User blog:BrowncoatMando/Looking for some input- Deathwatch game I'm running

Thoughts? Ideas for improvements?

It has been 13 days since the last transmission from the Imperial Guard fortress on Yovida home to the 1-5 Ankylus Mechanized Regiments and a small permanent garrison. The last transmission was peppered with static and panicked voices screaming about monsters. The base has not been heard from since and the fate of more than 5000 men remains unknown.The Storm Trooper Company sent to investigate has not been heard from in over a week.

It falls to the Deathwatch to solve this mystery and if possible rescue the men of the Ankylus Imperial Guard, should they choose to do so. It is a dark and stormy night as your Thunderhawk, painted Deathwatch black enters the atmosphere of Yovida, your pilot dodging lightning as you drop through storm clouds. You near the base, an imposing structure made of gray stone, steel and rockcrete. You see the signs of conflict, holes blasted in the walls and fires burning within the forward facing southern wall. As you study the area the AA batteries on each of the four corner towers open fire, black clouds of flak rock your transport and force the pilot to alter course. Something is very wrong here, the thought is in everyone’s minds though your faces and emotions remains unseen behind your helmets.

The Thunderhawk lands on the beach, untouched by the high waves around the island housing the fortress but the apocalyptic thunderstorm persists. As you make the long march across the rocky island you only more signs of conflict, burned out tanks and hundreds of bodies that show all the signs of a violent death. You approach the open gates and enter, the rain still pouring off the stones…

Courtyard The base is constructed like an ancient fortress, 4 walls surrounding a central tower that houses all command and control functions everything else is built within 3 walls(except the forward facing southern wall) Garrison quarters(on the internal walls), storage, etc.

•	Metal grate floors- 4 meter high ceilings wide enough for you to walk comfortably, pockets of dead guardsmen Techpriests and Ogryns. Flickering lights with sparks raining from the ceiling.

•	Cargo lifts at every corner, up into the 4 towers which connect multiple floors.

•	One body(easy perception test) tells you exactly what happened here- he has a bayonet rammed into his chest through a gap in his armor, his dead hand still clutches a laspistol and the body slumped across him is missing most of its head, obviously done by the pistol

•	You see movement, something very large. One more step and a 4 Ogryns charge Stats(4x) WS BS S T Ag Int Per WP Fel Wounds- 20 40  15  45 45    10  12  15  15 1.	Eviscerator 1d10+10 R; Pen 5; Two handed 2.	3x Ripper Guns 30m; S/-/6; 1d10+8 I; Pen 0; •	When you defeat the Ogryns one of them slurs out something no Ogryn would ever say “Consume, Adapt, Survive, Advance.” •	A single lasgun firing wildly, its owner is driven more by fear than any malicious intent. (panic fire not really aiming at you, screaming) if asked he’ll apologize and tell the Marines what’s happening- a monster did this, some being with a head too big for its body and propelled by psychic energy, he doesn’t know what it is or where it is now. (roll intelligence to see if any of you know what this is-pass or fail) He hasn’t been able to find anyone else, all comms are down. •	'''Motor Pool(Southern Wall- forward facing) '''The fire you saw as you entered has finally burned out, someone lit the promethium reserves on fire. There’s a few untouched Leman Russ tanks in the space but most are molten slag. Nothing could have survived this, there’s burned bodies and the walls are covered with ash and holes from gunshots. This is just a small section of the motor pool, but enough to tell you what happened to the rest of it. The gate going outside, flanking the enormous main gates, are jammed open, sparking and straining to close. A couple of Techpriests are still hanging around. (Successful fellowship test gets them to reveal that one of their own wrecked the systems and turned the automated defenses against his fellow AdMech before turning shooting himself- they’re trying to fix it with no luck so far- less successful results gain less info they’re more willing to speak to Bulangai(a Whitescars Techpriest I put together)- they do so in Binary Cant, won’t talk to Anko(a hotheaded Black Dragons Tactical Marine) at all.

•	Trashed quarters/office The room belonged to one of the Ankylus commanders, you see the name “Colonel Korga Strongblood” stenciled on his door. A dead Ogryn with a chainsword rammed hilt deep into its guts blocks most of the door. In one corner is a small shrine to the Emperor(where the commander knows lies facefirst with a knife in his back) and an open, empty lockbox. You see a chair and desk with papers, official reports and personal things in Ankylus Low Gothic (which you can’t read) and reference books scattered across it. You also see a very large perch- like something in bird cage.

1.	Safety report- details the new reactor safety measures- if investigated reveals that if destroyed or damaged the old, slightly unstable reactor while go critical and vaporize the island. – written in High Gothic. The commander was learning the language, hence the books. Central tower Laid out in a large rectangle, hundreds of meters long and hundreds across. The first floor is the Mess Hall and chapel and the first level of the multiple story Barracks.

1.	Mess Hall A massive room full of long low tables, the room can house 100s of men at once. It’s abandoned now except for the vermin skittering around your feet eating the ration packs scattered around and the bodies of fallen guardsmen. One of them is face down in a vat of rotten beans (successful intelligence roll by apothecary says he’s only been dead a couple days- others don’t know) There’s a whale skull on the wall- (successful perception check shows bite marks in it)

A dark shape hangs from the ceiling dripping bits of rat onto the floor. Your approach startles it- in a flurry of movement it drops its meal and lands on the closest table. You get a good look at it. It isn’t hostile, it just looks at you with 4 compound eyes. It’s roughly the size of a medium sized dog covered in black armored scales and has 2 pairs of silvery wings. It has 6 legs ending in barbed claws and 4 mandibles. (it’s an armored dragonfly- belonged to one of the Ankylus commanders- if you’ve already seen the trashed room you know that- if not then do a wisdom check)  It flies away, it somehow knows something’s coming, you don’t. While you can see into IR and UV there’s too much stuff in the way) (if Rothgar(Space Wolf) gets a successful perception check- he can smell the guardsmen coming) They blast through the wall separating the enlisted and officer’s mess. Encounter: Crazed Guardsmen Guardsman Horde Profile

WS BS S T Ag Int Per WP Fel 35 35 30 30 30 20 30 30 30

Movement: 3/6/9/18 Magnitude: 30

Armour: Flak Armour (All 4). Weapons: Lasgun (100m; S/3/—; 1d10+4 E; Pen 1)

2.Chapel A long narrow structure across a metal grate floor from the Mess Hall. It takes up the whole Western side of the tower, hundreds of meters long and capable of seating hundreds. When you enter, you see nothing but shattered pews and yet more bodies, killed by violence. Blood everywhere. The priests fought to the last to protect the Guardsmen behind them. The senior priest is missing his arm- this is where the Ogryn got the Eviscerator. Not much here, no one to tell you anything.

3.Barracks Not much more than rows of beds stacked 5 high. The back of the room has a large cargo lift. The 2nd and 3rd floors are the same except in a U shape Level 4 contains the command and control functions, the roof houses the (sabotaged) comm units and AA guns (they’re locked out)

4.Loyalists Out of more than 5000, killed by each other or the psychic blasts of the Zoanthrope only a few dozen men are holed up in the top level of the central tower. They know better what’s happening 3 months ago the local fish stocks vanished, then the local whale equivalent (thought it was an out of season migration caused by the missing fish, a whale skull washed ashore, decided to hang it up, there’s rumors about giant squid beasts that live in the deepest parts of the ocean- thought it was that that killed it).

They have no idea what the monster is but it’s in the depths of the base, in the generator room. They haven’t seen the Storm Troopers sent to help them. They can’t fix the comm systems without going outside (they don’t for fear of the monster and don’t know about the Techpriests) and have been waiting for help.

•	Guardsman Horde Profile WS BS S T Ag Int Per WP Fel 35 35 30 30 30 20 30 30 30 Movement: 3/6/9/18 Magnitude: 20 Armour: Flak Armour (All 4). Weapons: Lasgun (100m; S/3/—; 1d10+4 E; Pen 1) Generator (under the tower, accessed through a hatch in the center hallway) The plasma generator, 20 meters high and as many around glows with a faint blue light. It has powered this base for many years and could easily power it for 1000 more. The room is vast, with room enough for an entire tank company. You see more than 100 shadows standing in formation, surrounding one at the center (The Zoanthrope- there as a relay between the Hierodule and the Hive Mind). Others are moving around the room, their movement tells you they’re Storm Troopers. They don’t seem aware of you yet and they’re talking about “protecting the hive.” Note: If the safety features are destroyed or disabled the plasma reactor will go critical and detonate in 5 minutes. (As noted in the ruined room if you’ve seen it.) (Possible solution for dealing with the Hierodule) Storm Trooper Detachment (Horde) Profile WS-35 BS-45 S-40 T-40 Ag-40 Int -30 Per- 35 WP-30 Fel-30

Zoanthrope Average Height 	3.5m Average Weight 	0.5 tonnes

Zoanthropes have atrophied bodies and limbs supporting bloated heads so heavy they should snap their own necks under their weight - but, energized by psychic forces, they appear to overcome their mortal limitations and levitate, drifting over the battlefield.[4] Despite their seeming frailty, Zoanthropes are lethal opponents. Zoanthropes possess batteries of psychic power they can use to both defend themselves by projecting a constant psychic barrier or launch assaults that are powerful enough to destroy enemy battle tanks, boil through adamantium plates, or even fell mighty Titans.[4] However, Zoanthropes are predisposed to sedentary behavior, a stance adopted to conserve their psychic power, when not in the presence of the Hive Mind.[3] They also care little for happenings beyond their immediate reach and prioritise their own survival above all else.[4] Despite their power, however, Zoanthropes sometimes seem to be victims of their own massive energy reserves and there have been numerous afteraction reports of Zoanthropes “burning out” in battle. Their craniums have been observed to burst and bleed out, sending them crashing limply to the ground. Psykers who have witnessed these events liken it to the perils of the warp which normal psykers can suffer when psychic energy overloads their minds.[5] (break its defenses and hit it hard enough- or get it to overload)

Barbed Hierodule Once the Zoanthrope is killed the Hierodule’s link to the hive mind is severed and starts to act on its own. It rises up from the sea (it’s an experiment to create one that can survive an unlimited time underwater- who can know the mind of a Tyranid swarm?)- None of you have ever seen one before but you know you don’t have anything that can hurt it. Your Thunderhawk maybe. Designation 	Barbed Hierodule 	Main Weaponry 	2x bio-cannon Common Title 	Barbed slaughterer Specied Name 	Uncus Hierodule Domitor 	Secondary Weaponry 	Scything claws Average Height 	Disputed. 4.9m[2] to 5.8m[1] Average Weight 	Disputed. 6 tonnes[1] to 17 tonnes[2] Tertiary Weaponry 	Multiple claws and fangs Barbed Slaughterer- These weapons fire seed pods that grow to maturity in seconds, spreading out hooked tendrils in all directions.[5] The Barbed Strangler is a fairly simple weapon consisting of a seed sac and a muscled tube. A seed moves from the sac to the barrel where it grows in seconds. When it is launched it grows further in all directions, reaching maturity in seconds. It sends out hooked tendrils to bind and tear apart its prey. The seed has some similarity to some ground-based xenos and is in actual fact a sentient alien flora.[1][2]

Thunderhawk Type 	Orbital Dropship 	Operational Ceiling 	N/A Vehicle Name 	Thunderhawk Gunship[1a] Max Speed 	2000 kph approx. Forge World of Origin 	Mars Range 	28,000 km in atmosphere Known Patterns 	I-XXI 	Main Armament 	Dorsal mounted Battle Cannon, twin-linked Lascannons

Crew 	Pilot, Co-Pilot, Gunner, Navigator 	Secondary Armament 	4x twin-linked Heavy Bolters

Powerplant 	3 x RX-92-00 Combination Rocket/Afterburning Turbofans 	Main Ammunition 	28 rounds Weight 	121 tonnes 	Secondary Ammunition 	2400 rounds Length 	26.6 m 	Armour Wingspan 	26.65 m 	Superstructure 	55 mm Height 	9.8 m 	Hull 	65 mm

A Thunderhawk can carry up to 30 Marines so there’s space for the survivors if you decide to try and save them. If you do, you need to cover their escape as it shoots at you, them and your Thunderhawk. •	Guardsman Horde Profile WS BS S T Ag Int Per WP Fel 35 35 30 30 30 20 30 30 30 Movement: 3/6/9/18 Magnitude: 20 Armour: Flak Armour (All 4). Weapons: Lasgun (100m; S/3/—; 1d10+4 E; Pen 1)