I'm not to fimilar with the 40k setting, Ive read several web sites and books that I picked up, and Ive been trying to fit my story with the setting. The party is a second generation Rogue Trader who's father sunk his fortune into rebuild of a ancient Frigate class ship Night Crusader. The party starts with a dedt to Adeptus Mechanicus for the repairs, there is Explorator charatcer, to Night Crusader. The Rogue Trader is trying to rebuild his family fortunes that were lost and try to find his father who was lost in the Koronus Expance on a exploration endeavor for help in setting up a mining site. His cousin is his Arch Militant on his ship, who brought along a pilot friend (voidsman) from his Imperial guard days. The crew is comptent whith most of the NPC personality pretty much filled out. There is the one ship and now the crew must try to rebuild.

questions

How do the Merchant House work with in the Imperium ?

How much control does the Administratum control merchants?

Do the Arbrites act more like police or FBI?

How much fear of the unknown should the players portray when confronted?

What is the daily life of crew like? The people live there all there lives.

Bending Arms said:

The merchant houses are considered as the other face of nobility. Those in the high echeleons of the merchant houses will be rich and pompous, controlling trade routes and making the decisions concerning those trade routes. A small group of powerful trade houses can theoretically control the economy of a planet merely by raising the price to sell or buy particular items. Because of this power, some merchant houses are corrupt and will accept trade from traitors or xenos (until the Inquisition finds out, of course) or will employ convicted villains. And some merchant houses are the pinnacle of business, sticking to the charters laid out by their forefathers and never breaking laws.

As for the merchant house of a rogue trader, that will be somewhat different. An old house will probably have large amounts of property on several planets where the rest of the dynasty will live in luxury, but a relatively new house will mostly be confined to their ships or small amounts of property. Rogue Traders and their dynasties are beyond nobility.

Bending Arms said:

The Aministratum only keeps records of a merchant's imported and exported goods, they're fines and taxes and how long they stay on particular planets. They have very little control over anything in particular, but they know everything that they need to know and can potentially control everything by calling audits or inspections into anything that seems suspicious.

Bending Arms said:

Both. They're rather Judge Dredd-esque.

Low ranking Arbites will be the police force of a planet, patrolling areas and keeping the law. High ranking Arbites (Known as Judges...) are Judge and Jury, investigator and lawyer etc and so forth.

Bending Arms said:

This depends on what you confront them with. Throw heretics and traitors at them and (if they're devout enough) they would stand against them and see them destroyed in the Emperor's name. If you throw Tyranids at them, then they may falter - however the party may have a lot of experience with xenos and would be used to attacks by frenzied xenos creatures.

Bending Arms said:

This can depend on the crew itself. A large portion of the crew can be slaves press-ganged into work and the security force that stops riots breaking out. There would also be a contingent of the Ecclesiarchy making sure that the crew's faith to the God-Emperor is pure and would be reminding people to pray on a regular basis and observe the correct rites.
If a sufficient part of the crew has enough free time on their hands, then families might begin to crop up where two particular members of the crew have been spending too much time together, and the Rogue Trader may be expected to accomodate them.

As for daily tasks:
Wake
Consume nutrition
Work
Nutrition
Work
Free time
Rest

Along with trying to fit in other tasks such as observing the God-Emperor in prayer.

Hope all that helps.

Bending Arms said:

The Arbiters are certainly Judge Dread like in many respects but it's import to be aware that they enforce imperial laws. Not local laws. So generalized murder wouldn't be interesting, but murder of an Administratum adept would be. Like wise a riot not interesting, but a riot chanting slogans against the Emperor would be crushed. Also some drugs are not illegal under Imperial laws, bit illegal under local laws. Even something like a coup replacing the governor might even be shrug off if the new governor was pro-Imperium. So yes in some respects they are the FBI.

The crew varies from ship to ship. On one ship the crew are serfs/slaves. Another they are free to come and go at any major port. In many cases a ship will have a population of people who were born, raised, and die of old age completely on board. (IE the void born.)

Trothael said:

An that pesky ability to snitch out on suspicious activity to higher authorities like the holy ordos or the arbites who will bring a rather swift and violent crackdown on that activity.

Never underestimate the horror of Imperial red tape and the keepers of red tape. It will destroy your mind.

Trothael said:

Sort of. Low ranking Arbites are not a regular police force of a planet, mainly becase there are plenty of planets that have very little in the way of Adeptus Arbites presence.

Enforcers of different flavour (like the Magistratum of Scintilla for instance) are usually working as a regular police force. You could say that low ranking arbites work more like a combination of the FBI and the NSA. Usually they don't bother with common crime committed, but certain criminal elements fall into their jurisdiction and they will likely take over an investigation conducted by local enforcers.

But the high ranking Arbites however work like the Judges in Judge Dredd.

Thank you for the responces.

Here are some more.

If the Imperium is Xenophobic and the Mechanicus rituallistic in technology's use, how do they study Xeno technology and Why does the Imperium let them study it?

When missionaries try to bring back lost groups of humans back into the fold, how do they start in bring them back?

In this time line are the Tau and Necron known and what are their forms of interstellar traavel?

Bending Arms said:

It's a matter of hierarchy really. The Imperium at large is quite xenophobic, and common citizens are promoted to foster a general hatred towards anything alien. But once you get higher up the food chain in Imperial society the contradictorial parts starts to show through (Nobles collecting xenos artifacts, Imperial sponsored expeditions and institutions to alien ruins and the study of xenos artifacts, Rogue Traders having permission to contact, interact and trade with aliens etc. etc.).

Also the Mechanicus are an entity in it's own right and are as such not bound by the xenophobic creed preached by the Ecclesiarchy. Not to say that the Mechanicus can't be xenophobic of course (many techpriests view alien technology as being heretical and blasphemous in the eyes of the machine god), but they do have special divisions who study and alien lifeforms and technology too. Information is power after all, and the more you know about the alien species who are enemies to the Imperium, the sooner you can exterminate them or turn their own weapons against them.

Bending Arms said:

It largely depends on the Missionary's prefered methods and how much financial backing he's got from the Ecclesiarchy. Some might favor the fire and brimstone approach where the population is subjugated into the Imperial Creed and infidels are burned at the stake, others might favor subtle manipulation of the local population, and using diplomacy and storytelling to make them believe that the different dieties they have worshipped so far was really the Emperor of Mankind but "in disguise".

Usually a good Missionary is supposed to be well versed in both methods rather than just sticking to one. After all, sometimes it is better to not cry "heretic!" when dealing with a human civilization who haven't heard anything about an Emperor of Mankind for millenia, but try to convince them slowly but surely into adopting the Imperial Creed. But at other times it might be better to crack down on the population, stageing witch trials and burn heretics at the stake for increased effect.

After all, for new potential believers the Emperor has to both seem like a punishing and intolerant god, but also a beneficient and sacrificing god whom all humans owe their eternal gratitude for their very existence, and that he and his Imperium is the only thing standing between them and eternal damnation, destruction and chaos.

Bending Arms said:

Im not really sure about that one, because I don't have the best overview of the DH/RT timeline. But if you're gonna run adventures in the Koronus Expanse, I can tell you that Tau will be an extremely unlikely sight in that part of the galaxy, since their empire is located on the opposite end of it. That's a long distance to travel, and they'd also have to travel through large sections of Imperial space without getting assaulted by the Imperial Navy.

The Necrons aren't "well known" at all, mainly because they are one of very few alien threats who the Imperium of Man have been uttery defeated by during their raids without ever seeing them coming. So most information gathered about them (most likely by the Mechanicus and the Ordo Xenos) would be extremely supressed and classified. So unless a Rogue Trader and his mery band of explorers happen to simply stumble across a Necron Tomb or a ship that activates, it is very unlikely that they will know anything about the Necrons at all, and only a few experts working for shadowy organizations would be the only people to ask about such information.

Varnias Tybalt said:

I'll clarify, if you're not sure. Tau are well known in the Imperium toward the galactic-east, which is where the Tau are based (And consequently stuck, since they have no FTL drives nor are capable of warp jumps for any real amount of distance yet). More toward the galactic-west, where Rogue Trader is set, there will be little to no information on the Tau bar what has been brought there by anyone who's had dealings with them either by way of trade, battle, or even by word of mouth.

If you'd like to include Tau in your campaign, then here's a couple of suggestions off the top of my head:

- Base your campaign in the Ultima segmentum of the galaxy, near Tau space.

- If you wish to remain in the Koronus expanse, then how about having some Tau show up by accident . Perhaps they were researching a warp storm in their own space to attempt to improve their knowledge and use of the warp, and they sent an armed ship into it which then got hit by a slingshot effect and emerged near the Koronus expanse.

As for Necrons, they're more well known to the Mechanicus than anyone (Considering high-ranking AdMechs know that the Omnissiah is a Necron God), many high ranking officers of battle will have a suprisingly detailed knowledge of the Necrons as well. Since they are a major threat to all life in the galaxy, information about them is strictly prohibited. There are several soldiers and citizens of the Imperium who have survived the assault of Necron forces waking up from their tombs and emerging from the ground as a silent wave of death.

By the way, there does happen to be a Necron tomb world in the Koronus expanse..

Trothael said:

Erm, not quite. Heretic techpriests believe that the Omnissiah is actually a Necron God known as "The Dragon" and also that the dragon lies in slumber in a place called the Noctis Labyrinthis on Mars, it's not something widely accepted within the cult mechanicus (certainly not among the high-ranking AdMechs), and most techpriests who have made this claim have been fervently purged for spouting such heresies.

The whole "The Omnissiah is really a Necron C'Tan"-thing is so far just a fuzzy conspiracy theory created by Games Workshop. There has yet to be anything substantiated written that it would actually be the case. (Yes, I have read the most recent Necron codex too so no need to ask )

Varnias Tybalt said:

Right...I did stop reading there.

It's accepted canon fluff that the Omnissiah that the AdMech worship is in fact one of the bodies of The VOID Dragon, and yes it is in the Noctis Labyrinth on Mars which is where they found it. High ranking LOYAL AdMechs know it's The Void Dragon, they keep it covered up though.

There's an absolutely brilliant piece of fluff which details how one member of the AdMech actually found the Void Dragon's sleeping form and when he realised that this blasphemy of life and machine was in fact what the AdMech were worshipping, he went insane and began to forcibly rip the mechanical parts of his body from his flesh. He's still alive and incarcerated in the vaults of Mars and has developed a phobia of all things metallic.

Trothael said:

Yeah, they know it's there, but far from any loyal AdMech actually believes that it is the Machine god "in the flesh" so to speak. They know it's a Necron entity known throughout old myths as The Void Dragon, but they keep it's location and existence a secret. Probably because they want to tinker around with it and it's tomb, like those "can't-leave-well-enough-alone" Techpriests always want to do whenever they stumble across xenos technology of any kind.

HOWEVER, there is a specific sect of Techpriests who believes that the void dragon is actually the Machine God made manifest and worship it as such. But they are a hunted sect by both the cult mechanicus and the Inquisition alike.

So it is not accepted canon fluff that the real Omnissiah is actually the Void Dragon, just because the Void Dragon happens to be located on mars and that some nutjobs within the mechanicus believe it to be so.

There is however some evidence that suggest that the Mechanicum might once have been a creation of the Void Dragon, but ever since then the canon dogma of the cult mechanicus has been radically changed to it's current state.

Trothael said:

I've already read it. Adept Corteswain was his name. But he didn't find the Void Dragon's sleeping form, he went nuts and tore his implants out due to an incident on a world located on the Eastern Fringe called Cthelmax. There he witnessed something he refered to as "The Emissaries of The One Who Dwells Beyond", most likely a reference to the C'Tan known as "The Outsider", not The Void Dragon.

The Tech-Adept who intruded the Noctis Labyrinth was called Uvochi and he was discovered, accused and charged with techno-heresy. They are two different people.

Varnias Tybalt said:

Bloody hell...Called on and proved wrong. That's something that rarely happens. I tip my hat to you for catching me out on that one, sir.

Trothael said:

Hey, I barely remembered it myself actually. I just got that itching feeling that something was out of place so I broke out my trusty Necron codex and checked it out.

What can I say, I've been playing with a Necron army for years, an I even have a Necron fleet for Battlefleet Gothic too. Also I ran a campaign in Dark Heresy with my group a little more than a year ago, that involved not only the Necrons themselves, but an incarnation of The Deceiver and a bunch of corrupt Adeptus Mechanicus officials who I chose to call "The Brotherhood of the Dragon" that worshipped the Void Dragon on mars.

Suffice to say that I did some serious homework on everything Necron and related to them.

Varnias Tybalt said:

Reh...As a Chaos player for the last 7 or so years, I get a bit iffy on Necron fluff (as well as Eldar) from time to time. And I know that the Necron codex isn't trustworthy, since it's written from the Eldar point of view. The 5th ed 40k rulebook mostly states that anything to do with anything before the Imperium relates mostly to "lol necronz did it." and that C'tan aren't actually C'tan etc etc...

I'm digging through my mountain o' Black Library and old codices now to see what I can find. I know that there's more fluff on Void Dragon = Omnissiah somewhere...it's just a matter of finding it.

*Frantic digging*

Trothael said:

Well, the Horus Heresy novel "Mechanicum" has presented this idea that the Void Dragon used to be on earth, but the Emperor managed to defeat it and he imprisoned it in the Noctis Labyrinth on mars, in order to purposefully create a technologically advanced society that would endure the coming warpstorms that would cut off earth and mars from the rest of the galaxy.

He knew that the Void Dragon would inevitably (and possibly even involountary) send out visions and dreams to the martians that would subconciously teach them to build very advanced technology, which of course did happen.

After the warpstorms ended, the Emperor began his crusade and united with the martians who had grown to become exactly the kind of society the emperor needed to power his crusade of unification across the galaxy, and all thanks to the use of the Void Dragon.

So in a way, the Techpriests who view the Omnissiah as a different manifestation of the Emperor of mankind are right, because it was he who put everything into action that started the Adeptus Mechanicus. But some of the more heretical elements believe that the Void Dragon is truly the real Omnissiah because it was responsible for the prophetic visions and dreams.

As with everything regarding faith in the Imperium of Man, it's largely up to individual interpretation, and it seems that not even the AdMech themselves have any real idea of what the Machine God actually is. Is it the Emperor but in a different form? Is it the Void Dragon? Is it just a "concept" brought about by religious discipline rather than a living, thinking entity? Perhaps it's all three? (I mean, much in Wh40K take heavy inspiration from biblical mythology, perhaps the Void Dragon, The Emperor and the Concept are the AdMech's strange version of the biblical trinity "The Father, The Son and The Holy Ghost"?). No one knows really.

The "Void Dragon = Omnissiah" is one theory, but so far it's just a theory and not the definitive truth.

Bending Arms said:

In BFG the Tau use a method of warp travel that skims the warp. It's very reliable, but only 1/5 as fast as warp travel. If you want the Tau in the local area you need to have a warp gate, warp storm or something like that to get them across the galaxy.

PS- The necrons seem to use a non warp based method which is unknown to everyone else. Also some books seem to indicate they can teleport over vast distances. Possibly even interstellar.