Put this under the GM section first. Whoops. Works better here.

I ran my first Rogue Trader game about a week ago. We all had a blast.

I tend to read the rules and run with the big points and let the little stuff slide. Usually I'm for story over game mechanics. As a result I may have missed this in the book. The helmsman rolls his Pilot (spacecraft) skill + any bonuses from the ship for maneuver actions whereas the gunner only gets a basic BS test for shooting. Did I miss modifiers for type of guns, any kind of cogitator assistance (targeting), speed and current maneuver actions, or any kind of specialized skills (ie - starship gunnery, macroweapons, etc...)?

thanks

Some maneuvers affect shooting tests, both your ships and those being performed by your target. Range can give provide modifiers as well (as with personal weapons), as can the Lock On extended action. A Void-Master who took the Master of Gunnery ability can reroll starship shooting tests but it doesn't provide a modifier bonus.

You can get a good-quality MIU implant, and plug into the ship to get a +10 to BS tests firing the ships guns. (works for piloting too)

GM's are also able to decide Good/Best quality ship components bonuses, so it wouldn't be far-fetched for a GM to say those provide +5/+10% to BS rolls representing better quality targeting systems, actuators for faster reaction/traversal speed, etc.

Thanks for the points you bring up. I guess I just thought it was weird that being in charge of firing the ships guns didn't require a skill (like being a pilot does) or a talent (like you need for firing ANY other weapon). I'm glad to see I didn't miss something big like that, and that I'm ostensibly doing things right.

Damek66 said:

yeah, same here, i was expecting a "gunnery" talent or something

It was probably done so that shooting the ships guns is something that *anyone* can do. Thus, a small group of players can have a pilot and someone with tech-use, and the astropath/senschal/navigator can fire the guns rather than twiddling their thumbs or trying to think of something quasi-useful to do during ship encounters.