Hello again,

In the campaign I'm playing in, my missionary character seems to have a tough time fitting in with the rest of the group, as it seems the missionary doesn't have a clear-cut role that the rest of the players do. We just haven't picked an exact reason as to why he's one of the top advisers of the Rogue Trader.

One idea was him being the ship councilor/therapist, but that wouldn't fit with his Death World background. The best idea was him being the Rogue Trader's personal doctor or the chief medical officer on the ship. While this seems okay, I was wondering if there were any other roles a missionary could fulfill that would make him worthy of being amongst the Rogue Trader's posse?

Also, are medikits reusable? Because they're found in the "drugs and consumables" section, and since everything in there is only meant to be used once, I was wondering if that was the case with medikits. And I can't imagine that medikits just have an infinite number of supplies stocked in them.

Much like handgrenades and weapon ammo I assume that the players get a steady supply of refills when getting the item. You might make an upkeep test for them if you feel the situation requires it, but generally it assumed that the Rogue trader(s) and their closest advisors can afford to have their supplies refilled.

As for ship roles check out Into The Storm, it has a large amount of ship roles with various bonuses and requirements for them. The roles are split into Tiers, with Tier 1 being Lord-Captain which is generally always the Rogue trader and then goes down through the various roles like Enginseer Prime, Master of Etherics, Infernus Master, Chief Bosun, all the way down to things like Twist Catcher, Cook etc

You'll find something for everyone there.

Much like handgrenades and weapon ammo I assume that the players get a steady supply of refills when getting the item. You might make an upkeep test for them if you feel the situation requires it, but generally it assumed that the Rogue trader(s) and their closest advisors can afford to have their supplies refilled.

Pretty much this. The amount the group can take off the ship - i.e. onto a planet - is limited by carrying capacity, but there should never be a limit to the quantity of those kinds of things a Rogue Trader dynasty can get. They are, after all, filthy rich. Even the poorest of them are 40K Bill Gates.

As for ship roles check out Into The Storm, it has a large amount of ship roles with various bonuses and requirements for them. The roles are split into Tiers, with Tier 1 being Lord-Captain which is generally always the Rogue trader and then goes down through the various roles like Enginseer Prime, Master of Etherics, Infernus Master, Chief Bosun, all the way down to things like Twist Catcher, Cook etc

You'll find something for everyone there.

Well, I looked into this, and I think the best one is the Ship's Confessor, at least in terms of what's best for the character I've come up with.

But the thing is, I don't know how some one like that will be involved on missions. Right now my group is stuck on Port Wander. Long story short, some Imperial Navy officer and the Rogue Trader got into a disagreement, which ultimately resulted in our ship getting occupied by the Navy. The goal right now is to get off of Port Wander, but first, the Rogue Trader wants to find a way to profit off of the ship before the Navy relinquishes control. He has schemes in mind, but none of them could involve the missionary in any way, and pretty much everyone in the group is stumped as to how a missionary can do anything in this situation.

Does anyone know how a missionary could be involved in a situation where he's not exploring and converting new planets in the Expanse?

Well, basically missionary is the one who tells heathen from a believer, so in your case maybe using some passionate rhetorics and declaring IN officer a heretic (he insulted RT who is on a mission from Go.. Emperor), with rest of PC "finding" a little bit of evidence.

And aformentioned has brought us into second field of missionaries/church activity: politics. Missionary is a member of arguably the most powerful faction in the Imperium. IG got troops and IN have crews, you have their souls.

My gripe with the Missionary writeup is that it seems to ignore the fun half of what they should be doing. My preference would be to use autocathedrals and your missionary minions to do the conversions, the PC should be focusing on more important people like the crew and the commander. Things that would be reasonable for a missionary:

1. Ship disciplinarian & press gang leader: On the one hand, the missionary reads out the ship laws & punishes any crew lapses during services. On the other hand, he takes an unruly mob of crew and inspires them to fight for the Rogue Trader, God Emp, and glory.

2. Demon bane: May not be a psyker, but I'm sure the ministorum has big books of "Exorcism for dummies."

3. Ethics advisor: When the R.T. is about to do something anti-church like annihilate a pirate base, advise him on a 'more correct' path, i.e. capture the pirates and put them to work on your new mining colony. Obviously, to provide good advice you need to be with the RT at all times.

4. You want to slow down another Rogue Trader or some low-ranking Naval personnel? Start preaching how they are doing bad things, and try to stir up a mutiny against their heretic officers.

Death World Missionary & doctor? When a crewmember suffers an injury while serving the God Emp (in the person of the RT), make sure the wound heals with a nice scar, and induct the crewperson into the special cult of your homeworld. Build up a corps of fanatics, maybe start your own death cult.

If there is one thing you can count on a Rogue Trader to be doing, it's heathen things. Hell, the piece of tissue that gives them their power does so that they CAN do those bad things. Still, most people don't have to know that, and saying that this heathen pirate lord is cavorting with Eldar, Kroot, or whatever, using xeno tech, whatever have you, and he or she almost certainly IS, because Rogue Traders almost universally do, can harm his standing in any number of places and ways. Many people are devout to the Ecclesiarchy's laws, and consorting with heathens is heresy. it could become harder to get Navy aide, find a place to fix your ship, or restock your goods, if you can't easily go back to Calixis (where they do believe, and your "authority" is muted) to find these services, and the Expanse, while more open, isn't as riddled with SOME of these resources (NO Forge Worlds in the Expanse, for instance). It could go from hindering ship crew morale all the way to hampering the Dynasty's operation. Not sure how much of thise you can easily make use of, mind, but the hearts and souls of the people are powerful, while their minds are weak, so a properly inspired Cleric can do some real good, or damage.

If there is one thing you can count on a Rogue Trader to be doing, it's heathen things. Hell, the piece of tissue that gives them their power does so that they CAN do those bad things. Still, most people don't have to know that, and saying that this heathen pirate lord is cavorting with Eldar, Kroot, or whatever, using xeno tech, whatever have you, and he or she almost certainly IS, because Rogue Traders almost universally do, can harm his standing in any number of places and ways. Many people are devout to the Ecclesiarchy's laws, and consorting with heathens is heresy. it could become harder to get Navy aide, find a place to fix your ship, or restock your goods, if you can't easily go back to Calixis (where they do believe, and your "authority" is muted) to find these services, and the Expanse, while more open, isn't as riddled with SOME of these resources (NO Forge Worlds in the Expanse, for instance). It could go from hindering ship crew morale all the way to hampering the Dynasty's operation. Not sure how much of thise you can easily make use of, mind, but the hearts and souls of the people are powerful, while their minds are weak, so a properly inspired Cleric can do some real good, or damage.

Aye, basically you could treat your Missionary as a glorified PR agent for the Rogue Trader, just like some treat the Seneschal as a glorified spymaster, the Void-master as a glorified personal shuttle pilot, the Arch-militant as a bodyguard, Astropath as as a walking telephone...

It belies the true depth and complexity of each career but it if helps your players get an idea of what they can do then that's a good thing.

And if they decide they don't want to be "just" a glorified _______, and they actually figure out a more real niche to fill their occupation, then all the better; good char development, and RPing. Sometimes, the simple answer is good enough for them to get their feet wet, and then they can learn more about what to really do. You might imagine a Navigator. Some COULD make an argument that the group doesn't need one; with crew rating + a few ship upgrades, your Warp travels will be fine, and what's a Navigator doing on the ground, off the ship. Their job is simply to get the ship from Point A to Point B, so everyone else can do the spelunking. Of course, this is hogwash, and the navigator can be very useful; they are as much more than a "glorified GPS" as the Astropath Transcendent is more than a glorified cell phone, but this gives them an idea of their function. Realizing that they want to do more, struggling to figure out what that is, and then figuring out how, and having fun with it, is half the point of the game.

The Missionary shouldn't be too much more difficult. He or she is, in fact, a good PR piece for the RT, if needed and willing, but also a way to maintain crew morale, heal some of the injured, a good person for Ecclesiarchal negotiation/manipulation, and a good gauge for some places you visit. If the player is ever leaving, they might also be good for assisting the foundation of a colony, or something, and it could free them up to return later, if desired. Miracles, depending on the availability from your GM, are also very nice. Best of luck with it.

Hello again,

In the campaign I'm playing in, my missionary character seems to have a tough time fitting in with the rest of the group, as it seems the missionary doesn't have a clear-cut role that the rest of the players do. We just haven't picked an exact reason as to why he's one of the top advisers of the Rogue Trader.

One idea was him being the ship councilor/therapist, but that wouldn't fit with his Death World background. The best idea was him being the Rogue Trader's personal doctor or the chief medical officer on the ship. While this seems okay, I was wondering if there were any other roles a missionary could fulfill that would make him worthy of being amongst the Rogue Trader's posse?

Also, are medikits reusable? Because they're found in the "drugs and consumables" section, and since everything in there is only meant to be used once, I was wondering if that was the case with medikits. And I can't imagine that medikits just have an infinite number of supplies stocked in them.

Heya,

When I look to the Missionary, here's what I see that stands out that makes them interesting and enticing:

Fellowship 100/250/500/750

Rank1: Charm / Flame Weapon Training / Dodge

Rank2: Charm +10 / Dodge +10 / Talented (choose Charm) / Cleanse & Purify

Rank3: Charm +20 / Purge the Unclean

Notice the trend? Early on you get a very potent combination of high early on Fellowship and high ranked Talented Charm +20 making for a +30 roll on Fellowship (say Fellowship is 50~60, you're already rolling 80~90 as your check). You are important with that, because you can convince others to take deals, make trades, encourage choices, etc, that otherwise a character without this skill/trait could encourage other than the Rogue Trader, but unless they specialize in it, they won't have this so early on the way you will as a Missionary. This can literally change the course of an interaction just changing someone's mind or stance on something that you're opposing or trying to convince/dupe/etc. On top of that, you get to be awesome with a Flamer, and make it harder for them to avoid so you carry a roll of damage output that covers a big area and kills trash so your big hitters can focus on the things that will not simply fall over from a flamer. That's important so you can actually get to things (like making a hole for your melee guy to get into combat). If nothing else, it scatters the roaches as they must move and do AG and dodge tests, which makes path ways for more things. Plus, you have a high Dodge early on, making you able to avoid damage which is useful when getting in close to burn things.

Missionaries can be great social combat specialists as well as great in combat and very fast to use flame weapons with great bonuses.

Very best,