Can it be done? If so, how?

Arch-Militant with the Xeno traits?

This is my first run through with this system. I am very familiar with Deathwatch, Dark Heresy, and (to a lesser extent) Black Crusade and Only War.

So bear with me. The class would be Arch Militant and it would have Xenos traits... what does that mean for homeworld and PC creation process?

Could you throw me some page numbers?

Well, you'd just refluff things for the origin path. Take Imperial World and change the lores so that it fits the character's actual homeworld and what have you. There are attempts at Tau player-characters around, but they tend to be rather excessive, intended more for running a game where everyone is Tau instead of just one character.

That seems a valid way to do it, and far more ballanced. Getting the fluff and story to fit might be a bit more difficult, but possible.

I am not worried about the fluff/lore. I can make that work, but that is a really practical way to do it.

I am going to try that. Thank you!

I can't find the link, but if you can find a copy of "Fear and Loathing in the Eastern Fringe" there are rules that someone has created for a lot of Xenos races, including the Tau.

I thought that was the case, but I didn't have it handy to open up and confirm.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/cvojvmm34qhyge6/Fear%20and%20Loathing%20in%20the%20Eastern%20Fringe.pdf

AWESOME. Thank you!

Personal recommendation - just use human stats for Tau. Yes, Tau are very different from humans, but mostly in the sense that they suck at everything. They're smaller, weaker and have poor eyesight, and they tend to compensate for all of this by using technology, which puts them roughly at the level of humans. Since compensating for poor stats with good gear doesn't work too well in a role playing game, however, and since Tau are pretty close to humans anyway (a Tau with the kind of super-stats expected of a rogue trader character could very well be equal to a human) you might as well not risk unbalancing the game and instead let the player refluff the origin path.

Mag, what are your thoughts regarding the Fear and Loathing on the Eastern Fringe fan supplement?

For example, I was looking at the Tau Armory and I think the stats need to be re-worked.

2d10+3 for a Pulse Rifle should be something like 1d10+8. Tighten the damage grouping from min 5, max 23 to min 9, max 18.

Looking at the suppliment I can see it being very easy to minmax a Tau who is much better than a human Arch-Militant with ranged weapons. There are several talents that are 3-4 ranks earlier than an Arch-Militant as well. It might not be a problem in an all Tau game, but I think it may cause an imballance in a mixed game. Depending on your fluff reason for the Fire Warrior's presence, Tau tech will probably be hard to get and drones near impossible as well. Remeber that a Fire Warrior can't build the high tech weapons the higher rank talents give him. I would suggest just treating the character as a Human Arch-Militant with some different fluff and maybe a minor stat tweak (+5 BS, -5WS if you really want).

As for the pulse weapons I have allways assumed the more variable damage was because the pulses were more likely to burn through the target, so damage was more effected by location of hit than a Bolt weapon.

Mag, what are your thoughts regarding the Fear and Loathing on the Eastern Fringe fan supplement?

I think Shas'o'Rmyr or whatever his name is is an awful human being who needs to be pelted with lead-bound copies of the Uplifting Primer, and I refuse to read anything written by him on general principle. His opinions are objectively wrong and he has fun the wrong way.

Cool story. I honestly have no idea what your complaint is except that you don't like some person and disagree with them or some reason. That isn't very helpful.

Looking at the suppliment I can see it being very easy to minmax a Tau who is much better than a human Arch-Militant with ranged weapons. There are several talents that are 3-4 ranks earlier than an Arch-Militant as well. It might not be a problem in an all Tau game, but I think it may cause an imballance in a mixed game. Depending on your fluff reason for the Fire Warrior's presence, Tau tech will probably be hard to get and drones near impossible as well. Remeber that a Fire Warrior can't build the high tech weapons the higher rank talents give him. I would suggest just treating the character as a Human Arch-Militant with some different fluff and maybe a minor stat tweak (+5 BS, -5WS if you really want).

As for the pulse weapons I have allways assumed the more variable damage was because the pulses were more likely to burn through the target, so damage was more effected by location of hit than a Bolt weapon.

Can you tell me specifically which talents you are referring to. I would look them up myself but my book is far... far away.

Cool story. I honestly have no idea what your complaint is except that you don't like some person and disagree with them or some reason. That isn't very helpful.

It's my way of telling you that I don't know anything about the Fear & Loathing thing. It was written by that Shas'something guy, if that wasn't clear.

Grrrrr. So you're new to the game and you want complications? And you want some advice?

DON'T DO IT!!!

Play the game to the point where you don't need advice for that question, then just do it. It will come naturally. The path you're following right now leads to a broken game.

Is he part of the Kroot "refugee" groups that came from Jericho Reach?

Makes sense - he could've been hired as a Merc in Footfall's xenosium for his exceptional BS skills.

On the other hand....
I agree with Errant Knight's comment above (use one of the base careers in the core rulebook, for starter characters!).

Remember: you can't get into Calixis or imperial worlds (ex.: Damaris, Port Wander) with that kind of xenos onboard unless that xeno is officially Sanctioned by the Ordo Xenos (through its Administratum agents in Port Wander). That xeno must then always be accompanied by a human with enough authority to vouch for it and also carry a visible/permanent mark of its sanction (e.g.: tattoo on the forehead/neck/etc...).

Edit: Sanctioned Xenos, ITS page 107.

Ps.: Tau should be specially difficult to sanction due to the Crusade taking place in the Jericho Reach "right over there".

Mag, what are your thoughts regarding the Fear and Loathing on the Eastern Fringe fan supplement?

I've used it in a couple of pick-up games online. The rules are internally consistent, but a GM needs to be quite careful when choosing whether to allow something from it; Shas tends to run games that aren't exactly focusing on balance with the core books.

Grrrrr. So you're new to the game and you want complications? And you want some advice?

DON'T DO IT!!!

Play the game to the point where you don't need advice for that question, then just do it. It will come naturally. The path you're following right now leads to a broken game.

I have a lot of experience both GMing and playing Deathwatch, Dark Heresy, Black Crusade and Only War (much less here). I am assuming that RT isn't too much of a stretch away from these systems and I am well versed in the lore. We are playing it in a PbP format so there will be an excessive amount of time during and between missions to actually see if the PC is unbalanced and tweak it accordingly. I am not worried about "breaking the game" as I have left it up to the GM how to nerf me should I be "too powerful."

But, I wanted to bring some flavor to the Rogue Trader crew simply for the RP experience. I am not trying to make an un-killable pulse rifle firing kill machine. This is why I have not ruled out simply making a human character and re-adjusting the fluff behind it. But I am not going to limit the RPing aspect because it is going to be "challenging" to do so. Bring it on.

Mighty Shot (3 Ranks early, and a powerful Talent)

Dual Shot (1 early, not really sure how this fits their combat doctrine)

Iron Discipline (4 early)

Master Orator (Why? Not a Water Caste, so not really appropriate)

Free Gear with certification..Where is it coming from? Drone rules are particularly broken. Free experimental power armor with one talent.

Into the Jaws of Hell (4 early, is a Rank 8 talent they get at rank 4...should they be as good of leaders as a RT?)

Probably shouldn't get such easy access to Scholastic Lore (Tactica Imperialis), as it would be Treason to teach it to them

Pathfinders get drones at rank 3 and stealth armor at rank 4. The wording leaves me to think that the player has infinite replacements 'on the ship'.

Veratile Shooter is perhaps too strong, as any accurate weapon acts as a basic weapon...including heavy and vehicular weapons

Those are some of the issues I see with it based on a quick look through. If all the player are Tau, not a problem. Otherwise it could cause problems as well as the fluff problems of there being no Tau infrastructure to supply such a character in the expanse. Tau are also less likely to be accepted than Eldar or even Orks, as they are known to corrupt worlds away from Imperial rule.

Wow. My advice was ignored. That was unexpected. They come looking for enlightenment.

You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink.

You can lead a man to wisdom, but you can't make him...

lol...people ask for advise to make their own decisions. They aren't just going to automatically do what you say. Often they just need to different sides of an issue.

lol...people ask for advise to make their own decisions. They aren't just going to automatically do what you say. Often they just need to different sides of an issue.

No kidding. Had the title of the thread been "Errant Knight please tell me what to do and I will not stray from that" I can understand your response. Not to mention the fact that your "advice" had nothing to do with the question I posed specifically asking how to make a Tau. If you asked me how to swim and I said, " GRRRR JUST DON'T DO IT," this would be some of the most useless advice to help you learn how to swim.

What do you think the point of an open forum is? It is to take in as much input as possible to formulate my own opinions based on what is put in. Dude, you do not have the final say over anyone else in the universe. The sooner you realize that, the happier you will be, buddy.