so i'm running a pair of Rogue Trader games that are going to Merge soon, and right now i only have one (potentially two) chief antagonist. one of the games revolves around a set of inquisitorial acolytes granted a Warrant after they royally screw up an op. reason they weren't killed outright is that their inquisitor wants them to go clean up their mess before they get axed (that and said inquisitor is a heretic who doesn't have any other acolytes that are even possibly capable of cleaning up this colossal charlie-foxtrot). the other is a more generic group of rogue trader and retinue that consists of Cave Johnson as a Rogue Trader, Mecha Hitler, and the most sadistic navigator this side of House Nostromo.

events are as follows:

totally-not-inquisitorial acolytes:

alaric (the newly appointed rogue trader, who also happens to be a fifteen year old noble), Lax (ex guardsman turned Archmilitant who happens to be in the unwitting possession of what is basically an STC equivalent of a Daemon weapon) and Leopold (originally named Noface, a former hive-ganger turned Seneschal with a head for numbers, as well as a penchant for batman esque shenanigans and rampant cannibalism) made the mistake of leaving The Hand and Eye of Tal'veshyr (two halo Devices that when integrated into the same host, allow for all the positive effects of Halo Devices while getting rid of the drawbacks) unattended. Somnius Halbrel (one of the primary antagonists of the Dark Pursuits adventure out of the DH2E corebook) takes this opportunity to claim the prize that these acolytes have denied him for so long. after doing so, he orchestrates a shootout at an underhive arms auction that the PCs are at and jumps system, heading for the Koronus Expanse. after they become rogue traders, they go through some "here's how rogue tradering works" adventures before heading off into the expanse after him.

Aperture Labs:

Cavus Johndoe (a test tube baby who's only claim to a warrant was the fact that the genetic material of his genesis was pulled from members of an old Rogue Trader Dynasty, all of whom happen to be dead now), Heinrich Faust (a death worlder pulled from his planet by a Heretek who trained him to be a tech priest only after he instilled in him an abject hatred for Genetic Impurity [no opinion on Xenos aside from them being not people, and therefore not subject to basic decency] and a love for wanton human rights violations) and Trick Wanderer (a Navigator who's real name is unknown, all that's clear is that she's from some navigator House that's hard up on luck. oh, and she really enjoys mind melting people with her warp eye and using a mono grox whip to sever a foe's achilles tendons so they cant run away) have just finished the events of Into the Maw out of the core book. only deviation from the chain of events is they managed to convince one of the Ork Freebooterz they fought on magoros Secundus to come aboard the ship and serve as Faust's personal "Prototype Tester". said ork is now a GM Controlled Character who will be rolled out for the purposes of shenanigans, screwing with their plans, and occasionally getting them out of a bad scrape alive. general conclusion is that Hadarak Fel is an ass, and needs to be shot after

here's my questions:

I intend to draw these two parties together, and i need to get them to work together in character without having to introduce some poorly set up "you guys are friends now" nonsense. I'm considering Using Lure of the Expanse as my basis for this, but dont want things to get to crazy. both parties are playing their characters well, and i know that the Characters will likely shoot each other just for being competition. How best should I handle this?

one of the possible scenarios i considered to get them to work together is the idea of them having shared enemies. Somnius Halbrel is looking to do something bad involving the Rifts of Hecaton, the Yu'Vath, and Halo Devices. to facilitate this, he's signed on with Fel in order to make things move a bit faster. however, I have absolutely no idea what their End game would be, and why an Arch Heretek and an unscrupulous, but ultimately still loyalist Rogue Trader would work together. Any Ideas?

I'm just wondering why you felt the need to provide so much backstory for a simple question. No one really cares about the first part of your question. As far as getting them together, that's on them, not on you. It's your fault for not starting them together in the first place.

I'm just wondering why you felt the need to provide so much backstory for a simple question. No one really cares about the first part of your question. As far as getting them together, that's on them, not on you. It's your fault for not starting them together in the first place.

Wow. So helpful. Thanks you for that insightful and elevating post.

I'd just like to point out that there ane many IRL reasons that could have stopped them from joining in the first place.

Back to Antijoke_13:

I personally find the information interesting and think it is an interesting problem that will probably make for some good RP opportunities later - and it is very relevant to his question!

Sadly I have never had to accomplish anything of the sort, but I will follow this thread and tell you if I think of anything!

Man totally forgot about this post. Hope everything went okay with you radventure. If you have yet to combine the two, here are some options and tips to help you along:

Since the totally-not-inquisitorial acolytes have a common enemy of Somnius Halbrel, either he, or an ally of his, could of screwed (or are going to draw the ire) of the Aperture Labs group. Options for this to happen:

Option 1) Somnius Halbrel happens to be a VIP/stowaway/guest aboard the Aperture Labs group ship, and sabotages/causes an experiment go hay-wire/defames the face of the RT/Dynasty prior to his departure. He makes his getaway well known, and clear to all parties involved of who he is and what he did, mocking that nothing can stop him/the PC’s are to weak/that their mother smelled of elder berries.

- Somnius Halbrel teams up with a new infamous scoundrel, or takes over an existing criminal syndicate, to become more than just an ant that the Aperture Labs group’s can easily stomp on.

Enter’s the totally-not-inquisitorial acolytes. TIP: They should have a great deal of information and either an item/device/relic that hurts Somnius Halbrel / protects 2-4 individuals from his ire / other important facet GM knows about and alludes to in the adventure.

The totally-not-inquisitorial acolytes should come at the time that the Aperture Labs group is planning to stop / go after Somnius Halbrel. Maybe Somnius Halbrel alluded to that he is going to destroy a planet / space station / ship / person the Aperture Labs group dearly cares for. So, upon hearing the news that Somnius Halbrel smirched the honor of the Aperture Labs group, they can proceed into negotiations to form an alliance to stop him.

TIP: Aperture Labs group should be the ones with the information / knows the location of / how to get there / is great friends with someone who has access to of what Somnius Halbrel (and his possibly ally) is after. This allows both parties to NEED each other for this plan to work. When one group has all the power, neither can be equals.

Option 2: If attempting Lure of the Expanse in conjunction with this, then RT Fel or however is going to be the main antagonist of the Aperture Labs group should ally or use Somnius Halbrel to attack / humiliate / deface the Aperture Labs group.

-Maybe in your Lure of the Expanse, the Yu’Vath control of or have massive artifacts on the Dread Pearl. Could be the Eldar are unware of this, or know this, and hence why there is the warp storm protecting it. If the Eldar don’t know about the Yu’vath artifacts (maybe the colonists brought them there by accident), then maybe those Artifacts are the cause of the warp storm. Heck, you can even leave out the Eldar, and have Rak’Gol (misspelled?) show up instead at the end. Could even be the artifacts clouded the Seven Witches seer prophesy.

-Anyhoot, this allows RT Fel to use Somnius Halbrel for a reason, in order to gain more xeno artifacts / devices for profit. Maybe he has a key / device that opens a portal after collecting so many more parts found over the course of all those planets you have to go to. Anyhoot, let me know what interests you and maybe I can give you more specific ideas.

See Wodan, his information is relevant. Why is everyone so serious? He just wanted to make you smile.