Hey all.

I just spent about two hours writing a detailed account of all of the factions in my campaign and the Haarlock legacy but because I didn't write it on Word first I obviously had to lose it all when I backspaced by accident.

In any case- I was just curious as to who was involved in yours game. It seems that, in mine, there's so many- it can get confusing.

Heretics and Hereteks: Logicians, The Amarathine Syndicate [+ Rogue Trader and Crew in Debt], the Beast House, Pilgrims of Hayte, The Cult of Amicus Tole.

Xenos: Eldar & Slaught

Inquisition: Al Subai [Ordo Xenos Puritan], Wrathbone [Tyrantine Cabal Istavanian] & Daemonhunter Ahmazi [Ordo Malleus (in my game an Occularian).

Most of these factions are now on Sinophia Magna- [The Logicians had a renegade Magos there, The Amarathine Syndicate was pulling Legate Sen-Ar Dole's strings before his murder, and now a rogue trader captain has been sent in to finish his job and clean up his estate, The cult of Amicus tole is not only present- but the big guy himself is likely to make an appearance as a key player: having extended his life with the help of sorcery and tech-heresy, it might come as a surprise that he was a member of Haarlock's original crew. The Eldar and the Slaught are both working to keep Haarlock from returning, but both for very different reasons and whereas the first is a Deux-Ex Machine Wild Care that might save the players when they need it [After all, they owe them one favor] the players have already fought the Slaught and stolen their mirror shard. Al Subai and Wrathbone both have agents on the field- Specter Cell 17, whose mission is to hunt down the players, and a Daemon-host whose bindings have been loosened after his original defeat…] Add to that the factions in the book- from the Arbites to the Nobles and the criminal underworld. Not to mention Haarlock and his crew

All in all, my previous write-up was very nice and went into quite of details into the factions and how the have interacted with them since the start of the "Campaign as a whole." Most of these have been met and fought with before- after all, its not unusual that rank 6 acolytes will built up some baggage!

What about you guys? how many villains and factions did your players already accumulate before even starting the legacy? Did you guys dump most of them when it started in favor of the people already there or did you incorporate them into the game [i mostly attempted to do that- linking all the previous factions into a group on Sinophia]?

In my game, the following factions are vying for the Haarlock Legacy: (MY PLAYERS LOOK AWAY NOW!)

* Inquisition -> sub-divided in factions serving Inquisitor Silas Marr, the acolytes of the now sadly deceased Inquisitor Nazauth Karkalla, and the Tyrantine Cabal faction led by Inquisitor Herrod

* Adeptus Mechanicus -> one of the acolytes is a tech-priest

* arch-heretek Ammicus Tole and his tech-witches

* noble House Corvus

* Myrchella Sinderfell

* the Pilgrims of Hayte

* maybe the Beast House, dragged in by the Pilgrims, haven't decided yet

* the Slaugth and the Amaranthine Syndicate

* the Logicians

Hovering in the background, keeping to their own council and casting their meddlesome influence over the other factions, are the Eldar.

First time around I mostly stuck with the factions in the books. That was mainly because it was a joint GM campaign where I would run Haarlock and another guy was running the in between parts.

This time around I am sole GM and rather than add factions I have extended the other factions into the in between parts that I am making up myself. So my PCs have already had a run in with The Beloved and Spectre Cell-17 will feature more often. I also plan to put some extras in by using the House of Dust and Ash to add them.

Something that I've noticed is that people tend to include the Logicians in the Haarlock Legacy- I wonder if its because of the reference in Damned City, or if its really because EVERYBODY starts off this game with Edge of Darkness, to the Logicians make for a great recurring villain?

@ The Laughing God- If you don't mind my asking, whats your background for Amicus Tole? How exactly are you using him? I am curious as to how you acted out his personality. I recall you had a mission entitled "Ship of Fools" where was supposed to be the bad guy, how did that work out?

Sinderfell made a Cameo in my game- in the Court of Miracles at Malfi, but she's not involved in the Haarlock Legacy… Yet…

I am afraid other than two noble-players on the team (One of which is a Belasco)- I don't have any nobility "Outside" nobility involved. But that might chance in the House of Dust and Ash, what with Tobias' obsession with finding a Halo Device.

Woo for the Eldar! I am still waiting on that perfect moment to have them drop back into the Plot proper and link back the Ranger that the players freed several months ago.

@ BrotherKane

Yeah, the Inquisition plays a Major part in the game- and Specter Cell 17 should have a more important role in the missions- no reason why they should be reduced to a combat encounter. I forgot to include one Guy in my own factions as well which pertains to it: The Cell's own Inquisitor, Soldevan! All of these Inquisitors are members of the Collegium and the Cabal, so its funny that the Cell is sort of fighting its own members- what with the varying Inquisitors using the same tools to crush each other.

As for the Beloved- I'd like to give him a Cool identity beneath the Mask. Maybe Haarlock's Bastard Great-Great-Great-Great-Grand-Son or some such? A direct descendant rather than a Scion… The True Heir to the Haarlock Legacy? There should be something beneath that mask that makes him a lot more interesting.

I haven't really had the chance to run the Haarlock Legacy yet, but I feel that there is tendency to add too many players into it which can make the storyline a little chaotic. In addition, I want to expand the Legacy a little so that at the last adventure the players are at the start of Ascension levels. I want to boil it down to no more than three groups involved with the Legacy. The Slaught are a major part of the storyline I think, but the more difficult one to explore due to the deadliness of the races. I think to explore the Slaught more I might actually have a two part campaign, Dark Heresy and Deathwatch. The Deathwatch exploring the Slaught issue. The other major part in my mind is that one group should be attempting to bring Haarlock back, which I plan on being an Inquisitor (perhaps the characters Inquisitor). The third party I was think of changing from the Pilgrams of Hayte to the Serrated Query in Purge the Unclean. The main reason for this is because I want the middle of the story to be hunting down the Spear of Destiny (which of course will get away in the end.) And I feel the Serrated Query might be a better organization to accomplish that.

Salcor

I also tried to incorporate most of them, although it gets more and more difficult (also for the players to follow). A few factions (e.g. the Logicians, the Cult of Tysiak) were thrashed by my PCs to such a degree that I indeed dumped them for the time being. Incorporating them does not mean though that they made an appearance in every single scenario my PCs were involved in.

Heretics & Xenos:

Logicians – were thrashed in Edge of Darkness / Gateway 17 (modified) and Octavia Nile and her retinue was killed in HoD&A and therefore dumped for the time being

Slaught /Amaranthine Syndicate – were already involved through a drug cartel in Gateway 17 (modified), appearance of unknown Amaranthine Captain at the end of RfyaT, Maggot in the Meat, my PCs fled before Master Nonsuch in HoD&A hearing him eating and in Dead Stars Master Nonsuch and Miss Book play the tag team of death…

Serrated Query (in my campaign their leader Eloeholth is an ancient pre-Heresy non-Chaos aligned Thousand Sons Sorcerer located on a Strike Cruiser (hidden with the help of Dark Eldar tech)) – they sort of appeared throughout the Purge the Unclean scenarios I intertwined with the Haarlock Legacy as well as in a home grown scenario and Dead Stars in the form of Eloeholth himself and his renegade Space Marines

The Cult of Tysiak Crow Father – appearance in Illumination and HoD&A and were dumped afterwards (Abbot Tams was killed)

Beast House – appeared in HoD&A (Magyar Mashrek) and Tattered Fates and were dumped afterwards (they were only working for the Pilgrims anyway)

Pilgrims of Hayte – appeared in HoD&A without anyone realizing and in Tattered Fates (which the Beloved survived with the help of “Touched by the Fates”) and of course in Dead Stars (will be dumped afterwards) with the Beloved AND a roaming Ghast Priestkiller

Brotherhood of the Horned Darkness – a branch of the cult made an appearance in a few home grown side stories and was dumped after their base and all their backers were eradicated by the PCs amd allied Inquisitors (i.e. Ahmazzi)

Dark Eldar of the Cabal of Crimson Woe (as mercenaries of the Serrated Query in fact) – appearance in Shades of Twilight and a home grown scenario, where the Haemonculus was mortally wounded and thus dumped for the time being…

Inquisition:

Witchfinder Rykehuus (Ordo Hereticus Puritan – old enemy of Kaede) – short appearance at introductory adventure and nemesis of the PC’s Inquisitor (Kaede) as well as responsible for death of the Psyker PC’s parents (Rykehuus pulled Kaede in front of a High Conclave in my campaign (accusing him of “summoning” and questioning the Mirror Daemon within the Tricorn))

Inquisitor Soldevan (Ordo Hereticus Xanthite – became enemy of Kaede) – appearance at the end of Shades of Twilight and Baron Hopes; an Acolyte cell of him was mostly killed by the PCs

Inquisitor Maar (last survivor of the Ordo Chronos - sort of ally of Kaede) – appearance at the beginning of HoD&A, end of TF, start of DC and start of DS; he knows through the Occularians that the group’s Assassin is a heir to Haarlock and the in his mind the only possibility of going after Erasmus

Inquisitor Ahmazzi (Ordo Malleus) – appearance of Acolyte as well as him in person in a few home grown scenarios as well as TF (ally of Kaede)

Inquisitor-Emeritus Andros Bray (old ally of Ahmazzi and Marr) – appearance (and death) in home grown adventure

Inquisitor Karkalla (Ordo Xenos – old ally of Kaede)) – short appearance in TF and with Acolyte in TF

Tyrantines (subverted by Phaenonites in my campaign) – appearance in DC and DS (and surely afterwards)

Saldre said: