Hi,

I have a few ideas for modifying the Broken Chains story and I was hoping for some feedback before giving the adventure a go.

The basic issue that rubs me the wrong way is relating to the Carrion Queen. I don't like the fact that she is on the upper decks and has access to the upper and lower decks, yet an important part of the story is that the only way to traverse decks is through the sanctum gate. I get that she has some hidden passages but that seems to kind of negate the appeal of the gate. Also, if the players secure her aid then what sort of help does she provide? If she is really interested in stopping Crane then you'd assume she would send every Carrion Hunter available to stop Crane and his Acolytes. So if she just offer a handful of Carrion Hunters to help then it would seem to have been pretty pointless to have secured her help. If she offers an army then it really complicates the final fight and it makes no sense that Crane could hold off an army with just a few Acolytes and Murder Servitors.

As an alternative I propose the following:

- Have the Carrion Queen and Carrion Hunters all confined to the lower decks.

- Have the Sanctum Gate key only work for a few seconds providing just enough time for the heretics and a few Carrion Hunters to get through before the passage closes and rearms itself.

- On the upper decks, you'll only find Murder Servitors, Zul, and Crane and his Acolytes. Supposedly the murder servitors have finished off any humans that remained long ago.

- As an alternative, the upper decks could have some humans that have been enslaved by the Murder Servitors. Basically the Servitors during an emergency situation were making sure people stayed at their posts. Over generations a society was built around making sure every post was manned to appease their Murder Servitor "masters". Maybe they even repeat some rituals loosly based on the actual duties of each post. I thought this idea might be interesting but I'm worried it might detract from the main storyline and might make the ship seem less barren and devestated. Maybe this could be confined to a single section? Otherwise perhaps it's best to forget the whole concept.

What do you guys think? Should I implement these changes or stick to the script?

Cheers.

I thought about that myself and arrived at another solution: The only way to the Upper Decks is through the Sanctum Gate, but not everyone can pass it equally easily. If I was building the gate, I'd create two levels of security: One for ordinary prisoners and one for maximum security ones like the PCs. The first kind would have to be escorted by any guard while the second kind could only get by with the head warden or one of the Inquisitor's men. Translated into the post-apocalyptic setting of Broken Chains, this results in the following: The Carrion parties each have a signal transmitter that disarms the gate - this transmitter being a chip implanted in the skull of a long-dead warden, because, honestly, it's not 40k when there are no skulls involved.
However, this skull-trick won't work for the PCs. The system recognizes them and refuses to disarm even when presented with an ordinary guard chip, since prisoners like them are only to be transferred under the supervision of a more high-ranking individual. Cue the search for the head warden's remains.

Thus, we get to preserve all three facts of the adventure:
1) The Carrion is present both on the upper and the lower decks.
2) The Sanctum Gate is still active and constricting movement.
3) The PCs have to venture into the bilge to obtain the head warden's authorization.

Hiyas!

Thanks for these excellent ideas!

L