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quote:Black Crusade: Very similar in that you can throw whatever the hell you want at your players, even if there's no precedent for it, because Chaos. All you need to tell them is they are the bad guys, their goal is to become immortal by committing bad/awesome deeds, and that they shouldn't take anything too seriously because Black Crusade works better if there's some (or a lot of) humor in it. Note, if your players have even an ounce of Whyzzard/Cat Piss in them, Black Crusade will bring it to the surface at cosmic velocities.
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Jul 27, 2014 05:09
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I ran, concurrent with one another, a very surprisingly serious Black Crusade game about the rebirth of Malal where the characters learned things about themselves and what drove them to first use Chaos as a tool and then become its willing servants, thinking it a natural and necessary part of the universe and coming to truly believe in the insane poo poo they were doing, and a game where a single Lore critical failure caused the party's exceedingly arrogant sorcerer (who could never admit he was wrong) to constantly reduce people to paste and have them spread on machines because 'that's how it works'. They also landed a shuttle on a pirate king and then tricked the pirates into being basted with various spices to use them as a lure for a giant Leviathan so it could eat their shuttle on Furiae and they could go inside it to steal a Dark Age scoutship and try to break into the garden of dead gods at the center of the Vortex because why the gently caress not. They named the ship the Homo Crustullem, the Manpaste, in honor of Vonatar the Sorcerer. Both games were two of the most fun experiences I've ever had with 40k RP. Black Crusade can be amazing if you have players who are non-catpiss and eager to do it as a character study/power metal melodrama, or who are willing to make men into chum and rob a fabulous golden city of gnomes at the head of a bunch of metal barbarians with shotguns and axes and then steal Khorne's chair because gently caress you Khorne, we'll be Gods too some day.
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Jul 27, 2014 05:57
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I imagine Khorne's chair is amazingly uncomfortable and non-ergonomic, one of many factors leading to his grumpy state.
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Jul 27, 2014 06:13
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Their sorcerer used it as his captain's chair after they stole the Throne of Baphtar or whatever they called him there from the Xurant, just because they could. He had to kill like a Bloodletter a day, but he just considered it an amusement.
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Jul 27, 2014 06:16
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Night10194 posted:Their sorcerer used it as his captain's chair after they stole the Throne of Baphtar or whatever they called him there from the Xurant, just because they could. He had to kill like a Bloodletter a day, but he just considered it an amusement. A bloodletter a day keeps khorne at bay.
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Jul 27, 2014 06:44
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OB_Juan posted:Edit: Isn't DH2.0 coming out soonish? At Gencon
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Jul 27, 2014 07:33
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Azhais posted:At Gencon Exciting! Night10194: You have convinced me to want to play Black Crusade.
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Jul 27, 2014 07:45
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Hello, thread. Had a couple quick questions. So, I've got core rules for Only War and Black Crusade. Currently prepping for running one of them after my current not 40k game ends. My players are wanting to do something a bit more character driven, though not lacking in gallows humor, and both of these systems seem to fit the bill. My questions are: who has had good luck hitting that kind of tone with either system, and which, if any, supplements would you consider essential for a mid to long term game?
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Jul 27, 2014 08:44
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How much cartoony, looney tunes mayhem do you want? OW can get really silly with the Hammer of the emperor and Shield of humanity supplements, mechanics wise, but Black Crusade allows truly loopy poo poo, both fluff and mechanics. All four of the god books add to that. Basically, OW: Catch 22, Kelly's Heros, Three Kings BC: Daffy Duck when he gets shot in the face with a shotgun and his beak spins around. Also he's covered in spikes.
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Jul 27, 2014 08:56
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Black Crusade is also, by design, somewhat time limited since it's sort of a race to become awesome enough before you inevitably turn into a Chaos Spawn (You become a mighty Daemon Prince instead if you're awesome enough) due to the fact that your Corruption is constantly ticking up.
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Jul 27, 2014 15:31
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Azhais posted:At Gencon Wait, seriously? Guess I'll have to snag a copy and trip report for you guys when I'm there.
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Jul 27, 2014 16:47
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cross-post from the GM advice thread: So, I'm running Only War, and I want to make a vibe of lovely urban occupation ops. Since the players like investigation, I want to throw in some of that, and I need suggestions. They've landed on a lovely planet that has been razed by religious conflict - a Synod regarding the legitimacy of a sector sect has been called on nearby planet, and that has supporters throwing a fit, attacking tithe shipments from the planets recently restored industry as they make their way to guard-held starports. First they make planetfall, escort a convoy that gets attacked, and try out how the combat rules work and such. It's going to be fun for the whole family. Then I want to send them to do something to contact the locals, find out what the issue is, but I'm drawing a blank on good plot hooks here. Something about meeting with local clerics, I reckon. Also, I need to work out whether the maybe-soon-to-be-outlawed cult is actually involved with Chaos. What would be most entertaining? All feedback appreciated, it's like I have a really good idea of the mood and experience I want to give (urban unrest, religious strife, depressing squalor), but no good scenario structure. Currently I'm working on letting the characters guess what the real cause is, and then running with it. This usually works well, but I'd like to have some fallback options.
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Jul 27, 2014 16:49
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You could always go for a twist: The planet's primary Imperial Cult is, infact, the heretical (or at least heavily corrupt) sect, and is on the way to ruling out the 'proper' sect that has been making a comeback all over the planet. Good luck explaining that to command. Alternate answer: Not Chaos, but Dark Eldar Dickery. Alternate Alternate Answer: The Inquisition (or just a single radical inquisitor) is/was backing the cult to depose planetary leadership. Maybe things got out of hand, or maybe a long-term IG occupation is what they were going for. Or, another inquisitor executed the radical, shut down the program, and left with the assumption that the Emperor will protect the faithful. Messy, neverending war option: The different versions of the Imperial Cult on the planet correspond to ethnic groups that correspond to various colonization efforts throughout the eons. Things had been calm, but the synod re-awoke old tensions. Chaos, Inquisitors, and Xenos may also be working to foment trouble. Bonus Option: The actual game is about the unit finding a way to declare victory and leave the planet before things get really, really, bad.
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Jul 27, 2014 17:10
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Another option: the planet had been visited and occupied by a chapter of Space Marines sometime in the past and the cult is actually that Chapter's particular cult or beliefs. Say, the Space Wolves came, stayed for a bit to clean up, and their beliefs left quite an impression. Or the Salamanders, Blood Angels, or the like.
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Jul 27, 2014 17:18
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Good stuff, thanks. I guess I have to think a bit about the longer-term campaign theme, so the stuff fits together.
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Jul 27, 2014 17:19
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My space elves shot down a Harridan in order to crash it into a Hierophant to stun it long enough for the fire prisms to get there. They've come a long way from just sticking bombs onto distracted Orks.
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Jul 27, 2014 17:28
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Have some of the locals request "external" security for a negotiation between more moderate rebel leaders and the local government. Have it attacked by a third group who scream that one side (or both) must be wiped out for the good of the sector. Have the government forces extract with their security while the players are told to guard the rebel leaders until their own people can take over. That way they are in a position to talk to some of the less hyper-aggressive clerics in a less-formal setting and find out what the gently caress, can "escort" them through the depressing squalor to their rally point, have them engage in firefights in civilian populated areas while looking after people who will be incredibly unhappy if they start annihilating everybody/thing in a 90 degree arc. For the general situation: External Ecclesiastical monitors have brought into question the canonisation of [local person of highly questionable morals, but who was associated with the local cult no matter how much they disliked him]. The violent rebels think the government are selling them down the river after they pressured them for so long to make it happen, while the government claims it was all the cult's work and they had nothing to do with it beyond their functional role. It is, of course, corruption at the mid level of both. Chaos operatives in middling positions of power in both the church and the government convinced their superiors that the other side were incredibly strongly in favour of his ascension to saint-hood, and that he should be promoted as a general focus of prayers by the people. They are "guiding" their leaders towards a stable but increasingly corrupted state, with an utterly ineffective PDF, apathetic upper-class, and lower-classes kept in a constant state of near-starvation and simmering unrest. Then, in a few years/decade, once the population is up, they'll push the chaos ideal and the direct worship of their figurehead (who is a significant chaos entity), sacrifice a small city in order to summon a few major daemons, slaughter most of the rest of the population and hopefully turn it into a daemon world. The moderate leaders are therefore the actual cultists. They're trying to subdue the violence for now so that they can cause an awful lot more later. goatface fucked around with this message at 17:34 on Jul 27, 2014 |
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Jul 27, 2014 17:32
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Cythereal posted:Another option: the planet had been visited and occupied by a chapter of Space Marines sometime in the past and the cult is actually that Chapter's particular cult or beliefs. Say, the Space Wolves came, stayed for a bit to clean up, and their beliefs left quite an impression. Or the Salamanders, Blood Angels, or the like. goatface posted:Have some of the locals request "external" security for a negotiation between more moderate rebel leaders and the local government... These are also excellent. Where do you want this game to fall on the "GI Joe to Middle East" scale?
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Jul 27, 2014 17:42
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Tias posted:it's like I have a really good idea of the mood and experience I want to give (urban unrest, religious strife, depressing squalor), but no good scenario structure. Simple, your unit just made planetfall right? Someone in command has decided that it's time to take handling the unrest to another level. Player's squad is being sent into an area where one sect recently blew up a local church of another sect, to do house by house searches for contraband. The players don't know if they're going to bust into a house with a bunch of militants/cultists preparing bombs, or the home of a single mom with two kids. Have folks get mad and the players either try to calm them down or act like jack booted thugs. Have the players stumble upon a local drug ring who offers them some thrones and gear to keep it quiet, because surely they've better things to do than bust up a drug distribution ring?
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Jul 27, 2014 17:52
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Werix posted:Simple, your unit just made planetfall right? Someone in command has decided that it's time to take handling the unrest to another level. Player's squad is being sent into an area where one sect recently blew up a local church of another sect, to do house by house searches for contraband. Okay, we're all just doing Afghanistan/Iraq now, right?
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Jul 27, 2014 18:00
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The heroes are going to go destroy or disable an Ork Krooza to prevent a Waaagh!! from getting out of hand. I'm thinking it'd be one on two fight with the RT's frigate and an Imperial light cruiser. What can I do to make the space fight interesting? It takes place in an environment that hasn't been set in stone.
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Jul 27, 2014 18:17
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OB_Juan posted:Okay, we're all just doing Afghanistan/Iraq now, right? It's a good plot hook for Only War, since you're the kind of guys who handle those kinds of jobs and it provides a good mix of shooting and sleuthing.
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Jul 27, 2014 18:28
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A PDF group has gone rogue and stolen a minor holy relic of [person who left holy relics]. The party must talk to local civilians and other PDF members in the hope of discovering why they did it, and where their hide-out is so they can take it back. The hideout is an old metalworking shop on the edge of town, close examination reveals that the walls have been fortified with scrap metal but there are no guards posted. Interrogation of the locals will reveal that the PDF seemed rather anxious when they arrived, as though they expected to be met by another group who did not show. On attempting to breach the building, or attempts at launching dialogue with the men inside, an open topped chimera will crash out through a wall and take off for the nearest highway. An armoured truck will be inside the revealed garage, and by the emperor's blessing it's even fuelled! The players then chase down the chimera on the road, dodging civilian traffic and exchanging fire with the PDF until they manage to bring it to a halt either by wrecking it or killing most of the passengers. The relic is not on board. The survivors claim they only ever had it for thirty minutes before it was handed off to another party. The mystery deepens.
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Jul 27, 2014 18:41
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Night10194 posted:It's a good plot hook for Only War, since you're the kind of guys who handle those kinds of jobs and it provides a good mix of shooting and sleuthing. I completely agree, I was just making sure that's what we were all doing.
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Jul 27, 2014 18:43
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goatface posted:The survivors claim I see a problem with your scenario here.
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Jul 27, 2014 18:44
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Well, if they blow up the chimera utterly, they're never getting it back. They need to show restraint.
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Jul 27, 2014 18:45
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The PCs are tasked with providing security for a prominent religious figurehead who plans, against all advice to the contrary, on making a public speech calling for an end to the violence and reconciliation (or a fire-and-brimstone "death to the heretics" speech, it's 40K, whatever). Huge crowds of people, any of which could be a potential threat, lots of vantage points for snipers, little in the way of cover, etc.
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Jul 27, 2014 18:53
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Kai Tave posted:The PCs are tasked with providing security for a prominent religious figurehead who plans, against all advice to the contrary, on making a public speech calling for an end to the violence and reconciliation (or a fire-and-brimstone "death to the heretics" speech, it's 40K, whatever). Huge crowds of people, any of which could be a potential threat, lots of vantage points for snipers, little in the way of cover, etc. He's the cult leader, the crowd is the cult, the speech is a ritual. He daemonhulks out, begins wrecking poo poo. Blood for the Blood God.
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Jul 27, 2014 19:01
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While the planet is in the middle of a major religious civil incident, a freighter jumps into the system, drops off an in-system courier ship with a single Deathwatch marine aboard and then jumps out again. He send instructions that there are objects beneath the surface of the planet that he is coming to assess, and the site should be cleared and excavated to a depth of 2 metres below sea level by the time of his arrival so he can complete the excavation in person. The site in question is currently hotly contested territory, and the site of a civilian refugee camp. You have 12 days before he makes orbit.
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Jul 27, 2014 19:04
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Another option: make a local version of the Imperial cult *look* like a Chaos cult even though it really isn't. One homebrew Marine Chapter in my Rogue Trader game is very Aztec-inspired, and they like to ritually sacrifice captured enemies at the top of pyramid-temples to the primarchs. Now imagine if some people on a regular planet did this, only sacrificing condemned criminals like that and it's not immediately clear to the PCs arriving in the middle of the ceremony who exactly is sacrificing whom to what.
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Jul 27, 2014 19:09
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6 minutes ago, a radical cleric gave the name and location of a key military informant in a speech at a rally. You need to extract her before she's captured and executed. The only location you currently have for her is the same as that the cleric gave. Command values her life as significantly more important than anyone who impedes your mission.
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Jul 27, 2014 19:12
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6 minutes ago, an allied cleric gave the name and location of a key opposition informant in a speech at a rally. You need to capture or kill her before she's extracted by hostiles. The only location you currently have for her is the same as that the cleric gave. Command considers her removal as significantly more important than anyone who impedes your mission.
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Jul 27, 2014 19:14
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Tossing around ideas, do Tau perform witch culls on their human populations? Would they even understand why the locals think it's necessary?
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Jul 27, 2014 19:45
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Rockopolis posted:Tossing around ideas, do Tau perform witch culls on their human populations? Would they even understand why the locals think it's necessary? I always played that as one of the single biggest threats of Tau domination. That they just plain don't really know about how dangerous a portion of the human population is if left alone.
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Jul 27, 2014 20:03
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goatface posted:6 minutes ago, gently caress yes, Warriors your way across a planet with zero regard for collateral damage.
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Jul 27, 2014 21:01
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Should anyone be interested in the concept I used of treating the primarchs like a pantheon of gods that worshipers would make sacrifice to, with the Emperor as the head of the pantheon, here's the spheres of influence I assigned for the primarchs. Would need some modification for non-Astartes, probably. Lion el'Jonson: Strategic skill, keeping secrets Jaghatai Khan: Swiftness, wisdom in general Leman Russ: Loyalty, ferocity in battle Rogal Dorn: Defensive warfare, fortification, void war Sanguinius: Compassion, general "What a Space Marine should be." Ferrus Manus: Anything to do with technology, especially cybernetics Roboute Guilliman: Organization, interactions with non-Astartes Vulkan: Patience, craftsmanship, resilience Corax: Stealth, deception, unorthodox tactics
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Jul 27, 2014 21:05
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Cythereal posted:Should anyone be interested in the concept I used of treating the primarchs like a pantheon of gods that worshipers would make sacrifice to, with the Emperor as the head of the pantheon, here's the spheres of influence I assigned for the primarchs. Would need some modification for non-Astartes, probably. I can't avoid reading this and thinking of the "Icons" in 13th Age. 
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Jul 27, 2014 22:01
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Stop coming up with these fantastic OW/DH ideas, I'm trying to run a RT campaign 
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Jul 27, 2014 22:03
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Azran posted:I can't avoid reading this and thinking of the "Icons" in 13th Age. I have no idea what 13th Age is, so sorry. I had Aztec-themed Space Marines sacrificing Tau prisoners to the primarchs by tearing out their still-beating hearts.
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Jul 27, 2014 22:03
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Cythereal posted:Should anyone be interested in the concept I used of treating the primarchs like a pantheon of gods that worshipers would make sacrifice to, with the Emperor as the head of the pantheon, here's the spheres of influence I assigned for the primarchs. Would need some modification for non-Astartes, probably. I would include loyalty and/or protection with Rogal Dorn.
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Jul 27, 2014 22:07
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