Best Whisper notes:

So just before the final battle our flagship was pretty beaten up. The GM threw us a bone with records of
a lost Inquisition ship with two atomics on board (check Into The Storm for ship additions). They made
killing the Whisperer possible without us getting killed in the process. I should point out that the final
battle is very tough and it may well be worth the explorers time to make a "tactical withdrawal"

~!~

Remove the initial encounter with the Hand of Redemption and have the PCs discover the
existence of Svard by researching their Dynasty's archives. Have them travel to Svard by
themselves. Then have them discover that not only is The Whisperer active in the system, but
prior to the abandoment the Rogue Trader's forbears had been conducting all kinds of illicit Xeno
research there. The Whisperer is only one example of forbidden tech that was being researched
here, and the facilities used for this research were the reason it was brought here.

Then have them encounter The Whisperer. Not the encounter in the adventure, but seeking out
the source of the malign influence and finding it deep in the storm. Let them flee with a damaged
ship and a very good idea of how powerful The Whisperer is.

State the repairs on the ship will require that they go to Port Wander to recover fully. Then,
whilst there, they encounter Captain Keel. He's heard (from encountering trade ships involved in
Endeavors the PCs have started running that involve Svard) that they have re-opened contact
with the system and intends to make a fly-by on his next patrol into the Expanse.

The PCs should, if they dig for information, be able to get hints that the Ordo Xenos have
requested he does this, and that there may even be a cell of Throne Agents on the Hand of
Redemption itself.

The PCs are thus faced with a dilemma- if the Ordo Xenos finds out what their Dynasty was
doing in Svard, it's going to be bad. But The Whisperer is just too powerful to be defeated
without, say, the assistance of an Imperial Navy Cruiser...

And so instead of an ally that will overshadow them the entire game, the PCs are presented with
two enemies, one of which they need the assistance of to defeat the other. Cue plotting and
hijinks.

~&~

Without freeing Cog, there is no Mechanicus support, nobody willing or able to enact the Rites of
Reactivation upon the various system ships, which can be used as ablative armour and/or distractions
for the Void Wasps while the players' ship soars in to deliver the killing stroke. Investigating the
Witchroost uncovers system-wide communications arrays, while that moon with all the statues has the
fevered research notes of the Magus who dwelled there, who had been working on a way to block out
the signal of the Whisperer. Couple those together and you have a shield against the Whisperer,
preventing it from taking over your crew or that of any others they bring in close to it. Impress upon the
players the importance of accomplishing these tasks; each sub-objective they accomplish provides links
to others that offer hints to make things easier for them.

~&~

The Plundering of the Hollow Moons (Lesser Endeavour)

Finding one of the hidden lairs of the refugees (Exploration)

Just because one does know that there must be a hideout on (or more precisely; inside of) one of
the hollow moons one does not automatically find it. An Exploration Challenge (perhaps 9
success?) might be in order. Using the ship sensors would be a good idea, using Logic to
determine possible locations for a hide-out, good ol ´Search test to find entrances on the surface.
Common Lore (Tactic) to organize Search teams,…

The longer it takes, so, the more it becomes possible that the pc gain attention of the Whisperer
and will thereby find themselves under attack of some Void-Wasps, there Search-Party under
Attack by remaining Whisperers …or some of their Search-Teams –becoming- Whisperers
themselves!

Plundering a lair (Exploration; Military)

Some Whisperers might still be alive, hold up and ready to lay an ambush. Traps will be in place
as well, even if no survivors are left. Tech-Use tests might be in order to overcome some
installed shots or similar security barriers while Security should be enough to deal with more
mundane looks. Explosives might come handy as well. Woe to whom who uses these to
liberately or relies on heavy weapons. Some tunnels might be very unstable. Code maps and
messages might be left, pointing towards other lairs and stash-aways. The theme "servitor
guardian(s) on duty long after the master is gone" is a main stable, as well

Selling the goods (Trade; Criminal)

While it won´t be much, whatever the RT manages to claim might score quiet a sum. As long as
the system is suffering a shortage on goods due to the war, that is! It can be assumed that there
are some legal regulations in place considering rationing and forbidding black marketeering. On
the black market, the highest prices are offered, so.

~&~
he hollowed moon of the Svard System became hideouts for refugees trying to escape the battle
with the Whisperers. Unfortunately, things did not work out as planned (see p.16 RT GM Kit)
and now the Supplies they stashed away became a valuable good the RT and his crew might try
to lay hands upon.
(Lesser Endeavour; 900 Points; +1 Profit)

Learning about the refugees and the hidden lairs (Exploration;Criminal)(100 Points)
The pc can learn about the rumoured Hideouts from the Crystal Council. People tried to hide
away and to escape. The pc will need to find somebody knowing about those people to get a
better hint about where on the Hollow Moons they might be hiding. This is an extended test for
Inquiry(+20), 5 success are needed. Each role stands for about a day of investigation. As soon as
the test is passed, the pc will learn about a Recidivist, Smuggler and Privateer named Elisa
Sarmanco. If the pc the pc need more then two day, an old enemy of Elisa (let´s call him Ricco
Goddard) will learn bout the attempts of the Explorers and his men will start to shadow them
(use stats for Oathsworn Bodyguard).

Elisa´s little criminal empire might be waning, but she has heard of the arrival of the RT and the
Imperial Navy and decided to bet on change of the tide. As the pc ask around for her, they will
be able to arrange a meeting with her through one of her associates. But they will have to met her
at her own terms (which will include not her having more guards around then the pc). She did
organized quit some “exodi” (how she calls them) and has no issues with selling the coordinates
where she dropped some groups.

The pc can try to haggle with her for the information (Barter+0). Other avenues are open as well,
but Intimidating her is a daunting task (-10), especially since she has more guns & muscle on the
scene. Or so she thinks. If the pc had been shadowed, a group of Goddards men will try to storm
the place to get rid of Elisa.

NPC-Suggestion: You might want to use the Free-Trader for Elisa and Oathsworn Bodyguard
profiles for her men and those of Ricco Goddard.

Outcome: 100 Points if the pc obtain the information from Elisa. -25 Points if they lost the
haggle and – another 25 points for every level of failure (which will lead to her demanding an
immense sum). +25 Points for every to level of success on the barter test. -20 if the pc took good
bodyguards with them and had high casualties.

Finding the hidden lairs (Exploration)(300 Points)

Once the pc know where to seek, they just have to go and find it. This is best simulated by an
Exploration challenge (p.263 RT Core). The challenge starts with +0 and is taxing (6 success
needed). Unless the Explorers did not obtain any information besides the general rumour. In that
case challenge starts with (-10) and is Involved(12 success needed). The first role should be
Scrutiny+Detection (for the ship sensors scanning the moon or moons). The whole thing will
take a couple of days.
Outcome: 300 Points if the pc make it, but only 200 if they do not make it in time. +50 points if
the pc make it in less then four roles (just a couple of days).

Securing the lair (Exploration; Military) (200 Points)

Once the Explorers where able to locate the correct tunnels which will lead to the underground
shelters, they need to go on. A test for Scholastic Lore (Tacticae Imperialis)(+30) will tell the pc
that it is best if they use small teams (7 to 12 man per team) and that they must have an eye for
traps that might be left behind. Vox communication with the ship will be become a problem as
the teams will have to operate deep under the ground.

As soon as the teams are on site, a test for Trade(?Prospector?)+20 will tell that the tunnels might
cave in if heavy explosives/explosive weapons are used.

Even once they are inside, the teams have to comb through the networks of tunnels to find the
shelters the refugees had build for themselves. A rather simple (5 success) Exploratory challenge
would be my idea. The skills that come to my mind are: Common Lore (Imperial Army) (For
tactical deployment/search teams); Awareness; Navigation(Land); Search; Tracking; perhaps
Tech-Use (for the Operating of an Auspex). The whole affair will either take a couple of days or
(if failed) a weak.

Once the shelters have been found, it´s Tech-Use/Security(+0). This is an extended test, but once
5 levels of failure are accumulated the pc has to give up. Explosive is a possible solution, but the
test is (-10). If failed, everything comes crashing down!

Inside, the teams can start to plunder… as soon as they have dealt with some remaining close-
combat servitors that will try to protect the area. Take about a dozen, make them Tough to
combat inside the tunnels and/or add some remaining Whisperers.

After this cleansing, Search(+20) will tell if the teams do find all the good loot.

Outcome: -50 Points if the pc do not pass the Exploration challenge (lost time cuts into profits).
-100 Points if a cave-in occurs (heavy gear ? heavy work ? cuts into profit). -50 points if they
sustain heavy casualties. -50 points if they fail the final search test. +25 for every two levels of
success they achieve on the final search test.

~&~
The adventure itself is really, really good, with two minor flaws. One is that the Promethium
refinery, worth +3 profit, is pretty much doomed. The Whisperer's stated initial agenda is to
destroy it. Any critical will blow it up, and those potentially shield ignoring lances on the
Whisperer? Crit Rating 2....

The other is that the Whisperer is ungodly powerful, the sort of thing I would bet heavily on to
face a 100 SP or more of enemy vessels and come out having blown them all to tiny bits. Having
the NPC cruiser will help, but with some of its power and space wasted by empty torpedo tubes,
and the Whisperer's support from traitor system ships and Void Wasps, your players are likely to
get steamrolled in the final battle.

There are easy solutions to both of these. One of them is to have the Whisperer ignore the
refinery unless your players manage to turn it against the beast, and by turn it against, i mean
actual open fire with its weapons.* The other is to provide some hulked ships the players can fix
up over the course of the adventure. The Whisperer will probably wreck half of them, and you
can just say the repairs for the rest would cut into Profit earned for the Endeavoror you could
reward them with an extra ship, as they'll have earned it.

*If they use a can of highly explosive and valuable promethium to fight this thing, they deserve
to lose the +3 Profit.

~&~

My thoughts

1)Encourage the PCs to fully repair and recrew at the main moon.

2)While the xenos ships can't be boarded. The system ships can. If the PCs are smart they will
recapture a number of system ships.

3)There are a number of system ships at the main moon. If they manage to retake the admech
moon they could get a few repaired and refitted. They might need to refuel the system ship with
their own fuel stock however....

4)Have Whisper surface a good distance away from the refinery. Let the PCs know the general
area where it will surface and place their ship around the station.

With 2&3 you can limit the number of system ships by limiting.

-How many ships can be repaired at once.

-Availiblity of crew, and fuel

-Have the excess suffer sabotage by Whisperers, or switch sides at the worst possible time.
~&~

While I'm aware that the Whisperer can easily obliterate Installation 23, I consider the related
awards for keeping the refinery intact to be a bonus for an unlikely success, not a virtually
guaranteed prize. With that said, I don't find it to be a big deal if the refinery is destroyed,
especially if the Explorers aren't made aware of the ridiculous amount of XP and Profit they
would've received, otherwise. In fact, I don't necessarily expect the Whisperer and its escorts to
even be defeated in the first engagement, perhaps destroying the Hand of Redemption and
forcing the Explorers to retreat and muster a fleet of system ships, providing they're in working
order, before fighting back. While they're away, the Whisperer could be slowly making its move
to systematically bombard each moon, starting with Silence, then Cog, and finally Svard. The
adventure text even implies that the battle may not be won in a single space combat encounter.
My only real concern is whether or not the Explorers would have the sense to flee if they're
clearly on the losing end of the first engagement.

And while the lack of solid stats for Installation 23 is annoying, I don't think they're really all that
necessary. I would consider its weapons to have been put indefinitely out of commission by
loyalists before it fell to the hands of the Whisperers, hence why they're not used when the
Explorers attack and why they can't use be used in the subsequent battle against the Whisperer.

As for the potential problem of the Explorers going to clear out Installation 23 first, and therefore
starting the endgame of the adventure prematurely, I believe that it can easily be remedied by
holding off the appearance of the Whisperer until the Explorers liberate more of the system. The
location of the envoy can even be changed if that proves to be more convenient, as I'm pretty
sure there isn't any solid reasoning to restrict him to being on Installation 23.

~&~

) If the groups ship is weak or small then consider giving them a leg up in the final battles. The
system has a lot of asteroids so i assumed it had a minining industry and from this nukes for
mining! This isn’t too daft, feel free to wiki Operation Plowshare in the 1960s. Handy in the final
battle against the Crystalline Entity/Christmas tree baddy. Deploy via shuttle pod piloted by
servitor. Or an unlucky crew member (for better skill stats) who has been promised a big cash
bonus to their family. Bonus points if they send the pilot on the mission with an "Arch Militant"
bobble head on the dash board to keep them sufficiently motivated/intimated to do a good job.
2) As above. I dropped the seed which the group picked up on that Magos Tevla had the
"Administrator account" access codes for Installation 23's computers as it was part of his remit
for maintaining the system. Get him to the bridge and he can bring on the security system to help
purge the facility just like on Cog and bring its guns to bare on the enemy ships. This would
involve Tech Use challenge tests during a gun battle on the bridge for him to gain control of the
systems.

However, my lot decided to do a boarding action onto the external hull of the command level of
the installation. Placed demo charges on the windows, blew them, vented the command centre to
space and sauntered inside to hack the system with Tevla and vent the rest of the station. You get
the idea of how they like to play. Suffice to say they did not gain bonus XP for saving people.

~&~

We just played out the Cog segment of the Whispers scenario from the GM pack and it was a
corker, 1 party fatality with a borderline 2nd escaping minus a lung! The PC's have an insanely
good Sensor array on their Ship, the Ask Questions later..; they used it to identify the System
Ships and Wasps protecting Cog and decided to call in Keel and his big guns. Keel wanted more
specific Intel as his sensors just weren't as good as the Rogue Traders, so they managed to
"borrow" a Guncutter from him as they don't have 1 and are feeling very hard done by because of
this and sent the Pilot in alone with the Admech to do a complete sensor sweep flyby of Cog. A
series of mishaps were finished by an almighty 01 on the Sensor roll and the Guncutter legged it
out of there with a good picture of the System Boats and Wasps, they'd also picked up the weak
signal from the Admech in the Core warning them to attack from the lower levels.

Keel decided that he'd lead the attack with the Rogue Traders' Dauntless in behind; however the
aggressive nature of the Ask Q's Machine Spirit meant that it soon poured on the power and ran
the gauntlet between the Wasps, battering 1 of them heavily and taking a 2nd right out with a
flukey roll of 05 on the Lance Battery followed by a sickening pair of 10's on the damage.. exit 1
Wasp in a blaze of glory (they whacked its void shield out with the macrobattery first). Keel in
his Cruiser followed up by lancing both Wasps, the System boats did little or nothing against the
Hand and dropped a void shield on the Ask Q's. The following turn was a repeat excercise pretty
much leaving a mauled System boat afloat which died quickly in Turn 3 leaving the PC's alone
in space. Keel decided to take a high orbit to guard against further attacks whilst the PC's went in
with their Redshirts.

They took in 1000 Redshirts with them in Cargo shuttles mostly whilst they headed nearer the
core in Flash-hearts pimped out Aquilla lander. They all had sealed vac suits against the Toxic
Storm but I was giving them 2d10% degradation every turn that they were exposed to the
superstructure so they aimed at getting inside the facility pretty quickly. The best laid plans...
They ran into a bunch of admech whisperers which they took down easily over a few turns and a
few mm of protection ground off of their vacsuits. It was the Servitors released from the Airlock
that caused them the trouble, they killed Flash-hearts bodyguard who had ran out of fate
completely and almost killed the Astropath. 1 of the Servitors attacked with a flamer and
everybody dodged aside except the Astropath who took an unholy amount of damage and had to
burn a fate point to stay alive - I ruled that the Storm had blown out the flame igniter but that he
was doused in Promethium which was burning through his suit for another d10 degradation
points. When they reached 100% basically the suit was blowing seals, exposing them to the
elements, etc. The Astropath followed up by really pushing his powers, caused a Perils attack
and got Furies - he spent a further couple of turns wibbling on the deck and being eaten by the
elements. The rest of the PC's managed to finish off the Servitors and literally flung the
Astropath through the airlock door, by which time he had totally lost his Vacsuit and was making
T rolls to avoid taking serious internal damage - he had the affrontery to make 2 of them and the
3rd only resulted in the permanent loss of 1d10 T, and I rolled a 1! He had a lucky escape as he
lay gibbering.

The communications with the Admech, upon entering the Cog did not go well... Flash-heart,
understandably peeved at losing his bodyguard and almost his Astropath failed to hide his
disdain of the Cowardly Admech hiding in the Core (he was a little more colourful in his
language though) and proceeded to roll a straight 100 on the Fellowship test to try and talk the
Admech into opening the Core up or turning on the defences or something. His apology was
almost as heartfelt but as he only rolled a 98 he didn't offend them quite as much he had
previously... either way the Admech were none too keen on continuing a dialogue with him.
Things were not going well with his Redshirt security contingent either, his command rolls failed
by 5 steps and then 3 steps - his dice rolling tonight was obscenely high all night and he was well
out of fate. He lost pretty much everybody as he tried to talk to the Admech...

This, of course, left him in a stinking mood and he was contemplating taking off and nuking
(well, macrocannoning) the site from orbit when the Explorator suggested that they could take
down the Storm Shield and scour everything from the outer levels, leaving only the cowardly
Admech in his safe zone. A decent security hack later and a Servo skull rigged with both a viral
spirit and explosives and the shield was down. Leaving the PC's to run the gauntlet of the storm
back to the shuttle - only 47 out of 1000 of their Redshirts made it back... they shall be
remembered. Well, for a while anyways.

Flash-heart was happy to spend a few days in the tender care of the ships Medicae and returned
to the surface with all guns tracking the Facility. The Admech were far more willing to receive
him upon his return and even agreed to very very favourable terms despite him having caused
extensive damage which would take them many months to repair. To be fair, Flash-heart didn't
really give them much choice and was so pissed off that he took a fair chunk of the Admech staff
as tithe and insisted on them being reprogrammed to replace his Security staff, he also took a few
choice items from the Admech and promises of more to come, as soon as they finished repairs.

All in all, it wasn't too bad - they even salvaged the dead PC and replaced the Explorators
Servoskull with a Gunskull! Want not waste not. We have even started a new custom - I am
building an Imperial Shrine World with lots of statuary of heroes, etc - now there is a shiny tomb
with the statue of a Bodyguard adorning it. We've come to the plan that any future fatalities will
also have a tomb / remembrance built and added to the board.