So what is everyone's opinion on the Plasma Drive you're allowed to use in this beast? Should you only use the Plasmas specifically for Transports or would you be able to use any of the Plasma Drives because it could fit any one (or two, or three... ) of them.

It is a transport so Transport Drives only.

It’s true that it can only be fitted with transport drives, but if you need more power (which in comparison to its space, it does) you could always add Auxiliary Plasma Banks (from Into the Storm) which require 5 space but adds 8 power.

In my group we bought a Universe Class Transport, and I believe we required 2 or 3 auxiliary plasma banks just to meet the power demands from the components we wanted to install in the ship.

Its a beautiful ship but i'd hesitate to field it without at least a squadron of raider escorts and a carrier to back it up. Too beautiful to lose.

As rogue traders are we expected to field fleets of starships to back up our main vessel? I mean I always thought we should only have 1 ship with 4 or so players on it rolling tests for that one ship. At least I thought thats how the game was intended to be played. I didn't think that the group should command an entire fleet that could take on an imperial fortress world.

I believe it's really up to GM; however other Rogue Traders (Winterscale, Chorda, Sun Lee) have a fleet of their own.

WhiteLycan said:

That is entirely up to you. As long as the players are having fun, do whatever works for your campaign.

Cheers,

- V.

You will very quickly find that the universe is simply too slow, too cumbersome and too undergunned to use it as a standalone vessel. It is really the type of vessel you build a small fleet around. A couple of raiders for escort and scouting, a light cruiser carrier to handle combat etc.

Otherwise a single raider with a single sunsear battery will clobber it silly with no hint of danger.

The Universe is surely a vessel with a limited field of application. Yet it shines in delivering huge amounts of cargo. But it pays to either have a fast escort or a Hold Landing Bay with bombers to fend off attackers with range weaponry. Also it might be a good idea to mount Sunsears on it, to make up at least a bit for its low speed.

As for single ship vs. fleet: Young dinasties usually start with only one vessel. Maybe two or three if it's small transports. Older dinasties will usually have a certain number of transport ships, most of which however will be bound with upkeeping the family's various interests in the more established areas of the Expanse or in Imperial sectors.

Our first group for example started of as the crew of the youngest heir to an old dinasty (the Rogue Trader himself being controlled by the GM). While the family as a whole did have a small fleet of transports cruising through Imperial space, the group itself had only one ship to really work with (a Lunar cruiser in our case). Through successfull counterattack on an attacking rival with quick strikes against the core control elements (bridge, engine room, weapon controls) and a longgoing sweep through the rest of the ship, we were able to acquire a Firestorm frigate. And at one point we were able to recover the derelict hull of an Imperator battleship and tow it back to a shipyard. We used all the profit from the next about half a dozen or more endeavours, some two years intime, and some additional points of profitfactor to rebuild it to at least working condition and thus had a fleet of three ships to use. Though intime we mostly travelled with the Lunar, now under the command of one of the PCs in the name of our Rogue Trader, who himself used the battleship. Yet for some encounters we simply needed the extra firepower of the additional ships.

Very Lucky grabs there Lukkai. anyway The universe would not be my first pick of a ship unless you intend to spend a lot of time in easy reach of the imperial navy. Too big and slow if you end up in a fight unless you can warm up the warp drive in a hurry. good consideration if your going into the mercenary area and need a really large transport for your private army. Frigates and light cruisers are normally the way to start and with the build it your self warrant from into the storm you can get a better deal for a ship than rolling for ship points. overall, good ship if you want to start a monopoly at the first world you come to.