<![CDATA[Latest posts for the thread "What is the best way to inject intricate and interesting narrative into your 40k games/campaigns?"]]> http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/31.page JForum - http://www.jforum.net What is the best way to inject intricate and interesting narrative into your 40k games/campaigns? 40k RPG's seem simply fantastic. However, I love the 'standard' 40k TT game for the sheer awesomeness of display, grand scale of its combat, etc. If seems the above games would never involve more than a few models at a time, which - while it sounds awesome - lacks the grand visual epicness of scale the 40k TT has. (I'm unconvinced that I would want to play games like Dark Heresey, etc. which are only about a few characters at a time but are only represented by a few models and some kitchen table or a single static background, when I could play video games like MMO's to RP in! 40k TT is, by comparison to these however, uniquely appealing to the senses, etc. Also you simply cannot RP in an RTS, so don't go there )

But I'm sure there must be a way. I'm looking for a perfect synergy, and I believe that rests in campaigns and missions and some sort of in-between method of roleplay to make 40k the wholly inclusive narrative package I know it can be. I want a 40k campaign that could be moved forward basically on the tabletop!

I hope I've been clear in what I'm trying to convey anyway Does anyone have any idea as to how to do this sort of thing - RP in 40k TT games, or rather inject them with extremely strong narrative, perhaps to the point of including actual dialogue between characters, decisions, etc.?

(I've actually tried to look for an answer to this for months on my own, but to no avail - any thoughts would be greatly appreciated!)

EDIT: Perhaps another way of asking this is: Is there a way to combine 40k TT and 40k RPG's such that they keep the grand scale of conflicts of 40k TT and at least some of the RPG elements of games such as these?]]> http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/488890/4977933.page http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/488890/4977933.page GMT What is the best way to inject intricate and interesting narrative into your 40k games/campaigns?
For example, it might be more tactically wise to keep your Berzerkers in a Rhino or have them hide behind cover. However, a more narrative-driven and characterful way to play them would be running them up the middle of the field like the bloodthirsty melee fiends that they are.]]> http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/488890/4977943.page http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/488890/4977943.page GMT Re:What is the best way to inject intricate and interesting narrative into your 40k games/campaigns? LR in one turn makes me get into the game

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GGU1P6lBW6Q]]> http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/488890/4978014.page http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/488890/4978014.page GMT Re:What is the best way to inject intricate and interesting narrative into your 40k games/campaigns? SW vs. IG why? The solution is usually one of them has turned to chaos, or something like that, but it can be a lot more if you take the time.]]> http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/488890/4978029.page http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/488890/4978029.page GMT Re:What is the best way to inject intricate and interesting narrative into your 40k games/campaigns?
 Backspacehacker wrote:
playing this song when ever i move my 2 razorbacks 3 preds, and LR in one turn makes me get into the game

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GGU1P6lBW6Q


I know the feeling I like to play certain songs when deploying, I think it pumps up the home field advantage when I use my Ipod.
Bad Company By Bad Company when the Orks are rolling into battle is one of my favorites. I like to think they picked up some radio frequencies from the IG or something.

Using grudge-matches when playing is fun, writing scenarios that play into two armies that are evenly matched. My friend and I (he plays IG) are neck and neck a lot and we have a war of attrition going, its been going for at least 7-8 years.]]> http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/488890/4978263.page http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/488890/4978263.page GMT Re:What is the best way to inject intricate and interesting narrative into your 40k games/campaigns? RPG rules.

That said, you could always just play out an RPG campaign whose outcome affect the starting positions, point limits, and units available to each army in a subsequent TT game.]]> http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/488890/4979086.page http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/488890/4979086.page GMT What is the best way to inject intricate and interesting narrative into your 40k games/campaigns? http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/488890/4980709.page http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/488890/4980709.page GMT What is the best way to inject intricate and interesting narrative into your 40k games/campaigns? RP elements in them. I'll share that she has actually already made two INCREDIBLE models already (7 if you include some jet-packing Space Marines before she stopped last year). She loves the lore, and loves the models. But she's stopped after re-investing another few hundred in the game...so I'd like to encourage her.

Perhaps the next question to ask you all is this - exactly *what* sort of scenarios or missions do you suggest have the strongest sort of story elements to them? How would you do that on tabletop? Would you consider turns to take far longer, and inject some narrative in between each one? Would you expand the area to be larger than that of an apocolypse game to provide a real world for your armies to fight in? (We thought of the idea of using our entire apartment for an epic long game. Maybe this would play into that?)

I'm just asking if anyone has ever thought of expanding the game in such a way. @jarreddm, your idea seems by far the most practical of them all thus far! Do you think that is the best way to do it?

Anyway, I invite you all to share your experiences or thoughts of the most story-driven missions or campaigns you ever experienced, and perhaps the details thereof! Anyone?]]> http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/488890/4982181.page http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/488890/4982181.page GMT What is the best way to inject intricate and interesting narrative into your 40k games/campaigns?
 Netsurfer733 wrote:
You guys are awesome; some damned good ideas/examples here. I'll let you guys in on a secret anyway - I'm looking into this in large part because of my girlfriend, whom tends to only get into things if they have RP elements in them. I'll share that she has actually already made two INCREDIBLE models already (7 if you include some jet-packing Space Marines before she stopped last year). She loves the lore, and loves the models. But she's stopped after re-investing another few hundred in the game...so I'd like to encourage her.

Perhaps the next question to ask you all is this - exactly *what* sort of scenarios or missions do you suggest have the strongest sort of story elements to them? How would you do that on tabletop? Would you consider turns to take far longer, and inject some narrative in between each one? Would you expand the area to be larger than that of an apocolypse game to provide a real world for your armies to fight in? (We thought of the idea of using our entire apartment for an epic long game. Maybe this would play into that?)

I'm just asking if anyone has ever thought of expanding the game in such a way. @jarreddm, your idea seems by far the most practical of them all thus far! Do you think that is the best way to do it?

Anyway, I invite you all to share your experiences or thoughts of the most story-driven missions or campaigns you ever experienced, and perhaps the details thereof! Anyone?


What army do each of you play? This will play a huge role in determining how to add story elements. From your description, it sounds like she plays space marines.

There's a whole bunch of different ways you can add story elements. If you're playing objectives, define what each objective actually represents. If your army cares about civilians (protecting or eating them), perhaps they're hatches leading down to underground bunkers filled with millions of civilians. If you're playing as IG, SoB, or chaos Perhaps the battlefield is immediately after an attack on an inquisitorial convoy. The objectives would be captured chaos relics you're looking to reclaim. Of course the objectives could be of great tactical importance as well. Your army may be cut off from reinforcements and resupply and the objectives may be either important supplies that have been air dropped or powerful communication arrays that would allow them to signal their location to fleets.

To follow up on my RPG affecting the TT idea, you can make the former an attack on the base of the latter. If it's against, say, an ork encampment, you might have your PCs planting melta charges on their promethium refinery, or instigating a rebellion among the Nobz. One might increase the cost of burna boyz on the TT, the other might do the same for nobz. Or if it's really successful, it might prevent the ork player from taking that unit in their army at all. Of course if the plan fails, the preceding TT game may be a rescue mission for the injured PCs, or if they've been killed, the battle may be a matter of honor and the chapter seeks righteous retribution. Again, the armies being used are the most important aspect of how to RP and write story.

If you're looking to play out a whole battle using Deathwatch horde rules, than you'll need to look heavily into how they work, both against individual characters and against other hordes. I warn you that it will play significantly different from a normal TT game. For starters, individual units are not counted in a horde. The horde is represented by an abstract magnitude value that determines their fighting effectiveness, and a single stat block for the whole squad/mob/horde. For instance, a squad of 10-20 fresh imperial guardsmen may have a magnitude of 10 or 15. Whereas an elite heavy weapons team may have a magnitude of 20-25, even though physically, they have fewer people in the squad. It's all about the effectiveness of the unit. All that said, it puts much greater emphasis on the exploits of individual characters in the battle, even as the hordes clash around them.]]> http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/488890/4983080.page http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/488890/4983080.page GMT Re:What is the best way to inject intricate and interesting narrative into your 40k games/campaigns?
The problem we run into is that the game falls apart as it becomes easier to just beat the hell out of the opponent than take objectives.

This game was further complicated by the fact that the IG side had Ogryn and conscripts, because it was a "fun" game, the SM guy wrecked his drop pods against the crazy anti-deepstrike shield the Tau got, and the Tau side took the full IA smorgasbord, complete with all the crazy units available there.

Needless to say, you need a lot of cooperation if you're trying to do stuff like this.
]]> http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/488890/4983197.page http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/488890/4983197.page GMT What is the best way to inject intricate and interesting narrative into your 40k games/campaigns?
 Darth Bob wrote:
One step you can take is to play your army as they would act in the background. Even if that means not playing very "smart".

For example, it might be more tactically wise to keep your Berzerkers in a Rhino or have them hide behind cover. However, a more narrative-driven and characterful way to play them would be running them up the middle of the field like the bloodthirsty melee fiends that they are.
I dunno, being a berzerker doesn't necessarily mean they wouldn't have adapted their tactics to account for modern weaponry. The historical equivalents of berzerkers didn't have to worry about machineguns. Chances are, there have been more modern examples of people going crazy in combat, but they probably died much faster and less impressively.

So, chances are, "real" 40K berzerkers are just slightly less awesome, but perhaps more tactically aware. ]]> http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/488890/4983202.page http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/488890/4983202.page GMT Re:What is the best way to inject intricate and interesting narrative into your 40k games/campaigns?
 daedalus wrote:
This is actually an interesting topic. One of my friends has been trying to produce a series of "campaign" games where he writes up a complex situation that four of us then have to fight through. A Tau invasion force attacking a poorly defended Imperial world, requiring tons of conscription and auxiliaries be formed.

The problem we run into is that the game falls apart as it becomes easier to just beat the hell out of the opponent than take objectives.

This game was further complicated by the fact that the IG side had Ogryn and conscripts, because it was a "fun" game, the SM guy wrecked his drop pods against the crazy anti-deepstrike shield the Tau got, and the Tau side took the full IA smorgasbord, complete with all the crazy units available there.

Needless to say, you need a lot of cooperation if you're trying to do stuff like this.


What if objective points are scored every turn instead of who holds them at the end of the game? That's how a lot of scenarios keep focus on the objectives.]]> http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/488890/4983263.page http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/488890/4983263.page GMT Re:What is the best way to inject intricate and interesting narrative into your 40k games/campaigns?
jareddm wrote:


What if objective points are scored every turn instead of who holds them at the end of the game? That's how a lot of scenarios keep focus on the objectives.


I thought about that. The problem, in this case, was that the Imperial players started out with about 6 of the objectives on their side, so early turns would have been heavily weighted toward them. You'd almost have to set a weight to number of points each side got asymmetrically to balance that out.

It would probably be the best way to fix the issue though.]]> http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/488890/4983271.page http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/488890/4983271.page GMT What is the best way to inject intricate and interesting narrative into your 40k games/campaigns? http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/488890/4983917.page http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/488890/4983917.page GMT What is the best way to inject intricate and interesting narrative into your 40k games/campaigns?
daedalus wrote:This is actually an interesting topic. One of my friends has been trying to produce a series of "campaign" games where he writes up a complex situation that four of us then have to fight through. A Tau invasion force attacking a poorly defended Imperial world, requiring tons of conscription and auxiliaries be formed.

The problem we run into is that the game falls apart as it becomes easier to just beat the hell out of the opponent than take objectives.

This game was further complicated by the fact that the IG side had Ogryn and conscripts, because it was a "fun" game, the SM guy wrecked his drop pods against the crazy anti-deepstrike shield the Tau got, and the Tau side took the full IA smorgasbord, complete with all the crazy units available there.

Needless to say, you need a lot of cooperation if you're trying to do stuff like this.


I'm quoting yours first because it makes the most sense to clarify XD For me personally, you guys should know that there is almost no chance that we'll play with more than 2 players. We have, in the past (through MMO's mostly - also Civilization 5, and Dawn of War 2 of course, lol) created some really incredible and elaborate stories - and we're very used to doing so over the computers together, so that has made up the fabric of our story. Suffice it to say, we will have ample cooperation for this, hahah.

jareddm wrote:
What army do each of you play? This will play a huge role in determining how to add story elements. From your description, it sounds like she plays space marines.

There's a whole bunch of different ways you can add story elements. If you're playing objectives, define what each objective actually represents. If your army cares about civilians (protecting or eating them), perhaps they're hatches leading down to underground bunkers filled with millions of civilians. If you're playing as IG, SoB, or chaos Perhaps the battlefield is immediately after an attack on an inquisitorial convoy. The objectives would be captured chaos relics you're looking to reclaim. Of course the objectives could be of great tactical importance as well. Your army may be cut off from reinforcements and resupply and the objectives may be either important supplies that have been air dropped or powerful communication arrays that would allow them to signal their location to fleets.

To follow up on my RPG affecting the TT idea, you can make the former an attack on the base of the latter. If it's against, say, an ork encampment, you might have your PCs planting melta charges on their promethium refinery, or instigating a rebellion among the Nobz. One might increase the cost of burna boyz on the TT, the other might do the same for nobz. Or if it's really successful, it might prevent the ork player from taking that unit in their army at all. Of course if the plan fails, the preceding TT game may be a rescue mission for the injured PCs, or if they've been killed, the battle may be a matter of honor and the chapter seeks righteous retribution. Again, the armies being used are the most important aspect of how to RP and write story.

If you're looking to play out a whole battle using Deathwatch horde rules, than you'll need to look heavily into how they work, both against individual characters and against other hordes. I warn you that it will play significantly different from a normal TT game. For starters, individual units are not counted in a horde. The horde is represented by an abstract magnitude value that determines their fighting effectiveness, and a single stat block for the whole squad/mob/horde. For instance, a squad of 10-20 fresh imperial guardsmen may have a magnitude of 10 or 15. Whereas an elite heavy weapons team may have a magnitude of 20-25, even though physically, they have fewer people in the squad. It's all about the effectiveness of the unit. All that said, it puts much greater emphasis on the exploits of individual characters in the battle, even as the hordes clash around them.


She's actually Chaos, and I am mostly Imperial Guard, and I also have 2k pts of old Dark Angles to bring into the mix (all of our guys are fully painted). Of course she only has two Chaos models so far...but that's the point of this thread - so she can actually have something to look forward to besides a board game when she's done I think she would want more, and this is it. So in response to the Deathwatch horde rules thing, quite frankly - unless you really recommend it over TT for some reason. She is a bit interested in doing tournaments on the side, some day So I'd say that as far as combat representation goes, it's just the same - at least when involving as many models as a typical game of 40k does.

Also I must emphasize, (and clearly as well, given the tone of this thread) the lady and I have found that stories that not just center around military actions, but whose 'story' consists of 95% tactics and maneuvering, details about individual combat moves, and bloody dismemberments...do not always make for the best one. NOT because those things are not great and evoking in story, but rather because 95% of any one thing in a story is too much. So I bow to AnomanderRake's ideas below, as well as those of you who have suggested such things

AnomanderRake wrote:Campaign play is absolutely the right direction to go if you want to include more plot; think up a broader context for the campaign, two opposing forces, give them names and histories, then come up with linked games with objectives that make sense in the context of the overarching story. In Dawn of War 2, for instance, you don't just capture 'points' to capture them, you're capturing relay beacons to teleport reinforcements down, or capturing shrines to improve morale, or foundries to improve your arsenal, or communications arrays to allow you to better coordinate your forces, or sometimes even structures that allow you to open and close gates. Think about what exactly is happening in-universe during your games, it'll help a lot.


I love the idea of giving our forces names and histories! Thank god that also implies we don't need to make too many troops hahah. It's strange, but I either like the idea of having a smaller force so you can get as intimate with their backgrounds as you suggest...OR going Apocalypse level and just getting thousands and thousands of points of troops, hahah. Both of them seem the most epic to me....just not the standard in-between amount for 40k. I guess it is because a detachment like 2000 pts is hard to find a good story before that doesn't greatly gloss over the majority of your troops. ...actually I think that was a ramble. Sorry, lol.

Anyway I'd love to hear more ideas - what else can we do for this sort of thing? (specifically, perhaps, something to lure in someone that loves the kind of depth in story that you can create through MMO RP like that lady of mine?)]]> http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/488890/4987938.page http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/488890/4987938.page GMT Re:What is the best way to inject intricate and interesting narrative into your 40k games/campaigns?
The scenarios in the book are generic to allow for relatively common objectives for most forces. But because they allow for any force to play any scenario, they are somewhat bland and don't always encourage gameplay that matches the background of the various forces.

You could change the objectives, of tailor entire scenarios for peoples armies. For example, if one of the players is a Khorne player, he might get an objective point each time he assaults a unit, or destroys a unit. An Imperial Guard player might start with 6 objectives points, and lose one for each enemy unit in his deployment zone at the end of the game. A Dark Elf player might get points for running down enemy units as they capture them and enslave them. So on and so forth.]]> http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/488890/4988457.page http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/488890/4988457.page GMT Re:What is the best way to inject intricate and interesting narrative into your 40k games/campaigns?
Imperial guard is the easiest army to design a background and story for. Coming up with some information about the unit's homeworld and culture is probably the most important thing for them. It'll help define how they fight (WW1 meatshield tactics? Commissar heavy? Mobile and light or slow and heavily armored?) and why they fight (Is it an honor to be in the regiment or a punishment? Do the soldiers all have families for them to remember or are they chosen because of their lack of ties to others? Was their world previously assaulted by xenos/heretics/daemons/whatever or are they being sent thousands of light years away to fight for a world and a star system none of them have ever heard of?). Get into the mind of a baseline trooper and really think about what makes him tick, what brought him to this point in his life. Then do the same thing for a sergeant, and an officer, and a commissar. The key is to make each of them feel as real and as meaningful as possible. Hell, maybe even throw in some twists like the current Commander has his youngest son in his regiment, but doesn't even know it and any given order may be sending his son to his death.

Chaos works a little differently. The fun thing you can do with chaos is have separate histories and stories for before they fell to chaos, and after. I'm assuming she's going to have CSM, in which case there's a few options. They may be ancient marines from the original legions, either still part of those legions or attempting to form a warband of their own, they may be recently fallen from a loyal space marine chapter, with recently being anything less than 10,000 years ago, or they may have even been recruited originally into a chaos warband, having never been under the imperium at all. It's up to her. Again, the key is to make every part of them feel meaningful. Maybe one of the marines has a daemon bound to his arm. His original arm being sacrificed to chaos when he first fell. Maybe their armor was created without proper sanctions, leaving it open to possession and damning them from the moment they first put it on.]]> http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/488890/4988506.page http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/488890/4988506.page GMT What is the best way to inject intricate and interesting narrative into your 40k games/campaigns? lol. As for the CSM indeed she has some really fleshed out ideas that are totally great.

The problem is just in expressing this in a way through tabletop (supported by things surrounding it) that actually has some *advantages* over MMO RP and the like. I think what you were thinking, Kaldor, is exactly the sort of thing I need - a lot of scenario ideas! You guys gave a number of awesome ones before, but does anyone have a list of like, some really intricate or choice-heavy or interesting scenario/campaign examples somewhere that they know of?]]> http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/488890/4988797.page http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/488890/4988797.page GMT What is the best way to inject intricate and interesting narrative into your 40k games/campaigns?
 Netsurfer733 wrote:
I think what you were thinking, Kaldor, is exactly the sort of thing I need - a lot of scenario ideas! You guys gave a number of awesome ones before, but does anyone have a list of like, some really intricate or choice-heavy or interesting scenario/campaign examples somewhere that they know of?


Well, I think the problem with this type of gaming is that it's actually a lot more work than simply turning up to games night and rolling some dice.

You've got a couple of options, but they're all of them quite labor intensive. You can write a custom campaign for the armies each player has, with forced alliances and branching results. For example:

An evil force attacks a good area. Lets say a Chaos raiding force wants an artifact from an Eldar planet. So, they first send out scouting parties. Your Chaos and Eldar players fight a small, 500 point battle. You could alter the FOC, saying that no HQ choices may be taken, and no heavy support. The Chaos player has successfully scouted the Eldar forces and is retreating with that information. The Eldar are trying to stop them, so the Chaos player wins if he can get at least one unit off the Eldar board edge. Or maybe create special 'messenger' models that have T4, 2W and 3+ save, and the Chaos player can only win if he gets one of those messenger models off the table.

Then, whoever wins you keep track of it. Later on, you can give someone a bonus.

The next game might be a feint, the Chaos forces attempting to draw Eldar forces away from their true goal. So you have them fight a battle and if the Eldar win by a large enough margin, they will have more resources to spare when the final blow comes. And if the Chaos win, the Eldar will have no reinforcements.

Then you might have the main push where Chaos attempts to gain the artifact they're after. If the Eldar won the second battle, they can have reinforcements on turn 4. If Chaos won, they don't.

If Chaos win the main push, they attempt to retreat with the artifact. You can play a Relic style game with a moving objective, and the Eldar are attempting to chase them down. If the Eldar won the first mission, the Chaos player has a points disadvantage: they didn't get the intel back to HQ, and so didn't know they needed extra troops for the extraction. If Chaos won the first mission, they knew exactly what they'd be up against and brought sufficient forces.

If the Eldar win the main push, you can have them attempting to attack and destroy the Chaos landing area, pushing their presence entirely off the planet.

Throughout the entire campaign, you could have units of renown and famous/infamous characters. Each player could pick a Captain and a Lieutenant and outfit them accordingly. These then become the only HQ's the player can use, or maybe you could specify that in certain battles the player MUST take their Captain or Lieutenant. This means players will face the same enemy characters over multiple battles, and develop a real relationship with them.

Or you could do a map campaign, or a rolling table campaign, incorporate kill team missions and apocalypse battles. Really, the sky is the limit. But it is a lot of work.

Actually, I just had a thought:

http://www.games-workshop.com/gws/catalog/productDetail.jsp?catId=cat440160a&prodId=prod1780018a

This is due for release in a couple of weeks. I'm sure there's going to be some good ideas in there. We're currently playing through the Blood in the Badlands campaign book for WHFB in my group, and it's a real hit. Everyone is enjoying it so far, so hopefully this one is just as good!]]> http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/488890/4988872.page http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/488890/4988872.page GMT What is the best way to inject intricate and interesting narrative into your 40k games/campaigns?
 Netsurfer733 wrote:
Also I must emphasize, (and clearly as well, given the tone of this thread) the lady and I have found that stories that not just center around military actions, but whose 'story' consists of 95% tactics and maneuvering, details about individual combat moves, and bloody dismemberments...do not always make for the best one. NOT because those things are not great and evoking in story, but rather because 95% of any one thing in a story is too much. So I bow to AnomanderRake's ideas below, as well as those of you who have suggested such things


I'm also not sure if those are really the types of choices he was looking for, as winning or losing a battle isn't exactly a choice. On the other hand, I'd be happy to play it

The advantage over an MMO is you have more than one character that you can develop, so creating interactions and bonds between them is not something you can really do on an MMO, at least not without another person's character. Though my main argument over MMOs is simple. There is no 40k MMO, and at the rate we're going there probably never will be. If she enjoys the 40k setting and wants to RP in it, MMOs really aren't an option.]]> http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/488890/4989590.page http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/488890/4989590.page GMT What is the best way to inject intricate and interesting narrative into your 40k games/campaigns?
jareddm wrote:
But Kaldor, I'm not seeing how that isn't exactly what he said he didn't want here:
Spoiler:

 Netsurfer733 wrote:
Also I must emphasize, (and clearly as well, given the tone of this thread) the lady and I have found that stories that not just center around military actions, but whose 'story' consists of 95% tactics and maneuvering, details about individual combat moves, and bloody dismemberments...do not always make for the best one. NOT because those things are not great and evoking in story, but rather because 95% of any one thing in a story is too much. So I bow to AnomanderRake's ideas below, as well as those of you who have suggested such things


I'm also not sure if those are really the types of choices he was looking for, as winning or losing a battle isn't exactly a choice. On the other hand, I'd be happy to play it


Way I look at it, any muppet can think of a back-story for their forces and characters. But it can be hard to really immerse yourself in the background of your forces, and 40K in general, if there's a disconnect between the background and the game. Which is what happens when you play the generic scenarios from the book, and don't build a narrative.

By forcing players to connect more intimately with their armies, you create an environment where immersion is much more possible.

]]> http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/488890/4991111.page http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/488890/4991111.page GMT Re:What is the best way to inject intricate and interesting narrative into your 40k games/campaigns? ). Though if you want to have bigger games,perhaps try a killteam mission of the caliber and then have the result of that game (which primary/secondary objectives are achieved and which side wins) directly affect the bigger game. The surviving members of your team then get to play in the big game as a unit aswell.
For Example:
The mission is that your killteam must destroy the 3 anti-aircraft guns, meet with an informant, and assassinate the Boss Brute. Possibilities for the results of each objective could be...
AA Guns Destroyed, will not suffer D3 hits on each flier of yours as it comes into the game. (Failed: Will suffer)
Informant met, +1 reserve rolls (Failed:-1)
Assassiation fullfilled, +250 points toward your army. (Enemy gets +250 points)

If the killteam scenario just as a prelude seems not up your alley, then perhaps have more in-depth objectives to play with in your games along the same lines as the KT.

Either of these coupled with some fluff can make a tasty game for anyone in my humble opinion.

-DaK

]]> http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/488890/4991171.page http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/488890/4991171.page GMT Re:What is the best way to inject intricate and interesting narrative into your 40k games/campaigns? IG vs. CSM and IG wins the first battle, that player might get to choose whether to chase after the remaining forces and attempt a total purge of chaos or dig in and fortify various important strategic assets. One would be more of a kill points mission and the other a defensive objective battle. If the CSM wins, the choices may be different. Perhaps a local minor xenos is discovered, a crystalline race that is particularly warp sensitive. Turning them to chaos may be of great help. Or perhaps a great ritual is being performed, requiring live sacrifices, in which points are only earned for units that are tabled, rather than killed outright. The individual scenarios can be as deep as you like but it is the player who is given control of them rather than having a linear, predetermined set of fights.]]> http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/488890/4991185.page http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/488890/4991185.page GMT Re:What is the best way to inject intricate and interesting narrative into your 40k games/campaigns?
jareddm wrote:
The individual scenarios can be as deep as you like but it is the player who is given control of them rather than having a linear, predetermined set of fights.


There's as many different ways to run campaigns as there are players.]]> http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/488890/4991235.page http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/488890/4991235.page GMT Re:What is the best way to inject intricate and interesting narrative into your 40k games/campaigns?
Crusade of Fire also features the story of nine hobbyists as they play through the campaign, including detailed battle reports, fantastic army showcases and turn-by-turn accounts of their conquest.


great idea , lets bulk out our book with anothers games....means you pay for less.

But still looks usable.

]]> http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/488890/4991253.page http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/488890/4991253.page GMT What is the best way to inject intricate and interesting narrative into your 40k games/campaigns? HQ, also with no upgrades, you had to take. And they were the focus of campaign. Basically most of the campaign was kill team missions and we used necromunda style of "Level progression" there we're a few larger battles that would benefit from whatever objectives each kill team had earned. Then the winners of the major battle would likewise pass on small wargear bonuses to the kill squad. We ruled that the squad never held more than the normal squad could hold. If you lost a squad member in the kill teams you could recruit new ones at the cost of your total major battle points and so on. I'll have to look and see if I can find all the rules exactly but that was the general idea. ]]> http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/488890/4999683.page http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/488890/4999683.page GMT