Within a few weeks I'll be diving into my first Rogue Trader game, I know where the first main arc will eventually take the players but I'm not exactly sure what they'll need to accomplish the end endeavor. The main plot will revolve around routing chaos from its various nests within the Koronus Expanse with some generous trade and planet conquering as side missions, one of the larger chaos strongholds is the Dioskouri System and I want the players to utterly destroy it by the end. This will entail getting backing for a mini crusade so I'm starting planning now.

Question one that I have for the more experienced GMs out there is if this is a feasible goal within the scope of one campaign. Should I scale it back and have them deal a major blow to the system thus kicking off a crusade and end it there or can they realistically gather a large enough force to crush it en mass?

The second part of this would be getting the actual backing and physical support they would need to embark on such an endeavor. I'm planning on them having the backing of the Adepta Sororitas, possibly a Adeptus Astartes chapter and any other allies they make along the way. What would they need to do to get these heavy hitters in on this action? I'm sure the Sisters and Space Marines don't need an excuse to go chaos stomping but they won't just follow any schmuck with a flag and an attitude.

In case anyone missed it, this is from my other post roughly detailing how I'll be jump starting the campaign on The Witch-Cursed World.

Chaos is patient, ever present and insidious. A lifetime of pious worship to the God-Emperor can be undone in a single moment of horror or a child may be twisted within the womb, the faintest touch of the warp enough to plunge it into an eternity of damnation. Dragging one soul into chaos is considered a win for the endless forces at work but sometimes they achieve something even greater, an entire family line may be turned from the fawning sycophantic adulation of the corpse-god.So it was when the financial backers behind Installation 2819-Rho brought their plan before the Imperium representatives within the Calixis Sector. A plan was set forth to build an astropathic relay station within the Koronus Expanse, at least that's what was put down on paper, which wasn't completely inaccurate. What was actually erected functions more as a net than anything else. Astropathic messages within range of Installation 2819-Rho are received, recorded and then sent on their way. A small cadre of Hereteks analyze and remit pertinent information from these broadcasts to similar stations around the Koronos Expanse, in this way they ensure the forces of Chaos are on the bleeding edge of information within the expanse.

Within the tower reside, in addition to the Hereteks, the still alive and conscious Astropaths originally sent to the planet. Chained and strung up in a mockery of a true astropathic choir they are the unwilling tools of their betrayers. Their sorrow and rage can be felt immediately upon entering the facility requiring Willpower checks to avoid hallucinations and extreme emotional outbursts. Lacking the measures taken by the Hereteks to interact with them, any adventurer entering their chamber will be subject to immediate psychic attack as they lash out at any living thing they sense within their presence. It is not out of malice that they do this but out of desperation and insanity, they are more wild animal than man after enduring centuries of atrocity.
A pious member of the Imperium may be able to reach out and communicate with the strongest of them. If an Astropath is present then the mental connection will be immediate and may prevent the psychic onslaught. If friendly contact is established then overt psychic attack is no longer a threat, however the emotional psychic bleed is not something they may control anymore. Willpower, Charm or Intimidate checks will be needed for every half hour spent in this place to prevent any NPC followers from breaking ranks and trying to return to the ship.

A lower level will be accessible, this is where the dormant plasma generators lay buried. If the explorers decide to explore this area they will discover a macabre scene explaining the disappearance of entire crews around The Witch Cursed World. Thousands of life sustaining tanks stretch off in every direction, each contains nothing more than a floating brain and it's attached nervous system. Using the bio energy produced by these monstrous human batteries Installation 2819-Rho is able to generate enough power to run the stasis tanks, thereby preserving it's own energy source, its computer matrix and broadcast its beacon every seventeen minutes while still reading as an energy blackout to any intrusive auger scans.
Venturing to the upper levels of the tower will reveal the complex cogitators used to broadcast the stolen information intercepted by Installation 2819-Rho to it's foul recipients. Here any players would be intercepted by a small group of Hereteks and have the opportunity, with some high tech-use tests, to glean information regarding the true purpose of the installation and possibly it's origins.

If the adventurers, for any reason, explore outside the installation they will find a mass grave behind with the corpses, clothing, armor and belongings of everyone used to power the generators. The morbidity of searching the grave should be stressed and, despite the thousands of useful and mundane items they may obtain from it, they should only find a small handful worth taking before leaving as the horror of the scene overtakes them and especially any NPC troops they have with them.

A fair compliment of servitors can be sprinkled around the Installation for the explorers to encounter. Once a return is made to their home ship they may find that their stay was days, or weeks, longer than what was experienced from their perception due to psychic interference. In this time some of the crew may have succumbed to the metal torture endured by tarrying too long around the planet, reduce crew population the GM sees fit.

Sounds like a good idea for a campaign, though you probably want to make sure your players WANT to follow the overarching script.

If not, there are a couple of ways to get them to do it anyway. For instance, Running into Chaos Reavers every time they go into the expanse, or cutting down their PF due to the same reavers, or having the chaos strongholds each have an ancient and therefore expensive artefact in them.

Rogue Trader is by far the easiest game to get off track, so be prepared.

Larkin said: