Why do we throw dice around for three hours?

Sorry to kill the thread with negativity guys, didn't mean to do that. THAT'S WHAT YOU GET JEFF.

I agree with Faction goals and the like, and I think they can be used to structure the greater narrative, piecing things out into Acts like Nick diagrammed for us.

However, I'm a little reluctant to clump everyone into big Factions and have them all playing towards a single goal, even one they've all agreed on. It seems too neat to me. I think teams within Factions would be pretty rad, that way you don't know exactly who you can trust, and there's opportunities for betrayal.

However, I might be way too into FORGING NARRATIVES rather than deciding who "wins." A more rigid structure might be a lot easier to manage.

Either way, Nids should probably be some sort of "clock." That way, we have a firm end to an "act" and the like.

I think a shared goal would help us drive the narrative, and give people who aren't really story-inclined a way to meaningfully play, but opening it up to player-run things too is key.

Examples...

Nids want Biomass. Novel. They are trying to systematically harvest the planets. Maybe have them come in from one side/corner and generally spill forth from there? Tactics/advancements up to players.

Planets X,Y, and Z have had major chaos uprisings. Goal is to hold those planets, and also defends planets A and B in order to promote further uprisings and use the collective warp energy of all 5 to open a new chaos rift once those planets hit the right orbitals. However, there has been some turmoil in the warp about which of The Four will have domain over the gate...

Eldar want to protect planets X, Y, and Z, as they are maiden worlds/house main webway gate/third thing Eldar care about. Also, Farseers have tossed the runes and have seen that if this new Warp Rift is opened, it spells future hardship/doom for the Eldar. However, if the Tyranid advance can be controlled, it could be used to create a buffer of dead-zone around sensitive assets.

Dark Eldar do not want the lesser races to gain access to the Webway Portal, as it links to a well-used Port-Gate in the habitated Webway, and is the primary node for large-scale use in this realspace sector. The Chaos/Tyranid invasions, if left unchecked, would likewise render a rich harvesting ground obsolete.

A Necron Tomb World has been awoken by the recent activity in the sector. The Tomb World must be protected at all costs, as it houses ancient artephacts that are not yet ready to put into play.

Adeptus Mechanicus have taken an uncommon interest in the sector. Whispers have been heard about "the brother's awakening" and ancient artephacts. *NOTE this one is hugely based on old fluff about the Dragon on Mars and being potential secret-friends with Necrons... Necron fluff got a major re-work, and I haven't read it or the new AdMech stuff, so this could easily be null & void

Space Marines have learned of an ancient artephact that could potentially be used to further the Will of the Emperor. Psykers point to a culmination of Warp Energies gathering that would lead to a catastrophic event if left unchecked.

Astra Militarum have significant assets in this region. Threats from all sides must be stopped. Also, a lush world currently held by an Eldar faction would be a beneficial agriworld.

Ork Warboss(es) have been looking for a way to settle "Oo's the biggest 'en Baddest, Oi!". A competition for the biggest teeth has begun. WAAAAAGGHH!!

Tau care about something.


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I kind of ran out of steam near the end there - some of these are probably a bit static, but I don't know everyone's fluff well enough to throw down an entangled web of intrigue and backstabbing potential in 20 minutes. But something like this gives a lot of shared goals between friendly factions, with also a bit of reason to butt heads, if not outright fight each other.

I feel like a general outline of this sort give everyone a starting point and an overall "goal" (whether it's truly reachable or not), while being open enough to let you get away with doing most things.

Maybe. I'm still pretty tired from the bus in this morning.

Classic, getting back to our roots lol

But no in seriousness, I think its pretty apparent what each race cares about, its more a matter of getting people committed to playing games in the campaign and reporting the results with narrative, accurately, and with haste. 

Also I suggest the Imperium is just one "race" so its not like "space marines want this thing, but the AM want something only slightly different, because differentiation". Likewise, daemons, daemonkin, and csm all want the same things. Dark Eldar and Eldar overlap, as do harlequins, but Dark eldar have one non-shared goal, as do eldar. Etc. etc. 

It's like this Nick guy knows what he's talking about or something.

Xenos vs Imperium. Total number of wins per week decides the path?

I have to apologize in advance to my teammates.