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  • File :1239343014.jpg-(110 KB, 850x500, mining colony.jpg)
    110 KB Anonymous 04/10/09(Fri)01:56 No.4238797  
    Quick question /tg/. Concerning Dark Heresy. And... F.E.A.R.

    How would you run a DH campaign based or inspired by the FPS F.E.A.R. The first one, of course.

    One thing I was thinking was...

    It starts on a Hive Planet. Or maybe a Feudal planet. A Tech-Priest is busy trying to make Psychic Commanders for a clone army. He's doing this by forcing a young female Sanctioned Psyker to undergo pregnancy.

    She makes two such children, and then after a number of years, the second child goes crazy, takes command of a small contingent of said clone soldiers, and butchers a small city or entire level of a Hive, before passing out and being reclaimed by underlings of the Tech-Priest.

    Which is how the Inquisition notices the experiment. They investigate for a number of years, but don't come up with anything conclusive, until when the second child is roughly 20-ish, when he repeats the same incident, butchering a city or level of a Hive with clone soldiers.
    >> (not) Snake Fist 04/10/09(Fri)02:01 No.4238839
    And since the Inquisition was paying closer attention this time, they catch notice and immediately dispatch some Acolytes.

    It would first start with the Acolytes attempting to catch or kill the second child, and he would eventually lead them to the Tech-Priest's hidden underground lab, where they learn of the Psyker he has imprisoned there.

    Turns out, she may or may not be controlling the second child, and may or may not be rushing head-first for a Perils of the Warp style bad-end.

    Since they're already on-scene, they're given the objective to kill the Psyker and capture the Tech-Priest responsible, with the death or capture of the second child becoming secondary.

    Of course, the fate of the first child would be... Undeclared. Perhaps we could go the way of the game and have one of the Acolytes be the First Child, or have it left as a mysterious mystery.


    Give me your thoughts, ideas, or how you would run it...
    >> Anonymous 04/10/09(Fri)02:06 No.4238879
    I don't see how you could run this without your PCs dieing within a few minutes
    >> (not) Snake Fist 04/10/09(Fri)02:09 No.4238908
    >>4238879
    Let them start off at a higher level? Maybe give them some good-ish starting armour. OR! Let them loot the fuck out of the dead soldiers.
    >> Anonymous 04/10/09(Fri)02:19 No.4238984
    >>4238879
    PERFECT FOR DARK HERESY!
    >> (not) Snake Fist 04/10/09(Fri)02:22 No.4239000
    >>4238984
    It could be a reoccurring campaign. OR! If the players are smart, and pace themselves, and don't do stupid things, they'll survive to the end o0f the fucking campaign.
    >> Anonymous 04/10/09(Fri)02:23 No.4239016
    >>4238879
    Whole shitton of NPCs getting picked off right before the player's eyes.

    Kind of like every FPS ever.
    >> Anonymous 04/10/09(Fri)02:24 No.4239028
    >>4238879
    >>4238984
    To elaborate, make a bunch of throwaway characters, Arbites, and such. Psyker should not be there, due to this whole thing being their fault.

    But, build a whole squad of throwaway characters, and if someone dies, the player picks a new character. This way, the Inquisitor just sends in more men, and they can encounter the old party's charred/animated remains.
    >> (not) Snake Fist 04/10/09(Fri)02:27 No.4239047
    >>4239016
    Yes. Yes indeed. That always pisses me off. Just once, I'd like to save an NPC and have him/her escorted to safety and not just, "Hi, here's some plot important info. Bye. BLARGH I DED!"
    >> (not) Snake Fist 04/10/09(Fri)02:33 No.4239083
    >>4239028
    So, have each player roll-up like three characters apop, and should one die, they move onto the next?

    That sounds good. But then I wouldn't want the players to get complacent and be like, "Well, I have my guy charge the enemy position. If he dies, it's okay. I got two more guys in reserve."

    Should probably have to state over and over again that they should play like this character is their only one. Maybe not have it be 24-7 combat either. Put some stuff in between like exploring a spooky fucking hospital area and having the Psyker girl fuck with them.
    >> (not) Snake Fist 04/10/09(Fri)02:49 No.4239187
    Bamf.
    >> Dr. Baron von Evilsatan 04/10/09(Fri)03:20 No.4239402
    Remember the most critical aspect of the characters in FEAR.

    Every single time anybody, NPC or PC, meets with another PC, they graphically and horrifically slaughtered in front of the PC in a way they absolutely did not see coming until it was too late to do a damn thing about it. If they die to anything less than a one-shot kill with a chainsword or a major psychic phenomena table roll, pathetic.

    Play it right with characters. Your team of Sanctioned Stormtroopers is the pool of PCs and friendly NPCs, and can work together or seperately, under the Inquisitor's remote direction. There is one squad of them, ten in total. Have character sheets for all of them, balanced the way you like, and let the players choose the ones they want most first from them. when that one dies, go to next. When there are too few left, out of the game. Or, even better, they become an enemy. What works best is have the characters roll up all ten SS between them as a group; that way they have some emotive connection with them all from the start and it encourages teamwork.

    MAKE SURE YOUR CHARACTERS DRAW THE EMPATHY OF THE PLAYERS. Otherwise they won't care that they get killed because there's more. You NEED to make them regret every death. Fuck, when I was playign the game and addons and sequels it got to the point where someoen said 'I'll meet up with you ahead' and I was screaming NO FUCKING GODDAMNIT STAY AWAY FROM ME at the screen because I knew they'd be dead that very second.
    >> Dr. Baron von Evilsatan 04/10/09(Fri)03:21 No.4239406
    Remember pacing. Combat, scare, combat. Combat must be fought to survive, runnign gets you killed. Scares must be fled from to survive, fighting gets you killed. As the game goes on, blend the two remorselessly until they have no idea whether the given opponent or phenomena is running time or shooting time and are desperately trying to figure out which.

    And, as always, start with literally a hundred characters. A hundred regulars, with basic character sheets written up for the players to see, and then kill them all. Kill them all fast. A dozen die to the first enemy, more to the next, and when less than half are left have psychic freakery happen to kill half the remainder, some in front of the PCs, some heard over comms, until you as the Inquisitor demand they regroup, at which point Alma shows up and kills all twenty-five in a matter of seconds.

    They will expect you to kill a few dozen faceless NPCs. They absolutely will not expect you to kill a hundred with character sheets. IT will freak them out, put them on the defensive, and make them all aware that it will be a fucking miracle if even one of their characters survives this.
    >> (not) Snake Fist 04/10/09(Fri)03:34 No.4239498
    >>4239406
    >>4239402
    Good input! Thanks!
    >> Anonymous 04/10/09(Fri)03:36 No.4239512
    >>4239402
    That's a good idea, you can use it on an online wiki too.
    >> (not) Snake Fist 04/10/09(Fri)03:41 No.4239546
    >>4239512
    Huh?
    >> Anonymous 04/10/09(Fri)03:56 No.4239646
    Also, don't forget another key element of the FEAR style: uncertainty.

    Your Alma-expy may kill a dozen characters at one point, and then appear later on but do nothing to the rest. Or she may launch a devastatingly powerful attack that actually doesn't do anything, but then later on just flashes into sight and splatters someone else's organs all over the ceiling with no warning.

    The point is to hammer into the players that they don't know what's going to happen next, and any second they could suddenly and unexpectedly be attacked - or she could appear and do nothing.

    And never have your Alma-expy do the same thing. One time, she appears and creates a blasting firestorm or blows up a building. The next time, she appears and hurls vehciles or debris at you. Next, she possesses living people or bodies and sends them at the characters. Then, she attacks physically at close range, or alters local weather conditions, or affects machinery, locks doors, opens them to let hostiles into the area, etc.

    Have the players never know what she's goign to do, or even know if what freakiness happens next is actually going to be a threat or not. If you have the players panicking at just the sight of her, you're doing it right.
    >> Dr. Baron von Evilsatan 04/10/09(Fri)04:26 No.4239845
    >>4239646

    Good point. Actually, one of the best scares in the entire franchise was in Perseus Mandate, that one ghoul-thing that three or four times would just lean out from a doorframe or window, look at you, then move away. After an hour of having shit charge you fro mnowhere and try to eat your face, while you turn aroudn to clibm a ladder and are completely helpless, it just looks at you. Fucking creepy.

    So, yeah, use that sort of thing. Sometimes weird shit is hunting you specifically, sometimes it just wants any blood and anyone's will do, other times it's avoiding you to kill someoen else, other times it's just watching like that creepy fucker from before.

    And remember the way Alma did the same? Sometimes she was only trying to kill you a little, like a fucked-in-the0head kid trying to play a game. Other times, she helped you, by making shit work. Other times, she'd actively protect you from things trying to kill you. But when you pissed her off, holy fuck.

    Do this all the time. It makes it clear that the PCs or at least one of them is important to her, but nobody's sure what.

    Also, to make it better, create the implication that the players are her sons, all of them, but in reality they're just a small ofshoot of the project a la Project Origin, and the REAL child of Alma is one of the NPCs, who will be very easy to provoke. A Stormtrooper with similar stats, vague intent, strong paranoia and hallucinatiosn from being in the damn facility so long, and Warp Time, all the time, with no PotW chance.

    Make sure that if they kill the child that Alma turns the entire fucking facility against them.
    >> Dr. Baron von Evilsatan 04/10/09(Fri)04:26 No.4239848
    Use the Project Origin enemy designs as well since they're cool, and don't forget the hole-in-floor fucking fuckers from PM.

    You should also probably have Alma animate parts of the machinery at the facility, since it's cool.

    Also, the sheer fuckery of the shit going on draws daemons and cultists here, but Alma doesn't care much for them either.

    So in total, the factions are:
    Your ISTs.
    The facility's security.
    The wider security of the Noble House or Magos that owns the facility.
    The clone soldiers.
    Another Inquisitorial team or two, which can be allied, vaguely neutral, or hostile.
    The DAEMONS.
    Alma and her freakery.

    All of whom are at the best temporary neutral allies, and at the worst utterly opposed. More enemy groups means more conflict, more bodies, more victims, more violence, and much much more confusion.

    Always the confusion. That was so much fo the FEAR franchise, that you rarely if ever had control of the situation or even understood just what the fuck the situation was.
    >> Anonymous 04/10/09(Fri)05:04 No.4240073
    >>4239848
    >>Always the confusion. That was so much fo the FEAR franchise, that you rarely if ever had control of the situation or even understood just what the fuck the situation was.

    This, without question.

    Probably the best part about Project Origin was that you didn't know WHY Alma was focusing on you until the very, very end. Never explain why Alma is acting like this around the characters, just have her do shit.

    And don't forget to use random shit in the environment to add to the fuckery. Like, for example, that classroom projector in the elementary school in Project Origin.
    >> Anonymous 04/10/09(Fri)05:09 No.4240098
    Also, if you really want to hit the players with the emotional rollercoster, throw in the hints of Alma being sympthetic. Have hallucinations or visons of her crying or otherwise showing either painful or endearing emotions, and mix that in with the hellish imagery and flying body parts.

    Its one thing to hate the thing scaring the piss out of you. Its something else entirely to feel sorry for it while its randomly setting you on fire or hurling waves of severed human bodies at you.
    >> Anonymous 04/10/09(Fri)05:12 No.4240110
    >>4239848
    Or have another Inquisitor with a completely different agenda who knows all about what's going on, and is opposed to the players' Inquisitor, and sends troops to purge the area or capture the psyker and the clone troops for himself.
    >> Anonymous 04/10/09(Fri)05:13 No.4240113
    >>4239083
    Always have time pass between TPK. So that, while he destroyed that enemy position by sacrificing himself, next time they come by, it's been built up even worse. Or, his tormented ghost is haunting the location. Something that makes it even more dangerous to go there.
    >> Anonymous 04/10/09(Fri)05:18 No.4240143
    >>4240073
    That part of the game was one of the most terrifying bits in the entire game.

    You had ghosts popping up and vanishing, making noise everywhere, you had that goddamn classroom voice projector thing, you had that dying ATC guy who suddenly got snatched up, those lockers flying and slamming open, and the worst part was your flashlight didn't work.

    So you've got to walk down this long hallway with ghosts coming out of nowhere, disembodied voices, gagging and twitching ATC troops stuck to ceilings and walls, and then the doors start slamming open and shut, and you see blood pouring down the walls....

    Jesus, that part was terrifying.
    >> Anonymous 04/10/09(Fri)05:25 No.4240171
    >>4240073
    I don't know, there was a part in Project Origin where they pretty much spelled it out for you they set it up so you'd attract her.

    Although you're right about having no idea what she wanted to do with you.

    Maybe that in itself should be fucked up, I'm sure the fact that her actions at the very end fucked with people down to the core, it sure as hell took me off-guard.

    I don't know, it'd probably help the end leave them all dumbstruck if it was something rather simple.

    Also, the characters helped a lot, and if you ask me someone like Harlan Wade needs to be in there, the guy sounded insane, but it was great to learn that it was mostly because he felt guilty as hell for doing what he did to Alma.
    >> Anonymous 04/10/09(Fri)05:30 No.4240205
    This is probably better suited for a Deathwatch game.

    Also, why would the Inquisition send a few acolytes and not, for example, a Culexus assassin to disrupt the warp-link between the psychic commander and the clones?
    >> Anonymous 04/10/09(Fri)05:35 No.4240243
    >>4240205
    Doesn't have access to one?
    >> Anonymous 04/10/09(Fri)05:36 No.4240248
    >>4240205

    1) It's the final test for some medium to high-leveled help before becoming Inquisitors.

    2) The Inq. may not have the full story, or he's got his own plans he didn't feel like informing the help of. He's a goddamned inquisitor, he do what he want.

    3) Could be there's no local Culexus. Also: See "Don't know what the fuck is really going on" idea.
    >> Dr. Baron von Evilsatan 04/10/09(Fri)05:37 No.4240256
    >>4240143

    Still, nothing in the rest of the franchise has managed to match up to the sheer OH MY FUCK of Chen's death in Perseus Mandate.

    You've just spent an hour creeping along this freaky abandoned railway, every step of the way getting attacked by those invisible fucks, and you're on edge like nothing else. Then you suddenly get seperated from Chen, and you're thinking 'oh fuck', but you get back together, but then those FUCKING GHOUL GUYS who have killed EVERY FUCKING TEAMMATE YOU HAVE EVER FUCKING HAD appear from nowhere and drag him into a room you can't reach, and all you can hear is screams and shotguns and you're trying to get the fuck over there but can't reach the blood's coming from everywhere and then everything goes quiet and oh fuck me he's dead shit.

    Except, then he walks out, completely unharmed and trash-talking, drops you a rope, and you can hear your heartbeat fucking halve instantly with relaxation.
    >> Dr. Baron von Evilsatan 04/10/09(Fri)05:38 No.4240262
    Everything's safe, and you walk off and then you see there's somethimg under his foot fuck and you think in the space of a nanosecond stop it's growing stop it's huge FUCKING STOP DON'T FUCKING PUT YOUR FOOT DOWN OH FUCK NO DON'T TOUCH IT and he puts his foot down and it sinks in and he's all 'oh it's stuck it's nothing just give me a hand' and you're all NO IT IS NOT NOTHING FUCK ME nothing in this fucking game is nothing and then his foot drops and you start panicking and he starts sounding concerned and then it drops again and he's shouting and then he drops to his knees and OH MY FUCK IT'S DRAGGING HIM IN AND SHJREDDING HIM AND HE'S FUCKING SCREAMING AND OH FUCK IT'S VOMITING BLOOD EVERYWHERE HE'S GETTING FUCKING EATEN OR SOME SHIT HOLY SHIT AND THEN HE'S FUCKING SCREAMING FOR HELP SO YOU RUN UP AND GRAB HIS ARM AND TRY TO PULL HIM OUT BUT IT DOESN'T FUCKING WORK AND IT'S STILL DRAGGING HIM IN AND HE'S FUCKING SCREAMING AS IT SHREDS HIM AND HIS FREE HAND IS DRAGGING FUCKING GOUGES IN THE CONCRETE FLOOR HE'S THAT FUCKING DESPERATE AND THEN FUCKING FUCK IT GETS HIM ALL THE WAY AND HE JUST EXPLODES AND BLOOD IS EVERYWHERE AND OH MY CHRIST THAT'S HIS FUCKING ARM FLUNG ACROSS THE ROOM AND THEN IT FUCKING DRAGS YOU IN TOO BECAUSE YOU GOT TOO CLOSE AND OF MY FUCK YOU END UP IN THIS UNDERWTAER COMPLETELY PITCH BLACK FUCKING WOMB THING AND THIS FREAKY CLAW FUCKER IS SLASHIGN THE SHIT OUT OF YOU AND OH MY FIUCK I WAS AT FULL HEALTH LITERALLY A SECOND AGO AND NOW I'M ON TWO HOLY FUCK HOW DO IT KILL IT and then you kill it and the womb EXPLODES and you're suddenly nack up again and there's not a damn trace of evidence that anythign happened and what the fuck was that my fucking god and then you look closer and se his arm and FUCK THAT WASN'T A FUCKING HALLUCINATION. All of this, of course, occurs in the space of maybe seven seconds.
    >> Dr. Baron von Evilsatan 04/10/09(Fri)05:40 No.4240270
    That is the most horrific thing I have ever seen, in any medium, in my entire life. It also marks the only time a game has fucked me up so bad I had to put the controller down and just... walk away. The next time I played it it took like ten minutes of bracing myself before I could trigger the scene.

    I don't know how you could use this scene in a game, but the basics apply.

    One, set up the tension until it is at its fucking peak.

    Two, set the players off by using somethign they fucking well know to fear instantly and have it seemingly do something horrific.

    Three, it just barely turns out okay and you have an instant to relax before TEN FUCKING HORRIBLE THINGS HAPPEN SO FAST YOU HAVE LITERALLY NO TIME TO THINK.

    Four, have it end abruptly so you aren't really sure just what the fucking christ it was.
    >> Anonymous 04/10/09(Fri)05:44 No.4240289
    >>4240270

    Have you ever played the Thief series? I'm thinking of a particular Cradle you might be interested in, and a certain King No One who might wish to have a word with you.
    >> (not) Snake Fist 04/10/09(Fri)05:46 No.4240299
    Should you let know, I've only played the first game, and obviously, the second game. Haven't played any of the expansions.

    Again, you guys are awesome. Keep the ideas flowing.
    >> Dr. Baron von Evilsatan 04/10/09(Fri)05:52 No.4240343
    >>4240171

    He can be the sub-director of the project. He didn't really want to go through with the project, but knew everything there was to do with it, and let it go ahead anyway. Now it's all gone to hell, he's pretty much accepted that his eventual horrific death will be the fair price for his unspeakable actions.

    Make sure your Harlanesque character has gravitas out the arse and brilliant lines. Tha'ts what made hi msuch a strong character, that eveyr time his opened his mouth it set the mood perfectly and came out with a line you'd remember.

    >>4240205

    Because they don't know what the fuck is going on, because the situation is delicate, and because there is extremely valuable tech that coudl be recovered. This team is not some chumps but an elite-as-fuck team, backed up out the wazoo until they all die. They are also capable of properly investigating the situation and using their initiative to react accordingly, unlike the Culexus, who will go in, kill Alma (or more likely die) and ignore everything else, likely fuckign the situation up worse. Contrary to popular belief, the Inquisition will act with the subtlety the situation requires.

    Actually, that coudl be your opponent, another Inquisitor who disagrees not with your goal but your level of response, and has in fact sent in an entire IG regiment, which ends up making the situation worse because most die or go mad and rogue and many end up under Alma's control. You fight his forces because your Inquisitor decides that if he gets to run rampant he will turn a disastrous situation into a multi-system apocalypse and in the process destroy the extremely valuable research data and STCs your Inquisitor wants you to get as a secondary goal and which some roguew trader's forces are in to steal and the Noble House has sent its forces in to retireve if possible and destroy as neccesary.
    >> Dr. Baron von Evilsatan 04/10/09(Fri)05:57 No.4240371
    That's also a brilliant twist. Just near the climax of the game, when your team has finally found all the information to make a decision, the Inquisitor is killed by his rival or one of the factions, and the players now have to decide on one of literally dozens of courses of action. Make sure you wrap up the game once it's over with a detailed explanation fo the exact consequences of their actions. e.g. they only kill Alma then run, the other factiosn get the data and the facility is destroyed but the phenomena have not been contained and spread across the planet forcing Exterminatus and any of the other forces could cause a similar incident at any time, or if they just flee Alma gets out and the entire system gets dragged into a new Warpstorm with the loss of two hundred billion souls and several worlds vital to the sector's defense. It really adds to a game when you do that, and strongly encourages players not to play for their own survival and profit, which means you also get slightly more characterisation.
    >> Anonymous 04/10/09(Fri)05:58 No.4240377
    >>4238797
    Dark heresy and F.E.A.R. = Lofn: The game.
    >> Dr. Baron von Evilsatan 04/10/09(Fri)06:13 No.4240455
    >>4240289

    I doubt that it coudl be worse.

    For context, the only thing in my entire life that has fucked me up worse was this one escene in End of Evangelion, Asuka's death scene. Heroic climax and TTGL-style FUCK YEAR, turning into horrific OH MY FUCK in the span of seconds. Not that bad, says you? I have always had a massive fucking phobia of flocking seagulls, and when that's what you have, a scene like this coming out of fucking nowhere leaves you staring at the screen taking nothign in for the next fifteen minutes, completely fucking catatonic, with tears of horror streaming down your face.

    That was not that much worse than Perseus Mandate.

    For anything else to be worse than these, it would have to be the single most horrific thing ever to exist.

    Couldn't find the english version, but you shoudl get the idea.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=brkbyYPd_RE&feature=related
    >> Dr. Baron von Evilsatan 04/10/09(Fri)07:27 No.4240781
    Just remember that this is a live RPG and therefore you are restricted in your means of horror. You can't use boo horror, and it takes extreme narrative skill and imagination to produce disturbing horror. You have to rely on OH FUCK horror, fear of death, and the instilment of paranoia. That is, unless you are very good.
    >> Anonymous 04/10/09(Fri)07:30 No.4240792
    >>4240289
    This. THIS. Thief: Deadly Shadows, for all its flaws, was made kingly by that one level alone. I have never been so genuinely afraid in all my days of gaming. And it wasn't just one moment, either, it lasted the full hour and a half it took me to complete it.
    >> (not) Snake Fist 04/10/09(Fri)07:55 No.4240880
    >>4240377
    And Lofn is...?
    >> Anonymous 04/10/09(Fri)08:01 No.4240897
    >>4240880
    The anti-Alma. Anon is being stupid.
    >> (not) Snake Fist 04/10/09(Fri)08:07 No.4240918
    >>4240897
    Ahhhh.... Okay.
    >> Anonymous 04/10/09(Fri)13:46 No.4242690
    >>4240792

    Remember this man, Dr. Baron man. He speaks truth in a dark time... in a dark place...
    >> Anonymous 04/10/09(Fri)16:04 No.4243458
    Something to consider.

    That fucking music box.

    In the second F.E.A.R., that music box you hear in the very beginning? And pops up almost whenever Alma is about to show up?

    Yeah. If you can, find an old, wind-up music box with a haughty song. Wind it up before session, and whenever you're going to have Alma pop up, open the damn box, then close it as soon as the encounter is over.

    If by the end of the third session, your players whimper whenever you reach for the music box.... You're doing it right.

    Also, sound can be used to great effect. Have a non-player friend help you with this. One scene I came up in my mind to fuck with players is this: Have them encounter a mirror. Just a regular, run of the mill large mirror. If the players try and inspect the mirror, descibe the following scene to them...

    "[Player Character] sees a reflection of himself. As he narrows his eyes, searching over the details of the mirror, he notices a small, child-like hand grip his shoulder in the reflection. He can't tear his gaze from the form that rises over his reflection. A small head, covered in black hair, raising slowly over one shoulder. The reflected figure turns its head to look at {Player Character], hair falling away to reveal yellow and red eyes, burning like hell-fire. As he locks gaze with it, he hears a psychic scream, and the mirror shatters."

    At this point, your friend-helper should smash two glass bottles together in another room. If the players jump when this happens, you're doing it right. For compounded effect, don't open the music box.

    Of course, ensure your friend-helper's safety! lay down several towels where the glass is to be broken, have him wear gloves and something to protect his face.
    >> Anonymous 04/10/09(Fri)17:04 No.4243912
    Not OP, but I wanna run with this too.

    So, here's what I got so far. Have the players roll-up 2 or 3 characters a piece. They will be Inquisitional Stormtroopers, and will start at Rank 3, with 1100 XP. I'll let them start with Stromtrooper Carapace Armour, and will receive Basic Weapon Training (Hellgun) free at Rank 3.

    Their starting equipment will be replaced with
    Stormtrooper Carapace Armour
    Hellgun +3 Chargepacks Total (So that's one hot and two spare)
    Uniform (High Quality Clothing)
    Charm (Purity Seal)
    3 Stimms
    3 Combat Rations
    3 Frag Grenades
    Melee weapon and Good Quality Pistol of choice
    200 Thrones to spend as they please

    Like the basic weapon, the pistol will start with 3 magazines, one hot, two spare. They will have to loot for more ammo.

    One problem I'm noticing is that at Rank 3, there are no Tech-Use or Medicae skills. That's all Rank 4 and up. I may have to make a DMNPC... I'm thinking maybe a Rank 4 Cleric or Adept...

    I dunno. What do you guys think so far? Am I going too far?
    >> Anonymous 04/10/09(Fri)17:32 No.4244127
    >>4243912
    No comment?
    >> Anonymous 04/10/09(Fri)17:54 No.4244272
    >>4243912
    Well, no one seems to have any thoughts on it, so I'll continue...

    One of the player characters will DEFIANTLY be the "First Specimen" but I will choose who at random from the pool of characters. Meaning that the First Specimen might even show up on planet until a couple PCs die.

    I'll then roll up exactly one-hundred and ten IST allies, with character sheets and everything. Most will be Garys (IE, clones of each other), but I will try and vary them somewhat.

    I plan on having the players arrive on planet, a Feudal World named.... Umh.... Fuck, I guess something like... Auburn Arma Three, sure. Why the fuck not? They will then take a Chimera to the Hive Level where the Paxon Fettel-wannabe and the Replica soldiers are. They will emerge right the fuck into combat, with the first five or so ISTs in the Chimera with them dieing without even leaving the Chimera. Something like a Fire Extinguisher or something gets hit, flooding the small compartment with smoke or foam or some sort of thing that gives them cover, enough so that they can disembark without dying. I think I'll have to watch the first thirty minutes or so of Saving Private Ryan repeatedly for inspiration.

    They will fight for a bit with their allies with covering fire from three or so Chimeras, and then press the Replicas into a retreat. The PCs will give chase with a handful of allies while the rest secure the 'beachhead.'

    This is when the first minor scares happen. Mostly with them coming across dead civvies, dead Arbites, and dead Guardsmen.
    >> Anonymous 04/10/09(Fri)18:21 No.4244441
    >>4244272
    This is where I get iffy on what Alma should do at this point, if she should even pop up. I have several ideas. One is while following the trail of the Replica soldiers, they come across Child Alma, kneeling and crying in a corner, her back to the PCs.

    When they come across her, the allies will tell the PCs to catch up to the Replica forces while they extricate the child.

    They will (hopefully) do so, leaving the allies alone with the Psychic death machine. As soon as they get a few rooms past that, they hear over their coms that the allies got the child back to the 'beachhead.'

    Then. Screaming, followed immediately by silence. The Players will then have an option to go back and see what happened, or press on.

    If they go back, it will be like what happened to the SFOD-D forces in the beginning of the first game. Just... Blood everywhere, and charred skeletons. No signs of the girl, and no signs of the dead Replica and IST from the first battle.


    Of course, they can also interact with Alma more or less directly. Something like.... They stumble into a trap, stuck in a corridor with Replica forces on both sides. Once one side or the other is cleared, Alma appears amidst the surviving side, and fucking shadow tentacles the fuck out of the Replica forces AND the IST allies. Leaving only charred skeletons and scorched spots where the tentacles appeared. She vanishes.

    Of course, I could also pull directly from the first game. They end up in a corridor, see her at the far end, the allies go first to try and secure her for extrication, and BOOM! Fire! OH FUCK RUN RUN she just turned those Stormtroopers into skeletons! Everything's burning!

    Staying will kill the PCs, and they will have to bring in their spares, or if they run they escape, and live.
    >> Anonymous 04/10/09(Fri)18:36 No.4244520
    >>4244441
    A bit more combat irregardless of what happens with Alma, and they see Paxon Fettel for the first time. He boards an ornithropter with a number of Replica soldiers, and leaves, while the players have to fight a small squad of Replicas and a Heavy.

    Combat ends with them defeating all and calling to the Inquisitor of what happened, and of Paxon's escape. They return to the Chimera, and if I went the route of killing everyone at the 'beachhead,' more allies will show up and be ready to take them elsewhere.

    They will be able to spend points at this point, and buy supplies if need be.

    The next part will be them following the Ornithropter and disembarking at a large corporation type building. Unlike the first time, there won't be any combat. Spooky shit happens as they go deeper, with lotsa allies dying over coms in other parts of the building, either to combat, or ghostery shit. The players, on the otherhand, will encounter nothing for a long while. They will get a call over coms for support eventually, and will respond.
    >> Anonymous 04/10/09(Fri)18:50 No.4244619
    This sounds awsome.
    >> Anonymous 04/10/09(Fri)18:53 No.4244649
    >>4244520
    I will allow characters to spend points at various points through this area, and XP carries over to spares, but not equipment. Each spare will start with the starting equipment, but if the PCs picked up anything special from the first area, they will have to come up with an in-game reason to hunt down their corpse and retrieve it, or hope one of the other players will snag it from them.

    Anyways, they respond to the call for assistance, only to find that the allies that had called and spoke to them only moments prior, has been dead for HOURS. As in, bodies are already cold, even their weapons are cold. It shouldn't be logical, since they may have been in the building only maybe a total of one hour.

    Combat long since gone, they follow a blood trail, and spooky shit starts happening. Roof tiles fall, stuff breaks or explode without warning. They come to an elevator, bloodied the fuck up. Like, blood all over the floor, on the walls, dripping from the ceiling.

    They get a call that Paxon has been sighted on an upper level, and they have to come assist. They are given the option of taking the bloody elevator up, or taking the stairs. Of course, they will opt to take the stairs but will find it either barricaded or blocked off with a fire gate. So they follow the road made of rails, and get into the elevator. They poosh the button, and as soon as the doors close, BAM! Darkness. In a different area, surrounded by fire. Paxon taunts them for a moment, and if they shoot him, he disintegrates, and is replaced by a number of custom ghost monsters. They fight these overly easy aberrations, and then come to on the elevator. Except, all the blood is gone. Not a single trace anywhere, except on their boots.

    The doors open, and they emerge into combat, at the backside of some Replica soldiers fighting ISTs. Another easy victory. You can probably see where I'm going with this... Building them up so the fall is great.
    >> Anonymous 04/10/09(Fri)19:05 No.4244740
    >>4244649
    With the Replicas dead, they hook up with the allied ISTs. The Adept DMNPC is introduced, and will accompany the PCs for a short while, healing them up, using Tech-Use and such. This is where they start doing research and finding out more about the project.

    Eventually, they will reach a computer-terminal that spells out where the facility is the Tech-Priest has been using to perform his experiments and has Alma imprisoned.

    Eh.... And now I'm brain dead.I'm going to take a shower and think up more stuff. Post ideas if you want.
    >> Anonymous 04/10/09(Fri)19:47 No.4245104
    bump because I love this thread
    >> Anonymous 04/10/09(Fri)20:27 No.4245430
    >>4245104
    Me too
    >> Anonymous 04/10/09(Fri)21:43 No.4245932
    >>4244740
    After taking a shower and thinking for a bit, I've decided that players will be able to, at start, buy Tech-Use and Tech-use +10 /OR/ Medicae and Medicae +10 at 300 Points total. I will highly recommend the high Int characters to take one or the other. They will be using the Guardsman advance, and at higher levels, will take the Assault Veteran route.

    ANYWAYS, back to the campaign.

    Hmmm.... Oh, yeah. The Corporate building type thing. So far, the few battles they've had had been cakewalks. I'm talking, the ghosts with 1 Wound and no toughness, and the Replicas caught between them and ISTs. I think it's time for some hurting.

    Just as they're feeling good about themselves, I'll have them roll Perception with a -15 modifier. Those that pass will note stealth suited figures on the ceiling. Those that don't... Well, they won't see shit captain. One suit will drop and crit the DMNPC, using the Rending Critical table to the head.

    This will be the enemy the PCs will fight, and will be in essence a mini or maybe a full fledged boss fight. The other Stealth Suits will drop behind them, and engage the allies, keeping them from helping the PCs.

    If the PCs beat the suit, they may attempt to help the ISTs, or flee if too many allies are dead.

    Of course, if the suit proves too much for them to handle, I'll fudge rolls that would kill the PCs, and give them an out if its too tough. Maybe something like... One of the allies attempts to throw a Krak Grenade, but misses and the grenade lands behind the party, putting a hole in the floor and dropping them to the level beneath.

    Irregardless, the party will have to flee from the suits that killed their allies, since one suit was bad enough. Five will be impossible.
    >> Anonymous 04/10/09(Fri)21:45 No.4245951
    bumpalicious
    >> Anonymous 04/10/09(Fri)22:04 No.4246077
    >>4245932
    Fleeing to the sound of their allies being slaughtered, the PCs will doubtless be like, "Fuck this place, let's book!" Orders come in that Paxon has been seen leaving the building, and may be heading for the research complex, giving them plenty of excuses to leave.

    Alma fucks with the party some more, showing them bloody images, and leaving bodies everywhere. They find an elevator on the level they're on, but when they attempt to get on it, Alma blocks them, the doors slamming shut.

    Attempting to track down a staircase will put them in a long corridor with doors on each side. As they travel down the corridor, all the doors will be locked. Once they hit mid-point, the lights go out, and it's pitch black. Any attempt to use lamps or flashlights fail, the devices refusing to turn on. If I was using the music box like >>4243458 suggested, I'd open it now.

    With the music box going, all they can see is darkness, and all they hear is sound of doors repeatedly slamming open and close, tiles falling from the ceiling, and ending finally with glass shattering.

    They'll be able to finally use their flashlights/lamps now. The ceiling lights are blown out, all the doors are shattered, and blood coats the walls. Roll perception -10, and those that pass will notice at the very edge of their flashlight's beam a pair of child-like bare feet and the bottom hem of a red dress.

    Attempting to flee behind will result in them running into a wall. The only path is forward.

    If they press forward, those who passed the perception roll will notice that no matter how far they move forward, the dim image of the feet at the edge of their light never moves, never comes into the light.

    Attempting to fire at Alma under these conditions will be done at Hard Difficulty (-20) with no bonuses.

    If they do manage to hit her, they are immediately hit with the Spasm Psychic Power. They may roll will to resist, but irregardless of the roll they fall flat.
    >> Anonymous 04/10/09(Fri)22:22 No.4246213
    >>4246077

    After spending a full turn getting to their feet, roll perception. Any that pass will notice that Alma's not there anymore. Any who fail will remain unaware, or if they passed the first one but failed this one, will still /think/ they see Alma, but can't be sure...

    Any shots made at the imaginary Alma will automatically fail, since she /isn't/ there. The music box, however, is still going.

    Pressing forward is their only option, and once they reach the end of the corridor, it splits. The lights here work, and once they leave the corridor, they'll hear a sound behind him. A child crying. If they turn around, they'll notice that the corridor is unaffected. The doors are all closed, the ceiling lights are working, and the corridor is actually VERY short. Maybe only three doors per side as opposed to the twenty or so when they first came in. The music box will close now, and the crying stops.

    Either direction will lead them to a maintenance ladder next to the broken elevator shaft. They enter the ladder, and climb down to ground floor. An Ordinary Difficulty Strength test (+10) will force open the elevator doors. They leave the elevator shaft, and no sooner then they take a single step away, they hear a terrible screeching noise.

    The elevator car falls. Roll for Dodge to avoid being struck by shrapnel.
    >> Anonymous 04/10/09(Fri)23:02 No.4246481
    >>4246213
    A bit of a cliche, I know. But it works.

    Their Chimera is outside and waiting. As they near the door to exit the building, the Chimera is hit in the side with a MP Las-Cannon blast. Replica Forces attack the Chimera and the PCs! One has an MP Las-Cannon!

    The Chimera will use its turret to support the PCs for a turn or two, until it's destroyed by the Las-Cannon. Unless the PCs kill the MP Las-Cannon guy first!

    If the Chimera is destroyed, the PCs will have to find the parking garage for the building and requisition a vehicle to get to the next area.

    If the Chimera isn't destroyed, it's still too damaged to make the trip, and the drivers refuse to move the vehicle until they make repairs and appease its Machine Spirit.

    So, once again on the road made of rails. They requisition a civilian vehicle, and make way for the research complex.

    Nothing happens during this trip, and they reach the entrance to the complex. Here there are Replica Forces to be fought. If they play it right, more ISTs will arrive, and will assist in securing the entrance.

    In fact, I will take the whole IST division I rolled up, and throw them at securing this facility. However many are left alive is however many will attack the facility.

    A lot will die taking the facility, as they are still using the basic Rank 3 template I laid out at the beginning, but under the leadership of the PCs they will drive the Replicas deeper into the facility.
    >> Anonymous 04/10/09(Fri)23:32 No.4246654
    >>4246481
    With a full surviving division in tow, they storm the facility. There will be plenty of terminals for them to Tech-Use to control Gun Servitors, and gain more information on the Tech-Priest's plan, as well as about Alma and Paxon. This will trigger the Inquisitor giving them the order to kill the Psyker and the Tech-Priest responsible, as well as Paxon.

    Alma will fuck with the PCs more here. They will constantly get hit with Inflict Pain, Spasm, Flash Bang, and tons of allies will get Torched.

    Pressing deeper into the facility will thin the number of allies until only a handful remain. Eventually, after a number of Tech-Use, they will be able to access the Vault, where Alma's body is contained, where the Tech-Priest is hiding, and where Paxon was last seen entering.

    The entrance to the Vault will be a hard fought, with the last of the allies busying up two Replica Heavies and four regulars, buying the PCs enough time to enter the Vault.

    Within, they confront Paxon, who taunts them in a psychic elsewhere. The PCs will kill Paxon, and a group of Replica heavies nearby go catatonic.

    They press further, and get stuck behind a clear door. The Tech-Priest is on the other side. He releases Alma from her cocoon, and she "Flesh to Blood Splatter on the Ground" him, leaving nothing but blood and a charred skeleton. Turns to gaze at the PCs, then....

    Blackout.
    >> Anonymous 04/10/09(Fri)23:46 No.4246736
    >>4246654
    If the "First Specimen" is among the group, they will awake in the Vault, and be self-given the objective to destroy the vault by any means to kill the Psyker. Alma will excessively fuck with the players now, the 1 Wound ghosts will appear frequently, all the fucking time.

    They will have to Tech-Use to over-load the facility's power core. Also, they won't be able to bring in their spares due to Alma destroying the entrance they came in on.

    After setting the overload in process, they will have to flee the facility through a secondary exit, flee an abandoned warehouse where they meet Alma for one last time. They fall into a pit, but instead of landing or hitting anything, they find themselves in a corridor filled to the brim with blood. They have to swim to the end to a door, where they see the Tech-Priest removing the "First Specimen" from Alma. They can't open the door. They hear a scream from behind them, and see Alma. She's walking towards them in this tunnel of blood. They have to fight her, using their long-ranged weapons.

    After defeating her, they will come to in front of a door leading outside of the warehouse. They exit, and call for pick-up.

    A Valkyrie is dispatched to pick them up. Then....


    BOOM! The Vault's power core goes critical, and mushroom clouds the fuck! The PCs have to seek cover or take Explosive damage.

    After the gusts from the explosions die down, the Valkyrie arrives, and several Guardsmen hop out to ferry them into it. As they fly away, one of the Guardsman asked if they completed the objective, if they killed the Psyker.

    *CLANG!* "What the hell was that!?"

    Le fin.
    >> Anonymous 04/10/09(Fri)23:51 No.4246763
    >>4246736
    If the "First Specimen" isn't in the group because he died, I explain that Alma "Flesh to Blood Splatter on the Ground" them, and that two hours after entering the facility, the entire Hive is bombardment from Orbit, then the planet is Exterminatus'd for good measure.

    If the "First Specimen" isn't in the group because he's still in reserve, then I explain that Alma killed the group, and the reserves are sent in. It continues as per "First Specimen" ending, except they find their corpses, and equipment, and the entrance is blown-up.
    >> Anonymous 04/10/09(Fri)23:54 No.4246781
    So.... What does /tg/ think?
    >> Anonymous 04/10/09(Fri)23:57 No.4246805
    >>4246781
    I now want to fap to some rule #34 on Alma, please.
    >> Anonymous 04/11/09(Sat)00:05 No.4246866
    >>4246805
    Ehhhh.......
    >> Anonymous 04/11/09(Sat)00:28 No.4247012
    Bump?
    >> Anonymous 04/11/09(Sat)01:24 No.4247531
    Sounds like an awesome campaign op.
    >> Dr. Baron von Evilsatan 04/11/09(Sat)01:30 No.4247575
    Don't make it too outrageous a copy, that's boring and shows a compelte lack of imagination. Take the starting points of the story, and the elements that made the game what it is, but let the players determine their own path through the game. Don't railroad horror or you'll fuck it to shit, especially this sort.

    Also, I did mean it when I said make the players roll ten characters AS A GROUP, as in every one makes a part of each ten characters. It IS important, since it means that one, they will be less likely to view the characters as expendable resources since they are not purely their own, two, that they will have an emotive connection to them from the start since they partially created them, and three, that it encourages teamwork.

    This game MUST be about teamwork. Make it so that unless they work together magnificently they cannot possibly win. At the same time keep the MEETING=DEATH vibe, to make it hard as fuck and a tonne better than a shit-boring obvious standard 'work together to win' theme. They have to work as a perfect group whilst completely seperate.
    >> Anonymous 04/11/09(Sat)02:34 No.4248079
    OP, your idea is awesome and you should feel awesome.
    >> Anonymous 04/11/09(Sat)03:03 No.4248246
    >>4247575
    While I can see where you're going, I don't understand how I would have them do this.

    I mean, rolling up the ten characters between themselves as a group effort.
    >> Anonymous 04/11/09(Sat)03:08 No.4248280
    >>4248079
    I'm the one who did >>4243912 through >>4246763
    And I'm not the OP. So if you were commenting on that....
    >> Anonymous 04/11/09(Sat)03:26 No.4248395
    >>4247575

    I'd allow some copying of characters just so it doesn't take forever getting started. Guardsman 1,2,3. Adept 1,2,3. Etc.. Just slap on a new name and they will be all set.
    Or maybe go PARANOIA style. Cut down stats(No rolling homeworlds, signs.) Get the important stuff up right away. Encourage putting the bonus points into important stuff like BS/WS/WP and dump crap like Knowledge:Nobility.
    >> thejamesw. 04/11/09(Sat)03:30 No.4248421
    Damn this thing is pretty sweet.

    Kudos and props to those who contributed (never played FEAR or I would do so myself).

    Thing is good enough to be archived.
    >> Dr. Baron von Evilsatan 04/11/09(Sat)03:35 No.4248451
    >>4248246

    STEP ONE: Give them ten blank sheets and the book.

    STEP TWO: Tell them that these characters will form a shared character pool.

    STEP THREE: Go do something else until they finish.

    >>4248395

    That's stupid, because it would waste the entire point of group character rolling. Nobody feels bad when STATISTIC SET 03 dies, but they don't like it when Ivanovich the team Dems expert who has never spoken a word, drinks too much too often, acts recklessly, and overall acts liek there's something in his past he'd rather forget or outright die for, goes down.

    Unless your players don't want the characters to die on more than an intellectual level EVERY HORROR GAME YOU RUN WILL BE AN ABJECT FAILURE.
    >> Anonymous 04/11/09(Sat)03:46 No.4248515
    >>4248451
    Ahhh... I get it now. Well, here's hoping they don't tear each other apart in the process, eh?
    >> Dr. Baron von Evilsatan 04/11/09(Sat)03:59 No.4248601
    >>4248515

    If they do, even better. Good multiplayer horror combines separation and concentration to produce mutual paranoia. Being alone makes them uncomfortable, since they don't have any support and they don't have anythign to confirm that what they see is real. Being with someone else makes them uncomfortable, since there is an excellent chance that they aren't who they say they are or even real. Remember to slide a note to one or both or all players every time they meet, even if it's blank. Sometimes, it will say 'you are an angry/sad/violent/helpful hallucination/ghost/disguised enemy' or 'you are his friend, but have become slightly/significantly/murderously hostile/antipathic/helpful/lustful for reason XYZ;. It takes work, but I know from experience that managing to make players completely distrust one another without once making an actual PC willingly betray them makes for excellent horror. You want to create that unique-to-horror feeling of immense relief followed by deep suspicion every time you see another living human.

    Also, for vague categorisation, the threat the players will face are Real, Supernatural, and Hallucinatory. Real threats you can beat if you fight, will have to fight later if you run, and will kill you if you ignore it. Supernatural threats will kill you if you fight, vanish if you run, and fuck you up if you ignore them. Hallucinatory threats will fuck you up if you run or fight, which affirms them, but are harmless if you ignore them. Alma-gifted hallucinations are the same, but instead of ignoring them you have to play along to live.

    Don't spell it out for the players, but make this fairly visible. Then, when they've worked it out, start blending the lines, and then eventually combining them, until you have threats that must be fought, ignored and fled from at once.
    >> Anonymous 04/11/09(Sat)05:06 No.4249075
    >>4248601
    Hell man, I want to play a game under you some time. That, and I wanna buy you a beer.
    >> Dr. Baron von Evilsatan 04/11/09(Sat)05:21 No.4249153
    >>4249075

    That puts you in a minority, then. The last group I had for a horror game, the best group I've had too, responded to me running three horror campaigns in a row by signing a petition to stop me from running horror games without telling everyone in advance and handing out notes on it.
    >> Anonymous 04/11/09(Sat)05:26 No.4249180
    >>4249153
    Well, seems like it was because you ran three horror games in a row. You gotta mix it up some! Maybe run a horror game, then a combat one, then MaidRPG for lulz, then another horror, then MaidRPG, then combat. See where I'm going?
    >> Anonymous 04/11/09(Sat)07:56 No.4249869
    Someone Archive this thread!
    >> Anonymous 04/11/09(Sat)08:44 No.4250055
    Archived
    >> Anonymous 04/11/09(Sat)12:03 No.4250842
    >>4249869
    >>4250055
    It's like... Up on suptg since like... The Dawn of man, man.
    >> Anonymous 04/11/09(Sat)15:21 No.4251863
    >>4249180
    My group has multiple good DMs. I'm the resident horror guy, my last game involved 9 players in an All Flesh Must Be Eaten campaign. Apparently I managed to give 4 of them nightmares. Our "fun/silly" DM is amazing at high fantasy. It works well, we just take turns DMing.
    >> Anonymous 04/11/09(Sat)18:49 No.4253027
    bamp.
    >> The Wayward Guardsman 04/11/09(Sat)21:24 No.4254239
    I have been inspired. I must run something akin to this.



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