Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

Hey guys,

In the spirit of H.B.M.C.'s Dark Heresy revival on Dakka, I bring you this tale. Now, I am just wild about the Dark Heresy system. I only had the chance to play in one short campaign, but it just overtook me. Due to this, I have convinced my gaming group to allow me to GM a game for them. To avoid teaching character creation right away (since it would turn many of them off to the game), I made an Adept, Assassin, Arbitrator, Guardsman, Scum, and Tech-Priest and let the four players choose. After that, they spent their four hundred experience, rolled for Wounds (all using Imperial world for simplicity), rolled Thrones, and rolled Fate Points. The Arbitrator managed to be the luckiest of them all; rolling a ten on Wounds for 13 (1d5 + 8) and 4 Fate Points (10 on 1d10).

For those familiar, I used the Maggots In The Meat campaign that comes with the GM Screen to save me from inventing every character and situation right now (I have a good campaign idea for their future). Being my first time 1) GMing a game ever 2) Typing this much on Dakka 3) Typing out an entire eventful session, so take if for what it is; our first, and very fun, adventure.

Without further adieu, I present to you the Super Campaign Supreme:

Our adventure begins with our players scattered throughout an Imperial freighter called the Emperor's Bosom. Each character receives an Imperial summons to the ship's bar area. The bar is a franchised establishment named Billecai's Pub.

Upon entering the dive separately, each acolyte is motioned to sit at a reserved table by an unremarkable looking man in flowing cobalt robes. Once all gathered, the party of strangers exchange nods and acknowledgements. Sitting calmly and quietly is the rough unshaven guardsman, Dan, in full flak and armed to the teeth. To his right, the assassin Kate sits in a black bodyglove with suspicion in her eyes and a murderous grin on her face. Andrew sits across from them with an air of power and superiority, an arbitrator who knows the extent his power could reach in the service of the Inquisition. Finally, first more-potently smelled before seen, a dirty devilish scum named Denny - though he prefers his gang name, "Grand Slam" - sits besides the law man.

The blue-coated messenger quietly drops off a data-slate and departs the bar. Unfortunately due to the Imperium's poor educational standards and the abandonment of their "No Adult Left Behind" policy in early M39, only Andrew can read the data-slate. Realizing this, he carefully reads the message aloud to his new uneducated colleagues: (Roughly)

+++
They have been summoned to the feudal world Acreage to investigate a series of disturbing and unnatural attacks occurring in the port city of Olrankan. They will be dropped off once this ship establishes orbit and they will begin operations on Emperor's Island, the only center of Imperial influence on the planet.
+++

Now knowing their task, the team wastes no time spending most of their finances on additional gear and armours. They then hastily make planetfall upon Emperor's Island. The island as it is called is actually a series of platforms off the coast of Olrankan which includes a small spaceport, a scrapyard, fighting grounds, a tavern (Billecai's Bar) and the docks. After disembarking from their Arvus Lander Thunderwrench, all three men succumb to the ocean's disorienting effects while Kate stands confident and tall (Dan actually takes this opportunity to fall on Denny, forcing him to catch him "Oh, woe is me!" *swoon!* - is roughly how we imagined it)

Wasting no time, the party immediately sets out to find a vessel at the docks to take them ashore. Along the way they speak with a disheveled man with a large sack twice his size and discover that Olrankan is the city before them but it is besieged by enemy forces and that the planet is in a full civil war, due to a foolish clerical error. The dead king left no heir and now his daughters fight for his throne. The Prince of Olrankan is loyal to one daughter, the Baroness attacking him claims fealty to the other. It is like this across the planet. Unswayed by the conditions of the planet though, the party scattered to find a competent captain.

The guardsman, still dizzy from the landing, finds a likewise dizzy captain who is drunk beyond his fill on swamp-water ale. A wretched brew with the stench of salt water, Dan declines the offer to drink. The man offers 45 Thrones a person then stumbles off singing the Litanies of Ale.

On the other side of the dock, the beautiful assassin finds a cavalier young captain that offers "pig-faced" Kate and her team a ride for 65 Thrones a pop, despite her looks not aligning to his world's idea of beauty. This is too much for the party to afford after their shopping spree on the Emperor's Bosom. Kate, with the aid of Denny's cunning linguistics, convince the man that they are a professional cleaning crew and will clean his boat for a reduced fare. He offers 15 Thrones boarding fee which Kate and Dan quickly pay and board the ship, leaving Andrew and Denny to pay their way.

It is at this point they realize that they have roughly 8 Thrones between them. The disheveled man returns to offer options for which they can gain access or money. Strongly against robbery, the arbitrator feels out of luck until he finds a chance to succeed. While talking with and following the man, he leads them to a lower deck. He then explains the ease at which someone can cross the chains below the ship in order to stowaway. Andrew sees this crime and immediately attempts to arrest the man. The man runs for it, trailing his large sack behind him. After failing to catch the man twice, the man drops his bag and escapes.

While the cop chased down the peasant man, Grand Slam took the chance to cross the chains alone. Failing miserably to hide in broad daylight, an Enforcer on the upper deck spots Denny's transgression and calls out to him. Startled by his discovery, the scum loses his grip and plummets to the sea. Fortunately for Denny, a ship that just recently launched was passing underneath. Unfortunately for Denny, he fell nine meters directly on his head and passed out.

The Enforcer descended to the lower level unable to save Denny or find Andrew (who had hidden with his new sack of junk). Unconscious and on the wrong ship, Denny was sailed lazily away. Andrew on the contrary found roughly 40 Thrones in the old man's sack and used that to buy his ticket on to the correct ship. The ship promptly set sail after his return. When he boarded, he discovered the assassin and the guardsman roaring-drunk and loudly recounting stories of war and murder to each other, clearly scaring the maid that was attempting to clean the puke in the bathroom. He omits telling him of Denny's fate. Andrew went to the adjacent room to loot his new bag. In it he found:
1 Rebreather
1 Medikit
1 Multikey
1 chest piece of human-sized power armour (front only, unusable)

At this time the captain knocked on his door and handed him a mop and bucket. Doing the right thing, Andrew hid his bag and set off to do his fair share of the work on the third level. The captain then knocked on the drunks' door and offered the same. Being an honorable man, Dan takes his mop and bucket and cleaned the lower level. While cleaning Dan began to sing the Litanies of Shining but failed horribly, nearly inciting a riot in the disgruntled passengers. Sensing this, he continue his chores in silence. Kate gleefully took the mop and bucket, and after the captain left, threw them off the ship and continued drinking.

Denny awakes on the other boat and convinces the guards and passengers that he was attacked and robbed on the ship by a bandit, thus stealing his Thrones and his ticket, and claims to be suffering memory loss. The guards find this suspicious due to the fact that the bandit did not steal Denny's weapons, but the severity of his head wound (blood freely flowing down his head while he struggles to remain upright) seem to convince them he is legitimate. He is rushed to the infirmary and cared for by a nurse.

Talking with the nurse reveals that this ship is carrying with it soldiers of the Baroness and families of such soldiers. Obviously, Denny claims, he is a relative as well but he just cannot recall of whom. The nurse explains that the ship will be docking outside of Olrankan where the Baroness' forces are encamped. Denny primarily spends the trip resting until he realizes he will require a disguise to disembark the ship undiscovered. Denny sets out to find a victim, with his head still bandaged. The scum then convinces a lone peasant man to help him back to the infirmary and in bed. While there, after a couple terrible swings, Denny lands a solid blow against the man's back with his club. The strike breaks his spine and throws him against the wall, spraying blood wildly.

With the ship disembarking, Denny quickly changes attire. Upon the man, he discovers a flintlock pistol, primitive armour (better than Denny's), and military papers. After inspecting the dead body he disguised as himself (and bashed his face in) he noticed the man had a bandaged leg. He was apparently a soldier on leave due to his injury. With the man's gear on, the scum leaves the ship.

On shore, the dead man's ailing grandmother easily mistakes Denny for her grandson and welcomes him home for dinner. The grandmother hands him new military orders sent to her for when he returned. Denny raids the man's room for ammo and a military uniform and sets off to base camp. At camp, in the confusion of war, Denny's appearance is mistaken for a rookie soldier and he is drafted to join an infiltration team into Olrankan.

At the same time Denny sets out on this mission (with three soldiers armed with muskets), the rest of the team finally makes dock in Olrankan. While the captain distantly screams, "You stupid pig-faced whore, you didn't clean my floor!" (the Litanies of Pig-faced Whores) in the background, the party marches on. They forge a path straight to the town hall until they are stopped by some gangers and their leader. Spoiling for a brawl, Krass and the gangers attempt to fist fight the party as a crowd forms. To avoid unwelcome problems, Kate draws her sword. In reply, a ganger draws his stub automatic. Having none of this bullgak right now, Andrew draws his shotgun and immediately blows the man's arm off. He drops to the ground dead while the crowd is showered with gore, and a surprisingly large fragment of bone pierces Kate's hip.

Without second though, Dan snatches the dead man's weapon and flees the scene, Andrew pockets the man's Thrones and runs in a different direction, and Kate runs in an ever different direction. Mere seconds later, the local law enforcers (the Plumes) arrive to find only a body. While the party runs in circles, Denny infiltrates the city. Dan and Andrew head towards town center separately hoping the other will come. Kate wanders towards the city wall. Denny sneaks away from his party to change back into his street clothes and regroup with the team. Kate stumbles upon Denny in her search for the others but Denny was followed. The three musketeers open fire on Denny and then the duo quickly dispatches them with automatic fire. The Plumes quickly arrive on the scene followed by the guardsman and the arbitrator (who found each other while following the Plumes).

The Plumes thank both Kate and Denny for their daring defense of the city common. With the party reunited and the attention of the Plumes, the group asks directly about the unnatural attacks throughout the city and flash the Inquisitorial badge. The Plumes do not recognize the emblem, but with the scum's charisma, they are granted an audience with a more knowledgeable nobleman. After acknowledging the misunderstanding, the party is give a city emblem to allow them clearance throughout the city. They are then taken to the scene of the latest attack.

Blood is spattered all along a section of wall showing a grim fate for three or four soldiers that were stationed there. The team investigates the spent shell casings and the inhuman footprints leading into the city. Wanting to bring these crimes to justice as fast as possible they decide to split up. The assassin and the guardsman remain at the scene to track the xenos prints into the city, and the scum and arbitrator head to the closest pub, Billecai's Grox & Ale, to get some more useful information out of the townfolk. For three hours, Kate and Dan wander the city, unsuccessfully tracking the prints. In the meanwhile, Denny and Andrew take a pleasant stroll to the bar unaware of Krass and a ganger trailing them. They go so far as to sit at a table behind our unaware heroes while Denny speaks with the bartender.

At this point, Krass and his buddy flip the table and spray the bar with automatic fire. Surprisingly, the entire tavern around and above Andrew, Denny and the bartender is showered with bullets as the two gangers fail to hit anything but bottles, and Krass' gun jammed. Denny returns fire and Andrew closes in with his mono-sword to get personal. Andrew and Krass engage in a swirling melee while Denny and the ganger get tied into a shootout. Unfortunately for the scum, after all the Wounds inflicted from his accident to the shoot out with the musketeers, he is already pretty bruised up. A burst of automatic fire puts Denny down for the night, breaking four of his ribs, with the chance of puncturing a vital organ at any second.

Knocked out for sixteen minutes and bleeding out, the bartender carefully drags him behind the bar and staunches his blood loss and saves him from certain death (burnt a Faith Point already). Andrew continues his duel by viciously stabbing both gangers to death, practically unscathed. With the sounds of conflict, the rest of the team disengaged their investigation and regrouped.

With Denny's horrendous injuries, I prescribed him one week hospital care per broken rib (so 4 weeks, which is still unrealistically short, but its a game) courteous of the government. Despite this, if Denny moved from this bed at all he still risked dying immediately from his wounds. So, pressing an autogun into the scum's arms, the team turned Denny's bed towards the door and said, "We'll be back." Then took up rooms in a local hotel and started looking for odd-jobs for money while waiting "four weeks".

Kate explored any opportunities to get paid for murdering people. Given to choice of possible bounties at the loyalist (to the Prince) bar that just experienced the shootout earlier that week, or a rumored seditionist bar called Ole Eight-points; she chose to look for a job at the seditionist bar. Directed to a back room area, Kate found bounties for: a Sergeant of the Plumes directing affairs on the northernmost wall, a nobleman related to the Prince, or the bartender of a local loyalist bar . The assassin picked the most lucrative and dangerous job available; kill the noble.

For the guys, Dan and Andrew petitioned the nobleman from prior to allow them to help clear up the neighborhoods (for a fee). Instead he asked them to investigate problems within the royal family's walled graveyard. He explained that graves were being uncovered and bodies disappear, not unlike what they are searching for.

So both on a mission for some spare cash, the assassin positioned herself on a rooftop to observe her target, and the guardsman and arbites camped out in the graveyard, with Dan wisely hiding in a tree.

That's it until next session!