We're starting a campaign soon and I will be running the Rogue Trader of our group. He will be noble born and from a naval background. How do other players use their Rogue Traders? Do you tell other PCs what to do a lot? Do you get involved in the nitty gritty activities?

The Rogue Trader may be the captain, but the rest of the PCs are the major officers aboard the ship. Their subordinates respect/fear them, and so are loyal to them, possibly more to them than they are to you. You need them, basically, or the ship don't work.

Give them orders, sure, but don't start pushing other characters around. The other players are there to play their characters, not to be told what to do for the entire game. Let them get on with their specialities, they know what they're meant to be doing, and other (contradictory) orders just disrupt the natural workings of the ship.

lol. Oh no, I wasn't suggesting that's what I'll be doing. I just wondered how other folk played their character. I've only ever played Dark Heresy before and we never had a 'group leader' character as such.

My very own Captain Sarvus Vendigroth is a lying, two faced bastard who took command from his older brother who was killed in a ship mutiny. He inherited a void safe that could be used to store certain items dark items. The void safe could only be opened with his older brother's thumb print, so what does Captain Sarvus do? He cuts off his own hand, replaces it with his brother's hand, then skins his own hand to wear his own skin as a glove in order to hide the correct fingerprints!

He's a master of the backwards deal and while sanctioning a newly conquered planet with a legion of Ministorum missionaries, he managed to convince the locals that the giant beam of light that obliterated one of their temples (had to clean it of Nurgle cultists first) was a a true sign of the God-Emperor power. He's loud and boisterous and well known for recording his own detailed recruitment messages and advertisements to be broadcast every time the ship stops at a hive world.

His special +10% ability has lovingly been called "The Click" As it's performed by turning to the person to be benefited, winking at them, pointing his fingers in the style of the Fonz, and clicking his teeth.

Unfortunately he's constantly being tempted by a sword of khorne locked away in the void vault. He's taken to taking it out of the safe when no one's looking and polishing it even going so far as discussing ship matters with it. Any time an order he gives ends up not working out, the crew can hear him mumbling something about the sword saying it was a bad idea....

I have so far run two games of Rogue Trader and the Rogue Trader Character has acted differently in each.

My first group (gothic madness aspect)

The rogue trader in this group was a creepy noble verging on the sociopathic however she was also disturbingly cheerfull, she would lead from the front getting the group into most of the trouble but also out of it with profit. She left most actual decisions up to the senechale (i.e. the I don't care how it happens just make it happen) and would often lead the party into combat, the player asked if she could replace shooting skills with more close combat as she wanted her character to feel that guns wern't honerable. She also acquired an armoured void suit for her horse so she could ride into battle even in the cold depths of space.

My second group (dark epic space opera/two fisted adventuring (well as it goes along it should be))

The Rogue trader in this group is last heir off a once powerful but now sadly diminished family, he is a bookworm (he traded his combat skills for knowledge) who used to serve in the administratum, his half (well more like three quarters brother/unkle/cousin/aunt (hey they are nobles after all)) brother is the senechal however he is acting more as the dodgy spy master then an administrator so the RT is the administrative heart of the group but leaves combat, spying, tech, etc up to the relevant people.

Our characters were transported over from Dark heresy - We were all noble born, but the Captain was the youngest daughter of Lord Tarsis and a Trained assassin... she's now the 'Ice Queen' or 'Iron B#tch' on the ship. She's a flogging captain, but they love her! I'm the seneschal (and thereofre in charge of her PR! LOL!)

I think that Captaincy in RT is a difficult path depending on the group you play with. If your group can understand that the role has certain requirements and responsibilities then it’s awesome. It’s all about the attitude. You could play the “tough but fair that everyone loves” type of Captain, but seriously it’s the 41st Millennium, and kindness will only get you killed.

Here are some of my "flogging" Captain' Rules that you may find useful.

1] "Always Shoot First" - Public disrespect of any kind on a ship of thousands of crew is unacceptable so must be punished immediately and creatively if possible. (Note: It's always best to demonstrate this on an NPC rather than a player character, unless said PC needs to be made an example of) Of course this rule applies across all situations in resolving any conflict in your favour, not just for crew discipline.

2] "Always Make Sure" - Double tap to the head. Nuke them from orbit. Freeze them in vacuum. Unless your enemy's severed head is rotting in front of you do not believe he is dead. Even then be suspicious.

3] "Listen to Good Advice" If you have competent people, listen to them. It is not weak to agree with good ideas, especially ones that lead to profit.

4] "Command Respect". You are not elected, and you don't have to be liked. Being a RT Captain is not a popularity contest. If the crew follows out of fear or simply a desire to be with the winning side it doesn’t matter. They don’t have to like the orders, they just have to follow them.

5] "Don't Micro-manage the Minions". Approaching Captaincy with the attitude of "telling people what to do" is pretty much a one way ticket to being pushed out an airlock. Demonstrate leadership ie. let the qualified people do the jobs they were employed to do and direct the action. If your boss at work micro manages you then you get crappy and maybe consider resigning. If a RT Captain micro manages the crew (and PC’s) they get crappy and then get out the melta weapons and lasguns. Micro managing shows a lack of confidence in the crew which breeds bad morale.

6] “Reward success, Punish failure.” Darth Vader had one thing right – Promote the competent, permanently remove the incompetent.

7] “Get off the Bridge.” Do not be a stranger to your crew. Surprise inspections and walk throughs allow you to get to know the crew and gauge firsthand any performance issues. (See Rule 6.)

8] “Follow Through”. If you make a bloody vow before the Emperor to hunt down your enemy, barbeque his children and descendents in the nearest white star and then nail him personally to the prow of your ship, then you must do it. (See rule 6. You cannot fail.)

9] “Don’t limit yourself”. Just because nobody has done it before doesn’t mean you can’t do it now. Shoving people out airlocks is all well and good, but being creative in your punishments keeps everyone on their toes and talking. Decorating the wall of the Captain’s drinks cabinet (kept in vacuum so the vodka stays cold) is almost an honor and only reserved for the special traitors.

10] “There are no second chances”. Ever.

Thanks Captain!

The flogging captain will quickly lose every competent member in his staff to be replaced with yes-sayers and blame movers and ends up with a highly incompetent crew who can't do a thing. The one mistake and you are dead management system is the silliest system you can think off.

People make mistakes, it is inevitable, they seldom make the same mistake twice. A good captain knows this and reacts accordingly. Yes even in W40k. Most flogging captains end up being killed by their own crew.

Ravia Khadis Praetor said:

This is a great post. I think some of these points will help immensly in our upcoming game.

On member of my group has expressed an interest in playing an ancient paranoiac rogue trader: formerly a flogging captain, but got so scared of mutiny that he will have enacted some odd regulations;

1. wherever the captain is, no matter what compartment, the gravity goes off. The captain has mag-boots, and they are considered a contraband item that'll earn a flogging for anyone else wearing them when not going out on the hull.
2. every compartment is bugged, and constantly monitored by a coffle of savants, conditioned to be wholly loyal to the captain. That goes double for the heads and officer's quarters, because a surprising number of mutinies were associated with the ship's plumbing
3. anyone who turns in a "mutineer" earns themself and their crewgang a shift of r&r and double narcobeer rations for their vigilance and loyalty, even if said "mutineer" is cleared by the savant watch.
4. any "mutineer" cleared by the savant watch is promoted, to gain their loyalty.
5. anyone defending a "mutineer" (even one subsequently cleared) will be flogged, or (if an officer) put on watch-and-watch until the captain says otherwise.

Needless to say, it's going to make an odd group dynamic, as the common crew will be piss-poor, but have great morale, while the officers will be resentful and distrusted. I'm going to have a talk with the entire group before the campaign starts to make sure they're ok with this.

His other concept would be best described as a caricature of a Boys Own adventurer- "Do you have a flag? No flag, no planet, I'm afraid. I have a flag, and a ruddy great ship ready to pour nuclear fire down upon your sorry little world." Added to that, a plan to make himself a flogging martinet hated by the men (though not the officers/other PCs).
I think it's going to wind up as a shot-rolling ship, and when the shot in question is 2.5 tonnes of nuclear material, that's a nasty prospect...

Our campaign hasn't started yet, but our GM has been getting us ready to begin with a series of short fiction posts to bring us up to speed on some plot points we missed in our Dark Heresy campaign that will be carrying over into our Rogue Trader campaign. (Two sets of characters. Yay!)

I am the captain, and I've been trying to sort out her personality and leadership style ahead of time so I don't make a misstep when the Inquisitor comes aboard. (The "catch" in her Warrant of Trade is that her ship can be requisitioned by the Inquisition as needed.)

So leadership style? She's former Imperial Navy, the admiral's daughter. She was a bit nonplussed when she was given an honorable discharge due to circumstances beyond her control (and beyond her recollection, even) but she's taken to this whole new life quite well now. She does expect her brew to keep to military discipline in their duties, but she also understands the importance of morale to running a tight ship. "Firm but fair" is the general opinion she wants her crew to have of her, as long as they understand that "fair" may sometimes mean that troublemakers are to be dealt with in an expedient and final manner.

And since she knows that, one day, the Inquisition is going to come knocking, she makes it quite clear that everyone needs to keep their nose clean and visit the ship's chapel on a regular basis.

She's hoping to pull off a sort of, "With all due respect, Inquisitor, this is my ship, and though we travel at your behest, I am still the captain. I will not have you countermanding my authority in front of the crew. If you disagree with my decisions, you may take me aside in private, but I will not have you dress me down in front of the crew, because it sets a bad example. I won't risk mutiny, which could cost you your life as well as mine, just because you think you can run my ship better than me. If you have a problem with a member of my crew, I will deal out the appropriate discipline. I won't have a crew uprising because you think you can go around executing anyone who doesn't seem pious enough to you."

Yeah. She's going to try to go toe-to-toe with the Inquisitor. Which may be somewhat foolhardy, since he's a bit trigger-happy, but she doesn't exactly know that. But I think it says something about her that she's willing to take on an Inquisitor.

Personally a lot of these while amusing sound like they will result in a horrible group dynamic. This was what I gave my players:

Note on being members of a Rogue Trader Crew:

While it may seem that the Rogue Trader himself is the captain and master of his ship it's not entirely true. In order to crew a vessel a Rogue Trader must make certain compromises...

Explorator- The leader of the tech priest contingent. He/she is charged with not only the care of the machines on board, but their proper use. In return for it's services the cult requires a voice in the ship's council, and a tithe of profits or 1st choice of any technology found. Of course many tech priests often can't be bothered with the mundane day to day running of the ship that doesn't involve machines.


Navigator- The Navigator houses know fully well they hold the key to interstellar travel. As such they charge dearly for their services. In general 5% of all profits, and a seat on the ship's council. Of course many Navigators often can't be bothered with the mundane day to day running of the ship.

Astropath- The Adeptus Astra Telepathica holds the key to interstellar communication. Crossing them cuts off a Rogue Trader from communication with the rest of the galaxy in and out of port. Given their powers, knowledge, influence it is rare the highest ranking Astropath is not given a seat on the ship's council. Of course many often can't be bothered with the mundane day to day running of the ship.

Missionary- Given the influence, power, and wealth of the Ecclesiarchy. It is fairly common to see a Missionary on the ship's council as they are often instrumental in providing crew, funding, and cutting through red tape. A scorned Cleric can stir up trouble and even mutiny amoung the crew.

Senescal- The ship's Seneschal is always on the ship's council if not always a voting member. It is not uncommon for the Seneschal to be a representative of investors. As a result some Seneschals have a vote and/or veto.

Void Master- A Void-Master is a proven master of his craft and highly sought after. It's rare they are not included in ship's council, and may or may not have a vote. Often this is due to the relationship the Void-Master has with the ship's crew. While the majority of a ship's crews are unskilled. Even the most automated imperial ship depends on the officers, and other skilled crew. It's not uncommon for a Void-Master to bring this skilled crew with him, and for them be extremely loyal to him. In some ships a void master represents the crew's interest and may have no vote, but posses veto power.

Arch-Militant- Every captain fears mutiny, and the Arch-Militant is responsible for the safety and security of the ship. As a result they are always on the ship's council, and may have a vote. It is not uncommon for the core of a ship's security to come with a Arch-Militant. Often these men and women were formerly under the command of the Arch-Militant and are very loyal to him. It's not uncommon for an Arch-Militant who comes with a mercenary company, guard troop, or the like to exercise a veto over their use.


Note it's my intent that all of the PCs have voting rights on the ship's council. This means unless you are an Astropath, or Navigator you need a back story that includes a reason why you have voting right similar to stated above. If you fail to bring a back story you will not have any voting rights on the ship council.

Common Ships Council.
Rogue Trader V2,VV
Navigator V1,VV*1
Explorator V?, VV*2
Astropath V?
Arch-Militant V?
Senescal V?
Void Master V?
Missionary V?

V1- One vote
V2- Two votes
VV- Veto
VV*- Limited veto
V?-One or 0 votes

*1 Navigators generally have veto over any warp travel related .
*2 Explorators generally have veto over modifications of the ship.

Dalnor Surloc said:

I might adapt this to my next campaign.

In my group, our RT is given a significant amount of power, but he still acknowledges that it's a game, and everyone else wants to have fun, so he is almost always getting their input.

However, his character's background is a bit unusual for a leader. He only recently inherited the title of Rogue Trader, and his place in the Dynasty was sort of as that odd fifth or sixth cousin to your uncles daughter's in-laws, twice removed. You get what I mean. It just so happened, however, that with the recent death of the former Rogue Trader, he was the closest of kin, and thus became Rogue Trader. (I'm not entirely sure whether or not such a thing could happen in the WH40k universe, but we're saying it can). As such, he doesn't exactly have the best of leadership skills, so he relies heavily on the other players. However, the character understands the idea of making a profit, so that works out nicely.

Our Astropath tends to act as something of an advisor. Much of this is probably because he is the most familiar with the setting, and seems to know the rules better than I, the GM, do. He tends to follow him around and give good advice.

To offset that good advice, we've got a very strong-willed and, well, let's say stupid Arch-Militant. This character adds loads of fun to the game, and the player's total unfamiliarity to the 40k setting results in some actions that most people in the universe wouldn't even consider.

The other characters tend to be a bit quieter, maybe offering sound advice here and there.

The result? When it comes time to make a decision, the RT hears everyone out, trying to mediate between the practical yet unexciting suggestions from the Astropath, and the way cool and probably really stupid but maybe if we don't all die profitable suggestions from the Arch-Militant. When none of the suggestions seem that cool, he goes with whatever option will be the most profitable.

However, despite the decisions our RT makes, and his role as leader, every other player can determine the course of the game by their own decisions

It's good to see my RT's not as much of a freak as I thought, Dangerbutton.

Mine is also new to the position, having been dragged away from leading a minor (and not very successful) revolution on his homeworld. He has experience in a leadership role, but the last time he was on a starship was when he was about seven, and Daddy took him onto the bridge of his flagship to say "Look, Son, one day, all this... will belong to your oldest brother."

Sadly, the oldest brother died, the middle brother was horrified at having been made RT and scrambled to find another sibling to farm it off onto, and thus the position fell to me. And I rely very heavily on the crew for advice and guidance. Basically, I trust them all to do their jobs and know what they're doing, and when it comes to major decisions, I take more of a Picard approach: listening to what everyone has to say and, if they don't reach their own consensus, casting the deciding vote.

I think everyone is happy so far. I do feel somewhat responsible as the RT for people having a good time, but if you're playing the game in this way, you can just work with your fellow players and the GM to make sure everyone gets what they want out of it.

Edit: I should add that not everyone approves of my style of leadership. Some think I'm too lenient and might appear dangerously weak to the lower echelons of command. Time will tell whether I can convince them I can be tough when required, but the rest of the time this is best for everyone... or whether I end up becoming a hard-bitten, eccentric lunatic!

In my group, the RT confessed that two things had inspired the way his RT works. One was a Shadowrun adventure we played. We had to infiltrate a place where there was one punishment for failure. Death. Only thing we needed to find out was find out some dirt about the ones in charge, collect the evidence and then blackmail them. We got into and out without a single glitch and we knew that everybody would keep their mouth shut. The security of the place was a joke.

If you implement a system like that, then everybody is so busy covering his behind that before you know it, you have a cult of Khorne in the bowels of your ship. He considered that a bad idea.

The other influencing factor was Julius Ceasar and how he dealt with enemies. Apperently Julius Ceaser was always willing to forgive his enemies. Once. Betray him again and you are done. Of course he ended up being killed by betrayal in the end but he had managed to rule for quite a while before that happened and was very succesfull.

So his RT is the man with the plan, a lot of panache and derring do. He adjusts his plans when other propose better ideas or shoot the idea down if it is truly nonsense. Of course we play as a group together for a long time now and he is one of the natural leader types and the RT role suits him perfectly. He also adheres to the fail me and I won't be mad but don't make a habit of it rule. Right now he is confronting mr Fel and he has every intention of keeping him alive. If only because he made sure that mr Fell will have a bad bad time once he returns to Footfall. Coincidentaly his name is Fell and he jumped to the opportunity to shove some of his problems to the other Fel.

My group decided to go with an NPC Trader. He's not interested in the nitty gritty of running the ship, so he leaves that up to his lieutenants (the player-characters) and spends most of his time schmoozing with the nobility, whether that be planetary governors, other traders, etc. Occasionally he gets involved, as happened in our most recent session, when the crew were having trouble pulling the ship out of the Warp, so he burst onto the bridge, apparently straight from having a bath given the towel wrapped around his waist, and took the helm.

Otherwise, they tend to keep him out of the way and wheel him out for social occasions and the ground-kissing ceremony whenever they claim a new world.

This has been a very insightful topic. I have generated so many great ideas from reading just this one.

My Rogue Trader is an incompetent, galavanting moron. My gm convinced me to stop playing him as zany Darth Vader ( I was constantly threatening to execute half the crew, particularly when they managed to fail to detect Captain Fel's ship during the hunt for the Righteous Endeavor), so now he's just more on the zany side. He does still have a psychotic streak, given I had the npc who accidentally set us up for an ambush shot out the airlock, but most of the time he's too oblivious and incompetent to be a real menace. He's obsessed with his appearance, and looking glamorous while he does glamorous things. He's also surprisingly good at talking other people into ridiculous things, given his Fellowship of 60 and his intelligence in the 20's.

Yesterday, our Rogue Trader let Fel flee and disengage after a devastating salvo with Macro cannon and Lance battery managed to do near maximum damage during one of those solar flares that had weakened the shields to ineffective during that round.

He ordered a spirited pursuit with the engines on half power and told the gunners to miss intentionally. He even returned the Lady Ash fully intact once they reached Footfall again with the cargo holds filled with goodies. Of course his true revenge awaits in Footfall where RT Fel is suddenly faced with horendous lawsuits claiming that the Warrant of Trade of said Fel is not valid. Ah, the petty revenges in life makes it worthwhile to plot them.

My Rogue Trader is Lord-Captain Quinn Ravenhearst, Commander of the Cruiser Vanguard , the strike frigates Partisan and Winterguard , and two transports ( Winterguard was captured from Lord-Captain Shang Ye's fleet). Quinn is the bastard noble son of Tybalt Ravenhearst, who was the Partisan's previous master, and his concubine Eleanor. As none of Tybalt's legitimate offspring wanted anything to do with flying about the dark void in favor of sheer hedonism of noble life itself, Quinn was groomed to be Tybalt's replacement. His half-brother Phillip would take over as head of the Ravenhearst Family on Scintilla. Tybalt was killed by the Eldar pirate Sarkanna.

Quinn is a bold adventurer and a keen strategist. With command of a small strike frigate, he journeyed into the Koronus Expanse and promptly began to carve out an empire for himself in the name of the God-Emperor. Immediately, he made enemies, the least of which is the more powerful Rogue Trader Shang Ye, who has several holdings throughout the Expanse. This rivalry would become utterly bitter indeed when the Cruiser Vanguard , appeared out of the Warp after four hundred years. Through daring and perseverence, the plucky crew of the Partisan took the Vanguard for Ravenhearst and made a name for himself throughout the Calixis Sector, along with one of Shang Ye's own frigates, the Winterguard , for good measure. It was a slap to the face that Lord-Captain Ye would never forget.

The Vanguard is a light cruiser, and is in a constant state of renovation, repair, and refit. She is undercrewed, staffed only with a skeleton crew of 40,000 where 65,000 are needed. Lord-Captain Ravenhearst has established his flag there and has taken up the sumptuous apartments as his quarters, behind which reside the convent of the Sisters of Battle contingent, led by Sister Mary Honorius. Having the Sisters on board renders a very rigid faith on board the Vanguard, due in no small part to Missionary Decius Cortes and his staff of ministers.

The Lord-Captain has what we've created was a command stage on the bridge that lead directly to his chambers. Only two people are allowed on that stage with him is his Senechal, the Lady Flavia Dietrich, and Sister Mary Honorius, who also serves as his personal bodyguard. Anyone else risks "rising above one's station," and could find himself put into an airlock summarily.

We generally play with an approach that is one part Master and Commander and one part Raiders of the Lost Ark. Shang Ye has been a remarkable nemesis along side the Eldar pirates that Quinn hates due to the fact that an Eldar killed his father.

Ravia Khadis Praetor said:

Gurn said:

Zaphod Beeblebrox ?

....and to add to the "Rules" we have some fave "Quotes" from other Ship's Captains...

Darth Vader
"I find your lack of faith disturbing."
"Perhaps I can find new ways to motivate them."
"You are unwise to lower your defenses"
"No. Leave them to me. I will deal with them myself."
"Don't fail me again, Admiral."
"Asteroids do not concern me, Admiral. I want that ship, not excuses."

Captain Kirk
“One of the advantages of being a Captain is being able to ask for advice without necessarily having to take it”.
“Peace or...UTTER DESTRUCTION...it's up to you.”
“We have them just where they want us.”

Captain Jack Sparrow
“The biggest circle of hell is reserved for betrayers and mutineers” .