This will both contain some of my opinions, and request your own. So, when I look at various ships, I can often draw an idea of what they were made to do, be it hauler, warship, escort, or what have you, but when I see the Conquest Star Galleon, what I see is "prestigious treasure ship." I don't know, for a fact, if the first Conquests were put down specifically for Rogue Traders to journey into the night, to expand His Imperium, or if there was some other craft that even more iconic "this is a ship built to carry a Rogue Trader into the void, to barter, loot, carry massive wealth, and battle the enemies who will come and take it." When I sit down to flesh out the backgrounds of various dynasties I have penned stuff for, one of the first ships I always consider is the Conquest, because it is a cruiser, and because it is almot pure panache, class, and that stuff. Problem is, it is also a rare ship, even among ships, and so I kind of don't want to always grab it. My Korvallus Dynasty, and the Silver Ravens Company that it operates, have one, though it isn't the primary ship of the dynasty, at the moment (the Hammerfall is a Dictator), and while I've been even more fleshing out the Qel-Drake line, I have the original receiver of the Warrant, Avenos Qel-Drake, who received his Warrant, and the ship attached to it, for services to St. Drusus, during the foundation of the Calixis Sector. Thing is, I wasn't sure what form the Corona of Drusus should take (name in progress; it isn't the flagship, anyway, that being the Exalted Wyrm ), and caught myself making another Conquest Star Galleon. As much as I like them, I'm not sure I want another dynasty with another Conquest held in reserve. Are there any other ships that have an iconic "this ship is made to be used by Rogue Traders!", rather than the more typical "this is a purpose-built ship that a Rogue Trader later re-purposed to serve their own needs"?

I hope I am making this clear, instead of just me rambling. I'm not sure what other sort of ship Saint Drusus might've presented Avenos Qel-Drake, all those centuries ago, to reward him for services rendered, and facilitate the multitude of tasks a Rogue Trader is expected to do? As much as I am a cruiser-buff, I'm not even firmly set on that; I know not every Rogue Trader wants a cruiser, or can afford one, I just like them because they can defend themselves, break battle lines, and Rogue Traders have the money to make them multi-purpose. If anyone else can suggest another vaunted, esteemed ship that would symbolize their master's occupation, that i might use to diversify this story from various others, I'd much appreciate it. Otherwise, the Conquest will stay, and be one more "awesome treasure ship" in the Expanse, rarely seen by anyone away from the Qel-Drake focal planet.

Thank you anyone who responds, and please have a good one.

Well there's the Ambition class cruiser, also from BFK.

The thing is, an entire model of ship specifically for Rogue Traders doesn't really make sense. For one, a Rogue Trader capable of commissioning a ship specifically for him/herself is going to want something bespoke and unique (check the text for the Ambition). And if the Rogue Trader can't, then there's no point in creating a class of ship for someone who can't afford it.

Then again, there's nothing stopping you from creating a unique ship for a Rogue Trader.

If I were to myself create a “quintessential” Rogue Trader ship, it would probably be something similar to a dauntless light cruiser. While it does have the same problem that all light cruisers have (that is cruiser sized essential components without cruiser space and power), it does have good base stats (detection, speed, armor, agility), and can make a good ship for someone who doesn't know what tomorrow might bring.

I'd probably reduce the detection by 5 and put in a free main cargo hold (giving it a bit of extra space and making it a hybrid ship), but otherwise leave it more or less the same.

Well, more what I was saying is, when the Emperor, or the High Lords, initially penned the first, most powerful Warrants of Trade, they would've handed a ship over with it, and I sort of imagine that they didn't just grab any spare ship they had, regardless of type, and say done; they'd look at the overall task they envisioned for the Rogue Trader to accomplish, and supply a ship that accommodated that to the best of their ability. It might not have been as defined a task, back then, but mapping the void, bringing back the treasures, and killing the unclean that held them prior. Granted, I'm not sure, even then, various Traders had various interests, and needs. Like I said, I might've not been wording it well.

When I used the Conquest, I'm not entirely sure who else would use one; they felt like a treasure ship for the Rogue Trader to use, and little else, but I didn't want to devalue the supposed rarity of the hull. It's sort of like the RT in question; if you have read any of the stuff I've put up, over the years, Qel-Drake's family is in possession of two Best-quality inferno pistols, a weapon that, of any quality, is supposed to number maybe a dozen in the whole sector. I do love the Conquest, though, so maybe I'll keep it. Avenos Qel-Drake, all those centuries before, did serve Saint Drusus in a military capacity, so perhaps a cruiser would be more typical of what he was accustomed to, and then the Conquest is one of my favorite hulls. Like I said, the primary ship of this line, at present, is the Exalted Wyrm , which is a Tyrant, so if I never hammer it out, or even if I do, it'll almost never likely matter. Thanks, of course.

Light cruisers represent well what Rogue Trader dynasties need, while equally representing what Imperial magnates can afford to give up. They can carry considerable firepower, yet they usually don't fill up all their space when well-armed. That remaining space is exactly what a rogue trader needs in order to be able to carry cargo and miscellaneous components.

That said, raiders and transports also represent ship types that are expendable in the eyes of the Imperium.

So is the topic of conversation something other than "what is the quintessential Rogue Trader ship?"

If it is I'll stick with the Dauntless as an excellent jack of all Traders.

Or are you asking what we think St. Drusus would give out to a newly minted Rogue Trader?

St. Drusus is a relatively recent thing. Less than 3000 years ago being practically yesterday in the setting's ridiculously massive scope of everything from buildings and time to pauldrons and hats. As such, I'd expect that the Conquest would already be out of production by then. With St. Drusus being in charge of a crusade he'd more or less have his pick of ships from within his forces (within reason, the navy might object to him trying to hand out a battleship). A Turbulent might be a good choice from that pack, being both a favored "lucky" ship, and being a bit sturdier and bigger than most frigates (wonder if there's a connection there ). Many dedicated navy ships don't have the excess hull space and power to make good Rogue Trader ships (as EK alluded to). Nobody would expect a Rogue Trader to tool around in a Gothic.

My view on the Conquest is this: The Conquest is more than a glorified treasure ship. Obviously it's going to be worse in a scrap than a pure warship, but it's certainly more than just a transport. It's able to carry cruiser sized broadsides, has better armor and shields than a transport, and the excess space and power to mount more facilities than most transports (universe excepted of course). It's a big multi-purpose ship. Not 100% warship, and not 100% transport. The only thing it has going against it in terms of being a multi-purpose ship is that it's slow and ungainly, making it difficult to escape a fight or get around a system quickly.

I think conceptually it would make a good flagship for an exploratory fleet. Use it's double cargo holds to bring supplies outwards and treasure back while acting as a mothership for perhaps a couple of frigates or raiders, while still being able to fend for itself in a fight if need be. In modern times it's probably still good for that, while perhaps being a little too fragile and rare to risk in a major engagement (which the majority of Rogue Traders would probably try to avoid unless well prepared anyways).

What would the emprah and high lords give out way back in M30-31? Probably stuff that doesn't really exist these days. Maybe an Exorcist, or the good ole Sword Frigate, depending on the job. I do agree in the more orderly and prosperous days of yore they'd take more care in outfitting a Rogue Trader at the presenting of his Warrant, rather than just grabbing whatever mothballed surplus ship they can get their hands on.

The Conquest Star Galleon in RT is FFG's attempt to Replicate this ship:

Assuming I'm right; this was the official "RT Cruiser" from BFG. IMHO, it is not at all surprising that individuals who received their Warrant from the Emperor himself would warrant a purpose built vessel for such an Endeavor! When his holy lordliness was handing out warrants he was trying to reunite the galaxy! This meant that the first Rogue traders were largely responsible for finding the lost colonies of man so that the legions could go forth and "Bring them into compliance". (Euphemism for grand conquest or bombing them into the stone age!). This would have required a ship optimized for exploration. Think dark universe Star Trek! In the 41st millenium, I imagine the Dauntless is the ship of choice when possible since it is already optimized as a recon/picket ship.

I would think Venk that it would depend entirely on who is giving it out. I would think anyone without immediate access to imperial navy ships and shipyards would be giving out Ambitions (like Spat said) or any other ship that the navy was wholesale jettisoning or mothballing (the Claymore for instance says in its listing that the navy was trying to get rid of them). I would think any entry that talks more about spotting the ship in reserve fleets (and not because they are so rare or expensive that noone wantes to risk it) would be a suitable starting point.

I think the quintessential Rogue Trader ship would be a Hawking Exploration Cruiser. Seriously, the thing's perfect for a Rogue Trader's needs.

https://community.fantasyflightgames.com/topic/129101-homebrew-strike-cruiser-stats/?p=1367443

The Ambition is the ship designed for Rogue Traders (essentially) and does a great job at it, but to me, ingame the quintessential Rogue Trader ship is the Dauntless. It is a craft that you can take pretty much anywhere and do next to anything with it, well. Exploration, transport capacity, combat - it is among the good options for every role and does well on its own and with support craft. It can nearly match an escort in speed and maneuverability, comes decent guns, and is hard to match as an explorer ship. It is smaller than a full cruiser, but you have a fair bit of extra space for bells and whistles.

I like the Ambition - it is what our tabletop group uses - and a few other designs, but they tend to be better in certain niches. The Dauntless is a great craft when you want to go where no man has gone before and be ready for all eventualities. Plus, as "merely" a light cruiser, it is not as rare (supposedly) as other cruisers and makes sense for many rogue traders to be granted with their warrant. Star Galleons are incredibly rare, and even "regular" cruisers are a huge investment for the Imperium. Newer dynasties have to make do with what they can get.

Smaller ships I can see as considered relatively typical for Rogue Traders (used often enough to getting a reputation for it) are the Meritech (an "unconventional", high-value raider unloved by the Navy and AdMech for its dark origins, but great for a Rogue Trader on a budget - and the Meritech Wars saw plenty of new warrants being issued, so) and to a lesser degree Havoc raiders, the Firestorm and Turbulent Frigates (heavier, tougher frigates with enough space for a few nice tricks) and possibly the Orion and the Q-ship (both transport ships that can bring more than expected to bear and thus take on riskier missions).

yes but is it 73 points ?

A Dauntless with all the bells and whistles can go way beyond 73, especially if you want to have an elite crew - and fpr me, a big part of being the quintessential Rogue Trader is having the most badass SoBs (and just Bs) in the galaxy under your command.

Mind you, going by what the core book says a lot more Rogue Traders fly Swords or Havocs than Ambitions or Conquests. Cruisers are supposed to be pretty darn hard for a RT to get his or her hands on.

For me the pinnacle of quintessential Rogue Trader ships - the ones I think of first - are Exorcist grand cruiser (for the oldest and wealthiest), Mars class battlecruiser (for the Militant Rogue Trader), and Dictator class cruiser (for the Rogue Trader on a budget). Problem is, these are all very expensive SP wise so you'd either have to take all stock essentials and two basic weapons, no extras. Or take an incompetent crew to get some extras. Or the GM needs to house rule more points.

I like some of those (a big fan of the Dictator Carrier ), but for this one, I decided to shoot for "not cruiser". I support the idea that you should always get the biggest, most powerful ship you can, because the entire point of the game is to make more money/PF, so starting with a little less is doable, but getting a big, pimped out ship will probably never be as easy as at character creation again. Having said that, the book tries to tell me that, money or no, most Rogue Traders don't sport full on cruisers, and I can tolerate that. I also don't mind the Qel-Drake line "leveling up" to a cruiser, as the late Lord Antoss Qel-Drake was a much more militant, hard man, who happened to make a lot of money on the side, where his predecessors, and successor, have more made money, and been a help to the Navy when convenient. I even thought about going with a frigate, as a nice middle-sized vessel, but didn't pan out, in my head. Thus, I picked the Dauntless hull for the Corona of Drusus ; it could've been sitting around, for Saint Drusus to hand out to his faithful (Avenos Qel-Drake), way back then, and it's a bit smaller, but capable of lots of things, and being good at soloing the void for long stretches. When Antoss could ply his cred with the Navy, he got a full-on cruiser, and the Corona retired to the background, where it can still serve the dynasty, but Aedan doesn't fly it.

Thank you, everyone, for your thoughts on the matter. It is much appreciated, and please have a good one.

But what is the quintessential rogue trader?

Are all the same?

Have all the same interests?

Any ship with the following component:

Pecuniam Situla (S1, P1): a massive storage vault containing a diving board and approximately three cubic acres of financial security.

Any ship with the following component:

Pecuniam Situla (S1, P1): a massive storage vault containing a diving board and approximately three cubic acres of financial security.

Why do I see Scrooge McDuck swimming in thrones, while macking on the Saharduin shark girls, from 1d4chan...?

But what is the quintessential rogue trader?

Are all the same?

Have all the same interests?

Very true, and I suppose that each one would have a different ship. When I asked it, I was thinking more "I'm the Emperor, and I'm sending these insane, loyal? adrenaline-junkies into the unknown, to claim all the spaceways in the name of the Imperium. I should probably send them with a specific sort of ship, made for this task, to take all comers." Sort of what he doled out with those first Warrants.

I know it isn't a good example, as even the sources I might use will have diversity, but for the most part , the Guard have Chimeras, and they are much the same. The Space Marines have Rhinos, etc. In space, they mostly use strike cruisers, which are a general design. Our own military has several "standardized" vehicles that they use, for "general purposes", and keep the specialties for special circumstances. I see the Rogue Traders in the same light. I imagine the Emperor sent them with a lone ship that could survive alone, for long periods of time, if need be, capable of both war and plunder. If certain Rogue Traders later took it upon themselves to use their pull to get full on Cruisers, or decided they were more interested in what they could get done with a Raider, that was their effort, not His.

Otherwise, the "quintessential" meant: if the RT in question decided to stick to the idea of having just one ship (more than that is expensive, and initially, I imagine they had to each start with one), and needed it to be able to fight most comers, be they piratical raiders, or enemy warships, or flee what was too tough, while still being able to traverse the void for a long time, mostly self-sufficient, and carry the intelligence, plunder, and what have you of the journey back for His glory, what ship would He have handed to these intrepid explorers, as He sent them off to do His bidding? Well, I decided that the Dauntless, or at least the Light Cruiser, seemed to win that raffle, in my head. Your mileage may, of course, vary.

That's why I liked the Hawking. Purpose-built for exploration, which is generally what a Rogue Trader is SUPPOSED to be doing. Drawing the map, yaknow?

I did a writeup of it which I... think is balanced, maybe? Suggestions?

Hawking Exploration Cruiser

This ship is essentially the perfect ship for many types of Rogue Traders as well as certain Explorator fleets. Technically sized as a Light Cruiser, albeit a large one, it is extremely fast for it's size, if slightly hard to maneuver compared to other light cruisers. It is highly capable of operating independently, and has very advanced shields and sensors. Larger than a Defiant or Dauntless, smaller than a Dictator or Lunar, these ships can almost act as full Cruisers, with a cost to match. Almost always fitted with Exploration Bridges and Multi-Band Auspexes, the design originally dates back to Macharius's crusades. The ship always has a background package equivalent to a Thulian Explorator Vessel without the Archeotech component, with the benefits and costs already integrated into it's capabilities.

Hull Integrity: 60
Maneuverability: 10
Detection: 32
Armor: 19
Turret Rating: 2
Space: 60
Speed: 7
Ship Points: 68
Weapon Capacity: 1 Prow, 2 Port, 2 Starboard (of these, 1 port and 1 starboard slot are pre-equipped with Components)

Support Carrier: The Hawking comes pre-equipped with bays that act as a specialized variant of Jovian-pattern Escort Bays in the Port and Starboard slots. However, these bays have extra space to store cargo due to the nature of the Ship's mission; each also adds 50 points towards Trade or Criminal objectives. 2 Power must be supplied to these bays in total. These components can not be removed. However, due to the specialized nature of these bays, they are incapable of servicing full wings of Bombers, beyond the odd prestige one or two; they are generally used for the wide variety and massive quantity of utility and scouting and surveying small craft that an exploration-focused ship, which can not be assumed to always have access to full docking facilities, may need.

Exotic Projection Arrays: The Exploration Cruiser, being almost as large as a normal Cruiser, can select Cruiser Only Void Shields. Further, all shields placed in these slots gain the benefits of being Repulsor shields.

Explorer: The vessel adds +75 to all Exploration Endeavours. Add 3 months of emergency supplies. The prow can not have a reinforced prow or a power ram without lowering the detection capability of the vessel by 5.