The following is lifted from Dan Well's blog fearfulsymmetry.net. If you want to read the whole review of Black Crusade click here . "Infamy is gained primarily through Compacts, which is an interesting
adventure system that puts the players in a much more active role than
normal–fitting, I think, for a game about villains. This is one of my
favorite parts of the whole game. A Compact is a plan, more or less,
where the players come together and say “We want to gain some infamy.
What should we do?” This primary objective can be something small
(assassinate an important leader, steal an artifact, etc.) or huge
(conquer a planet, etc.) or anything in between; your goals are likely
to be modest at first until you gain a little more leverage. Let’s say
your group decides to raise an army–you can’t just do that out of the
gate, so you need some secondary objectives to help get you there. Say
there’s a penal colony in your sector of space, with an army of
criminals just waiting to be freed and armed; your secondary objectives
could involve killing the warden in charge, poisoning the guards, buying
or stealing a bunch of weapons, and so on. The group defines the
objectives based on the skills of its members: if one character is a
traitorous Imperium official, he could position himself to replace the
current warden through political machinations; if another character has
connections to Nurgle, the Chaos God of disease and decay, he could put a
mutagen into the water supply and corrupt the planet from within.
Everyone has something to contribute, and step by step you conquer the
galaxy. As your objectives are completed you gain Infamy, including a
special boost for completing the Compact, and then it’s time to use your
new resources (say, a shiny new army of mutated prisoners) to hatch a
new plan and start a new Compact." Essentially, one of the first things the heretics aboard the prison barge should do is decide what they want to focus on next, and form a new compact. The following is a sample Compact of great and terrible scope, a sinister enterprise , to use as inspiration:
Primary Objective-
To support the Severan Dominate's bid for secession from Imperial rule
and turn it to the whim and will of Chaos Unaligned (the Compact is not
dedicated to a specific Chaos Power). If successfully completed, this
Compact will award each member of the warband with +15 Infamy. Failure
to complete this Compact will result in each member of the warband
gaining 10+1d5 Corruption
Secondary Objectives-
Gain access to Severan Dominate military and resource assets within the Periphery
Clandestinely prepare the Periphery's infrastructure for usurpation
Destabilize Imperial military support and resources within the Periphery
Demoralize Imperial military and its support assets (the Imperial Church, the Adeptus Mechanicus) within the Periphery
Deliver crushing defeat to Imperial military and its support assets within the Periphery
Usurp governance of the Periphery, utilizing it as a base of operations from which to attack the Callixis and Scarus Sectors
It is as this point the Players must choose the Anointed and consider
what resources their PCs can muster. Looking through the Secondary
Objective Endeavors may help the Players determine which PC can
contribute best to each of the Secondary Objectives. Alternatively, the
PCs could choose to "micro-manage" the Secondary Objectives by mustering
resources for specific Endeavors within the various Secondary
Objectives.
The ability to communicate with their resources over great distances
with a relatively short response time, an extensive network of
infiltrators, saboteurs, informants, and counter-agents, and some semblance of a fighting formation that can support Severan military
efforts on key worlds within the Periphery are just a few examples. The
ability to navigate meta-crisis politics (relevant Skills and Talents)
may also prove a boon, for the warband don't want the Severan Dominate
wasting their resources needlessly against Waaagh! Grimtoof if instead a
clash with Imperial military assets might be orchestrated. The key to
success is planned response, not hasty reaction.
At any time during this Compact the Anointed may abdicate his/her authority (gaining 4 Corruption) and another must take the reigns. It is the duty of the Anointed to keep the heretic warband on track, serving as a tie breaker, and diplomatic speaker. Guiding the heretics on the path of success. The Anointed also chooses whether or not to dedicate the Compact to a specific Chaos God, or to keep it unaligned, so the Anointed should be conversant with the differences between the four great gods of Chaos: Khorne , Nurgle , Tzeentch , and Slaanesh as well as the innumerable lesser Chaos entities such as Malal , and Phraz-Etar , as well as the unholy numbers associated with the various deities, such as a character that possesses a handful of relevant Forbidden Lores.
