Dark Heresy: The Church of the Damned

Dark Heresy RPG (First edition)

by Fantasy Flight Games, Ben Counter, Matthew Eustace

Investigating corruption within the Ecclesiarchy itself is as delicate as it is dangerous, but when an influential leader is suspected of heresy, you and your fellow Acolytes will uncover an ever-deepening conspiracy that could spell the end of the entire Calixis Sector...

The Church of the Damned is the second adventure in The Apostasy Gambit, a Dark Heresy campaign that takes a cell of Acolytes from investigating the tragic history of a warped Cathedral to crusading against a conspiracy within one of the Imperium’s most vaunted organisations. While The Church of the Damned continues the events started in The Black Sepulchre, it also includes starting points to be played on its own or as part of your own campaign.

Suitable for players of all levels. A copy of the Dark Heresy Core Rulebook is needed to use this supplement.

Genres: Role Playing Games

69 pages, Hardcover

First published April 19, 2011

Reviews

[Taddow · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the second part of a trilogy of Dark Heresy adventures that forms the Apostasy Gambit campaign. Like the first book in the series it contains three linked sections that are all linked to the overall story. With some modifications, any of these sections or combinations of could be made into standalone adventures for a group of acolytes. This is mainly how I use pre-made RPG adventures, as I find a lot of them have good pieces of ideas and/or great setting/lore information but are too generic to run as written to really appeal to a gaming group.

Here is a simple breakdown of the adventure sections (SPOILER WARNING for what follows in case you might be a player in Church of the Damned):

* An investigation scenario where the acolytes go undercover as religious relic inspectors in order to investigate Arch-Cardinal Ignato- the highest ranking Ecclessiarchy figure of the Calixis Sector. This is the best scenario in the book. It has what you want for an Inquisition scenario- undercover investigation, red herrings, finding out heretical secrets, some combat and a great backdrop. The acolytes are investigating one of the most powerful individuals in the Sector and they are doing it inside the seat of Ecclesiarchy power in the Calixis Sector- the Cathedral of Illumination. There are some weaknesses that a GM will have to address based on the power level of their party, which the book tries to address by suggesting tips for Ascension-level play, but overall I found the security conditions in such an important place to be a little lacking. I understand some of this is because the scenario is trying to welcome all levels of play and this is needed so low-level parties can advance the storyline. Additionally, some of the connections they use to tie together various events and individuals to make them relevant to running a campaign seem a little weak or too convenient.

* The second section involves the acolytes going to a section of Gunmetal City called Blinding Gulch. The setting for this section is rich with a lot of great locations to explore and NPCs to interact with. The main purpose of this section is for the acolytes to find a document forger while deciding whether or not to choose a side in an upcoming gang war. The gang war section was a great idea and I actually used this section and the gang war as a big part of a scenario I ran (the look on my players’ faces when it was revealed that they had backed a Khorne-worshipping cult gang and helped them slaughter the rival gang and citizens was priceless). I was disappointed that finding the forger wasn’t the main focus of this adventure, it is the reason the acolytes are here but the scenario mainly focuses on the gang war and once it’s concluded, it kinda hands the location of the forger to the acolytes. I think that making an Easter egg style hunt of locations for the forger would have been a more appropriate scenario. Additionally, I was very disappointed in Blinding Gulf and its lack of decent firearms and firearm users despite its close proximity to Gunmetal City- which is known for its gunslingers, manufacture of firearms and prevalence of firearms (the rules even say it’s easier to acquire SP and Bolt weapons in Gunmetal City but apparently this backhole ghetto of the city has trouble getting them). Needless to say, I had to increase the availability of firearms and competent gunslingers to give it an appropriate setting appeal.

* The last section has the acolytes going to the Shrine World where Saint Drusus has been entombed. It starts with the acolytes’ ship being attacked in between Warp jumps by forces loyal to Ignato who are trying to stop them. The acolytes need to lead a desperate boarding action on the enemies’ ship to survive. Good idea, bad set-up how the enemy just happens to show up out of nowhere (I would have used a more believable set-up (maybe Ignato loyalists aboard the acolytes’ ship or their ship getting attacked right before it gets underway). Arriving at Saint Drusus’ tomb, the acolytes find it has already been attacked and breached. What follows is an Indiana Jones Last Crusade-style series of challenges the acolytes must pass to prove their worth and make it to the inner chamber to confront Ignato himself. Ignato is no pushover (and there are suggestions to increase his power level) and the acolytes should have a challenging fight, especially after being wounded in the previous challenges.

The Church of the Damned isn’t bad, but it isn’t great. There are a lot of good ideas here and a lot of great setting/lore material to use in a campaign. With some modifications, this adventure collection could really shine. If you’re interested in my long-running (now on hiatus) Dark Heresy campaign, feel free to check it out on Obsidian Portal: https://faith-and-betrayal.obsidianpo...