Just got Rogue Trader and had some minor(major!) questions about starting characters. My first time with a Pen and Paper RPG so I don't have a nice computer to auto explain rules.

First, Weapon Talent (Universal) does mean you can use all weapons in the Universal as long as it's specifically pistol/melee/basic without the -20 penalty, right?

My second question syncs with the first, the rank 1 talents/skills that characters can advance but already have as starting talents/skills in their career path, why are they there? Can you buy them again and get some sort of bonus or are they just there as some sort of alternate home-rule advancement?

Harraitmsp said:

Yes, exactly. Basic Weapon Training (Universal) lets you use all Bolt, Las, Launcher, Melta, Plasma, and SP Basic Weapons, for example.

Harraitmsp said:

The latter - essentially, everything you get in the starting package has already been bought for you from the list of Rank 1 Advances. Every duplicate skill or talent you get before that, however (that is, from going through the Origin Path system, before you spend your remaining 500xp) provides a replacement bonus instead, as discussed in the sidebar on the bottom right-hand corner of page 15.

Just got Rogue Trader and had some minor(major!) questions about starting characters. My first time with a Pen and Paper RPG so I don't have a nice computer to auto explain rules.

First, Weapon Talent (Universal) does mean you can use all weapons in the Universal as long as it's specifically pistol/melee/basic without the -20 penalty, right?

Correct, although it is worth bearing in mind that universal doesn't cover all weapons of a particular class available in RT.

My second question syncs with the first, the rank 1 talents/skills that characters can advance but already have as starting talents/skills in their career path, why are they there? Can you buy them again and get some sort of bonus or are they just there as some sort of alternate home-rule advancement?

They are just there for completeness.

The duplicated starting talents and skills are there so you can still pick up them if you use an alternate background for your career. Other wise you might not be a able to pick up something you needed to get a future talent or skill. For example if you can't get tech use you can't get tech use +10. Of course there aren't any alternate backgrounds yet...

It's good to hear from a newly started pen and paper roleplayer. I hope you will enjoy this very special form of entertainment. Welcome to the madhouse, sort of :-)

Gotcha, sorta figured that was it, but the book didn't provide as many examples as I would have liked. If I had started D&D pen and paper, I probably would have an easier time thanks to all the D&D CRPGs I've played, but Rogue Trader is a lot more complicated it seems. I do, however, enjoy the mass of choices.

Two quick additional questions if I may? The Murder Servitor choice in the starship section, I assume that my PCs can't take the MS's down to a planet with them because the time away from the MS's cryo freezers would make them have a slightly higher emphasis on murder than servitor? I told my PCs that the MS's would go crazy if they were too far away from the ship for too long a period, considering 40k lore, such a thing seems likely.

Secondly, what would be the skill modifier for making a ballistic test with a shipboard lance or macro cannon at a planet? I assume pretty easy since the planet is relatively close, slow moving and large compared to ship to ship combat? I'm ruling out geosynchronous orbit difficulties as I assume a half decent crew could compensate.

Anyway, thanks a lot for all the kind replies, helps me iron out a few bugs.

Harraitmsp said:

Your ruling on the Murder Servitors sounds like a good one to me. With that explanation, however, it should be possible for them to take the servitors for short quick trips maybe? It could be an interesting thing to play around with, the players trying to get something done before the servitors go nuts but not knowing exactly how long it would take for either the task to be completed or the servitors to flip out ninja power style.

As for ships shooting planets, if they are in orbit, I'd say just hitting the planet would be automatic, no roll needed. Now, hit a specific target on that planet, that could be difficult and would depend how large the target area is, if there's something to lock onto, and how much atmosphere would be between the ship and the target. Low orbit directly above a target which has a radio beaken to help the ship lock on = strait BS. High orbit around a planet that has a thick atmosphere trying to shoot a small 1/2 km area while not directly above it based solely on coordanants that were mapped out to the shack, -50 or so.