Hi guys,

I was thinking of putting on a one-off mission for our group in the near future and was hoping for some help with my idea. As it’s not a long term campaign, I thought it best to create the characters myself and let the players decide who plays who. I thought this would allow me introduce aspects of a character that long term players would try to avoid, like addictions and other mental trauma/corruption, as we know how precious some players can be about their characters.

The idea itself was to brief the players about a mission behind enemy lines (they will play Inquisitorial Storm Troopers or equivalent) in which they will be transported by aircraft to the required location. While in transit the craft develops difficulties/comes under attack and crashes. Most of the equipment, radio etc. on board will be destroyed and the team will be left with limited supplies. I was hoping to make the players act on their wits, deal with injuries to the team resourcefully, work out where they are, locate weapons/ammo and supplies, and avoid enemy search parties. I also toyed with the idea of having the players overhear rumours or find plans of a super gun/invasion plan and have to act upon the situation. I would also like to incorporate small plot twists like some form of treachery by a member of the group if possible as well.

Like I say, this is still a basic outline just now, so any suggestions would be amazing.

The upcoming supplement 'There is only war' will cover guardsmen and warzones in more detail. if you can hold off till it comes out, i would suggest doing so.

I don't know, sounds like an interesting idea. Has any of your Players ever played Dark Heresy?

I think it sounds ok although it gives me more Deathwatch than Dark Heresy feelings but I think that it should be working out good. If your players haven't played Dark Heresy before you might want to pre-make the characters although I would likely let the players make the characters themselves, for lets face it, making characters is one of the best parts of playing an RPG.

@Kasatka: Thanks for the tip. Do you have any idea when that's being released? I couldn't find it on a search.

@ Darck Child: The group have played all formats of the 40k rpgs. Some of the players have 20+ years of fluff knowledge, some have barely any, so it's a pretty mixed group.

@Gurkhal: I did consider setting it as a Deathwatch mission, but I wanted to go for a 'struggle for survival' feel to the game, so thought regular bums would fulfill this better as they suffer frailties in body, mind and skill that Space Marines can for the most part ignore. I also see your point about allowing the players to create their own characters. I discussed this with a member of the group (our usual GM) and we thought this approach would provide the group with the skill sets required to make the mission interesting (someone with navigation, medicae, etc.) as some of our players avoid some skills in favour of combat skills/talents. I will ponder this further though.

I was hoping folk on the forum with more experience at writing missions could provide suggestions of encounters that I could include in this type of game that would test more than just combat skills.

Unfortunately i am as much in the dark as to TIOW's release date as you are. Living in europe i have to wait several months after FFG officially launch any product before i can order it online over here.

I would make the setting a Death World- it's pretty hard to get players to take a "struggle for survival" in a conventional jungle/desert/forest seriously, unless they know they will be trapped there for weeks or months.

I'm not normally a fan of GM-created characters, but in this case it makes sense. In addition to the Stormtroopers, I would make one of the survivors the transport's copilot for variety, and to add the dynamic that the soldiers have to keep him alive in case they can aquire an enemy transport.

Adeptus-B said:

@Adeptus-B: I do like the idea of using one of them as the co-pilot, and I like the idea of using a death world. I decided to go with that in terms of a harsh atmosphere, but will consider other ways as well.

Here is the outline I am thinking of so far. A few random encounters are still needed, and work needs putting in on the details.

An Imperial agent has been passing intelligence from his position in the Miron military command for several weeks. In his last communiqué he expressed concerns that his cover may be in jeopardy and wants out. As insurance that he will not be abandoned, he still possesses some vital information to the war effort and is prepared to hand it over in exchange for his extraction from behind Miron lines.

He is able to leave the Miron command compound for only a short window before his absence will be noticed. The players must rendezvous with him at the prescribed time and escort him safely back to be debriefed. He will make contact with the team while they are en route to finalise the details, but after that time he is unable to make contact with them again.

The players are ordered to travel deep inside enemy territory where their transport will set down. The remainder of the journey must be done on foot as the Imperial Navy have as yet, still not gained air superiority.

During transit, the team make contact with the agent who provides coordinates and a rendezvous time for the next day. Shortly after that the squad’s Valkyrie suffers difficulties/comes under attack and crashes, leaving the pilot dead, and much of their equipment badly damaged/destroyed.

The team will have injuries to deal with and limited supplies. The nights on Miron will be harsh, so they may opt to look for shelter or risk further casualties. They will need to conduct recon to determine where they are, avoid patrols who find the downed craft and scavenge/kill for supplies. They will be told that Miron citizens have split loyalties between the Imperium and the rebels, so they will have to be careful who they trust.

Once they rendezvous with the Imperial agent they will have to act fast, as renegade assassin(s) are despatched to kill the agent before he escapes.

I have already told one of the players I am thinking of having him play a counter agent for the rebels. I will probably play on this and tell him I won’t be using him in that role, but may ask one of the others to do it instead. I figured that would add some much welcomed paranoia to the group, whether that works or not, I'm not sure.