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Physically it looks good. There are some suitably epic/grim-looking characters on the cover (same as the ones on the cover of the corebook), along with a sinister-looking sword in the foreground. The art is nice enough, as is most of the interior (though it is all black and white). The pics accompanying the various NPC descriptions are especially impressive. The book totals 141 pages, including a sparse introduction, the three adventures (45, 40 and 42 pages each) and a few appendices with some additional information.
The intro is nothing special. Less than a page in length, it basically tells you that the missions work well when played after Illumination and gives a quick summary of each. Rejoice For You Are True has the acolytes investigating an apparently benign Imperial cult on the hive world of Scintilla. In Shades of Twilight they board a mysterious Space Hulk, searching for a lost Inquisitorial artefact. Baron Hopes takes place on the grim world of Sepheris Secundus, where they attempt to root out the leadership of a heretical sect of mutant terrorists. The appendices include additional information on the Serrated Query, a mysterious heretical organisation that (sort of) appears in all three missions.
Rejoice For You Are True is the investigation scenario of the trilogy. The Inquisition have discovered a link between the Joyous Choir (a rapidly growing new Imperial cult) and a mysterious xenotech artefact that was found at the end of Illumination. It has been discovered that some members of the Joyous Choir are using similar technology for unknown ends. The acolytes have to infiltrate the Choir and figure out the connection between the two. They have the assistance of some local nobles, Laurent Strophes and his daughter Julia. Laurent believes that his niece was abducted or killed by the Choir and hopes that the acolytes can uncover her fate.
The Strophes provide the PCs with cover identities. One of the characters is chosen to be a family relative from off-world, while the rest pretend to be his entourage. The Strophes have also hired a private investigator to look into the Choir, whom the players will meet later. They bring the acolytes to some social events to introduce them to influential members of the Choir in the hope that they'll be able to gain an invitation to the Alabaster Court, where the Choir's leader conducts ceremonies. At the same time the acolytes arrange to meet with the private investigator, but he's killed before he can give them the information he's collected. The PCs get a look at the assassin - the primary antagonist in this adventure - and can chase him through the crowded streets of a sprawling marketplace. If they're lucky they might be able to retrieve the PI's case, but the assassin will probably get away.
Eventually the acolytes should gain access to the Alabaster Court (one way or another) and eventually determine that it is a front for another organisation (the Serrated Query), which is using it to sell drugs. This leads them to another hive city, where they try to find the Query's local hideout. They are directed to a local oracle, who tells them something of the Serrated Query's scope, methods and goals and gives them directions to their lair. The Query's assassin and some henchmen have to be dealt with, after which the players will have found the Query's drug lab where, if the players hadn't figured it out already, they'll discover that the drugs being sold via the Joyous Choir are made from the brains of psykers that the Joyous Choir captured (including Laurent Strophe‘s niece).
This adventure has some problems that were obvious upon reading it and others that only became apparent through play. The main issues depend on the nature and composition of the acolytes. A 'face man' - a character with good social abilities - is of critical importance in this mission. Most Dark Heresy careers lack many social skills, especially in the early ranks. If the PCs don't include a Scum character they can expect to fail a substantial number of the skill rolls, potentially turning the investigation into a frustrating string of dead ends. The PCs may have a problem choosing who should play the off-world noble cousin role. Again, a typical band of acolytes may not include anyone particularly suitable. My players included a tech priest, a hideously scarred psyker, a brute of a guardsman with a bionic arm and a relatively normal arbitrator. The arbitrator got stuck with the job. They failed most of their social rolls and ended up having to forge an invitation to the Alabaster Court. However, if the need for a social character was the adventure's only flaw it could still be a good scenario. Unfortunately that's only the beginning.
Early in the mission the adventure makes a basic error of scenario design - it splits the party. When the acolytes go to meet the private investigator the 'noble' character is supposed to stay behind, as it would look odd for an aristocrat to be seen going down to the mid-Hive. This means that at least one player will be left with nothing to do while the rest of the group engages in a running gun battle with the assassin. Supposedly the noble will be able to go places that the other characters cannot (as a sort of compensation), but that never really becomes an issue. So I had one of my players twiddling his thumbs for most of a session.
When the acolytes get into the Alabaster Court they are more or less free to wander around. However there isn't much for them to see, though they can discover a (currently empty) secret holding cell where the Choir has been keeping psykers locked up, awaiting shipment to the Query's brain-harvesting lab. Thankfully the Choir's leader has a conveniently public argument with the Query's assassin, giving the players a vague hint that the Query’s base is in Ambulon, another hive city. So, instead of giving the acolytes some clues and allowing them to figure it out themselves the adventure just hands them the location - though in such a casual way that they may underestimate its importance. It is assumed that the players will realise that they've gained all the information they can from investigating the Choir and will drop everything to search for a possible hidden lab in another hive city.
Thankfully once they arrive they will be directed to a handy oracle, who will not only tell them where to go but dumps a nice bit of exposition in their laps, explaining the links between the Serrated Query, the Joyous Choir and the technology found in Illumination. Entering the lab, however, may prove problematic. The Query have used their xenotech to build the lab in a sort of extra-dimensional pocket - it's bigger on the inside than the outside (like Doctor Who's TARDIS). When the acolytes realise this they have to take a fear test. Failure causes them to gain insanity points and probably a roll on the Shock Tables in the DH corebook. The author may not have realised just how nasty this is. Inexperienced characters will probably have a Willpower of about 31, meaning most will fail this test. Sure enough two of my acolytes fled in terror (one gaining a temporary phobia of doors on the way) while another fainted, leaving the psyker (the only one to pass the test) to be shot to fleshy chunks by the assassin and his henchmen.
Rejoice For You Are True could be a very good scenario and with a few changes can be very entertaining. For all that it is supposed to be the investigative adventure of PtU, the acolytes actually do very little investigating. The Strophes do much of the work for them: handing them cover identities, hiring the PI and suggesting they attend some social events to rub shoulders with the Joyous Choir. Once in the Alabaster Court the main clue falls in their laps. The Oracle again points them in the right direction, giving them any remaining information they might need to tie up the loose ends (it should be noted that without the Oracle there is no way for the acolyte team to figure out the connection between the technology the Choir are using and that found in Illumination).
If running it again I’d do the following: ignore the restriction on the ‘noble’ character going down to the mid-hive. Reduce the difficulty of all the social tests by one degree (10%). Instead of having the PCs overhear the argument between the assassin and the Choir’s high priest, have them find subtle clues throughout the Alabaster Court (and maybe elsewhere) that point towards the Joyous Choir’s backers being based in Ambulon. Instead of an oracle telling them where the secret lab is, the acolytes can find out by asking the locals about Joyous Choir activities in the city. And just remove that rather crippling fear test when they enter the lab…
After reading the scenario a second time I got the feeling that many of its problems are the result of necessary short cuts (such as the Oracle and the overheard conversation). Pressed for page count, it simply wasn’t possible to present enough clues for the players to discover everything, so the adventure hands the information to them instead.
Another minor (but irritating) issue I had with the scenario was the maps. Throughout PtU there are some very nice maps that would make perfect handouts for your players. But a number of the ones in Rejoice include spoiler information. The most blatant of these is the map of the marketplace where the PCs chase the assassin after he kills the PI. This perfect map shows the complex mess of stalls and other obstacles that might impede the PCs as they pursue their target. Unfortunately it also clearly marks the assassin’s route through the market, showing the players exactly where he’s going. The value of such maps is in my opinion halved as a result.
Shades of Twilight is a much simpler mission, as befits the ‘action’ scenario of the trilogy. A Space Hulk has emerged from the Warp and is heading for Scintilla. The navy is going to blow it to smithereens, but the Inquisition have detected a signal coming from the centre of the hulk broadcasting the identity code of a legendary lost Inquisitor. While the Inquisitor is probably dead, she had in her possession a holy blade that they’d like back. The acolytes have to get on board, make their way through the hulk and get back out again before the navy opens fire. Not to worry though, as they’ll be accompanied by Brother-Sergeant Agamorr, an experienced Space Marine of the Inquisitorial Deathwatch.
Things get a little more complicated once they get on board. The laws of physics have a tendency to not work in the hulk on occasion (which turns out to be less inconvenient than you’d think), the hulk is haunted by the ghosts of dead psykers (who really don’t like the Inquisition, but as long as you don‘t mention that you’re acolytes they’ll be fairly friendly), there’s another team of acolytes on the hulk for (mostly) the same reason the PCs are and oh yes, it’s crawling with Dark Eldar and their packs of Warp Beasts. Turns out that in addition to the blessed sword, the lost Inquisitor was also in possession of a copy of the Liber Daemonica, a dangerous tome packed full of interesting (and potentially corrupting) knowledge of the Warp. The Dark Eldar (and one of the other acolytes) have been hired to get the book… and the PCs are in the way.
This adventure had some potential. Space Hulks are an iconic part of the 40k universe. Ghosts, Dark Eldar, lost Inquisitors… even a Space Marine, by the Emperor! But it all falls apart in the implementation. The trek through the hulk is pretty linear, with a few bland combats to break it up. There are a number of suggested ‘weird events’ to freak out the players like the gravity flickering on and off, but they don’t have any real impact. Brother-Sergeant Agamorr initially takes the spotlight from the players a bit, but he doesn’t do much other than kill a few xenos before dropping out of sight, apparently killed by a horde of xenos-filth. I kind of got the impression that his sole purpose in this mission was to look cool - Black Industries knew that a lot of 40k fans would be looking forward to seeing what an Astartes looked like in the Dark Heresy system, so they threw one in. Remove a few antagonists from this scenario and you can leave him out completely.
The acolytes eventually find the lost Inquisitor’s body, getting hold of both the holy sword and the Liber Daemonica. They team up with the other band of acolytes (not realising that one of them is a traitor working with the Eldar) A helpful ghost tells them some of the Inquisitor’s history and that the Dark Eldar are trying to get the book. He leads them to a pair of large, open holds where the Dark Eldar will have to come through. They have about an hour in which to prepare their defences before the Eldar arrive for the final set piece battle. If the traitor-acolyte hasn’t turned on them already he will do so during this battle. Sergeant Agamorr turns up again to tilt the odds in the PCs’ favour, right before the navy starts their bombardment. The acolytes escape in some handy escape pods as the Space Hulk disintegrates around them.
Again, this final battle had the potential to be interesting, but fails due to a few points. The first is the options available to the PCs when it comes to preparing for the battle. The map of the two holds isn’t particularly inspiring, nor is the description of the location (big dark empty hold). The scenario suggests some possibilities the PCs might come up with (rip up some floor plating to make a pit trap, electrify some of the bulkheads), but nothing in the scenario really suggests these to the players. The best advice it gives is to go along with any cool ideas the players come up with, but presenting them with some ready-made options would have been nice.
Another problem with this battle that isn’t immediately apparent is the scale. When I first looked at the map of the hold I assumed each square was 1 metre. Looking more carefully I realised that each was 10 x 10 metres. This means that each hold is 140 metres long and 80 metres wide. While this will place most of the combatants within range of basic weapons, characters who need to reposition may spend many turns running from place to place (for example a typical Dark Eldar raider has a maximum speed of 24 metres a round). Close combat characters or characters armed with pistols or shotguns may find it difficult to close with the enemy, especially as the holds are mostly devoid of cover.
Like the previous adventure, Shades of Twilight has some potential and like Rejoice For You Are True I think it suffers from a lack of page count. The trip through the space hulk could have used some more encounters and added descriptions. A struggle through a bizarre xenos vessel, a fight in zero-g, carefully making their way through a derelict ship that threatens to collapse on top of them, etc. More attention could also have been lavished on the final battle. A better description of the hold and the ship might have prompted the players to be more inventive when it came to their preparations. The fight should probably have taken place in one hold, not two, or else reduced the overall size of the two holds to compensate.
One final issue is the ‘link’ between this adventure and the previous one. It turns out that both the Dark Eldar and the traitor acolyte were hired by the Serrated Query (the bad guys from Rejoice for you are True). There’s a decent chance the players will never realise this (mine didn’t). One of the Dark Eldar is wearing a Serrated Query pendant for some reason (do xenos mercenaries usually wear their employers’ jewellery?), but really the fact that they are involved is totally irrelevant.
Baron Hopes is supposed to be the ‘horror’ scenario, something I think it fails at spectacularly. Early in the introduction the GM is told that the players should believe that they are in an investigative adventure, so that (DUNDUNDUN) they’ll be shocked and appalled when the horror strikes. Unfortunately the horror comes in the form of a zombie horde and the PCs are thrown into a tense siege scenario for the final encounter. In my opinion a zombie horde isn’t particularly horrifying in an RPG (especially when they aren‘t very good at hurting the PCs (see later)), so the scenario is really 50% investigative, 50% action.
Baron Hopes opens with what I think is supposed to be exposition. A page of text describes the official account (read: Imperial propaganda) of the Broken Chains rebellion on Sepheris Secundus a decade previously. Supposedly a heretical uprising of mutants led by Baron Ulbrexis, known across the Calixis Sector as one of the greatest criminals in recent history, the rebellion cost the lives of millions of serfs and crippled mining production across the planet. It ended with the capture and execution of the Baron by the Arbites.
The purpose of this account is unclear. I’m not sure if it’s purely for the benefit of the GM, or if it is supposed to be read aloud to the players before the adventure begins. The history of the uprising is supposedly common knowledge, so it is reasonably likely the PCs would have heard of it, but I don’t usually start my sessions with a historical info-dump. Still, having the players familiar with the background beforehand eliminates the necessity of a “as you already know” scene in the middle of the adventure, where a handy NPC tells the players… well, what they already know.
The next section covers the truth of the Broken Chains rebellion, including the fact that Baron Ulbrexis was not the heretical monster he is commonly thought to be and that he is still alive, held prisoner by the Inquisition. Ulbrexis sought to improve the lot of the serfs and mutants on Sepheris Secundus, but his efforts turned the nobility against him as they felt their privileged positions were threatened. He was eventually captured after being critically wounded in a fight with one of his lieutenants, Assod Morirr, who had gone rogue, slaughtering innocents in indiscriminate attacks. The scenario never really gives a satisfactory explanation for why the Inquisition decided to keep the Baron alive, but it turns out to have been a fortuitous decision, as his presence will be critical to the conclusion of the adventure.
The acolytes are briefed on the situation. Assod Morirr has apparently resurfaced (though the Baron insists that he killed him) and is now leading the Broken Chains in a new wave of terror attacks, using some form of xenos weapons to destroy mines and slaughter serfs. The local enforcers (the Royal Scourges) and Arbites can’t find them in the old mining tunnels. As the Baron knows (and hates) Morirr and is familiar with the tunnels the Broken Chains used in their previous uprising, his assistance might allow the acolytes to succeed where the Arbites failed. If they fail the Inquisition will have to use brutal force (read: orbital bombardment) to put down the rebels and cleanse the area - a good incentive for the Baron to comply if he still cares about his former subjects.
Eventually the acolytes get to the planet, make contact with the local Arbites and start investigating the terrorist attacks. Mostly this doesn’t bring them any information they don’t already know or can’t easily guess. Eventually there is another attack and the PCs can witness the aftermath. The Broken Chains are using strange xenos weapons that cause matter (including flesh) to phase out of reality for a moment. When it ‘phases’ back it tends to merge with surrounding matter - so people suddenly find themselves joined to a wall or the floor. Messy. The acolytes won’t really learn much here, though if they are lucky they may realise that it was more than just a terrorist attack - it was also a ritual sacrifice to the dark gods.
With Ulbrexis’ help the acolytes can find and capture one of the mutant terrorist cells in a hidden base, but it doesn’t really tell them much other than giving them some hints as to the involvement of the Serrated Query (yep, those guys again). The Query’s involvement is pretty much limited to selling the xenos weapons to the Broken Chains, however, so that doesn’t really help matters.
With yet more help from Ulbrexis the acolytes can meet with some ‘loyalist’ mutants - ones who aren’t working with the Broken Chains. This meeting reveals some more information about Morirr, possibly clueing them into the fact that he has (or at least had) connections to the Serrated Query, has taken an interest in the occult and is now apparently indestructible. He also warns them that another attack is imminent, but can’t tell them where or exactly when… so again, not very useful.
So the acolytes know that an attack is coming, but lack the information necessary to stop it. So how do they get this information?
The group’s psyker has a bad dream/vision. Afterwards if he succeeds on a Psyniscience test he should be able to tell where the next attack will be.
This is one of the worst plot devices I have ever seen in a scenario. One of the characters has a random vision? It strikes me as very lazy writing and totally unnecessary. There were ample opportunities to provide useful clues earlier in the adventure, but instead the acolytes have to wait until one of them is handed the location of the next target by the GM. The scenario doesn’t even consider the possibility that the acolytes might not include a psyker in the group, forcing the GM to improvise something. Then again, anything the GM comes up with would probably be better.
Knowing where the next attack will be allows the acolytes to set up an ambush. They should be able to kill and drive off the majority of the attackers and foil the bombing attempt, but it turns out that Morirr really is indestructible. He has made a dark pact with the forces of chaos, essentially making him immortal. The only thing he need fear is ‘the blood of Ulbrexis’ - essentially the Baron is the only one who can kill him. Of course, the players have no way of knowing this, though his terror at the sight of Ulbrexis might give them some clue.
Morirr escapes and decides that no effort must be spared to kill the Baron… so he summons an army of zombies. The acolytes have to escape to the Arbites’ precinct house and wait for the final confrontation, where they fight off hordes of zombies and wait for Morirr and his lieutenants to show up. Killing Morirr kills the zombies.
On paper this encounter sounds pretty exciting - zombies smashing their way through the walls, mutants and arbitrators trading shots, the acolytes eventually figuring out how to kill Morirr… but there are a few problems. First the zombies. Zombies aren’t very interesting antagonists at the best of times. Their stats here make them very tough - TB of 8 and 18 wounds mean they can soak up a lot of hits, especially as only Critical Wounds to the head or body can kill them. Their poor WS and lack of decent weapons, however, mean that they won’t be doing much damage in return. If the PCs are wearing decent armour they should be able to ignore most of the zombies’ attacks (armour will be doubled vs. their primitive attacks). So fighting the zombies is a long, monotonous series of dice rolls.
Things improve a little when the mutants turn up, assuming any of the lieutenants survived the earlier ambush. They add a little more variety to the battle. However there is the question of killing Morirr. The acolytes will learn that only Ulbrexis can harm him. In order to avoid deprotagonising the players, Ulbrexis will be knocked unconscious after suffering a nasty wound. The players have to somehow realise that by coating their bullets or blades in his blood they will be able to kill Morirr. There haven’t really been enough hints as to this earlier in the adventure, however, so the scenario suggests Ulbrexis muttering, “My blood wounds him… Use it” before losing consciousness.
Again, lazy writing.
So the acolytes stop to slather some of the Baron’s blood all over their weapons (while fighting off mutants and zombies), finish off Morirr and watch the zombies all collapse. An Inquisitor turns up, congratulates the PCs, orders the Baron’s execution and cleans up the mess.
So, in conclusion: the PCs arrive, waste some time investigating before a deus ex machina hands them the location of the next attack, then they have a pretty boring battle where they grind their way through some zombies before another deus ex machina tells them how to kill Morirr. The players might as well have stayed at home; they don’t really need to contribute to this one except to roll the dice.
Appendix I and II: These appendices provide the GM with some info on the Serrated Query and ‘the Faceless One’, the mysterious leader of the Query. These are basically some clues and handouts for the GM if he wants to centre a campaign around them. As enemies go the Query are fairly interesting, while at the same time they are mostly left undetailed, allowing the GM to tailor them to his own campaign.
To Sum Up: Disappointing. Very disappointing. Each adventure has a lot of potential and with some more work (or at least a higher page count) could have been something excellent. Rejoice For You Are True has the core of a great investigative scenario, but uses too many short cuts to move the players from scene to scene. It is also probably too socially oriented for a group of inexperienced acolytes, unless there is a Scum in the group. Shades of Twilight could be a great action-horror along the lines of Alien, Event Horizon or Pandorum with a little more attention to detail. Baron Hopes could, again, be a very good investigative-action adventure. Baron Ulbrexis is a very interesting NPC and the final battle could be interesting if you can find some way of fixing the zombies (personally I’d make them easier to kill but able to cause more damage).
Each of the adventures can be salvaged with some work, though it takes an experienced GM to recognise the flaws ahead of time and patch them up. Still, there’s plenty of inspiration in there, some great artwork, interesting NPCs (both allies and antagonists) and a few nice maps.
The Serrated Query are a potentially interesting antagonist, but only really make an appearance in the first adventure. The three missions aren’t really linked at all, the Query only having a bit part to play in the second and third ones. Acolytes who uncover their involvement in Twilight and Baron Hopes may begin to wonder if the Query have their hand in every cult and criminal endeavour in the sector. It is pure (bad) luck that the PCs keep stumbling upon them… something that may stretch their suspension of disbelief, or else convince them that they are being manipulated by higher (as in divine or profane) powers. The connections are so thin, in fact, that I think they are better removed from the scenarios completely - something that can be done quite easily without changing much at all. If the GM wants to run a campaign based on the Query, I’d suggest reversing the order the scenarios are played in. Baron Hopes and Shades of Twilight would provide some hints as to the Query’s existence, while Rejoice For You Are True allows the acolytes to take them on directly and gives them more information on the nature of the enemy. They may also have picked up some social skills and talents in the meantime.
For Style I give it a 4. It’s a nice-looking book and if it was full colour I’d give it a 5.
For Substance I give it 2 - not completely useless, but can’t really be used as-is.
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