Hey everyone,

I was over at the 40k RPG thread on the Something Awful forums and read a greaet idea for a BC campaign. Instead of starting as a warband and then trying to infiltrate or overthrow the Imperium from the Screaming Vortex; you start as a fallen Rogue Trader and his crew, so you're already 'in' the Imperium and then can go gallivanting about spreading heresy and just generally having fun.

While looking through the Battlefleet Koronus rulebook; I was perusing the Chaos ships and will be starting my players in a itty-bitty Iconclast destroyer. But in the ship stats there are a few entires I cannot find definitions or even explanations for.

They are the 'pirate bridge' and the 'reaver hold'. While I understand the basic definition of each (the pirate bridge has a extra big perch for a cyber parrot and the reaver hold is for boarding actions obviously). I just can't find rules for them in any of my books.

So am I overlooking something or is this just something not explained thus far for a NPC ship that you aren't supposed to play?

That's my question, hope someone can answer it for me.

Thanks much in advance,

Uncle Sickey

They are the 'pirate bridge' and the 'reaver hold'. While I understand the basic definition of each (the pirate bridge has a extra big perch for a cyber parrot and the reaver hold is for boarding actions obviously). I just can't find rules for them in any of my books.

So am I overlooking something or is this just something not explained thus far for a NPC ship that you aren't supposed to play?

Nope, you're not overlooking anything.

Those are exactly that, NPC-only components. Just as games were written in 1980. Gotta love it, neh?

My suggestion would be to estimate size and power requirements by looking for best RT equivalents (it's what I did when I was aiming for a similar set-up). Or just design an imperial ship (that is, ordinary components) and re-label them.

You could even include some "tainted" components from Stars of Inequity, in which case I'd suggest reversing morale penalties if alignment of crew and component match.

Much appreciated; I spent hours poring over all of my books to no avail. Thank you for your suggestion; but I guess I'll just have the players make their own special little Chaos Ship (including some tainted components as per your idea!).

My main idea is not to give the players a powerful ship initially, although they can capture, steal or otherwise 'aquire' a larger, more powerful ship in due time. The Hellbringer class planetary bombardment cruiser is foremost in my plans in the campaign eventually.

Thanks much Tenebrae for the help!

I ... played around a bit with a similar idea when the Tome of Excess came out. And when BC originally came out, come to think of it.

Great idea OP. I've been involved in a similar BC crossover where the players were a squad in a fallen imperial guard regiment.

Don't forget to let them try and turn their big guns into demon weapons!

The big appeal for this type of campaign is that the group doesn't have to run about doing odd-jobs and begging for rides at the beginning of a adventure. Kind of takes the machismo out of having a chaos space marine if he has to do some piddling job for a fallen magos or whatnot.

The big appeal for this type of campaign is that the group doesn't have to run about doing odd-jobs and begging for rides at the beginning of a adventure. Kind of takes the machismo out of having a chaos space marine if he has to do some piddling job for a fallen magos or whatnot.

Doing that job for a fallen magoes makes the Chaos Space Marine less... bad ass(?). So long as the effort expended ends in enough or the right kind of gain, the Chaos Space Marine is likely to be happy to perform the task that he likely views as requiring almost no effort at all. Sure, there are certain CSMs that would view that sort of thing as "beneath me," but its unlikely that sort of attitude will help the CSM in question survive long in the Vortex.

I don't mind doing favors for people as a CSM. It gives me familiarity with their operations so that I can more easily betray them and subvert their operations and organizations.

... So maybe I tend to be Tzeentchian. That means nothing!