Ok this has me completely confused. in the character creation overview it says you can spend this starting xp (4500), then later in the relevant step it says this is the value of the accumulated stats/skills thus far (except it can't be if you've been using random characteristic generation for obvious reasons) and that you have another 500xp so that starting characters are meant to be worth 5000. I don't get this at all. What am i meant to do with xp?

If you talk about RT... do nothing.

You go path of orgin, then have 500xp for first advancment and play.

The value 5000xp is for Dark Heresy characters. Beginer RT should be as much expiernced as DH with 5000xp.

If you are going to play with characters both from both subsystems, the characters from rt you do normal, but the one from dh should have 5000xp.

Its probalby counted that way:

2300xp for statistic advancment (+5 to all)

500-700xp from path of orgin

500xp first advancment

500xp for unique special carea ability

400-1200 for universal weapons training.

Everything is already in path or starting packeg.

Great, thanks for that.

And if you are going to use DH characters in RT, I would advise not giving them all that extra XP to get them to 5000xp, just because so much of that same 5000xp goes to characteristic advances for RT characters. I'd suggest starting a DH character off with an extra +5 in all characteristics, and then start them off with about 1000xp to spend on their XP tables.

Also take into account that RT characters level in half the time (their skills almost all cost 200xp, compared to DH's 100xp), so it'd be best to half the amount of XP given to the DH character, because 1) it's proportionally fair, and 2) it'll make them level at the same pace, roughly.

I think it's easier to create the characteristics using the RT system (25+2d10) and count it as 2.000 XP. Then, try to convince them to get the "universal weapon training with..." the weapons of their career (that is, buying the talents that universal talent gives, like the talents and skills in Ascension). Anyway, I think RT characters are more flexible, with a broader amount of skills and talents, and the Dark Heresy characters are more experts in a concrete field (aside from the Void Masters and the ArchMilitants... Also Rogue Traders look like the Scum's big brothers, same for the psyker/astropath).