How would you handle the odd ended request if a player wanted to start off with a random mutation if he for say chose tainted on the origen path. and what roll limit would you set. nothing serious here, just a little somthing to spice up a party. after all, you already have xeno character options why not more. lol

Eh? Tainted already has rules for mutation. Roll once on the Mutations table, or pay 200xp to a Mutation result of 74 or lower.

sorry, kind of forgot about that. how about possible rammifications of having a mutation. and of coarse the accidental aquiring of one. or the fun of having one

I had two mutants from Burnscour among the player characters, one of them is now dead.

They try hiding or explaining away their mutation, but doubt that will work with everyone, so they dodged most encounters with inquisitors, imperial officers etc. It is certainly interesting to have mutants in the group!

I ruled that there was no such thing as a mutation being invisible. On close medical examining even the most subtle of mutations can be found. The mutant in my campaign came up with the idea of having a person who walks in front of him, holding a bell to warn that a mutant, most unclean, is passing by. He even found a miniature for it that he insists to bring with him everywhere.

I'm all about party spice like mutations and missing limbs.

My house rule had been that anyone can take a mutation or have a missing limb (common quality, nothing fancy) right from the beginning. The "tainted" background just requires it, but I let anyone take it, though if they take it volentarily they have to roll randomly.

One of our player originally took the Tainted background and rolled four arms and claws, the GM vetoed that one pretty quickly as they would never be able to go to port without being chased away with powerforks and plasma torches.

I've removed the randomness from character creation, so I require the 200 xp to be spent for Tainted (Mutant) and I also adjusted Unnatural Origins (Contaminated Environs) to remove the mutation option.

your no fun HappyDaze, the mutaion roll is like a box of chocolate, you don't know what you will get. seriouly the whole point behind any of the mutation roles is to add an unexplainable event that either physically alters ones appearance or mental state. mutation show be a fun event, your answer to it is more like no. The roll for a starting mutaion is 76 and under, so the player will likely not start out with a pair of wings whould be funny though. also easy to hide, large trench coat would work. now accidently aquiring a psy rating is a different pot hole all together.

I'm simply not a fan of randomness in character creation. Doesn't mean that my games are less fun, or that randomness doesn't happen in play - just that I prefer not to have it before play starts.

then why even allow the mutant option in the first place, the whole point is for the shock and awe effect. It's not special for the pc if he can simply choose what mutation he gets. besides, nothing in 40k is predictable nor does it make sense. either way the inquisition will find you. that is the only truth lol

I guess we'll have to disagree on why someone would play a mutant. In my experience, the one playing the mutant did so because it fit his character concept and he selected the mutation that fit best with what he wanted to play. There wasn't any shock and awe involved, but his character was certainly special to him.

so, what did he end up with?

Tough Hide was his mutation of choice. He was a Void Born mutant that had grown up in a massive orbital fuel refinery and was later press-ganged into service with the Imperial Navy as an expendable boarding asset. Somehow he survived on a stricken vessel long enough to be rescued by the RT and he joined him as a loyal bodyguard, starting play as an Arch-militant.

"You look like a trustworthy mutant, why don't you join me?"

It is worth noting that while mutants are distrusted, and many are ostracized, not ALL of them are. Useful mutants can be sancioned and used (ratlings and ogrin are good examples), and in many places on the edges of space (like the Koronos Expanse) they are just a part of life, and Rogue Traders have much more leniancy than most. People almost expect Rogue Traders to have mutants or xeno around.

Just because someone has an obvious mutation doesn't mean lynch mobs form every time they show up. Typically they should be treated with mistrust and perhaps discriminated against, but that is about the extent of it except for in extreme situations.

I've found mutations to be . . .well . . . interesting. Rolled up a rogue trader, with the tainted background. Rolled randomly and got the psy rating one. First psyker power I used . .. well . . . got eaten by the warp, so, player death there. Next char, rerolled the rogue trader with tainted again. This time, I ended up with the 'd5 random, unhide-able mutations' . . . of course, the dice hate me and i got all 5 mutations . . . rolled em' all and ended up with Flyer, Feels No Pain, Hulking, Unnatural Strength and - again - wyrdling. needless to say, i'm sitting on 16 wounds/80 strength/flight etc . . . should be interesting to play.

for those that accedently aquire a psy rating, what would your options be if the inquisitions finds out. would the rite of sanctioning be an option

Rogue Traders have "special" status and are typically exempt from the Inquisition, at least until they step out of line. As a group they are the peers of the inquisition, just like the Adeptus Astartes, so the inqisition has to treat them with care. As long as a Rogue Trader is acting in his/her capacity in good faith they can pretty much do whatever they want, though if they betray the Imperium, break the Imperiums internal laws, or endanger the Imperium they may suddenly find themselves under Inquisitorial juristiction.

Rogue Traders are allowed to deal with warp artificats, xeno-tech, xeno races, mutants, and psykers as they see fit. Once someone or something is under a Rogue Traders protection there is little the Inquisition can do (again, providing the Rogue Trader doesn't betray his oaths somehow).

So if the child of a Rogue Trader was born a psyker the Rogue Trader could do pretty much whatever he/she pleased, including raising the child and allowing it to be trained. Sanctioning would be wise, as it is the safest route, but it isn't a requirement (see: Haderak Fel's pet psyker, Lady Ash).

Remember, though Rogue Traders individually don't usually carry as much power as an inquisitor, as a group they are frightfully powerful. Space Marines are in the same situation. If the Inquisition oversteps their authority and starts trying to exert control over its "peer" groups they risk the entire group banding together against them. Even Space Marine chapters with millenia of animosity will ally if they percieve the Inquisition to be overstepping their authority, an an Inquisitor who starts trying to control a Rogue Trader without very good cause will quickly find dozens of powerful dynasties breathing down their neck and bringing all of their considerable resources, both within and without the Imperium, to bear to defend their "traditional rights".

The Imperium as whole utilizes vast mutant workforces. Mutants are accepted as a necessary evil, and the presence of mutants among a RT's crew would be less shocking than the total absence of mutants. What would be a bit eye-raising would be a mutant among the RT's inner circle, but this is likely more common that a xenos. I'm certain that an equivalent procedure to that undergone by a Sanctioned Xenos could get a mutant a seal of approval, but it should be FAR more common and less costly. I, in fact, assume such has occurred at no cost in XP or Acquisition for characters that start the game as a mutant. I do not grant this same protection to Wyrdlings since I view unsanctioned psykers as FAR less acceptable to the Imperium, but your game may vary.

I agree that mutants have more leeway than psykers : afterall, evne if a mutant is considered as shamefull degradation of the human form, they pose far less danger than a psyker - or more accurately the kind of warp-related trouble than's par for the course with a rogue psyker...

Though chem gled might be mandatory along with sanctionning. Ogryns and ratlings, maybe a few others stable mutant breeds, won't have that issue as they're not considered mutant but abhumans.

The Chem Geld idea might work for some, but generally any population growth is still a useful asset to the IoM. Mutant labor and 'expendibles' have to come from somewhere, and having mutant populations is a benefit for most members of Imperial society because they know there is always someone less fortunate than themselves. The continued existence of these sub-humans is just too useful to the IoM to give up, and in regard to the mutant, the IoM is considerably more pragmatic in practice than what might be inferred from the radical anti-mutant slogans it throws around.

So, how would one run my RT. Before rolling everything, my concept was a RT from the Inquisition. Basically, an Inquisitor who'd been 'kicked out' onto a Warrant of Trade. That was before I rolled all five of those mutations above, and ended up with 80 strength, 16 wounds, a psy rating and flight etc. How exactly would that be explained away? Aren't RT's supposed to be charismatic? so far, all i can figure is that i'm a 7ft+ tall, hulking human (space marine esque . . . without the power armor and fun 'enhancements') with a boatload of fellowship (Fel 50) that can just about 'hulk smash' most things. Only idea i've come up with is the 'i worked for the inquisition on a 'black ship' untill something went awry, leaving me mutated. After about 5 years of inquiry, I was sanctioned as a psyker (but had a mental block put on it to stop the expansion of power) and as a mutant. ' . . . was thinking on using Angel wings as the basis of my 'flight' ability and that the Emperor showed his kindness.

Still, how would you RP with this char? . . . I just find him an odd enigma with lots of questions that beg answers.

so Dustmop, you are more or less a spacemarine with wings and psy rating. odd combo, not really to sure how to explain to your party the nature of that black ship chemical spill or gellar field collapse. or really how to play the nature of the character. but it looks like fun

If I rolled that character, I'd be sidestepping the issue of mutation entiredly by using a backstory where he's somewhat addicted to cosmetic surgury/implants, and has paid literally millions of thrones over his lifetime to be mechanically and biologically sculpted into his own vision of beauty.

I'd probably run with a character who was trying to assume the form of one fo the Primarchs (probably Sanguinius, what with the everyone in the Imperium loving him). Genengineered muscles, suspensors built into his body cavity and vat-grown wings surgically implanted into place. To emulate the poorly understood 'gifts' of the Primarchs, his internal organs have been converted, via some dubious genengineering from a wanted heretek, into a Spook factory - the parts of his brain dealing with psychic powers constantly being bombarded with chemical enhancement. Skin bleached through a very painful proccess to get that lovely, porcelean look. Red silk robes covering golden, best-quality carapace... perhaps moving up to power armour in the future.

And because he's a Rogue Trader, he gets away with all of it!

Hm...

I might just steal this idea for my own campaign... thanks!