Don't know how many of you who are familiar with this old cartoon series, but it's basically a pretty sweet pirate/fantasy story with characters and plots that just begs to be used in some way for Rogue Trader. Here's the opening for the show:

www.youtube.com/watch

I don't know about you, but in my Rogue Trader campaigns a recurring villian will definetly be an infamous evil, corpulent piratelord mutant called Lord Bloth, who plunders the Koronus Expanse and the Calixis Sector alike from his mighty pirate cruiser called The Maelstrom. The cruisers hull is of course fashioned from the bones of one of the near mythical void Krakens/Leviathans.

The ideas and inspirations this classic show can bring about is staggering, don't you agree?

Adapting "Pirates of Dark Water" to Rogue-Trader sounds quite interresting:

- The "Dark Water" itself could be a previously unknown kind of warpphenomena, that is specific for the Expanse. The Dark-Dweller is, of course, a higher independend chaos-entity. The "Dark Warp" does not only threaten the Expanse, but is also leaking slowly through the Maw and starts threatening the Calixis-Sector.

- Octopon could be (or better "have been") either an ancient, civilized Imperial World at the rim of the Calixis-Sector or a civilized World of the Heathen Stars.

- Niddler would be obviously some kind of xeno. His kind is rather primitive (just as shown in the TV-series) and poses no threat to mankind. So, some rogue-traders and imperial settlers enslaved the peacefull species of the monkey-birds.

...and have you seen this?

http://piratesofdarkwater.net/buriedtreasure/

Type in "Captain Harlock SSX op" into Youtube.

I think its a bit clear where FFG got their inspiration for Rogue Trader.

Clearly theres a fan of classic 70'a anime in their ranks...Mind you, the original series by leiji Matsumoto was by far the best, SSX was clearly done for kids even if the animation was sharper.But the original series was pure poetry, even a bit dark and melancholy. Many of its concepts were blatantly ripped off by George Lucas...althoughit has never been tested in a law court.

If youre intrested though watch it with subtitles. The American dub is as usual is horrid.