Looking forward to giving this a try on Friday. Enjoyed reading and trying out Dark Heresy, but RT seems to be much more up my interest alley 40k RPG-wise.

Side note, anyone know if it's possible to read these threads in a different view? Like a printable one?

I apologize for thread-jacking but this seems like a good place to ask.

I am still trying to get a group together to run through the adventure but depending on who I get and how long we can play, I may consider artifically lengthing the campaign by trapping the Forsaken Bounty in a space hulk. Now I know what a space hulk is. I'm just not sure what a Rogue Trader would think of salvaging one. I mean, they're several ghost ships slammed together from their time in the Warp and often crawling with all manner of unpleasentness but on the other hand, think of the treasure that may be onboard. Just putting this out there...

It would depend on the RT in question. The rewards are immense, but the risks are extreme. Some would go for it, others wouldn't (both or neither could be the right decision). A sensible option would be to grab what you could (minimising risk) and return equipped for the task. You could even sell the location to someone else (or several someone's, the Imperium, or RT's, the Ad. Mech.) to exploit. You could enter a consortium, dividing risks and profit (though gaining potential different risks and profit, such as favour owed).

Also depends on the hulk I would imagine. I don't personally intend on lengthing the campaign that much, just adding a larger dungeon crawl element and the possiblity of other monsters to mess with the Explorers. Again, it depends on what I manage to pull off.

The adventure as is can take a full 4-hour session. It could easily be expanded a bit by devoting some extra time inside the Bounty exploring and avoiding puppets. Optionally, you could add in difficulties before and after. For example, how does the RT get the Bounty to a salvage facility? They could encounter Pirates or other issues.

I would think the danger involved in a full-blown space hulk salvage (let alone recovery) might be a bit too much risk vs reward.

dvang said:

You do make a point if the adventure I read in Purge the Unclean is any indication of what Explorers can expect to find inside one of those things. Warp-cursed chambers, all manner of twisted monsters (I'm probably going to have to pick up a copy of Creatures Anathema at some point,) the possiblity of pirates dropping in on them.... The list goes on.

There would be great risks involved but there could also be great rewards in xeno technology and materials or swag that say Ork Freebooters picked up at some point. But yes, a player would most likely not know of those things up front and instead convince himself that "This is not the wreck we're looking for."

There is also no way to maneuver or pilot a hulk. They pretty much drift in the direction they are going, unless the PCs can come up with a means of overcoming this. By itself, the Bounty is written to have working engines (minimal sub-warp, anyway) so the PCs can get it out of the asteroid field. It is was part of a hulk, it's staying where it is until its own momentum takes it out. Not easy to salvage the majority of it, then, only able to use the limited guncutter cargo space to shuttle pieces back.

Also, the Bounty hasn't actually been derelict very long (there are still living crew members on board, rememebr), so the chance of it being part of a hulk is minimal ... unless it was deliberately attached.

dvang said:

Alright then, thank you for your time. Looks like I'm going to have to rethink my game idea then.

Psion said:

If you want a hulk, then perhaps they can tow it? That would still necessitate a boarding party to get the hulk ready for towing or even a part of it by setting charges to have other (dangerous?) parts blasted off from the more lucrative and stable portions and then tow these parts through the debris field that surrounds the hulk that contains the Bounty.

There are ways to involve a hulk, and having the Bounty as a hulk. You just need to keep this in mind. For example, the Bounty has only been missing/derelict for a few months (maybe a year at most). *How* did it become part of a hulk so quickly? This will probably color what happens with the adventure. Don't forget to keep in mind the worm's motivation to get to civilization so it can spread its influence. Did the worm pull together the hulk? If so, why? A hulk is more difficult to maneuver ... but perhaps it was trying to gather pieces of other ships so it could get the Bounty repaired enough to Warp. You could create an additional breed of puppets (an 'elite' puppet) that perhaps retain some of their previous knowledge. Or, perhaps the hulk was crafted by a zenos race (dark eldar? Tyranids?) that weren't aware of the presence of the worm until it is too late. Now you've got DE or Tyranid puppets.

And so on. It will take a lot more work to flesh out why it is happening and how it will affect the worm's plans. It will also significantly alter the adventure. It's not necessarily a problem if you're willing to put in the effort and are willing to stray from the path. Simpler solutions is to have them encounter a hulk before, or after the Bounty.

Or, why not have a hulk that has a shuttle from the Bounty (that tried to escape) that its magentic field attracted. When the PCs get to the Battlefield, they run across the signal from the shuttle and THINK its the Bounty (or that the Bounty is there). They get on the hulk, explore for the shuttle, and find out that the Bounty itself isn't there. But, from the logs on the shuttle, they get some information on what happened, as well as the actual last known location for the Bounty (which is retty close to where it actually is). This way you get your hulk, while keeping most of the integrity of the original adventure.

dvang said:

Thank you, I'm glad for the insightful conversation. Now, if I plan to length my game I'll have some ideas although I'm still working on getting players together.

how would the imperium know that the Rogue trader was not the first one aboard?

Well my guess is that the 200 red shirts, and all the pilots would blabber off about who did what, and then the inquisition spies onboard the huge ship would hear about it at some time, and when they make port, they would deliver their report to the nearest inquisitor.

The imperium has spies anywhere, so my take on it is that the rogue trader would not only follow tradition, but also do it because of the possibility to have it leaked that he did not.

Remember, this is not some little ship, piloted by your friends and you. This is a huge ship, where everything you do, is seen by someone.

and as others have stated, if the pc's choose to disregard the advantages of meeting the enemy on other battlefields, the battles will move to the pc's and be extremely more costly. So you go from losing the 2 redshirts you may have had with you, to losing perhaps 4000 men, much internal damage, and a navigator. How are you going to get home?

duckforceone said:

Valid points that benefit from the hindsight of being able to read the entire adventure, players up front won't know that. But on the other hand, a simple reminder that the captain is showing a great deal of trust in his crewmen to go off on such a dangerous and important task without supervision, complete trust in them to not slip away with a few minor babbles of their own, trust to not say the wrong thing or the wrong button to make the whole venture blow up their face, a great deal of trust when so many things can go wrong, could suffice.

On an arguably related token, consider real-world ship captains. Any business that concerns the entire ship usually has the captain present or the first mate serving as a trusted envoy and when you think about it, the captain also has himself in a position where he can be apprised of everything and give the orders that matter. His first mate, helmsman, navigator, or chief engineer are never farther then a shout or a radio call away.

Also keep in mind that Warhammer 40k era and mentality is still very medieval-esque. Personal honor and glory are quite a bit at the forefront of society (recall the FB book says to remind the RT that "no true Rogue Trader would avoid the chance for the glory of being the first to set foot..."). A Rogue Trader that routinely let others do the work for him would quickly earn the reputation of being a coward, a sneak, lazy, soft, a 'bureaucrat'/"paper-pusher", etc. In fact, the GM could easily impose Profit penalties (as Profit also measures the RT's influence and political standing besides wealth) for not taking personal charge of operations often enough. By being actively involved in operations personally, the RT increases his reputation of competance and strength, etc.