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Tattered Fates is the first installment in a three-part mega adventure produced by Fantasy Flight Games for its popular Warhammer 40.000 RPG Dark Heresy. It can either serve as an introduction to the "Haarlock's Legacy" campaign, or continue from where the adventure "House of Dust and Ash" (from Disciples of the Dark Gods) left off. It features a good mix of desperate combat, deadly intrigue, and investigation, and is largely driven by player choices and events, rather than progressing from location to location. While Tattered Fates is an intriguing and well-written adventure that has me looking forward to the next part of "Haarlock's Legacy", a number of nagging problems (mostly to do with format and design decisions), as well as its price, prevent it from being truly great.
Overview
Tattered Fates is a hard-cover 70 page, full-colour, illustrated book. It is the standard size for RPG products (like Dark Heresy core book or D&D Player's Handbook), but at only 70 pages it is very slim. Physically the book is gorgeous. There are many illustrations, many of which are new rather than recycled from previous Warhammer 40.000 and Dark Heresy books. There are several maps throughout the book, but as this is an event-based (rather than location-based) adventure, the maps are few and far between. They are also scattered throughout the book, rather than gathered together in one place, although it does not detract from the quality of the product. The binding of the book (at least my copy) appears to be very sturdy, which is good because running the adventure involves a lot of flipping back and forth.
The book itself is divided into Introduction and five Chapters. I will quickly cover each section, but be warned - some spoilers are unavoidable, so if you're a Dark Heresy player, you might want to skip down to Comments or Verdict.
Introduction: This very brief (one page) section introduces the basic plot of the adventure to the Game Master, as well as some advice on how to drop existing characters into the adventure, and how Disciples of the Dark Gods book ties into this adventure. The basic summary is that the Acolytes (player characters) have been abducted, brought to a strange world of Quaddis to be used as fodder for savage gladiatorial combat (although dark powers have their own designs on the Acolytes' fates). They escape and discover that Quaddis teeters on the brink of destruction, as two malevolent powers clash to claim the legacy of Haarlocks - ancient and mysterious bloodline of Rogue Traders (a blend of merchant princes, conquistadores and explorers). The adventure also contains elements of the Tyrant Star metaplot from the Dark Heresy core book and Disciples of the Dark Gods.
Chapter 1 - The Quaddis Gazeteer: this small chapter provides information on the world of Quaddis where the entire adventure is set. It includes some basic geography, history, summary of politics and Imperial presence on the planet, but the bulk of the chapter concerns itself with the domed city of Xicarph - Quaddis' only city, where the entire adventure is set. This is potentially the weakest chapter in the book, as it covers only very general information while much more information on the city is provided within the adventure itself - information that could have been included in this chapter for convenience's sake. Furthermore, the city itself feels like a very artificial place (which of course it is - as a plaything of the Haarlocks), its environs and denizens seem to have little personality outside of what is required for the adventure. It just does not seem like a very interesting place to explore, which is too bad, because a glittering world filled with noble intrigue largely outside of Imperial jurisdiction sounds like a good change of pace for a typical Dark Heresy campaign.
Chapter 2 - The Red Cages: in a somewhat cliche manner, the Acolytes find themselves awake in a slaughter pit deep underground. They have been abducted by a heretical slaver group (familiar to those who have read Disciples of the Dark Gods), on behalf of an even darker power. A pack of hungry beasts is quickly unleashed on them and their fellow prisoners, but a mysterious masked figure (that plays an important role in this adventure) helps the Acolytes escape. This part of the adventure is potentially the most combat-heavy one, as the Acolytes must contend with slavers, escaped beasts, and whatever else their GM decides to throw at them. This part of the adventure is presented as a series of encounters that the GM can run in any order he wishes (so long as it ends at a particular location), and the good news for the Acolytes is that some of the encounters are designed to re-equip them (all the gear that they had on them before the adventure is gone). The final location introduces another important recurring character, as well as a dying Inquisitor who tells the Acolytes about the danger that they are the rest of Quaddis inhabitants are in, and charges them to stop the coming disaster.
Chapter 3 - Carnival of Blood: The Acolytes have escaped The Red Cages, and now find themselves in the frenzied carnival of Xicarph, which leads up to the climactic revel in the final chapter. In this chapter, however, the Acolytes have numerous options for gathering information and resources, making new allies and enemies and learning the dark legends surrounding the revels, the city, and the history of the Haarlocks. I feel that this is potentially the most interesting of chapters as it offers players plenty of freedom to roam and interact, and - unlike the rest of the adventure - it is not on a timer. The primary goal of this part of the adventure is to gain invitations to the party where the last stage of the adventure occurs. To do so, the Acolytes can side with one of the two crime lords of Xicarph's underworld, or the GM can introduce some other means of getting the invitation. As a sidenote, there is a map for the city, but some locations on the map do not feature in the adventure at all. I suppose they are there in case GM wants to introduce his own elements to the adventure, but there is little information given on those locations.
Chapter 4 - The 13th House: this chapter is on a timer - literally! The mysterious Steel Clock is counting down to the dreaded 13th hour, at which point a celestial event will threaten the entire world, if the Acolytes do not manage to stop the powers that are interested in bringing this cataclysm about. I felt that this chapter is somewhat confusing, and had to re-read it several times, cross-reference other parts of the book, and still ended up making my own flow-chart to make heads or tails of everything that's going on during this chapter. The Acolytes have four in-game hours (that the GM is free to stretch or speed up as the players' actions warrant) before the final confrontation. During that time they can explore the ancient mansion of the Haarlocks, interact with numerous guests, fall afoul of the mansion's traps and cultists, and figure out how to stop the disaster ahead. While there are many clues and helpful NPC write-ups provided for the GM, this chapter depends on the players being very proactive. If they do not manage to piece the puzzle together quickly enough, the adventure will punish them rather mercilessly. The final confrontation is quite epic and very memorable, but forces the players to make a Prisoner's Dilemma choice, and if they choose incorrectly they doom themselves and the entire world. Groups that are used to blazing through adventures without taking the time to gather all the clues will be penalized harshly by this adventure.
Chapter 5 - The Appendices: this chapter is divided into two parts: the NPC stats, and the handouts. The NPC writeups are generally well-done, the descriptions of the major named NPCs are particularly evocative. One major concern is the way the stats are laid out for the nameless NPCs. One stat block is presented, followed by numerous templates that are then applied to the stat block (for example, there are templates for: cyber gladiators, hereteks, random killers, and so on). It is a good idea in theory, in practice it involves a lot of flipping back and forth and figuring out the end-result of each NPC. Canny GMs will apply the templates before the game and write out the NPCs beforehand. I understand the design decision to save quite a bit of space, but it results in either extra prep work or slowing down the game. The handouts at the very end of the adventure are very nice looking and evocative, but there is only three of them. I could think of a few pieces of information throughout the adventure that could qualify for handouts.
Comments
Personally I liked this adventure. It combines plenty of combat, investigation and intrigue, offers plenty of choices and interactions to the players, and switches back and forth between different paces. It has something for nearly every type of player and character alike, moves the metaplot of the Calixis Sector along, and introduces new allies and enemies. It also definitely leaves players and GMs looking forward to the next installment (provided the players survive), and the in-game rewards are very generous (a lot of XP, fate points, and an access to an Elite Careeer Package - Survivor of the Red Cages. Players should definitely go up a tier, possibly two depending on their actions and how long it took to complete the adventure). That said, there are some issues. The first and foremost is how unforgiving this adventure can be, especially to players that do not bother with investigations or interacting with the NPCs. There are ways for the GM to alleviate this a bit, but there is still a lot of information to keep track of that needs to be handed out to the players.
The combat encounters are for most of the adventure not overly difficult (unless the GM decides to ramp up the difficulty). The final combat, however, can be extremely difficult with little prior warning. And given that the Acolytes would have to gather up some gear in a limited amount of time, it is likely that they will not be fully prepared for this fight. The Prisoner's Dilemma choice I mentioned earlier might be no choice at all for some parties, as siding with either side in the final chapter could be suicidal. As a side note, the back of the book says: "For all levels of play, beginners and veterans alike". However, it took some searching to discover that the adventure is actually intended for characters of 4th or 5th tier. In my personal opinion this adventure is very much NOT beginner friendly. This is not necessarily a bad thing, but GMs and players should beware.
There are some formatting issues as well. I noticed at least one paragraph that was duplicated by a side-bar (on the same page!). I also noticed quite a few typos scattered throughout the book, it's nothing world shattering, but noticeable nonetheless. Finally, the templates for unnamed NPCs result in extra time and work, as already mentioned.
Verdict
4 out of 5 for Style. The book itself is beautiful, the cover and binding is sturdy, the handouts and illustrations are very evocative. Some typos, however, prevent me from giving it a 5 out of 5.
4 out of 5 for Substance. The adventure itself has a good plot, cool locations, and interesting NPCs and enemies. However, it is very difficult, punishes the players for missing clues, and occasionally can get very convoluted. It is also not conducive to beginner players or GMs, and can disrupt an ongoing campaign in a major way. Furthermore, this adventure depends on the Calixis Sector's metaplot, and would be very difficult to adapt to a different time period or place. Those who set their Dark Heresy campaign in other parts of the Warhammer 40.000 universe will find this adventure of little use.
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