So, as the title said, I'm going to be GMing for the first time in a system none of us have played before. That's the bad news. The good news is that myself and one of my players are extremely familiar with 40K lore and the overall setting of the Koronus Expanse, and the other is extremely interested and is picking up quickly. Also, I've done a few test encounters, so I'm starting to get the hang of factoring in combat modifiers in my head, keeping tabs on Fatigue, and even a bit of grappling too! We haven't started yet, due to the recent snow storm preventing us from meeting up, but we'll more than likely meet up today and get started within the next couple of days.

My questions for the most part are generally GM related and not so much setting related, but I digress.

1. How and where should I start the game, as I'm guessing, "You all meet up at the tavern... in space..." won't be a stellar way (no pun intended) to start things off. I was thinking either the Star Wars method, where they start off immediately in an encounter, such as a boarding action that will have many rolls fudged just to smooth things along for their first session, or keeping things low key and dropping them off in Port Wander to meet up with the Rogue Trader's contact on the station to learn of the latest rumors.

2. How easy is it to powergame in RT and should I focus my campaigns more around acquisitions, colonizing (have Stars of Inequity) and naval battles (have Battlefleet Koronus as well) to compensate for it? I don't expect my players to purposely powergame, but I've heard that it's not too hard to make characters stupidly overpowered without even intending to do so.

3. Since there are only two players, the Rogue Trader and an Explorator, should I play a GMNPC to add an additional pair of hands to the group that if a person wanted to guest play for a session, could do so? If so, what class would you best recommend so that I could best stay out of the real players' way of having fun?

4. An extension of the previous question, is it safe to assume that there's one character of every class onboard his vessel, but if they're not players, they just never come up during the game? Like of course there's going to be a Navigator, but it wouldn't be as obvious that the ship needed an Arch Militant.

5. What are the ratios of the crew serving onboard a vessel? Such as a ship with a crew of ~10,000, how many would be crewmen, tech-priests, officers, press gangers, gun battery crews, fighter pilots, enforcers, astropaths, etc.?

And lastly:

6. This might be a very subjective question and there may not be a right answer, but for the RT setting, is better to subscribe to the Rule of Cool or play strictly by rules? I feel I'm more inclined to the former, but I'm interested in hearing your guys' opinions before I dive in head first.

Thanks for your time and hope y'all have a pleasant day!

What's been discussed on the forums a couple times is Rogue Trader makes the assumption that at the start of the game the players are already major, successful characters with a lot of power and freedom. Even if you don't have a PC Rogue Trader they still have a lot of agency and leniency with how to approach their actions. I recommend just talking to your players and feeling out the kind of game that they want, and then trying to adapt to that. If you want them to have a more structured or controlled setting then try Dark Heresy. If you want combat and intense action scenes, play Deathwatch. I can answer how I did all this for my group, but it really is a season to taste sort of thing.

1) I started with the crew already assembled and rolling in to Port Wander to get a final Imperial sanction to go explore in the Koronus Expanse and permission to salvage the Emperor's Bounty since it was technically still an Imperial Vessel. The quests I had set up gave them a couple ways to do this: Official Channels, Political Patronage or Criminal Espionage. They ended up selling out every faction to each other and then congratulating the victors.

2) Very, very, very easy. However you also have many ways to discourage this: Smuggled shipments, mandatory upkeep tests, your NPC Captains spontaneously turning to Chaos... in general I recommend just rolling with it and not worrying too much. Again though, if your players just want to powergame and you want to challenge them , you should play Deathwatch.

3) I generally stay away from GMNPCs, but that is a very low group. However that's certainly a good mix of skills. You might want to look into the Minion rules from Only War or allow your players to have two other PC classes as "sub characters". Realistically any character could be a silent partner, but I would recommend a Void Master or an Arch-Militant who would more naturally gravitate to the silent bodyguard type roles.

4) Yes. The Arch-Militant would be overseeing the gunnery crews or periodically training ship militia. Everyone else's role seems normal. This also helps for explaining where a dead PC's next character comes from.

5) I'd say about 75% menial labourers, 10% "skilled" personnel, 10% AdMech personnel, 5% officers, negligible percentages for the rest.

6) I follow the rules, but will sometimes allow my players to try something cool if it's not them trying to just force in an instant win. However I regret doing this as liberally as I did early on, as since it's so easy to make broken builds they don't need any additional help.

Good luck!

Lets see what I can do....

1. I always did it with they just entered the Koronus Expanse, standing on the bridge of their ship, staring out into the endless void, all poetic and such, with the hook of having to berth at Port Wander because they need to gather supplies and dig up good ideas.

2.It can be very easy to become spectacularly OP in this line. What you need to understand though is that not every enemy they encounter needs to be at their level. A bunch of thugs, unless they have automatic weapons, are gonna live long against a party in this game. Combat see to be somewhat rare in this anyway, so when they do fight, let them fight dark Eldar and Rak'Gol, for an even fight.

3. Maybe not a GMPC. I recommend you make a couple high-profile NPCs they talk to for stuff but otherwise have little bearing.

4. I think 3 touches on this.

5. Their numbers would be puny by comparison. Maybe a couple hundred tech-priests, a handful of astropaths (more likely one or two), and 1 in 10 crew are Armsmen, to handle criminals and boarders.

6. Whatever fits the situation at that given time. Now and again its just easier to gloss over it.

Congrats and welcome to RT! I will also attempt to answer some of your questions, and as you've not doubt noticed this game is also based off one's perception and interpretation of the setting, and can change from player to player, GM to GM. It's best to find common ground, and go from there.

1. How and where should I start the game, as I'm guessing, "You all meet up at the tavern... in space..." won't be a stellar way (no pun intended) to start things off. I was thinking either the Star Wars method, where they start off immediately in an encounter, such as a boarding action that will have many rolls fudged just to smooth things along for their first session, or keeping things low key and dropping them off in Port Wander to meet up with the Rogue Trader's contact on the station to learn of the latest rumors.

Totally up to you and your players. You can start them off at a known port, right at the beginning of an endeavor/adventure, and hand-wave that they know each other. You could also start them off on a PC's home planet or the Dynasty's home berth, and introduce them to each other, and set up endeavors based on their ambitions or agreement's within their Warrant. I have done both. The option of starting them off during the beginning stages of an endeavor means you have to decide what their ship is carrying in their cargo vaults / barracks / luxury quarters / etc, how the PC's and NPC's know one another and get along (the players themselves can help with this), where is the ship heading, any back stories, etc etc. Starting off at a players / Dynasty's home berth allows you and the players the ability to craft the story together, albeit at the cost of roleplaying with possibly social and combat encounters (I recommend small ones, as this is merely the prelude to the main story).

2. How easy is it to powergame in RT and should I focus my campaigns more around acquisitions, colonizing (have Stars of Inequity) and naval battles (have Battlefleet Koronus as well) to compensate for it? I don't expect my players to purposely powergame, but I've heard that it's not too hard to make characters stupidly overpowered without even intending to do so.

Depends on the group and on what you provide them with. Basically though, they can start with Power Armour, Power Swords, and Plasma Pistols, so really, being overpowered is the norm in RT. The main issue most people have is the PF system, and acquisition of ships, rather than what PC's take with them on mission.

3. Since there are only two players, the Rogue Trader and an Explorator, should I play a GMNPC to add an additional pair of hands to the group that if a person wanted to guest play for a session, could do so? If so, what class would you best recommend so that I could best stay out of the real players' way of having fun?

As other people mentioned, having a GM NPC is not recommended. Making a couple NPC's the same level as the PC's, of classes that round out the play style of the group, and letting them take control of them in certain situations would be more advisable. Or when looking at ships roles within ItS, grabbing stats from other NPC's, slapping names on them, and giving them character quirks, would probably be more interesting for your group. This lets them know about other classes that accomplish other niches on their ship, and lets them become more involved with the crew / command staff.

4. An extension of the previous question, is it safe to assume that there's one character of every class onboard his vessel, but if they're not players, they just never come up during the game? Like of course there's going to be a Navigator, but it wouldn't be as obvious that the ship needed an Arch Militant.

Yes.

5. What are the ratios of the crew serving onboard a vessel? Such as a ship with a crew of ~10,000, how many would be crewmen, tech-priests, officers, press gangers, gun battery crews, fighter pilots, enforcers, astropaths, etc.?

In BFK and somewhere in the RT book, it mentions that about 5-10% of the crew are Arms-men or people that are trained to use guns in order to repel boarders. As with everything else, what Erathia and filliman mentioned hits the mark.

6. This might be a very subjective question and there may not be a right answer, but for the RT setting, is better to subscribe to the Rule of Cool or play strictly by rules? I feel I'm more inclined to the former, but I'm interested in hearing your guys' opinions before I dive in head first.

There are no rule Lawyers that will be coming out of the shadows to smite you with their briefcase, if that is what you are asking. My recommendations are to be fluid when there are no concrete rules; stay consistent within the rules that are there or have been previously made; when making a call that is difficult, discuss it as a group, come to a decision if possible, and then make the call and move on; and finally, remember the fact that you are all there to have fun, including yourself. If no one is having fun, it's time to try something else.

1. Really depends on what sort of campaign you're running, but if it's a newly minted Rogue Trader then you could have your first game be about him recruiting an inner circle of friends and uniquely talented individuals in his/her quest for greatness. If you'd rather start with them knowing one another then let the players figure out how the team fits together.

2. It's pretty easy to powergame, but so long as everyone stays in the same ballpark on “power level” then it's pretty easy to put together adequate challenges. On the lower end they might run into a group of pirate/recidivists consisting of some scum and hired guns with a mutant abomination or two as a heavy hitter. On the upper end start looking for Rak'Goul or a nice swarm of tough orks with big guns and heavy spiky sparky bits of sharpened metal. The same can be said for ship to ship combat or court intrigue or what have you.

As to what to focus the game on, I'd say take a taste of everything and see what interests your group.

Starting a colony, investing in a business, or setting up a network of contacts, and nurturing that investment through difficulties can be very rewarding. Colonies in particular can be a very interesting and rewarding venture if you make them a living breathing place with it's own features and character.

On the other hand star trekking from place to place and exploring vast swaths of cosmic space, from cyclopean ruins of beings turned to dust before man mastered fire, steaming jungles with savage humanoid species, stellar phenomena, and roaving alien caravans can be a lot of fun as well.

And some people like the conquering portion of being space Conquistadores.

3. No. Don't create a GMPC. Instead make a number of exceptional subordinates to the main characters. Start off with one, say a Seneschal or voidmaster, and hint or mention that there just may be other “recruitable” characters out there to fill out your elite staff, so that any gaps in your PC's skill sets are filled in. But make sure none of them out-shine the PC's in their chosen specialization. Think of it like a Mass Effect game. The PC's are the main characters but they can recruit perhaps an Oathsworn Bodyguard who used to be an Arbitrator, a Navigator ostracized from his house and forced to flee outside the imperium from his enemies, a ratling doctor who's abhuman nature has made it hard to be recognized despite his skills. Don't allow them to be recruited with a simple acquisition test though, make it a game session or at least a side quest to the main game.

4. Not exactly. The Careers in the book are meant for Player Characters, not NPC's. In the published works NPC's are built ad-hoc. Other Rogue Traders don't follow the Rogue Trader career path for example. Navigators, Astropaths, Tech Priests, Voidsmen, and Priests of the Imperial Cult all exist, and are arguably required for the ship to operate appropriately, but they may not have the same skills and talents as a PC.

5. Beyond saying that 5-10% of the crew are armsmen it's never explicitly stated. There's been a fair mount of discussion on the subject. I'll see if I can dig up my previously posted thoughts.

found it http://community.fantasyflightgames.com/index.php?/topic/78289-how-many-naves-astropaths-and-priests-are-on-your-ships/?p=867241

6. There's so many things that require the GM's judgement or just aren't covered that you literally can't play strictly by the rules. I try to reward cool ideas and often bend or outright break the rules if it seems appropriate.

Just remember to try to be consistent. A GM seeming arbitrary to the players is not a good thing.

Sorry for the late reply, caught a cold working in 6 inches of snow on a farm all day. But thank you so much for the in depth replies everyone, they were exactly what I was looking for. And since you guys essentially agreed on everything, it's made the flow of my campaign that much easier to decide.

Speaking of which, I had two ideas if you would indulge me one more time. One would be a custom weapon for the Explorator to give him at the start of the game (at a steep price of course) and the other, a quest line that could potentially end with a greater endeavor, depending on the decisions the party makes.

1. The Explorator's Origin Path includes the Motivation "Pride" (didn't mind if their origin path didn't exactly match up) and gave him the archeotech laspistol and he chose to start with a power axe as well. I asked him if he'd like to make a deal with the devil, and give him my weapon of custom design under two conditions. 1. He wouldn't know what the weapon was until he agreed to accept it. And 2. He had to forsake the laspistol and power axe and any starting acquisition he could've made. He's agreed to it, and I'm going to tell him what he's earned the next time he comes over.

Weapon- Hallowed Omnissian Great Sword/Class-Melee, Two-Handed/(Base Stats- Dmg.- 3d10+4 E; Pen 6; Special- Power Field, Tearing; 40 kg.)

Now that is pretty overpowered, if you ask me, however, I implemented some custom rules to safeguard against becoming conductor of the **** Train at level 1.

Custom Special-

>>Burden to Bear- due to the weapon's extreme weight, the wielded may only make two standards attacks on the round the wielder first attacks with the weapon. After that, if they wish to make two attacks, they must first pass a difficult Toughness test. If they succeed, they may make a second standard attack as usual. If they fail, then the wielder loses their second half action and gains a point of fatigue. (Note: Parries do not count towards the Fatigue limit. However, if the limit has already been reached, then treat parries as you would a standard attack.) (Note: If the wielder has made one attack, they may not use Delay to make a second attack during the enemy's turn without incurring the same penalties as usual.)

Furthermore, the weapon's weight alters the wielder's style of swordplay, depending on their strength:

If Strength < 40, the weapon gains the quality Unwieldy.

If 40 </= S < 50, it loses the Unwieldy quality and gains the Unbalanced quality.

If 50 </= S < 55, it loses the Unbalanced quality.

If S >/= 55, it gains the Balanced quality.

If S >/= 60, it no longer causes the wielder Fatigue.

If S >/= 70, the weapon can be wielded with one hand.

>>Honor Bound- A gift of unparalleled craftsmanship from Mars or one of a few prestigious Forge Worlds, the owner of this weapon is never allowed to lose this weapon nor have it taken from their person. To do so is to dishonor the Omnissiah and its faithful worshippers, the Adeptus Mechanicus (Note: The owner IS allowed to leave it aboard their vessel in their personal quarters after performing an elaborate (1d5 hours) rite, so as not to upset the weapon's Machine Spirit). If the owner loses their weapon and their are witnesses, the owner loses the Talents Good Reputation and Peer (AdMech), and gains the talents Rival and Enemy (AdMech). If the owner reclaims their weapon within 1d5 days, then the rumors of the owner losing their blessed weapon are treated as such and the owner's talents are reset to their original state. If there are NO witnesses (living witnesses that is *wink* *wink*) when the wielder loses their weapon, then it takes 1d10 days for people to begin to take note and an additional 1d5 days for the rumors to be solidified.

>>Tangible Icon- the weapon bears the hallmark emblem of the Adeptus Mechanicus, as well as other eye-catching iconography detailing its origin. Any character with a trained skill in any Common/Forbidden Lore relating to the Imperium counts as having Common Lore (Machine Cult) and/or Forbidden Lore (AdMech) for the sake of identifying the weapon and vicariously, the owner. Any character that already has these two skills trained will automatically pass any test to identify the weapon or owner.

Due to the weapon's high profile nature, it causes all worshippers of the Omnissiah to weep oily tears to be in its presence. +20 to any fellowship test with members of the AdMech and residents of Forge Worlds while the weapon is equipped. +30 if you let them hold it and give 'er a few swings (The +30 part is optional.)

>>Hell Hath No Fury...- the weapon's machine spirit is temperamental, jealous, and quick to anger. The weapon may not be left in its cradle in the owner's quarters unattended for more than 1d10+5 days, or else the weapon will believe you've forgotten about it and try to wreak havoc. If it could, it would throw all your belongings out in the hallway and change the locks, but it can't, so the machine spirit's reaction is left to the GM's discretion. Furthermore, the owner may never, for the love of the Emperor, EVER equip another melee weapon in front of it. To do so is to invoke the full wrath of the spirit, and no amount of tech-priest counseling will convince it to forgive you. If caught cheating, it gains the Unreliable quality (Interpret how you want since it's melee) and a permanent -1d10 to damage. If the weapon is lost or stolen, it will blame you for not being "man enough" and that its "mother was right about you," and will cause the same effects as if caught cheating. An elaborate 10 hour ritual, followed by a Hard (-20) Tech-Use test (no Combi-tool bonus from the weapon itself) is required to earn the machine spirit's forgiveness. If passed, the penalties are removed. If failed, the owner can keep attempting another 10 hour ritual and tech-use test until they succeed.

Also counts as an Combi-Tool! +10 to Tech-Use!

So some explanation on the weapon. I'm thinking of making the Explorator that will receive the weapon a close-ish relative to the Fabricator-General of Mars, which would explain his rather young age for being a Magos (before deciding to become an Explorator) as well as receiving this weapon. Also, his strength right now is at 35, hence the requirements for strength being at intervals of 5 or 10. I do plan on swapping the cost of strength advances, since it's the cheapest upgrade at the moment, or just limit how often he can upgrade his strength.

I'd go into more detail, but I'm feeling pretty crappy right now, so I'll post the quest line idea after I take a nice, long nap.

>>Burden to Bear- due to the weapon's extreme weight, the wielded may only make two standards attacks on the round the wielder first attacks with the weapon. After that, if they wish to make two attacks, they must first pass a difficult Toughness test. If they succeed, they may make a second standard attack as usual. If they fail, then the wielder loses their second half action and gains a point of fatigue. (Note: Parries do not count towards the Fatigue limit. However, if the limit has already been reached, then treat parries as you would a standard attack.) (Note: If the wielder has made one attack, they may not use Delay to make a second attack during the enemy's turn without incurring the same penalties as usual.)

I take issue with this bit, since it seems you've overlooked a rather important detail in creating it. From RT Core, pg.237, under Using Actions: "A character may not perform more than one of the following during his turn: an action with the 'Attack' subtype, using (not sustaining) a Psychic Technique, or using a Navigator Power." Two attacks per turn with the same weapon requires the swift attack talent. As the GM, you're welcome to override this, obviously, just keep in mind that this rule will actually make the weapon faster , and with a bit of weapon skill your ad-mech will be the Lord Admiral of his own private fleet of **** trains.

.....

Custom Special-

>>Burden to Bear- due to the weapon's extreme weight, the wielded may only make two standards attacks on the round the wielder first attacks with the weapon. After that, if they wish to make two attacks, they must first pass a difficult Toughness test. If they succeed, they may make a second standard attack as usual. If they fail, then the wielder loses their second half action and gains a point of fatigue. (Note: Parries do not count towards the Fatigue limit. However, if the limit has already been reached, then treat parries as you would a standard attack.) (Note: If the wielder has made one attack, they may not use Delay to make a second attack during the enemy's turn without incurring the same penalties as usual.)

Furthermore, the weapon's weight alters the wielder's style of swordplay, depending on their strength:

If Strength < 40, the weapon gains the quality Unwieldy.

If 40 </= S < 50, it loses the Unwieldy quality and gains the Unbalanced quality.

If 50 </= S < 55, it loses the Unbalanced quality.

If S >/= 55, it gains the Balanced quality.

If S >/= 60, it no longer causes the wielder Fatigue.

If S >/= 70, the weapon can be wielded with one hand.

....

>>Hell Hath No Fury...- the weapon's machine spirit is temperamental, jealous, and quick to anger. The weapon may not be left in its cradle in the owner's quarters unattended for more than 1d10+5 days, or else the weapon will believe you've forgotten about it and try to wreak havoc. If it could, it would throw all your belongings out in the hallway and change the locks, but it can't, so the machine spirit's reaction is left to the GM's discretion. Furthermore, the owner may never, for the love of the Emperor, EVER equip another melee weapon in front of it. To do so is to invoke the full wrath of the spirit, and no amount of tech-priest counseling will convince it to forgive you. If caught cheating, it gains the Unreliable quality (Interpret how you want since it's melee) and a permanent -1d10 to damage. If the weapon is lost or stolen, it will blame you for not being "man enough" and that its "mother was right about you," and will cause the same effects as if caught cheating. An elaborate 10 hour ritual, followed by a Hard (-20) Tech-Use test (no Combi-tool bonus from the weapon itself) is required to earn the machine spirit's forgiveness. If passed, the penalties are removed. If failed, the owner can keep attempting another 10 hour ritual and tech-use test until they succeed.

Great weapon, good story, and allot of detail in it which is awesome. I like to use the KISS (Keep it simple silly) method when creating stuff or modifying rules, so the only two Special Trait's of the weapon I would be concerned about would be Burden to Bear and Hell Hath no Fury.

I would give the weapon a permanent trait of either Unbalanced or Unwieldy, depending on your take on the weapon, the beginning power level of the group, the future opponents (too powerful an opponent, and they will kill the rest of the group and not the Explorator), intent to reward later equipment/relics, etc etc. If everyone is equally as powerful as the Explorator, then possibly give the weapon the Unbalanced trait. However, if the weapon and character are to OP for the rest of the party, I would recommend the Unwieldy trait (because with this trait you cannot parry with it). IMO, I would only put a cap for the Str at XX to wield it, and no other changes. Wielding it in one hand would be a house rule that I would be very hesitant to implement, as sooner or later you might have players asking to wield Eviserators in each hand while you shake your head in disbelief. The fatigue point could stay there for the person who has less Str at XX, but otherwise it's moot after meeting the qualifications for the weapon.

With Hell Hath no Fury, I really like it, but it appears slightly close to AI on the part of the weapon. I would modify it somehow. Not sure how. Gona think on it and get back to you. Possibly just have it act up when not used or attended to after awhile, while omitting the parts of observing the owner wield another weapon in front of it (it doesn't really have eye sight does it?). The lost / stolen trait can stay, because the weapon could be gene-coded to the owner and not properly work for anyone else, while the owner would later have to "sooth" it to get it to work properly again. You could even add a safeguard to the device, like it shocks or cuts non-authorized user's. This would help the Explorator keep possession of the weapon, while displaying status as the only intended user to such a Holy Relic / Icon of the Omnissiah.

As mentioned, all of this is just in my opinion (IMO). Happy gaming.