This is another one of those "I want to say this happened, but I'm not sure believably, or maybe mechanically, that it would be feasible." Here are some:

So, Aedan is the RT in this example, and I am thinking of statting him up, for kicks. I am shooting for something like RT --> Swashbuckler --> Cal Privateer.

• I want Aedan to be a sword-and-pistol sort of fighter, full of panache and bluster. Does he need both, or do they do enough of the same things. I have HA and ItS, so it's more of an opinion thing.
• If I go Swashbuckler, Aedan's Dynasty gets to stop being chummy with the Navy. I can EASILY explain this; maybe his foolish demeanor set them wrong, maybe he challenged a Navy Captain, or picked up an Admiral's daughter at a big saree; it's easy enough to explain, and if he's a Privateer, they might also look negatively on him for that (fortunately, his father was the original recipient of the LoM). However, the Exalted Wyrm is packing torpedoes, and while I'm on accepting that they don't get "War Asset" to their Acq test, if the Navy doesn't like him, who is he buying Navy weapons from? Is the -10 really going to slow him down, or are decent torps still easy enough to find?
• I see the Swashbuckler and CPriv doubling up on some stuff, but, of course, I rather like the Combat Flair talent. Would it be doable to EA the talent, and maybe skip the ACP, or should I say "for Alternate Career talents, you MUST be in it, even if the talent's prerequisites don't say so, more or less?" I think I could live with the -10, but if Swashbuckler is similar enough to CPriv, and the cool talent from swash is maybe a good EA, then I could skip getting to Alternate Careers.

Okay, done babbling for now. Looking forward to thoughts, and have a good one.

• Why deal with the navy? You're a Peer Of The Imperium, go direct to the Adeptus Mechanicus for your torpedos.

Dealing with the Navy, in my own head, would seem easier to do than dealing with the AdMech IN THE EXPANSE, because there are no Forge Worlds I can name there. However, Aedan is a party hound, and fond of Calixis parties, so I suppose he could hit up the Lathes, or someone else there, while in Imperial space.

As for Elite Advances, he's sort of an NPC, and if I were playing a game of RT, I would probably have to be the GM in a game with my gaming buddies, so I COULD, but as I keep thinking about it, I'm more and more liking the RP opportunities he might have if the Navy didn't like him, as above, and feel that the special talents probably should be adhered to, as you said, by getting the Alt Career. Besides, Enemy (IN) isn't going to get the Navy to just willy-nilly fire upon Qel-Drake's ship or assets; they just don't like him, and he still CAN deal with them, if the dice are favorable.

They might not open fire, but you'll struggle to deal with them directly - you'd be better off dealing with them through a third party.

There are no forge worlds in the Lathes - certainly no mechanicus facilities likely to manufacture ship-to-ship torpedos, anyway - but there will be plenty of odd Explorator stations and similar - or else you could get one or more other dynasties to act as a broker and purchase warshot torpedos on your behalf from the Port Wander armouries.

Equally, there are...other sources of fleet hardware. Spending a bit of time and influence setting up totally deniable contacts with Karrad Vall and the Tech-Priests of the Hollows might be useful (if something to keep VERY quiet about).

Also, just because he has a poor reputation with the Navy (and/or is generally seen as working against navy interests) does not mean that every navy person hates him. He might personally be on good terms with one of the Navy suppliers at Port Wander or Foot Fall. Or perhaps he know a guy to knows a guy in the Navy whose acquiring Torpedos for "discerning privateers". Or maybe he does have contacts with the Lathes or other Licensed Torpedo Manufacturers int he Imperium and buys them wholesale, then ships them (at great expense) through to the Maw to his warehouses on Footfall. There's always a way to get around these kinds of issues.

May I ask why you want him to be a Calixian Privateer? I don't see anything that special in those advances. I say go with Swashbuckler.

As for the Imperial Navy, they shouldn't bother you too much in the Expanse unless you run into a Patrol. There's always Svard (and Cog, the forge moon) to replenish any torpedoes you may have used, provided you've run that adventure.

I'm not convinced that a "Swashbuckler" needs to be necessarily an enemy of the Navy. It seems more like a true advance, a specialization. In any case, if you have Peer (Imperial Navy) or something like that, I'd have the Enemy (Imperial Navy) cancel that out.

Given that many RTs have a Fel of 70+, that -20 for enemy is likely to just make the Navy like you less than the average Imperial citizen, especially once you've factored in other likely modifiers, like Peer, Etiquette, Renowned Warrant, etc. Even if it's an NPC RT with a Fel of merely 50, he isn't exactly hated.

Well I would go Swashbuckler as its awesome and its what my RT did also when I did it the GM just said makes no sense for the character have enemy imperial navy so we changed it to all pirates and privateers now hate him as my guy was just showing them up you could have a similar change I suspect

That way you can have the cake without the calories. Makes perfect sense to me.

May I ask why you want him to be a Calixian Privateer? I don't see anything that special in those advances. I say go with Swashbuckler.

As for the Imperial Navy, they shouldn't bother you too much in the Expanse unless you run into a Patrol. There's always Svard (and Cog, the forge moon) to replenish any torpedoes you may have used, provided you've run that adventure.

I'm not convinced that a "Swashbuckler" needs to be necessarily an enemy of the Navy. It seems more like a true advance, a specialization. In any case, if you have Peer (Imperial Navy) or something like that, I'd have the Enemy (Imperial Navy) cancel that out.

Hmm, as I looked at it yesterday, I sort of felt the same, I admit, as it isn't an Alternate Career with unique talents, but the fit of it, I liked, and it was a weak excuse to get a little more flesh on the character's, and Dynasty's backstory. It seemed an okay fit for where I plugged it into RT, even if it isn't bristling with great options. Having Qel-Drake possess a Letter of Marque (I still don't know if there is any rules for those in a book) that was issued by the Sector Lord, and inherited from his father, seemed a bit cool, and another thing to use, and talk about, at any Calixis parties he chooses to attend. Certainly, there was a bit of a whim to it, but oh well.