Ever played Wrath & Glory? Ever wondered what goes on in a typical session? Well, I can shed some light on this, given I’m running a campaign I started earlier in the year. I took a break and then restarted this month.
Background. The formation of a new ‘adventure party’ or team of agents
Originally, the team of agents started with an inquisitorial acolyte, a sister hospitaller, a Cadian guard soldier and a tech priest. Over time the tech player had to drop out, but fortunately another player joined as an aeldari ranger just as the party were engaging in the climactic battle at the end of tier one, when the party were faced with a daemonette of Slaanesh and a couple of cultists. Here the party had found their way via a couple of methods to join a private party as part of a public celebration. The authorities already suspected heresy, so the player characters were supported by the ecclesiarchy to ensure they could be invited. As the party was well underway, it became clear the proceedings were taking a darker tone leading to the summoning of the daemonette who slew the front row of party goers before anyone could react. The incense and hypnotic music being played lulled attendees into a trance and it was the Sister Hospitaller who was able to pray and restore clarity after fear had set in.
As is typical of the way these things can go, despite fear and imminent threat the PCs killed the daemonette with a killing shot and that ended that essentially, since I ruled nothing else could swing the battle so I narrated the scene closing with a strange figure joining the party. The scans showed a reading of xenos, yet the stranger didn’t appear hostile. Following a brief conversation the aeldari offered to join the team in the pursuit of heretical and chaos forces, which the party accepted.
Faction training and recovery
The Wrath & Glory system encourages storytelling and downtime allows for players to build on their character’s story for effectively levelling up with either a milestone or archetype ascension representing promotion and advanced training for the most part.
The Sister Amicia undertook penance, guidance and training to learn from the heresy she had committed by carelessly voicing the name Slaanesh and to further protect herself and the team, she undertook the arduous training to become a sister of battle. Note, the player carelessly referred to Slaanesh by name in the course of one scene, and so I took that as coming from the character and they made a corruption role. It wasn’t a bad result and the lesson was learnt, ie do not take the subject of the ruinous powers lightly!
The would-be inquisitor, Umbrae, re-manifested psychic powers (part of a previously agreed backstory and character arc) and took on training to fully manifest as a psyker. Although this is known to the players, it is not openly known beyond the immediate team.
The Cadian Nox undertook specialist training to become a Tempestus Scion, continuing the role of sniper for the team and finally, the ranger Errol, was given faction duties to carry out reconnaissance of the ice world Trollius at the edge of the Gilead system.
Tier two. New mission, familiar enemy
With several survey teams having either gone missing or reporting back with strange and discomforting news, the team was tasked with investigating survey sites on Trollius. The party ventured there on the aeldari’s stealth spacecraft and landed at co-ordinates near a previous survey team’s position.
As the party approached what was becoming clear as a former ecclesiarchy district in one of the former imperial hive cities, a snowstorm began and with temperatures well below freezing, even with cold-weather gear, the party didn’t hesitate to press on. It soon became clear there were life signs and not good ones. In addition to the scans, they could hear chanting and the psyker could detect activity from the warp. The agents tentatively edged forward now and could see the stained-glass windows in the once holy church, but these were not only new and in a good state of repair but seem to feature symbology that made your eyes hurt and moreover they could detect symbols of all four ruinous powers. The agents then retreated a little to call in their immediate findings on a frequency previously agreed to by their inquisitor and then pressed on once more.
In short order, they gained surprise on mobs of khornite cultists and mutants and easily defeated them. As they approached the ancient and once holy church, they were beset by more enemies and as they broke through the lines, and having dispatched their leader they approached a dug-out tunnel to the basement. Here the next wave of enemies attacked, but this time they were faced with bloodletters and a rogue psyker that forced the newly promoted sister of battle retreat to gather her team mates in support. One bloodletter had already been taken down, but as the sanctioned psyker went to investigate further, he was almost taken out by the second bloodletter in a single strike. To rub salt into the wounds the rogue psyker then caused him to mutate with hideous scars and deformities.
Eventually though the agents’ skill overwhelmed the last bloodletter and psyker and the tunnel went silent. Umbrae was careless and referred to Khorne by name causing another corruption roll and the agents went to investigate the source of the warp taint and it was discovered a warp portal had been created. Unfortunately, the agents prevaricated and decided to back off and investigate further up the tunnel to reveal nothing but deactivated and ancient power generators. Only then did they realise that something else had come through the gate. Cautiously, they sneaked back down the tunnel before being charged by another bloodletter and after killing this demon, they took measures to destroy the gate.
Pondering what might cause chaos to work together and what their evil plans were, they began to search the locale. They discovered an ancient chalice belonging to St Bedevere the Devout, that had chaos marking daubed on and tracks leading off further into the city. The agents now must consider their next steps. They were tasked with finding out what had happened to the survey teams and the ruinous powers have been discovered to be involved.
The agents now have to progress further, investigate the remaining co-ordinates given and follow the clues. They have a relic and must consider whether to destroy as tainted or try to reconsecrate it.
As a GM, I’ve set out basic events and interesting things along the way. There are sites to explore (we use VTT Foundry to run maps) and archaeotech to discover. The agents are free to act on the relic as they see fit, with no predesigned outcome in mind, so if they try to reconsecrate the chalice, I will allow it if it’s done right. So, do the agents follow the trail or travel to the next set of co-ordinates? More on this next time…
About the author: As well as playing board games, Neil has been playing a variety of roleplaying games since 1982, including creating campaigns as a GM and espousing the art and craft of being a good GM and the therapeutic value of games generally.
