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                                                                         Credits
                               Lead Developer                                                                       Art Direction
                                     Ross Watson                                                                        Zoë Robinson

                     Written and Developed by                                                                 Production Manager
                                  Andrea Gausman                                                                       Gabe Laulunen

              Based on Dark Heresy, Designed by                                                            FFG Lead Game Designer
                  Owen Barnes, Kate Flack, and Mike Mason                                                             Corey Konieczka

                                       Editing                                                            FFG Lead Game Producer
                                       Ben Lurie                                                                       Michael Hurley
Credits




                                Graphic Design                                                                          Publisher
                                   Kevin Childress                                                                 Christian T. Petersen

                     Additional Graphic Design
                                     Mark Raynor
                                                                                                              Games Workshop
                                    Cover Art                                                                   Licensing Manager
                                                                                                                         Owen Rees
                                  Michael Phillippi

                                  Interior Art                                                                   Head of Licensing
                                                                                                                          Paul Lyons
          Victor Corbella, Simon Eckert, Mark Gibbons, Zach Graves,
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                                                                                                     Head of Intellectual Property
                               and Mark Smith
                                                                                                                         Alan Merrett
                                 RPG Producer
                                     Mack Martin
                                                                                                                   Special Thanks
                                                                                             “No Guts, No Glory” Sean Connor with Mathieu Booth, Nick
                                                                                             Hodge, Stephen Pitson, Mark Smith, and Michael Thompson,
                                                                                              David Schumpert with David Hudock, Martin Linde, Adam
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                      2
               Shadow of Madness
   Erioch
      •
  BaraBan
      •
ThE TowEring
   gladEs
      •
BEhind EnEmy
    linEs
      •
t

     •
    t




3
                              Shadow of                                                   Perhaps intending to preserve the planet’s ecosystem
                                                                                       for their own use, the enemy planted Delirium Trellises to
                                                                                       infect the population with visions of death and insanity. The

                               Madness                                                 tormented inhabitants tore one another apart, becoming just
                                                                                       one more casualty of the Age of Shadow. While the Trellises’
                                                                                       potency diminished over the millennia, they still taint Baraban
                                                                                       with echoes of madness that manifest in the planet’s infamous
Shadow of Madness



                    “It is merciful to let me be mad. Pity the man who can remain
                    heartlessly sane.”                                                 visions.

                                            –Writings of an ancient Terran prophet
                                                                                       overview
                    T
                           he Jericho Reach seethes with xenos secrets and mysteries
                           from before the Age of Shadow. One enigma amongst           The Delirium Trellises on Baraban were concealed via a strange
                           many is Baraban, a forested planet where “ghosts” haunt     phasing technology that kept them from interacting with the
                    Imperial Guardsmen and their Tau enemies alike. the ShaDow         material world until they were ready to be detonated. A few
                    ss explores what unfathomed forces may have cursed                 failed to activate in the assault that doomed the planet. They have
                    the planet, and raises questions about their connection to the     lingered undetected in the corners of reality ever since. Certain
                    unknown purpose of the waiting Omega Vault.                        wavelengths of light disrupt the arcane phasing mechanism that
                                                                                       cloaks the devices. By chance or fate, the accidental interaction
                                                                                       of a Tau ion cannon with a las burst changed the quantum state
                    The TruTh oF BaraBan                                               of the las beam to the precise wavelength necessary to affect
                    The true nature of Baraban’s apparitions is not rooted in          the Trellises. The momentary revelation of one has sparked a
                    spirits, but in the mind. Long before its region of space was      chain of events requiring the Deathwatch’s intervention.
                    dubbed the Canis Salient, in the height of the Jericho Sector’s        The Chamber of Vigilance has long suspected that the
                    glory, the planet was a prosperous centre of agriculture and       Omega Vault somehow monitors the Watch Fortress’s central
                    learning. Its fate was not dissimilar to many of the sector’s      data reservoir for events of significance to its mysterious
                    other worlds: an malevolent unknown enemy destroyed the            purpose. (Information on the Omega Vault is available in the
                    population with dark, forbidden technology.                        Deathwatch Rulebook on pages 332-333. Its existence is not
                                                                                       a secret from most Battle-Brothers, and you should confirm
                                                                                       your players know the term before launching this adventure.)




                                  4
The Vault reacted to news of the Trellis on Baraban by revealing
a trio of archeotech luminators. The Kill-Team deploys to the
tainted planet. There, they must negotiate its aura of madness
                                                                        ThE dElirium TrEllis
and the effect it has on the stationed Imperial Guard, as well as       The Ordo Xenos has unearthed a handful of madness-
enemy Kroot forces and an elite Tau strike team apparently in           inducing xenotech webs in the Jericho Reach, and dubbed
competition for their objective. Should the Kill-Team succeed           them Delirium Trellises for their effect on humans. The
in obtaining and understanding the xenos technology, they               devices cause subtle distortions in the warp, which seem




                                                                                                                                         Shadow of Madness
gain insight to the mystery of Baraban’s curse, but are left with       to cause different malignant reactions in different life
far larger questions about who or what was responsible, and its         forms. This variance has led to theories that the creators
greater significance.                                                   of the Delirium Trellis were either immune to its effects
                                                                        or capable of constructing protective measures.
                                                                            A Trellis takes the form of a looming yet delicate array

                    Erioch                                              of shifting images until activated. Once this happens, it
                                                                        quickly rots away, leaving no physical sign of its existence,
                                                                        but intangibly blighting the surroundings for dozens of
                                                                        kilometres. The number of Trellises necessary to blanket
“The hand that built this place did so with a purpose. Let us pray
                                                                        an entire planet with dementia is easily hundreds of
that purpose is never enacted.”
                                                                        times the total count of devices ever discovered, nor do
     –rumoured to be Epistolary Axineton’s first words upon             any known accounts exist of the phasing used to conceal
                          embarking Watch Fortress Erioch               the Delirium Trellises on Baraban. Perhaps this indicates



T
                                                                        that their application on Baraban is unique, for the
        he massive labyrinth of Watch Fortress Erioch can be
                                                                        alternative—that other legions of these weapons still lie
        a place of calm repose or frigid isolation, depending
                                                                        dormant in dark corners of planets across the Reach—is
        on the occupant’s nature. The Game Master should
                                                                        terrifying indeed.
encourage the players to detail what their characters do
while waiting for their next (or first) Mission, providing the
opportunity to consider dimensions of the Battle-Brother             Captain is also present. The GM should feel free to substitute
beyond his martial prowess.                                          whatever Mission Authority is most interesting in the context
   The Fortress’s secrets guard themselves, and little is                                         of his campaign.
restricted to a Battle-Brother. He has access to training                                             Erioch’s cavernous surveillance
grounds, chapels for prayer and meditation, libraries                                          theatre engulfs hundreds of serf-
replete with tomes that lesser men have been put to                                          manned monitoring stations. The
death for opening. Should he choose to stray                                                        lowliest of these are pit panelled
into the echoing, ancient expanses that delve                                                         in grainy screens that rotate
towards the station’s heart, no hand will stop                                                        through still and moving picts
him. A Battle-Brother also has frequent                                                           of the Reach’s many battlegrounds.
opportunities to interact with the other                                                                On the tiers above that rest
Space Marines serving on Erioch. His                                                                       more elaborate stations
ascetic cell is as likely to neighbour                                                                     where aquila frames
that of a Watch Captain as one of his                                                                        surround the displays,
Kill-team fellows, and the entirety                                                                          and ornate thrones
of the Fortress’s Deathwatch                                                                                seat those authorised to
membership assembles for meals in                                                                  view the Reach’s most classified
one corner of a cavernous hall that                                                               footage. The room is in disarray,
could hold ten times their number.                                                               littered with notes, print-outs,
For ideas on various NPC’s of the                                                                data-slates, and other detritus,
Watch Fortress, see the Appendix                                                            evidencing the intensive archive search
on page 24.                                                                               that just ended. Servitors have begun
                                                                                          the slow task of restoring order; many
                                                                                          of the pits are empty; a few still contain
ChasinG                                                                                   the twitching forms of serfs whose brains
shadows                                                                                    could not handle the inundation of
                                                                                          images they processed over the last few
Whatever a Battle-Brother’s typical day on Watch                                          days. The room’s largest screen contains a
Fortress Erioch may be, this Mission interrupts                                         grid of hundreds of images, some still and
it with a call to duty. A serf in a hooded robe                                        some looping motion.
approaches each Battle-Brother, and deferentially                                        Inquisitor Quist (see the NPC Profiles on
informs him that his presence is sought in the surveillance          pages 24-28) sits at the central command dais. As the Kill-
theatre. This section assumes Inquisitor Quist of the Ordo           team arrives, read or paraphrase the following:
Xenos gives the briefing, although the Kill-team’s Watch


                                                                                                                        5
                                                                                                   She pauses for input from the Kill-team before continuing.
                      Inquisitor Quist lifts her haggard gaze from a sprawl of hand-           If they do not inquire about what the Omega Vault revealed,
                      inked maps as you approach. Her weary posture suggests that              she elaborates.
                      force of will alone allows her to stand as she nods a respectful
                      greeting to you all. “Forgive us for taking over your surveillance
                      theatre. A few days ago we received a strange report from the              “You should see precisely what the Vault revealed.” The Inquisitor
Shadow of Madness



                      Canis Salient.” She pauses to survey the room’s kaleidoscope of            gestures upwards, and the observant machine spirits that control
                      screens, which do indeed flicker through a preponderance of the            the room’s command platform respond. The top slides off a nearby
                      Tau forces and their sympathisers which dominate the Canis                 pedestal, and with a hiss of objection from the ancient actuators,
                      Salient. “The account describes ‘a hail of dark daggers’ that fell         three identical archeotech luminators rise into view from within.
                      in the middle of a battle. The local Imperial Guard tried to send          The engravings are of clear Imperial craftsmanship, and a soft
                      us a sample of one, but the box arrived empty .Of even more                blue light shines perpetually through the intricate stained glass
                      significance, however, is that the Omega Vault revealed another            chimneys. The Inquisitor turns her gaze back to you. “By the
                      sub-chamber immediately after this report was uploaded to the              sacred agreement between my order and yours, I request your aid
                      Fortress’s central cogitator.”                                             in bringing light to the darkness once more.”


                       Depending on your players’ familiarity with the Jericho                    Inquisitor Quist answers any questions the Kill-team has to
                    Reach, you may need to explain the Canis Salient and the                   the best of her ability, and conveys further points of relevance
                    Omega Vault. As the most elite heroes of the Imperium, this                to the mission:
                    information is certainly entrusted to their characters. Once
                                                                                                 • The report originated from Imperial Guard Epsilon
                    you are comfortable that the players understand the events
                                                                                                    Outpost 420, under the command of Colonel
                    transpiring around them, continue:
                                                                                                    Afton Hathe.
                                                                                                 • She does not have any leads on what happened to the
                                                                                                    missing sample. (The truth is that the Trellis fragment
                      “Since then, we’ve been trying to see what other data we can                  disintegrated as it was designed to do.)
                      correlate with this incident. We found one pict of…interest.”              • The Hunter-class frigate Spear of Fury is waiting to convey
                      She turns an ornate cog on the command console, and a still                   the team to Epsilon Outpost 420 on Baraban, and can be
                      pict on the central screen eclipses the others. In it, a fierce battle        contacted to extract them when ready.
                      rages between Vespid and Imperial Guard, all darkened by a                 • The enemy forces on the Battlefront are typically bulk
                      jagged, ominous shadow. She adjusts another dial, and the view                troops and skirmishers, but there is no telling what
                      of the frozen scene pans back. Despite the complete view of the               strength and numbers may accompany the Tau officials
                      landscape, no object exists that could possibly cast the large and            spotted recently. Quist predicts the Battle-Brothers will
                      inexplicable shadow. The Inquisitor circles the dark shape with               have an easier time moving through the warzone if they
                      her finger. “We believe this is the same location described by the            don’t draw attention to themselves.
                      report in question. As you can see, there is clearly something             • You may issue the information in the Baraban sidebar
                      abnormal about it. I might have sent my own agents to investigate,            as a briefing document or simply use it as reference in
                      but the Omega Vault’s response interests the entire Chamber of                this discussion.
                      Vigilance. We also believe that the Tau have deployed command               Once the Kill-team is briefed and any questions answered
                      units in response. If there is something dangerous—or connected          with the limited information on hand, their Watch Captain
                      to the Vault—we can’t afford to let it fall to the enemy.”               sees to their arming.




                      e
                      Most Kill-Teams operate under a single Watch Captain, but that does not mean he should always initiate their Mission. A
                      briefing presents the opportunity to introduce NPC’s outside the normal circles of the Deathwatch. Good information is
                      often in short supply in the Imperium, but Battle-Brothers are among the elite few trusted with more or less full access to
                      whatever is known. Brother Space Marines, military officers, adepts, and many other personages may come to together
                      to arm the Kill-team with the most accurate intelligence possible.
                         Additionally, the briefing is usually the players’ first glimpse of the Mission, setting the tone of what is to come.
                      The firsthand account of a planet’s devastation from a haggard survivor sets very different expectations from a military
                      overview of troop deployments in the same battle zone. The authority who actually requested the Mission also presents
                      possibilities for intrigue. Does the authority seem to be holding something back? Is their Watch Captain pleased about
                      this Mission? Why is this Mission important enough to warrant Deathwatch attention in the first place? A savvy GM can
                      use even the traditional kick off of a Mission to convey more than just the Objectives, should he so choose.



                                  6
g
                                                                       “Brother-Sergeant Valus crossed through the Warp Gate with
Calculating Mission Requisition in an investigative Mission            the first Crusade forces. He had much wisdom to share about
where the situation is unknown requires anticipating what              his battles in the Reach, but above them all, the tale he told of
Objectives the Kill-team will set, something the GM can                Baraban has stayed with me. It was as blasphemous in its own
never be sure of. Your best guess at what the players are likely       way as anything festering in the Charon Stars. He said something




                                                                                                                                              Shadow of Madness
to attempt translates into the Mission Authority’s intuition           wearing Guilliman’s guise came to him one night while he stood
about the difficulty of the Mission. You may not always guess          sentry. This was before we knew the planet’s treachery, and for
correctly, but a deliberate error in judgment by this Mission          a moment he mistook the vision for a blessing. But then the false
Authority should be a calculated event. This Mission has a             spirit beckoned him into the forest, and he began to doubt. Why
suggested Requisition rating of 50 (rounded up from 49),               would his Primarch ever ask us to abandon our watch and our
based on the following assumptions:                                    duty? He challenged the insolent mimic. That instant, it revealed
    Primary Objective: Stop all of the Delirium Trellises from         itself for the distorted imposter it was. Our Brother banished it in
falling into enemy hands (Skilled Objective, 17 Requisition)           a rain of holy bolter fire. I have often wondered: what manner of
    Secondary Objective: Bring back useful information on              daemon would dare—could dare—to impersonate a Primarch,
the Trellises (Novice Objective, 11 Requisition)                       much less hold the reprehensible deception for even a moment?”
    Tertiary Objective: Keep the Outpost from being overrun
by Kroot (Novice Objective, 6 Requisition)
                                                                        The war-torn Jericho Reach needs the Spear of Fury far too
    Tertiary Objective: Rescue the General (Veteran
                                                                     greatly for it to idle waiting in orbit. Jaresh gives the Kill-
Objective, not included in calculation)
                                                                     team a vox beacon to signal when they are ready for retrieval.
    Tertiary Objective: Deal with the crazed Guardsmen
                                                                     Brother Dane pilots the Battle-Brothers to Epsilon Outpost
without taking their lives (Veteran Objective, not included
                                                                     420 in a Thunderhawk. He has explicit orders to drop them
in calculation)
                                                                     and return so his ship can depart. Once they are set down and
    Tertiary Objective: Defeat the feral Kroot (Skilled
                                                                     any immediate trouble in their landing zone cleared, it would
Objective, 7 Requisition)
                                                                     take extremely strong persuasion to convince him to anything
    Tertiary Objective: Defeat the Tau command unit
                                                                     except return to the Spear.
(Veteran Objective, 8 Requisition)
    You should add or modify these starting Objectives, and
the Requisition, based on your own evaluations of what
Objectives your players may set or ignore.
    In addition to Requisitioned equipment, the Battle-
Brothers are issued a Deathwatch Land Speeder Storm for
transport on the planet. A larger vehicle cannot manoeuvre
through the planet’s dense forests. Finally, they receive
custody of the archeotech luminators. All that then remains is
the Oath-taking, which may be done on Erioch or the Spear of
Fury depending on the particular squad’s custom.

departure
The Hunter-class frigate Spear of Fury awaits the Kill-team. The
kilometre-long ship is narrow and sleek like its namesake, with
a hull of dark metal streaked in the soot of war. Its Captain is a
broad Battle-Brother named Jaresh, who hails from the Black
Templars. He welcomes his brothers aboard, although his
attitude may quickly sour if they count a Librarian amongst
their ranks. The ship’s crew is predominantly indentured serfs,
although a handful of other Deathwatch-sworn Space Marines
man the bridge. One such Battle-Brother is Dane, a fresh-
faced Initiate who loyally followed Jaresh into Deathwatch
duty. The Battle-Brothers repast together just as they do on
Erioch, but otherwise Brother Dane is the Kill-team’s primary
liaison during the two week voyage.
    The journey passes uneventfully, but provides the Kill-
team time for any strategizing they may need to do. Should
any of the Battle-Brothers engage in conversation about their
Mission with Dane, he recalls an anecdote from a White
Consul who once received passage on the Spear:



                                                                                                                            7
                                  Baraban                                                  eager or nimble Battle-Brother can attempt to jump directly
                                                                                           onto one of the massive tree trunks with a Challenging (+0)
                                                                                           Agility or Acrobatics Test. Failure by one degree or less
                    “They were all around me, sure as you are now. And they were angry,    indicates that he successfully landed on a branch, but it could
                    so angry that I’d made it through the Greyhell Front and they’d all    not support his power-armoured bulk. Tumbling through the
                    died. If I hadn’t run they would have dragged me back to hell with     cracking foliage counts as a fall of only 3 metres (see page
                                                                                           261 in the Deathwatch Rulebook), while a greater failure
Shadow of Madness



                    ‘em right then!”
                                                                                           causes Damage from the full 15 metres.
                                             –Deposition of Guardsman Lars Ibsen              The Kroot form a Horde of Magnitude 35. (See page 359
                                                before his execution for desertion         of the Deathwatch Rulebook) Once broken, they retreat into



                    T
                           he thick forests of Baraban hide the war that wages             the forest.
                           beneath them, making the planet deceptively serene
                           on approach. Read or paraphrase the following as the            e
                    Kill-team descends through the atmosphere.
                                                                                           S

                      It is hardly your first time inside a Thunderhawk, although the
                      interiors of these familiar gunships always seem cavernous when
                      holding a handful of Battle-Brothers like your Kill-team.—
                      instead of several times this number of your Chapter Brothers.
                      The holo-projectors at the troop transport station activate as you
                      start to descend. Clamps affix your Land Speeder to the gunship,
                                                                                                            S      T     ag int Per wP Fel
                                                                                                         (8)                          (8)
                      and one aerofoil cuts into the three dimensional projection as
                      clouds give way to the northeast continent. In a universe of          42 35 40 45 47 25 44 30 18
                      climbing hives and battle-ravaged rockscapes, Baraban appears
                      strikingly untouched, despite the millions of soldiers you know to   Movement: 4/8/16/32                           Magnitude: 35
                      be warring beneath its canopy. You catch a glimpse of rippling       Skills: Acrobatics (Ag), Awareness (Per) +10, Climb (S) +20,
                      blue ocean bordering the landmass’s collage of red and gold.         Concealment (Ag) +20, Dodge (Ag) +10, Silent Move (Ag)
                      Then the blanket of autumn colours surrounds you as the gunship      +20, Speak Language (Kroot, Tau) (Int), Tracking (Int) +10,
                      drops lower.                                                         Survival (Int) +10.
                          Suddenly, the serenity fractures with calamitous explosions      Talents: Basic Weapon Training (SP, Primitive), Furious
                      and an abrupt halt to your descent that tests your power armour’s    Assault, Leap Up, Lightning Reflexes, Melee Weapon Training
                      shock absorption. Brother Dane shouts over the noise, “The           (Primitive), Sprint, Swift Attack.
                      Outpost is under assault!”                                           Traits: Natural Weapon (Beak), Size (Massive), Unnatural
                                                                                           Strength (x2), Unnatural Perception (x2).
                                                                                           Armour Hide armour (Horde 2, Primitive).
                       Through the obscuring web of branches and dead leaves,
                                                                                           Weapons: Kroot rifle (110m; S/–/–; 1d10+5 E; Pen 1; Clip
                    the Battle-Brothers can glimpse a shattered bunker, and frantic
                                                                                           6; Reload 2 Full), beak (1d5+8 R, Primitive).
                    Imperial Guardsmen fighting off an overwhelming number
                                                                                           Gear: Rifle reloads.
                    of Kroot. The pulse rounds of Kroot rifles outnumber each
                                                                                           A Kroot’s beak follows all rules for natural weapons, except it
                    las shot four to one, and the growing distance between frag
                                                                                           inflicts 1d5 Damage instead of 1d10.
                    bursts suggests that grenades are quickly running out. The
                                                                                           May be used in melee (1d10+8 R; Balanced)
                    Battle-Brothers face a choice: do they intervene in the conflict
                    and risk revealing their presence to the Tau, or do they allow
                    the Outpost to be overrun?
                       Brother Dane follows their direction if they choose to                 e
                    participate in the battle below, but is unable to bring the
                                                                                              If the Battle-Brothers choose to face the Kroot Horde,
                    Thunderhawk lower than 15 metres because of the dense
                                                                                              they can hardly occupy the entire enemy mob. As the Kill-
                    forest. If they bring the gunship’s weapons to bear, it provides
                                                                                              team endeavours to turn the battle’s tide, the Guardsmen
                    a decisive advantage in firepower, but creates a large degree of
                                                                                              also fight for their lives. The GM should make this evident
                    collateral damage. The Kroot and Guardsmen ranks intertwine
                                                                                              in his description of the scene Round to Round. By the
                    as the lanky aliens attack with pulse charges and the wicked
                                                                                              time they arrive, roughly a quarter of the Outpost’s 100
                    blades of their rifles. The close combat and the obscuring tree
                                                                                              Guard already lie dead in the fallen leaves and rubble. To
                    canopy make firing into the melee (with the ship’s guns or
                                                                                              represent the rising body count if the combat drags on,
                    from its deck) Very Hard (–30). Any misses or Blast weapons
                                                                                              assume another 1d10 Guardsmen die for every Round it
                    are sure to catch a few Guardsmen.
                                                                                              takes the Battle-Brothers to break the Horde. The GM
                       Fortunately for those without jump packs, the ship’s storage
                                                                                              may reduce these casualties if the players take deliberate
                    lockers contain a stash of single-use Astartes grav chutes that
                                                                                              actions to protect the soldiers around them.
                    can be equipped in a Round. Alternatively, a particularly


                                 8
   BaraBan
   Planetary Data: Situated in the Canis Salient, Baraban’s geography is
   dominated by deciduous forests. The north-eastern and south-eastern
   continents are typical temperate ecosystems with four distinct seasons.
   The smaller, western continent is distinguished by several mountain




                                                                                                                                            Shadow of Madness
   ranges and lower prevalent temperatures due to the elevation. Occasional
   accounts suggest the ruins of a prior civilisation may underlie the forest
   terrain, but no formal exploration has ever been made as the planet is an
   active battlefront.
   Military Disposition: At any time several regiments are active on Baraban.
   Major footholds exist on each continent, although the shifting of territory
   lines means that many bunkers and trenches built over the war’s history by the
   Imperium are in enemy possession. The four largest stable Imperial holdings are
   Fort Avernus and the Epsilon Garrison on the northeast continent, Fort Dorn on the
   southeast continent, and Faithspyre Station in the western mountains.
      Enemy forces are primarily Kroot and Vespid employing guerrilla tactics, with little evidence of Tau leadership. Despite
   the apparent lack of organisation in the enemy, the Imperial Guard has been unable to maintain a stable advantage.
   Crusade command lays the blame largely upon the planet’s unusual manifestations (See the Lorekeeper’s Annotation for
   more detail), but this would not be the first time environmental hazards became a scapegoat for poor leadership.
   Lorekeeper’s Annotation: The so-called “Ghosts of Baraban” are an unfortunately well-documented phenomenon.
   The vast majority of Imperial troops stationed on the planet appear to have experienced visitations ranging from quiet
   voices to legions of the dead. Mortal minds are ill-suited to such experiences, and incident after incident exists of
   platoons deserting in fear or turning upon each other in madness.
      Reports compiled from previous Deathwatch missions and Storm Warden support for the Crusade enumerate at least
   five instances of Adeptus Astartes noting similar experiences. Two of these instances, from the Erioch archives, predate
   the Achilus Crusade by decades, casting serious doubt on Imperial theories that the Tau can claim responsibility for
   the phenomenon.

    One way or another, the Kroot assault finally ends, either
                                                                          intervention. Even if the Battle-Brothers didn’t fight the
with the carnivores routed, or dragging off a host of corpses for
                                                                          Kroot, he remains convinced that the Adeptus Astartes’
a victory feast behind their lines. Within the rubble of Epsilon
                                                                          sudden arrival represents the Emperor’s favour upon those
Outpost 420, the Kill-team can find the young Lieutenant Lionus
                                                                          who remain. He repeatedly thanks them for “saving their
Drayle. (His relative physical condition and the number of other
                                                                          lives and souls from the tainted xenos.”
survivors should be dictated by whether the Space Marines
                                                                       • Without even knowing their mission, he offers the Kill-team
intervened, and how decisive their victory was if they did.)
                                                                          a guide, troops, supplies, or anything else they might want
Drayle is a recent officer graduate from his regiment, and—like
                                                                          to aide in their duty. Of course, the Space Marines likely
the troops now under his command—he has no idea they are not
                                                                          learned long ago that such “aid” from normal men is usually
in the Halo Stars. Intelligent and brimming with the catechisms of
                                                                          more of a hindrance.
his Imperial upbringing, Drayle is the ranking (and only) officer
                                                                        If queried about the battle which brought the Kill-team here,
left at the outpost. He has close cut blond hair and prominent
                                                                     the Lieutenant was present and gives his account.
sideburns. He sports many superficial wounds in various states of
mending, telling the tale of recurring and bloody battles. Should
Drayle’s profile become relevant, use the Imperial Guard Field
                                                                       “We’d been pushing back a sky full of Stingwings all morning.
Officer on page 375 of the Deathwatch Rulebook.
                                                                       We were making progress, but that doesn’t count for much here.
  • General Caroses of the Epsilon Garrison recently went              We’ve had more skirmishes than I can count turn on us when
    missing in action, and it has thrown the local Imperial            the ghosts come out. So I deliberately forced the line towards the
    forces into disarray. The Outpost’s Colonel Afton returned         glade. There’s something about that place seems the ghosts don’t
    to the Garrison and assumed command. This sudden shift             seem to like. Keeps them away. We thought we had the enemy
    left Drayle in charge no so much by design as default. He          routed, but then this Hammerhead burst out of the trees. We were
    submitted the Departmento Munitorum forms to have a new            still firing up at the Stingwings and it opened up on us with an
    leader assigned, and is trying not to be afraid the paperwork      ion cannon. And then—then that’s when it happened. For just
    was misrouted.                                                     a second instead of sky there was this black wall, and I could
  • Drayle is not able to conceal his awe of the Adeptus Astartes,     see something moving in it. All these black spikes rained down
    but his disciplined schooling does allow him to temper it          on us; just the memory of them makes my skin crawl. Then it
    enough to discourse in an almost normal fashion. However,          disappeared. It must have spooked the enemy too, because I’ve
    he is convinced that he owes his life and that of the other        never seen Vespid retreat so fast and so suddenly.”
    survivors (no matter how many or few) to the Kill-team’s


                                                                                                                           9
                       He can immediately direct them to the location. The           the thoughtless, hungry biomorph tide as the greater threat.
                    shadow stands only a few kilometres from the Outpost,            If humanity deserved indoctrination, they should embrace an
                    and the spot is remarkable not just for the unusual terrain      ally who could unite with them against that evil. Shas’El Keyl
                    feature, but as a place of sanctuary—not from death, but from    arrived on Baraban believing that the gue’la were testing a
                    madness.                                                         new weapon. However, he has since come to understand that
                                                                                     he has found a technology that may be turned against them.
Shadow of Madness



                    You are noT alone                                                    A team of Fire Warriors and a few elite warriors in Stealth
                                                                                     Suits accompany him. (Shas’El Keyl uses the Tau Commander
                    The Kill-team’s briefing was accurate about enemy activity:      profile from Chapter XIV: Adversaries in the Deathwatch
                    a Tau force has landed on the planet to compete for the          rulebook. The profiles for his troops can also be found in that
                    same objective as the Space Marines. The Velk’Han Sept also      chapter.) If the Kill-team participated in the battle for Epsilon
                    reviewed similar accounts of the battle that caught the Ordo     Outpost 420, the Kroot survivors quickly report the Space
                    Xenos’s attention, and deployed their own strike team to         Marine presence to the strike force. From this point forward,
                    investigate. The force’s leader, Shas’El Keyl, is a Veteran of   a Stealth team may ambush the Battle-Brothers at any point
                    the Tyranid battles in the area Imperials call the Xenocide.     the GM feels appropriate. The team should be roughly equal
                    Once, he believed in trying to incorporate humanity to the       in number to that of the Kill-team.
                    Tau Empire, but the horrors of Hive Fleet Dagon hardened
                    him. Now he bitterly resents that humanity continues to war
                    against the Greater Good. He personally has come to think of     veils oF shadow
                                                                                     The Battle-Brothers are free to proceed through the autumn
                                                                                     forest in pursuit of the target site. On the ground, the nature
                       PErils oF ThE BaTTlE FiEld                                    of the war is much more apparent. The pervasive scent of
                       Despite its mysterious past and unending forests,             rotting corpses troubles anyone who unseals their helmet.
                       Baraban is first and foremost a warzone. In addition to       While the glade is easier to find with Drayle’s assistance, the
                       possible trouble from the Tau, the GM may wish to use         Kill-Team can stumble upon it after 1d10 hours of searching
                       one or more of the following encounters to emphasise          (less if they have a well-thought out approach) on their own.
                       the dangerous and exotic surroundings as the Kill-            Read or paraphrase the following as they arrive:
                       team travels the planet:
                         • Hungry for Death: The Kill-team encounters
                           the aftermath of another—even more massive—                 The dense foliage opens into a natural clearing. Brilliant
                           battle between Kroot and Imperial Guard forces.             scarlet leaves coat the trees and the earth, but muddy splatters
                           Hundreds of corpses from both sides litter the              of old blood dull the tableau like rust. The bodies have all been
                           forest floor, but the birdlike aliens appear to have        recovered—or consumed. Unmistakable, the massive shadow
                           won by ever so small a small margin. However,               looms prominently—the silhouette of an absent giant.
                           the dozen victors quickly abandon their meal of
                           human flesh to awkwardly turn the heavy weapons
                                                                                         People and objects can pass freely through the space where
                           of a Leman Russ or Hellhound tank against the
                                                                                     the source of the shadow should be. Visual inspection reveals
                           encroachers.
                                                                                     nothing, however Librarians may get a slight sense of unease.
                         • Scorched Earth: The Kill-team encounters an
                                                                                     The source is in fact one of the monolithic webs of xenos
                           expansive radius of ash and blackened, dead trees.
                                                                                     technology called Delirium Trellises. A mysterious attacker
                           Bones crunch beneath their boot treads as they
                                                                                     assailed Baraban with these mind-disrupting weapons long
                           cross through this war scar. Unbeknownst to the
                                                                                     ago. (Their linkage to Baraban’s ghosts will become apparent
                           Battle-Brothers, this marks an enemy-controlled
                                                                                     to the PC’s as the adventure unfolds.) However a few of them
                           zone. A mass of sentry Gun Drones (found on page
                                                                                     failed to detonate, and remain as shadows sleeping out of
                           367 of the Deathwatch Rulebook) rise out of the
                                                                                     phase with reality.
                           ashes to defend the perimeter.
                                                                                         The light of the archeotech luminators reacts with the
                         • Legacy of Madness: The Delirium could strike
                                                                                     strange nature of the devices, making them visible and
                           anyone, at any time. The GM should feel free
                                                                                     tangible for short intervals where the azure light falls. Shining
                           to throw in additional Delirium Tests (See the
                                                                                     the lamps into the area is obviously the easiest way to find
                           Delirium sidebar) of varying Difficulties whenever
                                                                                     the Delirium Trellis, but the players might devise their own
                           he deems appropriate.
                                                                                     clever plans for locating the source of the shadow that do not
                         • Fallen to Ruin: The Battle-Brothers find a maze
                                                                                     involve the luminators. Such possibilities include:
                           of rubble, and fragments of human statues tangled
                           in the roots of giant trees. GM’s who favour                • A Hard (–20) Psyniscience Test informs a Librarian that
                           occasional comic relief might have a mass of small,           something sinister and vaguely warp-tainted occupies the
                           angry rodents leap from their den in the ruins and            spot, but nothing else. Several psychic powers from the
                           tenaciously dog the Kill-team, scrabbling at their            Divination Discipline can provide pertinent information
                           power armour with tiny teeth and fangs.                       on the area, the hiding object, or its exact location
                                                                                         and nature.


                                10
                                                                                  • Even while phased and dormant, a Delirium Trellis can
vEhiclEs in dEaThwaTch                                                               still be malignant. If anyone stands directly on the site
                                                                                     of the Trellis for 10 minutes or more, check for The
Future supplements will introduce more robust rules
                                                                                     Delirium with a +10 bonus to their Willpower Test.
for using vehicles as part of your Deathwatch game.
                                                                                     Whether the test is passed or failed, the Battle-Brother is
However, ships and transports are integral to a Space
                                                                                     aware of some dark influence pressing upon his mind.
Marine’s duties, and adventures such as this one may




                                                                                                                                                           Shadow of Madness
                                                                                   If the Kill-team finally gets a visual on the Trellis, read the
call for the presence of a vehicle. You can use the
                                                                                following description:
following simplified rules should vehicles become part
of a battle:
vEhiclE ProPErTiEs                                                                 A flat, uneven arch towers over the glade; its silhouette aligns
Weapons: The weapons available, and whether they                                   perfectly with the shadow upon the glade. Dark panels of
are available to the driver or (if applicable) the gunner                          shifting images stretch between splayed pinions of inactive xenos
position. A character seated in the appropriate position                           circuitry. Few of the swirling shapes are discernable: perhaps an
fires these weapons on his Turn, following all the                                 eye? Perhaps the trail of a comet? You have the constant sense
standard rules for the weapon. The GM must rule that                               that you are seeing only part of a larger pattern.
the target is in the line of fire for the weapon based on
his understanding of the vehicle configuration.                                    Delirium Trellises are obscure, but not unknown in the
Tactical Speed: An abstraction of how fast the                                  circle of the Deathwatch. A Difficult (–10) Forbidden Lore
vehicle is during combat Rounds. This is the vehicle’s                          (Xenos) or Very Hard (–30) Forbidden Lore (Adeptus
maximum Move in metres.                                                         Mechanicus) Test allows a Battle-Brother to recognise the
Cruising Speed: How fast the vehicle moves in                                   device for what it is, and recall an appropriate amount of lore
narrative time.                                                                 as detailed in the beginning of this adventure.
Armour: The Armour Points applied when attacking                                   The Kill-team must now decide what to do with the
the vehicle. These Armour Points apply exactly                                  Trellis. Destroy it? Try to salvage the whole or a portion for
like AP cover (see page 246 in the Deathwatch                                   study? If the Kill-team opts for a plan that involves explosives
Rulebook) to anyone inside the vehicle. The GM has                              and failed to bring demolition charges themselves, some are
final say on what Locations the cover applies to for                            available from the guard post. The following information may
characters shooting out of open vehicles. Opponents                             help the GM in responding to their actions:
may make ranged attacks on characters who have total
cover inside a vehicle at a –10 penalty by stating what                            • Tinkering with the device is a risky proposition. A
area of the vehicle they are targeting (driver, gunner,                              character with both Tech-Use and Forbidden Lore
passenger hold, etc.). Cover still applies as normal.                                (Xenos) Skills may attempt to bring the Trellis into
Structural Integrity: Equivalent to the vehicle’s                                    phase with reality by Testing on the lower of the two
Wounds if someone chooses to attack the vehicle                                      Skills. However, a failure activates it. A Delirium Trellis
directly. The vehicle is assumed destroyed (though not                               is at its most potent when first set off. Anyone within
necessarily the characters inside; effect on them is at                              100+5d10 kilometres must Test for the Delirium
the GM’s discretion) once these Wounds are exceeded.                                 at –20.
                                                                                   • Small objects (like explosives) planted on the device
                                                                                     while it is tangible are incorporated into the phasing
• A Challenging (+0) Tech-Use Test with an Auspex                                    field and fade to the same reality-insulated existence as
  reveals that something is present at the base of the                               the Trellis when the light source is removed.
  shadow, and suggests it may react to certain wavelengths                         • Small pieces of web can be broken off while it is revealed
  of light. (Another Challenging (+0) Tech-Use Test can                              (or shot off if one can duplicate the ionised las beams
  modify either the Auspex or any light-producing object                             that revealed the threat to begin with). They do not
  including las-weapons to the proper wavelength.)                                   phase away, but they disintegrate in a matter of hours.

Table 1-1: Vehicles in the Shadow of Madness
Vehicle Name                 Weapons                            Tactical Speed          Cruising Speed AP                     Structural Integrity
Deathwatch Land               Heavy Bolter (Gunner)
                                                                  30m                   275 kph                 18†           15
Speeder Storm                 Assault Cannon (Driver)
                              Two Lascannons (Pilot)
Thunderhawk                   Turbo-laser (Pilot)
                                                                  30m                   2000 kph                35            40
Gunship††                     Hellstrike Missiles (Gunner)
                              Heavy Bolters (Gunner)
†
  The Land Speeder Storm is largely open. It covers the legs of the driver and gunner. Whether it affords any cover to the 4 passengers depends on their
position and angle in the extended rear section.
††
  See page 23 for the profiles of the Thunderhawk weapons.



                                                                                                                                           11
                    Table 1-2: Distance Between Important Baraban Locations
                                              Initial Site          Towering Glades        South-eastern Forest       Western Mountains
                    Towering Glades           1233 km (4.5 hours)
                    South-eastern Forest      2451 km (9.0 hours)   1297 km (4.5 hours)
                    Western Mountains         5240 km (19 hours)    4018km (14.5 hours)    3487 km (12.5 hours)
Shadow of Madness



                    Tau HQ                    1180 km (4.0 hours)   1354 km (5.0 hours)    120 km (0.5 hours)         3595 km (13 hours)


                     The Delirium Trellis’s unknown makers built them for
                     secrecy. The only way to circumvent this mechanism is by
                     moving the entire array together, or with a stasis field.




                    ThE dElirium
                    A Delirium Trellis reaches into the human mind to seek out whatever thoughts are most oppressive and terrible. Then
                    it conjures a state of Delirium where those nightmare people and creatures walk. However, Adeptus Astartes are no
                    longer entirely human. Just as Fear affects them differently than common Imperial citizens, the visions produced by the
                    Delirium differ as well. Checking for Delirium begins with a Willpower Test. Failure yields 1d5 Insanity Points, and
                    the appropriate effect below.
                    morTal dElirium
                    Most individuals who experience the Delirium as described above treat a failed Delirium Test like a failed Fear Test.
                    Check for Shock as normal, adding an additional +20 to the result.
                    visions oF ThE immEmorial
                    The mind of a Space Marine is laced with the history of his Chapter, and indeed of mankind. If he is affected by the
                    Delirium, he may see people or memories that recall his own personal failings, or the Delirium may reach back into
                    an ancestry equally fraught with pain. Space Marines so affected may experience horrors witnessed by dead members
                    of their Chapter, their Primarch, or even the Emperor himself. The mental trauma of such experiences manifests in a
                    temporary affliction of their Primarch’s Curse (see pages 280-281 in the Deathwatch Rulebook). If the character is
                    already suffering from the Curse, then it increases in severity for 1d10 hours. Otherwise, he suffers a random level of
                    the Curse for 1d10 hours.
                    ThE drEam oF uniTy
                    While not necessarily sorcerous, the technology behind the Delirium Trellises involves at least a small amount of
                    immaterium manipulation. Its effect on the warp-removed Tau is therefore diminished, but not absent. Tau receive +10
                    to resist the Delirium. Any who fail to resist do not experience fear, but rather the pleasant delusion of having achieved
                    their driving goal: universal acceptance of the Tau’va, the Greater Good. A Tau so afflicted treats anyone he encounters
                    as a trusted member of the Tau empire (since in his mind all races are now one with them). This is not to say that his
                    perception of an individual cannot be altered by that person’s words or deeds (particularly hostile ones), only that he
                    assumes all people, including humans and Space Marines, follow the Greater Good until given reason to doubt.
                    rETurn To ThE wilds
                    The Kroot are not so far removed from the savage world and mindset in which the Tau found them. Kroot under the
                    delirium revert to a savage and animalistic state. All other life forms become simply a source of food in their eyes. The
                    Greater Good and the Tau Empire are no longer even a distant memory in this feral state.



                            12
dark imPliCaTions
                                                                        oPTional rulE: volunTary
There are in fact three other “undetonated” devices on
                                                                           isions
Baraban; these too must be kept out of enemy hands. A variety
of options exist for alerting the Kill-Team to the fact their           Players often have the preconception that falling victim
mission is not over (if they do not move to this conclusion             to an attack or effect is a purely negative experience




                                                                                                                                         Shadow of Madness
themselves), including:                                                 (and sometimes this may be true). However, some of
   • The Imperial Guard may mention that other areas of                 the most memorable roleplaying scenes often come out
     spiritual calm—similar to the red glade containing the             of rolls gone wrong. The Delirium’s effect on Space
     first Trellis—are rumoured to exist on the planet.                 Marines is actually a fun chance for Battle-Brothers to
   • A bold Techmarine might attempt to interface with the              explore the heritage and the more extreme personality
     device to learn more about it. This move may prove                 facets of their character. GM’s may want to offer their
     perilous for his mind depending on how his Tech-Use                players a chance to forego gaining Insanity Points
     Test turns out, but also reveals enough about the effective        from the Delirium in exchange for automatically
     range of the device to realise it alone couldn’t possibly be       suffering from the effect. This gives everyone a chance
     tainting the planet.                                               to participate in the roleplaying opportunity without
   • Queries or investigations into recent enemy activity               feeling penalised.
     on the planet report a decrease in activity on nearly              PossiBlE visions
     all fronts, as though their troops were presently being
     diverted to some other activity besides pressing the war.          The GM should feel free to create his own Chapter or
     The Tau strike team may also be sighted “searching for             character specific events for Battle-Brothers who fall
     something” on other continents.                                    prey to the Delirium. However, here are a few ideas to
   • If the Kill-team is single-mindedly determined to end their        build upon:
     Mission in the glade, the GM has a few choices: He can let            A Black Templar may see a vengeful coven of
     them depart, and cut the adventure short, with subsequent          witches he purged in his early days with the Chapter.
     events revealing that they failed in their Primary Objective;      Alternatively, he may suddenly feel himself persecuted
     the Tau gain a new weapon that will surely come back               by his brothers for his Chapter’s lack of adherence to
     to plague the Crusade forces. Or (a more heavy-handed              the Codex Astartes.
     but less harsh option), when the Spear of Fury returns for            A Storm Warden may experience a sudden distortion
     extraction, Brother-Captain Jaresh queries into the results        of time, as though locked in stasis with his First
     of their Mission. Upon hearing the details, he reports             Company. Or, he may see a daemonic traitor Primarch
     that his ship’s Sensorium array suffered strange feedback          calling the purity of his gene-seed into question.
     when reading the planet’s surface, and suggests that more             A Blood Angel may see Horus bearing down on
     Trellises may remain. (He is less than pleased at returning        him for betrayal, or find himself surrounded by those
     only to have to wait, but the Battle-Brothers have access to       of his Chapter who have succumbed to the Black Rage,
     the Gunship again for faster intra-planetary transport.)           beckoning him to join them in mindless violence.
    Once the Battle-Brothers realise other Trellises may still             A Dark Angel may suddenly find traitor Fallen
lie on the planet, they need a method for pinpointing the               Angels lurking in his environment, or be plagued
locations. The GM should encourage their own clever ideas,              with the constant sensation of the earth beneath him
but a few possibilities include:                                        cracking—reliving the destruction of Caliban.
   • Scan footage of the planet for similar visual anomalies.              An Ultramarine may feel a keen and constant pain
     Of course, the Battle-Brothers alone would need months             beneath the seal of his helmet, as though sharing in
     to wade through all the picts stored in the main Imperial          the mortal wound of his Primarch. Or, he may see the
     military installations, so they would need the appropriate         half-consumed forms of the many Battle-Brothers lost
     Tests to employ or persuade cogitators, servitors, or              to Tyranids in the Battle of Maccrage.
     regiments of guardsmen for the task.                                  A Space Wolf may hear the call of his lupine pack
   • If a Techmarine does access the Delirium Trellis, he               in the distance, or perceive his ancestors from Fenris,
     discovers each device also contains the planetary coordinate       constantly cheering him on to challenge his Brother
     matrix used to deploy the devices to the proper locations.         Space Marines in contests of skill, strength—or
     A Challenging (+0) Logic Test can decipher the                     anything at all.
     information sufficiently to determine the other locations
     of devices that did not activate. Failure by less than one         After they determine the approximate locations of the other
     degree reveals the entire web, composed of hundreds of          Delirium Trellises, the Kill-team can deal with them in any
     deployment points, but gives no insight into which ones         order (although some paths are more efficient than others).
     still remain.                                                   The table below gives distances between each of the relevant
   • If the Kill-team has realised light interferes with the         locations, and travel time at the Land Speeder’s maximum
     phasing mechanism, planetary augurs controlled by the           cruising velocity. The GM should slightly expand the series of
     main military installations could be modified to search the     events at whichever location is visited last, as described in the
     planet for Delirium Trellis signatures.                         Final Conflict section.


                                                                                                                      13
                    ThE FisT oF ThE EmPEror                                              Faithspyre Station is the smallest of the four major
                                                                                         installations. Built into the side of one of the range’s tallest
                    The Kill-team may choose a course of action that requires            mountain, it overlooks hundreds of kilometres of the western
                    translators, manpower and/or equipment from the Imperial             continent. Much of the interior is given over to docking
                    Guard stationed on the planet. There are four large installations    platforms and vehicle bays, as the majority of space traffic lands
                    of the Imperial military on Baraban.                                 here due to the lower density of combat on the this continent.
Shadow of Madness



                    Epsilon Garrison on the northeast continent is the closest           Faithspyre also sees the fastest turnover in command, due in
                    installation to where the Kill-team lands, as Outpost 420 is         no small part to the hub’s easy access to off-world channels
                    one of its satellites. Morale is low since the disappearance of      for requesting re-assignment. Its current authority is Captain
                    General Caroses, and Colonel Afton has his hands full trying         Martex of the Imperial Navy.
                    to restore order. He is receptive to any requests that do not
                    overly tax his time and resources, just to get the Kill-team out
                    of his thinning hair.
                    Fort Avernus is also on the northeast continent, albeit its              The Towering
                    most southern peninsula. Its powerful las emplacements and
                    easily defended position make it the most secure installation.
                    From here, Lord General Sarenus commands the overall                        Glades
                    struggle for Baraban. He is an even-tempered veteran who has


                                                                                         T
                    worked with enough Space Marines in his long career to no                   he oldest and tallest trees on Baraban fill the western
                    longer be intimidated by them. However, he does understand                  part of the northeast continent. The Delirium Trellis
                    the strategic value of unravelling the planet’s ghosts.                     located here is in a contested piece of territory that
                    Fort Dorn is a battered foothold on the enemy-dominated              switches hands between Imperial and Vespid forces on a daily
                    southeast continent. Waves of enemy forces almost never stop         basis. All available information indicates the Battle-Brothers
                    assailing the underground installation. Thousands of soldiers        should expect a fight to reach their objective. However,
                    no longer mentally fit for the front labour in its lower levels to   unbeknownst to them, this location was already investigated
                    repel and repair constant tunnelling by the Vespids. General         by the Tau strike team, who accidentally activated the device
                    Kire is more than a little touched by the planet himself, and        in their attempts to recover it. Although Shas’El Keyl and
                    has trouble distinguishing his living troops from apparitions        most of his team managed to retain their minds long enough
                    of the dead ones.                                                    to withdraw, the Vespid were not so fortunate. The local




                                14
population suffered a fate similar to the one that ripped the
Baraban’s civilisation apart thousands of years ago.                    is XEnos wargEar TainTEd?
  When the Kill-team arrives, all is silent.
                                                                        In the course of serving the Deathwatch, encounters
                                                                        with alien technology are inevitable. Adeptus Astartes
                                                                        opinions on this topic are far more diverse than in
  The Vespid have made themselves at home in their long occupation
                                                                        the Imperial citizenry at large. Many Space Marine




                                                                                                                                        Shadow of Madness
  of Baraban. Tunnels burrow into the massive columns of tree
                                                                        Chapters are not as superstitious as the common man,
  trunks and wind through the knotted mounds of roots, casting
                                                                        but they are steadfast in faith, honour, and tradition.
  the venerable forest with the tinge of an alien landscape. A few
                                                                        The uneasy relationship between the Astartes Chapters
  insectoid corpses lie in the undergrowth. More xenos bodies hang
                                                                        and the Ecclesiarchy is rooted in the same fundamental
  out of their self-made catacombs, and individual chitinous limbs
                                                                        differences of philosophy.
  and wings seed the loamy earth.
                                                                            Some Space Marines may view xenos technology just
                                                                        as the Ecclesiarchy proclaims: a product of the enemies
                                                                        of man, from which no good can come. However to
Cursory examination of the scene reveals that the Vespid died
                                                                        others, just as the Emperor for all his greatness was
in variety of ways, largely by the claws of their own kin, and
                                                                        still a man, a tool of the alien is still only a tool.
shots from their own neutron blasters. The Trellis’s wilting
                                                                            Xenotech can be a dividing line not just in the
remains languish near a convergence of tunnel openings. The
                                                                        Deathwatch, but also in the Ordo Xenos whom they
dark webs are still, drained of movement and their shadowy
                                                                        serve. Ultimately, a Battle-Brother’s stance on it:
lustre. Already large patches of the panels are mottled, like the
                                                                        pragmatic, zealously condemning, or simply indifferent,
first blooms of rot on a corpse. However, the Battle-Brothers
                                                                        is something each player should contemplate.
must first contend with something far more pressing. The
Delirium effect still lies thick and potent over this area. Each
Battle-Brother should test for Delirium at a -20 penalty.            they can grow into more enemies. However, slaughtering
The earth around the rotting Trellis is unstable from the many       such defenceless opponents may put a bad taste in the mouths
subterranean structures in the area. Once the Battle-Brothers        of more honour-bound Adeptus Astartes.
locate it, any who approach within 15 metres should make a
Challenging (+0) Awareness Test. Failure means he does
not notice the ground’s instability beneath his heavy boots.
                                                                     Tau rEmains
Anyone who continues 10 metres or closer to the remains              As the Battle-Brothers survey the area, a Routine (+10)
must make a Difficult (–10) Acrobatics or Agility Test to            Awareness Test also picks out a Fire Warrior’s body amidst
avoid falling 8 metres through the weak earth into the dead          the wreckage. Examination of the corpse shows that he too
nest below. (This Test assumes a Battle-Brother is in his heavy      was killed by Vespid neutron blasters. The most interesting
power armour. It is only Challenging (+0) without that               fact to be gleaned here is that over a dozen Vespid dot the
extra weight.) If a Kill-team member does take a tumble into         ground nearby, punctured by pulse weapon fire. Either this
the tunnel network and does not have the means to jump or            Fire Warrior was a remarkable combatant to defeat so many,
climb out, he can wander the dirt necropolis for 2d10 minutes        or he was not alone.
(reduced by a successful Survival Test) until he finds an exit.          If any of the Kill-team decides to take a closer look at the
The interior of the nest is just as littered with dead xenos         detritus, a Challenging (+0) Search Test reveals a small,
as the surface, and barely wide enough for a Space Marine.           palm-held dome with some kind of projector array atop it.
However, the soft earth gives easily, leaving his armour a bit       The sophisticated Tau technology is well designed, so despite
dirty, but otherwise unharmed.                                       its alien nature a Routine (+10) Tech-Use Test can activate.
    The Trellis continues to slowly deteriorate before the Kill-     It produces a three dimensional display of a Delirium Trellis,
team’s eyes. Any character succeeding on a Challenging               with several annotations in the Tau language. This schematic
(+0) Awareness Test notes one panel is already completely            is the product of Earth Caste study of the battle where the
gone from the Trellis. Did it rot faster than the rest, or was       Trellis was first discovered. If a Literate character with Speak
it removed? If the Kill-team does nothing, the Trellis is            Language (Tau) deciphers the contents, they discover the
completely gone in 1d10+5 hours. Otherwise, they are free to         diagram actually contains directions on how to use modulated
take whatever actions they choose with the device, although          light frequencies to permanently remove the Trellises from
they must continue to be wary of the unstable ground.                their phased existence. This is the very procedure the Tau are
                                                                     using to try to recover a sample of one of the devices.
ThE haTchEry
An uneven stone mound rises out of the ground on the western
                                                                     t
side of the scene. Holes the diameter of a Space Marine’s            One particular patch of ground is thick with the alien
fist riddle it. This miniature catacomb holds developing             exoskeletons, like the piles of dead insects that might pour
Stingwings. Even the most matured of the creatures are still         from a poisoned pest hive. If the Battle-Brothers sift through
small and helpless compared to the Battle-Brothers. They put         this mound of rough wings and chitin, beneath it they find
up no fight if the Kill-team decides to cleanse them before          a sunken pit containing a heavily secured metal locker.


                                                                                                                     15
                    Opening the locker requires a Routine (+10) Security
                    Test. Inside lies a stock of the crystals unique to the Vespid      S
                    homeworld. These crystals power the Vespids’ signature
                    weapons, modulated to the proper energy frequencies by                                S       T     ag int Per wP Fel
                    their wings. The Delirium creates a fatal cycle of attraction                      (10)                            (8)
                    to the energised mineral in Vespid. They swarm the crystals,         50 25 50 45 60 15 44 30 12
Shadow of Madness



                    beating their wings at unnatural frequencies that create a low,
                    sustained energy field. The field and its ultrasonic signature      Movement: 6/12/24/48                                   Wounds: 19
                    is like drug, drawing the Vespid closer while poisoning their       Skills: Acrobatics (Ag) +20, Awareness (Per) +10, Climb (S)
                    bodies with its emissions.                                          +20, Concealment (Ag) +20, Dodge (Ag) +10, Silent Move
                                                                                        (Ag) +20, Speak Language (Kroot) (Int), Tracking (Int) +10,
                                                                                        Survival (Int) +10

                        Behind Enemy                                                    Talents: Assassin Strike†, Death from Above††, Furious
                                                                                        Assault, Leap Up, Lightning Reflexes, Melee Weapon Training
                                                                                        (Primitive), Sprint, Swift Attack

                            Lines                                                       Traits: Natural Weapon (Beak), Unnatural Strength (x2),
                                                                                        Unnatural Perception (x2)
                                                                                        Armour: Tattered Hide armour (Body 2, Primitive)


                    T
                            he southeast continent is similar in ecology to the         Weapons: Kroot hunting blade (1d10+10 R; Pen 4), beak
                            northeast, but the trees are the dark green of summer.      (1d5+10 R)
                            The Tau and their allies also have the strongest hold       Gear: None
                    on this landmass. The Delirium Trellis here is located towards      †
                                                                                         The half Move taken as a result of Assassin’s Strike can be in any
                    the centre of the continent, less than two hundred kilometres       direction, including a vertical jump or Climb.
                    from one of the planet’s largest Tau installations. The Kill-       ††
                                                                                           The Kroot may Charge vertically with a successful Acrobatics check.
                    team must be cautious and alert once they reach the thick,          Doing so grants them the same benefits a Deathwatch Assault Marine
                    verdant woodlands. The stealthy Kroot are at home in this           gets from Wrath of Angels when using a Jump Pack.
                    arboreal locale, and far more numerous than on the other
                    continents. If the Kill-team does not lay out at least some plan       Most of the xenos still have Kroot rifles, but they have
                    for avoiding detection as they travel towards their objective,      forgotten how to fire them at range. Instead they use the
                    they are interrupted several times by Kroot attacks (some           weapons’ bladed ends for melee. While the Space Marines
                    or all of which the GM may wish to summarise to avoid               have the clear advantage in training and equipment, the
                    monotony). This has the additional side effect of revealing         battleground strongly favours the Kroot, and it is clear they
                    their presence to the Tau if it had not happened already.           know how to take advantage of it.
                       A constant sense of being watched lingers over the journey,         The Kroot are clever enough not to go toe to toe with the
                    as movement constantly rustles through the thick tree canopy,       Space Marines. Instead, they take advantage of their speed
                    and visibility is poor. Maintaining top speed despite the thick     and mobility to launch diving attacks from the branches and
                    undergrowth and masses of vines requires a Routine (+10)            immediately swing back to a concealed position. The trees do
                    Drive (Skimmer) Test. Failure adds additional time to               not have the stopping power to provide any Armour Points
                    the trip.                                                           as cover from Adeptus Astartes weapons, but they do make
                       The area holding the Delirium Trellis is similar to the rest     targeting the creatures more difficult. Ballistic Skill Tests to
                    of the continent. Two trees have grown over the fan-shaped          hit Kroot in the tree foliage are Difficult (–10).
                    device in the millennia since its placement, and it is actually        Once the Battle-Brothers take care of the animalistic Kroot,
                    wedged tightly between them. The Battle-Brothers have               the difficulty of dealing with the Trellis depends on their plans
                    more to contend with than ornery flora, however. This clutch        for it. If they have set on a course of destroying the devices,
                    of trees is home to a tribe of Kroot that have succumbed            then this one poses little additional challenge. However, any
                    to Baraban’s Delirium. The creatures (numbering about half          destructive force great enough to annihilate the Trellis is almost
                    again the Kill-team size) leap from the trees almost as soon as     sure to topple the two massive trees around it. If the Kill-team
                    the Battle-Brothers exit the Land Speeder.                          seems to have forgotten that little fact while wedging their
                                                                                        explosives into the tight space, the GM may wish to call for
                                                                                        Intelligence Tests to realise the potential danger, or simply
                    t                                                                   Dodge Tests to avoid dents and damage from the falling
                    Although the Delirium Trellises do not affect alien races in the    trees. In any event, explosives and/or the felling of the large
                    same way as humans, the unfortunate repercussions of exposure       trees echoes like thunder through the forest, raising storms of
                    cannot be denied. Across Baraban, many Kroot have regressed         crying birds and almost certain to warrant investigation from
                    to a feral mentality under the planet’s malign influence.           the nearby Tau base. An enemy team of the GM’s choosing
                    Forgetting their alliance with the Tau Empire, these victims        arrives in 3d10 minutes, and engages the Battle-Brothers if
                    of the Delirium live in isolated nests in the dense forests. They   they have not departed by that time.
                    seem like little more than animals now, although they have
                    evolved a deadly hunting style suited to their arboreal nature.


                                16
   Trying to extract the Trellis from its trapped position is a more
challenging proposition. Possible avenues include:                        ByPassing ThE Envoy
   • Taking a chainsword to the base of one of the trees. This is
                                                                          If the flow of the story or the nature of a GM’s players
      a slow but steady method, requiring no Tests, but taking 20
                                                                          doesn’t lend itself to the appearance of Kor’Ui Arsheth,
      minus the wielder’s Strength Bonus in minutes.
                                                                          he’ll want to find some other mechanism for alerting
   • A Challenging (+0) Demolitions Test can pulverise one
                                                                          the Kill-team to the events transpiring at the Tau base.




                                                                                                                                                    Shadow of Madness
      or both of the entwining trees without damaging the Trellis.
                                                                          Possible avenues include:
      Failure by two degrees or more indicates that the Trellis is
                                                                             • A communication from the Imperial Guard telling
      destroyed in the blast.
                                                                               them they have discovered the General’s location
   • The Kill-team can carve away a portion of the trunks to
                                                                             • Arriving too late at one of the locations and finding
      expose the Trellis. This requires three successes on an
                                                                               the Trellis already gone. The size of ship necessary
      Extended Weapon Skill Test with most melee weapons,
                                                                               to transport the Trellis off planet means it is almost
      or an Extended Ballistic Skill Test with a weapon that
                                                                               certainly being taken to their main base.
      can produce a sustained blast like a melta or flame weapon.
                                                                             • After a clash with the Tau strike team (or from the
    If the Kill-team employs any method that involves felling
                                                                               bodies in the towering glade), the Battle-Brothers
trees, a successful use of the Evaluate Skill to determine weak
                                                                               might recover intelligence documents. Interpreting
points either halves the time needed or adds +10 to the chances
                                                                               it would require help from someone with Speak
of success.
                                                                               Language (Tau) or an Elucidator.
                                                                             • Move the base’s location on the planet to somewhere
XEnos rEmains                                                                  that the Kill-team sees one of the orbital shuttles
                                                                               descend through the atmosphere.
The Kroot nested in the tree branches, about fifteen metres
up. If the Battle-Brothers glance upwards, they see the series
                                                                       they died. A few crumpled pages of a manuscript in high
of structures formed from animal hides, leaves, and a mulch
                                                                       gothic flutter between two flat chunks of rubble. They appear
of partially digested wood from the Kroot’s iron stomachs.
                                                                       to be the account of a survivor of original settlement, but
Anyone who takes an interest in investigating these dwellings
                                                                       only the first, smeared page is legible. Time has otherwise
must make a Challenging (+0) Climb Test to scale their
                                                                       finished the work the Trellises did not.
way up to the primitive houses. Navigating them should
require the occasional Routine (+10) Awareness Test to
watch one’s footing, as a Battle-Brother strains these fragile
constructions considerably more than the light Kroot. (These
Tests are one step easier without the complication of power
armour’s weight.)
   It appears the entire colony joined in the fray with the
Kill-team, as exploration finds no additional Kroot. It does
                                                                              We may be the last survivors of this planet. Others live, but they are
provide concrete evidence that the creatures had strayed from
their faction. Leavings from Tau, Imperial, Vespid, and even
                                                                              naught more than empty man-shaped husks filled with madness. Only a
other Kroot victims litter the makeshift hut. Most of the
undamaged equipment is of little use to a Space Marine, both
                                                                              few days ago I walked in the singing gardens of the capitol with my
inconveniently small and of inferior make. However, a pair
of Tau EMP Grenades do roll around loosely near a gore-
                                                                              wife and son. How distant that seems when compared to the memory of
spattered carapace chest piece.                                               finding them lifeless in a great pool of their mingled blood. The knife
words oF warning                                                              was still in her hand.
One other point of interest crumbles within line of sight from
the Kroot den. The forest opens onto a large lake, where
severed stone columns break the surface, and adamantite
                                                                              Even though I doubt these words will ever be found, I feel compelled to
beams have lain long enough that even that the ultra-durable
metal is slowly fading to rust. This site was once the refuge
                                                                              lay down some memory of the home that was. Perhaps it is my own need
of the last inhabitants of Baraban. Here, the few people that
escaped the insanity ravaging their planet fled to hide from
                                                                              to occupy my mind, lest loneliness and loss do to it what the enemy’s
their less fortunate neighbours.
   A Routine (+10) Scrutiny Test suggests that the
                                                                              horrible weapon could not. I should also leave warning about these
wreckage once formed a fortified bunker supplied with water
from the lake. Little more evidence remains of this bastion’s
                                                                              cursed fiends, for their darkness will surely return to
lonely occupants than does of the planet’s condemned
civilisation. Bone fragments amidst the shards of metal and
stone suggest that whoever hid here probably did so until


                                                                                                                        17
                          The Western
                           Continent
                    T
Shadow of Madness



                            he Delirium Trellis on the mountainous western
                            continent resides on the Imperial side of the battle lines.
                            Unfortunately, the local Imperial Guard Company has
                    completely lost their sanity to the ghosts of Baraban, and
                    they have possession of the device. This unit of the Iocanthan
                    39’th deserted several months ago, killing their Captain and
                    Commissar in a terror-induced frenzy. Some of the men’s
                    minds remain irreparably shattered from the experience, while
                    those that partially recovered are no more inclined to return.
                    Insanity would be scarcely more of an excuse than cowardice
                    for their treasonous actions, and they know themselves
                    marked with a death sentence. The Company shelters in Old
                    Hollow, a mountain full of caverns and tunnels bored decades
                    ago by Vespid before Imperial forces claimed the surrounding
                    territory. The Delirium Trellis slept atop the mountain before
                    even the Vespid set up residence. The guardsmen would never
                    have known it was there, had the Tau not recently located and
                    come to recover it. The Tau were woefully unprepared for the
                    crazed, armed men living inside the mountain. Before they
                    perished, they did manage to un-phase the Trellis, revealing
                    it to the deserter company.
                        The Kill-team’s Land Speeder can negotiate the steep
                    mountains to reach Old Hollow, although at times the vehicle
                    goes nearly vertical to do so. The native life—large felines
                                                                                              The two remaining men react little to whatever transpires
                    and shaggy rams—shows little fear of the Space Marines or
                                                                                          with their fellows and the Kill-team. Their own minds have
                    their vehicle as they pass through the snow-laden conifers.
                                                                                          conjured far stranger visions since they came to Baraban. In
                    Whatever means the Kill-team used to locate the Trellis
                                                                                          fact, if the Battle-Brothers attempt to speak with the men, it
                    here, the closest they can get to its suspected location is a
                                                                                          requires deft persuasion to convince them that they are not
                    cliff approximately one third of the way up Mount Hollow.
                                                                                          just more of the planet’s ghosts. Either through roleplaying or
                    Several circular tunnels in the stone empty out to the rock
                                                                                          Interaction Tests, the Kill-team may convince the remaining
                    shelf, where a large circle of cleared earth stands.
                                                                                          soldiers to answer questions about who they are or what lies
                                                                                          in the caves beyond. The men raise no objection if the Angels
                    t                                                                     of Death go past them into the mountain.
                    The deserter company spends most of their time inside the
                    mountain, but cooking, recharging las power packs, heating            pe
                    stones for warmth, and other task requiring fire must all be
                    performed outside to avoid flooding the tunnels with smoke.           Vespid are larger than Tau, but not so large as an armoured
                    Fires of various sizes burn in the cleared circle. Smaller blazes     Space Marine—particularly when the xenos have their wings
                    flicker in upturned helmets and small troughs dug in the              tucked against their bodies to burrow. The stone tunnels do
                    frozen ground, while the largest fire—used to roast animal            not yield like the earthen passages on the northeast continent.
                    carcasses—roars in the remains of an Imperial Sentinel                The Battle-Brothers fit into Mount Hollow, but barely. Unless
                    cockpit. A dozen men mill in this area. Their military flak is        they are willing to forsake their holy power armour, the trek
                    still visible beneath a patchwork of animal skins and furs.           towards the Trellis is full of scraping and sparks. Their power
                        The saner members of the company are easy to spot as              armour suffers no real damage, but the Deathwatch colours
                    they are the ones who quickly retreat into the cave network           will need to be repainted.
                    at the sight of the Kill-team. Two of the men simply stay                The passage snakes through the mountain, occasionally
                    where they are, gutting the las-riddled corpses of mountain           opening into empty caves or splitting into small side alcoves,
                    rams. A trio of the most far-gone guards, however, leap up            but the trail up towards the Trellis is relatively un-branching.
                    and launched a crazed (and almost certainly suicidal) assault         From time to time they hear footsteps echoing nearby, but
                    on the Battle-Brothers. The profile for Imperial Guardsmen            unless they have found a way to move through the restricted
                    can be found on page 376 of the Deathwatch rulebook.                  passageways quietly, all of the deserters clear out in the wake
                                                                                          of the Kill-team’s approach.


                                18
t                                                                  entrance. When Orlos finally turns his attention to the Space
                                                                   Marines, he faces them with indignation. His first thought
Iocanthos is a harsh planet where warlords battle constantly       at seeing the Emperor’s Angels is that they must have come
over the rare and valuable Ghostfire flower. Most of the           to reclaim the “gate,” a gift he has proved unworthy of. He
planet’s troop tithes come from these nomadic armies. Bereft       also believes this judgement unfair. If a Techmarine is present,
of an immediate foe and plunged into mental instability, many      he assumes they must represent the group and addresses his
                                                                   rebuke to them, otherwise he rails at them all:




                                                                                                                                          Shadow of Madness
of the soldiers went back to a proxy of their ingrained habits
of harvesting. The largest node the Kill-team encounters on
their climb through the sloping tunnels is the resting place of
all these futile endeavours.                                         “No, wait! I just need more time!” He strides towards you,
    The deserters have hewn rough ledges all around the oval         expression slightly fearful yet not surprised that the Adeptus
cavern’s walls with knives and axes. The bizarre array of            Astartes have come. “I’m close to opening it, I can feel it. This,
would-be tithes collected on these shelves provides glimpses         all this…” he gestures about the room breathlessly, “I have done
into the various insanities crawling Mount Hollow. Many              for His task. I will complete it!”
piles bear an obvious similarity to the chief crop of Iocanthos:
hardy purple mountain thistle and red seed pods from local
                                                                       Modify the Guardsman profile as follows for Samsael
trees. However some of the other crops are the products of
                                                                   Orlos: add an empty bolt pistol (counts as an Improvised
dreams best left unknown. The makeshift shelves also hold
                                                                   Weapon) to his Weapons, add +10 to his Fellowship, and
bags of empty bolt shells and hand-carved wooden idols and
                                                                   give him the Fearless Talent. Orlos is obviously unstable, but
faceted Stingwing eyes—dried and strung together in long
                                                                   it is equally obvious a great many Imperial Guards are willing
cords.
                                                                   to follow his commands. The Battle-Brothers have several
                                                                   options, ranging from diplomacy to violence. The following
hall oF ThE mounTain King                                          information may be useful in resolving the outcome:
A charismatic conscript named Samsael Orlos is the de facto          • Orlos is a strong believer in the divinity of the Emperor’s
leader of the former soldiers now. Samsael’s brown hair                Chosen. As long as their message supports his delusion
has grown out of its military crop unevenly, and he wears              that he is meant to lead the deserters to a better place, he
the bloody and tattered coat from the slain Commissar.                 is receptive to what they have to say.
The dead man’s bolt pistol likewise hangs on Orlos’s hip,            • If hostilities erupt, the Guardsmen form one or more
although he spent its precious ammunition some time ago on             Hordes totalling a Magnitude of 40.
hallucinatory foes. He fancies himself the Vai (or “prince”) of      • Intimidation is less effective with the deserters than other
a rising warband. Enough men were willing to accept this               forms of persuasion due to their volatile psyches. If a
familiar structure that the few who opposed him did not last           Battle-Brother makes a successful Intimidation Test
long. When his men wrested the Delirium Trellis from the               against the deserters, half of them back down. However,
Tau, he became convinced that its shifting images reflect a            the other half immediately attack (with a total Magnitude
world on the other side, and the Trellis is a gate they just           of 20 instead of 40).
need to unlock. For days he has rallied the deserters around
the Trellis, preaching to them of the relief from the war
and freezing climate that awaits them on the other side of
this gate.
    Orlos and his men dragged the device as far inside the
mountain as the hive’s construction allowed. The visible
and slightly damaged device lilts in the centre of a massive
chamber, spectral images still dancing through its dark panels.
The bulk of the deserters and the results of their effort to
open their gate off of Baraban crowd the room. With no
tech-priests to commune with the device, Orlos and his men
resorted to experimentation and the best approximation of
tech-lore they knew how to mimic. Wires and hoses link
slipshod to the Trellis, feeding into a limping and weaponless
servitor. A scorched ring of stone and several blackened
corpses suggests a rite with promethium gone awry, and an
effigy of the Trellis, constructed from lasguns and vehicle
panels, lies as the broken remains of failed supplication.
    When the Space Marines enter the ignominious ceremony
hall, Orlos is shaking the servitor by its thick shoulders,
demanding it translate the mystery of the device. While he
is consumed with his task, several of his men heard the Kill-
team coming, and have their lasguns cautiously trained at the


                                                                                                                        19
                                  The Final                                                    As Kor’Ui Arsheth (assuming he is with them) leads the
                                                                                           Battle-Brothers down the gently sloping valley walls, they have
                                                                                           a clear view of the activity below. The base is 40 metres high

                                  Conflict                                                 and topped with a flat landing pad for spacecraft. As the Battle-
                                                                                           Brothers approach, an Orca dropship sits atop the structure,
                                                                                           and two Fire Warriors escort a man in Imperial military dress
                                                                                           towards it. Anyone who uses vision magnification to get a
Shadow of Madness



                    “He who believes force of arms does not contribute to victory is a
                    fool, but he who believes in force over cunning hands his victory      better look at the exchange sees that the General’s expression
                    to fools.”                                                             is stubborn, but fearful.
                                                                                               At the edge of deforested zone another, wider, landing circle
                         –From the Battle Doctrines of the Dark Angels Chapter             does not quite break the tree line. This dedicated platform was



                    K
                              or’Ui Arsheth is a Water caste envoy who came to             built to support the Tau’s massive Manta spacecraft. One such
                              Baraban as part of a larger contingent to persuade           super-heavy dropship waits there now. Even powered down the
                              General Caroses to the Tau point of view. However,           craft’s firepower is menacing: rows of missile launchers, twin-
                    he suffered his own misfortunes on Baraban, the greatest of            linked heavy railguns, and turret after turret of burst cannons.
                    them being that he is now under the effects of the Delirium.           The air caste crew is currently outside performing maintenance
                    The GM is free to place him in whatever situation and location         and preparing the ship for launch.
                    he pleases, but encountering him is likely to trigger the most             This Manta brought Shas’El Keyl and his team to Baraban,
                    climactic events of the Mission. Those who favour a flexible           and his force has not been idle while the Battle-Brothers
                    approach to story may therefore want to have him appear in             worked. The Tau Commander suffered several frustrating
                    the last location investigated. Possible options include:              moments of finding a surviving Trellis’s location, only to reach
                       Towering Glades: Kor’Ui Arsheth had accompanied the                 it and discover the Kill-team got there first. At a minimum he
                    Fire Warriors to see the object of interest, and was injured in        recovered a panel from the Towering Glade, and has it secured
                    the chaos when the Trellis activated. He is unconscious near           in a stasis field. If the Kill-team missed one of the Trellis
                    the other Tau corpses.                                                 locations, then the Tau may have a more substantial prize
                       Behind Enemy Lines: Kor’Ui Arsheth did not realise how              to actually fill the empty hold of the huge dropship they so
                    far the Kroot had regressed from the Greater Good. He came             optimistically brought.
                    to persuade them to return to a peaceful alliance. The timely              The Battle-Brothers have a clear line of sight on both ships,
                    interruption of the Kill-team is actually the only thing that          and some important choices to make. While the GM should not
                    saved him from being devoured, and he rushes out from his              dictate what his players can and can’t attempt, he should make
                    hiding spot to thank them once the battle is done.                     sure they understand the numbers and strength of weapons
                       The Western Continent: Kor’Ui Arsheth accompanied the               facing them; Space Marines only sell their lives dearly. Charging
                    Fire Warriors in their failed attempt to retrieve the Trellis. The     across the open ground towards the base is such small numbers
                    Kill-team finds him being held prisoner by Samsael Orlos.              highly risky, while a fight anywhere that the Manta can get a
                       Regardless of his location, the Tau is affected by the Delirium     clear shot with its main armaments is tantamount to suicide.
                    and regards the Battle-Brothers as allies. After thanking them         A Tactics Test is appropriate as the Kill-team assesses their
                    for “rescuing” him, he segues into a request:                          options. Depending on how well the Battle-Brothers succeed,
                                                                                           the GM can offer them information or advice based on the
                                                                                           following facts:
                       “Thank you Kai’El. I am most fortunate that you found me.             • The General is in Long Range of a Godwyn-pattern bolter.
                       However, I must ask for your aid again. I had not intended to           An easy solution exists to curb the risk that the Tau might
                       be gone this long. An important gue’la General waits there for          persuade him to share Imperial secrets. The Battle-Brothers
                       us to show him the wisdom of the Greater Good. It won’t be              only need to sacrifice a single life.
                       long before the others of my caste assume me lost to this strange     • The Kill-team can count nine unarmoured Tau Air Caste
                       backwater of strife and depart with him. I believe I will make a        on the docking circle. This is the usual complement of
                       much faster and safer return in your company. Will you escort           a Manta’s crew. If the Battle-Brothers can eliminate the
                       me back?”                                                               pilots before they can re-enter the Manta, it is doubtful
                                                                                               anyone else in the immediate vicinity is trained to man the
                                                                                               sophisticated craft. Furthermore, the loading is taking place
                       The Tau base sits in a lowland basin, its circular structure
                                                                                               at the rear ramp, opposite the ship’s main armaments. In
                    panelled in smooth, white shielding. The tree line has been
                                                                                               the unfortunate event that the Manta’s armament becomes
                    cleared for 100 metres in all directions, making anyone who
                                                                                               relevant, see Table 1–3 for its weapons compliment.
                    approaches visible and an easy target. Eight recessed oblongs
                                                                                             • There is no obvious sign of exactly what disposition of
                    ring the building at even intervals, evidencing retractable
                                                                                               forces may be inside the base right now. However, the
                    support weapons. Two railguns cover each of the four entrances.
                                                                                               truth is that only a few teams of Fire Warriors currently
                    A squad of Fire Warriors (see page 368 of the Deathwatch
                                                                                               occupy it; the Tau do not maintain a large presence on
                    Rulebook) also patrols the circumference of the base.
                                                                                               Baraban, leaving it to the Kroot and Vespid. The warriors
                                                                                               inside can form a Horde with a maximum Magnitude
                                                                                               of 30.


                                 20
 oFF-scrEEn oPEraTions
 In the darkness of the 41’st millennium there is only war—but not all wars are created equal. Particularly for powerful
 characters like the Adeptus Astartes, sometimes an event does not hold enough challenge or narrative interest to spend
 extensive time roleplaying through it. In these instances, you may find it useful to simply summarise the attempt and its
 outcome so that the main story can continue. Once the GM and the players agree on the players’ intended outcome and




                                                                                                                                               Shadow of Madness
 course of action to achieve it, the GM designates one Skill or Characteristic Test for each character involved. This Test
 should represent the best abstraction of the abilities the character is utilizing in the Operation. Each character involved
 Tests on the designated Skill or Characteristic and reports their degrees of success or failure. The GM then totals degrees
 of success, and consults Table 1–4 on page 22 to determine the outcome. As a general rule, you should not award XP
 (or Kill Markers) for Off-Screen Operations.
 e

 The Kill-team has accomplished all their Objectives on Vanir and are returning to their Teleport Homer for extraction.
 Earlier in the Mission, they were harried by forces of a rebellious Monarch, but had no time to deal with matters as simple
 as civil war. However, they must pass through the territory again on the way back, and the entire Kill-team decides
 to aid the Imperial cause by putting down as many of those particular rebels as they see. The Kill-team comprises 5
 Battle-Brothers. The GM allows each character to roll on their preferred combat Characteristic (WS or BS). The results
 across the group are: 4 DoS, 2 DoF, 1 DoS, 3 DoS, 0 DoF. This sums to 6 Degrees of Success, a Moderate Victory. They
 efficiently purged every rebel who crossed their path, but it was still a footnote compared the real Mission.

                                                                      salvaged anything of relevance from the Trellises, or dare to
   • The nearby mountains offer ample cover and narrow                hope their foes will not profit by escaping with one of the
     passes that vehicles cannot enter and that negate the            strange alien devices? Either storming the landing pad to
     advantage of large numbers. However, this is more                rescue the general or battling the strike team will challenge
     viable as a withdrawal strategy than as lure, since there        a full Kill-team. Force of arms alone will not serve the
     is no guarantee one or both of their targets wouldn’t            Battle-Brothers if they try to split their team to deal with
     simply take off instead of pursue.                               both issues at once. The stage of the battle is set, victory or
   • Two burst cannons cover each facing of the base, but             defeat depend upon the Battle-Brothers’ choices—and the
     the approach is open and there is still the Fire Warrior         Game Master’s.
     patrol to contend with. However, the patrol might be
     lured into an ambush. If a Battle-Brother reaches the
     structure intact, he must still pass a Challenging (+0)          manTa armamEnTs
     Security Test to gain entrance. The interior of the              Ion Cannon: (300m; S/2/–; 3d10+5; Pen 7; Twin-Linked)†
     base is built for the diminutive Tau. A Battle-Brother in        Burst Cannon: (60m; –/–/10; 2d10 X; Pen 3)†
     power armour would be at –10 to Weapon Skill Tests               Seeker Missiles: (2000m; S/–/–; 3d10+6 X; Pen 10; Clip
     inside due to the cramped environment.                           5)†
   • If the Kill-team devises a use for Kor’Ui Arsheth as a           Missile Pod: (120m; S/2/–; 2d10+6; Pen 5; Twin-Linked)††
     distraction or decoy, a Deceive Test or a well-conceived         Heavy Railgun: (400m; S/–/–; 6d10+12 I; Pen 12;
     story convinces him to help.                                     Devastating (1), Felling, Twin-Linked)
   • If the Battle-Brothers kept the EMP Grenades from                †
                                                                        The Manta has sufficient ammo hoppers for this weapon that clip
     the feral Kroot nests, Tau are highly dependent upon             size is irrelevant.
     their technology.                                                ††
                                                                         The tracking warheads grant a +20 to all Ballistic Skill Tests made
    Now is the moment of truth. Does the Kill-Team risk               to fire this weapon. Each missile can only be fired once.
letting vital information about the Baraban war front fall
into enemy hands? Do they gamble that the Tau have not


Table 1-3: Manta Armaments
                   Burst Cannons            Missiles Pod         Seeker Missiles Ion Cannons                    Heavy Railguns
 Count             16                       1                    2                     6                        1
 BS fired by Drone 30                       N/A                  N/A                   N/A                      N/A
 BS fired by Air
                   N/A                      35                   35                    35                       35
 Caste
                       Front: 8
                       Left: 6
 Covered Facings                            Front: 1             Front: 2              Front: 6                 Front: 1
                       Right: 6
                       Rear: 10



                                                                                                                           21
                      Table 1-4: Off-Screen Operations
                       1 PC Participating 2-3 PC’s Participating             4+ PC’s Participating Outcome
                                                                                                         Catastrophic: The involved characters nearly
                                                                                                         die, jeopardise the Mission, or otherwise make
                       4+ Degrees of Failure   5+ Degrees of Failure         7+ Degrees of Failure
                                                                                                         a complete mockery of themselves. Subtract 1
                                                                                                         Renown from the overall Mission Rewards.
Shadow of Madness




                                                                                                         Failure: The operation is a failure. Whatever
                                                                                                         result the characters were attempting, they affect
                       1-3 Degrees of Failure 1-4 Degrees of Failure         2-6 Degrees of Failure      the opposite. If combat was involved, each
                                                                                                         character carries 1d5 points of Damage back
                                                                                                         from the battle.
                                                                                                         Stalemate: There is no meaningful outcome to
                                                                                                         the operation. The characters made a respectable
                       0 Degrees of Success/ 0 Degrees of Success/           0 -1 Degrees of Success/
                                                                                                         effort; the GM can further shade whether they
                       Failure               Failure                         Failure
                                                                                                         accomplished even something trivial by whether
                                                                                                         the attempt was a net fail or success.
                                                                                                         Minor Victory: The operation will be quickly
                       1 Degree of Success     1-3 Degrees of Success        1-5 Degrees of Success      forgotten, but the characters accomplished what
                                                                                                         they set out to do. The effects may be temporary.
                                                                                                         Moderate Victory: The characters performed
                       2-3 Degrees of Success 4-6 Degrees of Success         6-9 Degrees of Success      admirably, accomplishing most of their goal, but
                                                                                                         without particular flair.
                                                                                                         Decisive Victory: The Operation was a tale
                                                                                                         worth re-telling. The characters affected a
                       4-8 Degrees of Success 7-10 Degrees of Success        10-13 Degrees of Success
                                                                                                         lasting achievement that was everything they
                                                                                                         could have hoped to accomplish.
                                                                                                         Heroic Feat: The involved characters achieved
                                                                                                         even more than they set out to do. What began
                       9+ Degrees of Success 11+ Degrees of Success          14+ Degrees of Success      as a side errand may very well end up being
                                                                                                         the most memorable part of the Mission. Add1
                                                                                                         Renown to the overall Mission Rewards.


                    reTurn To erioCh                                                      rEwards
                    Once their long-range vox beacon is activated, The Spear              Each Trellis kept from the Tau nets 200 XP. If the Kill-team
                    of Fury takes a day or two to return from its own battles             rescued or killed the General, this is worth 100 XP, as is defeating
                    to retrieve the Kill-team. Space Marines are not known for            the Tau command unit. Dealing with the crazed Guardsmen
                    sitting idle, and the Battle-Brothers are likely to want to use       at Mount Hollow without killing them, and keeping Epsilon
                    this time to further the war effort. The GM should give them          420from being overrun are also worth 100 XP each. Award an
                    an opportunity to outline the particular battles or activities        additional 200 bonus XP if the team managed to both rescue
                    the team intends to participate in, provided they stay as a unit      (not kill) the General and stop Shas’El Keyl from getting away.
                    so that whenever the Spear does arrive they can be speedily           The following are worth 1 Renown each:
                    extracted. Use the provided rules for Off-Screen Operations              • Stopping the Tau from getting any Trellises
                    to summarise these events.                                               • Stopping the Tau from taking the General
                        Inquisitor Quist meets with the Battle-Brothers upon their           • Defeating Shas’El Keyl and his command unit
                    return. She listens to their debrief and identifies the devices as       • Successfully dealing with two of more of the following:
                    Delirium Trellises if they have not already done so. She also              the Kroot attacking the Outpost, the regressed Kroot, the
                    fills them in with what she knows of the Trellises (as detailed            deserters at Mount Hollow
                    in the beginning of the adventure). She is exceptionally                  As always, the GM should feel free to further reward clever
                    pleased if they have managed to bring back a sample for study,        plans and good roleplaying.
                    but issues general commendations as long as the technology
                    did not fall into the Tau’s hands. Quist exhibits mild interest
                    in the feral Kroot and the Tau, but little concern for the fate
                                                                                          musings For ThE ordo XEnos
                    of the Imperial Guard regiments on the planet no matter the           The Battle-Brothers now have some insight into the cause
                    choices the Kill-team made.                                           of the “ghosts” of Baraban, but many new questions. What
                                                                                          threat could create such weapons of madness? And why
                                                                                          was Baraban singled out—or do more Delirium Trellises
                                                                                          lie undiscovered on populous planets even now? Was it just
                                                                                          coincidence that the Omega Vault’s luminators revealed the
                                                                                          devices, or are they linked to its inscrutable purpose?


                                22
       NPC’s and                                                       ††
                                                                         The gunner selects targets for these weapons, and should roll for
                                                                       them, using the machine spirit’s Ballistic Skill.


      Antagonists                                                      vEsPid sTingwing
                                                                       S




                                                                                                                                             Shadow of Madness
iniTiaTE danE oF ThE BlacK TEmPlars
S




                                                                                        S       T     ag int Per wP Fel
                                                                                             (8)
                  S      T     ag int Per wP Fel                        35 45 30 45 60 25 30 30 15
               (10)    (8)
 55 40 45 41 47 48 38 48 43                                            Movement: 4/8/16/32 Wounds: 15
                                                                       Skills: Acrobatics (Ag), Awareness (Per), Dodge (Ag) +10,
Movement: 5/10/15/30                              Wounds: 20           Speak Language (Tau, Vespid) (Int), Survival (Int)
Skills: Awareness (Per), Ciphers (Chapter Runes, Deathwatch)           Talents: Basic Weapon Training (SP, Primitive), Lightning
(Int), Common Lore (Adeptus Astartes, Deathwatch,                      Reflexes, Melee Weapon Training (Primitive),
Imperium) (Int), Dodge (Ag) +10, Drive (Ground Vehicles),              Traits: Flyer (10), Improved Natural Weapon (Claws),
Forbidden Lore (Xenos), Literacy (Int), Navigation (Surface),          Unnatural Toughness (x2).
Pilot (Spacecraft) (Ag), Scholastic Lore (Codex Astartes), Silent      Armour Natural Chitin Armour (3 AP in all Locations)
Move (Ag), Speak Language (Low Gothic, High Gothic) (Int),             Weapons: Neutron Blaster† (45m; S/2/–; 2d10+3 E; Pen 6;
Tactics (Int).                                                         Clip 24; Reload Full), claws (1d10+3 R)
Talents: Ambidextrous, Astartes Weapon Training, Bulging               Gear: Communion helm (includes vox)
Biceps, Deathwatch Training, Heightened Senses (Sight),                †
                                                                        A neutron blaster only functions when used by a Vespid
Hatred (Heretics), Nerves of Steel, Resistance (Psychic
Powers), Two-weapon Wielder (Melee), Unarmed Master.
Traits: Size (Hulking), Unnatural Strength (x2), Unnatural
Toughness (x2).
Armour Astartes Power Armour (Head 8, Arms 8, Body 10,
Legs 8; History: A Fury Like Lightning).
Weapons: Astartes Bolt Pistol (30m; S/3/—; 2d10+5 X;
Pen 5; Clip 12; Rld Full, Tearing), Astartes Combat Knife
(1d10+10 R; Pen 2), Astartes Chainsword (1d10+11 R; Pen
4; Balanced, Tearing).
Gear: Astartes jump pack, 3 bolt pistol reloads, devotion
chain.
Demeanours: Accept Any Challenge, Studious.


t
Lascannons (2): (300m, S/–/–, 6d10+10 E, Pen 10, Clip
40, Reload 2Full)
Turbo-laser: (750m, S/–/–, 4d10+30 E, Pen 20, Clip 5,
cannot be reloaded in flight, Blast (6) )
6 Hellstrike Missiles: (1000m, S/–/–, 4d10+6 X, Pen 10,
each missile can only be fired once, Blast (1) )
Twin-linked heavy bolters (4): (150m, –/–/10, 3d10+1
X, Pen 6, Clip 200, Reload 2Full, Twin-linked, Tearing)††
†
 These weapons can either be operated by the pilot, or the gunship’s
machine spirit, who has a BS of 40.


                                                                                                                         23
                     Appendix                                               on Erioch to a friendly duel at least once. The exception
                                                                            to his good nature is Watch Captain Servais. The two have
                                                                            conflicted time and again on matters of strategy, philosophy,


           T
                   he Non-Player Characters (NPCs) presented in this        and personality. The diametric opposition of their approaches
                   section represent a selection of prominent individuals   to combat has been a wedge between the two ever since the
                   who frequent Watch Fortress Erioch. They provide a       Raven Guard warrior arrived.
           starting suite of characters who may serve as leaders, allies,       While Tarran takes the mission of the Deathwatch with
           or rivals for a Kill-team. Each NPC description also contains    utmost gravity, he sees no reason not to use the assignment
           ideas for how they may initiate Missions or otherwise play a     to further the interests of the Storm Wardens during his term
           role in your campaign.                                           of service. Despite the Inquisitorial sanction, he possesses
                                                                            a burning drive to discover the truth behind the Nemesis
                                                                            Incident. He believes that it holds the key to the return of
Appendix




           waTCh CaPTain Tarran                                             the Storm Wardens’ original First Company. No one has
           Cearr                                                            read the Liber Tempest more than Tarran; he is always keen
                                                                            to volunteer himself and those under his command for any
                                                                            Mission where the Enslaver plague might be involved, and
           “The Tyranids aren’t going to be impressed by how many notches   frequently probes the Ordo Xenos representatives for any
           you’ve carved in your sword hilt. Show me how you use it!”       information they might have on the topic.
                                             –Watch Captain Tarran Cearr
           Like many Storm Wardens, Tarran is regarded equally as
                                                                            advEnTurE sEEds
           exceptionally brave or dangerously reckless depending on           • Over his term of service, Tarran has faced the marauding
           who gives the opinion. His shaved head is a canvas of tattoos        Ork warboss Zrikgutta on battlefield after battlefield
           in the patterns common on Sacris. Each intricate knotwork            across the Reach. Tarran has finally located the purported
           tells the story of a great battle—to anyone who can interpret        base of his foe on Shedu, and is eager to resolve a duel
           the symbols of his native tribe. Cearr is an outgoing man            long unfinished. However, the Deathwatch are anything
           whose brand of camaraderie involves scathing wit that spares         but well-received at this hub for criminal trade. The Kill-
           no one, and he has challenged nearly every Battle-Brother
                                                                               ThE PoliTics oF war
                                                                               On the surface the Deathwatch may seem like a
                                                                               Brotherhood united in cause and duty. However,
                                                                               in reality friction occurs whenever so many strong
                                                                               individuals of ardent and differing ideologies are
                                                                               suddenly thrust together, no matter how much else they
                                                                               may have in common. In addition to private agendas
                                                                               of Deathwatch warriors, Chapters, and Inquisitors, the
                                                                               organisation’s role in the Jericho Reach can put them
                                                                               at odds with the Achilus Crusade. The GM may or may
                                                                               not want to make this a primary theme in his campaign,
                                                                               but opportunities exist for groups who prefer a heavy
                                                                               dose of such interpersonal roleplaying.
                                                                                  The NPC’s presented in this section expose just a
                                                                               few the varied clashing personalities and agendas that
                                                                               might cross the threshold of Erioch. It is important
                                                                               to understand that tensions between Battle-Brothers
                                                                               almost never reach lethal violence. While Servais and
                                                                               Tarran Cearr might jibe and seek to outdo one another,
                                                                               they would never endanger each other or the other’s
                                                                               Missions. However, personal slights, favours for other
                                                                               rivals, and influence over the decisions of the Council
                                                                               are all fair game.
                                                                                  Friends inside and outside the Deathwatch can
                                                                               also reap concrete benefits. A well-disposed Inquisitor
                                                                               might access their archives to provide additional
                                                                               information for a mission, and it is never detrimental
                                                                               for the authority assessing your Mission’s difficulty for
                                                                               Requisition to stack the odds in your favour.



                       24
    team must negotiate violent mistrust wherever they go as          advEnTurE sEEds
    they track their quarry into a wasteland filled with Orks.
  • A transmission comes from the far-flung Watch Station               • The Crucible Resolviate has recently acquired an almost
    Grace of the beginnings of an Enslaver plague on a remote             intact Crisis Battle Suit. Unfortunately, its vital central
    world. Ever eager to learn more about this encroaching                cogitator core is severely damaged. Quist requests the
    species and its linkage to his Chapter, Tarran joins the              Battle-Brothers’ aid in an assassination Mission that is
    Battle-Brothers in answering the call. When the Kill-team             really little more than an excuse to acquire the missing
    reaches the planet, they find it already under sanction               component for her allies. If she has reason to trust
    from the Ordo Xenos. Will the Battle-Brothers eliminate               the Battle-Brothers, she may enlighten some or all
    the Enslavers as quickly as possible, or indulge Tarran’s             of them as to her real objective. If she does not, then
    desire to learn more about their foe before destroying it?            they may find some of the Inquisitor’s orders very
                                                                          questionable indeed.




                                                                                                                                              Appendix
                                                                        • The Black Reef has long been a source of dark legends
inquisiTor adrielle                                                       and malefic alien artefacts in the Jericho Reach. A new
quisT                                                                     abomination has surfaced in the region’s budding cold
                                                                          trade: parasites that rob men of their will and turn them
                                                                          into biddable puppets—for a time. The conspiracy
“We all want the same thing, Brother-Sergeant: to see humanity            was uncovered because the infected eventually enter a
reclaim not just the Jericho Reach, but our galaxy from our foes.”        berserker rage, relentlessly hunting the one who infected
                                                                          them and gibbering in an unknown alien tongue. The
                                                    –Adrielle Quist
                                                                          Inquisition has traced these parasites to planet on the
Adrielle Quist was first noted by Inquisitor Carmillus for her            edge of the Black Reef, and Quist tasks the Battle-
prodigious telepathic abilities. Her sharp, investigative mind            Brothers with helping her put an end to their source.
distinguished her from her fellow acolytes, and during her                To do this, they must cross through space held by the
stature as Interrogator she was one of a select few brought to            Velk’Han Sept and then enter the perilous worlds of the
the Tower of Brass when her mistress became Inquisitor of                 reef itself.
the Chamber at Erioch. Five short years ago, Quist earned her
rosette, and remains Carmillus’s primary hand in the field.
   Quist has a deep fascination with alien technology that            harl GreYweaver
she keeps tightly concealed. She is all too aware that many
around her would brand her radical or traitor for her desire          “That press is an affront to the machine spirits! Honour them the old
to see them match the technological advancement of races              fashioned way, with a hammer and the sweat of your brow.”
                       like the Tau. She is secretly one of
                                                                                                            –Forge Master Greyweaver
                       the Crucible Resolviate’s principal
                                  sources of xenos artefacts.         This Iron Priest has been the Forge Master of Erioch since his
                                     The fresh Inquisitor             predecessor answered a summons to serve the Achilus Crusade
                                        would like greatly to         a decade ago. While the influence of Greyweaver’s time in
                                          find       Deathwatch       the unorthodox halls of the Deathwatch shows in his servo-
                                            warriors who share        harness and other small deviations from the traditions of the
                                            her open mind             Isles of Iron, he is not nearly close enough to the teaching
                                             about the path           of Mars as many of the Techmarines who serve under him
                                             to       humanity’s      wish. The Iron Priest has adorned most of the Fortress’s
                                              advancement, as         major workshops with icons of the Iron Wolf, and rivers of
                                               it would make          molten metal flow through his domain deep in the heart of
                                                procuring items       Erioch. He is notoriously intolerant of other Chapter’s brands
                                                 from       their     of tech-craft, but his efficacy in conjuring the tools of war is
                                                 Missions     far     so great that no one has yet been able to oust him. His fervent
                                                less laborious.       hatred of alien technology puts him at frequent odds with
                                                                      the Crucible Resolviate and Inquisitor Quist. Every piece
                                                                      of xenotech adopted into the Deathwatch arsenal since his
                                                                      arrival has been so grudgingly.




                                                                                                                          25
                                                                             waTCh CaPTain servais
                                                                             “You may find that to bluster is not nearly so important as to listen.”
                                                                                            –Watch Captain Servais to Watch Captain Cearr
                                                                             Servais of the Raven Guard has been a part of the Deathwatch
                                                                             less than a year. A master sniper and infiltrator, he and the Kill-
                                                                             teams under his auspices are frequently called on to perform
                                                                             or consult in targeted assassinations. His quiet, calculating
                                                                             mannerisms have isolated him from some of his Battle-
                                                                             Brothers, although he has never refused training to anyone
                                                                             who sought it from him. Servais speaks quietly, and prefers to
Appendix




                                                                             analyze and evaluate before striking. Tarran Cearr’s dislike of
                                                                             his tactics is entirely reciprocated, and the sniper constantly
                                                                             seeks to prove that forethought triumphs over frenzy.
                                                                                Servais can be difficult to get to know, but is intensely loyal
                                                                             to Watch Commander Mordigael, and indeed anyone—Space
                                                                             Marine or not—that makes the effort to pierce his withdrawn
                                                                             exterior.


                                                                             advEnTurE sEEds
                                                                               • When Chaos Space Marines plunder the corpses of
                                                                                 Deathwatch operatives for their gene-seed in the Orpheus
                                                                                 Salient, it is an affront that cannot go unanswered. The
                                                                                 stolen cargo has been taken to a Chaos stronghold on
                                                                                 Khazant. A great many members of the Deathwatch
                                                                                 volunteer to recover it; Servais and Tarran Cearr are
                                                                                 both among them. The former’s plan involves stealthy
                                                                                 infiltration while the latter proposes a bold frontal
           advEnTurE sEEds                                                       assault. The Kill-team can choose to go with one of these
                                                                                 Captains and their approach, or form their own.
            • It is a bitter moment of loss on Erioch. A Kill-team of five     • Servais’s kill record is almost flawless. Almost. His one
              Battle-Brothers equipped in terminator armour recently                          failed Mission returns to plague the Canis
              died terrible deaths on Castobel. Their failure to halt the                                Salient. Human converts to the
              latest assault on one of the planet’s standing hives and the                                  Tau’s infectious Greater Good
              loss of an entire team is a grave blow. Its magnitude is                                        are far too common in the
              heightened by an accusation that the machine spirits                                              Canis Salient. One such
              of their armour betrayed them. The Battle-Brothers                                                 traitor is a former Ordo
              must both complete their fallen brethren’s Mission,                                                Xenos Acolyte, Serena
              and recover evidence from the wreckage of whether                                                  Erizon. Too much exposure
              the Forge Master failed in his calling. Greyweaver is                                             to alien philosophies finally
              not a popular man; he has many enemies who may                                                    caused them to lodge in the
              have conspired against him.                                                                        young scholar’s brain. When
            • The apostate tech-magi of Samech have unleashed                                                     Servais went to prevent her
              a new weapon in their corrupt arsenal: a warship                                                    knowledge from falling to
              that requires no crew. It is controlled by intricate                                                the enemy, she escaped in a
              cogitators and the sacrifice of thousands of souls to its                                           surprising manifestation of
              hunger. The Thunder’s Word managed to down this                                                    her hereunto latent psychic
              blasphemous creation above the planet Ries. However,                                               potential. She has used the
              the ship’s engine core survived its crash through the                                              Tau’s poor understanding
              atmosphere and festers on the frontier world. The                                                  of her abilities to rise
              Forge Master himself accompanies the Kill-team to see                                             through the convert ranks at
              this sacrilegious tech-daemon put to rest. Unfortunately,                                               an alarming speed, and
              the natives found it first, and many take to worshipping                                                  now holds sway on
              the newly fallen god.                                                                                      one of the Velk’han
                                                                                                                         Sept’s      outlying
                                                                                                                         worlds.



                      26
arius hYzeron                                                        roGue Trader diaz lan
“The darkness bides its time. We must match its patience while we    “I assure you this is a strike of great strategic importance. The
wait, and entrust our souls to the Emperor’s light.”                 Deathwatch should be there when the Crusade forces land. Will there
                                                                     be Xenos? Why shouldn’t there be? Doesn’t the Reach crawl with
                                                   –Arius Hyzeron
                                                                     them?”
The Ultramarine Arius Hyzeron has been on Watch Station
                                                                                                            –Rogue Trader Diaz Lan
Erioch longer than any other Battle-Brother. He has served as
one of the ten Guardians of the Chamber of Vigilance for over        The Lan Rogue Trader Dynasty comes from military stock,
two centuries. Although no one is left who can confirm or            and sent many vessels through with the Achilus Crusade.
deny, it is said that Seargent Varthion himself recommended          Diaz is the much younger brother of the Dynasty’s current
Arius to his current post for his role in the famous defence         Scion, Kazandus. A far better diplomat than the Crusade’s




                                                                                                                                           Appendix
of the warp gate. This places Arius in the Jericho Reach over        busy Lord Militant, Diaz Lan was nominated by the Dynasty
four hundred years ago. He has seen the arrival of many new          to take a hiatus from exploration and serve as Crusade liaison.
alien threats since that time.                                       He is often the voice of requests from the Crusade, and Lord
    Arius is gifted his with his Chapter’s brilliant charisma, and   Militant Tetrarchus himself.
has forged bonds with many people on Erioch over his years               In truth, Lan is quite tired of his position, though he masks
there—even the stubborn Forge Master Greyweaver. He has              it well. He had command of his ship, the Horizon’s Pride,
an easy smile, although his face is marred by a triumvirate of       for only a few short years before his brother assigned him
parallel scars that cross over his augmetic left eye. He is also a   to the war contingent. He longs for more freedom over his
repository of speculation and past tales of the Omega Vault.         endeavours and better chances for profit than what the three
This makes him of great interest to Epistolary Axineton.             bloody Salients leave him. Congenial and an able warrior, he
                                                                     is on excellent terms with many Crusade military men and
                                                                     commands great swathes of resources. Ships from the Lan
advEnTurE sEEds                                                      forces also have a habit of “straying” from the main Crusade
  • Arius’s post keeps him from the field except when                fleet into less explored parts of the reach. The reports they
    accompanying a member of the Chamber of Vigilance.               send back to Lan make him a vast repository of knowledge
    When the Deathwatch sees an alarming pattern of                  on xenos races and worlds.
    reports describing Imperial troop transports that arrive at
    their destinations painted in blood yet empty of corpses,
    Arius seems to recognize a grave threat from the past.
                                                                     advEnTurE sEEds
    He personally requests that the Kill-team look into the            • One of Lan’s explorer teams that ranged far from the
    matter.                                                              war lines recently returned to him with news from the
  • The Omega Vault unseals a preserved manuscript                       Orpheus Salient: the Hive Fleet bears down on a new
    detailing the location of a planet in the Outer Reaches.             planetary target. The small colony could be easily
    Arius recognizes the planet, and tells a story of a Kill-            evacuated and perhaps a trap laid for the oncoming
    team that once chased an unknown xenos enemy back                    horde. Lan cannot report this to the Crusade as it would
    to those same coordinates. They sent a few long-range                raise too many questions, so he informs the Deathwatch.
    communications, and then contact was lost. The Kill-                 Furthermore, he insists on accompanying the Kill-team
    team’s last message was “Emperor forgive us for opening              as one of his own is still on the planet.
    their dread eyes. We will spend the last drop of our blood         • After a series of devastating losses in the Canis Salient,
    to close them.”                                                      morale is perilously low. The stagnant war aboard the
                                                                         Execution Eternal has become symbolic of the entire
                                                                         Salient’s struggle. The Crusade sends Lan to request the
                                                                         Deathwatch’s aide in bringing that struggle to a decisive
                                                                         conclusion. However, unknown to them, the Tau have
                                                                         just deployed the famed Commander Scornfoe to settle
                                                                         matters in the Tau Empire’s favour.
                                                                       • Lan arrives with a small group of Crusade officers.
                                                                         Almost immediately after, a failed assassination attempt
                                                                         on Watch Commander Mordigael puts all of Erioch on
                                                                         edge. The Watch Fortress is a carefully guarded location.
                                                                         The possibility of a traitor and the certainty of an enemy
                                                                         in the walls are both intolerable notions. The Battle-
                                                                         Brothers must determine if Lan or one of his passengers
                                                                         brought the assassin, as well as locate the would-be killer
                                                                         before he does real damage to the Deathwatch fortress.




                                                                                                                        27
                             Mission                                                using locaTion
                                                                                    Location can be used sparingly or heavily, depending on your

                             Building                                               needs. When the location is important, remind the players of
                                                                                    their environment frequently while describing the area and
                                                                                    events around them. Location can have an effect on combat,
           “No one man, however exalted or base, is more important than the         creating a battleground as simple or complex as a particular
           mission.”                                                                encounter calls for; use the rules in Chapter VIII: Playing
                                                                                    the Game of the Deathwatch Rulebook for situational
                                                            –Commissar Holt
                                                                                    modifiers or devise some of your own. Location also shades


           T
                   he Deathwatch Rulebook lists several Mission                     the people the Kill-team encounters during their Mission,
                   Archetypes for Kill-teams. This section expands on a             and the way those people are inclined to react to the players.
Appendix




                   framework for building missions that resonate with
           your players and allow them to experience a compelling variety
           of roleplaying and combat opportunities. Most Game Masters
                                                                                    locaTion Building BlocKs
           eventually establish a framework for creating adventures, and              • The environment is wet and swampy. While their
           a single “correct” interpretation does not exist. However, if                sealed power armour protects the Battle-Brothers, the
           you are new to the role of GM or to the Deathwatch game,                     Techmarine is constantly performing trivial maintenance
           you may find this starter’s guide useful. This model breaks a                on all but the most robust weapons, wargear, and vehicles.
           Mission down into the following:                                             The risk of guns Jamming may increase.
              • Locations: The physical environment or environments                   • The environment is a teeming ecosystem. Small lizards
                in which the Mission takes place                                        and mammals are so abundant that the Battle-Brothers
              • Objectives: The tasks the Kill-team must complete to                    crush some underfoot if they don’t tread carefully.
                call the Mission a success                                            • The Mission takes place in a desert. The inhabitants are
              • Enemies: Foes who directly oppose the Kill-team,                        tough and tanned from life in the harsh environment and
                usually with the threat of violence                                     value water above any other currency. Foot and ground
              • Assets: Conditions that help the Kill-tem achieve their                 vehicle travel is slow in the shifting sands, and frequent
                objectives                                                              sandstorms impede visibility.
              • Obstacles: Hindrances to the Kill-team’s success that are             • The local populace has never heard of the Adeptus
                less overt than enemy forces                                            Astartes. They treat the Battle-Brothers like Ogryns or
              • Choices: Decisions the Kill-team must make in the                       some other sub-species of human. The civilisation may
                course of the Mission                                                   be particularly intolerant and object to these “mutants”
               Each of these components serves as a tool in constructing                having powerful arms and armour.
           Missions, and each has a distinct effect on the feel of the                • The Kill-team’s Objectives lie on a war-torn planet.
           story you create with your players. The text below discusses                 Senseless death and carnage surrounds them; mothers
           effective use of these components, and presents a menu of                    plead for the Emperor’s Angels to protect their children,
           starter options to fill your toolbox. When you go to build                   but the Kill-team must ignore a thousand small miseries
           your own Missions, you can reach into that box and select                    to combat a larger threat.
           from these tools, combining them with elements of your own                  The local environment is extremely toxic; even Space
           devising into Missions that fit your players and campaign.               Marines would not last long if exposed to the choking
                                                                                    atmosphere and acidic earth. Every puncture of a Battle-
                                                                                    Brother’s power armour must be sealed immediately or the
           loCaTion                                                                 poisonous environment takes its toll.
           The backdrop for a Mission can drastically change its feel. Even
           the simplest seek and destroy mission plays out quite differently in
           a towering Hive city than it does in an arctic wasteland. Location       oBjeCTives
           includes the terrain, as well as the inhabitants and political climate   Chapter VIII and Chapter X of the Deathwatch Rulebook
           of the setting. Because of the Adeptus Astartes’ relative isolation      cover the definition of Mission Objective and lay out
           from humanity, they are unlikely to be drawn into local politics         several different types. Objectives are often the backbone
           and conflicts, making events of great significance to the common         of a Mission, as they define the reason for the Kill-team’s
           citizenry just one more element of the background for a Mission.         deployment. However, the very nature of the Deathwatch
           A civil revolt or even an outright war can be extraneous to a Kill-      implies that Objectives can be fluid, and the GM should have
           team’s Mission, but it is important colour to the Location where the     an idea both of what the Kill-team expects the Objectives to
           Mission takes place. Chapter XIII of the Deathwatch Rulebook             be, and what they may ultimately become. Below are some
           details many locations with interesting geography, cultures, and         detailed examples ready for Mission construction.
           background events. The Location suggestions presented here are
           general enough to place on established Jericho Reach locations
           or your own.



                        28
using oBjEcTivEs                                                   using EnEmiEs
Objectives can be as concrete or as abstract as the GM             If players remember little else about a Mission, they usually
desires. He should not feel obligated to reveal to the players     remember who they fought. Even if your group has a favourite
up front, or ever, what he considers the Mission Objectives        foe, fighting the same thing over and over can become
to be. Sometimes, the entire situation and everything to be        repetitious. If using the same enemy force in an extended
accomplished may be laid out in the Briefing. Other times          story arc, decide whether it is only the general threat that
the actions actually needed to achieve heroic success may be       you want to recur, or specific individuals (who probably
nothing like the Kill-team went in expecting. If your players      then need a level or two of Touched by The Fates). Amongst
are prone to marching only down the road in front of them,         the nameless throngs, you can vary the troop composition,
they may finish a Mission without uncovering a large set           armament, numbers, and challenge level.
of possible Objectives. You can help by throwing players




                                                                                                                                       Appendix
another “hook” if they miss the first one. Less forgiving GM’s
may be tempted to let the players reap the fruits of their
                                                                   EnEmy Building BlocKs
obliviousness, but do you really want your creative labour go        • A member of the enemy faction has a grudge against a
to waste because someone didn’t ask the right question or              particular Battle-Brother or the entire Kill-team. This
failed an Awareness Test?                                              individual will stop at nothing to see them eliminated in
                                                                       the most painful way possible.
                                                                     • The enemy is cowardly. Their forces can obliterate unarmed
oBjEcTivE Building BlocKs                                              human citizens, but hide at the first whisper of an Adeptus
  • An enemy invasion force is descending upon a strategically         Astartes presence. The Battle-Brothers have to actively
    critical planet. A military fleet is en route, but the Kill-       root this threat out and force it into a confrontation.
    team is closer and must help the locals survive until help       • The enemy relies on mercenary forces. The Battle-Brothers
    arrives.                                                           cannot get face to face with the real threat because of the
  • A transmission has just been received from a Kill-team             waves of intermediaries. Perhaps the real enemy is not
    thought lost in the Acheros Salient a decade ago. The              even present at the site of the Mission.
    PC’s must risk the possibility of a trap and walk in the         • The Battle-Brothers are not allowed to attack the enemy.
    domains of the Traitor Legions to retrieve their Brothers,         The enemy has political immunity, or it possesses some
    or at least recover their gene-seed.                               crucial information that the Deathwatch must acquire at
  • The Achilus Crusade has arranged to exchange prisoners             all costs.
    of war with the enemy. The military petitions the                • The Kill-team has a grudge against the enemy. This is
    Deathwatch to ensure the trade goes smoothly.                      the reverse of the first scenario. The enemy grievously
  • The Kill-team is sent as re-enforcements for an active             wronged the Kill-team’s honour, one of their Chapters, or
    assault Mission by another Kill-team or a deployment of            performed some other act to earn animosity. The Battle-
    a traditional Chapter Company.                                     Brothers may not always act rationally in their pursuit of
  • Alien technology has been discovered on a populated                this hated foe.
    planet. The Kill-team must retrieve it not just from where
    it lies, but also from the hands of any Imperial citizens
    who wittingly or unwittingly possess it.                       oBsTaCles
  • The Battle-Brothers answer a call for help from an Imperial    Enemies are not the only factor that a Kill-team might have to
    held world. When they arrive, the entire population is dead    overcome. Less direct and usually less violent circumstances
    or missing. The Battle-Brothers must find the menace that      can also put the Kill-team at a disadvantage, or provide
    destroyed this world before it claims another.                 an advantage to the enemy. Several of the Complications
                                                                   in the Deathwatch fall into this category. Obstacles and
                                                                   Complications are essentially the same thing; their discussion
enemies                                                            here focuses on their role in Mission building.
Warhammer 40,000 Roleplay offers no end of options for
foes to directly oppose a Kill-team. Chapter XIV of the
Deathwatch Rulebook is an obvious starting point for
                                                                   using oBsTaclEs
ideas, but other warhaMMer 40,000 sources, both from               Obstacles are a key ingredient of memorable stories. Without
the roleplaying game and the tabletop game can provide             them, the story can quickly become a parade of fights
inspiration. Once you have settled on a species and technology     with a few sentences of exposition to link them. Obstacles
base for the enemy (or enemies) in your Mission, you have          present a chance to control pacing, to allow players to flex
several other decisions to make. How skilled or powerful are       their problem-solving abilities, and to vary the challenge
the particular forces featuring in this Mission? What do they      level of a Mission without necessarily adjusting the enemy
want, and what risks will they take to get it? Is there a point    profiles. Obstacles often yield some of the more interesting
at which the enemy will retreat rather than continue to fight?     roleplaying scenarios. Choose obstacles that showcase the
Will they deliberately avoid combat with the Battle-Brothers       interests of your players, the abilities of their characters, and
in the first place?                                                the themes of your story.


                                                                                                                    29
           oBsTaclE Building BlocKs                                            • The enemy or location has been dealt with before. The
                                                                                 Kill-team has extensive and accurate information on the
             • The Kill-team’s Objective is a simple seek and destroy.           Mission to properly plan and equip.
               However, a nominally friendly force like the Inquisition        • The Mission Authority opts to provide the Kill-team
               or the Achilus Crusade is after the same thing, and their         additional Requisition, or specialised equipment beyond
               plans definitely do not involve destroying the Objective.         the threat rating.
             • An individual or race that one (or more) of the characters      • Not one, but two threats or enemies plague the Mission.
               personally despises is present during the Mission, but as         However, they are as opposed to one another as to the
               an ally, advisor, contact or some other role where the            Space Marines. The enemy spends valuable time and
               Battle-Brother(s) must put personal hatred aside.                 resources in a war that has nothing to do with the Space
             • A vital friendly NPC in the mission is actually a traitor.        Marines, but leaves them ample opportunities to take
               They spend the Mission reporting the Kill-team’s                  advantage of the situation.
Appendix




               movements to the enemy and secretly opposing their              • The terrain does not favour the enemy—perhaps the foe
               success.                                                          is a flying strain but the planet is full of blustery winds,
             • The Adeptus Astartes are tasked with protecting the local         or a cold-blooded race on a freezing planet.
               populace from some threat, but the natives are obviously        • The Kill-team encounters an unexpected ally on the
               hiding something. They are not openly hostile or                  Mission: units of guardsmen willing to follow their
               heretical, but neither are they welcoming or cooperative.         commands, fellow Battle-Brothers on their own Mission,
               The Battle-Brothers may be left wondering if the greater          or a Rogue Trader’s crew whose profits the xenos threat
               threat is without or within.                                      is eating into.
             • The Kill-Team finds themselves in a situation that requires
               both military might and political manoeuvrings. Even
               the most charismatic Watch Captains are rusty in their        ChoiCes
               interactions with normal society. The Kill-team must          Choice is the secret ingredient that transforms a fun adventure
               partner with a member of the military or Inquisition who      into a story that your players remember. Forcing characters to
               is a liability outside political arenas.                      make difficult (or even not so difficult) choices gives the Battle-
             • The Kill-team were provided extensive intelligence            Brothers an opportunity to affect the story while highlighting
               on their Mission and given excellent opportunities to         their personality at the same time. Space Marines are action-
               prepare. Unfortunately, the enemy they came to fight          oriented individuals, prone to express their core beliefs not
               is gone, and the Kill-team faces something completely         through diatribe or heart to heart talks, but through their
               different instead.                                            deeds. Placing choices of morality, philosophy, or simple
                                                                             personal preference serves the dual purpose of getting the
                                                                             characters more deeply involved in the story, and allowing (or
           asseTs                                                            forcing) them to prove what is most important to them.
           Circumstance does not always have to favour the enemy.
           Consider whether chance, planning, or choices made in the
           past might provide the Kill-team some sort of advantage.
                                                                             using choicEs
           (You can always throw in more obstacles to keep things from       Choices are not just a means for characters to interact with
           getting too easy.) This doubles as an excellent way to make       the story, but also with one another. With the many grey
           players feel like their decisions matter (see below).             moral quandaries to be found in the Imperium, the Battle-
                                                                             Brothers may often disagree on the “right” course of action.
                                                                             Most groups enjoy some amount of interpersonal conflict,
           using assETs                                                      and that is particularly true for Space Marines whose bonds
           Assets are another tool for differentiating one Mission from      with one another are usually close. However, as the GM, you
           another. Assets that provide information can be used to           need to have a good grasp of where your players’ particular
           exposition relevant facts or gently nudge players towards the     threshold for such debates lies. Some groups feel they had a
           next segment of the story. They also provide the opportunity      worthwhile evening if they spent half the night arguing about
           to pit the Kill-team against enemies and obstacles they might     the approach to a single Objective, while others feel like they
           otherwise never be able to overcome.                              are “wasting time” with long discussions. Know when to
                                                                             let your players enjoy the debate, and when to prompt the
                                                                             Leader to make a call.
           assET Building BlocKs                                                 As the GM you have your own choices about how heavy
             • The Kill-team is fortunate enough to be accompanied by        the consequences of each of the Battle-Brother’s decisions
               allies who are not a liability such as Ordo Xenos agents      are. Sometimes they may echo throughout the Reach, and
               or veteran soldiers.                                          others times they cause a moment’s pang of regret before
             • The Astartes-worship on this Mission is present but           being forgotten.
               subdued. The local populace is polite and helpful, running
               errands, performing research, and offering information
               that may aid the Kill-team.


                      30
choicE Building BlocKs                                            gy
 • Space Marines are the defenders of humanity, but they          The whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Many of the
   cannot save everyone. They encounter a sympathetic             building blocks above blur the lines between component
   group of people who will be slaughtered if the Battle-         categories, and there is no need to try to shoehorn them into
   Brothers do not intervene, but time is ticking to pursue       one type anyway. The interaction of components in the story
   their Deathwatch Objective.                                    is just as important as the individual pieces that form it. Often
 • The Kill-team will frequently encounter xenos technology       assets and obstacles spring directly from the location. Perhaps
   in their Missions. Do they destroy it, or are some artefacts   just the choice of enemy naturally links to certain choices or
   worth bringing back for study. If they do retrieve such        obstacles. The Warhammer 40,000 universe is so expansive
   devices, who do they entrust them to?                          that sometimes encapsulating it into the scope of an adventure
 • Part way through a Mission, the Kill-team receives a           is daunting. The following advice may be useful.




                                                                                                                                      Appendix
   follow up order from the Mission Authority that seems              Start small. Choose one or two building blocks that
   dishonourable or counter-productive. Do they trust the         interest you to start with, and see if they lead to the choices
   wisdom of their absent leaders, or follow their own            for any other components. If you have trouble filling in the
   evaluation of what is right?                                   framework, use this toolkit (or any of your other favourite
 • The Kill-team encounters a colony walking a fine line          sources of inspiration) to fill in the blanks.
   between ignorance and heresy. The entire planet lost their         Be conscious of themes. Pick a particular mood or message
   way during the Age of Shadow without truly falling to          for your adventure and select components that emphasise
   evil. Do the Battle-Brothers purge the seed of temptation      that theme.
   before it blooms, or attempt to bring these lost souls back        Balance your components. Too many enemies leads to a
   to the Emperor’s light?                                        bloodfest. Too many choices and obstacles in a row can cause
 • The Battle-Brothers have fought and bled in the hunt           the pace to drag. Vary the degree and order in which your
   for a despicable agent of the enemy. But when they             components come up to suit your group’s play style and your
   finally reach him, it turns out he has vital intelligence      desired pace for the Mission.
   about something of even greater significance. Do they
   negotiate to try and gain this information, or refuse to
   capitulate with the enemies of man?




                                                                                                                   31
     The Essential GM’s Reference




     T
           his lavish Game Master’s kit helps keep a Kill-team’s Missions
           from going astray! Behind the sturdy screen, the GM can hide
           dice rolls and keep players from reading his notes. Printed on
     the GM’s side are numerous handy quick reference charts that make
     running the game that much easier. Added to this is a 32-page full
     colour booklet with a complete adventure, a selection of useful NPCs,
     and an expanded Mission-generation system!
                                                                                                            TM




                                                                                                                   The Game Master’s Kit 821AUG10 DW02
                                                                                                                   ISBN: 978-1-58994-779-5




                                                                                                                   9 781589 947795                               51995
                   www.FantasyFlightGames.com


Copyright © Game Workshop Limited 2010. Games Workshop, Warhammer 40,000, Warhammer 40,000 Role Play, Deathwatch, the Game Master’s Kit, the foregoing marks’ respective
logos, and all associated marks, logos, places, names, creatures, races and race insignia/devices/logos/symbols, vehicles, locations, weapons, units and unit insignia, characters, products
and illustrations from the Warhammer 40,000 universe and the Deathwatch game setting are either ®, ™, and/or © Games Workshop Ltd 2000-2010, variably registered in the UK and
other countries around the world. This edition published under license to Fantasy Flight Publishing Inc. All rights reserved to their respective owners. No part of this publication may be
reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publishers.
     Test Difficulty                                                                                           Ranged Weapons                                                                                                                                        Combat Actions                                                                                                                       Melee Weapons                                                               Weapon Jams                                        Semi-Automatic Weapons                                                                                Armour
                                                        Name                                Class         Range RoF                 Dmg        Pen Clip Rld              Special                    Action                Type         Subtype(s)                        Description                                                                                Name                          Class       Dmg             Pen Special                              An unmodified roll of 96–00 weapon Jams. Full          +10 BS, for every 2 degrees of success gain another hit, as indicated on       Name                                        Locations Covered AP
                         Test                           Bolt Weapons                                                                                                                                Aim                   Half/Full    Concentration                     +10 bonus to hit as a Half Action or +20 to hit as a Full Action on your next attack.      Chain Weapons                                                                                                                                                                                                                            Astartes Power Armour                       All                           8/10
   Difficulty                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          Action and BS Test to clear. Semi- and Full Auto       Multiple Hits Table (page 239), or can be allocated to another target within
                         Modifier                       Astartes Bolt Pistol               Pistol      30m        S/3/– 2d10+5 X 5                  14        Full       Tearing                    All Out Attack        Full         Attack, Melee                     +20 to WS, cannot Dodge or Parry.                                                          Astartes Chainsword           Melee       1d10+3 R        4      Balanced, Tearing                                                                        2m. Result of 94–00 on BS test indicates weapon has Jammed.                    Astartes Artificer Armour                   All                           12
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       Fire Jams on a 94–00.
   Trivial               +60                            Astartes Bolter (Godwyn) Basic                 100m S/2/4 2d10+5 X 5                        28        Full       Tearing                    Brace Heavy                                                                                                                                                     Power Weapons                                                                                                                                                                                                                            Astartes Scout Armour                       Body, Arms                    6
   Elementary            +50                            Astartes Boltgun (Stalker) Basic               200m S/–/– 2d10+5 X 5                        24        Full       Accurate, Tearing          Weapon
                                                                                                                                                                                                                          Half         Miscellaneous                     Prepare to fire a heavy weapon.
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    Astartes Chainfist            Mounted 2d10† E             10     Power Field, Tearing                     Two-Weapon Fighting                                         Full Automatic Weapons                                             Astartes Terminator Armour                  All                           14
   Simple                +40                            Astartes Combi-Weapon†† Basic                  100m S/2/4 2d10+5 X 5                        28        Full       Tearing                                                       Attack, Concentration, Melee                                                                                                 Astartes Lightning Claw       Melee   1d10+6 E            8      Power Field, Special, Tearing                                                            +20 BS, for every degree of success gain another hit, as indicated on          Primitive Armour                            Varies                        Varies
                                                                                                                                                                                                    Called Shot           Full                                           Attack a specific location on your target with a –20 to WS or BS.                                                                                                                             Only one-handed weapons. Either make a single
   Easy                  +30                                                                                                                                                                                                           or Ranged                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              Multiple Hits Table (page 239), or can be allocated to another target within   Carapace Armour                             All                           6
                                                        Astartes Heavy Bolter              Heavy       150m –/–/10 2d10+10 X 6                      60        Full       Tearing                                                                                                                                                                                    Astartes Power Axe            Melee   1d10+8 E            6      Power Field, Unbalanced           attack with either weapon (–20 for off-hand), or if
   Routine               +20                                                                                                                                                                        Charge               Full          Attack, Melee, Movement           Must move 4 metres, +10 to WS.                                                                                                                                                                                                                       2m. Result of 94–00 on BS Test indicates weapon has Jammed.                    Diagnostor Helmet                           Head                          8
                                                        Astartes Storm Bolter              Basic       100m S/2/4 2d10+5 X 5                        60        2 Full Storm, Tearing                                                                                                                                                                                 Astartes Power Fist           Melee   2d10† E             9      Power Field, Unwieldy             you have the Two Weapon Wielder Talent, spend
   Ordinary              +10                                                                                                                                                                        Defensive Stance     Full          Concentration, Melee              Gain an additional Reaction, opponents suffer –20 to WS.                                                                                                                                      a Full Action to attack with both weapons, but                                                                                        Masking Screen                              –                             –
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        Overwatch
                                                        †
                                                          Profile is for the primary bolter. Secondary weapon has RoF: S/–/– and Clip: 1, with all other statistics as per the weapon’s entry.                                                                                                                                                                      Astartes Power Sword          Melee   1d10+6 E            6      Balanced, Power Field
                                                                                                                                                                                                    Delay                Half          Miscellaneous                     Before your next Turn take any Half Action.                                                                                                                                                   at –20 to each (drops to –10 with Ambidextrous
   Challenging           +0                             Plasma Weapons                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               Power Field, Concussive,                                                                                                                                                Flak Armour                                 All                           4
                                                                                                                                                                                                    Disengage            Full          Movement                          Break off from melee and move.                                                             Astartes Thunder Hammer Melee             2d10+5 E        8                                        Talent). If shooting with a gun in each hand, your     You take a Full Action to establish a kill zone 45-degrees from your facing
   Difficult             –10                            Astartes Plasma Cannon              Heavy         150m         S/–/–        2d10+11 E 10      16       5 Full    Blast (1), Volatile                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         Unwieldy                                                                                                                                                                †
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               Artificer armour is not available on a per-mission basis; it must be obtained as
                                                                                                                                                                                                    Dodge                Reaction      Movement                          Test Dodge to negate a hit.                                                                                                                                                                   targets must be within 10m of each other.              and up to the Range of the weapon. You may spend subsequent Turns              Signature Gear.
   Hard                  –20                            Astartes Plasma Gun                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         Omnissian Axe (Astartes-
                                                                                            Basic         100m         S/2/–        1d10+9 E   8      40       4 Full    Volatile                   Feint                Half          Attack, Melee                     Opposed WS Test, if you win, your next attack cannot be Dodged or Parried.                                                 Melee        2d10+6 E         6      Power Field, Unbalanced                                                              waiting for targets to enter the zone. You may take the Full Auto Burst
                                                        (Ragefire)                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  Pattern) ††
   Very Hard             –30                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           Using Weapons without Talent                           Action, Semi-Auto Burst Action, or Suppressing Fire to shoot any targets
                                                        Astartes Plasma Pistol              Pistol        30m          S/2/–        1d10+8 E   8      12       3 Full    Volatile                   Focus Power          Varies        Varies                            Use a Psychic Power.                                                                       †
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      Chainfists and Power Fists double the wielder’s Strength Bonus when adding to Melee Damage.
   Arduous               –40                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  entering the zone, targets must make a Hard (–20) Willpower Test or
                                                        Melta Weapons                                                                                                                               Full Auto Burst      Full          Attack, Ranged                    +20 to BS, additional hit for every degree of success.                                     ††
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       Only Techmarines are entrusted with this weapon.                                                –20 penalty when using a weapon without
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              become Pinned. Overwatch may be maintained up to your WP Bonus in
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                Hordes
   Punishing             –50                                                                                                                                                                        Grapple              Half/Full     Attack, Melee                     Affect a Grappled opponent or escape from a Grapple.                                                                                                                                          the appropriate Talent. In the case of Flame
                                                        Astartes Infernus Pistol            Pistol        10m          S/–/–        2d10+8 E   13     4        Full      –                                                                                                                                                                                           raditional Weapons                                                                                                                                       hours, or until the Full Burst Action has been used.
   Hellish               –60                                                                                                                                                                        Guarded Attack       Full          Attack, Concentration, Melee      –10 WS, +10 to Parry and Dodge.                                                                                                                                                               weapons, targets receive +30 to Agility Test to
                                                        Astartes Meltagun                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           Astartes Combat Knife         Melee       1d10+2 R        2      –                                                                                                                                                                       Attacking a Horde
                                                        (Vulkan)
                                                                                            Basic         20m          S/–/–        2d10+8 E   13     6        2 Full    –                          Jump or Leap         Full          Movement                          Jump vertically or leap horizontally.                                                      Ceremonial Sword†††           Melee       1d10+3 R        2      Balanced                          avoid being hit.                                                            Suppressive Fire
                                                                                                                                                                                                    Knock-Down           Half          Attack, Melee                     Try and knock an opponent to the ground.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            A character can damage a Horde by shooting it with ranged
                                                        Astartes Multi-melta                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        Sacris Claymore†††            Melee       2d10+2 R        2      Unbalanced                                                                               You can suppress an area 45-degrees from your facing and up to half the
         Hit Locations                                                                      Heavy         60m          S/–/–        4d10+6 E   13     12       2 Full    Blast (1)                  Manoeuvre            Half          Attack, Melee, Movement           Opposed WS Test, if you win, move enemy 1 metre.
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  Unarmed Combat                                                                                                             weapons or attacking it in melee. These attacks are treated
                                                        (Maxima)                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    Force Weapons                                                                                                                                             Range of the weapon. Targets within this area must make a Hard (–20)
                                                                                                                                                                                                    Move                 Half/Full     Movement                          Move up to your movement as a Half Action or twice your movement as a Full Action.                                                                                                            WS to hit, inflicts 1d5–3 I+SB. Armour Points                                                                                         as if they are against a single creature even though they may
                                                        Flame Weapons                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               Astartes Force Staff          Melee       1d10+1 I        0      Balanced, Special                                                                        Willpower Test or become Pinned. Make a Hard (–20) Ballistic Skill Test to
    Roll           Location                                                                                                                                                                         Multiple Attacks     Full          Attack, Melee or Ranged           Attack more than once in the same round—requires two weapons or a talent.                                                                                                                     count as double. In addition, inflicting damage        determine if anyone in area has been hit, GM assigns hit to random target.     represent mowing down ranks of enemies or scything through
                                                        Astartes Flamer                     Basic         20m          S/–/–        2d10+2 E   3      6        2 Full    Flame                                                                                                                                                                                      Astartes Force Sword          Melee       1d10+2 R        2      Balanced, Special
    01–10          Head                                                                                                                                                                             Overwatch            Full          Attack, Concentration, Ranged     Shoot targets coming into a set kill zone, –20 to BS.                                                                                                                                         greater than or equal to your target’s Toughness       An extra hit is scored for every 2 degrees of success. Result of 94–00 on      many foes.
                                                        Astartes Hand Flamer                Pistol        10m          S/–/–        2d10+2 E   3      4        2 Full    Flame                                                                                                                                                                                      Other Melee Weapons
    11–20          Right Arm                                                                                                                                                                        Parry                Reaction      Defence, Melee                    Test Weapon Skill to negate a hit.                                                                                                                                                            Bonus also inflicts 1 level of Fatigue.                BS test indicates weapon has Jammed.                                              Characters must still roll to hit a Horde, but the appropriate size
                                                        Astartes Heavy Flamer               Heavy         30m          S/–/–        2d10+6 E   6      10       2 Full    Flame                                                                                                                                                                                      Primitive Weapons                Melee 1d10 I   0   Primitive
    21–30          Left Arm                                                                                                                                                                         Ready                Half          Miscellaneous                     Ready a weapon or item.
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             bonus should apply to these tests based on the Horde’s Magnitude.
    31–70          Body
                                                        Solid Projectile Weapons
                                                                                                                                                                                                    Reload               Varies        Miscellaneous                     Reload a ranged weapon.
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    Improvised                       Melee 1d10–2 I 0   Primitive, Unbalanced                                                                                                               Pinning                                             Weapons that can fire on full, or semi-auto will cause additional hits.
                                                        Astartes Assault Cannon             Mounted       150m         –/–/10       3d10+6 I   6      200      3 Full    Tearing                                                                                                                                                                                    †††
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        See Page 170 for description                                                                                                                                                                                                         These hits must be allocated against the Horde and not any individual
    71–85          Right Leg                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  Pinned targets have Half Action only and suffer –20 BS and must keep
    86–00          Left Leg
                                                        Astartes Shotgun                    Basic         30m          S/2/–        2d10+3 I   0      18       Full      Reliable, Scatter          Run                  Full          Movement                          Move triple, enemies –20 BS and +20 WS.                                                    Note: Characters using melee weapons add their SB to the Damage they inflict.                                       Damage                                cover between them and the shooter. Test Willpower to recover at the end       Lieutenants or Masters that may also be present.
                                                        Autogun                             Basic         90m          S/3/10       1d10+3 I   0      30       2 Full    –                          Semi-Auto Burst      Full          Attack, Ranged                    +10 to BS, additional hit for every two degrees of success.                                                                                                                                   When a character has sustained Damage equal            of the Turn, +30 if not shot at. If engaged in melee, automatically escape.
                                                        Autopistol                          Pistol        30m          S/–/6        1d10+2 I   0      18       Full      –                          Stand/Mount          Half          Movement                          Stand up or mount a riding animal.                                                                                                                                                            to their Wounds, all further Damage is Critical
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                Combat Difficulty Summary                                                                                                                                                                                    Damaging a Horde
                                                                                                                                                                                                    Standard Attack      Half          Attack, Melee or Ranged           Make one melee or ranged attack.
         Critical Tables
                                                        Las Weapons
                                                                                                                                                                                                    Stun                 Full          Attack, Melee                     Try to Stun an opponent.
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       Damage. When Critical Damage is suffered,                             Multiple Hits From
                                                        Astartes Lascannon                  Heavy         300m         S/–/–        6d10+10 E 10      6        2 Full    –                                                                                                                                                                                          Difficulty      Skill Modifier Example                                                             consult the relevant Critical Table (pages 252–                                                                                         • Each hit that causes any amount of damage reduces a Horde’s
   Energy            (page 252 to 253)                  Lasgun                              Basic         100m         S/3/–        1d10+3 E 0        60       Full      Reliable                   Suppressing Fire     Full          Attack, Ranged                    Force opponents to take cover, –20 to BS.                                                                                        Attacking a Surprised or Unaware target.                     259), determined by the type of Damage (Energy,                     Semi and Full auto fire                                               Magnitude by one. Therefore, an attack that, after accounting
                                                        Laspistol                           Pistol        30m          S/–/–        1d10+2 E 0        30       Full      Reliable                   Tactical Advance     Full          Concentration, Movement           Move from cover to cover.                                                                  Easy            +30                   Shooting a Massive target.                                                                                                                                                                             for armour and Toughness Bonus, causes 15 points of
   Explosive         (page 254 to 255)                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 Impact, Rending or Explosive) and the Hit                                                                           Each
                                                                                                                                                                                                    Use a Skill          Varies        Concentration, Miscellaneous      You may use a Skill.                                                                                                             Shooting a target at Point Blank Range.                                                                             Location Second Third              Fourth      Fifth
   Impact            (page 256 to 257)                  Launchers                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      Location of the attack, and apply the effect. All                                                                                         damage reduces the Horde’s Magnitude by 1. The deliberate
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          Attacking a Stunned opponent.                                                                                                                                                Additional Hit
   Rending           (page 258 to 259)                  Astartes Cyclone Missile                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    Routine         +20                                                                                Critical Damage is cumulative.                                                                                                            consequence of this is that sustained fire and blast weapons are
                                                                                  Mounted 300m                         S/2/–                          12       3 Full                                                                                           Weapon Qualities
                                                                                                                                    ††         †††                       ††
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          Shooting an Enormous target.
                                                        Launcher                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              Head          Head        Arm       Body       Arm             Body                much more effective against Hordes than weapons which fire
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          Melee attacks against a foe who is outnumbered two to one.
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 only one shot; a lascannon is a weapon for destroying tanks, not
                                                        Astartes Missile Launcher
                                                        (Soundstrike)
                                                                                  Heavy   250m                         S/–/–        ††         †††
                                                                                                                                                      8        Full      ††                      Accurate:
                                                                                                                                                                                                 Balanced:
                                                                                                                                                                                                                Additional +10 to hit when used with an Aim Action.
                                                                                                                                                                                                                +10 to Parry.
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    Razor Sharp: If the attack roll results in two or more degrees of success,
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 double the weapon’s Penetration.
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          Attacking a Prone opponent with a melee weapon.                                Fatigue                              Arm            Arm       Body       Head       Body             Arm                mowing down large numbers of infantry.
            Weapon                                      Auxiliary Grenade                                                                                                                        Blast (X):      All within the weapon’s blast radius in metres is hit. Roll Hit    Recharge:    Can only fire every-other Round.
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ordinary        +10                   Attacking from higher ground.                                Can suffer a number Fatigue equal to TB. Fatigued
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               • Weapons that inflict Explosive Damage (X) gain a bonus against
         Craftsmanship                                                            n/a     45m                          S/–/–        ††         †††
                                                                                                                                                      4        2 Full    ††
                                                                                                                                                                                                                Location and Damage individually for each person affected.          Reliable:    If Jam, roll 1d10 and only on roll of 10 has it Jammed.                                                  Shooting a Hulking target.                                   characters –10 all Tests. If you suffer more Fatigue   Body          Body        Arm       Head       Arm             Body
                                                        Launcher                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          Shooting a target at Short Range.                                                                                                                                                                      Hordes, and count as having inflicted one additional Hit.
         –10 to hit. Jam on                                                                                                                                                                      Concussive: Target must pass a Toughness Test (–10 per Degree of                   Sanctified:  This weapon deals Holy damage, which has certain effects                                                                                                              than TB, fall unconscious for 10–TB minutes.
    Poor                                                ††
                                                           Varies with ammunition                                                                                                                               Success on the attack) or is Stunned for 1 Round. Target is                      on Daemonic and warp creatures.                                                                                                                                                                                              Leg            Leg       Body        Arm       Head            Body              • Locations are not used when fighting a Horde.
         any failed to hit roll.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    Challenging     +0                    A Standard Attack.
                                                                                                                                                                                                                possibly knocked down.                                              Scatter:     At Point Blank range, each 2 degrees of success scores                                                                                                                Each hour of complete rest removes 1 level of                                                                                           • A Horde has a single armour value at is applied to all damage
    Good +5 to hit.                                                                                                                                                                                efensive:    +15 to Parry, –10 to hit.                                                        another hit. AP doubled at Long and Extreme ranges.                                                      Any test whilst Fatigued.
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       Fatigue; after 8 hours, Fatigue is reduced to 0.                                                                                          rather than different armour values for different locations.
    Best
         +10 to hit, +1                                                                                                                                                  2                         evastating (X): The weapon does one additional point of Cohesion                 Shocking:    If weapon causes Damage, Test Toughness or Stunned (+10                                                  Attacking or Dodging whilst in the mud or heavy rain.
         Damage.                                                                               Renown                                                      1                           3                        Damage. If the target is a Horde, the Horde suffers
                                                                                                                                                                                                                additional hits equal to the number in parenthesis.                 Smoke:
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 bonus per AP).
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 Creates smoke screen 3d10 metres in diameter, lasts 2d10
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    Difficult       –10                   Shooting a target at Long Range.
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          Shooting a Prone target.                                                      Stunned                                         Movement (metres/round)                                                • Hordes may be Pinned as normal (with the entire Horde making
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 a single Willpower Test). However, Hordes gain a bonus to their
                                                         Renown Rating Renown Rank                                                                                                               Felling (X):   The weapon ignores a number of levels of Unnatural                               Rounds.                                                                                                  Shooting a Scrawny target.                                                                                            AB        Half Move           Full Move            Charge           Run
                                                                                                                                                                                                                Toughness possessed by the target equal to the number in            Snare:       The target must make an Agility Test or be immobilised. An                                                                                                            Stunned characters cannot take Actions (including                                                                                         Willpower Tests to resist pinning equal to its Magnitude.
                                                                                     Initiated: You have recently sworn your oaths of                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            0           1/2                   1                 2                3
                                                         0–19                                                                                                                                                   parenthesis.                                                                     immobilised target can attempt no other Actions except to                                                Shooting into melee combat.                                  free ones), opponents receive +20 to hit.
           Cover Types                                                               duty to the Deathwatch.
                                                                                                                                                      4               Target                 5   Flame:         No BS Test. All creatures in a 30 degree arc make Agility                        try to escape the bonds. He can attempt to burst the bonds                                               Dodging whilst Prone.                                                                                                  1            1                    2                 3                6
    Adds extra AP to locations                                                       Respected: You have proven your prowess
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             Melee: When fighting against a Horde in Melee, a Space Marine
                                                                                                                                                                                                                Test or be struck by flame and take Damage. If Damage is                         (a Strength Test) or wriggle free (an Agility Test) in his Turn.                                         Making an unarmed attack against an armed opponent.                                                                    2            2                    4                 6               12
    hidden by cover.                                     20–39
                                                                                     repeatedly through bravery and blood.                                                                                      taken, the target must     succeed on second Agility Test or                     The target is considered helpless until he escapes.                Hard            –20                   Melee attacks in darkness.                                             Lightly Damaged                                 3            3                    6                 9               18
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             inflicts one hit for every two Degrees of Success on his Weapon
    Cover Type               AP                                                      Distinguished: You have earned an impressive                                                                               catch fire.                                                         Storm:       Doubles the number of hits inflicted on the target.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         Skill Test. Melee weapons with the Power Field Quality inflict one
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          Shooting at a target in fog, mist, shadow or smoke.
    Light Wood, Armour-glas,
                             4                           40–59                       number of victories safeguarding humanity                            6-7            8           9-0         Gyro-Stabilised: This weapon never counts its target as being further
                                                                                                                                                                                                                than Long Range. Heavy Weapons only suffer a –20 when
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    Tearing:
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    Toxic:
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 Roll two dice for Damage, take the best result.
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 If weapon causes Damage, Test Toughness at –5 for every                                                  Shooting a Puny target.
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 4            4                    8                 12              24      additional hit.
    Light Metal                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  5             5                  10                 15              30      Blast Weapons: A Blast weapon that hits a Horde hits a number
    Heavy Wood, Flakboard,
                                                                                     against its enemies.                                                                                                       not braced.
                                                                                                                                                                                                 Haywire (X): This weapon generates a field that troubles the machine
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 point of Damage taken, if failed take extra 1d10 Impact
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 Damage (no reduction for armour or Toughness).
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          Using a weapon without the correct Talent.                            Heavily Damaged                                  6             6                  12                 18              36      of times equal to its Blast value. So a grenade with Blast (4) will
                             8                                                       Famed: Your reputation precedes you, and your                               Scatter Diagram                                                                                                                                                                                                                          Attacking or Dodging in deep snow.
                                                                                                                                                                                                                spirits of technology. See page 143 for details.                    Twin-linked: +20 to hit, may score one additional hit if the attack roll                                                                                                           If Damage taken is more than twice TB.
    Sandbags, Ice                                        60-79                       deeds are known to Battle-Brothers across the                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        Firing a heavy weapon that has not been Braced.                                                                        7             7                  14                 21              42      automatically hit four times if successfully lobbed into the Horde.
                                                                                                                                                                                                 Overheats:     Unmodified roll of 91 or more on to hit roll causes                              succeeds by two or more degrees of success.
    Rockcrete, Thick Iron,                                                           Reach.                                                                                                                     Overheat, see page 129.                                             Unbalanced: –10 when used to Parry.                                             Very Hard       –30                   Shooting a target at Extreme range.                                                                                    8             8                  16                 24              48
    Stone
                             16
                                                                                     Hero: Your name echoes to your Chapter and                                                                  Power Field: When Parrying an attack made with a weapon that lacks this            Unwieldy:    Cannot be used to Parry.                                                                                 Shooting at a completely concealed target.                                Blood Loss                                   9             9                  18                 27              54
                                                         80+                                                                                                                                                    quality, there is a 75% chance of destroying the attacker’s         Volatile:    If a 10 is rolled for Damage on a weapon with the Volatile
    Plasteel, Armaplas       32                                                      beyond as a paragon of strength and valour.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          Shooting at a target in darkness.                            10% chance of death each Round unless treated.           10            10                  20                 30              60
                                                                                                                                                                                                                weapon.                                                                          Quality, Rightous Fury occurs automatically.
                                                                                                                                                                                                 Primitive:     AP doubled, unless armour also has Primitive quality.
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