As the title says, what if everyone in the group wants to be a fighter, pilot, or engineer? Started a homebrew game using Rogue Trader and ended up with a group that includes one astropath (we're working on getting him squared away,) one void-master, one explorator, and THREE arch-militants (and only the astropath has crappy Ballistic Skill.) Fortunately, the particulars of my homebrew universe allowed me/us to get away with naming the explorator the defacto leader. However, the group does lack knowledge and social skills.

I have a few ways I can roll with it, several endeavors I have planned are high on the military end, and there is one player who was absent at our first session that might be willing to play a Seneschal but I'm curious to see how other GMs would handle this situation....

a few options, and I'd put them to player vote:

1) No RT aboard. They happen to be working on a RT's authority, but he's on another ship.

2) NPC RT. The GM writes him up, and he gets half as many XP as the low man playing. (The half XP is just how I've always done it. It's from Cyclopedia D&D.)

3) PC play of RT as second character: Works like an NPC, but controlled by a player

3a) Rotating PC play of RT. As 3, but who controls him is rotated, either on a schedule or by die-rolls.

4) Incapacitated RT. There's an RT aboard, but he's not conscious, or is bedridden, or an utter imbecile. Or had a poor quality cortex impant.

5) PC as RT of different class. One of the extant PC's wasn't the heir, but the spare, and took up a different path. But older sibling just died, and he got the ship, the warrant, and no training.

Hmmm, thanks. I agree with putting them to player vote. Something I'll keep in mind if I ever get around to running a "canon" game of Rogue Trader. For now though we seem to be doing alright rolling as is.

I chosed a rouge trader, I told the player that I wanted him to be the rouge trader and gave the players no choice, that is the captain, he usually likes to play a leader in my WFRP sessions and the way he acts when he leads makes him a fitting rouge trader and he doesn't seem to mind it at all.

The others got free choices and we have an astropath a void master an ork freeboota nob (via online rules) and a character yet to decide.

Hi:

There are several options deliniated within the book. There are some for multiple traders!

L

@ Leogun: I've had bad experiences with confining players to even a handful of character options, to say nothing of a single class, so I generally avoid those kind of conversations. I suppose in that regard I created my own monster...

@ Lete: I must have missed the other options, I know I read the section on how to deal with multiple traders.

Well, here's an idea that goes along with the Rogue Trader is Incapacitated idea that I'll be using if none of the PC's are the RT: Three Void-dogs and a Baby aka The Boy King.

The PC's are all the inner circle of a Rogue trader who, as the game opens, meets a terrible fate. She had a child before dying, and now the small infant is the heir to the charter. Beyond that, the now deceased RT's brother is one conniving SoB who would run the dynasty into the ground if he's allowed to take the reigns and the reigns he would definitly take as would be the custom until the infant is old enough to take the charter him or her self. What's worse, if the infant were to die, the brother would be next in line to inherit the charter and the brother isn't above doing in small children to get what he wants.

So, the PC's know it's all over, the gravy train they've been riding would come to an end, and the dynasty they've served would be destroyed if anyone learned that their captain was dead. To keep things together, they now have to find a way to hide the captains death without arising suspicion from without the ship and, more then likely, from within as well. They will have to carry on as if their old captain were still in charge, find ways around her making personal appearances, perhaps find or create a look-alike, keep all this from her brother and half a zillion other jokers, keep the dynasty running and growing, and, all the while, insure the infants safety and make sure he's ready to take the reigns when he comes of age.

What makes a Rogue Trader a Rogue Trader is his Writ of Trade. That's it. The RT class represents the most common, rogueish type of Rogue Trader but there's no reason a mercantile-minded RT couldn't be a 'Seneschal' or an RT who's more keen on the shipping bits can't be a 'Void Master' for example. Just hand the writ to one of the PCs.

@Graver

A very cool idea indeed... I think I'll yoink it should I ever run a campaign without a RT.

Cifer said:

Same. An amazing campaign concept. I tip my hat to you sir

@Graver: Very nice campaign idea, definitely would bring out the best in the Void Master, Arch-Militant, and Seneschel careers. After all, what is the RT career except a guy who knows a little about what each of those careers does?

@Talkie Toaster: That is ultimately what I did in a nutshell. Most of my group has recently cut their RPG teeth on Fourth Edition D&D, can't go expecting change overnight.

Graver said:

I really like this, if there was a way to give you props - or increase your rating for good ideas / posts, I'd do it for sure!

thanks,

zWolf -out.

Psion said:

Glad you guys liked my idea :-D Unfortunately, now I'm kinda hoping no one in my group make an RT when the time comes...

Hey, they can be the captain's former "Number Two" and protoge, but not actually have the writ in their name, if they choose the RT career. Then you could still run that scenario, which is awesome, BTW.

However, if I were running a different campaign, and had a group with no RT, then they'd just pick who the RT of the group would be, and that person would be the holder of the charter. There's nothing about the RT career, or the other careers, that requires all who hold the charter to be of that career path.

Graver said:

Love it.... Weekend At Bernie's!

Psion said:

I guess 'tis too late but, here's the info, according to the corebook; page 288: "What if no one wants to be the Rogue Trader?"

L

LETE said:

Thanks, I did indeed miss that despite reading that chapter to help flesh out my own campaign. Doesn't do me much good given that I'm running a homebrewed universe that isn't really like Warhammer 40k (partially because I'm not fully sure where to begin with a 40k game and partially because I'm the only 40k nerd in my group.)

Thank you regardless.