reds8n wrote:Hmm... it was a gorgeous book. And I appreciate it's always going to be hard to write an adventure that will appeal to many people.

Spoiler:

However the adventure starts with the PCS all captured and imprisoned, with none of their own gear and weapons, if memory serves there's no viable or realistic chance of them retrieving their own gear at all..unless the GM is generous. That's a pet hate of mine in adventures so it loses points straight away. Plus, and I haven't ran it so I could be wrong, I didn't think it was ideal for beginning characters ( they'd die far too easily to some of the beasties in there I reckon, especially given the lack of equipment) and more experienced characters will still struggle as, in my campaigns anyway, it's often better gear that's one of the perks of staying alive in the first place. Some nice stats and ideas in there still of course.

BrookM wrote:Yeah, that's it. Zero extra rules, minimal description.

H.B.M.C. wrote:

BrookM wrote:Yeah, that's it. Zero extra rules, minimal description.

Hmm... that's a bit lame.

Is the shield itself worth it? I've found the DH one to be invaluable, not so much to 'hide' behind, but more because of the summary of lots of common rules.

+++Incoming Astropathic Transmission+++

Greetings, Dark Heresy fans!

We announced the release of Damned Cities earlier this week, the second adventure in the epic Haarlock’s Legacy Trilogy. These three adventures all offer some unique looks at particular worlds in the Calixis Sector and outline a dark pattern of events that threaten hundreds of worlds.

http://new.fantasyflightgames.com/ffg_content/dark-heresy/images/death-of-sinophia-magna-final_Stylinades.jpg

In Damned Cities, your acolytes will encounter a multi-layered mystery adventure, chock full of investigation and suspense. The acolytes will need to survive the depths of a wicked city, ambushes from any quarter, and somehow avert a civil war that could tear the city apart. It is difficult for even the Inquisition to tell whom to trust...and all the while, a looming threat builds to an explosive climax with the fate of the entire planet at stake.

Damned Cities features a detailed gazeteer on the frontier world of Sinophia, and includes a close look at the capital city of Sinophia Magna. I would be remiss if I did not point out that one of my favorite bits of the Warhammer 40,000 universe, the Adeptus Arbites, also have a major role!

The Haarlock’s Legacy Trilogy began with Tattered Fates and now moves into its second act with Damned Cities. The end of the trilogy looms nigh, so make sure your acolytes are prepared!

Dark Heresy is a roleplaying game set in the Warhammer 40,000 universe, the grim darkness of the far future. Players take on the roles of Acolytes serving the Inquisition, rooting out heresy and corruption from within the galaxy-spanning Imperium of Man.

Greetings, Dark Heresy fans! This week, I have some guest words from the authors of Damned Cities, the second part of the epic Haarlock’s Legacy Trilogy, John French and Alan Bligh. John and Alan were kind enough to sit down and give me some of their thoughts on crafting this central portion of the trilogy, and how the adventure can affect the entire Calixis Sector!



Without further ado, allow me to present John French and Alan Bligh:

The Worst City I Know…by John French

Sinophia Magna is my favourite worst place in the Imperium. It is bleak, forgotten place that is decaying both physically and socially. It is a place that was once both beautiful and wealthy. Now it is a rancid grand dame of a city clad in rotting finery and begging for a coin while cursing those that spare one…
…and it always rains.

History in Every Stone

One of the reasons Sinophia Magna is my favourite worse place is that it is a place with history, a history that it is to say in gaming terms as well as background. It is a place that we have played in and used for games for years since long before the first copies of Dark Heresy touched the shelves. It predates the Calixis Sector both in its in game history and in its realty as a game setting: ‘The Empty Men of Sinophia Magna’ incident actually happened (well in a game at least) in its streets, in a 40k rpg game that predated Dark Heresy, as have many other investigations since: Inquisitor Herrod (That was me! –Alan) bisected a Logician flesh abomination in a warehouse in the Sinks and everything when horribly wrong as it only can in 40k. Junt Yaeger (who you may recognise in the future that is yet to come) lost his mind at the sight of the Risen Dead on the streets of the and nearly killed his comrades in his madness. In fact both Alan and I have used many of our experiences playing and running games in Sinophia Magna in creating Damned Cities and making your time in that forsaken place as fun as ours have been.

An Atmosphere of Decay and Despair

In all of the adventures that we cooked up to create the Haarlock Legacy campaign, the location for the adventure has a very strong character of its own: The House of Dust and Ash is treaded through with mortuary images, the smell of dry death and the cold of the grave. Quaddis is a city of masks, blood and lies, and forbidden Mara of course holds [purged by the order of the Tenebrae Collegium]. The character of Sinophia Magna is one of decay, bitterness and lost dreams, and we have woven these qualities into every mouldering cranny of the place.

We imagined every sign of tasteful opulence and then let it rot: The streets of European cities, and places we’ve been such as Prague, Venice, Rome and London informed much of the flavour and feel of the city: It is not a city of towering edifices but of crowded buildings with empty rooms. The physical city is of low buildings that press close over stagnant canals and narrow streets. Broken angels look down from vine-choked plinths and the place reeks of damp and human misery. The characters that players will encounter in Sinophia Magna are deliberate mirrors of the physical corruption: even the best of them have a mote of darkness or despair in their souls.

Corrupt cops, well-dressed monsters and Victorian values, by Alan Bligh

Well with John having already covered a good deal about the adventure’s setting, it leaves it up to me to speak a little about the plot and characters involved (without giving out too many spoilers!) One of the things I really am quite proud off is the setting that John and I wove for the plot was the ‘dramatis personae’ of the adventure itself: We did our part to cram it chock-full of the kind of remarkable, singular and often downright sinister cast of characters that you would expect to encounter in an Imperial city, and just ‘turned up’ the darkness and decay, from monstrously vain and jaded nobles, to psychopathic enforcers, murderous street scum and of course the poor downtrodden mass of normal folk in-between. There’s something I think ineffably both gothic and Victorian about the result, with its own logic and dark ambiance, and was a perfect backdrop of characters to get themselves unwittingly become embroiled in a major piece of the Haarlock puzzle.

Failing States

One other interesting idea John and I had when putting together the adventures outline that really interested us, was the idea of setting it against the background of civil unrest: a worsening collapse of law and government in a capital city of an Imperial world, and thereby the impending threat of riot and civil war for the Acolytes to worry about. This also ties into the fact that in Damned Cities, the Acolytes are acting with inquisitorial authority, and with help, of a sort, from the powers that be, leaving them open to all sorts of potential entanglements in the city’s power politics as well as some interesting moral questions about who they should help, and where their duty lies. Of course, this being Dark Heresy, there are plenty of very nasty surprises hiding behind Sinophia’s rotting veneer as well.

The Mystery Unfolds

Damned Cities was written the ability to run it as a ‘stand alone’ adventure in mind, but is of course, part of the wider dark web of the Haarlock Legacy. Its structure and scope offer what we hope is another change of pace and game play, from either the previous two adventures and something that Dark Heresy fans will greatly enjoy, and it also provides some more troubling answers about the secret of the legacy which will be realised finally in the adventures arc’s shattering conclusion, Dead Stars.

We hope to see you there!

The Next Step

Beginning next week, I’m going to start bringing to light possibly the most anticipated book for Dark Heresy...Ascension! Everything you knew was a lie -- it is time to Heed the Higher Call!

You are a Rogue Trader, an explorer with a sacred mandate to venture beyond the limits of the Imperium in the name of the Emperor. Whether you live the life of an outlaw privateer, or as a scion of an ancient noble line, as a Rogue Trader you have the power and the tools to challenge all rivals for supreme control of the riches lurking in the uncharted reaches of space.

Now, you can bring the light of the Emperor to the darkest corners of the Koronus Expanse. Fantasy Flight Games is proud to announce the upcoming sourcebook for Rogue Trader, Lure of the Expanse!

Lure of the Expanse features three adventures set amongst the unexplored stars beyond the Imperium. Wealth and glory await those with the courage to venture into the farthest reaches of space.

In Eye of the Needle, your Explorers will travel to the perilous port of Footfall to learn of a dark prophecy of long-lost riches. In The Heathen Trail, the Explorers find themselves on the path of uncountable riches... but they must cross the wild tracts of the Heathen Stars. Threats abound, but can the Explorers transform danger into rewards? Finally, in The World Beyond, the Explorers discover the location of the legendary treasure world. Now, can they prevail against a host of enemies?

This spring, explore the dark frontier of the Warhammer 40,000 universe with this collection of exciting adventures for Rogue Trader. Opportunity abounds. Will you answer the call of the Expanse?

Rogue Trader is a roleplaying game set in dark gothic far future of Games Workshop's Warhammer 40,000 universe. Players take on the roles of explorers aboard a Rogue Trader's ship, searching for profit and adventure while discovering new alien cultures and threats in the uncharted regions of space.

Everything You Knew Was A Lie

Greetings, Dark Heresy fans!

Ross Watson here; I’m extremely pleased to begin talking about Ascension—a 256-page sourcebook that takes your Dark Heresy campaign to a whole new tier of power and intrigue. In Ascension, your Acolytes become Throne Agents; they are no longer pawns, but rather, they can change the very nature of the contest.

The Left Hand of the Emperor

As the lead developer for Ascension, I had some specific goals in mind when I crafted the vision for this book. I worked closely with Managing Developer Michael Hurley and Games Workshop to help craft Ascension’s broad scope, intricate mechanics, and details about the Inquisition and the Calixis Sector. I assembled a crack team of designers, including some exceptionally gifted wordsmiths of the 41st Millennium: Andy Hoare, Sam Stewart, John French and Alan Bligh, and Owen Barnes. Under the banner of our codename, “Project Rose,” we went forward with a plan to create the most important release for the Dark Heresy line since the core rulebook.

One of my driving goals was to fulfill the promise of Dark Heresy’s venture into the Inquisition. I wanted to bring in elements from the inspirations for the Dark Heresy line, such as the Inquisition miniature game and the Eisenhorn and Ravenor novels by Dan Abnett. My vision of Ascension shifts the game from investigating a single cult and instead “zooms out” a bit, involving multi-system conspiracies and the politics of the Inquisition itself. Once you take on the role of a pivotal member of the Inquisition, you tend to garner a lot of attention...and a lot of enemies! Different factions and rivals are sure to get involved with your investigation as friends and foes (and sometimes both at the same time!).

So, what will you find inside Ascension?

This book is chock-full of material to enhance your Dark Heresy campaign, including a lot of new additional rules, new ways to use Fate Points, an expanded Rank structure, a new approach to psychic powers, and a system named Influence that puts your characters at the center of your own operations, able to muster the resources of entire worlds to your authority.

Other chapters provide a selection of 12 all-new full Careers, including the ability to directly take on the role of an Inquisitor! Other options involve Careers known as Throne Agents—a step above Acolytes in both power and responsibility. Among their ranks are the Hierophant, Primaris Psyker, and Adeptus Arbites Judge just to name a few...

Later sections delve into the secrets of the Inquisition and how it operates within the Imperium of Mankind. There is a focus on the place of an Inquisitor as a peer of the Imperium, the power of Inquisitor Lords, and the nature of the Ordos.

One of my favorite sections of the book details the challenges faced by a Game Master running an ascended game of Dark Heresy. How to deal with issues of player-character authority within the game universe, as well as advice on creating wide-ranging threats and running long-term ascended campaigns are all discussed in detail.

Ascension also includes a complete adventure designed for ascended play. Murder comes to the great temple Aleph on Malfi during the investiture of a senior priest of the Ecclesiarchy. With power, wealth, and treachery in abundance, the Inquisitor and Throne Agents must find a way out of the maze of lies and blood. If they find the truth, do they let it be known—or substitute their own?

I’ve given you a pretty good overview of the book for this week, but don’t despair! I plan to go into more detail about the book in future designer diaries...and provide some tasty previews of the contents! I may even be able to provide some choice extras along the way...stay tuned!

The Next Step

Although I am very proud and excited to talk about Ascension, there are even more impressive books for the Dark Heresy line planned for the rest of this year and beyond! 2010 is going to be a good year for Dark Heresy, and I’m really looking forward to being able to tell you more about all the great books we are working on here at the Fantasy Flight Games RPG department. As always, keep checking the website for new information, and may the light of the Golden Throne guide your way!

Dark Heresy is a roleplaying game set in the Warhammer 40,000 universe, a setting in the grim darkness of the far future. Players take on the roles of Acolytes serving the Inquisition, rooting out heresy and corruption from within the galaxy-spanning Imperium of Man.

+++Incoming Astropathic Transmission+++

Greetings, Dark Heresy fans!



This week, I am going to dive into one of my favorite sections of Ascension that deals with what are called “Ascended Careers.” Ascension introduces another tier onto the original eight ranks of Dark Heresy, extending the total amount to 16 full ranks that a character can climb. The Ascended Careers make up the second half of that total, presenting the character with a number of ways to serve the Inquisition at a higher level.

Ascended Careers are something a character earns after his time as an Acolyte. Previously in Dark Heresy, when a character reached Rank 8, there was no higher he could climb. In Ascension, such a character can attain an Ascended Career and become a Throne Agent.

However, this event does not simply happen overnight! It may take many months or years of special training, cleansing of the mind and body, or even an encounter with the shadowy Officio Assassinorum before such a character is ready to begin his duties as a Throne Agent.

To represent this separation, Ascension introduces a new element named “Transition Packages.” A Transition Package is a way to represent the challenges, trials, and triumphs your character has gone through in order to emerge as a trusted member of the Holy Ordos themselves.

After you select your Transition Package, the character is ready to begin his Ascended Career, and Ascension provides a very large variety of such options: there are 12 full Ascended Careers in the book, a list of which is provided below!

Ascended Careers

Crusader Death Cult Assassin
Desperado Hierophant
Inquisitor Interrogator
Judge Magos
Primaris Psyker Sage
Storm Trooper Vindicare Assassin

Interrogators and Inquisitors

“I come to set straight that which is twisted; to cleanse that which is unclean; to judge he who is guilty; to punish he who has sinned. These things I do in the name of the most Holy God-Emperor of Mankind, and I do them gladly.”
–The ‘Missive to the Damned’, issued by Lady Garielle of the Ordo Hereticus by way of planet-wide vox-cast, upon her arrival on Fenksworld



As the lead developer for Ascension, one thing I was very keen on was to provide Dark Heresy players with the option of taking on the role of a full Inquisitor right from the start. With the exception of the Tech-Priest (who gets his own Ascended Career with the Magos!), all of the Dark Heresy Careers have the potential to become an Interrogator or Inquisitor in Ascension.

The powers and responsibilities of the Ascended Careers are a good fit for the retinue of an Inquisitor of the Holy Ordos, including the Interrogator Ascended Career. Interrogators are, in a way, “apprentice Inquisitors,” learning the ways of the Ordos under the direction of their master. Some Interrogators are quickly raised up to the rosette and become a full Inquisitor in short order (in Ascension, this is represented by a number of Transition Packages).

The investiture of an Inquisitor is a significant event, so I knew that we needed to make the Interrogator a valid Career option as well for those players who would prefer to roleplay the acquisition of their rosette during the course of their campaign. Therefore, you will find some options for a Throne Agent to begin as an Interrogator and eventually become an Inquisitor when the time is right. This way, the book allows for multiple approaches to becoming an Inquisitor, and you can choose the path that works best for your Dark Heresy campaign!

Ascension Wallpaper #1

As a special bonus, this week you can find the first of four special Ascension wallpapers on the Dark Heresy support page! Enjoy!

The Next Step

Stay tuned to the FFG website for more exciting details about Ascension and other upcoming Dark Heresy books. While Ascension is an amazing sourcebook that lets you experience Dark Heresy in a whole new way, that does not mean it replaces Dark Heresy, nothing could be further from the truth. We have an unbelievable schedule of Dark Heresy books lined up that will have your acolytes adventuring for years to come.

reds8n wrote:This is all good... I wonder if the Lord of Change still has all those wounds...

reds8n wrote:oh... Deathwatch agogo BTW.

reds8n wrote:

And... Deathwatch is agogo..looking very good. If what I have heard about the team dynamic is true/stays it strikes me as a wicked idea.

Mattlov wrote:That's because FFG cares.

H.B.M.C. wrote:

Mattlov wrote:That's because FFG cares.

And FFG's chief drive isn't to sell models.

Mattlov wrote:That's because FFG cares.

Hello, Rogue Trader fans!

This week I’d like to take some time to talk about our next upcoming book for the Rogue Trader line, Lure of the Expanse.

Lure of the Expanse is actually three linked adventures in one book: Eye of the Needle, The Heathen Trail, and The World Beyond. Each adventure can be played individually, or linked together to form a grand Endeavour that will see the Explorers travel across the Expanse, striving with their competitors, and risking their lives and profits to become legends of the Expanse.

The first adventure begins in the disreputable port of Footfall, at the far end of the Maw. Footfall is where the Koronus Expanse begins, the first port outside Imperial authority. Footfall is a freeport established by the Rogue Trader Parsimus Dewain, and has quickly evolved into a lynchpin of operations within the Expanse. It’s location at the end of the Maw makes it a vitally important station, but does not mean it is a safe place to visit.



Footfall is technically “ruled” by its liege, although the real powers behind the throne are the shadowy organizations that have a stake in the lawless port. Lieges who have exceeded their very limited authority have ended up replaced very quickly by a liege more amiable to suggestions from his hidden backers.

The situation is further complicated by ancient tradition that states that the station is actually ruled by the most powerful Rogue Trader who happens to be in port. Some Rogue Traders, such as the notorious Calligos Winterscale, take this authority literally, and when he is present he presides over the port like an Imperial governor. Most Rogue Traders, however, take a hands-off approach, and so long as the powers of Footfall do not interfere with their affairs, they are happy to leave those powers to their own devices.

Eye of the Needle includes a detailed gazetteer of Footfall, with enough information that GMs can create their own adventures in the lawless port, as well as expanding on the Eye of the Needle adventure if the group wishes. As one half of the ‘gateway’ into the Koronus Expanse (the other half being Port Wander), Footfall promises to be a vital part of many adventures in the Expanse, and beyond providing exciting adventures, Lure also contains vital information about this nefarious port...as well as other fascinating locations throughout the Expanse.

Stay tuned for next designer diary, when I discuss some of the design philosophies behind the Lure of the Expanse adventures. Until then, I wish you clear space and fair sailing!

+++Incoming Astropathic Transmission+++

Greetings, Dark Heresy fans!

This week, I would like to talk more about some of the cool stuff you will find within Ascension, the new upcoming sourcebook for Dark Heresy. Specifically, I’d like to talk a bit about Mastered Skills and Paragon Talents.

During the development of Ascension, one of the first things we did is create some Rank 8 Dark Heresy characters to get an idea of where most characters would be coming from as they begin their journey towards heeding the higher call. It quickly became apparent that the character sheet was quite full already, and we knew that in Ascension, we needed to address that issue while still bringing something new to the table. That’s where the idea for Mastered Skills and Paragon Talents came in...



“Knowledge is power: power beyond that of guns, or swords or thronging armies. It is power because in a realm of ignorance those with knowledge are lords of all.”
–Corwanius Tare

The purpose of Mastered Skills and Paragon Talents is to give ascended characters abilities that reflect the status and position they have achieved. These abilities are deliberately powerful and approximate the qualities of many lesser abilities that can be acquired separately. They are the abilities of true lords and masters of the Imperium in their chosen paths. They are also intended to reduce the number of entries on a character sheet and remembered or referenced by a player. It is intended that ascended characters have fewer, more powerful abilities, with a greater scope of application than characters created from the Dark Heresy rulebook and other Dark Heresy supplements.

Mastered skills represent a character’s mastery over a broad area of endeavour which contains a number of individual skills. Mastered skills replace a number of individual skills, or skills with a number of skill groups with a single Mastered Skill. This grants the character a bonus to all of the skills that is replaces. Mastered skills can also be used in conjunction with a number of characteristics depending on the type of skill test being taken. Mastered Skills also allow for the possibility of a character having a particular speciality within a Mastered Skill.

For example, a character may have had the Acrobatics, Climb, Contortionist, Dodge, and Swim Skills, all at different degrees. When he purchases Athletic Mastery, however, he would remove all of these individual skills from his character sheet and simply use the bonus granted by Athletic Mastery to all of the skill tests that would have been covered by the individual skills.

Paragon Talents work in much the same way as Mastered Skills, replacing a number of related Talents and usually grant a further benefit in addition.



The following is an example of one of the Mastered Skills found in Ascension:

Decadent Mastery
Replaces: Carouse, Gamble, Performer (all skill Groups),
Decadent mastery is the fruit of a life spent in epicurean indulgence and reflects expertise in imbibing all forms of intoxicants, gambling, and revelling with abandon.

Ascension Wallpaper #2
As a special bonus, this week you can find the second of four special Ascension wallpapers on the Dark Heresy support page! Enjoy!