Hi everyone i took the liberty of reading quite a few threads on the forums before i posted so that i would at least have somewhat of an understanding before asking.

As the title says i am a raw rookie GM i have a good bit of D&D 3.5 experience (i know different games but still). I've spent a good deal of time researching lore backgrounds and other things i want for my world. I'm particulary unfamilar with hive worlds where is a good place to find out more? I have pretty good grasp of how i want the investigation to play out and i have left lots of room for the players to work with in narative (or alot of rope to hang themselves with). I've grasped fate points and corroption points but i could still use a good guide.

I will say right now i am a ways off from actually starting a campaign. I'm trying to carve out a group locally, so far i have two friends who also Live To Serve The Emperor (even though they play tau could be xenos sympathizers or heretics need to keep an eye on them) the guy at the store where i buy tabletop supplies was down he was gonna let us play there (Dotgames is awesome). Two maybes and i'm gonna ask my D&D group if they are interested.

I still need to buy the core rulebook for Dark Heresy. What else would make a good investment? A game masters guide maybe? Also are there any guides i should take a look at on the forum?

NOTE: I already read several corroption/fate point based threads as well as the how to run a good investigation stickied thread.

Thank you for you time and GLORY TO THE FIRST MAN WHO DIES!!!!

Welcome! Look. Good storytelling is good no matter the game do your DMing will come in handy. As for rules, don't get hung up until you read the core book. There are a few good threads here just recently that talk about good campaigns to run so I would suggest checking a couple of those out. More than anything though, to prepare I would get that core book and put in some time wih it. Lurk the forum if you like as well. There is lots of great advice to be had here, but you've gotta have a good question.

Thank you that is very helpful.

I am planning on having an early set piece be set on a remote and abandoned Inquisition research facility that went dark under rather mysterious circumstances due to the nature of communication in Warhammer 40k it was some time (maybe a few months to half a year) till word reaches the Inquisition. There have been reports of xenos (maybe orks in the tunnels i'd like suggestions for something easier if you think that might Party Wipe) on the planet recently and their has been questionable warp activity. Inquisitors and appropriate cells from both the Ordo Malleus and Ordo Xenos are being dispatched and (unbenounced to the players unless the pick up the clues i laid out) they brought their Chamber Militants with them (although their ships don't arrive until halfway through the session).

How would i handle two Inquisition investigations at once? (I am Ordo Malleus because it is a primarily Chaos/warp/heretic campaign)

Also i intend to either have a half corrupted psyker initiate the "Warp Purge" bomb that was being researched as a last act of service to mankind or the inquisitions will determine the planet is iredeemable and initiate Exterminatus. Either way they have to make a LONG run to the evac Valkyrie while being slowed by enemies (some chaos some xenos, sometimes this makes for a three way battle) still fighting unaware of the impending doom. I'm going to use a real life time frame for this to happen in at the end of the session. This will be triggered in the room with most of the evidence so they have to judge how long they should investigate while still having time to get out alive.

That is the core for my first session, thoughts?

Guards said:

I would first just ask yourself who do you think has more authority over the incident. If the Ordo Malleus was running the facility then they believe they have authority over their secret matters. The second group of investigators is almost certainly trying to run their investigation incognito (other wise they would offer to assist with the first). Now that there's this obvious tension you just need to understand why the team that must go incognito feels their mission is important.

Most likely scenario Inquisitor A has beef with Inquisitor B over a prior incident years ago. Inquisitor A doesn't trust Inquisitor B anymore and authorizes an operation to recover evidence before the obviously bad B covers it up with his hack investigation.

Depending on which side the players are on of this shadow conflict will change the tone of your game accordingly and it's pacing.

If they work for Inquisitor A the game will be a lot about timing. Slow for the stealth but quick to gather evidence before the other team arrives to tamper with the scene. This might work to reinforce your idea for a timed evidence room before annihilation finale. Doing things quickly and executing efficiently will be important to A team.

If they work for Inquisitor B it will probably play more like a horror game. There's already tons of bad things going on within this place but there's this creepy element like some one else is here… and not just the xenos. This side of the investigation should be much slower. It's the team with the "authority" so they will have time to do things carefully. The trick here is to make things that they thought they had clamped down change. Maybe a room they had previously cleared has shoe prints and there's a few dabs of blood on the ground?

So in summary:

1. Establish why there is two investigations running concurrently.
2. Determine which side the players will be running on.
3. Determine which side is "the home team".
4. Slow pacing for home team. Fast pacing for away team.

Danger! A hater starts speaking here!

I would advise not to start pumping coins into DarkHeresy. You see, the DH rules set has a lot problems that where actually "ironed out" in the products that succeed them. Like a multitue of skills that are either useless in all but the very special circumstances, weapons talents that can be easily wrapped into one and rather low "starting power" of the PC.

If your group consists of tabletop wargamers and you like to play as part of the Imperium, consider buying "Only War" instead. The problems in regard to skills have been adressed, as well as the starting power level AND in regard to "level up" your are not bound into some rigid path/class system but into a frame how is much wider. The Psyker-system seems much more sensible as well (actually, NONE of the other systems makes use of the Psyker Systems from DH…which I think does have a reason).

Even if you want to play "the Inquisition" I would suggest to buy the "Only War!" core rules and use these rules and characters to play DH. Since the basic attributes and skills are all the same (or easily translated) you should have no problem running DH adventures with them.

In regard to additional books, consider "Discpiles of the Dark Gods". It provides a host a futur enemies.

Few small notes on xenos adversaries.

Orks: The system makes it very difficult to hurt these creatures with standard handheld weapons. They on average ignore 8-10 points of damage and most weaponry you'll see is in the 1d10+something small range. For damage return however they aren't all that bad on an opening party. Their ability to shoot is pathetic and the guns on the basic troops aren't going to likely party wipe. Close combat is generally to be avoided with orks, as the damage curve ramps up when they get into melee and without good rolls the party will start feeling even a single ork badly.

Lessons I've learned: Early on keep orks as singles and avoid groups. For 1st lvl parties wounded orks are a must, they average 30 points of damage to pull down because they halve rolls on the critical hits chart.

Demons: While it would make sense with a Demonhunters base, DON'T, just DON'T use any of the statted out demons. Make your own willowisps or incorporial spirits which vanish in too much light or fall in one shot to fire if you're going to use warp entities on 1st lvlers. Any book demons will just rip apart lowbies.

Lessons I've learned: Demons hate heavy weapons, like everyone else. Don't try it till you have a few.

Tyranids: Basic hormagaunts, my personal fave so I'm biased, make good early running targets. They're fast, but only dangerous when they get to you and have very little in the way of armor so they won't soak rediculous amounts of fire like orks. Tyranids also tend to be good for the "alien" or "aliens" feel, crawling on walls and ceilings, getting in places you'd never expect etc etc. It would be however a bit hard to justify a demonhunter using Tyranids for anything since they don't tend to attract demons.

Lessons I've learned: I luv gribbles!

Slaugh: Very likely but see a mix of demons and orks for their effects. Hideous worm collonial creatures. Might be good if you use them as a background of individual worms crawling around everywhere then occasionally gestalting together to form worm monsters. It'll sure scare the bejesus outta some people. Don't use book stats though, they soak too much damage, do too much damage and ignore all psyker abilites. If you can wing a monster these might be good.

Lessons I've learned: Never play "Maggots in the Meat" as written.

Eldar: Really, nah… unless someone else has an idea they don't really play to the alien horror feel.

Honestly this is most of the troublemakers I can think of. You might be best off just making up your own monster of the week. There are plenty of things that are in the universe that aren't statted out. Look up Ambul and Hrud, they might be interesting.

Hope it helps,

SRO

Guards said:

The other guys had some good advice, but nobody addressed this so I'll take it… I hope you meant this is your idea for your first campaign! A session for us is only about 5 hours, and this is WAY too much stuff for that. Make sure you plan for the pace to be a lot different than you expected it to be.

Thank you all lots of good advice. Starting from the most recent and working my way back.

(Jeff) I'd like to see how long they take with it, if i underestimate them and they plow through it i can use that for an inquisition war later which i don't intend to feel like fluff. Everyone i play with is famous for find either four detours in linear path, or breaking straight through a labyrinth (with later consequences). Also side quests are frequent so it could go either way. LONG campaigns are the norm, but we always work towards some sort of end. I think if i wanted to spend a lot of time in the facility it would make a good first act, the second act would definately move to a Hive world with alot of social and roleplaying oppurtunity again though i'll have to gauge the group.

(SRO) I'm leaning towards tyranids and chaos, the Chamber Militant could come in and help during the investigation if i want to give the group a good scare *Group destroys shrine to chaos to khorne or something similar in room and investigates, minor chaos enemies killed in room group eventually leaves proceeds down hall a few corners later they find a straight shot with an offshoot to the right BLAST DOOR SEALS BEHIND THEM, Khorne Bezerkers (full squad ((10))!!!) charge down hall group opens fire with probobly little to no effect bezerkers get closer maybe 10-15 feet away from party and get body checked and run through by grey knights) would be an example of an ace in the hole to avoid party wipes while still being lore friendly. There would have been hints for the grey knights being there they could have discovered and probobly did.

(Garner) You have the authority (Ordso Malleus) and the other cells (Ordo Xenos) or either covering up or legitimately investigating. Some (Ordo xenos cells) being friendly (for warhammer 40k atleast) some being mistrusting and conspiring against you. I intend to wait until they rank up and attempt a survival horror like section in the residing Lord Inquisitors Mansion which due to the beurocratic nightmare of the imperium is only discovered in the planets records for what the PC's know of it anyways . . . it was warp shrouded on approach and semi remote in nature so was not investigated until much later. I'm thinking Resident Evil like set up with alot of Silent Hill psychological warfare influences by then i will probobly have a good understanding of what there own personal hell would be like. It reshrouds in the warp which as we all know can mess with time and reality, but it pass in and out of warp.

I have some idea's for other in game systems that i intend to post on a different thread.

Hi.

So i've done alot of recruiting and headhunting for my game, and most of my potential canidates are 40k well errr they didn't know what a space marine was and why you couldn't play one in dark heresy. I noticed that gesturing towards the pretty posters on the wall (not unitelligent people mind u i just make fun of everyone myself included) they seemed to grasp what i was talking about. So i must ask where would be a good place to find pictures or a collection of pictures to show them for the inevitable. What does a servo skull look like? Whats a tech priest? Are the decorative skulls on the ground or on the walls? Do they do anything? What color is the pagoda ? Things like this and pictures would help especially pictures of a Inquisitorial research facility. I know we have an art section and i intend to check there but i know 40k love to produce beautiful works of mass death and awe inspiring space goth architecture links will be much appreciated.

Honestly? There isn't one single awesome source for this stuff. The books for the RPGs (all of them, including supplements) have a range of really amazing art to some kinda sketchy older stuff that I don't think is great. The newer FFG books have some absolutely amazing artwork that represents both the scale of things like a forge world to the details of the guns and weapons, and things that don't come up in the main 40K game like scribes and minor petty officials and stuff. The new 40K book, 6th edition, actually has some really boss artwork in it to represent things like shrine worlds and some of the xenos, but really most of that probably won't come up in your games. I have taken to just creating a lot of artwork myself, but there's a lot of good stuff online. Seriously, Google Image searches can be a lifesaver. You know you're running Slaughth, look them up!

Unless you're not doing grey knights fluff-wise, I suggest not incorperating them, as they do like to kill allies that see them (Or mind wipe if they're important people), as they are a secret organisation. If you have a decent reason as to why the grey knights wouldn't kill them go right ahead though.

You could even use grey knights to add horror to the game, having this 9 feet guy come around the corner to kill the beserker the party has been shooting at for a couple of rounds and doing no damage in a single hit from his sword, before turning and raising his storm bolter towards the party and charging would terrify most acolytes, especially if they thought he was on their side.

Thanks once again for the advice and i have started drawing i'm wanting to draw the unique weapons that i give my NPC's and some players, however i refuse to let them drag met to "Magic Wallmart" everytime they want a BFG 9,000 until they mow the lawn atleast also grey knights will have a reason not to wipe up the party later but for the first few encounters no they will open fire as normal, i have a lore wise GM's assistant who is playing a guardsmen so he will have some knowledge of the set piece ahead of time. I will instruct the party OOC that if he runs like hell it is best to follow him, lest they face the consequences.

Also i plan on doing more of my responses Via Video, IE recording one via webcam this will be mostly in this thread and i think it will make it easier to explain my ideas for the plot and how i use my NPCs but i thought it best to ask the helpful community how they felt before posting vids of me talking at a camera. I didn't see any rules against it but again better safe than banned.

The Emperor Protects!