I am confused by this trait. I spend 3-15 influence to set up a Domain. That Domain counts as an organization worth a corresponding 3-15 Influence. I then test to see if that Domain has a resource I want against that Influence score.

Ok, that seems rather weak. Now, I've been using the Profit system in RT, and since the two are supposed to be interchangeable, I assume the outcome would be similar. And from my experience I can say that a Profit of 3-15 would be a waste of time to even bother rolling with, excepting the most common possible items for the shortest possible time. Why would anybody waste a talent on something that reduces your Influence for so little in return?

Am I missing something here?

I always assumed that the point was to give you a home base, really. A place to keep your stuff and private armies if you've got them. That is a more reasonable use

Hmm... it seems a waste of a Talent for something that would be awarded through gameplay in RT.

Feonor said:

My thoughts also. If you need a house or a small mansion for your servants and private library, you can ( and should IMHO ) do this by roleplaying. Use those Common Lore, Peer and Scholastic Lore skills you have to get the necessary licence and buy that house. Burning a Talent for this is just a convenient shortcut.

The only particular use I can see for it is that if the Domain's Influence is separate from yours, then it gives you deniability and/or a source of resources other than your own... in short Inquisitor Ibriham didn't order three cases of high explosives, the Bonded Mercenary Agency of Stark did. So, if Inquisitor Inbriham's Recongregator rivals are watching him closely, they don't know that he now has the gear he needs to blow up the heretic cells base.

A good theory, but try to make that resource check for those three cases of high explosives with a Influence check of 15 or less. With that level of Influence you would have a hard time getting a small amount of a common item...

I'm looking at the LoD Talent as a starter. From there, you can add things like Armories, Libraries etc. Your GM may also want to actually make the Influence rating a + modifier instead of a flat one for certain things. For example, getting your hands on a civilian flyer on the same planet where you have your fortified manse... +10 because it could be in your garage. Grabbing an autocannon might work too... While getting your hands on something rare or held by someone else wouldn't be susceptible to the bonus.

Think about it a bit. It's your Inquisitor's headquarters. Beef it up, expand on it etc. Play with the rules a little bit to get it to where you want it.

What I am playing with (and I might put out as a house rule idea once I've had a chance to test it a bit) is allowing the Domain to be built as a Contact with free experience to build with equal to 20 x Influence spent. That would give you a range of 60-300 free exp, which can build a pretty sweet contact that would be worth the Influence and provide bennes worth spending a Talent on...

As far as I can tell, the primary benefit of the Lord of Domains talent is to have your own HQ, and depending on how much Influence you spent on it, with all the really nice bells and whistles. That you can also requisition stuff using the Domain's influence is more of a side benefit than anything else. Admittedly, the table doesn't really do a good job conveying the idea that this building/chunk of land is supposed to have facilities other than living quarters other than a comment from the Fortified Manse of "dungeons and other facilities". As for why it's a talent, I think it's there to keep the focus on the investigation and otherwise not turn it into a Rogue Trader-esque endeavor; as many have stated, you normally would have to roleplay for all that stuff in Rogue Trader.

As for what these domains might actually have, well, here's my take:

For the 3 influence Secret Sanctuary, I think it would provide:

• Your own small building, perhaps the size of a suburban middle-class house
• A double garage with civilian ground cars
• A secure comm line or radio
• A panic room
• Some guards, maybe no more than 2-4 in flak vests and armed with laspistols

On the other extreme, the 15 influence Grand Estate might provide:

• Several large buildings on a large chunk of land (perhaps something along the lines of a college campus)
• Your own private airstrip, complete with military-grade transports
• A substantial workshop, one that's large enough to analyze or build or modify large vehicles
• Your own astropathic choir
• A fully equipped medicae ward, one that's capable of cybernetic implantation of the most sophisticated of devices
• A full-scale forensics lab, staffed with highly competent personnel
• Conference and interrogation rooms with equipment to provide absolute privacy (white noise generator, jammer, etc.)
• A battalion of stormtroopers to protect the place
• A large library, one that would be appropriate for a large college or university
• All the personnel required to staff all of the above if not mentioned already

As for requisitioning items, remember that the influence test is subject to modifiers , much like other tests. To use the three crates of explosives example, if the domain is described or defined as a military base with its own contingent of combat engineers, the GM probably should not even bother with a test; the characters automatically get it. If, on the other hand, the domain is defined as a series of laboratories and workshops, the GM will likely require a test, as three crates of explosives arguably isn't something such a place would have.

-Kirov