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Sup guys!

So I have been putting together a group that I can roleplay with in college, and I found that one of the people has Dark Heresy. So I'm sure as feth not gonna pass that up. We got to the topic of DM'ing, and I said that I would like to DM. I love the 40k background and really want to immerse my group in it. It's even better 'cause I know that at least one of the players doesn't know about 40k so I gave him a quick-crash course.

That being said, here is the rough draft of the brief I want to give to all of the players:
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[++For more then a hundred centuries the Emperor has sat immobile on his Golden Throne of Earth. He is the Master of Mankind by the will of the gods and master of a million worlds by the might of his inexhaustible armies. He is the rotting carcass writhing invisibly with power from the Dark age of Technology. He is the carrion Lord of the Imperium, for whom a thousand souls die every day, for whom blood is drunk and flesh eaten. Human blood and human flesh - the stuff of which the Imperium is made.

To be a man in such times is to be amongst untold billions . It is time to live in the cruelest and most bloody regime imaginable. This is the tale of those times.

It is a universe you can live today - if you dare - for this is a dark and terrible era where you will find little comfort or hope. If you want to take part in the adventure then prepare yourself now. Forget the power of technology, science and common humanity. Forget the promise of progress and understanding, for there is no peace amongst the stars, only an eternity of carnage and slaughter and the laughter of the thirsting gods.

But the universe is a big place and, whatever happens, you will not be missed...


Luther McIntyre VIII

A post-apocalyptic desert world, has various human settlements dotting the landscape. The best description of it would be a mix between a Feral and Feudal world, for outside the various forts are gangs of raiders who kill and rape and steal. Despite this, there is certainly an imperial presence on this world, the source of this being the city of New Gotham.

However, in the past couple of years the governor has been going against imperial code and has instituted more liberal policies, like freedom of speech and equal rights. A sure signal of a lack of spine, the fething bastard. In any case, these new laws that have been passed have been received quite well by the soft-bellied populace. However recently (and surely due to the liberal minds of the government) the entire network has begun to deteriorate. Gangs are now attacking the cities because of fuel shortages, and each city has become a secluded fortress.

Inquisitor Sebastian Shaw-Keppler CXVIII is in charge of the system that contains Luther McIntyre VIII and has tasked you and the other acolytes to figure out what is going on with the governor (perhaps he is being controlled by anti-imperial aliens or psykers, or Emperor forbid-daemons) and to put a stop to whatever is going on. ++]

[++The only crime a warrior can commit is COWARDICE++]
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That's what I have so far. I have some ideas of what are going on because I know that players will often not go in the way that people have planned. I have the thought that the governor could perhaps be a Vampyre.

I also definitely want to include biker gangs, mutants, mutant biker gangs, Lord Humongous (ala Road Warrior), and other crazy stuff like that. I know that I'm not going to include all of that since I know that I can easily get overwhelmed since I am new to this.

Also, I know that none of the players use DakkaDakka so I have nothing to worry about! : )

Anyway, if I could get some good tips that would be fantastic. Opinions on how the story looks, tips, tricks, warnings, whatever. I want to make this a great experience for all parties involved. (Including me of course! )

Thanks guys! : )

-Vlad

hey mate... aaam...

well...

as a rpg i would lean away from 40k, as it is very singular and much more related to the board game...

as a fellow DM i would advise throwing the party into Palladuim Rifts (google it) becuase rifts and 40k have some similarities that the 40k players would love (we had a psycopathic Khorne Beserker (who had a chance of palling apart and crying during combat)) and also for the people who dont play an RPG or miniture game it still has common features (since it is set on Earth)

anyway... if you want any ideas or help with DMing then you can email me on -elegost@live.com.au-

have fun and remember to make it feel like it is hopeless but always have an escape plan...

Elegost

Hi, first stay away from Palladuim Books there system sucks (if you like some sense of blanace anyways), but Rifts is a geart setting, I use BESM 3ed to run it myself.

First tip for running a Dark Heresy, own the book yourself. FFG has a good system, but there a lot to it so you really need to read it a few times and maybe run a few mock up fight to get use to the system. Make some stock NPCs, a list of names, and bookmark the rules you know you will use to find easy. Good Luck.

Welcome Vlad. 'Bout time.

So, are you going to be playing DH, or something else?

H.B.M.C. wrote:Welcome Vlad. 'Bout time.

So, are you going to be playing DH, or something else?

My group and I going to be playing Dark Heresy. I currently have the book with me (had it lent to me by one of the players) so I am poring over everything. So far it all seems to make sense when I look over it a couple times. I figure that in a week or two I will have good grasp of it since I also have college work to go over, so I can't just spend the entire day looking over the book.

@ Noir: I will probably buy the DM guide so I don't have to bookmark the actual Dark Heresy book.

Make sure you hit the FFG website and read that Errata. Not only does it answer a lot of questions and clear a lot of things up (especially with character creation and those first couple of ranks), but it also gives a nice long description of how things like Two Weapon Wielder and Ambidextrous and so on interact and stack with one another.

The only downside to the errata is that it limits psykers to one psychic power per round, basically negating the use a number of powers that have to be used in conjunction with other powers, or with attacks. We ignored that part of the errata and basically said that a psyker can make one 'attack' power per round, and one 'non-attack' power per round.

But read the errata. And check the Rogue Trader errata as well, as it will have a few other things that is relevant to DH as they follow most of the same rules.

Aiight cool, thank you very much. Definitely checking that out.

I also checked out the vehicle book because I want to include a biker gang at one point. Seems pretty straight-forward to me.

If you guys have any suggestions for me as it is my first time DM'ing, that would be super appreciated. What to avoid, etc.

What sort of game are you going to run? Pre-published adventure or one you've made up yourself? How many players do you reckon you'll have? How much of the rules do they know already?

As a new DM, try to be as familiar as possiible with your environment and NPC population. Remember that what you say is everything that the players see hear smell taste touch talk to and run away from. Try to be the narrator who describes things when the party isn't talking amongst themselves. Then also add telling them things that they would happen to notice or remember as they interact with you.
Make a few of the non combat rollls for the players yourself, to avoid telegraphing things like suprise or hidden locations.
Remember to be there and alert. The worst games I ever sat through were the ones where the DM was constantly looking up some obscure chart or rule, and not interacting with his players. Wing it when you have to, if it keeps the game moving and interesting your players will thank you for it.
It will help you greatly if you prepare a few dozen 3x5 cards with prerolled NPCs and monsters encounters on them. The cards should include stats, treasure, attitude, or info the npc may have plus its experience point value.

PCs like to be led to believe that they are not being spoon fed info that will lead them where you want them to go. Cards as mentioned above will help provide side adventures and distractions that will create a sense of freedom to explore for the PCs, and some freedom for you to develop the narrative.
Remember that you are in charge of making it fun but not too easy. Good Luck to you.

snurl wrote:As a new DM, try to be as familiar as possiible with your environment and NPC population. Remember that what you say is everything that the players see hear smell taste touch talk to and run away from. Try to be the narrator who describes things when th party isnt talking amongst themselves. Then also add telling things that they would happen to notice or remember as they interact with you.
Make a few of the non combat rollls for the players yourself, to avoid telegraphing things like suprise or hidden locations.
Remember to be there and alert. The worst games I ever sat through were the ones where the DM was constantly looking up some obscure chart or rule, and not interacting with his players. Wing it when you have to, if it keeps the game moving and interesting your players will thank you for it.
It will help you greatly if you prepare a few dozen 3x5 cards with prerolled NPCs and monsters encounters on them. The cards should include stats, treasure, attitude, or info the npc may have plus its experience point value.

I am definitely doing the bolded. That is a really, really, really good idea!

As for the italics, thank you.

PCs like to be led to believe that they are not being spoon fed info that will lead them where you want them to go. Cards as mentioned above will help provide side adventures and distractions that will create a sense of freedom to explore for the PCs, and some freedom for you to develop the narrative.
Remember that you are in charge of making it fun but not too easy. Good Luck to you.

Awesome, thank you very much. I will make a thread more specific about what's happening in the roleplay so far so that people can get a good idea. If I have time, I will later post an encounter. I will also do a more detailed description of the city that they are going to. (In this case, New Gotham)


@ HBMC- I am going to be running an adventure that I made myself. That's what the brief in the OP is supposed to be for. The pre-published one in the book is ok. Cool for some ideas (I am planning on using the one where the PC's get attacked by the thugs) but otherwise I am doing my own thing. I'm not too big of a fan of having Daemons in every single adventure. I could certainly make the governor a vampire.

I know that there will be 3 players so far, not including myself. Only 1 of them is familiar with the rules. I reckon that the first couple of encounters will be very simple just so that they know what the heck is going on.

Glad I could help.
Another nice thing about using the cards is that you can use them over and over and the PCs are none the wiser, like in an area full of beastmen or goblins for example.
In my own starter adventure, there is a small town where the PCs originate from. There are several locations around it where the first major encounters will happpen. At the beginning of the game the PCs are told of a few things they know about the locations, some true, some not quite true. After telling them I let it up to the party to decide where to go first. NPCs they run in to in town or on the way in or out will usually have some news or loaded questions for the party which may influence what they get up to next.
Now I dont fill in every purpose for each building in the town. Since the PCs live there I tell them that they know where everything is, and the NPCs who run the shops and businesses know them too. Each has an opinion of the PCs which can change based on the partys actions. If I need a blacksmith shop for example, I will pencil it in on a blank building on the map. PCs are good at wanting things you didnt think of, and this method fixes that quickly.
For a first encounter I like to let them think that they are leaving to explore the old ruins or something and then have a frantic NPC inturrupt them distraught over a lost dog or child, one that they may have met or noticed earlier in the day. Of course there will be a nice reward of cash or some service the PCs cant afford for the safe return. The PCs almost always take the bait and start asking around if anyone saw the missing dog, and soon they are headed right where you want them to go.
Sorry for the long post but one final bit of advice-
Keep your party compatible. If you are running an adventure for all dwarves and some PC just has to be a psionic drow transvestite assasin just say no.

Vladsimpaler wrote:@ HBMC- I am going to be running an adventure that I made myself. That's what the brief in the OP is supposed to be for. The pre-published one in the book is ok. Cool for some ideas (I am planning on using the one where the PC's get attacked by the thugs) but otherwise I am doing my own thing. I'm not too big of a fan of having Daemons in every single adventure. I could certainly make the governor a vampire.

I know that there will be 3 players so far, not including myself. Only 1 of them is familiar with the rules. I reckon that the first couple of encounters will be very simple just so that they know what the heck is going on.

Ok, the problem with running your own adventure for everyone's first game is that everyone will be concentrating on learning the rules and not on the story you've created. My first game was my own scenario, but I made it exceptionally simple (You have a data pad - people are chasing you - get away from the people), and we went from there. I didn't do my first real scenario until everyone had a game or two under their belt with some very simple 'intro' scenarios that I had cooked up. So, having your own scenario is fine, just make sure it's very simple and not heavily plot driven, as people just won't notice while they're trying to work out what Skill does what.

H.B.M.C. wrote:

Vladsimpaler wrote:@ HBMC- I am going to be running an adventure that I made myself. That's what the brief in the OP is supposed to be for. The pre-published one in the book is ok. Cool for some ideas (I am planning on using the one where the PC's get attacked by the thugs) but otherwise I am doing my own thing. I'm not too big of a fan of having Daemons in every single adventure. I could certainly make the governor a vampire.

I know that there will be 3 players so far, not including myself. Only 1 of them is familiar with the rules. I reckon that the first couple of encounters will be very simple just so that they know what the heck is going on.

Ok, the problem with running your own adventure for everyone's first game is that everyone will be concentrating on learning the rules and not on the story you've created. My first game was my own scenario, but I made it exceptionally simple (You have a data pad - people are chasing you - get away from the people), and we went from there. I didn't do my first real scenario until everyone had a game or two under their belt with some very simple 'intro' scenarios that I had cooked up. So, having your own scenario is fine, just make sure it's very simple and not heavily plot driven, as people just won't notice while they're trying to work out what Skill does what.

Ah, okay, sounds good. In that case, I will just do the premade adventure from the back of the book. I will still change some stuff around just for creative purposes but everything will be more or less the same. (Probably remove the Daemon. There are just waaaaay too many daemons hanging around in 40k I feel, they should be a bit more rare!)

Looking through the plot in the back of the DH book, it seems pretty simple. Plot driven? Actually yes but I can certainly insert other missions and so on.

Again, I want to thank everyone for their advice.

Shattered Hope, the demo scenario from the main site, is a very simple dungeon crawl that you can adapt to just about anything. I made it the first part of our campaign, but changed a few things:

1. Added more to do for the players in the Guard encampment (helping the medic, helping to fix a Leman Russ, etc.).
2. Added more enemies to fight to make combat a bit more interesting.
3. Added some things the players could find during the mission and bring back for a reward.
4. Changed the ending completely from "Chaos Stone w/Added Plaguebearer" to "AdMech Tech-Priest & Servitors studying artefact". Made the final fight more interesting, and fit better into the overall plot.

It may be very straight forward as far as scenarios go, but it is a demo adventure, and therefore introduces each player to each part of the game sequentially - tests to do with interaction and roleplaying with NPCs, then tests to do with movement and environment, and then combat.

H.B.M.C. wrote:Shattered Hope, the demo scenario from the main site, is a very simple dungeon crawl that you can adapt to just about anything. I made it the first part of our campaign, but changed a few things:

1. Added more to do for the players in the Guard encampment (helping the medic, helping to fix a Leman Russ, etc.).
2. Added more enemies to fight to make combat a bit more interesting.
3. Added some things the players could find during the mission and bring back for a reward.
4. Changed the ending completely from "Chaos Stone w/Added Plaguebearer" to "AdMech Tech-Priest & Servitors studying artefact". Made the final fight more interesting, and fit better into the overall plot.

It may be very straight forward as far as scenarios go, but it is a demo adventure, and therefore introduces each player to each part of the game sequentially - tests to do with interaction and roleplaying with NPCs, then tests to do with movement and environment, and then combat.

Interesting, I really like this scenario. I am going to change it to a Genestealer cult though, with the final boss (so to speak) being a purestrain Genestealer. Like I've said before, Chaos is used waaaaay waaaaay waaaaay too much. On one hand it makes sense, but this makes for a nice change of pace. And when Chaos is actually used, it seems really threatening, rather than "oh great more bloodletters".

Some really good points here that I will echo...

Make your first two or three missions really simple. Move something from place A to place B. Meet with someone important. Get them to shoot a few bad guys, but also use thier other character skills.

Do your homework: NPCs can be time consuming to create on the fly, which can ruin the pace of a game.

Let them be creative, and let them make mistakes, but don't let them be too silly, and don't punish them just to show you're in charge. If you find yourself in a peeing contest with a player, break charatcter and straighten it out. Nothing is more boring than a contest of wills and rule-lawyering between a PC and GM.

Adapt to the type of game the players want, while staying within the realm of the game reality.

The 3 x 5 card idea really works - i've been doing it for years in all sort of games, to the point that I now have to hide them to not alert the players to an upcoming encounter!

Can I give you a few small pieces of advice?
1. Give your NPCs voices! If you are good at doing accents, give those the players' meet accents - you're American so maybe a British accent could be used for the inhabitants of the planet, especially the bikers (Cockney accent maybe - think Vinney Jones [Lock, Stock, Two Smoking Barrels movie]). If you're not good at doing accents, give them lisps, or speach defects! It would definately make them, and the game, memorable!

2. I like the Genestealer idea as the 'end of level boss', but it might be a bit tough for 1st level characters. If it looks like the characters are all going to die - fudge it! Have some IG turn up at the last minute t help them (if you have to).

3. Don't have a hard and fast plan for the game, because I can guarantee the players will NOT do what you want them to do! That's fine, if you've planned an encounter in the East and they go West, move it to the West - simple!

Finally (hooray, I hear you say), HAVE FUN! If it all goes a bit Pete Tong, fudge it (make it up). You may surprise yourself in how adpatable you can be!
I have a personal rule where I try to never say 'No' to the players, 'Maybe' is much more fun ;-).
Enjoy!