Greetings, brethern.

I am going to open my second game group soon and I want to start them as volunteers for the Ministorum on Dusk. Every year or so, the local Cleric gathers some volunteers and travel to the small villages on the outskirts of his parishes. This time, he cannot do it himself. An old wound an the dreaded joint-rot keep him from traveling. So, he will send one of his initiates and some gathered volunteers (the pc) instead.

I know what to happen in the "main thing" (which I will not tell right now), but I want them to check on some villages before. The players are all new to the whole 40K setting and I want to set the mood and the feeling.

My request: please share some inspirational thoughts with my

My only idea so far:
One thing I came up with is a little village near an "earth-gas" field. The village is surrounded by a high razorwire trench (there are fierce predators around in the mists!), the people live from working on the fields (earthgas, mudberry and rice) while a tech-priest commands a group of servitores working in a gas plant. There, the gas is purified (by the servitores) and filled into pressuresized containers while some of it is used to generate electricity (the trench is under high voltage).

What the pc do not know upon arriving is that the village suffers a plague and the tech-priest decided to put it under quarantine. His servitores got a re-programming and function as guards now. They are ordered to leave no-one out. Unfortunately, the re-programming wasn´t that got. They won´t warn people coming in...

After arriving, the Tech-Priest will calmly explain the situation, but will refuse to allow the group to go. "We are all under quarantine. You cannot leave, there is a 19,56% Chance that you could spread the plaque even further" . They will be quickly surrouned by servitores with impromptu-arment, ordered to give up arms and "wait till help arrives". The Tech-Priest is sending vox casts on a regular basis and even sended a servitor skull to next village.
Unfortunately, the machine spirit of the vox receiver in the next village ceased to exist ("we are waiting for the Tech-Priest living in the village near the Gas Fields. He normally shows up once every two month") and they found the smashed servo-skull in the nest of a huge vulture-like creature in a dead tree near the way..

Now, the pc have the choice:
- fighting there way out (unwise)
- trying to reason with the Tech-Priest (hard thing indeed; his logic is that it is better for all of them to die then to spread the plaque. After all, every one of them is "tolertable loss compared to the spread of a plaque"
- trying to find a way to sneak out once they surrendered their weapons (which I hope they will do!)

Sounds a bit too cut and dry personally. You should probably add something involving who spread that plague to the village and why.

Or, seeing as how it's revealed in Disciples of the Dark Gods that Dusk was once known as "Saint Astrid's Fall" before the Tyrant Star shined over it, maybe you could somehow tie that into things.

Who knows, perhaps seeing as how it was the Adeptus Mechanicus who renamed Dusk and kept it (unsuccessfully) from the Inquisition that the Tyrant Star had been there it was the Adeptus Mechanicus themselves who betrayed their comrade on the ground and had the plague infect the village, because there's some small, largely irrelevant item that marks the place as Saint Astrid's Fall or something.

I am quiet fine with the "plaque thing" being "dry". It is not meant as a "major part" of the first story. Just an obstacle. And thats what I need. One or three more obstacles, centered on one or three other villiages

Any additional suggestions?

Oh... that wasn't it lol. Sorry mate, must have misread your first post.

As to additional obstacles: Ravenous Beasts attacking, Cultists deciding that the presence of a Ministorium would be a good time to make themselves known by attacking these "harmless" priests, Mutants laying siege to a village, those half-spider half-man kind of things that can imitate voices luring them into some kind of trap, Feral Scum who eke out an existence as cannibals ambushing the Acoyltes on their way to a village, unexplained warp phenomena depositing minor daemons on their door step, and maybe whatever is behind your main plot line making its presence felt, but not known (I dunno how to make that work seeing as how I don't know your main plotline and don't expect you to share, but think in the way of ambushes by third party mercenaries, "accidents" that if the Acolytes examine closer turn out not to be, the Acolytes being framed for a crime, etc.)

Here's a few basic ideas, more general than specific, you could work with:

Ghost Town: One of the villages the acolytes are supposed to check on is completely devoid of life. What happened here?

Civil Unrest: The kindly old sherrif that was supposed to be in charge of this town has long since died, a casualty of a vicious gang war decimating the village and it's inhabitants. It's up to the acolytes to pick a side (or their own) and restore order...

Rite of Passage: The next village is just over the pass. No problem. Except the pass is controlled by natives, and the only ones they let through have passed a barbaric trial of strength...

Deja Vu?: The next village the acolytes come to is exactly the same as the previous one. And the one after that as well... wait, what?

The Magnificent Seven (or however many): This village is being attacked by (pick one: Heretics, Xenos, Malleus, none of the above)! Facing overwhelming odds, can the acolytes pull together a defense in time?

Stepford: This village is perfect... too perfect...

@Baron
No offense taken. After re-reading this gramma-typo-mess that is my post, I should be glad that anyone dared answering.
The "Cultist try to make a point by attacking "harmless" priests" is a good idea, thanks for that one! The cultist will actually hail from village A (which is visited first) but will follow the pc and make the attack in village B or C (visited later), hoping that the Ministorum will turn on village B in blind rage. So that the story of the "unrightfull cruelness" spreads and helps in later recruiting attempts in the general area. The cannibals are a good idea, as well. But I am a little reluctant to include to much of combat encounters since I do not want to wear the pc down to much.
But on the other hand...a group of them with "dregs" or "skulker" profiles sneaking in at night...under-armed but trying it with a surprise... using the "Goon" rules from "Creatures Anathema"...yep, I will take this as well. Makes for a good sub-plot ("Clean the mutants!") Thank you!

@"Not sharing the story now"
The reason behind this (rather unpolite) behavivour of mine: I do not know if some of second-group players are around here. In fact, two of them I will only get to know at the first evening (friends of a friend). So, there is the chance that they will read this "by chance". While it is not goinig to "kill my plot" of 2 of the 4 players now something about the obstacles, I do not want to take a change on the "main hook".

If anyone is interested, I will post the "main hook" after the mission reveals it. It is not that great or original, but it will work for a small set of missions on Dusk (or anywhere else)

@The boy named crow
Thanks for "Ghost Town". It should have been an obvious choice, but somehow it evaded my mind..or was it my mind evading it? Already know how to connect it to the "main thing"...hrhrhr

"Rite of Passage" is a nice one, as well. But I will change it to an isolated village where the madness and paranoia took it tool and in order to "proof" that their "claims of being men from the holy flok of the emporer" they will have to master some test regarding their knowledge of the imperial creed. Perhaps three tests. If all are passed, the people will glady accept them as "Siblings in the true faith" (every social role one step easier). One Failure, they will accept them (social roles as normal); two failures and they will distrust them (social roles -10) while failing all three of them leads to a village ready to burn them since "you shall not suffer the soulless in the ministry".

Here's an idea:

The Lottery

A village lies in the hunting grounds of something very big, with lots of teeth. Every [fill in the time, but year would be best I think] the entire populace of the village, supervised by the local priest, drops their names into a box, and the priest draws forth one name (the priest is exempt, since he's working the Emperor's bidding). That person is taken out into the swamps, tied to a ceremonial pole, and left for the critter (which has learned that this is an easy meal and leaves the escort alone). The villagers see this as their duty to the village, so that it may continue to exist and provide whatever resource the Empire/planetary government requires. The Acolytes arrive just as the lottery is about to happen. If they interfere, they are told that it's the Emperor's bidding and the village's duty. If they prevent the drawing, the priest will do it in secret later. If they prevent the beast from taking the sacrifice, it becomes enraged and attacks the village. If they kill it, the village may turn on them, turn on the priest, or continue the lottery because they don't know any other way (see Shirley Jackson's short story, "The Lottery," for the latter, since it inspired this idea).