Hello, Im new to Dark Heresy. The manual mentions that the game loosley suggests 4 hour game sessions. Utilizing 4 hour game session about how many game sessions does it take to finish the Haarlocks Legacy books? Same question for the 3 adventures in the Purge the Unclean Book.

Thanks

Gary

Each point of focus for an investigation might take an average of 3-5 hours of game time, depending on how focused your Players are. Each adventure in Purge The Unclean has an introduction, a briefing so to speak, and if presented correctly will cut down on investigative lulls, such as PCs having not remembered or been given enough info. Definitely use the handouts; make time to produce copies. For 'Rejoice, For You Are True' (iirc) there are four main points, including the confrontation at the end, so you're looking at about 12-20 hours of game time. Shades of Twilight and Baron Hopes might take a little less and a little more time, respectively.

The Haarlock Legacy trilogy is a different story. I recommend you start with the adventure in the back of Disciples of the Dark Gods (The House of Dust and Ash), and you should definitely spend as much time as you can familiarizing yourself with the details of the entire trilogy before you get started on Tattered Fates, Damned Cities, or Dead Stars. I have a group that meets once per week and plays for 5 hours each session, and Tattered Fates took about five sessions to wrap up in its entirety. Damned Cities took a little less time. Never put them through Dead Stars.

I also recommend you spend the time required to read through the questions and comments provided in the Definitive Haarlock Legacy thread in the GM forum. There are over 400 comments, but a vast majority of it will help put things into a much greater perspective. I certainly wish that resource had been available when I started using the published Haarlock Legacy adventures. Even if you don'f have all the books (and by all I mean the Core Rules, The Inquisitor's Handbook, Disciples of the Dark Gods, The Radical's Handbook, and the Haarlock trilogy) you can take notes throughout reading the thread of comments and use them to spin your own version of the Haarlock story…or one that has already been provided. That thread is amazingly interesting…and very conspiratorial. Quite fun, actually, if you let yourself get caught up in the "investigation" yourself.

Honestly, if you meet quasi-religiously once a week for a year, you may come close to burning through Purge The Unclean and the Haarlock Legacy, and that's if you don't divert to add your own bits.

Welcome to the Hereticus Tenebrae. Trust no one.

It's become kind of established that the Haarlock Legacy is best kicked off with the Damned Cities adventure. This is a murder mystery/investigation with only a tenuous link to the Legacy, revealed at the end of the adventure. If your players are already deep into Haarlockian lore and schemes, this adventure kind of doesnt really work anymore.