For the first few games, I'd probably NPC the RT like most others have said, but lead the game in a direction where something happens to the RT and the players have to decide who's boss (even if it's all of them).

In future games though, I'd leave it up to the players to come up with something ahead of time, or if no decision can be made fairly by them, base it off their character. I'm thinking characters with the highest Fellowship, and/or really good Charm or the Leadership Special Ability that the Forsaken Bounty Rogue Trader had.

Of course, exceptions would be made for truly skilled players, or if the highest Fellowship/Charm/Leadership character was a noob to the game/roleplaying.

How about making the RT title a disadvantage to the player holding it ?

For example, Forsaken Bounty has the requirement that the Rogue Trader must be the first person aboard the vessel. This means that while the other PCs could stay safe aboard their ship, the RT has to risk himself by going aboard and he doesn't get to send someone ahead to check for an ambush. It shouldn't be too hard to add similar conditions to other endeavours (eg, people who want to talk to the RT alone).

All the authority the RT holds aboard his own ship comes from his actions, not his warrant of trade. Other players can gain authority from their actions. Especially if the crew views them as his chief advisors (meaning they were hired to point out when he was wrong).

Bilateralrope said:

I like this, especially the last bit, it treats the crew as less of a captive audience to the Rogue Trader's mishaps and something that the players can actually interact with. On the other parts, another way you could handle the RT taking action is that if they meet another trader or the like and if the Rogue Trader sends someone else to be his envoy, the other party will only honor any agreements made TO THAT PERSON. So if the RT doesn't want his Seneschal lining his own accounts, he has to get off his butt and be there.

Indeed. Mutiny was an ever-present danger to captains of expeditionary vessels throughout human history, there's no reason to think it would represent any less of a danger to space-faring rogue traders, particularly if the captain is excessively cruel or incompetent. Military vessels would be protected to some extent by tfraining and harsh discipline, but an RT vessel might be a largely 'civilian' crew (or it might not). In any event, one could imagine hobbling the RT's abolute athority enouigh to prevent the player abusing the position to the detriment of the other player's enjoyment. RT's are, perhaps, charasmatic by necessity.

Nullius said:

Then again, a really rich Rogue Trader could solve the mutiny problem by doing the same thin that Tobias Maxilla has done in the Eisenhorn trilogy. His ship is run and crewed entirely by a workforce of decorative gilded servitors... Which of course makes him the only real person aboard his vessel when he isn't entertaining any guests, which also explains his somewhat quirky and "needy" behaviour when he does interact with other people.

I wonder if such a Rogue Trader has to take pills against cabin fever?

Varnias Tybalt said:

Of course if one of the PCs was a tech-priest then you just be giving more power to the tech-priest.

" Of course if one of the PCs was a tech-priest then you just be giving more power to the tech-priest."

Indeed. Good point there. Too much automation is a dangerous thing.