Yesterday, I got a call from an old friend I used to game with, before he moved away. He is GMing his own RT group now. Which is good and well. And h wanted to pick my brain on how to keep his game going since his PCs are, quote 'so dead it'd take a miracle to keep them afloat unless they try to join Choas', end quote.

This was less good. Hence my asking for help and for people to Please Evaluate And Criticize Honestly.

Apparently they managed to self-sabbotage themselves through intra-party politics/schemes, the hardwork of backstabbing other RTs in an Endeavor and the intervention/long term investment of their Nemesis taking advantage of the opportunity provided, which apparently included saving the other RTs they doubled-crossed.

When I pressed for details, (among other things, to make sure the Players did bring it on themselves & Paul hadn't S@#^wed them) I was somewhat understanding so please refrain from pure rage comments. I've detailed it in the following spoiler to reduce the Wall of Text.

They've at least temporaily burned a lot of bridges and lost a little over half their combat-ready fleet. They spectacually failed their Endevour and may well have lost their WoT for good. Most of their PF went into it too. Oh, and are being followed by more than a few RTs who want them dead. So the players are going to have session just in the warp, with the roleplaying the intra-party fallout plus any Warp events, (including a GM-fiat Warp Storm to buy the PCs some time away from the Murderous NPCs), that come up while I come up with something so they can at least attempt a counter move.

That is apparently where I come in. Paul wants me to come up with something they can use to turn this around & double as a conolsation prize for failing an Endevour which broke their bank. The idea being that as a fresh set of eyes, I could if need be set this up to be a new campaign if need be.

So, being under pressure I rolled up a new system and prepared a 'space hulk' wreck that is in better shape than it looks. I need ideas on fleshing it out so that it is compelling enough to make up for my lack of familarity with the group. Remember, I'm making a guest session scenario that should hopefully make up for some of their losses and give them enough resources to fix it.

The system was generated using the GM's Kit; since I'm a little pressed for time. I'll add modifiers from SoI as I get time.

The 'Space Hulk' is the consolation prize/resource being given to help them turn it around. I built it, and it is meant to be half crashed on one of the worlds. It is suffering damage but the Explorator can fix it.

Unnamed System

Edit: Staring to get an idea of the area now; will start doing fluff write ups soon and brake down vital Intel.

'Crashed Space Hulk'

Keep in mind they lost 4 ships, including their tricked out flagship, in that debacle in post 1 and had reduced their Profit Factor to a measly 4 before they annoyed the majority of the Expanse. And most of that was equipping their flagship with all kinds of stuff, including Forbidden Atomics.

Oh, almost forgot; the Nemesis hates Xenos, (has no problem stealing and using their stuff though), hence why he has a good rep in the Inquisition and the Imperial Navy. He may use forbidden tech and shelter unsanctioned Psykers but he'll honourably fight against the inhuman threat. And he considers the ruinous powers to be Xenos from the Warp.

This is relevant because if the players are going to pull this off, they need to make sure they don't come off as bad guys & he has a lot of influence to paint them as such.

Grandfather Nurgle, god of preservation and rebirth always listens to his devoted followers.

It's worth noting that the actual/original Warrant of Trade is almost certainly not carried onboard one's ship, merely a certified copy. Most fluff sources say that a Dynasty's actual Warrant is usually stored in heavily secured vaults inside what's effectively a fortress, often on Terra, or the Dynasty's homeworld, because they're so valuable. There are such things as "Bearer Warrants", which unlike the standard bloodline Warrant, say 'He who bears this Warrant" is a Rogue Trader, but you wouldn't keep that on another ship, that'd be on the same ship as the RT, probably kept nearby him or in a concealed vault in his quarters in a small, sealed and locked stasis casket ... which is,. or should be, the same thing done with a certified copy of a bloodline Warrant.

So they probably haven't truly lost the Warrant.

Also, how the devil did they manage to drop to 4 PF ? There's a point at which you should stop expending PF.

Do they know where the Processional is? Or whatever the ship graveyard around a spatial anomaly from Lure of the Expanse is called?

If they can loose the RTs following them, that's a prime stop to get new parts for their ship, or new hulls.

Have they (or somebody else) found Svard yet? Letting them stumble across it, or a similar kind of system would be a good way to get them a workable semi-secure base/homeport that they can keep secret.

It's worth noting that the actual/original Warrant of Trade is almost certainly not carried onboard one's ship, merely a certified copy. Most fluff sources say that a Dynasty's actual Warrant is usually stored in heavily secured vaults inside what's effectively a fortress, often on Terra, or the Dynasty's homeworld, because they're so valuable. There are such things as "Bearer Warrants", which unlike the standard bloodline Warrant, say 'He who bears this Warrant" is a Rogue Trader, but you wouldn't keep that on another ship, that'd be on the same ship as the RT, probably kept nearby him or in a concealed vault in his quarters in a small, sealed and locked stasis casket ... which is,. or should be, the same thing done with a certified copy of a bloodline Warrant.

So they probably haven't truly lost the Warrant.

Also, how the devil did they manage to drop to 4 PF ? There's a point at which you should stop expending PF.

Do they know where the Processional is? Or whatever the ship graveyard around a spatial anomaly from Lure of the Expanse is called?

If they can loose the RTs following them, that's a prime stop to get new parts for their ship, or new hulls.

Have they (or somebody else) found Svard yet? Letting them stumble across it, or a similar kind of system would be a good way to get them a workable semi-secure base/homeport that they can keep secret.

Don't know, not my group will ask and pass it on. Thanks javcs.

I'd also appreciated some comments/ideas for fleshing out the system and the ship I wrote up, mostly for completeness sake. Doesn't feel right to leave it half done. Will update the planets-environment/territories after work.

It's a Bearer Warrant? Well, the Good News (such as it is) is that their Nemesis probably won't actually destroy the Warrant - it's much more valuable intact than destroyed. He can use it as leverage or a very hefty bribe. He can create himself a new RT, who will owe him everything , and be bound to his Dynasty as an ally/vassal Dynasty forever. This means that they can, in theory, steal it back (after they figure out who has it and where they're keeping it).

Or maybe they'll have to track down someone else with a Bearer Warrant and take theirs.

Did they not try to send loyal (PC-led) forces to retake or forestall the mutiny on their flagship? On a second read-through it sounds like there should have been time to at the very least attempt to send someone or multiple someones over to reassert control before it was too late. Or attempting to get their flagship to withdraw before the Nemesis got onboard.

Also .. the ones who knew that Traitor Girl was a traitor epically dropped the ball with (apparently) not having someone trustworthy watching her to remove her at the first sign of disloyalty.

Repeated Major Player Fail.

Only thing I'm dubious about is just how easily and quickly their Nemesis intercepted their signal, interpreted it, and flipped every other RT against them. Also ... finding the evidence of their plotting should not have been a quick or easy process. Maybe it's just the incompleteness inherent in a pure text description from two degrees of separation, but my impression is that once they sent the signal to their flagship, things snowballed against them quickly, and that they should have had a fair bit of time to react and make countermoves. Dunno, could be wrong about that, and maybe they really were just that slow/incompetent in reacting.

The system looks like it would probably be a decent place for exploitation ... if you had the appropriate resources to set up and support a colony in the first place. Or if there's an indigenous population to be conquered. Although, to be honest, if I'm doing something up in advance, and have a plan for it, I tend to minimize the randomness from the Star of Inequity tables, and just select the options most consistent with what I'm going for, and roll when I'm undecided, or if it doesn't much matter. I generally only random roll when the players go in a direction I did not anticipate.

The Ship ... looks a bit like a centerpiece/base ship that could serve as a space station replacement.

Between the Spacedock piers, the salvage systems, and the manufactorum, I'd suggest cargo holds and/or mining facilities. The landing bays call for the small craft repair bay and pilot ready chambers. The nova cannon suggests a munitorium, because it needs ammo.

With the Nova Cannon and landing bays, you should figure out what the ship carried before it got shot up, and what it used in its last battle, and what's left. With the Salvage systems, you should decide what, if any, components were previously salvaged and still onboard. With the Manufactorum, you should figure out what kinds of design blueprints/patterns are already available onboard.

Also, because they inflicted so much damage on themselves ... make them earn the consolation prize - don't just give it to them freely. Make them have to work together and share information with each other in order to succeed. Make them work for it, make it messy and painful, but ultimately worthwhile (hopefully).

The first thing your players should do is probably die. No, really, they've got so much heat on them but are leaving such a small footprint thanks to their fleet and profits having just collapsed that it sounds like they don't have a lot to lose if they fake their own deaths. Then they can plot their revenge Monte Cristo style while their enemies pursue other ambitions.

Again, I agree. Major Player Fail. I also like the idea of Monte Crisco style vengeance. And pointing out there that this is not my group. I only know their gm from a while back.

Since I generally tailor encounters and systems to the group's personalities and preferred character arcs, I went with random because it was a blank to me. I was also going to borrow DW's Ark of Lost Soul's rules to set up encounters on the darn 'hulk', because this is 40k. No such things as freebies unless your with chaos...and even then...

But yeah, the 'hulk' is meant to have been a mobile repair/resupply ship in an explorers fleet, and my head is playing with the idea that it did act as an outpost/HQ when hooked up with the others. That said, it is meant to be a fixer-upper. Plus that Nova Canon? Dead and gone, not in any way salvageable . Not giving away the mist powerful weapon availible to people who haven't earned it. I am seriously thinking of saying it is missing the top half, having been cracked beyond repair. The 'Clan-kin Death Cultists' repaired what they could but...

Adding small craft repair bay; it makes sense. Since this was meant to be part of a fleet I'm wary of putting too many goodies on board as it was not meant to be alone; there were meant to be others. Plus it needs some space to store compoenants, and the nova canon should still be taking up Space even though it isn't working. It's a spark of hope people, not a replacement.

And as for how quick it all happened...I've been told they did have time to react but the party was split and distracted... They did have to explain why their dead flagship was back again, and the Nemesis thought he was lying when he put the idea of the double cross out there. His astropathic-wytch didn't De-scramable the signal until a little later (still ridiculously fast). One the apparent highlights of the session was when the Nemesis remarked that hey, the pc really were trying to double cross them, 'I didn't really think they had the stones,'.

Plus; they left Navigator 2 (a PC) on board the flagship. He failed his attempt to rally loyalists and is currently a 'house guest' of the Nemesis, until his house pays the ransom. The RT was trying to spin the groups blatant lies, the Explorator was doing repair stuff and Nemesis was in between them and the flagship...which was part of their plan so they could shoot them from both directions. >.<

Really cannot stress enough how this is not my group. I'd give them more warning that stuff was about to hit the fan.

Was going to mention to not worry about rolling the minerals until the PC's actually surveyed the planet with the intent to exploit them, but never mind.

An idea to assist in the Monte Crisco endeavor (other than the normal "Lost in the Warp" concept), is the legend of Nadine Aleynikov, her virus, and the planet Gildas. What better way to fake your death than to play the recordings of the effects of that virus, say that your ship is effected by it and watch the enemy ships flee the system, and then go silently off into the void.

Example Scenario: It is quite likely that the PC's ship was followed, and would be arriving in system shortly after the PC's transit. After discovering the hulk, and reviewing the database of the ships history, it appears that the ship made contact with a lifeless ship that fled the system of Gildas due to a 'virus.' Samples were taken from some dead bodies, and stored in stasis for later analysis. Ship logs and recordings were also obtained, which reveal the effects of said 'virus.' A canny explore could either

a) transmit said past recordings as their own, in an attempt to scare off would be pursuers,

b) send contaminated shuttle(s) in a effort to contaminate pursuer ships that investigate them

c) combination thereof as a warning to those who get to close or to those who disbelieve the recordings are real

d) PC's were stupid enough to try to weaponize it, and should now feel the need to consume a whole sample like a shot glass in order to evade life's (many) failed ambitions, as they witness the virus running rampart on their ship..... and you laugh hysterically at their perilous predicament

Talked to Paul today and passed on the advice everyone has given me, along with broad outline of panicked initial response.

He liked it and filled me in on recent events.

As promised he ran a warp travel session and there was a lot of player character drama; Void-master even deliberately steered the ship into physical warp problems. Apparently she'd asked to remain on board the flagship before it all went down...

I also had another idea for more time if he wasn't sure which angle the players will go for; a mutiny/revolution on the flagship led by the other Player Navigator and the rest of the ships officers (normally NPCs but for 1 session only, temporary replacements!). It's meant as a 'meanwhile, elsewhere' thing but meh.

Since the pressure is off me, I'll only be updating/altering this because I don't like leaving something half done. Any surgestions would be welcome. I really don't like the ship's name, for example.

Offer them an out, certainly, but I'd say offer them the chaos route first, just to see what they do. Daemons operate on temptation to acquire mortal servants, and they've got quite the laundry list of desires. Vengeance, restored wealth, their ship, a resurrected lady-friend, their rivals (or perhaps the RT, in the case of the Void-Master) dead at their feet, and no doubt countless other items. They'll never be more vulnerable to it than they are right now. AND they're already sitting in the warp. I say, offer it all, and more.

Have a tempter daemon slip past the Gellar field and make a few offers. Tell them Tzeentch will drag them through the warp and place them back on their flagship, or that Khorne will revive the TG in exchange for glorious slaughter. Then sit back and see what twisted price they're willing to pay to have it all back.

"For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?"

The sheer speed at which their rival turned things on them sounds a bit fast.

Burning a warrant is crazy. Even the threat could be used in legal action against the guy. The administratum does not take kindly to the wanton destruction of one of the most valuable types of document in existence, It undermines their power.

They definitely should have gotten an opportunity to try and seize back their ship. Even a few loyalists would have given them a shot. Or a shuttle launch from their current vessel.

Long-term, they are in serious trouble even without the ship seizure or the business with the warrant. Other rogue traders now have reason to distrust them. Their profit factor is so low, even a weak rogue trader might be tempted to try and use financial warfare to bankrupt them and seize what's left. Or just seize and be damned, since they won't have the forces or influence to stop them.

This is actually a classic reason why rogue traders can go pirate. Look up Hostile Acquisitions. If they keep going like they have, they'll have little option but to go rogue.