Ok, so my DM has expressed interest in running a Rogue trader campaign in the medium future.

I've recently found my interest in it rising. I've read a lot on generic 40k lore, but now I want to learn some specific stuff to rogue trader.

I don't have any of the books yet, I'm looking for stuff online about how the classes work, how combat works, how character creation and advancement works.

I've read a few posts that mention endeavors, so I'd love to read more about what they are and how players interact with them.

Basically I'm looking at descriptions of the various mechanics at play within rogue trader. Oh, campaign journals would also be rad

Is there an index of useful posts here on the forums? Is there a wiki somewhere? a fan site?

Just read through Forsaken Bounty on the support page . It has a rules summary and example characters.

The only large fan site I've come across is Dark Reign .

The Trav said:

I GM DW and DH, I have never played RT, the main reason and something you should be aware of coming into it is the huge scale this game plays on. Imagine being a space age christopher columbus with an entire army under your command.

DH is akin to cluthutech or Cluthu in the futur

RT is akin to master of Orion with a simple pts system mixed with cluthu

DW is munchkin on roids.

But yeah the support page as a lot of info, lexicanum a bit too, Dark Reign as usual.

what system have you played in before? Makes it easier to know how to explain it to you briefly.

Badlapje said:

DnD (1st ed, 3.5, 4th), Vampire, Mage, Shadowrun (I think 3rd and 4th? 4th is wireless right?), Paranoia, some zombie game, 2 hero type games (I think one was DC heroes forget the name of the other one), created a character for traveller (mongoose I think) and did some sample infantry combats for it.

There's been a fair variance between sandboxy, plot oriented, high powered, low powered games.

The heroes game was super powered and vast in scope, we basically had a whole kingdom under our control, it was somewhat sandboxy but with fairly pressing issues that tended to shape our decisions.

Vastly different to the 4th ed game which was a relatively linear, clear goals, single quest "roller coaster" style game with very set encounters and advancement (which seemed to match the system really well)

For the last few years that same DM has been running a superb sandbox 1st ed game which is completely sandbox, we've just been given an extremely large, interesting and dynamic world in which to make our fortunes however which way we choose.

The Trav said:

Check out this campaign log. It will definitely get you jacked up to play!

http://www.fantasyflightgames.com/edge_foros_discusion.asp?efid=123&efcid=3&efidt=388948

crisaron said:

I'm a big fan of Masters of Orion, but I don't remember any dungeon-delving or one-on-one social interactions in it.

The Trav said:

Basically it depends on the GM a lot whether or not RT is a sandbox or a clear goals kind of environment. Personally i get a DnD 3.5 feel out of it, but in a grimdark future: pretty much anything you meet is either wanting to ripp you off, kill you or will drive you insane/corrupt just by looking at it.

The dice system is the D100 system, so very easy to understand. Each test has you roll a d100 and if you roll below the score you have for that test then you pass. Above you fail. For every 10 under your score you achieve one degree of success (DoS). DoS can be important if it's an opposed test or to see how succesfull you were and consequently how much results the test yield.

Skill set is pretty similar to DnD. You can buy talents which take up the same role as feats do in DnD.

Your character is determined by no less then 9 characteristics: Weapon Skill (melee attack), Ballistic Skill (ranged attack), Strength (Strength), Toughness (Constitution), Agilitiy (Dexterity), Intelligence (Intelligence), Perception, Willpower (Wisdom), Fellowship (Charisma). Once you begin play you can buy improvements to those characteristics (+20 to each max) and some bionics will grant further improvements. Imo that's two too many characteristics (WS and BS are superfluous imo).

Character Creation is done via an origin path which gives you all the tools you need to make a good backstory and also adds new skills/talents and sometimes characteristic modifiers. Its a big plus of the system though i find it's a lot more fun if you're not expected to follow it rigidly. After character creation is done you likely have a bunch of characteristics at 40, and one or two at 50 or 60.

Important point: for a lot of tests they'll ask you what your bonus is for a certain characteristic. If your toughness is 40 for example the toughness bonus is 4 (the decimal digit), if it's 52 the TB = 5. This is important because it means that for a lot of things the number behind the decimal digit really doesn't matter much. If you have to choose between a toughness of 40 and one of 42 it makes no big difference. But choosing between one of 39 and one of 40 makes a LOT of difference. Likewise for the other characteristics (save for weapon skill and ballistic skill).

As for the classes:

Astropath Transcendant = specialist psionic character which focuses mainly on telepathy, telekenisis and divination.

Arch-Militant = fighter in DnD. This guy exists to wreak havoc upon the enemies by means of just about any weapon out there.

Void-Master = specialist space-dweller. This guy is pretty good with guns, but is the one you need to fly your spaceship and shuttles making him less apt at battle compared to an arch-militant but still able to dole out a lot of damage.

Explorator = freaky machine priest. These guys basically run the tech in 40k which amounts to singing it's praises and repairing it if it goes broke. They are not allowed to invent stuff or to add to an existing machine. One of the biggest "wtf?" moments in 40k is when you realise that those who worship machines are about as doctrinal as the pope and therefore are not allowed to actually engage in science (that's what hereteks are for). This guy is one of the two classes that can function as a healer, but with the added advantage that he also can work tech like no tomorrow and can be one of the toughest adversaries you'll meet on the field once you get him past rank 3. While aboard the ship he's more an ally then a subordinate.

Missionary = paladin in DnD. It's one of the two healer classes in 40k, but with a very militaristic focus (it's all about punishing heretics or winning them over to the one true faith).

Seneschal = rogue, but without the heavy damage dealing abilities. It depends a bit on how you create him, but really this guy is a master spy and master trader. If you want something shiny, this is the guy to get it for ya. When it's time to make a contract: he'll write it in such a way that it's twice as advantageous.

Navigator = specialist psionics character. This is the guy who can guide you through the warp safely and therefore one of the most important characters on board. Without him you're stuck in whatever solar system you find yourself in. He's also capable of dealing out a lot of damage via their warp-channeling powers and they only get scarier as they advance (they tend to mutate). Another one that's more an ally then a subordinate.

Rogue Trader = whilst technically the guy whom it's all about, i find this the most useless character in the book. He's a bit of a generalist and for some reason he's better at killing stuff up close then he is at shooting them from afar. He's basically the leader who'll command all of the others and put their skills to good use.

Hope you find this helpfull.

All of the above plus:

Your characters are the top of the pop. They are the fortunate few. They are the Kings, with a huge warship that can lay waste to a civilisation. They command thousands of humans and got wealthy beyond measuring.

Where normal campaigns stop. Since the players have become so powerful that all their enemies are defeated, the kingdoms conquered, the megacorp brought to it's knees and they run out of great deeds to perform. That is the time and place where Rogue Trader starts. RT is adventuring on a truly epic scale.

Hi. I am also considering playing RT but still have some doubts. DW is main game for me and I thought to buy other wh40k lines books just for fluff elements lacking in DW. I planned to buy upcoming Batlefleet Koronus for info about Imperial Navy structure, history etc., but than i realized that it could be fun to use it to full potential in DW. There would be one think to prevent me from this, I would need at least RT core to do that. So the next thought was to maybe if I choose to buy another rulebook than why not to try play it as separate game. Problem is that I never was interested in Rogue Traders in wh40k fluff, seeing them as nothing but traders/pirates=mostly economical oriented. Do you think that is possible with Batlefleet Koronus to play as more militaric oriented or even not as RT at all but pure Imperial Navy?

I dont know about DW though, but in RT there are the Starship Building and Starship battles. Into the Storm expanded it with more vehicles as well. Battlefleet Koronus surely will deal a lot of Starships, I assume.

Actually, it's possible to play a pure Navy (and active-service Navy) game with just the core rules (although Into The Storm helps, and Battlefleet Koronus will help even more).

Admittedly, you'd need the agreement and co-operation of all the players (GM included), but the biggest change needed is the limitations on ship builds: unless you want to play the high crew of a fleet collier or troop transport (or possibly unrated sloop/corvette used for courier duty), you're pretty much limited to Cobra, Sword, Tempest, Firestorm, Dauntless, Lunar and Tyrant when it comes to hulls (so far, anyway), but the fact you're not required to make an economic profit means you can go for a pure war-build.

Probably no xeno-tech (and you'd need a **** good reason for polluting a ship of His Divine Majesty's Imperial Navy with xenos filth), and you may well find yourself taking massive morale hits (the Navy doesn't give its' crews fancy, lah-di-dah Voidsmen Quarters when Pressed Crew Quarters do the job), but them's the breaks.

Sure, there are a couple of talents that would need reworking or avoiding (Renowned Warrant, springs to mind), but aside from that, it'd be pretty straightforward to do. Endeavours could be replaced with (or re-interpreted as) missions from the Admiralty, sent via courier or astropath, which introduces something in the way of a more traditional format for the campaign, as opposed to the usual sandbox style. Profit Factor and Acquisitions don't just represent a Dynasty's wealth, they represent available resources and political clout- exactly what the Captain of a ship on an independent command (or detached patrol, etc.) would be expected to outfit his ship using*. If you think of it as filling out Department Munitorum requisition forms, it makes even more sense.

Another thing to bear in mind is that the Careers represent character archetypes- with the exception of the Explorator, Astropath and Navigator, they could be pretty much anything- line officers, staff officers, warrant officers, quartermasters, tolerated "camp followers" and civilian contractors, commissars.

*Actually, given the whole Napoleonic-era Royal Navy vibe the fluff gives the IN, it's possible that's how he'd be expected to outfit his ship all the time, but I personally find that somewhat hard to believe if they are at an Imperial Naval base.

Economy is only involved in RT for as far as you want it to be. As the previous poster says the rules lend themselves perfectly well for what you want, just need some tweaks and you're good to go. Think of Profit Factor as Resource Factor and together with what's above you're pretty set.

Thanks for answers guys.