I'm planning on running a Black Crusade game where the players are all inmates in a high security Imperial prison colony. The campaign will be humans only (since the Imperium is more likely to straight-up execute Chaos Space Marines rather than take them prisoner) and there will be little starting gear; everyone has an orange jumpsuit, with an extra item such as a makeshift lockpick or a shiv or some smuggled drugs. Everyone will be required to write a backstory for their character detailing what crime they're convicted of, whether or not they actually committed the crime, and how long they've been in the prison. Depending on what they did and how long they've been "on the inside", they will start out with different starting talents and equipment.

For instance. a recently-arrested deserter from the Imperial Guard would have Common Lore (Imperial Guard) and might possess special training like being able to operate military vehicles, and could have some smuggled drugs that they hid in an unsavory place. On the other hand, a con artist who's been in for five years or more would have a knack for getting people to do what they want (Charm/Deceive bonuses) and could have fashioned themselves a shiv out of a sharpened toothbrush handle or something similar. The players may not even be devoted to Chaos at first, but one thing's for sure, the Emperor isn't going to save them now, so it's only a matter of time.

The objective of the campaign arc is to escape from the prison colony, at which point the game will probably proceed like regular Black Crusade. Combat would initially be fought with fists and light melee weapons, such as knives or clubs. Apart from perhaps a scratch built Laslock or Mercy Killer (if they're lucky), the only guns are in the hands of the guards, and they'd have to kill one or knock him out in order to acquire one, a feat easier said than done. They'd also have to deal with sadistic prison gangs who think they can push the new meat around, and that's even before they encounter the mutated creatures lurking in the shadows below the prison depths…

I know there's the example story "Broken Chains", and while I haven't read it, I'm wondering how much use that will be to me here. If anyone has their own ideas or comments, feel free to chime in.

Holy crap! This has got to be the single coolest game idea I have heard in 25+ years of doing this gaming thing!! So far you seem to have my vision of imperial prison down pat.  I would shank a Houda (sp) [prison cop in Cali] to play in your game!!! I do suggest you check out the prison documentary type shows on cable (but so far you seem to have the flavor down pat, so if you don't it's prob no biggie)

 Also, in Real life race is a huge factor in prison. HUGE. So perhaps in WH40k your home world might work like your race in RL. Only thing is, in RL it's more usually your visible race… You are identified by sight. With exceptions like Southern and northern Mexicans and what not.. Those guys ID with tats and such.  Perhaps 40k "world-gangs" would do the same or similar to identify affiliation in prison. 

DigitalRedneck said:

The gangs would probably be separated into religious lines as well, to some extent. There are six major gangs that I've come up with:

• Iron Skulls (Hivers and Imperial worlders, easily the biggest and most powerful gang. Usually pale, pollution-scarred, mostly composed of mundane criminals such as murderers or thieves. Preferred enemy is the Skinners. Emblem is a grimacing metal skull. Secretly supported by the guards, who use them to keep the other prisoners in line.)
• Skinners (Feral worlders, easily identified by tribal tattoos and/or scarification; big and strong, but seen as savages by some of the others. Rumors of cannibalism that may or may not be true. What they lack in numbers, they make up for with individual strength. Preferred enemy is the Iron Skulls. Emblem is a knife cutting a jagged scar.)
• Purifiers (Religious fanatics; they might have been arrested for being overzealous or later have "found their calling" in prison. Second most powerful gang, nuttier than a squirrel's lunch. Preferred enemies are the Disciples and the Twists but they'll antagonize anyone for being impious enough. Emblem is an Imperial Eagle wrapped in barbed wire.)
• Harpies (All-female gang. Initially formed as a defense against rapists, now they view all men as inferior beings to be abused for their pleasure. They reject mainstream Imperial dogma as patriarchal propaganda and worship the Emperor as the "God-Empress", which infuriates the Purifiers to no end. Infamous for torturing and/or castrating any unfortunate males that catch their ire. Emblem is a heart with a spike through it. Smallest and least powerful gang; even most female inmates think they're a bit nuts.)
• Twists (Mutants, everyone hates them, especially the Purifiers. Often the targets of guard brutality and lynchings. Have no emblem.)
• The Disciples (Chaos cultists. They keep their religious stuff on the down-low lest the guards crack down on them, and are the only gang who tolerate the Twists to any degree. Has subsects devoted to each Chaos God. Preferred enemy is the Purifiers. Emblem is an open eye.)

There'd also be a gang of Ratlings and their Ogryn buddies that would act as a sort of black market; their turf is a truce zone, since the Ratties will smuggle and steal useful stuff for the others (if they can afford the price), and they use the Ogryns as muscle in case someone tries to get clever with them. And, of course, there's plenty of prisoners who are unaffiliated with any of the gangs, either because they'd rather cause mayhem their own way or because they'd rather just serve their sentence quietly.

My primary inspiration for this was the Chronicles of Riddick, especially the Escape from Butcher Bay video game. Hand of Corruption looks like an interesting read, I'll look over it later.

Those gangs and their flavor sound perfect.  I totally dig it. The gang supported by the guards should be the one with the most trustees and whatnot. This helps to empower them my giving them more freedom  to move around the prison and slip kites (notes) and whatnot to other prisoners, etc.. (I'm sure u thought of this tho, already.)

I gotta say it again. This is a great idea.  Oh the intrigue and all.. 

Something you might want to consider: What's the point of moving convicts to one world? Transport through the void is crazily expensive, so there needs to be a reason. This is the Imperium of Man we're talking about, so it's not necessarily a good (or even sensible) reason, but a reason nevertheless.

It might be traditional. Perhaps the prison planet once was a garden world and served as a golden cage for the noble hostages the lord sector demanded of potentially rebellious planetary governors. Millenia later, conditions shifted so that the planet became a desolate waste hole and the office of the sector governor lost power, becoming unable to enforce the tradition to this degree. To keep up appearances, they made the place a literal prison, still drawing in prisoners from all over the sector, although those are somewhat less noble.

It might be practical. The planet has massive ressource deposits useful to the Imperium, but it's also so hostile to life that a regular colony could never develop. Instead, the Imperium takes a steady tithe of people from the rest of the sector - and since most of them won't live beyond perhaps two decades at most, convicts are the obvious solution.

It might be mystical. An Eldar Farseer has foreseen that the existence of this prison world would save an Eldar's life somewhere down the line (perhaps even due to the characters emerging from there as chaos warlords that challenge the dominion of another warlord who is rabidly anti-eldar). Therefore, they manipulated it into existance.

It might be scientific. The whole planet is a giant social experiment of an Inquisitor interested in the dynamics of forced cohabitation. Perhaps he'll even withdraw the guards someday and see how the population fares on its own.

Also: What are the supply lines? Is the colony self-supplying? Do they (perhaps intentionally) need anything from off-world? How does the black market work? Where are the goods coming from? Is there an internal currency?
And is there anything else on the planet besides the colony?

Good question. Here's my answer so far.

The planet began as a mining colony. It has a harsh atmosphere and environment, but has many valuable ores and minerals beneath the surface. Servitors and professional laborers used to work the mines until planetary officials realized they could get cheaper labor (and deal with increasing crime rates and crowded prisons on nearby planets) by getting convicts to work the mines instead. As an incentive, productive convicts are promised reduced sentences or better living conditions (the key word being promised). If that doesn't get them to work, then the guards will coerce them with a swift blow from a lasgun's stock. While the colony produces its own food, to a degree (one of the jobs is working in the agri-gardens), most of its supplies come from nearby forge worlds and agri worlds in the system. This is also where the black market gets its goods, because some things slip through the cracks.

Furthermore, escape is said to be impossible; even if a convict did get outside the prison colony, there is nothing but miles upon miles of barren, windswept desert and ash-spewing volcanoes; an escapee will die of heat exhaustion or have the flesh stripped from his bones by a sandstorm, and that's if they're lucky. If they're not, they end up as lunch for the underground indigenous creatures.

The Eldar certainly don't give a damn about the planet, and the Inquisition has little to do with it, too, apart from perhaps abducting useful prisoners and using them as acolytes. There is a noble presence, however, and that's High Warden Crassus Carpalo and his family. They live at the very peak of the prison complex and are pretty much the only five people (and one cat) on the planet with actually good living conditions. Even the guards mostly just live in repurposed military barracks, though it's still far more comfortable than living in a cell.

Guards are equipped with lasguns or shotguns and flak armor (carapace armor for the double-max areas). In case of a riot, webbers and grenade launchers, which are used to launch tear gas or flashbangs, are employed as well. Vehicles include Sentinels, Chimeras, Banewolves, Repressors, and some light aircraft for riot suppression and transportation.

The planet needs a name, especially a darkly humorous nickname that the inmates gave it. I was thinking Traitor's Gorge. I was also tempted to name the warden Matthew, and call him "Matt the Warden", but that was probably going to be too meta.

Man I really dig your vision of the prison. I especially like the living situation of the guards as it would likley induce the proper level of corruption in the guard corps.  It's all sounding awesome. 

What are you thinking as far as rules and the punishments for breaking them would look like?

While Imperial law is notoriously harsh, I'd probably punish most crimes with a beating from the guards and/or solitary confinement. I expect the PCs to be breaking the rules, but "The guard executes you" would not make a fun game. If they start a riot or make an escape attempt, though, the guards will take the kid gloves off, but by that point the PCs have probably already stabbed a guard or three and taken their weapons, so they'd be able to fight back.

The gangs also have their own rules on their turf, which the PCs will probably only pay lip service to (if they even choose to listen to them at all).

Everything sounds awesome. Was trying to come us with a name for the world like ya asked. For the official name how about just a number? Like 436 in roman numerals to show that it was originally essentially just a big resource not a place to visit. 

For what the inmates call the prison.. Sand Palace, the Hole, the Pit, the Sand Pit?

also was thinking the guards could have bean bag non leathal ammo for the shotguns. 

And I was also thinking some sort of cyborg dog or robo dog would be sweet. That or something more like Komodo Dragons…

Oh for god Emperors sake! Please oh please make this game an actual play thread! I'm just dying to know what happens. I'd shank a dude if I thought the prison shot callers would make u post the in game happenings!! How manny times must a Redneck say please? Lol 

Seriously, if ya don't have time it's cool but by the same token if your just being shy please don't be. This champaign concept is pure GOLD! & i hope to see how it plays out. 

Count me as very interested as well. I'd be looking at playing a Heretek sent to the facility as punishment for tech heresies too minor to warrant execution but too numerous to overlook either. What follows would be my suggestion as to how incorporate this faction.

A mining facility needs someone to oversee the machines being used and much like the prisoners, the disgraced tech priests sent to this rock are promised they may one day be allowed to return to a proper shrine or manufactorum. Their augmetics are equipped with limiters by their superiors before being shipped to the prison and the codes are given to the gaurds. This allows them a measure of control over prisoners who otherwise could be walking weapons.

Much like the Imperium at large these prisoner hereteks operate somewhat outside the normal rules. Many prisoners resent the higher degree of freedom they have but the hereteks are a shrewed bunch. Besides their normal ritual repairs needed to keep the prison operational they also use their considerable intellects to produce all sort of useful or desirable items. One favorite item amongst the prisoners is a drink called Cog Syrup, so named not only for it's maker but the materials it's distilled from, namely motor oils and remenants of sacred machine oil. Those outfitted with Medicae arms from their former life often fill the role of the prisons unoffical medicae personnel, making them a good friend to have in a place where a simple infection can easily kill an inmate. Occasionally they can even be convinced to fashion a variety of primitive, if high quality, weapons. Given the frequency of shakedowns and the consequences of being caught producing weapons these items are quite costly. It takes an exceedinly high price for anything resembling a gun however as suspicion would immediately be cast upon them if one were found. 

They have formed a gang many prisoners liken more to organized crime syndacite then a simple gang called the Iron Hammers. They use the traditional cog symbol with a iron hammer instead of the half skull half cybernetics design in the center. Only a handful of Tech Priests do not belong to this group. The Iron Hammers do not force or even pressure membership but instead let the harsh realities of the prison drive new tech priests into their mechadedrites. They have adopted a rudimentary form of communistic living as all resources the group holds are able to be accessed equally but all members are expected to deposit the bulk of any deals into the Iron Hammers collective coffers. Members are allowed to keep a small portion of any deals for themselves to allow the Iron Hammers leadership to focus on tasks other then trying to police every throne their numbers obtain. They appear to run by a form of commitee, which is not as rediculous as it sounds on the surface.Their few numbers and ability to coverse in machine cant at far faster rates then normal conversation allows decisions to be made far more swiftly then a group of normal men of similair size. If a dispute reaches an impasse the senior ranking member will make the final decision. They generally don't directly kill those who have managed to incur their wrath but instead engineer cunning accidents for their target. But they are ruthless in the protection of their members

Deimos. The Iron Hammers are hella cool. If da Gitsmasha Boss don't be uzzin 'em, it'll be cuz he olready gotts too much written' dones alreadies. 

I really do like the inclusion of the Heretics and the Mob/gang sounds like a crazy good fit to me. I like the idea of a kill switch to turn off the bionics quite a bit too. And it does seem like a prison mine Should have some techs placate and run the machines. And I can see the prisoner techs getting assigned to the more dangerous jobs while Guard Techs work as overseers. 

I also was thinking that there could be some sort of Great Terror living in some deep and abandoned part of the mine. Maybe the Prisoners whisper about it, or perhaps nobody is aware of it yet. 

The cogboy gang seems like an interesting idea but I'd probably call them something else (Rusty Gears? Something invoking malfunctioning machinery), to prevent possible confusion with the Iron Skulls gang. They all wear red prison jumpsuits with a white stripe across the shoulders and down their sides to identify them as Mechanicus prisoners, since they're not allowed to wear the red robes commonly associated with Techpriests. All of them are equipped with Haywire Collars, which will play havoc with an inmate's bionics should they grow unruly (Test Toughness -20, failure inflicts 1d5 Fatigue, 3 Degrees of Failure or more inflicts 1d5 Damage ignoring Armor and Toughness in addition to Fatigue). If necessary, it can be turned up to lethal levels, which have a similar effect to the more common Explosive Collars. The cogboys also manufacture gunpowder and crude firearms on the side (think Ripper Clips, Laslocks, Mercy Killers, etc.), but these are highly illegal and a prisoner must expect to pay through the nose (or do them one hell of a favor) to even think about getting one of these. Oh, and if the guards catch you with one, you're almost certainly going to get shot. Good thing you can take them apart…

There is indeed a horrific alien race hidden beneath the mines, and sometimes prisoners simply disappear down there. I'm not going to use the Tyranids or anything like that; I'll make up a homebrew alien race, so the PCs won't know what to expect. Are they a hive mind? Are they intelligent? How many are there? Nobody knows. They're totally foreign to the Imperium, since they only dwell on this world and nobody has riled them up yet… until now.

Also, I appreciate your enthusiasm, but this is still in the prototype stage by now. I'll need a while to draw up maps, think up plothooks and NPCs, et cetera. If there's people on this board who are interested enough to form a play group, then yes, I will run it for you lot. I haven't GM'd in a while, I think this might be fun.

Just remember. Humans only, and if you're a Psyker you better do a damn good job at hiding it. What were you convicted of? Were you actually guilty? How many years have you spent in the slammer? (New Arrival/More than one/More than five/More than ten) Are you in a gang? Does your old cellmate have the soothing, relaxing voice of Morgan Freeman? These are non-trivial questions, since they will determine what skills, talents, or equipment you might start with.

Except the one about Morgan Freeman. That one's just for fun.

I'm stoked to play this campaign!! I might go the unsantioned Psycker route. Perhaps that minor Psycker background from into the storm. But really.. I'm very undecided at the moment. Having the dark secret is really attractive to me the longer I play with it in my mind. Possibly a chaos devotee of some kind too..  Slannesh might be cool to pray to in a prison. And if I go that route I'd say my pc would definitely be smuggling drugs in to trade when he's brought in.. 

I'd love in on this game. Thinking Aposate for the Purifiers, ready to burn the unbelievers in the "Emperor's" fires.