I'm getting ready to run the House of Dust & Ash for my players, and I seem to be stumped for some extra events to take place aboard the skyship trip, on their way to the titular House. I'm planning that the trip should take at least the majority of the session, as well as a good chunk of another session. I want to amp up the tension and drama, but like I said, I just can't seem ot think of anything interesting to happen.

So I thought I'd take it to the forums. Does anyone have interesting events to plague my players with?

Well, with such a large and complicated combat I would expect the trip to take pretty much a session anyway... I guess if you want it to take the majority of two sessions it would need expanding.

Ok, sorry that wasn't terribly helpful. From what I remember you are meant to give the players a chance to get a feel for the other passengers with them. Simple conversations seem the most likely. A game of chance for the PCs and NPCs to interact over? Encourage the players to sneak about a bit to find out the secrets of the other entourages? Maybe they have to help repair the skyship after the attack?

I ran this as a play-by-post some time back, and the players found plenty to waste their time on.

Make the dinners a big thing. Let the other NPCs try to actively sound out the players, to discover their goals and allegiances. The players will find this suspicious, and will probably spend time talking to and spying on the others. Have Octavia poison them during dinner. Then have them get "seasick" by the storm at the same time the poison kicks in. Those who fall ill will believe they're just seasick, and by the time they start bleeding from nose and ears, it's a bit late

Have the Abbots group spout some nonsense that a player with knowledge of the Imperial Creed will pick up on. If he should attempt to "correct" the Abbot publicly, the Abbot will ridicule this "commoner" who dares question the righteous and sanctified high servant of the Emperor and his Ecclessiarchy. The others will agree with the Abbot, and your player will be publicly ridiculed and humiliated. This will piss him off, and make him want to go snooping in the Abbots things. Where he will be accosted by the Abbots "priests", beaten a little, and perhaps sacrificed to the Crow Father and/or thrown overboard?

I think you will find the people on board and their little secrets will fill a session or two quite nicely.

[sPOIL-O-RAMA]

Darth Smeg already said it & gave some pretty good ideas. Another was already mentioned in the modul itself (one of the "priests" getting drunk at the bar and starting a brawl... a VERY "un-priest-like" behaviour for most of the faith").

The two "Blood Hunters" might invite people to a game where a knife must be stepped onto the table...between ones own outstretched fingers, at high speed (Agility or WS checks). The will bet money and if they lose will starting with the players and other (like "Yes, I failed this. But you would not be able to go any faster then this either. I bet 300 thrones on this"). If a pc misses and thereby cuts himself (or steps his own hand) the other of the two will be oh-so-quickly to have a piece of cloth ready to get some blood away from the wound "to see how bad it really is" and will casually put this piece of cloth into his trouser pocket... blood samples are blood samples, after all!

A summoning of an unclean crow-spirit could occur and said spirit is summoned to possess as crewmen (!) who will then attack one of the pc (or somebody else) with a cutlass. Of course the pc will fight and kill him, but Captain and Crew will at first be not sure what this was about. Especially if one of the OTHER NPC will quickly state that he is sure that he saw the PC attacking first! A tight social situation the pc will either get out of by skill checks or one of them will be bonded and locked up in the storage area. Of course the pc will be sure that this was possession... and will start to search cabins for signs for a foul ritual. (@Darth...you told me about such a scene...didn´t you?)

Gregorius21778 said:

Not exactly, but perhaps I told you about what happened to my poor group?

The setup was different, but the end result was funny. Havelas, our learned Psyker decided that some of the Abbots comments during dinner were a little off, and after dinner consulted his Book if Imperial Saints (starting equipment, nothing special, but the comments were about a saint). Sure enough, the Abbot was spouting nonsense, and the Psyker decides to press the issue at the next meal. Meanwhile Uthak the Feral Guardsman has "asked around" about the other passengers, and shares the essential results of his investigations: "The priest had big, suspicious trunk. It's in his cabin"

The psyker attempts to confront the Abbot at the next meal, but being somewhat reduced by the sickness from the storm he fails his social skill tests miserably.

"These are matters of Theological complexity and matters for the Ordained of the Ministorum, and not for the confusion of the faithful." The Abbot dismisses the subject, comments on your pale complexion and suggests you retire to your cabin.

As he walks through the little corridor connecting the lower observation deck to the lower cabins, Havelas literally bumps into the stick-thin man with scabrous, bandaged hands from the Abbots party. He was carrying a bottle of spirits, which breaks against the wall.

Havelas is pretty certain the man did this on purpose, and is not surprised when another cleric enters the corridor behind Havelas.

"You stupid egg-head, look what you did! You soiled my sacred robes!" Havelas reflects that the sacred robes seemed pretty soiled already.

The other man behind Havelas asks "Hey, Arko... what would be an appropriate penance for this sinner?"

The first man, Arko, is holding up his broken bottle, and smiles viciously. "Oh you know... spare the rod .... Not so smart now, are you?"

The psyker was smacked in the face, passed out (already suffering 3 lvs of Fatigue from the sickness and the storm), was carried into the Abbots cabin, sacrificed to the foul gods and had his dead body thrown overboard. Made me feel good to be an Evil GM

'course he survived. That's what fate points are for. The story was a little over the top, but quite amusing.

The Psyker returned during the fight with the wreckers, and having saved the ship the group immediately headed to the Abbots cabin to purge and cleanse. The Abbot the used Compel to force Uthak the primitive Guardsman to protect him, so he turned his Eviscerator on the Psyker. One Lightning Attack later, and the Psyker was cut in two, staring as the blood flows from his severed legs. And the Psyker burned his second fatepoint, and they hadn't even arrived at the House of Dust and Ash yet

Uthak felt very guilty, and tried to stick the Psykers legs back on using Duct-tape

Darth Smeg said:

Uthak felt very guilty, and tried to stick the Psykers legs back on using Duct-tape

Well, u can fix anything with Duct Tape!!

Angel of Death said:

That's what Uthak said! Claimed it was taught in boot camp