With my current campaign arc wrapping up we're going to be putting Rogue Trader aside to try out another game system, but we will be returning to it before too long. So I'm planning on using the time between now and then to work up some stuff for the new and wholly original plotline (up till now I've been using heavily modified adventure paths).

So here's the setup. I'm ending the arc's wrapup on a bit of a cliffhanger. The players will head back to Port Wander to meet up with a subordinate that's been haggling with the administratum to get proper writ of claim on some juicy property (un-touched ship graveyard planet) they managed to get a hold of a year and change ago and that they've been setting up a colony on. Once they enter Imperial space proper they'll find themselves in a surprise meeting with the Imperial Inquisition (nobodyexpectsthespanishinquisition.jpeg). Which should cause a little sweating, since the group has been dipping their toes into the naughty pool a little here and there.

Stripping components from an AI probe from the far past rather than simply jettisoning it into the nearest sun (really that's the Admech who would get pissy).

The missionary has probably been straying a little towards Slanesh, what with his hundred best quality whores.

Hiring on an Eldar pirate and allying with her clan isn't too terribly bad. Rogue Traders are technically allowed. Really they've been meaning to get her sanctioned, and it's not like she's one of those nasty dark eldar.

And maybe opening that Inquisitorial attache case they found might have been a poor choice, especially since they did it in front of a good platoon worth of armsmen.

They should have sent that fairly powerful psyker they ran into to the Blackships rather than instead of helping her with her conquest of the planet.

Hopefully that box full of proscribed texts they found in the Svard system is well hidden in the hold, and nobody talked about it.

And they never did find out exactly why Mr. Christianson felt the need to leave the Imperium and never ever ever come back.

Oh drat.

Anyway, none of these things are too horrifically serious, and the Inquisitor doesn't necessarily know all of this despite how she may act. So the players will be given the bit about how their "indiscretions" might be forgiven this time if they do a little work for her-err the Imperium now and again. Now Inquisitors can't technically order Rogue Traders about. They can always say no...

So now that I've drafted them I need some ideas as to what to do with them. I've got a general idea of pirate themed adventure. Their nemesis Krawkin Feckwad, who made pacts with dark powers after being driven into a warp storm, will be involved. Perhaps it will conclude with an attempt to purge Iniquity. I've also got an idea for an Inquisitional bounty book, where they can go on side missions to hunt down bounties (ranging from 1-5 star difficulty rating perhaps?). What else would an inquisitor need with a Rogue Trader house?

I could see an Inquisitor using a Rogue Trader in order to move themselves and their teams around the galaxy without drawing attention to themselves. Maybe sometimes the Rogue Trader will be required to travel into a dangerous (Well... more dangerous then normal) part of space to drop a team or two off at certain planets... or have to travel to dangerous planets in order to pick such a team up.

As I've said in other threads, Rogue Traders and Inquisitors are natural allies. Particularly if the Rogue Trader isn't particularly heretical (still believes in the strength of the Imperium and all that) and the inquisitor is a little on the radical side.

Rogue Traders are very good at attracting attention to themselves, a smart Inquisitor will take advantage of that. While the Rogue Trader wines, dines, wheels and deals with the local nobility, the inquisitor (in the guise of steward #7) can perform whatever investigations he needs to. And with the Rogue Trader's aid might even try a multi pronged approach, gathering information from the nobles and staff at the same time.

I have an inquisitor from Sentella who plays a regular part in my Rogue Trader game. They trade... favors. The Rogue Trader occasionally deals with things the Inquisitor doesn't necessary have the resources to do. (Like board a space hulk) and in return, the Inquisitor 'handles' some of the more dangerous items they find, and occasionally find 'gifts' for his friends. (Like the suit of terminator armor he requisitioned from Mars). In the end, I did all of the 3-part Dark Heresy adventure module with my Rogue Trader group. You can also go into Deathwatch missions without to much difficulty, the Rogue Traders making up for lack of superhumanness with ingenuity, money and scale of forces. Political RT can make for an interesting shift.

If you want to turn it into a campaign with a capstone episode, I'd suggest coming up with a major event the RT and Inquisitor have to do together at the end. Like assaulting Inequity or the like.

If you want to do Piracy and Inquisitor, you might consider having the next campaign take pace in the Periphery sub sector (Only War's setting), rather than in the expanse. There is a lot of profit to be made in war and privateering, and you don't have the Maw to deal with, so there can be a lot more going back and forth with the rest of the Calixus sector.

What else would an inquisitor need with a Rogue Trader house?

Ideas off the top of my head are as followed:

-Investigate/raid a shipment of goods coming from Footfall to Scintilla/Zweihans World/planet somewhere that is tainted by Genestealers/Xeno poinson/Chaos drugs.

-Go to world X and determine what happened to Team Y/Rogue Trader A that was investigating xeno ruins.

-Chaos Warlord / Xeno pirate is known to have ancient relic/device/weapon able to map warp routes/see into the future/kill someone merely by obtaining their blood and doing a ceremony/rain dance. Obtain said artifact at all costs.

-Go to the Heathen Stars sub-sector and find planet H containing xeno life form R. Word has it they are immune to the warp/live forever/have ancient human tech.

-Search for missing ship T in area U as it was carrying documents/files/vital intel from the Disciples of Thule/The Beast House of Ragnarok/Winterscale.

-A deadly and very infectious virus has sprung up at Port Wander/other important space port, and the cure lies with the late Nadine Aleynikov's medical research. And to boot, a Chaos fleet is observed enroute to said location.

-Inquisitor wants you to deliver a package to someone / somewhere. Why and what is in the small shoe box sized package is unknown. And to boot, Rogue Trader E wants the package and knows you have it....

Thanks for all the ideas folks.

I do have a concern as to plausibility in the Inquisitor suddenly trusting the PC's/RT house with jobs with particularly big consequences, but perhaps I can do a workaround.

The PC's are currently salvaging and refurbishing a battle cruiser, which is a big big step up considering their original ship was an orion and their current one is a sword frigate. However they're running into staffing issues, both with the ship and their two colonies. They simply don't have enough people to do all the stuff they want done. They've only got less than half the crew for the battle cruiser, and it's almost ready to fly. So the Inquisitor "arranges" to fill out the crew for the battle cruiser "with some nice well trained Naval Voidsmen rather than the gutter sweepings you're scrounging up" as part of their arrangement. Obviously she's going to have spies among the navy crew, and there's always the threat of "if you start mucking about I'll have the crew mutiny and bring you in/ throw you out the nearest airlock." That sort of leash ready to be yanked could result in a little more trust.

I'm also trying to figure out things for which a Rogue Trader group specifically would be particularly suited over say an Acolyte team, backed up by say some Imperial Guard or something. A lot of your suggestions are good in that respect.

Thats an excellent idea Spatula, but requires your players to accept

Perhaps alittle more extortion with your afternoon amasec.

Afterall, the RT's writ has (possibly) a very well worded paragraph deep within the labyrinthine document, Inquisition does love to have convincing arguments, this could be seen as GM Fiat but I see it as Inquisition Fiat.

True true.

Generally that's not a problem with my players.

https://community.fantasyflightgames.com/index.php?/topic/122823-salvaging-our-game/?p=1283484

Maybe make it a little more enticing by making it more than just 50,000 odd voidsmen, but having them meet a character or two and giving them a little personality.

Second Lt. Jordan McGinnis: A chubby read headed (mostly grey now) boatswain of irrepressible good humor and a veteran of over forty years in the Navy. He'd be higher ranked, captain perhaps, but he's always had difficulty living up to every silly little regulation and polished button and such that the navy expects. His back bears the scars of multiple lashings, but his skill with the crew's lower ranks makes him an invaluable asset and insulates him from the worst of the navy's wrath over his lax attitude. He's often served as a ship's unofficial master of whispers. The attitude of many Rogue Trader ships would mesh better with him than the navy.

Chief petty officer Gorig Herst. Gorig was a low level tech priest in his youth, but converted to the Imperial Cult some twenty years ago. He still bears much of the Machine Cult's training and some of their implants, but never meshed well with their mindset. He serves as the chief armorer, seeing to the ship's small arms and personal armors with great attention to detail. He's somewhat ostracized by many tech priets who recognize him as a former member of the religion, but he himself isn't too bothered by the whole thing. Generally standoffish, Gorig quickly becomes engaged and animated when the discussion turns to weaponry. Working for a Rogue Trader, with their ecclectic and often very fine collection of weaponry, would be very much to his liking.

1st Lt Sandherst. Sandherst is a ramrod straight spit and polish officer who clips his mustache by the individual hair. He's hidebound, pedantic, and reactionary. Fortunately he's also actually quite brilliant and well educated. All traits that make him seem the perfect Naval officer. He is however, much to his own personal shame, a bit of a coward. Commodore Berswick, the man who runs Port Wander, would consider it a personal favor if the Rogue Traders would take him under their wing a little and try to inject a bit of metaphorical spine into the young lad.

One arc that is nice to have as a back up is the star trek version. As they enter a teleportarium, scotty enters the wrong coordinates and they must go through a jungle, winter,feudal planet or zombie infested world in order to hail their own ship.

The two biggest advantages of asking a friendly Rogue Trader to do something rather than sending a team of Acolytes are:

1) Plausible Deniability - The inquisition was not at all involved in what happened. Really.

2) Authority - Acolytes have authority because they are acting in your name. A Rogue Trader has authority in their own right. They can do things without showing that the inquisition is involved or having to arrange cover stories ahead of time. Getting an acolyte to be able to join a high society gala on a distant world would take a lot of calls and prep time. A Rogue trader can just walk up and charm/Profit their way in because It wouldn't be a party without me.