Hi to you, forum, I've been reading you a lot now I have something to ask.

What are the odds that a team consisting of 1st level Rogue Trader, Navigator and Seneschal kills Necron Flayer from the Black Crusade Rulebook? That's not all. The plot of the campaign requires this to happen in 0 gravity environment. I tihnk it would be extremely fun combat, but I don't want my players to be killed.

Do they have any chances against that monster?

Rogue Trader has plasma pistol and power sword, Navigator can move through 0g without any trouble thanks to talent and seneschal... Well, she's little sneaky but it may be not enough to do any difference.

If not, what could I do to keep the flayer and ease the fight for my players?

There is a possibility in the plot to nerf the flayer a little, but I don't know how much. There will be also environmental possibilites to harm him or even kill him.

Jesus, man. Cut your players a break. A Necron Flayer vs. three Rank 1 players with starting gear? No. Just no.

That's why I'm asking. What about scarabs?

Um...dead players? Look at the average damage for the plasma pistol (about 11-12 with Pen of 6). Look at the armor and wounds of the flayer. Look at the players BS, look at the Flayers dodge. Look at the Flayers weapon damage, look at the very dead players. Necrons are for higher level RT characters or Deathwatch opponents. Even against starting Black Crusade they may be too much.

That said, how many troops do the players bring with them? How well armed are those NPCs? How many of them do you kill to let the players know it is time to run? How many do they sacrifice to get the Skull Servitor Courier to deliver a Melta Bomb to the Flayer? Smart players with lots of troops to expend may do ok, but they are going to suffer. My players, sure. They are Rank 7 RT characters with elite troops and fields/heavy weapons/psykers that can handle it. Yours, nope. Rank 1 starting gear RT characters shouldn't get xp for the fight. It is so far above them that they win by luck or GM fiat

Necrons are serious adversaries. Even scarabs would be taxing, especially since they are always in hordes.

I'd say start them off with lesser adversaries, like pirates or different xenos. Save the necrons for rank 3+

Yeah, I think I'm gonna cut the whole necron idea. Being honest my players are new to the game and I should look for a foe that would help them understand combat - shooting, close combat, different actions they can take in turn. We did the "0" session which was little "morrowindish" - character creation was part of the story. It worked well and I think I'm gonna keep to it.

I think the next session should include simple 3 vs 3 combat in quite ordinary environment, possibly with some cover and tactical options available. And then maybe a boss fight, but we will see.

So as a beginner I must ask: who should I throw against them? Human pirates?

Human gunmen or simple Orks are pretty common opponents. Orks are a little tougher, but not too bad.

As an example of a more cinematic fight:

Set the scene for the players. This works best on a backwater planet, an asteroid base or onboard a wrecked ship or spacehulk. Have the players exploring when they hear pounding footsteps and suddenly the chamber or area they are in is filled with yelling greenskins and the sound of gunfire.

Have them fight an ork nob (heavy armour and a big choppa/big shoota)and a horde of gretchin(firing sluggas as a two-handed weapon due to their size) and orcs (with whatever mix of weapons you want). The exact numbers of orks and gretchin can be hand waived and have the players focus on taking out the nob, at which point the other greenskins morale will break somewhat. Have the gretchin fall back then a couple rounds of the players mopping up the orks.

If the players have NPCs with them then describe them being tied in combat with the horde - PCs can make Command and other skill checks in place of direct attacks in combat to sway the combat in their favour, but if they do this have the Nob make similar tests with Intimidate or an appropriate skill.

Should be too hard a fight as by not defining the exact numbers you can hand-waive it and adjust it on the fly.

As an example of a more cinematic fight:

Set the scene for the players. This works best on a backwater planet, an asteroid base or onboard a wrecked ship or spacehulk. Have the players exploring when they hear pounding footsteps and suddenly the chamber or area they are in is filled with yelling greenskins and the sound of gunfire.

Have them fight an ork nob (heavy armour and a big choppa/big shoota)and a horde of gretchin(firing sluggas as a two-handed weapon due to their size) and orcs (with whatever mix of weapons you want). The exact numbers of orks and gretchin can be hand waived and have the players focus on taking out the nob, at which point the other greenskins morale will break somewhat. Have the gretchin fall back then a couple rounds of the players mopping up the orks.

If the players have NPCs with them then describe them being tied in combat with the horde - PCs can make Command and other skill checks in place of direct attacks in combat to sway the combat in their favour, but if they do this have the Nob make similar tests with Intimidate or an appropriate skill.

Should be too hard a fight as by not defining the exact numbers you can hand-waive it and adjust it on the fly.

Already did. It was Mechanicus pre-heresy research station, where pirates made their hideout. The battlefield consisted of barricaded corridor and two laboratory rooms with tables and lots of glass - beakers, bottles etc. In a first room there were three gunmen and when they were gone, one of the walls appeared to be made of glass, which suddenly bursted in million pieces under heavy rain of bullets from heavy stubber. They were caught pinned and had to flank the machine gunner.

Funny thing about this fight - seneschal was almost killed in one round, because pirate gunmen surprised her. On the contrary, RT was a one man army that took heavy damage and managed to kill almost everyone.

But the most surprisng was the thing that a mere gunman with heavy stubber could pin down all the PC's. If there was a guy wiith flamer or grenades it could be veeery bad for them. It's nice that tactics are so vital in this game.

---

Now I'm thinking about a fight in 0 gravity against tougher foes. But there is a problem with drawing that on a paper...

Zee-gee combat is something that, surprisingly for a spaceship game, has never come up in a game ive played. Im about to start GMing a short campaign so ill be sure to try and include some and feed back