate short posts, I must also affirm this post's message.

Oh no the Canon Police!

Then I shouldn't mention the Glitter Boy and Titan Robot Armor variants I wrote up for the game then either.