So, I think Blades of the Inquisition stomps all over dark heresy for the type of WH40k game I’d like to play. Anyone given it a go?
I’d love to know settings, how faction play would work, whether you’d play in a single Hive or go wider in scope (I would definitely spread across a sector), how to go from undercover to open use of Ordos authority. I see a lot of ‘acquire asset’ to book passage on rogue traders and track down heretics out-system 🙂
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I have not. It’s in my to-be-read pile.
Benjamin Davis It’s a short read but a good one – literally just playbooks and 2 explanatory pages
I started Blades of the Inquisition on a mining world in the Calixis sector with strong Ethiopian/Eritrean cultural influences, so you get a Coptic-flavoured brand of the Imperial Faith, plus I added a wide range of Saint Cults with a touch of Rastafarian aesthetic.
I have actually had two different Acolyte groups in the campaign who ended up crossing over – one a sneaky Ordo Hereticus undercover cell led by a radical priestess, the other a brutal terror team with psyker, tech-priest and plenty of killers in their midst. The campaign started in the capital city of Aduwa, which I’ve sketched out with numerous neighbourhoods and factions, including influential mining guilds, noble houses, saint cults, vigilante groups and drug gangs.
But the bigger background plot, which involves the secret of a long-dead Xenos race that once occupied the planet, will eventually lead the investigation to a space hulk orbiting a young black hole, and beyond… At the beginning I keep this part of the plot simple with just some encounters with some leftover xenos fauna and this will gradually escalate as they uncover one layer of corruption and conspiracy after another.
I’ve been putting up play reports on my blog at roleoverplaydead.com – Role Over Play Dead | A Blog About Tabletop Role-Playing Games (RPG) but I’m waaaay behind on my reports, and my site needs to be updated too…
A summary of my setting. Ten Things to Know About Tigranya:
– Tigranya was settled by veterans of the Angevin Crusade; its culture carries the martial, spiritual and artistic traditions of its ancestral homeworld Rasalula in the Segmentum Solar.
– Tigranya is a frozen planet with a heavy, turbulent atmosphere, rich in metals, fuel and geothermal power
– The population dwell in vast cavern-cities originally hollowed out by an ancient, long-dead xenos race. The largest of these is the capital, Aduwa.
– The planetary governorship is jointly held by a hereditary Ras Council, which sits at the apex of a society dominated by the Ecclesiarchy, various saint cults, wealthy noble houses and highly influential mining guilds.
– The citizens of Tigranya have a strong tradition of self-defense. In addition to the PDF, the noble houses, guilds and even most of the saint cults keep arsenals in case of conflict.
– Tigranya is the world of a thousand saints and ten thousand heresies – the many saint cults are tolerated by the Ecclesiarchy but watched closely for deviant beliefs.
– Mind-altering narcotics play an important role in worship on Tigranya. These drugs are regulated by the Ecclesiarchy, but a vast black market exists for stronger varieties.
– The strongest military on the planet belongs to the enigmatic Adeptus Mechanicus Refiners, who collect a tithe in exchange for their role in refining extracted minerals for export.
– Tigranya has enjoyed a long history of peace punctuated by occasional revolts, civil strife and natural disasters. Most recently the planetary government was gravely threatened by a coup attempt by the heretic “All-Saint” Rasmikael and his fanatic followers.
– The spread of apocalyptic prophecies among the cults has drawn the attention of the Inquisition. The Ordo Hereticus has numerous cells on Tigranya watching for threats of heresy and rebellion.
So far during the slow crawl from Tier 0 to Tier 1, the main Acquire Asset has been for surgeons. Sometimes our heroes had to settle for a moonlighting chef from a local diner instead. Healing at low tiers is a real pain.
Yeah, same in our vanilla Blades game.
Kai Poh Yeah I already devoured your posts, love the coptic-influenced Ecclesiarchy! If you ever chuck your factions and ‘map’ up on the site I’d love to see them.