Hello, all!
I'm posting this for two reasons. Firstly, I've decided that I cannot give permissions to share my drive folder with W&G maps/assets until I've got solid plans for arc 3 of my campaign. Secondly, I'm looking for help and ideas for that detail so I can resume sharing.
Right now the players are at the core of the space hulk, where all of the ships are from the Horus Heresy. There is a treasure trove of relics here: armour, vehicles, weapons from the era that can no longer be made (it's unmarked so aside from a few key things like Kharybdis assault claws, it's not clear what Legion they are from or if they are Loyalist or Traitor). There is a sizable Black Legion warband sent to secure this treasure trove of relics, on top of the real prize at the very heart of the space hulk - a Luna Wolves vessel from the Great Crusade (shortly before the conclusion of the Ullanor campaign, but after Lorgar's fall) that contains a gene-seed vault of material collected directly from the Primarch himself (little do any of them know, most of it has been consumed by a Broodlord that has become the true BBEG of the campaign, getting more powerful with each faction the players kill, and arc 4 begins when they get to the vault and confront the Chaos Lord, only for a brief battle to see him brutally torn apart by the most juiced-up Broodlord ever).
Right now, the struggle I have is preventing this arc from feeling too repetitive. The objectives I have as core objectives are the obvious ones: secure relics, prevent the Black Legion from getting their hands on as many as possible (with any failures to do so being used against the players later on), and get to the very center. The problem is obviously that this gets old quick. I need ideas for ways to mix it up, but without feeling like complete tangents.
Also, I have plans to introduce an NPC that gives the players a very interesting sort of dilemma, and I am trying to decide the right time/context to have them encounter him. This NPC is a Luna Wolf Centurion (or some other high rank - I want him to be equivalent to the players who are Primaris Terminators with >800XP) who was held in stasis aboard that Luna Wolves ship, and has no knowledge of the Heresy or even that Horus was declared Warmaster. I won't get into the nature of the dilemmas and decisions/choices it will pose to the players, but I worry that if I wait to introduce him until the very end when they get to that ship, there won't be enough time for the players to really get attached to him (or at least have time to know the character) and thus feel the weight of potential choices. However, I can't think of a good way to introduce him earlier that would explain how he got out of said ship and runs into the PCs. I like the idea of him coming in to fight off a group of Black Legion marines (ie contributing to a fight the players find themselves in without stealing the scene), or them finding him in the middle of a battle against such marines, but I need some help fleshing it out.
As always, ideas are greatly appreciated! I've already made my first map for the next section which is a Sokar Stormbird launch bay, but I'm waiting until I figure out more of what I want to do before continuing.
Thanks!