The rogue trader in the campaign I'm running at the moment is trying to come up with suitable punishments for one the arch militants in the party but isn't sure what do to as he isn't sure if he should just go for the execute the character option.

The party were in a firefight recently and while pinned down by some flamer toting servitors for reasons best known to himself the arch militant shouts out to the operator that if he promises him safe passage he'll help against the rest of the crew. Before anything more could happen on this events happened to wrap up the fire fight but the RT and the others are now in the position of figuring out what to do (if anything) with this character.

Wow....Worst. Arch-militant. Ever.

Why not keelhaul him to the bottom of the ship in a void suit and then go to warp?

Did someone say Keelhaul

Yaaargh!

That sounds like treason to me, punishing him with anything less than death would be inviting more crew to attempt the same.

If you want to be nice to this crew member, give him a chance to explain himself. But have an astropath present to check if he is lying. If he can convince everyone that it wasn't treason then there is no crime to punish him for.

Unless he has a really good excuse, this is 40k

"Cowards die in shame."

or

'A Heretic may see the truth and seek redemption. He may be forgiven his past and will be absolved in death. A Traitor can never be forgiven. A Traitor will never find peace in this world or the next. There is nothing as wretched or as hated in all the world as a Traitor.'

-Cardinal Khrysdam, Instructum Absolutio

Yeah. That sounds like mutiny.

In canon- the penalty for mutiny aboard a ship of His Divine Majesty's Imperial Navy is spacing, naked. (that is, strip the character naked and throw them out an airlock). A number of inventive senior officers of the IN have come up with variants of that- fired out of the ship's macrocannons, or even out the torpedo tubes.

HOWEVER- this wasn't on board a Navy vessel, so the Articles of War don't apply- it's just what that particular Dynast(y) thinks fitting.
Personally, I'm all for firing the Arch-Militant. Out of one of the ship's cannon...
But that can have... interesting consequences for the party dynamic, so possibly have it as a result of a guilty verdict at a Captain's Mast (can't be a court-martial, what with not being a military vessel, and the fact that a court-martial generally requires three officers of post-rank or higher (Ship's captain, or an IG colonel, assuming traditional equivalencies)).

So, run a session as a Captain's Mast, give the AM a chance to defend his actions, subject him to severe interrogation, possibly psychic in nature, and/or pharmaceutically assisted, and if he can't convince the captain that it wasn't a mutinous act (In Character- and by the Throne that distinction should be crystal clear), then space him. Before or after shooting him... it doesn't really matter.

Bolt Pistol to the back of the head. If it is good enough for a Guard officer who runs away, it is good enough for a cowardly retainer.

Bilateralrope said:

The Volator Implant can be a boon here too.

Turning him over to the ships Explorator/Tech Priest. He can serve out the next several hundred years as a servitor scrubbing the decks.

I suggest public flogging, followed by the implantation of a cranial bomb.

If you intend to keep the crew member alive, put him in a space suit and weld it to the outer hull.

Errant said:

Plus maybe a volitor implant/hypnagogic suggestion, so he has something to say:

"I am ablative armour! Life is boring, then briefly exciting, then over! I am ablative armour! Life is boring, then briefly exciting, then over! I am ablative..."

Is the Arch Militant a Player of an NPC?

If this is a player then you do have a tricky situation on hand. If the RT is an NPC then I would allow the player to burn a FP and beg for mercy promising undying loyalty and all that. He would get the most dangerous and bad asingments of course.

Honestly, this requires a little more context. If this was the player trying to be clever and get closer to the enemy to kill them and stop the attack, kudos, but next time, inform the rest of the team. There's a language skill for that sort of thing so you do it without tipping off the enemy (unless the enemy is a mutinous crew). If it was a PC ready to sell out and attempt a TPK, don't just kill the Arch-Militant, boot the player from the table.

Honestly, if you have a player who is intentionally causing discord, remove them from the game, it's not going to be fun for long when everyone else is trying to play and one person is trying to be a spoilsport. I remember once I had one guy express interest in a Dark Heresy game I was planning on running and he came to me and proclaimed how much he loved the 40K universe because he could be an evil, child-murdering monster and not just get away with it, but be praised. I told him flat out that his view was twisted and I would not run a game with that sensibility, and that if he wanted to play such a game he should look elsewhere.

Many people will have many command styles on board a Rogue Trader vessel, but to allow for open treason is to invite mutineers and assassins.

Alasseo said:

I fell off my chair when I read this. >D

My players have installed a series of crucifixes along the ships spine just for these sorts of occasions...

Hotfoot said:

a good player group should be able to handle this once in a while. We make it a norm every other campaign to have traitor for fun.

Just be cool with the players about it and let them know it is for fun it may happen once then you run a more tight knit game after.

Without just killing the player, which would probably work if the party is hell-bent on it.

The Volitor implant is your best bet.

As Hotfoot said (and is frankly ignored), one should first try to find out if this was intended to be some "clever trick" by the Arch-Militant

Anyway, I recommend watching the "Serenity " TV series. There was one momentt where Captain Renoults had to deal with a "militant" figure whom got traitorous himself (Jane). Perhaps a similiar scene could be played out as well.

Thanks for all the advice everyone. We've got two solutions to go with. In game the RT is going to find out if he did have a clever plan (knowing how he's been playing his charater so far we're not convinced on this one though) and then if it wasn't part of clever plan when he goes to the med bay to be fixed from the heavy flamer damage they all took he's going to wake up with a small explosive implant. Outside the game I'm going to find out what he was hoping to achieve. Unfortunately due to scheduling issues we haven't had another session yet.