Firstly, hello! Nice to be here, long time 40k fan and just about to embark upon the glory of running my first game.

I have allowed my players to all take their career as a free, unrestricted pick on the origin path and have of course run into one person that wants to play the RT from a Death World and one who wants to play a noble born Astropath.

Obviously giving them the free pick has allowed this and I stand by it but just want to see if other folks think their ideas are fitting in with the 40k universe as portrayed.

The Astropath player has decided her noble family found out that she was a psyker and attempted to hide it from the Inquisition as they didn't want their darling daughter potentially being fed to sustain the Emperor's pyschic beacon, nor for her to run off and become exactly what she has. Being a noble daughter she had a retinue of helpers, followers and bodyguards, one of which she became fast friends with growing up as nobody else was around. Being a loyal subject of the Emperor he took her to temple when she wanted to go and she became rather devout.

When she began to manifest her powers her parents tried to hush it all up but she was aware that what they were doing was wrong so when the Black Ships came to her world she went to them, shopped her parents for breaking the Imperial Creed and left to be tested. The Inquisition had "words" with her parents and after being tested and found strong she volunteered to be soul bound (what greater honour is there for a devout subject) and became what she is today. The bodyguard she grew up with she has taken on as a loyal retainer (her free acquisition pick and nicer than a random bit of flashy tech I think).

The Rogue Trader player has sent me this:

I'm going with marooned on the Death World before his birth by a warp storm. He is descended from a noble family, a vaunted scion of whom was his grandfather - the rogue trader who commanded the cruiser with a crew of seventy thousand. The storm struck unexpectedly, crippling the cruiser and cutting off the system for the next sixty years. After bailing out, the survivors of the disaster made their way back to the debris on the surface and the wreck became their home on the surface.

The other members of the stranded ship were picked off one by one by the incredibly harsh environment and psychotic alien natives, as well as insane survivors who had never made the initial hike back to the wreck and begun worshipping the warp storm.

The rogue trader kept the teachings of the Empire alive in the next two generations, and eventually the warp storm relented the moment he died, giving him the legend that his death had saved everyone. During this time, the Player Character had proven himself a faithful and deadly servant of the house and the Empire - and indeed was now the only survivor of his bloodline remaining on the planet, as his own parents had vanished into a sandstorm when he was an infant.

With the storm gone, an Imperial starship from the house arrived to salvage the wreck, and was astonished to find the feral, hardened survivors. The Player Character was returned to his kin on an Imperial World, who immediately offered thanks to the Emperor for the preservation of such an important bloodline within their house. They then packed him off quick-smart, with numerous 'advisors' to ensure he learned proper political decorum while he went slaughtering in the name of the Emperor.

Fortunately, he was a natural at adapting to this relatively easy way of life - and as such has excelled and been given the warrant of trade like his grandfather before him, following the death of an uncle who he never met.

Now I think that these are both decent explanations for their origins and quite like them (and since it's my game that's what matters I guess). Do folks think that as characters in the RT universe they will work? I know each GM is different in how they represent their idea of the 40k universe but since it's going to be the first time I've run it I guess I'm looking for reassurance from folks with experience that allowing the ideas isn't going to be crush the atmosphere or make it feel non-40k.

Apologies for the wall o' text right off.

These are good examples of how a rule is broken appropriately. Don't be afraid to house rule whenever the rules get in the way of a good story =)

The free bodyguard NPC isn't covered by the rules, and I don't think it would be a +0 either. Also, harboring a Psyker from the Inquisition doesn't simply warrant "words". Unless those words are "Cleanse, Purge, Kill"

Similarly, did the Rogue Trader make any notes about the flaws that come up with being born on a Death World? -10 to any tests in formal settings? That doesn't magically go away because he got educated at a boarding school. "Fortunately, he was a natural at adapting to this relatively easy way of life - and as such has excelled " , really? Because I seem to recall he just purchased a whole set of social flaws with Death World that make this easy life awkward for him! It sounds like he's trying to be both Noble Born and from a Death World simultaneously. All sorts of awkward situations should emerge, like when he leaps on the table and fillets the roast beef into a fine mince because he suspects it might have mindworm parasites in it, to the horror of the many dignified guests who didn't grow up on a Death world where even your prey, once dead, still tried to kill you.

I would say from a story perspective that it's borderline Mary Sue-ism. The daughter with privilege who ALSO happens to be able to flay you alive.. with her mind . Similarly, the lost scion of a noble family who grows to become the manliest of the manly Conan-like asskickers, then comes back home and claims his birthright with absolutely no consequences.

From a gameplay perspective similarly I don't think that the players are appreciating the consequences of their choices very much, and that would be a severe irritant to me.

Well, the bodyguard I don't have an issue being a +0, it's one man (+30), not a scarce resource for a noble family and decently skilled. If I were to restrict people to exactly what's in the book on everything it makes for a very unimaginative game. I'm not saying throw the rulebook out but there has to discretion as a GM. By "words" I didn't mean words I meant "words" as in, "Hello Mr and Mrs parent, you're coming with us. No need to pack, you won't be coming back."

The RT player is well aware of the penalties for the choice of origin world but from his point of view it is easy as you're not fighting to survive on a daily basis and therefore it's easy and in his eyes he excels at it (might not be what his peers think of course). I think excelled is probably a poor choice of words and agree with you there, coped or managed is probably more appropriate. He's already created the crunch for the character so is well aware of the limitations he has.

Fortinbras said:

I disagree. I run with these 2 particular players frequently and they're not powergamers or trying to have their cake and eat it. The noble is going to get a large shock if she tries to call on her noble line for help (after all who wants to help the family member that shopped their parents to the Inquisition) and we have discussed this at character creation.

The RT intends to be similar in courtly situations to a Crab Clan samurai in L5R I imagine from discussions we've had.

Still, it's nice to have a differing point of view put across and though I see where you are coming from I don't think those particular issues are going to be an issue for me to be honest.

Spacepope Praxis said:

You mean [Good] quality? That's +10. And scarcity doesn't change based on who's acquiring it, so I'd still point it at the same scarcity as a squad of Kasrkin, +30. But you asked for my opinion and that's what it is.

Okay but by the book, single man (+30), let's say good quality (-10) that leaves +20 for the availability. Aren't Kasrkin b*lls to the war hardcore? I wouldn't put 1 bodyguard at the same scarcity as a squad of elite troopers that only hail from 1 world in the Imperium. Why do you rate a bodyguard as the same? Not picking holes, just curious.

Spacepope Praxis said:

The stories the came up with were much better than I had anticipated. Though I have to agree that hiding a psyker results in more than "words" otoh if she went when the black ships came, the family would have some ability to cover for itself, and it would depend upon the inquisitor whether he would rather have a couple more bodies for the pyre or a noble family under his thumb.

As for the rogue trader, the story sounds fine, though he should be aware of the staunch penalties for being a deathworlder. In my opinion if he civilized enough that he no longer had them, then he is no longer a deathworlder. If he's willing to deal however, it sounds much better than most of the background stories I hear from people on here.

I know you don't need my approval, but it sounds good to me.

Spacepope Praxis said:

My version of "words" would be to simply burn them at the stake with an Inferno pistol right in front of their darling little girl. No need for a trial. Inquisitors are Judge, Jury, and Executioner. And they have a busy schedule. So they can't really be bothered with the mess of transporting someone and imprisoning them. Then they'd burn their estate and all their holdings to the ground. Tainted by Chaos, you know. Can't be too careful. Every single servant (including her bodyguard, unless he somehow managed to slip away) has their brains summarily blown out by a Stormtrooper firing squad.

Regarding the Rogue Trader: How did he get a noble education? The next tier over from Death World is either Scavenger or Scapegrace. Then it's Renegade Criminal or Tainted. Not Savant or Vaunted followed by Duty Bound/Chosen by Destiny. You said you gave them the career choice for free, not the other origin paths, correct? This is not sounding like a man who has had a rich breadth of education.

Regarding the acquisition of the bodyguard:

I guess it depends on what stats you're giving him. If his stat-bonuses are all in the 20's, then no, that's probably not very rare. A bodyguard "worth their salt" would be somewhere in the 30's or 40's of most stat bonuses, which is a lot rarer. Plus his equipment, which wouldn't be cheap either assuming he was worth his salt. Your initial +0 acquisition is not a "Gimme", it represents something your character has spent his career prior to being on the Rogue Trader's crew attaining. This could be a set of Kasrkin armor from an Arch-Militant's time as a Stormtrooper, or it could be an Almanac Astrae Divinitis gifted to a Navigator upon their coming of age. The point is it's not a chump change item. Presumably your bodyguard isn't some simple street-walking scum with a BS of 20 and a snub-nose pistol, so I assumed accordingly that he might be more rare than you think.

Also, giving someone an NPC to do their killing for them straight from the start seems like a bad idea to me.

In conclusion: Nothing about these ideas per se is outright heresy. They're just very hard to pull off. Nobles don't breed Astropaths, because they have all the amenities of the 40k world such as genetic screening and only breeding with equally noble families so that they don't create "mutants". And any family that did and didn't give up their child to the black ships would be made an example of in a very brutal, traumatizing fashion.

Similarly, Rogue Traders don't emerge from Death Worlds except as the initial inheritors of a warrant. If they do, they're bound to have enemies in the form of cousins and uncles/aunts who are outraged that a filthy savage received the warrant of trade that they deserved. And any Rogue Trader from a Deathworld would be at a severe disadvantage in normal Imperial society. The educational extent of a Death World human can be summarized as "If it moves, kill it. If you kill it, eat it."

Okay, I see your points there.

My implication was that the parents were executed by the Inquisition though not the whole household though I see what you are saying about the raze and burn, better safe than sorry than approach I also see your point about the bodyguard but I'm happy for her to have it as I know how the player tends to think and she knows well enough that I'm not going to let her have a private hitman, more of a moral compass with a las rifle that will quietly voice his opinions on her actions rather like a vaguely supportive yet slightly aloof uncle.

The RT is going to have a whole extended family that absoloutle loathe him as an uncultured upstart that has stolen their legacy. They will be exacting their vengeance as the game progresses.

I have faith that the players will pull their respective ideas off based on experience from previous games they've played in with me or run.

Thanks for coming at from all angles folks, helps me clear things up in my head including the large potential pitfalls.