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Hello!
It's been a while since I've been on here properly, and I know this area of the forum is a little bit quiet but I'm looking for any advice
I'm relatively new to RPG's and am GM-ing two different groups. We have been running through the GW campaigns and I know a lot of people say they are bad, but for someone with no experience they did alright. So far we've done Illumination, Maggots in the Meat and are just finishing Purge the Unclean by clearing up Baron Hopes next time. The question is, where next? Whilst considering the Haarlock Legacy I'd like something of my own.
There are a few planets in the DH main rulebook Calixis Sector fluff that interest me, and I have a few ideas, but how do I develop those into an Adventure? From going "Hey, that'd be cool", how'd you make it practica? I know keep-it-simple is a by-word at this stage...

Any help appreciated

The OC-D

 theocd wrote:
Hello!
It's been a while since I've been on here properly, and I know this area of the forum is a little bit quiet but I'm looking for any advice
I'm relatively new to RPG's and am GM-ing two different groups. We have been running through the GW campaigns and I know a lot of people say they are bad, but for someone with no experience they did alright. So far we've done Illumination, Maggots in the Meat and are just finishing Purge the Unclean by clearing up Baron Hopes next time. The question is, where next? Whilst considering the Haarlock Legacy I'd like something of my own.
There are a few planets in the DH main rulebook Calixis Sector fluff that interest me, and I have a few ideas, but how do I develop those into an Adventure? From going "Hey, that'd be cool", how'd you make it practica? I know keep-it-simple is a by-word at this stage...

Any help appreciated

The OC-D

If you read some of the premade stuff you get an idea of what to aim for. Really if you have a story you want to tell. Then just go for it. Give yourself a rough plot arc for the acolytes to work through. But bear in mind how it plays out might vary wildly to what you thought could happen. If you can keep that in mind and find ways of working such situations into the campaign then you should be fine. The main thing is the group has fun. you AND the players. Otherwise if that isn't happening. Something needs to be done differently.

Set a general goal for the acolytes to achieve. It could be something as innocuous as " Escort this acolyte out of the udnerhive" or " Check on activty at this base on X planet. We havent heard from them in a long time." . I find setting a clear criteria for completing an objective helps keep the group focused on most missions.

Before you run your new mission it's good to sit down for a few hours sometime and write down the general plot for yourself to remember whats happening. briefing handouts for your players also helps if applicable and good for setting the scene. Plus it gives some general information of what you are trying to do with the mission without the player feeling they have to memorize everything. Write out basics of your main characters, have some skill/stat/gear writeups for NPCs and things the acolytes could be fighting. This way you dont have to stall for a few minutes whilst you try and make up a xenos on scratch or something similar.

You could have an entire subcampaign based on an acolyte trying to source a particularly rare or hard to get piece of wargear for instance. Or between missions you can have the acolytes exploring wherever they are based and trouble ensuing. Limitless options in the setting really. Which is why i enjoy it so much. It's really down to what you and your group want to do.

Anyways hope some of that helps.

Thank-you very much! I like the ideas of the subcampaigns, I might try them at some point....

The OC-D

If going for a larger, overarching theme, have something seemingly small and insignificant from an earlier adventure come back to bite them in the arse and then some!

Preparation is key.

Depending on how intricate your plot is, you will have to spend some time crafting it, tracing back from the bad guys final motivation. This allows you to seed clues naturally.

Lexx's advice is great too- be prepared for your players to think of things you never have, and to adapt your campaign on the fly.

Finally, a world is only as interesting as the people in it. Important NPC's should be memorable, with a strong 'hook' so players remember who they are; such as the Priest who only talks in parables, or the Ganger with a colourful vocabulary, and the noble with no eyes, but mysteriously always knows whats happening...

I forgot to say. If your players are constantly running rougshod over your plot arcs and you can't steer them in the right direction. Remember you are the GM. Don't be afraid to lay down the law or pull a surprise on them that can get one of them killed or make the group run away/teach them a lesson to at least consider the information they are giving you. Also when setting the scene I find more is more. Take time to set the image across of where the group is and the important people they are talking to as said above.

Also if you have a psyker in the group. At some point there WILL be an accidental daemonhost moment. Either with them or an NPC psyker. So keep that in mind and have fun with it. 1 in 3 actions in dark heresy on average have a chance to fail badly. So deaths and bad wounding will happen. I find that if a player loses their character outright. Let them make a new character with starting XP equivalent to the average of the entire active groups rounded down to the nearest 100 plus the equivalent months wages you would gain from rank advancements. That way players who survive still feel like they have some perk over those who get themselves killed all the time.

And no problem. Have fun and feel free to share any anecdotes of funny events in your campaigns.

@BrookM - I'm considering it at the mo'

@CadianXV - I hadn't thought of working backwards, but that makes so much sense now! You're a genius! I've not even got round to NPC's yet...

@Lexx - OK, will bear that in mind. That siad, certainly for one of my groups, they really like being the 'heroes' so I'm not trying to kill them that hard at this stage I like the idea of the Psyker freaking out!
Funniest moment so far: My Feudal World Musketman had just unleashed the most useless fusilade against the Acolytes, apart from two who were reloading. as a joke, I had one of the reloading ones throw his Musket at the Acolytes (Musket with Melee Attachment = Spear ergo can be thrown ) It smacks my Enforcer player staright in the head nearly knocking the bugger out!

Cheers guys!

The OC-D