http://dhsotr.freeforums.org/index.php
Little more than twenty-two years has passed since the Imperium's return to the Jericho Reach.
Throughout the Age of Shadows the staunchly loyalist Cabal System has held back heresy and blunted the ambitions of xenos, keeping itself pure under the guidance of the mysterious Star Chamber – a faceless council which wields supreme and unquestioned power.
The transition back to Imperial rule has not been an easy one despite the willingness of the people, but the Star Chamber labours behind the scenes to ensure that its worlds will play a dominant role in the reunited sector in the years to come.
And now as the latest Imperial Governor, Blaze Tolus – a decorated Imperial Guard veteran – takes up his throne the Star Chamber direct their most loyal agents in the secretive Department 9 to see that his rule is accepted and followed.
But all is not well in the Jericho Reach and slowly but surely a terrible shadow is falling across the Cabal System...
About the Game
This is a forum based game, looking for somewhere between three and six players.
Shadows of the Reach is intended to be a fairly 'classic' Dark Heresy game – characters start mostly unmodified at low level but with a slight adjustment to stats. For the most part fancy alternate careers, traits and other such things will not be allowed (with some possible exceptions).
Rather than working for an Imperium spanning Inquisitor they work for the Star Chamber as agents of the semi-recognised Department 9. The game will be heavily focused on one world, Cabal Prime, upon which I have lavished excessive detailing to make sure its always got something new to offer. Occasionally you might visit one of the other worlds of the Cabal System but, for the foreseeable future, you would not leave this system.
The game will be played by Cases. Each Case will be a complete story, though all will link into a vast meta-plot that will take a long time to resolve. The game will NOT be action heavy – it'll have a focus on investigation (social and physical) and mystery. Action will usually come up at the climax of a case and can, if the party turns out to be mostly thinkers and talkers, be avoided if you like. This game will reward role playing – writing – over dice rolls. I operate a strong policy of forgetting to roll the dice if I read something really cool.
From the name of the game and the fact that it's based in the Orpheus Salient, and the date being 813, it's not too hard to work out your ultimate enemy is a Genestealer cult – and beyond that the looming threat of Dagon (although, that's still more than a year away from being discovered!). But your objective will always be ensuring that the Imperium is smoothly accepted by the people and that the Imperium don't ever have cause to dig into the mysterious Star Chamber too deeply.
So, if you like a slower paced mystery drama then this is your game!
About the GM
I've been role playing since AD&D2 (still have the boxed version!) and RPing on forums since Yahoo had their first groups. I've run a few DH games in the past and like to pick an unusual setting that people are familiar with but which places them a little off centre.
I'm a huge fan of characters – making a great character story should be the focus of any game, so I often tend to come up with outlandish NPCs and give them far more background than the players ever find out about. I also like to support my players and help them build their characters in a certain direction, hopefully coming up with some fun personal stories too.
I'm also a huge nerd. This time out you'll see, if you visit the forum, I've referenced a lot of the things I've borrowed from. This is not, I assure you, due to lack of imagination – merely that I love referencing other things I enjoy.
Feel free to visit the forum, ask questions or sign up!
