My group last weekend traveled to the Lathes in order to trade some ""choice" tech they found in the Koronus; anyways the players went directly to deal with its masters...

(the High Fabricator Castellar + Fabricator Janden Samekh Alpha + Forge Master Villem Warik Wahh)...

Anyways in essence they presented some tech to two of them ( a nano tech-based device with the specific purpose of rebuilding a ship's engine from X to Y essentially upgrading the engine - the only specific need mentioning is that this "system" is something that the Imperium nor the Admech has in their possession) which was to be traded off for some "special" ship components.

I was wonder how dangerous are these three people? (especially if you "dangle" something in front of them and then play them against one another for said prize).

"If you don't like our deal then I'll go to so and so and see what he has to say" (was the gist lol)

What would you do as GM if presented with such a situation?

(Granted I am actually rooting for the PCs; I was surprised by the boldness of their plan - thus I didn't want to steamroll them <ala TPW> since they were figuratively in the Lion's Den , so to speak LOL)

P.S. I do have the DH Lathes World book, but found its depth in regards to how these 3 operate difficult to sum up

Advice on how you would run the situation would be greatly appreciated!

I agree that there isn't a whole lot of guidance, and GW's in the middle of writing out a bunch of new fluff for the institution as a whole, but this is my take based on what I've read about them over the years.

Adeptus Mechanicus Magi, as a whole, are extremely capable and dangerous individuals with an extremely large amount of resources at their disposal. Each one has a Forge, which is essentially a small industrial hive with a GDP greater than many industrialized worlds. Each Magi is likely to have a legion of Skitarii at their disposal, as well as banks of leximechanics and cognators. Furthermore, each Magi is intelligent and knowledgeable beyond comprehension.

To make matters worse, the Magi of the Lathes are fairly used to dealing with Rogue Traders, given the very large number in the area due to the Expanse. In addition, all inducted cult members (who are not magi themselves), including any on the Rogue Trader's Ship, are technically answerable to them (and the Fabricator in particular). Dealing with Magi should be one of the most difficult and delicate encounters the Rogue Trader has to deal with, on par with Inquisitor Lords.

That being said - the Player's plan of essentially putting it up to a bidding war between two or three of the Magi is probably the best approach, because they've turned it into Intra-mechanicus politics rather than Mechanics vs. Rogue Trader. This makes it much, much harder for the Magi to declare that the Rogue Trader is "withholding technical data from the Mechanicum" and seize it by force. (Which they are more than capable of doing.)

It's worth keeping in mind that any given Magi on the Lathes has a lot of things on their plate, so offers don't just have to be better components - it could be things like "We'll install it this month." By all rights, the item is supposed to be turned over, so don't be afraid to have the Magi start low, and build up as they bid against each other.

It's also worth remembering that all Magi will have the ability to communicate wirelessly with each other almost instantly. So if they start with one and go to the next, that second Magi will have been informed by the first, and had an extensive discussion with him well before the PCs could get there.

That's great info - I just wanted to make sure I didn't go overboard in terms of the scope of their ability and power...

My players are super smart - so it sounds like they knew what they were doing by playing each against each other - LOL

I wasn't sure about them being able to order the AdMech presence on the Rogue Traders ships - so that is a key consideration to keep in mind!

I was focused on an excerpt I read about in the Lathes Book that I was gonna use as impetus for "third-party" types in the AdMech to involve themselves in such business (initially like any King's court they watch from afar) - SEE Below

The "system" the Players picked up is associated to a planet that (in my game) Voidmasters know in their rare tales (they dont share this with other career types) - and as such it requires Consensus-Type Belief (aka Consesus-based magic if you will)) in its existence in order to even get there (Voidmaster communicates "lore" to Navigator but otherwise acts as a "tuning fork" so to speak). That planet was analog-ed after the planet (Seibātoron ) of Cybertron from transformer (minus the transformers themselves lol) - thus the importance and or desire from these masters, their proxies, and those who watch from afar in such matters (aka why its soo important to them)...

It should be fun!

Stay GAMING

Morbid

Yeah, any Ad-Mech on the Rogue Trader's ship would find themselves in an interesting position of serving 2 masters; kind of like a parish priest in medieval europe. They're answerable to the Lord whose land they're on (the Rogue Trader), but they also have to heed the counsel of any bishops (the Magi) and are answerable to their archbishop (the Fabricator). Things can get ugly, particularly on a moral/religious/ethical standpoint when these two loyalties collide. However, technically all ad-mech personnel are there by the grace of the Mechanicum, so they could always withdraw their adepts... but that's a pretty severe reaction with a lot of political fallout the Fabricator wouldn't want to deal with.

Sound like it's going to be a fun game.

I do like the political maneuvering, and as has been mentioned offering it to bid between Ad Mech groups is a fairly savvy move.

Hardball response: "Or we could seize the technology in the name of the Omnissiah and share it between the three of us."

Or the less hardball but still logical response: "How about this. Instead of a bidding war, I'm going to speak to the other two, and we'll reach a consensus for a single bid then share the technical knowledge between the three of us. We could even lowball you." Followed by the implied threat of seizure and some back room dealings to see if they can reach an exclusive deal despite the supposed collaboration.

I do like the political maneuvering, and as has been mentioned offering it to bid between Ad Mech groups is a fairly savvy move.

Hardball response: "Or we could seize the technology in the name of the Omnissiah and share it between the three of us."

Or the less hardball but still logical response: "How about this. Instead of a bidding war, I'm going to speak to the other two, and we'll reach a consensus for a single bid then share the technical knowledge between the three of us. We could even lowball you." Followed by the implied threat of seizure and some back room dealings to see if they can reach an exclusive deal despite the supposed collaboration.

Entirely possible - except that much of our fluff indicates that Magi are extremely loath to share secrets, even with each other. Something like this, which could mean quite a discovery (and therefore make a name) for the Magi able to crack it's secret, is unlikely to be compromised lightly. At least not for something that each one could individually cover the acquisition cost for.

Don't forget about the Factors. Mechanicus who focusi on understanding diplomacy and being a "friendly face" in negotiations. An underrated element when dealing with the mechanicus, which is the way they like it.

The Scorpio dynasty in a game I'm running found a system overflowing with wealth to exploit. So to keep most, they traded off parts of it to various factions, including the Lathes. Including an asteroid made of solid adamantium ore and the shattered wreck of a pre-Imperial destroyer with a few irreplaceable components still intact. I added up a few modifiers and got the seneschal to make an extended commerce test versus the factor they were dealing with. I had worked out a range of profit factor/rewards for each thing traded to the mechanicus. I believe he accumulated 16 successes or thereabouts so the dynasty got a great deal. Oodles of profit factor, kudos, and gifts including an amulet of warding in the dynasty heraldry.

Later on, the Scorpio dynasty located the partially intact wreck of a previously unknown and very deadly xenos race. They flat out traded the hulk to the Lathes. I had worked out the value of the xenostech in SP previously. For outright trading such a unique prize, the Lathes "opened their vaults". The same SP in archaotech.

Risk vs reward though: plenty of opportunities for the dynasty to have been slain horribly throughout the campaign.

Even if the Lathes were immensely grateful or indebted to you, they would still haggle.

From one point of view, they owe you much less than you think,\

since you got there via their machinery and maintenance in the first place.

I'm not arguing, just saying this colors everything in the Empire.

Oh sure. But they have incentive to visibly support those who scout exclusive finds for their use. And trade deals tie those dynasties even closer to the mechanicus. A small side benefit is that it would be even harder for a dynasty to go renegade if their ship is overflowing with archaotech. It requires so many specialists to maintain that are near impossible to find outside of the mechanicus.

They absolutely are smart enough to support people who deliver them technology, and they would probably horde this discovery for themselves and exclude the other Lathes.

However I think while you're looking through the Lathe Worlds you should linger over the Agent of the Lord Dragon or the Mech-Assassin. If you're anticipating all three factions REALLY want this technology and will compete with each other to get it, then they might start murdering each other, or turn you into a Cistron who is loyal to their faction and unable to disobey their Magi's orders.

I'd say run some intelligence on the three Lathe Worlds to pick a favourite or one with the best reputation and just commit yourself to it, or take three blind bids and just pick one. Spatula has it right, if the option is lose it completely or enter an alliance they're also more likely to deal with each other than some Rogue Trader.

And if you offer them this technology then get rid of it well... the AdMech control your ship, technology, servitors and are empowered to reclaim any technology they want in the name of Mars. Also they easily have the best weapons and gear in the human faction. Probably even outstripping Space Marines.