So I was watching John Carpenter's Ghosts of Mars, and it struck me for the first time how "40k-ish" it is in atmosphere and such. Seems like the story has potential to be converted into at least a short-ish, one-off type module. Gonna throw a couple of ideas out here, and if anyone has any suggestions/improvements/additions I'd love to hear them!

1. Party choices . Have two different thoughts here. Either a standard party of Adepts, as this seems like the kind of thing an Inquisitor might send his people to do, or else have them all roll Arbiters and maybe one or two scum.

2. Desolation Williams . Since there's a fair amount of gunplay, thinking a hardened Metallican Gunslinger. Could use him as dramatically appropriate if encounters are too tough, etc. Would likely change his name, so it wouldn't be instantly obvious what the module is to those who may have seen the film.

3. Bad guys . Thinking either Khorne cultists (archaeologists unlock a door that was holding back daemons or some such) or Dark Eldar influence of some sort. Not 100% sold on Khorne though (as that is more violence for a deity's sake). Dark Eldar would seem to fit in with some of the speed and horror tactics that the enemies use in the film, although I'm not sure about how that would spread. Maybe some Dark Eldar cult was locked away and their ghosts are what is possessing folk.

Those are my initial thoughts, at any rate, for what they're worth.

Ahadiel said:

1. I'd probably roll them as a standard bunch of Acolytes sent to check things up. Maybe the Inquisitor had a source that went missing in that town and now he wants to know what happened.

2. Could work, but I would probably tell the players to make combat oriented characters from the start and let them shine. You could of course have a NPC but be careful that he don't outshine the party.

3. Khornate xeno-archeologists could work. Maybe the Inquisitor was behind the excavation of the ruins form the start and now the Acolytes are to check up what went wrong? In regards to the ghosts I'm a bit sceptical as the Dark Eldars' souls are devoured by Slaanesh after their death and thus it wouldn't be any ghosts to possess anyone. Stuff you could consider instead might be the following as the ghosts are:

- Result from a Dark Age of Technology machine that releases its withhold "cargo"

- Cryptos

- Some race that act similar to Lovecraft's Great Race of Yith

- Eldar psykers (Dark Eldar don't have psykers if I recall) that have disembodies themselves to avoid ever falling to Slaanesh

Good call on the Dark Eldar souls. Wasn't thinking about that bit of the lore. Thanks a lot for the suggestions, gives me some more ideas to play with. Great race of Yith is a very good call too.