Warhammer 40K RPG: 5 Adventure Hooks For Your Wrath And Glory Games
Wrath and Glory is out and if you’re a fan of RPGs and 40k – you should play! Here’s some plot hooks to get you started.
The revised edition of Wrath and Glory is out and as a fan of both 40k and Roleplaying Games, it’s a great fit. As a DM and player, I know one big thing that keeps me from working on my campaigns is coming up with ideas. Sometimes it helps to have some “seed ideas” to get a story going. I’m breaking these down with an short one-liner overview with some suggestions/inspirational materials to reference if you like the idea. With that in mind, here are a few adventure hooks to hopefully help get those creative juices flowing.
The Lost Patrol
The Hook: An Astra Militarum Patrol has gone missing after a routine check in a “pacified” sector.
Reference Material: Apocalypse Now, Platoon, We Were Soldiers
Suggestions: You could play this one out in a whole lot of ways. Did the Patrol go AWOL? Were they ambushed? Did their commander turn on their men? Was there a mutiny? Did they become sacrifices to a chaos cult? The key with this one is figure out why the patrol went missing and then work backwards.
Variation: Replace Astra Militarum Patrol with other Imperial Faction.
The Research Facility
The Hook: An Adeptus Mechanicus Research Facility has gone dark – find out why.
Reference Material: Aliens, The Abyss, Resident Evil (movie or games)
Suggestions: The one is pretty wide open as well. Did a rogue researcher discover something they shouldn’t have? Perhaps an mad scientist unleashed a techno-virus on the facilities. Maybe a portal to the warp was accidentally opened and must now be closed. Pick your antagonist and why and the adventure writes itself.
The Derelict Ship
The Hook: A ship that went missing in a Warp Storm has just dropped into realspace near a populated planet but it’s not responding to hails – make contact and find out what happened.
Reference Material: Event Horizon, Pandorum, Alien, Space Hulk
Suggestions: This one is right out of Space Hulk! In fact you could even take a classic Space Hulk mission and fill in the blanks to run this adventure. Was it a chaos infestation? A Xenos attack? Did the crew survive? Figure out the hidden threat and which angle you want to take with this one to really get the ball rolling. The options for this one are wide open.
Variation: The ship is on a collision course for a populated area and the engines have failed – find a way to move the ship or destroy it.
The Warlord
The Hook: A regional Warlord has usurped the planetary governor’s power – take them out.
Reference Material: John Wick, Valkyrie, Hitman, Wanted
Suggestions: This one is pretty straightforward but it’s up to the players to figure out how they want to take out the Warlord. This could even be a multi-part story. Do they go in guns blazing? Do they try to rally some of the loyal forces to aid them? How long has this Warlord been in power – is this a new rebellion or have they had years to consolidate power? What about the Governor – did they survive and are they leading a resistance? This could be a run-and-gun style mission or it could be a slick heist/assassination adventure.
Variation: Replace the Warlord with a bigger threat – like an Ork Warboss or a Renegade Space Marine Chapter Master.
The McGuffin Collector
The Hook: An eccentric Inquisitor is looking for a relic of unknown power – and they want you to retrieve it for them.
Reference Material: 16 Blocks, Cyborg, Ocean’s 11, The Italian Job
Suggestions: There is two ways to go about this one – the adventure is either in actually GETTING the object, or RETURNING the object. So it’s either an heist or it’s a chase – it kind of depends on how you want to frame it. Heck, it could be a multi-part adventure that does BOTH. You’ll need to figure out who your antagonist will be and what the item could be. It could even be a xenos/heretical object (and it probably is). Think about what the device does and if it’s even wise to give it back to the Inquisitor in the first place. Mix in some moral conundrums and you’re all set!
Variation: The McGuffin is actually a member of the Fallen and the Dark Angels are in pursuit!
There are tons of stories and adventures to tell in the Grimdark – what are some adventuring hooks you want to use?
