FFG wrote:Ancient Evil Awakens
Forgotten Gods Is Now Available for Dark Heresy Second Edition



“Soon, we shall reach our ancestral home, and the blessed clamour of our return shall wake the gods themselves.”
–Parathas Hayne, Praesul of the Children of the Inheritance

Countless heresies plagues the Askellon sector, rotting the Imperium of Man from within. As an Acolyte of an Inquisitor, it is your job to maintain a ceaseless, thankless vigil, desperately battling to eradicate even the tiniest fraction of this corruption. Now, a new heresy has emerged, and if left unchecked, its repercussions threaten the entirety of the sector.

Forgotten Gods, the first book-length adventure for Dark Heresy Second Edition, is now available at your local retailer and online through our webstore!


A Widespread Conspiracy

This adventure thrusts you into the midst of an investigation into the Faceless Trade – smugglers trafficking proscribed artefacts. In the wrong hands, these items could be used for terrible evil. It is your duty to track down the Trade Sable smugglers and their potential buyers, and by so doing push back the forces of darkness that would consume the Askellon sector.



Your investigation begins in the wastelands outside of Hive Desoleum. In this bleak landscape and in the hive itself, you uncover the seeds of corruption that will lead you closer to your final goal. Your adventure starts at the scene of a violent altercation, and from that point, you must track down those responsible and discover the whereabouts of the xenos artefacts that the smugglers were hoping to sell.

The trail of the crime quickly leads you offworld, onto the massive Rogue Trader vessel, Oath Unspoken. Aboard the Oath Unspoken, your investigations can continue, but the ship is as large as a city, and finding clear answers anywhere may quickly lead you and your fellow Acolytes into unwanted trouble. You may descend into the depths of the ship to investigate the Corpse-Holds, or you may be summoned to the Banquet Chamber of Lord-Captain Astride Anzaforr.



After the voyage, you arrive at the bone-ridden cemetery world of Thaur. The planet is covered in tombs to honor the dead and overgrown, primeval forests. Despite this outward tranquility, heresy of the darkest sort festers within the planet. It will take every effort from you and the other Acolytes to exterminate this heresy and vanquish the heretics for the glory of the Emperor.

In addition to a thrilling adventure that spans the Askellon sector, Forgotten Gods offers plenty of gazetteer information on the locations of the adventure. What’s more, each of these three main locations can be used as a new homeworld during character creation. Your Acolyte may hail from the packed city of Hive Desoleum, he may have been born aboard the Oath Unspoken, or he may call the shrine world of Thaur his former home.




Ancient Enemies

Heresy is everywhere in the Imperium. You are one of the few tasked with battling that heresy. Now, in Forgotten Gods, you face a threat like no other. Gather your courage and pray to the Emperor for strength. Only you can stop the deadly threat now stirring in the Askellon sector!

Pick up your copy of Forgotten Gods at your local retailer today!

FFG wrote:Enemies Within
Announcing a New Sourcebook for Dark Heresy Second Edition



“Our enemies prowl in the shadows of shining cathedrals. They scuttle in the darkness of dank underhives. They lurk in the corners of gilded palaces. They even dare to stand openly, hiding behind false faces and honeyed words. They are everywhere that man live and breathe – and so we must always be ready to face them with fire and the Emperor’s wrath!”
–from the Epistles of Inquisitor Kharkov

Fantasy Flight Games is proud to announce Enemies Within, a new supplement for Dark Heresy Second Edition!

Across the Imperium, countless threats assail the Emperor’s dominion. Xenos from outside the Imperium’s borders launch daily incursions, intent on the destruction of our species. From the ever-changing realm of the Immaterium, daemons and other creations of the Ruinous Powers threaten to burst into Mankind’s plane of reality, eager to devour every human in existence. But perhaps the most deadly threat to the safety of the Imperium comes not from without, but within.



The worlds of the Askellon sector fester with undiscovered heresies and cults. Heretics, mutants, and witches exist on every planet, offering dark worship to the powers of Chaos. If left unchecked, their ghastly beliefs and practices will explode across the sector, dragging humanity screaming into the darkness. For such unbridled corruption, there can be only one cure: the pure and cleansing fire of the Ordo Hereticus.

Enemies Within is the first supplement for Dark Heresy Second Edition, and it offers new opportunities for your Acolytes in the Ordo Hereticus alongside a host of new heresies and cults for you to exterminate.


Beware the Enemy Within

The supplement opens with a history of the Ordo Hereticus’s activity within the Askellon sector. This sector of the Imperium has long been plagued with heresies of all kinds, and even in times of relative peace, heresy spreads to three new souls for every one an Acolyte sanctifies with fire. In this chapter of Enemies Within, you’ll learn the truth behind some of the greatest tragedies in the history of the sector, including deadly psyker eruptions, ferocious mutant uprisings, and other atrocities perpetrated against the glory of the Emperor’s rule.

You’ll also find a wealth of information about various Askellian planets and the heretical cults that you may discover fermenting on each planet. A planet’s culture may lend itself naturally to the emergence of certain cults, and your inquests will face different opponents on different planets. You may travel to the desert world of Hrax, a planet recently grown dissatisfied with the rule of the Imperium and filled with the darksome Warp power of furimancers. Or, your investigations may bring you inexorably to Pellenne, a radioactive world with a terrifyingly high level of mutation. Every planet in the Askellon sector offers new dangers and new heresies to root out. What’s more, this chapter offers the Game Master tools for generating brand new cults and devious plots, giving you new ways to spread the infection of the Warp to any part of the Askellon sector.



Plenty of new options for creating an Acolyte and equipping him for his duties exist in Enemies Within. Completely new home worlds offer plenty of variety, allowing you to play an Acolyte hailing from a productive agri-world, a remote frontier world, or a feudal world without advanced technology. New backgrounds and roles allow you to battle heresy as a member of the Adepta Sororitas or as a penitent mutant. You can even take on a new elite advance, becoming a Sister of Battle and bringing down the divine wrath of the Emperor upon all enemies of humanity.

Finally, you can expand your armory with new weapons, talents, and psychic powers specially suited to the Ordo Hereticus. With these new tools and skills, you can personalize your Acolyte to a greater degree than ever before. You may take up the meticulously crafted and blessed Godwyn-De’az bolt weapons, burn witches with a Brazier of Holy Fire, or ride aboard an Adepta Sororitas Immolator. You may even seek out items forbidden by the more puritan members of the Ordo, using the darksome powers of heresy to eradicate any corruption you can find. In the fight against the enemy within, you’ll need all the help you can get.




Do Not Fail the Emperor

To you, the Emperor has entrusted a most sacred duty: the protection of the Imperium and every man, woman, and child within. Your duty must remain inviolate, no matter what the cost in lives. Should you or another Acolyte shirk your noble calling, the entire sector could fall to the Warp. Sometimes, millions must burn to save the lives of billions.

Join the ranks of the Ordo Hereticus with Enemies Within! Look for this Dark Heresy Second Edition supplement in the first quarter of 2015.

 Kid_Kyoto wrote:
Ah well. Someday I'm sure.

In the next book you really should sneak in a reference somewhere to a shadow group who steal pantloons from unsuspecting Imperial citizens. I'm sure as many as 5 people will get the joke.

 Kid_Kyoto wrote:
Crazy, they managed to sneak the Squats into the Adeptus Mech book but now the Genestealers are the army we dare not name?

 BaronIveagh wrote:
If the OW forums don't stop demanding to know if and when we'll see the last OW book, I'm gonna start screaming

 H.B.M.C. wrote:
I sick and tired of every release being celebrated with the double refrain of "Is the line over?" and "Why wasn't X in this book?".

 H.B.M.C. wrote:

I will say though that it's taking a while to come out. I guess it's just January, but I've already been paid for the next book I did, so this is a long wait.

FFG wrote:Imperial Investigation
A Designer Diary on Inquests in Enemies Within



“We thought he perished during our last encounter, but the ritual markings undoubtedly show the involvement of that damnable heretic Zethor. I don’t know how he escaped the purge on Temperance, but with the Emperor’s guidance, this time we will make sure of his fate.”
–Witch-Seeker Arbella Syne

The Askellon sector groans beneath the weight of a billion billion souls and their numberless sins. Everywhere, heresy sprouts and blooms, infecting the innocent and spreading madness. For such unquestionable evil, there is only one certain cure: the cleansing fire of the Inquisition and the Ordo Hereticus.

Yet finding the roots of corruption is difficult. An Inquisitor’s Acolytes must develop a plan of investigation and follow the clues before they can confront the source of the heresy. In the Enemies Within sourcebook for Dark Heresy Second Edition, you’ll find new rules to give structure to your Inquests in the Imperium.

Today, Tim Cox shares his perspective on the Inquest rules he developed for Enemies Within!



Tim Cox on Inquests in Enemies Within

Mysteries and investigations lie at the heart of Dark Heresy Second Edition, as Acolytes and Inquisitors strive to uncover the threats to humanity, but mysteries also rank among the most difficult adventures for GMs to run and for players to follow. To assist players and GMs with running investigations and tracking the Acolytes’ progress, Enemies Within includes new rules for Inquests. These rules help players solve mysteries, conduct investigations, and hunt down the heretics, witches, and mutants that threaten the survival of Mankind.

When developing the rules for Inquests, I wanted to provide structure and mechanics to support investigative play without constraining GMs or players. Inquests needed rules that were flexible enough to represent any sort of mystery or heresy a GM might invent, while providing a solid foundation to ensure the plot advances. I also wanted to keep the focus on targeted investigations against known heretics and cults, while maintaining the flexibility to handle other types of mysteries.

Planting the Seeds

At their heart, the final rules for Inquests provide an organised system for conducting investigations, presenting guidelines that GMs can use to build their own mystery adventures. Although GMs can use Inquest rules for any investigation, they are best suited to handling investigations initiated by the Acolytes (or a Player Character Inquisitor). The beginning of an Inquest invites the Acolytes to plan the focus of their investigation, selecting their target and determining the Inquest’s scope – Minoris, Majoris, or Extremis. The scope is a reflection of the mission’s difficulty and length, and it dictates the Influence rewards for success.

The amount of player involvement in an Inquest means that Acolytes have the discretion to choose their target, the scope of their objective, and the resources they will use to accomplish it. This ensures that players and GMs are on the same page at the outset of the adventure and it further represents the discretion that trusted Acolytes and even Inquisitors exercise in deciding which threats to pursue and how best to prosecute their duties.



Chasing the Heresy

During an Inquest, Acolytes accrue Investigation points by finding clues and following leads, resulting in a tangible measurement for their progress. The number of Investigation points needed to complete an Inquest depends on its scope. A higher scope generally means more clues for the Acolytes to find.

In an Inquest, clues have an assigned Investigation point value, which can vary greatly based on the clue’s importance. In order for the Inquest to progress, the Acolytes might need to find a single vital clue or several minor clues. Acolytes gain additional Investigation points for successfully uncovering leads from a clue, but a mistaken interpretation or a false lead can actually cost them points.

Once the Acolytes have obtained a predetermined number of Investigation points, they trigger a Revelation, or an important break in the case. In order to benefit from the Revelation, they must successfully navigate a Confrontation – an important encounter with the potential to change the course of an investigation. Although Confrontations don’t always involve combat, they are often encounters with important heretics and lieutenants of the Acolytes’ target, or even with highly placed members of the organization the Acolytes seek to bring down. Confrontations may also be shocking discoveries, tense social encounters, or other important developments.

When the warband achieves the necessary total Investigation points, the results of their clues lead to the final Confrontation with their target, and the opportunity to successfully complete the Inquest. If the Acolytes are successful, they and their Inquisitor receive Influence based on the scope of the Inquest. Even if the Acolytes fail to defeat their foe, obtaining enough Investigation points nets them a reduced Influence reward. In some cases, such as during an Inquest against a particularly powerful Nemesis, just undoing his horrid schemes may be all that is possible.



Nothing According to Plan

One of my favourite elements of the Inquest rules is complications. At the outset of an Inquest, a GM can choose from a selection of complications or randomly determine one. Complications range from jurisdictional disputes with local forces or a branch of the Adeptus Terra, to local customs or practices that threaten to delay the investigation, to betrayal by a trusted ally. Each complication has mechanical effects and may cost the Acolytes Investigation points or affect their Subtlety.

Although players have a good deal more involvement in the selection, creation, and prosecution of an Inquest than they might in other adventures, complications provide a level of unpredictability and surprise that keeps the Acolytes on their toes. And although they may choose the target and scope of their Inquest, no Acolyte can ever tell for certain where that Inquest may lead them.

Doing the Emperor’s Work

I hope both GMs and players will enjoy incorporating Inquests into their games. Whether hunting down old foes or uncovering nascent threats, Inquests make up the work of the Inquisition. I look forward to hearing about the mysteries your Acolytes uncover and the threats you contend with!

Thanks, Tim!

Prepare to uncover the cults and heresies that fester throughout the Askellon sector with the new rules for Inquests. Check back for our next preview, in which we look at the new options available to your Acolytes as you work alongside the Ordo Hereticus.

Pre-order your copy of Enemies Within today!

 BrookM wrote:
I'd love to see more Only War supplements though.

 BrookM wrote:
No, it's not a lack of interest, but rather us scrubs being unaware of what's going on behind the scenes over at FFG.

Seriously though, I'd love to see them get into gear and do a splatbook about the Schola Progenium and the commissars and storm troopers it spawns.

 H.B.M.C. wrote:

What would it take for people to not shriek about the line ending every time FFG talks about the RPG's?

 H.B.M.C. wrote:
Well I'm glad someone's enjoying themselves.