Okay, fairly new group, one scenario behind us, I play a Navigator. I just successfully acquired 5 cyber-mastiffs for show. Next I'd like to acquire something more serious though.

Suggestions for acquisitions for the whole ship and for a Navigator PC in particular welcome.

Alex

ak-73 said:

Atomics or Crew Improvements from Into the Storm ; page 163, or a Stormtrooper Detachment ; page 164. Though, Atomics aren't too useful if you lack a macrobattery that fires physical shells of some sort, or a Teleportarium ; with the GM's approval for that use, of course.

-=Brother Praetus=-

Bah. You don't necessarily need a macrobattery that physically fires shells or a Teleportarium to make use of Atomics - just pull a Racetrack* and have it delivered as part of a standard hit-and-run attack. Only major downside is whoever flies it over is sitting on an armed nuke while people are trying to shoot them down.
The Emergency Geller Field and Empyrean Mantle are nifty little additions to the ship as well (although the former basically grounds the party for months of game-time while it is swapped in for the existing one). Both are from Into the Storm (p156 and p159 respectively).

Other good acquisitions: well, a Navis Prima (as many different ones as you can get, as high quality as you can get) is a classic for a Navigator, although the Almanac Astrae Divinitus is pretty awesome as well.
Of course, if you're one of those who approves of and plays their navigator as death-on-two-legs (something the career is scarily good at), then Power Armour (preferably one of the variants with a military power supply, not the 1d5hr battery life. That probably means the Ironclad Heavy Power Armour from Into the Storm p129 or porting in a variant from Dark Heresy) and blinders/welding goggles for the rest of the party and however many lackeys normally make up your landing party works wonders.

*Battlestar Galactica

On the personal level, a Refractor Field can really help to keep you alive. A Good-Craftsmanship version is within the range of a starting Acquisition too.

Force fields can work wonders for your survivability. While the refractor shield isn't that effective, it is fairly easy to get. Depending on the profit factor you have available, you could try for an archeotech or eldar shield.

A caged songbird could be useful, as could an archeotech blurshield.

Alasseo said:

I'm not sure, whether the Emergency Geller Field is a substitute for the usual one, or rather an additional component. I think if it was a Geller Field of its own, its description would state a sentence similar to ' Geller Field : This component counts as your ship's Geller Field' (as in the description of the Repulsor Shield)

The Warpsbane Hull (RT basic rule book) could be a good improvement to your navigational skills (+10 to all rolls), as well as a protection form the various random encounters during warp travel and if you refit your ship with one of the new Markov-Pattern Warp Engines (Into the Storm), you can significantly reduce your travel time (based on the size of the ship, this could be -1d5 weeks...)

And maybe you want a new, xenos-woven bandana for your warp eye . . .

gomme said:

For the warp eye I have a cap similar those of priests, say... in Conan. This is necessary as my GM rules that looking into an exposed 3rd eye triggers Lidless Stare (with +20 though as if not directly looking at it). Tough stuff.

Anyway, these are the stuff that I have been thinking of myself. So I'd say I probably didn't overlook anything too fancy.

All good suggestions, all very practical, albeit a bit... well, too much the obvious choice. As a true snob, I am always on the look-out for something fancy (just like my cyber-mastiffs). Hmm... perhaps something like a xeno geisha? Not for sex, mind you, just for pleasant conversation on those endless days in the void and just for show off?

Any extravagant ideas? Something more flamboyant? That way I'd have the choice between looking for more practical stuff as mentioned above and something with more... flair.

Alex

Playing the seneschal and High Factotum of my RTs dynasty, I'm the one who has been making all the aquisitions of our party. Some of the things were simple, some of the things were complex, but here's the best aquisitions from my RT group:

Equipped 5 members of our Elite Crew with:

Multi-Meltas

Best-quality muscle grafts

Stormtrooper Carapace

Subskin Armor

Combat Helmets

Cameleoline cloaks

Now the Arch Militant have a cadre of tank-sized meltaweapon-wielding mini-astartes.

Bought the Captain a Lord Captain's Baton (Always a winner)

A highly trained Phyrr Cat (From Creatures anathema), for his personal pet

A Best Quality Power armor made from exquisite alloys. The whole thing had prayers and symbols carved into it, the carvings lined with gold. The whole thing comes complete with a tabard fashioned from shifting fabric, and a cape, trimmed with the coat of snowleopard.

and my personal favorite: I went out of my way and aquisitioned THE most flamboyant hat in the entire expanse. He sure looked at me funnily when I presented him with that monster

hope you're inspired.

Our navigaor got himself a new cover for his eye. It's a broad, metallic "circlet", with a built in mechanical lid mechanism that you can open and close at will.

As for the sex-slaves... let's put it this way: All of his adepts are female and he doesn't like to wear boxers...

He's got his personal Aquila Lander, his house's heraldic emblem on it. (the pilot is female)

Also, you could think of how exactly your sanctum looks like. I'm sure, there's a lot room for some eccentric ideas.

Considering that the lidless stare puts a level of fatigue on the user, I find it hard to believe that it could possibly be activated by someone else on accident . All the more so because it requires a willpower test to activate in the first place. This means that channeling the power is both draining and requires an act of concentration/willpower. It isn't the sort of thing that is just going to go off randomly by mistake.

And you know, although it doesn't say it in the books anywhere, I figure you should be able to intentionally flub any test, which means that even with that crazy ruling, you could just automatically fail the willpower test to activate it (You know, by not focusing on activating it) and no one would get hurt.

Nevertheless, I think there is a good reason for hiding his eye, not only for not being recognised as navigator so fast (a person who is very valuable and thus one of the first of your enemies' targets), but also because it is rather disturbing to a certain degree to see it, not to speak of making eye contact with it. I believe it is some kind of "window" to the warp, so there certainly will be consequences in doing so.

Flamboyant, you say?
How about a grav-howdah, inlaid with 101 precious materials, each worth more than their weight in gold, covered in cushions and couches of shimmer-silk, and pulled by a pair of vat-graft enhanced ogryn eunuchs?

It can even be made practical (if you want to be boring...) by adding a number of rifle-rests, retractable armoured bulwarks and/or a force field of some description.

This is something my group's old Seneschal toyed with getting, before the idea was stolen by the player playing the Rogue Trader at the time. He hardly left that thing, and had the corridors and elevators leading up to the ship's bridge (and to his own suites) enlarged so he could ride it all the way from his command throne to the launch bays...

Alasseo said:

My Rogue Trader Player will keep his own gold and platin inlaided armoured steam train -with a line dedicated for a tour around the hull too-, thanks you.

The Voidmaster in my group chose a Gun-Cutter as his starting acquisition, and proceeded in the following weeks to stock it with an assortment of emergency supplies (spare voidsuits, medi-kits, survival kits, enough for the entire group), and a stock of Hunter-Killer Missiles.

The group's Profit Factor is fairly low - mid-30s - so he's waiting before he looks for the next item on his Gun-Cutter Upgrade list: a large-scale/vehicle-sized Power Field to protect it (and its cargo, being the group) from harm.

Okay, some of this has to go to notepad... let's see...

atomics... stormtroopers or jacked up crew equivalents... adequate transportation... maps... ship upgrades... a baton... a bicorne... a frickin STEAM TRAIN... yup, you guys are like totally sane. Must be why I feel like home. :-) Anyway, list saved, did I overlook anything noteworthy?

Also I follow my house's hidden wealth tradition which means I'll show only off in the company of truly worthy individuals but then it has to hit home . So xeno geisha will have to range somewhere hi up there as a means to impress people (and possibly spy on them). Some kind of transportation would be fine, something anti-grav or something stealthy perhaps? If only Tau technology was available near the Halo Stars, just only as if smuggled through something like a warp gate... hmmmm...

Other than that I have come to the conclusion my Navigator should pick up the ancient and noble sport of collecting archeotech. But that's less an acquisition thingie and more of an adventuring one.

Thanks for the inspiration so far everyone.

Alex

PS It's kind of a nutty game, isn't it? :-)

I'm surprised it's been 14 replies and nobody suggested the "Ostentatious Displays of Wealth" upgrade for your ship.

Mordechai Von Razgriz said:

I have only two things to say in reply to your post, dear sir:

Firstly, your post makes one go... blink blink, am I reading what I am reading?
Secondly, and more importantly, it makes one go: why the hell have I been wasting my time walking all these years?

Thank you for that.

Alex

PS Ostentatious Display of Wealth is for my Rogue Trader as he prefers the Scimitar. My PC, he prefers the poisoned needle.

Other "good acquisitions" worthy of note for a classy Rogue trader crew :

- an Arboretum. You are rich enough to have a true large garden and forest in your own starship. after some showing off in your personal train with your guests, bring them in your hunting lodge . Show them your stable and your hunting animals, invit them to a hunt ! And then serve them a champagne.made with grapes you farm also on your starship....

- i did need talk about Ostentatious Displays of Wealth, because for me it was obvious.

- My Rogue Trader player also trained his personnal guard as an Orchestra : he is so always followwed by hymn singers and a fanfare, who can also defend him if need be.

- I'm playing an augmenticist Seneschal in a RT campaign online. Her next acquisition when possible will be a Cherubim Aerie ! Creepy little angels following you everywhere, holding your very longue cap, victory laurels, singing or playing music to your glory.what's not to love ? Bonus point, she will try to grow them to looks like her ennemies. Some kind of grimdark bonzai hobby, if you wish.

Mordechai Von Razgriz said:

That doesn't help ak-73 though.

Fortinbras said:

Indeed. But better too late than never.

Also, an other ways to show your wealth : charities.

it wasn't with my players, but i've heard a story of a RT crew who heared the wishes of imperial orphans of seeing some snow once. The crew then captured a small ice asteroid, broke it in this small chunk, and after meticulous culculus from their Explorator, then the ice chunk in low orbit above the orphanage to offer them some snow.

My players are very jealous of this feat, and are trying to top that. I dont know how yet....

There is another precious commodity I think of "acquiring" - although it might be less an acquisition but a kind of investigation: the movements of the most important rogue traders and other influential people in the Expanse.

No, not to rob them - what do you think? Only to assist in playing the time-honoured game of name-dropping: "Oh, have you seen Hadarak lately - he looks so well with his new tan, don't you think?... Hadarak? Hadarak Fel? ... Oh, you mean it's still Venerable Lord-Captain Fel to you? Don't you worry sweetheart, we all started out on those terms with him..."

As for the rest - you, kind sirs, are true Rogue Traders and gentlemen at that. The services of the Navigator House Caligula shall always be open to you. And this topic also explains why my House chooses a more hidden form of display: it would divert attention from the wealth and status (and STEAM TRAINS) of the Rogue Traders we have formed an ailliance with and that is where it should belong.

Our displays of status are not designed to overwhelm, they are to complement. We do not seek to distract, we seek to enhance. We aim to serve where others desire to steal.

But, by the god-emperor, let noone and nothing get between us and our desired sphere of influence.

Alex

gomme said:

Emergency Field is still an essential component int he Gellar Field category. You can only have one such field, so the Emergency Field obviously is just a modification to the normal field that adds the safeguards at an extra cost in power. As it currently stands, you cannot combine an Emergency Field with a Warpsbane Hull since both are essential components.

HappyDaze said:

Well, makes sense, now that I read it again. I'd still prefer the Warpsbane Hull, especially in this thread, since we're supposed to post something extravagant... Warpsbane Hull is, after all, millions of guarding hexagramic runes inscribed on your ship's hull, manually I guess. No, I'm sure, it's done manually, that makes it even more flameboyant and then there is a 150ft tall statue on top of your ship, watching over you and your crew while projecting a warding shield against the warp entities, your Geller Field. I like that and I'd even take it for fluff reasons only

Is the warpsbane hull better as a gellar field than the emergency field?

Yes, with perhaps the possible exception of being dragged into the warp when you're not expecting it, but I don't think that's a particularly common occurence.