His Glorious Shield is the newest PDF-only release from Cubicle 7 for Imperium Maledictum (their grimmer and darker Warhammer 40,000 RPG). This 26 page publication features a unique campaign setting to really give your players a different game!

This setting features a massive city-ship known as His Glorious Shield on the ocean planet of Jotungarth. His Glorious Shield is but one of the city-ships that are many square-miles (or kilometers for civilized folk) of Imperial Ingenuity. First, we get how the nine factions of IM fit into the place, what their goals and actions could be and how each can fit into a campaign. A few His Glorious Shield-specific Patrons are described, including Captain Tynar Valgaard and the Bilge Lord (more on him later).

A lot of the space of this release is given to describing the decks with creative locations like the Drowned Sanctum and the Gilded Ballroom. Now, this place stretches on for miles in all directions, so a lot is left up to the GM to create, but this PDF gives plenty of info to get any game started. With each deck, a few well-defined NPCs (with portraits!) and adventure hooks are included. On the Mast alone, we get Captain Tynar, Ranth Hellist- second-in-command, and Marga the Blind- one of the hundreds of seers on the vessel.

Deck 13-B gets a lot of love too, with locations and NPCs described. Here they even go into detail on how money works on His Glorious Shield, which is a cool combination of Solars (normal currency for the game) and scrips of payment, goods, or services that are traded all over the city-ship.

The final area of His Glorious Shield that is detailed is the Keelings, which sounds like a truly awful place. The Keelings are the back mile of the ship, where the deafening macro-propellers make it a dangerous and uncomfortable place to live. No wonder this is the favorite hangout of cultist activity. The Bilge Lord, while he looks like he could be a cultist, actually has the best interest of the ship at heart. While he deals with the actual cult activity of the Peerless Sun, he is always looking to increase his area of influence, and is seen as a criminal and a major problem by the people in charge.

The Peerless Sun are an interesting cult, as they aren’t worshippers of Chaos, but follow the Imperial Creed! The major difference, is that they are nihilists and have become fanatical in the ideal that the Imperium has failed the Emperor and must atone, usually violently.

The final section of this publication is the “Mission Frameworks” that does just what it says. There are three frameworks for possible missions to send a group of PCs on to make a short campaign, or get one started for a GM that likes to add their own flair. I won’t go into details here for obvious reasons, but the three frameworks are called: His Glorious Mutiny, Turf War, and the Beasts of the Bilge.

While this supplement doesn’t include any new creatures, there are a five new NPCs with stat blocks to use in your games, as well as plenty of information to get those creative juices flowing! My typical complaint, a lack of maps, is present here, but with a massive structure like this, I’m more inclined to forgive them this time.

As for a supplement to a great game, this is absolutely worth the $5 USD asking price (or whatever that is in other money). IM might not have too much available for GMs yet for adventures and campaigns, this release certainly helps with that, and can really get a group started with a unique place to adventure in!

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