Hello all,

I am interested in hearing what other Gms have to say about the inclusion of Xenos in their games as player characters. I have been involved in one tabletop and one online campaign (featuring an ork and a kroot respectively), and in both i have found that despite the Gms best efforts and reasonable roleplay on the part of the xenos player, the very presence of such characters in a constant manner seems to detract from the feel of the Rogue Trader game entirely.

That isn't to say that they cannot work at all, rather that I see them as useful cameos for infrequent players.

My main gripe is well represented by an age old wh40k developer comment "As humans we find it hard to imagine the inhuman, it may even be impossible". With this I totally agree, the comedy Ork and 'quaint mimicry' of Kroot language alone immediately sets them up in an almost comic relief niche outside of combat. This leads to a pretty two-dimensional character, who is only taken seriously when doing the dirty work, and frequently forces more 'loyalist' human characters to adopt their otherwise inflexible beliefs in the name of group and game unity.

As mentioned I am not against the periodic, dramatic and deep inclusion of xenos PCs as cameos, as in short encounters some astoundingly good scenes that hint at the alien-intelligence and culture behind their appearance can rise to the fore. But constant contact just seems to take away either form the humans or the alien itself, I have found no balance, only a one way compromise from either end of the spectrum.

Thus I run human only games, but would be very happy to hear of any solutions you may have outside of compromising the integral themes of the Rogue Trader background, or taking away form the depth of the xenos (in the case of orks I am loathe to suggest there is any depth there at all since 2nd ed 40k, but I'm a bitter veteran in that regard).

Transcripts of stories of games where you have managed to have a mutually rewarding (GM and PC) experience that enriches both the xeno storyline and that of the dynasty itself, would be amazing.

Thanks in advance,

Sokahrthumaniel

When we began playing RT I took up the roll of A kroot. We said that the kindred he was from actually worked with the Trader's dynasty and a few dozen were on board the ship as bodyguards, enforcers, and shock troops. My personal role was to keep the RT alive at all costs.

We also decided that they sort of worshipped the emperor as the 'great human sky shaper' which made them slightly more tolerated by some of the crew. Though they were mostly segregated to their own deck, and major command areas.

While I did base the voice off the cliched jaimaican accent of World of Warcraft trolls, and I did the occasional bit of body language based off birds (hard to do when your neck doesn't bend that way) that was as comedic as it got.

My kroot did not shirk away from cutting open kills and having a snack after a vicious fire fight, and he was notorious for his trophy taking. Just those two actions alone, along with the resulting conversations, made it quite clear my character did not think or act like a human. In fact he was a bit insulted when the captain didn't want to share in a bit of Eldar warlock brain that had taken the entire party to defeat.

Eventually though I had to take up the GMing and so the Kroot became an NPC, and is now mostly used as a off the screen scout, and bit of flavor text to carry along any larger narratives. IN exchange we got a player who wanted to be an ork.

Obviously the main draw for the Ork was the comedy aspect. But fortunately not only does the player do a great Ork accent , but he also plays up the fact his Deathskull Ork only cares about fighting, getting loot, and getting to yell at things. Combined with the runtz talent, and a constantly dieing string of grots the game has quite a bit of humor, but without the character being entirely silly. In fact the ork (and his ladz) has caused an ongoing series of problems both amusing, and potentially damaging.

But to be honest, I don't mind my game being a wee bit silly, as it's what the group enjoys. Plus we have Deathwatch if we ever need to turn the grimdark up to 11.

There's also the fact that the other characters have their own comedic schticks to give them flavor. Such as the RT's giant hat feather made from a species he had purposely grown, and then made extinct, just so only he would have that kind of feather. The Seneschals habit of arriving in places by means of ropes, due to the picture from the core book, is also a recurring oddity.

It's sort of the contradiction between the original 1st Edition WH40K: Rogue Trader rules, where continuity didn't matter, mixing armies was encouraged, and hilarity could ensue, versus 5th Edition where nearly 30 years of continuity has been built up to the point where people like C.S. Goto are regularly pilloried for deviating from norms. (HERESY!) In my personal opinion Rogue Trader the FFG RPG should be viewed through the lens of Fifth Edition, but there's a lot to be said for viewing it through the much more light-hearted 1st Ed. viewpoint. Also: Beakies

How I handle it:

The Xenos are great races for a group that needs a bit more dakka in their group that's heavily leveraged in more "meta" non-combat skills like Lore, Navigation, etc. I think the "Accepted Xenos" trait is overpowered and the XP cost is a trifle and would not allow it except at a much greater cost than what's marked in the book. Playing a Xeno character to me basically means accepting a mostly non-speaking role in the game. You're basically poison to anyone except the explorers and your own kind (though they might frown upon it too). Getting weapons is harder. (Ork Shootaz will not simply be sold in stalls at Port Wander). For someone who doesn't really care about that kind of thing when the Arch-Militant role is already taken, it's acceptable, but someone who's also a limelight hog might turn it into a gamebreaker challenging the authenticity and acceptability of the world.

If you're a group that rarely makes a port call closer to the Imperium than Footfall and is going into pants-crappingly scary places like the 'Undred 'Undred Teef or Rifts of Hecaton on a regular basis, I would definitely be more accepting of Xeno characters. If your group is more "integrated" into the Imperium, playing the great game of Rogue Trader politics, establishing a small empire like Winterscale did, or trying to secure yourself as a legendary, galaxy-wide famous Dynasty, it should be, at best a huge liability and at worst, forbidden.

Oddly enough I find the sanctioned Xenos trait to be of marginal usefulness, and possibly to expensive as it really only keeps the more moderate of Imperial authorities from killing you on sight. That leaves that vast majority of the imperium ready to burn you with fire at the mere hint of xenos association.

BUt then, I've also made it very clear to my group that going back through the maw can and will lead to all manner of funtimes with the inquisition and other aspects of the imperium. I've also made Footfall a bit more 'mos eisley cantina' in that there are obvious xenos there such as Stryxis traders, and Kroot mercs.

Though Orks are still considered a menace, and they wisely left him on the ship when they visited.

That brings me to another thing I've done in my game. We keep a number of pregenerated characters laying around to fill out the ranks of the main crew. This lets Xenos have something to play for those occasions when they can't go where the party has to go, as well as quick backups in the event of unpleaseant death. For example pur Ork player plays the ship's Missionary when he can't be an ork such as a meeting with a foreman of the breaking yards.

George Labour said:

(KLI-KLATCH) " AWRIGHT YOUZE LOUZY GITZ! LEMME HEAR AN AMEN FOR DA BIGGEST BADDEST UV DA 'UMIES, DA EMPRA"

The missionary, and the Ork are seperate characters. XD

Though I imagine he will try to convert the orks the same way he converted the kroot.....with explosive results.

Although Orks that know of the emperor do seem to respect his strength, even if they find his way of ruling incredibly stupid.

I GMed a RT game with a xenophilious RT who along with the NPC xexnophile techpriest became a bit infused with some Yu'vanth tech and quickly began sliding down the path of corruption. This caused a lto of drama with the arch militant and redemptionist missionary who were both members of the big I. In the end on Dross inLotE the mssionary was killed and decided to make a Goff warrior, the arch militant decided to ebcome an npc and made a mekboy with a whole lot of dakka and the astropath after being almost mortally wounded made a kroot scout (who used an ork powerklaw). They definetly took the more comical side of things, especially as I had the mekboys grots (largely ammo laoders for his many guns) constantly argueing and adding comedy to party interactions, and the krrot spent a lot of time mimicing people's voices including the orks which almsot led to a firefight.

I find that kroot to be the only race where the real alien aspect comes in, while orks are aliens and largely only want to drink and fight they are so understood by players that they are almost human (not far from a feral worlder). Kroot though are simply strange in how they move, how they think, and how they act and that is more diifcult for human characters to deal with than any ork.

In addition I had fun playing a posse of kroot in Footfall trying to hire themselves as bodyguards to the RT, speaking a combo of pidgin english nad whistling and chirping while also inserting words that sounded krooty in order to show just how truely alien they were. Them constantly swirivng their heads about and sizing up various members of the party for srength also added to the alieness of them.

But yeah xenos in party tend to be entertaining, but more comedic than dramatic, but also that is just kind of the nature of my gorup is comedy. Ultimately, I think kroot make more interesting characters than orks, but largely while xenos are cool I feel like humans and the diversity they embody leads to mroe meaningful player interraction than xenos.

Just have the humans get invited to a kroot celebration / shamanic thing / brunch. That should get across their alien and seemingly anachronistic nature real fast.

It's a lot like that scene in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. Only instead of monkey, it's humans or other sapient species, and there's a lot more chanting and hallucinogens involves.

I think a lot of GM's are too quick to translate Orkish motives to players. Lest we forget, to a normal Imperial human Ork language doesn't sound like a bunch of Chavs from London's Lower East End but a bunch of gutteral gibberish. The only known speaker of Ork language in the Imperium was Commissar Yarrick. In addition Orks are immune to seduction, lacking any reproductive organs. This in and of itself is completely bizarre to the human condition.

Eh apparently that whole language thing got a bit of a retcon. At least in the Koronus Expanse the orks seem to speak a very debased form of low gothic, and every warboss in anything ever seems to be able to speak it as well. Possibly it's an evolutionary response to humanity's widespread nature and thus a real need to be able to get some smack talk in before the right propa' fightin' gets underway.

I expect the 'ork language' yarrick knows and mentioned in or two novels Is more like a secret tongue, made of a oddly wide variety of grunts, and yelling. Kind of like battlefleet cant, sans the british accent.

Or, there are a lot of orks taking language classes....

If your Freebooter has Speak [Low Gothic], I'd agree. If not, it's gibberish.

Most likely, as regular boyz don't need to taunt people over vox casters.

Now anyone of nob 'rank' or above might know enough low gothic to be able to deliver some smack talk to the squishy 'oomies though it may come out as little more than a lot of yelling and a mangled word or two. I imagine most kommandoz also pick up some of the language to help them with their work. Heck, some kommandoz might even know how to read.

But then orks aren't known for caring about unimportant things like talking, clothing, bathing, bleeding, who they're hitting with a club, etc. Plus anyone who calls them out on their grammar and syntax is likely to just be headbutted to death.

George Labour said:

I think you'll find that repeated headbutts are the correct linguistic rebuttal to a pedant. Ork body language is essentially brawling.

When you consider that they use Intimidation, and the strength attribute for commands that range the gamut of hit them harder to, have a good time it' becomes easy to envision physical violence taking the place of boldly shouted commands.

For example, instead of get me a drink please, the ork throws a knife at another ork and points at the grog keg. Now the other ork has a new knife, a new scar, and he gets to go get more booze.

George Labour said:

He's also been soundly humiliated, "cuz gettin' booze iz a job fer wimpy grotz, not a proppa Ork."

UNless he has to hit the bartender to get the booze. Then he's being singled out to show the nob his stuff.

George Labour said:

In my opinion who they're hitting is important - turning a grot into a grease spot is fun, konking a squiggoth on his ingrown nail and getting away with it is bragworthy... Though I agree in than when an ork gets bored, he'll take a swing at about anything.

True enough. An ork will want a good fight that he can brag about later.

However, the ork's mind is wired in a way that violence is as socially acceptable to them as harshly disagreeing with someone is to a human. It's both a cultural and instinctive drive and is what really seperates them from just about every species in the universe. Given a choice between arguing for more than a few seconds, and just punching someone, the average ork will choose the latter.

In fact I'd almost say the ability to carry on a conversation over a few minutes without even a mention of violence is a sign of both a very intelligent , and quite possibly insane, ork. Unless it's a mekboy, then it'll likely be the ork version of star trek technobabble.