Direction of the Campaign

As we've gotten a few game sessions under our belt, we've reached the point where we can decide on the direction of the game and thus the dynasty. I've batted back and forth for months now running the canned adventure trilogy for Rogue Trader. Most of it is fairly railroaded along, even so much as to put your hand outside the cart results in damage to life and limb. Running it though will promise at least eight or so sessions to be played through. As someone said though recently, it would most assuredly pull the group away from anything they would like to do and too much stuff to do clouds the group's goal. The Dynasty has a goal in trying to locate the lost D'Autry Colony and given that, I have plenty of material for that. So my question to be floated to the group, how important is it to the group to find this colony? Is it important enough to ignore the Warp Storm Trilogy for that time being? As it stands, we have a couple sessions through the Reach and even that serves as a distraction to anything greater. Thoughts, opinions, things the players would like to see.

Well from my characters stand point, he has lost much of his families documentation. To find papers on the Bradock family line is of utmost importance now. While he himself has a good grasp on it, much of it was lost from the scared vaults when he was banished from service. So that is something that would be Cain's goal.

As for myself? I and my character are contend with whatever the group does, as I have said "Give me a gun and something to shoot at, you have a happy player". A little spice keeps me interested, a small dash of adventure keeps me quiet and so on.

Just my two sense.

For me I would like to do some of the material that has been published especially if we have not covered it in our other campains. Between DH, RT, BC, DW there is so much good fluff and campain settings out there to be utilized I think it would be a waste not to. Which Dark Heresy espessially has an abundance of such as the Haarlock Triliogy and such. Of course as a GM you have the flexibility to use or not use stuff or as you said in the past when you asked this question on the phone you can even change the names of planets or sectors to match the path the party is going or cater to the PC classes, strengths or weaknesses. You already made calls not to use the adventures in either Into the Storm or the Rouge Trader book. Its the same situation. It didnt work so you didnt use the adventures. As far as pulling us away from whatever direction we are going, so what, not everything is going to fall right in a line for us. Perhaps in order to acomplish part of our endevors we need something that is in those other adventures. So then we break from whatever direction we are going and side step to those adventures and once we get the item or items we then continue on our course. If you feel that it will railroad us then just pick and chose what works out of the canned adventures. I am sure there are tons of NPC's, ships and planets we can encouter that could be used as friends or enemes for us in our journeys.

If you choose not to use any of the cannon fluff out there then so be it. You are a pretty creative person and a GM that has proven time and time again that you dont need canned adventures in order for us to enjoy the game. Me on the other hand love canned modules esspecialy in both the West End Games Star Wars RPG and the d20 Star Wars RPG. Both allowed the players to feel like their characters were part of the Star Wars universe and the movies especially in the Rebellion Era sourcebook as they were always one step behind the characters of the original eppisodes.

I've ran the group through the RT adventure in one of my older games. It's not a great adventure. Into the Storm doesn't have an adventure of I would of ran it. I don't like any of the DH adventures. The Haarlock Saga has alota issues, and it really isn't suited for RT. I want to do the Warp Storm only because I know it has to do with Eldar! I don't think finding this colony has really be stressed at any point, so I really don't care what we do about it.

Cain "Verbal" Bradock wrote:Well from my characters stand point, he has lost much of his families documentation. To find papers on the Bradock family line is of utmost importance now. While he himself has a good grasp on it, much of it was lost from the scared vaults when he was banished from service. So that is something that would be Cain's goal.

Thanks for the adventure seed. Not sure how much of that information would be kept in the Expanse but if you're willing to toss aside coincidences then I could make it work.

Ophelia Undynne wrote:For me I would like to do some of the material that has been published especially if we have not covered it in our other campains. Between DH, RT, BC, DW there is so much good fluff and campain settings out there to be utilized I think it would be a waste not to. Which Dark Heresy espessially has an abundance of such as the Haarlock Triliogy and such. Of course as a GM you have the flexibility to use or not use stuff or as you said in the past when you asked this question on the phone you can even change the names of planets or sectors to match the path the party is going or cater to the PC classes, strengths or weaknesses. You already made calls not to use the adventures in either Into the Storm or the Rouge Trader book. Its the same situation. It didnt work so you didnt use the adventures. As far as pulling us away from whatever direction we are going, so what, not everything is going to fall right in a line for us. Perhaps in order to acomplish part of our endevors we need something that is in those other adventures. So then we break from whatever direction we are going and side step to those adventures and once we get the item or items we then continue on our course. If you feel that it will railroad us then just pick and chose what works out of the canned adventures. I am sure there are tons of NPC's, ships and planets we can encouter that could be used as friends or enemes for us in our journeys.

I'm thinking you hit on something there as for using some of the canned adventures as one asides. While part of the plotline, they would be able to add a different flavor as we played through them. Seeing as the colony is far on the other side of the sector, there's plenty of dead space between.

Saint wrote:I've ran the group through the RT adventure in one of my older games. It's not a great adventure. Into the Storm doesn't have an adventure of I would of ran it. I don't like any of the DH adventures. The Haarlock Saga has alota issues, and it really isn't suited for RT. I want to do the Warp Storm only because I know it has to do with Eldar! I don't think finding this colony has really be stressed at any point, so I really don't care what we do about it.

Not sure if I should stress the colony. Frankly, the group's not even sure if it still exists. The DH adventures are alright but would take a bit of work to iron it out. The ITS adventure is really roughshod. It would take the GM planting an idea into a player's head to be activated at a crucial moment when the adventure fully wants the Explorers to go one way and the natural inclination of most players it to go another. I'm almost concerned that will be the case with some of the Warp Storm trilogy so at random I may have to force a player to take certain actions just to keep things on the rails. There's several "If they players don't do this, kill them!" moments in the WST, just as ITS had one. As I said, you have to keep your hands in on the ride.