CAUTION: SPOILERS FOR ROGUE TRADER CAMPAING GHOSTS OF THE PAST!!!

Players of Ervin Aleanos, Explorator Avelum, Decimus Nuntius and Alexandria Vindictus, DO NOT READ THIS!!!

Hello. I'm the GM of this game: http://www.fantasyflightgames.com/edge_foros_discusion.asp?efid=123&efcid=3&efidt=317060 . And now I am wondering what the next game would be (we are going to play at next tuesday). Basically, our RT annoyed our sector's Inquisitor Lord, and that powerhungry bastard killed the RT because she was too fearless (not respecting the Inquisition), and didn't want to join the Inquisitor's posse (after all, she showed some potential). So, I am not entirely sure what should happen next. Also, must be said that RT:s last action was to attack one of the Inquisitor's Throne Agents (who was going to execute him), which I think would qualify as a direct attack against a member of the Inquisition (needless to say, a bad thing).

Therefore, I am thinking that this might happen:

The now dead RT is labeled a Traitor, and therefore sentenced to be buried to the starsystem's sun (therefore, no looting of her gear). Legally, all her belongings (including her Warrant of Trade and ship) are confiscated by the Inquisition. However, as the players still want to play (and not as lackeys of the Inquisition) the local Layers (special guild, quite lot of power) somehow manage to secure a deal with the Lord Inquisitor, exhanging the Ship and the Warrant for one condition: the ship will be screened by the Inquisition, and afterwards few squads of Inquisitorial Stormtrooppers (Led by Colonel Mileanos Curich, think Colonel Quiddich from Avatar which hates everything not pro-imperial, like Admech (our Explorator), Hivers (our Seneschal), renegades (our new RT) and so on..) will be posted on the ship permanently in order to make sure that the ship stays at the Imperium's side.

As the new RT is going to be slightly on the radical bent, it's their first priority to get rid of the Stormtrooppers (I'm going to let them do it in the way they like, like assassination, or just grinding them down with the whole population of the ship, and if they don't, an Eldar striketeam will offer help, but not for free). Afterwards, they would be labeled renegades by the Inquisition, which would make their dealings with the Imperium harder, but they are going to do one long trip outside Imperial space anyway, and the Lord Inquisitor doesn't have that much influence after all (that was one of the reasons he killed the RT, as a reminder of his power).

So, I would like to have critic on my plan, and ideas and such. Also, do you think that this is too hard? And also, I know that I might had been slightly too harsh on our last gaming session, as I had to impro the whole Lord Inquisitor thing (I hadn't expected that the RT would go to talk to him!!).

Well, it certainly sounds like you've got an interesting game planned out. Here are a couple thoughts that come to mind.

1: Regarding the Warrant of Trade.

I'm not entirely sure on the rules for this, but unless the RT was either the head of their dynasty, or the last, the Warrant probably doesn't belong to them specifically. I'm pretty sure the warrant would pass on through the dynasty when the RT died, and there's not a whole lot the Lord Inquisitor could do to prevent that. In lieu of the proposed solution, if you liked this way better, you could have it pass to a younger member of the dynasty.

2: Regarding your plans for the game.

Not sure how much advice I can offer here. It sounds like an interesting and engaging game. I think it sounds like a game I might enjoy playing. It has a possibility to be too hard, but some players like that. If you're worried about it, talk to your players, without giving too much away. Get a sense of what they want, and let that be your guide.

3: Regarding the last session.

Again, if you're worried about it, talk to your player. It was a harsh call. Some players are going to take that in stride, others will be resentful. (As much as I like to think I wouldn't, I'd probably fall into the latter category.) If your player is really unhappy about this, consider allowing them something special to make up for the loss of their character.

To start off with, yes, I think you were to harsh, particularly if the Rogue Trader was a PC. Rogue Traders are powerful, well connected individuals, they are, in fact, on the same level as an Inquisitor Lord. I don’t feel like an Inquisitor would kill them with the same nonchalant attitude he might take out a hive scum or minor nobles. If it gets out he’s willing to kill someone like a Rogue Trader for insulting his honor, he’s not going to find a lot of powerful people willing to work with him, particularly other Rogue Traders. Mysterious disappearances, ‘accidental’ macrobattery discharges and outright assassinations of inquisitors who make to many powerful enemies are known to happen.

But that’s the past. As for your future plans, I don’t see anything specify wrong or odd with them. As you’ve already killed off the Rogue Trader, how you dispose of the body isn’t a big deal. Passing the Warrant of Trade to an organization works fine, they can deal with the annoying paperwork with the administorum about actually transferring its power, a possess that would take years if not decades to be completed. As for the Inquisitorial Stormtroopers, a few squads is reasonable, and indeed easily overcome. Even just ‘accidentally’ venting their habblock to the Void during the night.

Once that’s all over, your back to a regular Rogue Trader game, and can go on to what ever poor storyline got so rudely interrupted by the misfortunes of fate.

Quicksilver said:

I disagree, actually. In terms of bureaucratic power, they are on par with each other within their respective fields. The Lord Inquisitior within the Imperium, the Rogue Trader without.

However in practical terms, Rogue Traders and Inquisitors are both a diverse bunch, widely varied in terms of resources and influence. Inquisitor Lords represent the zenith of that power range. Only the very few most powerful of Rogue Traders are going to have the same caliber of power, a station I very much doubt this particular PC has attained. Furthermore, if I read the post correctly, this entire incident happened within the Imperium, where the bureaucratic power of the Rogue Trader, in my understanding, is null and void.

Your right that this Rogue Trader and the Inquisitor Lord do not have the same power. I only meant that Rogue Traders (as a group) and Full Inquisitors (as a group) are of the same station, in the same way that Planetary Governors are all of the same station, though obviously the governor of a Hive World is going to have more power then that of a Agri-World. Ultimately Rogue Traders and Inquisitors, along with the Astartes and Tech-Magi are essentially granted immunity from law.

A Rogue Trader's authority does not end at the boundaries of the Imperium, nor, really, does an inquisitors (to say there is an end to the imperium is heresy). Indeed most of a Rogue Trader's dynasty and wealth is likely located within the Imperium, and by conquering or settling worlds, they become part of the Imperium. The reason why most Rogue Traders stick to the fringes of the Imperium is because that's where the greatest profit and least competition is. Its perfectly possible and legal for a Rogue Trader to operate within the Imperium forging new trade routes and exploring space hulks etc.

I think it's also worth noting that (unless FFG changed something in DH) the Inquisitorial Mandate isn't the authority to do whatever you feel like, its the authority to investigate heresy, hold trials and eliminate heretics, and requisition men and equipment necessary to complete the first two jobs. But when your dealing with a Rogue Trader, who's Warrant of Trade grants them the authority to be heretics, work with mutants and aliens and witches etc., Trying to exercise an inquisitorial mandate against a Rogue Trader comes more down to if the Inquisitor can actually prove that they are working against the Imperium then just their whim.

Yes, killing the RT off was slighly over the Lord Inquisitors head, at least as he did it directly, and his Influence is going down slightly because of that (his Influence was already low for a Lord Inquisitor, only 110). But the main reason (or so I think) why he killed the RT was because she didn't show enought respect or fear of the Inquisition, and after all, Imperium rules throught fear at least to a degree. She acted completely ignorant of Inquisition's power (that was perhaps because RT:s player didn't know that much of the 40k Fluff, but that was ok, as she was an ignorant noble) and insulted the Inquisition and the Lord Inquisitor at least once (which you really shouldn't do).

And that was what got her killed (to show everyone else that you don't insult the Inquisition, nor the Lord Inquisitor). But RT:s fearlessness also was a sign of potential, so the Lord Inquisitor (and me as a GM) offered her a chance: so serve him, but she refused.

My players are competely fine with that the RT got killed (I gave her player 1200 extra xp as a roleplaying bonus, and he is busy creating a new PC).

The RT was the legal head of the dynasty, as she had the Warrant. The Dynasty also has been in steep decline for a time, (currently their Profit factor is about 30), so it wasn't that powerful Dynasty. And the next RT is going to be a relative of the previous RT, the Layers have been paid by one of their ancestors to settle the passing of the Warrant.

and what a terrible grammar error at the thread title.. Darn! It should have read: "How harsh should I be?" Where is that Edit button?

Well, if the players arn't mad, there's no foul, so no real issue. I was really responding more to what seems like a general trend by some to go overboard with Inquisitors.

Looking to the future, you could consider giving their new ship the 'Finances' complication to repersent the Layer's influance over the group. Otherwise, as I said above, the game can really just go on with this being a tragic learning experance. or fantastic oppertunaty as far as the New Rogue Trader may be conserned.

My understanding is that an Inquisitor is considered to speak with the voice of the Emperor. The RT on the other speaking with the voice of the Emperor only outside the bounds of the Imperium. So if this happened within the bounds of the Imperium then the RT was just another Imperial Noble.

Now in general the Inquisition should be holding a trial for an Imperial Noble or Adeptus, but that's less a legal matter than a convention. Also most Inquisitors aren't going to order around a RT. (This is convention, and a practical matter. )

As far as were you too harsh. It depends? Did you give the RT an out? If he decided to simply refuse an Inquisitors direct order then the result is entirely in Canon. A wise RT would never refuse an Inquisitor's request. Sure we can transport you there, but we were scheduled to take the engine off line and fix a few issues. We should be able to head out in a week or 2. I'd hate to break down out there..... Thus why Inquisitors generally ask nicely and use a carrot. For example my players did an Inquisitor a favor, and now they have a nice little document directing the Imperial Navy to provide crew replacements. (They are hoping to do another favor for a document to allow them to get stores, and/or refits.)

As I noted above, the Warrant of Trade is still in full effect within the bounds of the Imperium (Rulebook p.322). It’s not correct to say that an Inquisitor “Speaks with the voice of the Emperor”, that’s the job of the Ministorum, however the Inquisitorial Mandate does grant an Inquisitor the authority to remove heresy, corruption etc. as well as demand assistance from anyone person or organization except the Emperor Himself.

That being said, the Inquisition keeps a very close eye on its own members, least the power and authority lead to corruption within their own ranks. Beside possibly pissing off the Rogue Trader’s family, and likely most Rogue Traders that hear about it and risking assassination, this is the biggest danger of this particular Inquisitor’s line of action. Even the Inquisitorial Representative to the Counsel of 12 is not above suspicion. It's these kind of things that maintains those conventions your talking about.

(Random sidenote: The Adepts of Mars are particularly noted for 'removing' Inquistors that get to nosey about their actions.)

Acording to page 156 of Ascension "The Inquisition's remit places it above all of the Imperium's instituations, with the execption of the Sentatorum Imperialis- The High Lords of Terra." On the other hand RT pages 321-322 "The Warrant of Trade issued to all Rogue Traders grant not only permission to go beyond the Imperium's borders, but to deal with who or whatever might be out there with the full authority of the Senatorum Imperialis, the High Lords. The warrant also elevates the recipient to the highest of ranks which a servant may rise, granting him equivalent status wih such men and women as Imperial Commanders, Inquisitors and Space Marine Chapter Masters..." The next paragraph notes that the RT's power really only come into full effect outside the Imperium, andwithin he is subject to the established power structures.

PS- The fact that the admech can get away with thumbing it's nose at the Inquisition is due to the fact that tech priests aren't bound by imperial law, and the Imperium would fall apart if the admech was purged. Like wise space marine chapters are know for ignoring the Inquisition as well. That said there are examples of the Inquisition purging entire SM chapters, and admech facilities. It really comes down to if the Inquisitor has the power to back up, and can justify his actions to the rest of the Inquisition. Like wise in the Expanse if the Inquisitor acts up a RT can simply throw him/her out the airlock, and not come back for a decade or so. "Him yeah we dropped him off on Footfall, and never saw him again...."

I always love a good character death, and it's always better through ignorance/ (or too many beers) Bravado.

Anyway on to your problem.

The Inquisition as a whole has great distrust of Rogue Traders, with many individual Inquisitors going to great lengths to bring RTs down. Bearing in mind that the orders of the Inquisition (specifically Ordo Xenos) have good reason to distrust RTs, after all they are dealing with peoples/Xenos and phenomina outside of the light of the imperium.

Your Inquisitor has sort of won - but in truth he has committed foul play. Lacking respect for the inquisition is not a death penalty, and it seems the Pride of the Lord Inquisitor has played a great part in this.

I would consider the following:

The RT's House requests a full investigation into the happenings of their noble Rogue Traders death. The Lord Inquisitor knows that this is not going to bear him in a good light, and arranges to ensure that all those involved are taken out of the picture.

As such he arranges for the PCs to escape, taking with them all those who could make statements against the Inquisitor (mostly the PCs). Either using an NPC (or getting the dead RT's player to take over this character) have this guy ensure that escaping is their best chance of survival - as the Lord Inquisitor aims to kill all who know about the situation.

The new PC (or NPC) can now guide the players along the lines of the Inquisitors true purpose whatever that may be (and perhaps to give the player some Kudos in his death, perhaps the Inquisitor is not all that he seems, maybe he seeks some heritical tome/artefact/knowledge).

As to the Warrant of Trade This would still be stored in vaults on Terra for sure, and the Players don't need to tell the truth about their RT. Have the NPC/new PC suggest they use a servitor to represent the RT (with some story about how he got severely injured and now relies on this servitors body to give orders).

Finally the NPC/new PC can slowly remove any of the Inquisitors forces that may cause a problem. Maybe even have a shoot out aboard the ship as it heads out to warp, ad chase as such (anything to make the escape look good) and add further proof this surprise new help is on the players side (which he may or may not be depending on how things play out).

I'm with the previous poster. I agree with those that are arguing that the Inquisitor Lord was out of line. His actions won't only threaten this dynesty, but EVERY dynasty. As a faction the Rogue Traders are nearly as powerful as the inquisition.

Imagine if a naval admiral ordered the execution of a member of the army! Even if it was a private the army would blow a gasket and the admiral, no matter how powerful, would have to face some serious consequences.

I'm not saying what YOU did, as a GM was bad, there is a lot of potential here. But what the INQUISITOR did is way out of line. If word gets our than Rogue Traders across the imperium should be demanding blood.

I think the Inquistor exceeded his mandate. He has killed someone who was not a mutant or a renegade. If they had been a lowly hive scum probably none would hear about it. But even inquistor cannot go killing chapter masters, planetary lords and Rogue traders for no reason except a lack of respect. Logan grimnar would have died a long time ago if this was allowed. I would expect serious come back on this. That should a great story and enjoyable for the group

I do have to say kudos to the rogue trader player, whom would rather die than be forced into service, death before dishonour!
and the inquisitor lord could of gotten away with it if they just challenged the RT to a duel due to right of insult
and the inquisitor lord could of gotten away with it if they had held a trail, one organised to rule in his favour
and the inquistor lord could still get away with it as long as they later plant some evidence and create some fake records such as fake transmissions that identified the rogue trader as a subject of highest inquisitional interest. you also have the below situation easily rephrased in the lords benefit.
And upon the face to face meeting the colourful arrogance of the rogue trader was met with righteous vengence for how dare they think the inquisition would never discover their taint, the rogue trader was even offered a chance of redemption through service to the inquisition, to purge their sins and render her pure once more in the light of the golden throne whom we all serve, but no they scoffed at the offer and so were rightously put down like the traitorous dog they were.
But the inquisitor Lord has been generous nonetheless, the rogue traders servants have been allowed to live for it has been deemed that they were entirely ignorant of the taint that hid amongst them, the lord as even gone so far as to allow the rogue traders dynesty to continue when it is within his rights to declare there warrant of trade null and void because of the vile heresies committed by their head of house, (further investigation into the dynesty pending)
done dusted either way.

and as for the players storm trooper problems, they can just have them all killed, creatively or otherwise once they exit imperial space, just don't return for a while and whose to be the wiser, some creative story telling and done.
Oh we shall always remember Colonel Quiddich whom had saved our lives several times in the time we had known him, when he joined a away mission with us to inspect a planet of its possible worth, we were ambushed by a horde of vile greenskins and he was sadly not one of those who made it back. we orbitally bombarded the orcs position for three days to honour his memory.

always follow rule 1
Don't Get Caught.

From my point of view the inquisitor played a very bad political move. Killing a RT out of arrogance and anger and trying to put an end to the RT dynasty (by burning the warrant) won't serve him. Even if he lessened the penalty by giving the warrant to some guild and letting the crew live, the inquisitor should have focused all the mistrust of other RT.

RT rarely associate and compete with each other most of the time. They are a bunch of individual ambition ridden people after all. But if someone, be it an inquisitor, begin to threaten their powers and privileges they could unit. One RT is probably not powerful enough to "take down" an inquisitor (on a political aspect), but a bunch of angry RTs afraid of loosing their privileges could. The inquisitor probably have enemies in the Ordo, and the RTs will find them, they will slowly cut him from support of planetary nobility, other inquisitors, adeptus mechanicus, etc. And once the inquisitor will be alone with no more ally they will take him down.

When I use WILL it is intentionally (not because I am french and do not practice a perfect english ). A group of powerful people like RTs cannot allow such acts, they do not want that other inquisitors think that they can easily kill a RT and spoil his (her in this case) dynasty. So they will act, not for the dead RT (they may even be happy to have one less rival), but for them self.

To take down a RT, an inquisitor should act with much care. Forging false proofs of chaos worshipping, presenting convincing witness, acquiring the support of other RTs, etc.

Thanks for all the suggestions, but sadly some of them came too late, as we played the game a while ago. Basically I went with my original plan, and the players had to welcome few squads of Inquisitorial Stormtroopers onboard. And their commander was complete monster (threathening the new RT, killing crewmembers, and burning down their favorite bar/red district).

So the PC:s rather quickly left Imperial space, and killed all the Stormtrooppers in one (rather well-planned) attack, which culminated to group's Voidmaster shooting the ST commander to bits with his bolt pistol (gotta love them!). Now they are just avoiding Imperial space, and just accepted a job from Eldar to retrieve few spirit stones from a nearby Necron Tombworld (not that they know of it, of course).

Meanwhile, the Lord Inquisitor Ve'Caurus (who is the "leader" of the sector's Inquisition, and is slightly insane powerhungry Monodominant) is in deep trouble. Even before, his influence was weak for Sector's Main Inquisitor, but after killing the previous RT, he decided to use burnt grounds tactic against a nearby growing nebulae (which he thinks is a warp storm (and it is, but no-one else believes it as the warp storm messes with augurs)) and promptly Exterminated an Ocean world which was going to be "consumed" by the nebulae in few years, with evacuating only the members of the Ecclesiarchy from the said planet (the Ecclesiarchy is like his only benefactors at this time). While doing this, he had a captain of one of the Sector's Navy Cruiser executed (as she didn't want to commit mass murder, and that wasn't part of the agreement in which the Lord Inquisitor even managed to get his hands on a cruiser.

Therefore, almost everyone in the Sector is against him (fellow Inquisitors and Adeptus Mechanicus, who already hated him, and Imperial Navy, Rogue Traders, Noblility, Sector Governess, and the IG (who had been neutral beforehand). Sadly the PC:s don't know this (yet) and thinkt that the whole Imperium is against them..

And take a note that Ve'Caurus got the position of Lord Inquisitor of the Sector because Inquisition's interpolitical moves, as his former Master is Lord Inquisitor of nearby Sector, and wanted a man he could trust to lead this Sector. Ve'Caurus was really too young and inexperienced for a post of Lord Inquisitor, but when he got the position, he was determined to hold to it and organisate this Sector's Inquisition better, like his Master had done at his Sector (being old Adept).

Needless to say, he failed rather epicly (Inquisitors of this sector were even more independent than some others, and didn't like off-sector politics), and was generally thought to be weak fool, which in turn began to take toil on his sanity.. After that, a fleet of Chaos renegades and traitors attacked the sector (his old Master had to arrive to save the sector). Then traveling off-sector was mostly blocked by this apparent Warp Storm.. And then one RT began to annoy and insult him at a wrong time (at a Noble Party, so everyone important was there or would hear about it).

What I think is going to happen, is that the Lord Inquisitor will be have to flee Imperial Space with his new Cruiser (if the PC:s play their cards right, they even might to be the ones who chase him off), which in turn will break his sanity totally.. And he will blame ALL on the RT.. Enter a recurring villain!! (Althought this might be little harsh ( again ), what you think?)

I think you;ve thought it out pretty well, you have a nice pyramid of ideas, each supporting the other so overall it makes sense.
you've left plenty of information for the pcs to invesigate that will net them some pretty useful stuff should they decide to devote the time to it, and if they dont its simply a miss out rather than a crippling effect, they should already have a grudge against this guy so I hope they take the bait so to speak.
not to sure on the stress sanity breaking stuff, generally not my style to be honest, personally I would suggest the inquisitor getting more and more desperate as his position weakens within the sector, and therefore taking desperate measures to prevent this, which can be fairly brutal stuff taking into account literally just how much power this guy has at his fingertips, weak or not. use a bit of subtlety and use a bit of straightforwardness but really use I suggest using a mix, so far from your description this guy really needs to work on his behind the scenes capabilities
Now actually having him flee is the last resort for this guy, so I suggest a suitable build up, perhaps other RTs contact your group to set up an alliance for the take down, or perhaps another inquisitor who hopes to replace him hires the services of the current group for reasons A, B and C. a suitable group of loyalists should be supporting the lord so there should be a fair bit of challenge attatched.

The ideal situation of course is the players working for a face to face confrontation against the inquisitor, which can of course be the last straw that pushes the individual completely over the edge finally embracing the powers of chaos, enter all hell breaking loose.
Of course Tzeentch might have been planning and manipulating this course of action all along, so things really can get nasty.
may it big make it epic and you have a well set campaign ahead of you

This is actually sounding really great now, I think you are going to have a fantastic character at your disposal.

Now in the short term you seem to have this inquisitor fall and become a reoccuring villian, which is fantastic. But in the medium term I might start portraying him a bit more sympathetically. Think of Darth Vaders treatment in Star Wars. Initially portrayed as a young, idealistic, headstrong character. He is slowly corrupted until he is portrayed thoroughly as a villain. But in the towards the end the tragedy of his situation is played up.

Maybe as the Rogue Traders slowly find out more about this inquisitor you can make them begin to sympathize with him, or maybe his old master, haunted by his mistakes, emlpores them to help him put down his lost ward, perhaps dying in the process.

As you have described the character there is a lot of depth there. He isn't even REALLY a bad person. Thrust into a situation beyond his abilities he is shunned and disrespected by his peers. He does his best but even when he is right no one believes him. It all reeks of Tzenechi scheming to me.

The big thing I would be careful of is turning him into a card carrying villain twirling his mustache and tying women to train tracks. He isn't a 'villain' he is an 'adversary'. Don't let him devolve into becoming fixated on revenge or destruction. Let him always be trying to do what he thinks is right, but allow his morals to become more and more twisted as things progress. And end the end, at the climax of a story arch, give the explorers a chance to 'redeem' him. Give him a final choice and allow the explorers to influence him. Maybe he will choose redemption, maybe damnation, but it will be a moment you players remember for years. Oh, he'll probably die no matter what he chooses, but will he die by the explorers hands, or sacrificing himself for the imperium he loved so dearly?

Make a big deal out of the moral event horizon and let your players influence it. If you convincingly make a Zuko or Vader situation, you sir have won at GMing.

Side note, I'm stealing your character for my group.

Ah.. We played one session more.. In which the PC:s almost had themselves killed when they were going to warp to the Hive Planet the Lord Inquisitor was residing.. had to have NPC save them (who knows quite a lot of sector's Inquisition (He is actually NPC-acolyte from our DH game, set 15 years prior)). Anyway, the PC:s then decided to go to take their ship, which had taken almost 50% damage from one Necron trap, to nearby Forgeworld for repairs.

Upon arrival, the Forgeworld void-traffic controller gave them coordinates for drydock, and just as the ship was going to dock, the controller asked them over vox: "By the way, My superiors have instructed me to ask that does your ship have Inquisitorial Stormtrooper Detachment present?". The PC:s turned off their vox, explaining it with a malfunction (later few techpriests came to ship to chech the machine-spirit of the vox-unit), and crafted a cunning explanation in which the crew had mutinied, and the RT* and the Inquisitorial Stormtroopers had died while supressing the mutiny. They then opened the Vox again, and explained this all to the Admech traffic controller. At this point the PC:s were really afraid, and thought that they were going to get shot to pieces because they had killed the Stormtroopers. The Void traffic controller then replied: "So your ship does not contain any Lord Inquisitor Ve'Caurus'es Inquisitorial Stormtroopers?" . All the players (and PC:s) were thinking "Oh s***, now we are dead" . Only answer what group's Seneschal voxed was something on the lines of "Yees?" I had to do a dramatic pause.

The Admech Flight Controller's only reply was: "Congratulations. Here is your docking data." I will not ever forget the look on the player's faces...

Basically now the PC:s know that they aren't alone against the Lord Inquisitor, and I have heard that the PC:s are planning to do ally or at least try to make friends with the Adeptus Mechanicus in the following sessions.. And I'm thinking that at least some things the Admech would like the PC:s do is to reduce the influence of the Lord Inquisitor.. Therefore setting the stage for PC:s versus Inquisitor Lord -confrontation. How Palpatine (Or any at least little evil GM) would say it? "All is going according to my plan.."

*= the Seneschal took over the RT during this session, enslaving the RT with a nasty contract (it gave Seneschal all the powers of the RT, and more), and then putting him into suspended animation. The RT's player created new character and I think he is planning something nasty..

You could add in a criminal element that would help one side or the other. Criminals always love it when people with power owe them favors. Either the players might need some help with their problems or the Inquisiter could decide that he has to use what ever he can to get his way.