Scenario Servitor online ... +++Processing+++

So, time to try something new...
Every now and then I get some idea for a scenario that won't let me go. As I may have mentioned before I don't get to game often, either because the few people I game with don't often have time to meet up, or I can't find someone to share/get my particular gaming interest. So the idea stays unused, maybe gets noted down somewhere, and then is forgotten.
Which I think is a shame. So from now on, when I have such an idea, I'll try to note it down properly and post it here. That way, the idea gets retained in a way that I can retrieve them more easily. And maybe someone else may get a use out of them too?
I'll put them under the "Scenario Servitor" label to make them easier to find.
So, let's fire this thing up, shall we?

+Scenario Servitor A5P4R4GU-5 Theta activated...+
+Processing request+

+<Verbalise: "Which file do you wish to retrieve, my lord?"+
+Awaiting response+
...

+Retrieving File H1DD3N TRu.+
ERROR: Clearance Level 3 Apple Gamma required!
+Clearance granted+

+Spooling+

Scenario: Hidden Truth/Editorial Intervention

Scale: Skirmish

Number of players: 2

GM-scenario: optional

Type: narrative

Suggested systems: =I=Munda, Inquisitor, Warhammer40K Rogue Trader, RPG.

Thought for the day: One truth is worth a thousand lies.

Situation:

A scribe has stumbled upon a Forbidden Truth. He may not be allowed to retain both this knowledge and his life. A team of Ordo Scriptorum Editorial Stormtroopers has been dispatched to intercept the scribe in question.  But first they must find the right one….

Forces:

Player One (Ordo Scriptorum): An Ordo Scriptorum Editorial Assault Team, or a comparable Inquisitional warband.

Player Two (Scribes): A number of scribes. Vary the number of scribes to make the scenario harder or easier. More scribes means the Ordo Scriptorum has a harder time to find the offending scribe, less scribes means the Forbidden Truth will be more easily contained. You can also elect to leave the scribes unarmed or either give them minimal armament (either a CCW or las-/stub/slugpistol, or similar). Before the game, the Scribe player secretly designates one of the scribe miniatures as the bearer of the Forbidden Truth.

(Suitable models for scribes can be found among the Inquisitional henchmen or servitor ranges)

Set up:

 This is an indoor scenario. Set up a table to represent an Adeptus Administratum building: Think a Victorian/wizard’s Library turned up to eleven, so lots of rows of bookcases, stacks of scrolls and parchments, etc. Lots of things to block movement/line of sight, nooks and crannies to hide in. There are only a limited number of entry/exit points on the table. (You can either designate the table edge as impassable except for the designated entry-/exit points or physically have the outside walls of the building present on the table.)

Deployment:

 The scribes are placed randomly around the building. (If you run the game with a GM, you may want to let him do this, so the position of the offending scribe can be suitably influenced… Or you can let the Scribe player do this, without the Ordo Scriptorum player being present.) Any scribes that are killed are either left in place or replaced with corpse markers, whichever is more convenient.

The Ordo Scriptorum forces enter the table by the designated entry-/exit points on their first turn.

All models move individually in this game.

Objectives:

Player One: You must eliminate the offending scribe bearing the Forbidden Truth. To properly identify your target, you must be in base to base contact with him/her during a close combat phase (You can identify a scribe either pre-, post- or perimortem…)

Player Two: You must get the scribe bearing the Forbidden Truth off the table via one of the exit points.

Permutations and complications:

Permutations and complications are optional ways to vary and tailor the scenario. If you want you can add one or more of these to the scenario.

-A dagger in the dark…: Visible intervention could lead to more people seeking out the Forbidden Truth. The target must be identified and eliminated covertly: the Ordo Scriptorum Editorial Team must remain out of sight* and may only eliminate the target scribe. To facilitate the covert identification of the offending scribe, all Editorial Team members are equipped with long range Ident Scanners which allow a scribe to be identified from 3” away, regardless of line of sight.

*: You may also rule that any scribe that sees the Assault Team must be eliminated within the next turn, or else he raises the alarm and the mission is blown…

-Stop the press!: Within the Adeptus Administratum building are one or more data terminals. If the offending scribe can reach one of these terminals and spend an entire turn, uninterrupted,  in base to base contact with it he can upload the Forbidden Truth anywhere! If this happens the Editorial Assault Team immediately lose the game.

-Need to know: The scribe didn’t stumble on the Forbidden Truth by accident, he was acting on behalf of some hidden agency! Naturally this agency will try to intervene to protect/retrieve the scribe, or at least the Forbidden Truth… This permutation turns the scenario into a 3-player one. The third player’s objective is to either safely escort the offending scribe outside, or to retrieve the Forbidden Truth from him (by spending a turn in base to base contact with the scribe, living or dead). You can have the 3^rd force enter the table via the entry-/exit points on a random turn (e.g. by using the Reserve rules), or when a certain predetermined condition is met (e.g. the first scribe is killed, the offending scribe is identified, or if using the Dagger in the dark option: the Editorial Assault team is spotted.)

-Mild mannered reporter by day…: The offending scribe is more than he seems. Once identified, or if/when the controlling player chooses to do so, the scribe discards his disguise to reveal a far more formidable adversary. The scribe could really be an Inquisitor or Arch Heretic, maybe even a (Traitor) Space Marine!

-Shift change: The Editorial Assault Team strikes just as the scribes are changing shifts. For this you need corpse markers to replace any killed scribes. The killed scribes, except for the scribe with the Forbidden Truth,  are recycled and enter the table from a random entry-/exit point either on the next Scribe turn or a random turn thereafter.

-Truth travels fast: The Forbidden Truth is a volatile thing and the Ordo Scriptorum must act fast! The Ordo Scriptorum player only has a predetermined number of turns to achieve their objective.

-Spreading the word: If the offending scribe comes into base to base contact with another scribe, he may pass on the Forbidden Truth to the other scribe. You must agree beforehand if the Forbidden Truth is merely passed on (so there is only ever one bearer of the Forbidden Truth) or if it duplicates (which allows for more than one bearer of the Forbidden Truth, in which case the Ordo Scriptorum must eliminate all bearers of the Forbidden Truth!)

-Keepers of knowledge: Recently, several Administratum scribes have come under attack.  (Was it random violence, anti-imperial sedition, previous Ordo Scriptorum intervention?) As a result security measures have been stepped up. Interspersed between the scribes in the building are several guards, assigned to keep the scribes safe. These could be drawn from the local PDF, or perhaps the Ministorum has sent some Frateris Militia or even a Battle Sister or two. Depending on the seriousness of the matter the local Enforcers or even Arbites may have taken an interest!

Closing thoughts:

This scenario was inspired by Henrysouth over on Ammobunker beautifully painting a Tempestus Militarum Scion as a Ordo Scriptorum stormtrooper and posting it in their Inq28 section. So, thank you for the proverbial lightbulb!

What is the Forbidden Truth anyway? Well, that is up to you to decide… It could be evidence of the existence of Sensei, or (Warp)corruption in a local official, proof of Inquisitional or Ordo Scriptorum activity in the area, references to Fallen Dark Angels or the Horus Heresy. Whatever tickles your imagination, or is most applicable to your campaign…

WARNING! WARNING! WARNING!

+Falsified Acces Clearance detected! Terminating connection.+

+<Verbalise: "Acces terminated. Please stay at this terminal and await mandatory termination. Failure to comply will result in Excommunication and activation of a Seek and Destroy Team. Have a nice day."+