Following the success of my last Kill Team narrative campaign at my local club I’ve decided to run another one. This time I want to incorporate some of the feedback from the participants in an attempt to heighten the narrative and increase engagement. Membership at the club has increased over the last few months so I’m hopeful we can have even more players than previous. But first I need to plan the narrative and scope. So read on for my Kill Team campaign design notes, to get my take on where this next event might take us.
Campaign Scope
While the last campaign was purposefully kept as simple as possible I want to increase the length and scope of this attempt without stretching myself or the players too thin. A couple of goals I’ve set myself includes:
- Longer event without losing momentum. 7 week campaign this time round.
- Engaging storyline that goes beyond the regular 40 faction divides of Chaos, Imperium and Xenos.
- More opportunities for narrative.
- Links to previous Promethium Wars event.
- Include more than 12 players if possible.
- Accessible to all play levels.
- Multiplayer events.
- Multiplayer grand finale.
Succession War Narrative
In an attempt to open up the alliances to multiple factions I’ve worked in a narrative based around the death of a Planetary Governor on an Imperial World. His offspring are fighting for the governorship supported by multiple factions. The plot will look something like this:
In the dying embers of the Forge World Velkira Prime, the great Steward Magus Regulus Thane lies on the edge of death. His three children—each bearing different visions for the planet’s future—prepare to seize power.
Amid their silent war of diplomacy, bribery, and sabotage, an external threat looms: Rhyskar the Unbound, a newly ascended Daemon Prince, seeks dominion of the system to prove his worth to the Chaos Pantheon. With Pyrothis V already in ruin, Velkira Prime is next.
The Imperium watches. The Xenos listen. And the Forge World burns with secrets.
Players take the role of shadow operatives, kill teams loyal to hidden masters. At the beginning of the campaign, each player secretly chooses a sibling to support. Each sibling also has one player assigned as their Captain—privy to deeper strategy and mission briefings.
Sibling Factions
The player base will be split across the three sibling factions regardless of whichever faction their Kill Team is aligned to. While each sibling is outwardly aligned to a particular faction they actually appeal to all three as described below.
Darian Thane – The Iron Heir
- Loyalty: The Imperium
- Vision: A brutal but stable militarized technocracy. Increased tithe to the Imperium to win political favor.
- Theme: Order, sacrifice, grim determination.
- Support: Militarum, Adeptus Mechanicus hardliners, conservative Space Marine chapters.
Chaos Support: Chaos-aligned factions view Darian’s rigid order as fertile ground for insidious infiltration. His obsessive devotion to law and productivity blinds him to the slow rot within.
Imperial Support: Darian is the traditionalist’s choice. He vows loyalty to the Imperium, pledges increased tithes, and promotes military strength and hierarchy.
Xenos Support: Pragmatic T’au or mercenary Kroot may ally with Darian via under-the-table deals with his logisticians, supplying rare resources or weapons in exchange for toleration.
Selene Thane – The Hidden Flame
- Loyalty: Xenos sympathizer
- Vision: Secret alliances with the T’au and Aeldari to boost production and evade Imperial taxes.
- Theme: Innovation, progress, secrecy.
- Support: Rogue Traders, T’au diplomats, Harlequin agents, Forge World fringe cults.
Chaos Support: Chaos cults view Selene’s obsession with innovation and progress as an open door to Tzeentchian manipulation. Her radical reforms destabilize the status quo—perfect for seeding anarchy.
Imperial Support: Some elements in the Imperium (Inquisition radicals, free-thinking Magi, or certain Rogue Traders) see her ideas as necessary evils for survival on the frontier.
Xenos Support: Selene has already opened discreet trade lines with T’au diplomats and Aeldari seers. Her faction embraces alien tech, psychic insight, and fringe experimentation.
Kato Thane – The Pale Prophet
- Loyalty: Chaos
- Vision: A Forge World as a daemon-forge of flesh and steel. Secretly devoted to Nurgle and Tzeentch.
- Theme: Corruption, mutation and progress.
- Support: Cults, Traitor Astartes, Renegade Mechanicus, Genestealer remnants.
Chaos Support: Kato is a willing servant of Chaos. His hidden cults grow daily, and his daemon-forges swell with unsanctioned warp energies. He dreams of apotheosis.
Imperial Support: Kato presents himself as a quiet, dutiful son. Loyalist factions that prefer a weak or pliable ruler may support him as a puppet candidate.
Xenos Support: Genestealer Cult remnants, radical Necron Crypteks, or even Ork Mekboyz might be amused by Kato’s grotesque tech-heresy. Some see his reign as inevitable—and profitable.
Player Distribution and Captains
In an effort to even up the teams players will be assigned based on rough skill level and experience. A captain will also be assigned with the aim of hyping up their team as well as dishing out specialist campaign equipment. The captains will also be tasked with encouraging the narrative within the campaign, creating rivalries and grudges etc.
Campaign Progression
Campaign progression will look something like the following:
| Week | Theme | Crit Ops | Notes |
| 1 | Fires of Ambition | Secure – Capture Key industrial sites on Velkias Prime | |
| 2 | Silent Alliances | Dead Drop – Deliver/collect coded intel across the map | Team Captains will be given a selection of rare equipment to pass out to their team members. |
| 3 | Saboteurs Unleashed | Sabotage of key rival infrastructure | 2v2 Half teams multiplayer missions |
| 4 | Assassination | Assassination crit op targeting rival leaders | The sibling with the weakest control is assassinated and removed from the race. Lost faction players redistributed to the winners. |
| 5 | Aftershocks Turf War | Seize and control disputed territory | Captains given further assets to distribute to their teams. |
| 6 | Final Strike | Kill Op, wipe out the other teams | 2v2 Half teams multiplayer missions Adding double control points. |
| 7 | Control | Large multiplayer event set in the Governors Palace | Players bring 1-2 operatives for a final show down. Which faction will control the winning Sibling? |
Victory Conditions
A simple map of Velkaria Prime divided into 5 sectors will form the basis of the win condition. Each game (decided or rolled for by the players) will take place in a different sector and a win will create a control point in that location. Control of the planet will therefore take on a visual aspect as control of the different sectors changes hands.
Having a map came up a lot in the player feedback and will form a central unifying aspect of this Kill team campaign design.
A separate element will be the Champion. Each player will nominate a champion (not their leader). Each champion gets a point for every Kill they make. This will form a different leader board giving players another victory condition to work towards.
Final Thoughts on the Kill Team Campaign Design
With regards to this Kill Team campaign design, I’m hoping that the mix of factions and player captains and map will all serve to keep the players engaged. As well as the multiplayer events and shifts in the story arc.
While players will be assigned to factions, it will be important that they develop a narrative around why their team is supporting the given sibling and work changes in the plot.
While a little more complicated than the previous campaign, the administration is actually fairly limited for me as the Arbitrator (organiser). Having the captains help corral players will also be a big help.
Looking forward to getting the map, missions and player pack finalized and kicking it off in a couple of months.