So, I'm wondering how one might go about some gaining of "interesting" crew members, beyond "the players are those crew members". Certainly, NPCs on my ship shouldn't outshine the PCs, even if I might not allow PCs some options (those will probably be obvious below), but you still might want to have some special crew members, and I don't know, entirely, how you'd go about finding them. The stuff beyond the simple Acquisition test, like what other bits (Peer [X]) you might need, in order to find, meet, and convince them. Some of these are not people you want to pull a gun on, and then trust to be loyal. So maybe some scenario bit you might use, maybe have used, where this idea isn't terrible?

NSP #1

You are journeying into space Man hasn't been through in ages. You decide to acquire an Eldar to guide you through the space ways, being the greatest stellar sailors there are. Perhaps an Eldar Ranger/Pathfinder would do well here. DE CAN be elicited to join, so maybe a CWE, too. You might want him long-term, but your money isn't so valuable to him. How?

NSP #2

You just recently clashed with Hadarak Fel, and thought that his silent servant with prodigious powers was a nice asset. You're out in the middle of benighted space, where enlisting a psyker could be hard, and many Sanctioned Psykers are crummy (you might feel; I MOSTLY say that for this, and because Astropath Transcendents don't seem like great Battle Psykers to me), as well as unavailable. So, you decide to poke around the streets of Footfall, or some other weak-lawwed place. You need to find, coddle, and enlist a "decent" Rogue Psyker, and all the perils that go with that. How?

NSP #3

You decide that some decent, but expendable muscle is needed. Whether it is to keep some distant observers from associating the acts with you, or simply knowledge of their capability, you decide to enlist an Ork warrior and some of his "loyal" Boyz. Maybe they want to get out from under their Boss, maybe they want to loot for you, and take it back to trounce their Boss, whatever. They could be good ground forces, decent boarders, and tough. Not a lot of upkeep (hardy and they heal), and no sad feelings if they biff. How?

Those kinds of NPCs should never be available simply through an aquisition roll. A roll against Profit Factor represents using money and/or resources, a business transaction, and can't be expected to aquire anything that shouldn't be accessible to such a transaction.

This isn't to say that a Rogue Trader can't get hold of such things. It's just that it takes more than money. It should take more than just any one roll, when it comes down to it.

Instead of making these something that the PCs roll to aquire, I suggest that endeavors should be constructed, with the NPC being gained as a follower instead of Profit Factor on completion. There should be requirements before the endevor is even begun- the Eldar Pathfinder should have Peer: Eldar or some past RPed friendly interactions, for instance. And the bonus PF that would normally come from endeavors should give extra NPCs- the Eldar brings more Rangers with him- or have the NPC hang around longer/be more loyal/friendly.

Just what scale of endeavor is going to be based on the type of NPC being sought. A Rogue Psyker who isn't Chaos-tainted should be a minor thing compared to an Eldar Pathfinder guiding humans along the Webway (probably a Grand Endeavor)...

I agree with Tantavalist. The acquisition of unique NPC's should never be a simple PF roll. Having it be a series of tests using various skills (Charm, Barter, Deceive, Evaluate, Intimidate, Trade, Inquiry, Forbidden Lore, Speak Lang, etc), to include a PF acquisition roll if required (like getting equipment/food for the Kroot mercenaries you just hired). Endeavor based is the best option though.

One of my groups was able to acquire a NPC Missionary through an Endeavor of a rescue mission. The NPC permanently raised the crew moral by +3 on the ship; however, he had "questionable" views on the Imperium that I could have later used for a story plot or misfortune on the PC's. Another was a group of Kroot mercenaries hired at Footfall. Some Barter, some Forbidden Lore, and some good roleplaying with a PF roll netter them a company of the Kroot.

See, that's what I was going for. I was hoping some folks might make some suggestions on how. Most Eldar don't openly advertise, hiding in hoods and shadows. "Rogue" Psykers rarely advertise their abilities in the open, either, and I don't know how you might try to gain the services of one. As for the Orks, I personally don't care, and hate them, but it is something better, more open-minded players might try, and I didn't just want two ridiculous, "no one would actually do this one" options, where no one posts instruction. I certainly wouldn't limit this to "just" a profit factor test, except spending PF to inquire, see what's around, and then move things to try and get their services. But I don't know how a crew might go about it.

The Rogue Psyker would be easy. The NPC could be at Footfall, the Salvage Yards, the Hermatige (in hiding), or any other ill-reputable place. A Sanctioned Psyker could be at Footall, Port Wander, or any other respectable place. Mind you, when I say Footfall, this could also mean one of the many undocumented facilities in it's orbit.

As for the Eldar, I had a PC start off with some companions (two players, and each had 1-2 NPC companions), and one happened to be an Eldar. I stipulated the Eldar would get first dibs on any Eldar relics, tech, items discovered by the group, and any Soul Stones automatically went to her. You use these stipulations and more after the contract agreement (or during it).

For actually acquiring a CWE or DE during gameplay, you could have the PC's set up a meeting through an intermediary at Footfall, with a quick Endeavor showing their commitment. After the Endeavor is completed (could be anything from acquiring an CWE relic from some Orks at planet X, to raiding Dynasty Y's merchant ship and capturing 3 specific individuals [one a tech-adept, another a slave to the Navigator, the third a Nobleman residing in the luxury quarters who paid to be on the ship for the views]), the DE/CWE agree to meet with the PC's at location Z. This location can be in the middle of nowhere, or maybe dying planet. A xeno ship arrives, hails, and negotiations start (either in person aboard a ship, on the planet, or via vox). After the exchange of the "items", the NPC can either fly over the PC's ship in a fighter (so he can leave whenever he wants), or be picked up from the xeno ship or planet.

The idea of an endeavour is a good one. You might also be able to be tricky and incorporate it into an earlier endeavour, I.E. the characters can make a good name for themselves rescuing a distressed Eldar ship during whatever quest they are currently on (or something a lot more imaginative than that example).

If the players help out they can build good contacts and when it becomes apparent they need a pathfinder to guide them through the webway in a later endeavour they can arrange a meet and try to cash in on the goodwill that was generated. Of course if they acted like typical Rogue Traders and looted the ship of all valuables and killed the crew for being vile xenos or sold them into slavery then this next step might be a wee bit harder.

The same technique could work with whomever you wanted to incorporate into your games, I.E. the crew helps a rogue psyker stay out of the clutches of the authorities after determining that he is not chaos tainted. Now they potentially have a powerful ally who looks upon them favourably and owes them big time.

The question of how the players would go about finding these people is an easy one to answer. You just ask them how they plan to go about pulling it off. They're supposed to be the movers and shakers of the campaign, after all- so make them do the work. Unless you specifically want them to have someone as part of a specific adventure you want to run, then ask them to come up with the plans.

This is how endeavors are supposed to work, after all. The players come up with the grand plan, then think up the various stages of how it would work. Then you tell them if the plan sounds like it could work, or not. If the plan isn't good enough- well, nothing stops them working to revise it between sessions, and then coming back with an improved version. If they're forced to spend several sessions of work like that, then the specialist NPC will likely be valued all the more.

When running Rogue Trader, a good rule of thumb is to put whatever the PCs want to get hold of into the campaign- but make them really work to get hold of it.

Flaw: any friends of mine who might play this will know substantially less of 40K lore than I do (my level is decent but lacking, IMO), so THEY wouldn't necessarily understand WHY finding some of these are even so bad, much less kind of hard. Besides, if I have them, say use their network of contacts, I would be that web. As a player, were I one, I'm not sure how I'd go about finding an enlisting a stray Eldar, or getting a Rogue Psyker who doesn't think I'm just trying to catch them; not to be a smart ass, but that's why I asked My using some of the rules and themes of this RPG within the similarly followed confines of the 40Kverse are limited.

I like Eldar way more than I should, so lets focus on them. There aren't, likely, slums and ghettos where Eldar populations live on most worlds. I don't think I'd get to know where CW Kaelor is, or too many Exodite Worlds in the Expanse. I can't tjust stick up a poster on a wall of the Guild Office to try and attract an Eldar. So, finding one who isn't actively trying to get me, already is tricky.

In a story of mine (my usual line here...) I wrote a character who is an Eldar on a RT ship (it was what provoked me some time ago to ask if Eldar could travel through the Warp on Human vessels, since they don't, normally). Kaevus was a CW Eldar who sort of worked like a Seneschal. He was on a ship with Humans, and used his knowledge of various locales to assist them. Helping them through ruins kept them away from some other ruins, or allowed him to more easily access the parts where Eldar goodies might be. His only real rules were not to desecrate Eldar ruins needlessly, and he got any gems found. If they weren't soulstones, he later gave them back. Eldar weapons weren't a biggie; they can always make more, and weapon quantities will never be the weak point of the dying Eldar. He was enlisted by his "employer" by offering to sell the Eldar their goods back. It was rocky, but the Eldar get what they want, and a set of eyes out there.

The only other one was the way Aedan Qel-Drake got his Corsair's Kiss power sword from a Captain he saved. It's a bit more fleshed out, but Aedan didn't keep an Eldar on his crew. The two aren't really similar, and neither covers both the how and the results. Oh well...

Heya,

Gaining a powerful NPC ally, I would basically set it up so that there is an encounter, where your characters have to go through the ropes to convince them, or force them, to do what you need and travel with you, or whatever it is that you're needing. Give them high fellowship and willpower for the encounter, just so it's not super easy, and set up a situation or event, where afterwards, your players are trying to convince, force, intimidate, talk, charm, etc, and make them keep doing it randomly even if they succeed to continue keeping them around. And if they fail, the fail to acquire them. Unless they're integral to a story aspect and you just want to make it really hard, but doable.

Very best,

A few ideas for how to acquire the Rogue Psyker NPC.

If none of the players have Peer (Underworld) or similar Talent

You can have them go through a shadowy intermediary, having them meet in some back alley slum, derelict space station, or slim covered under-deck. This intermediary will require them to perform some vile deed (murder an investigator and leave his corpse in front of a church's door) or acquire an unholy relic (a heretic tome, a daemon cursed dagger, etc. etc.) from a someone. After the deed is done, a negotiation will be made which will have a max of -1 PF consequence if the negotiation roll is blundered and the NPC wins the roll.

The intermediary is a Crime Lord Boss or other powerful Underlord, and a shipment must be stolen from a rival and given to the crime lord. A pact must also be made which has a negation test of min -1 to max -2 if the PC's lose the roll and the NPC wins. Though this does have the effect of more easily selling Cold Trade items and/or similar affects.

The players have Peer (Underworld) or similar Talent

As above but no "endeavors" are required. Just straight negotiations and role-playing.

Example: Meaning, after the PC's have done their Inquiry tests (preferably pass but it makes no difference), the party is making their way up a dim light flight of steps from the under-decks. One person in the party is complaining (random or let the players choose) about the thrones they just wasted in the snitch's den (Have them roll an awareness test, and give a random target number. Doesn't matter who passes and who fails though). A light bulb above them flickers, pops, and goes out, and a cold breeze blows from all around them. A voice from below in the darkness asks "Do you seek something forgotten, lost, or damned?" After the PC's reply (doesn't matter what they say, though if they shoot at the NPC he flees) and looking down, a humanoid figure steps from the shadows (if the NPC is a Sorcerer or another unsanctioned psyker, then a faint buzzing can be heard in the distance; however, any PC with Psyniscience hears dark and foreboding whispering instead). The figure, dressed in a dark worn hooded robe, with various unknown symbols on it, has his head bowed down and says "I am Dienadi (or other random name), the one you seek. Answer my three riddles correctly and I am yours. Answer not, and receive not. Do you agree to my terms?" Once the PC's agree, think/find/make-up/pull-from-your-ars three random not too hard riddles. Give the PC's about 1-3 minutes to discuss it between each other before asking for an answer. If all correct (or incorrect if your feeling "mad"), the NPC joins the group. If not, he goes back into the darkness, fleeing down a hatch that he bolts behind him with a loud clank. The Rogue Psyker is a little mad, and so from time to time, have him ask a random PC (or the whole group) a riddle. If they get it right, purple bolts of lightning dance between his fingers and hands, his eyes glow an eerie green, and a faint scream can be hard as if coming from all around. It all suddenly stops, and he says "You are correct" and walks away. If the answer is wrong, purple bolts of lightning dance between his fingers and hands, his eyes glow an eerie green, and a faint scream can be hard as if coming from all around. It all suddenly stops, and he says "You are correct" and walks away (yep).