My group is about to begin a Rogue Trader campaign in the coming weeks and I was giving some thought to what ship we should go with to start. We're going to rotate our GMs so everyone in the group is going to get together and decide on a ship together. Since we don't have a permanent GM, I thought it would be good to run a few things by you guys and see what the consensus is.

Frigates seem like a decent place to start and I'm eyeing the Falchion Class. Our group is a bit martial minded so the extra firepower from the prow mounted torpedoes in addition to the two dorsal batteries should really come in handy. However, we still want a flexible ship that can handle exploration and other business tasks if the need arises. So here are a few lingering questions I was hoping to get opinions on:

1. Since the Falchion only entered service in 261.M41, certain backgrounds and complications should be out of the question right? The most obvious example would be "Veteran of the Angevin Crusade" since the Crusade took place in M39, two thousand years before the class entered service! Similarly, I think "Reliquary of Mars" and "Ancient and Wise" are a bit of a stretch. Are there any other backgrounds or complications we should ignore or tweak?
2. The prow mounted torpedoes are great but the rules say that they can't be removed. What about replacement with a different torpedo system? I'm thinking it might be a good idea to spend some SP to replace them with the Gryphonne pattern tubes to get 2 more shots per salvo and store more torpedoes. Does that sound reasonable to you guys? If so, how much SP would you charge for such an upgrade.
3. Lastly, what general tips can you give for arming and fitting a ship like the Falchion? I was thinking of an Armoured Prow and a Power Ram (those stack right?) so that our main tactic will be to charge straight at the enemy, firing torpedoes and blazing away with our batteries until we're close enough to finish them off by ramming or boarding. Is that a workable strategy to use on a regular basis?

So yeah, I'd also be happy to hear any general thoughts you have on the class or any other recommendations you might have for a starting ship. We're probably going to go for something in the light cruiser - frigate range.

Thanks in advance!

How many SPs are y'all planning on using?

We don't have a concrete number and I don't have Into the Storm in front of me but we plan on using the Dynasty History (or whatever it's called) section in Into the Storm and doing a relatively balanced build.

Good call on limiting the background options. I would also exclude "Planet-Bound for Millennia" as an option.

I love the background on that ship. You should work that into the story a bit, where other Rogue Traders who have more standard ships distrust it, similar to how the Navy views it. Any misfortunes or whatnot could have snide comments here and there. Nice background flavor.

Depending on how you go with the background of the Warrant, you could have the ship constructed directly for the Dynasty. That would be different from the more-common setups where the ship has seen and done quite a bit before it landed with the Rogue Trader.

The only issue I'd see with the ship is the torpedos. Yes they are great weapons, but hard to get ammo for in the Expanse.

Disguise said:

Well, the only feasible background I can see is "Vessel of the Fleet". It's too young to be a Thulian vessel and then discarded, there seem to have not been any Falchions lost to battle in or near the Calixis sector yet, which eliminates a pirate ship origin (though it could be done with stretching credibility a bit) and as you said, it's too young to have taken part in the Angevin Crusade and of course to have been planetbound for millennia.

As for the machine ghost, the only choice not working would be "Ancient and Wise". As for past, "Reliquary" is pretty much out, same goes for "Space Hulk". Also "Xenophile" if you ask me. The others should work just fine.

The prow mounted torpedo launcher is pretty much fixed, without any real possibility to alter it. There's simply no room in the design to enlarge it without needing to redesign the whole ship from scratch. So no upgrading to the Gryphonne, sorry. Simply can't be done.

The tactic you mentioned is absolutely workable, yet high-risk. Sooner or later you will run into something that shoots you to pieces while attempting your run. That doesn't mean the choice is bad, but the rest of your weapons should be up to the job of granting you an alternate way to attack. Also if you want to stick to the ram approach, make sure your vessel is well equipped to handle critical hits and repairs.

All in all the Falchion definitely isn't a bad choice, especially for a martially oriented group. The torpedoes have high reach and some versatility (boarding torpedoes give you long range boarding actions, for example), but are rather expensive. Still, the craft can carry a good punch even without relying on its front tubes and the pure threat might keep some smaller enemies on a distance. Speed, space, taker qualities and the rest of the Falchion are good to decent. It's not my first choice for a ship, but then I'd rather go for a Turbulent, Secutor or outright cruiser if I want a ship outfitted for warfare.

The Falchion's a frigate so you can't equip either Armoured Prow or Power Ram, only a Reinforced Prow. Not really adequate for serious ramming action.

You have just enough space and power to equip Ryza Plasma Batteries in both your Dorsal slots. With that configuration you'll deal more damage than most Cruisers. Mezoas are also a good choice if you actually want to have other components on the ship.

Barracks are costly, but really help with boarding actions against vessels with higher hull integrity.

1. If I was GMing I wouldn't mind a little refluffing. Maybe the ship is an old variant from some lesser known forge world - it's not a "Falchion", but it has the same game stats. Maybe it was salvaged from the planet where it had been "Planet-bound for Millennia" more than 500 years ago and used as a template for the newfangled Falchions. Maybe the original core cogitator was destroyed in battle and replaced with an "Ancient and Wise" cogitator from another frigate. Maybe it took part in a relatively recent crusade/war, and this is represented by the "Veteran of the Angevin Crusade" background. And so on.

2. I probably wouldn't allow that. Fluff-wise the Voss-pattern torpedoes are an integral part of the ship. Game-mechanically it's a balance issue.

In general:

I'm not sure I like torpedoes. They have to be replaced with fiddly acquisition tests. And the potential damage isn't that impressive if you only have Str 2 Voss-patterns.

You'll find yourself running out of Space in a hurry with a Falchion. A Tempest, Sword or Turbulent (BK) can fit more shiny supplemental components. If you want something bigger you'll have to abandon any pretense of a "balanced" build.

Consider getting a tricked out Orion Clipper (ItS) or Havoc Raider. Since the hulls are cheaper you can afford more archeotech and fancy Good or Best quality components (or more starting PF).

For guns, sunsears and mezoas (ItS) are the standard choices. Ryzas are too expensive in power and SPs. I have a soft spot for missile batteries (ItS) though. Small, but potentially devastating with a high Ballistic skill and bonuses.

The Falchion's a good starting ship. Most groups will not have the resources to begin the game with a cruiser, so that leaves frigates as the most powerful choice.

Personally, I would say no refits to the torpedo tubes. The Falchion is, as I recall, the only frigate in the game with three weapon slots, and it's competitive in performance otherwise, so you really aren't giving up much of anything for the extra weapons. The Voss pattern torpedoes are effectively 1/2 the strength and space of a real set of torpedo tubes, so making that item pre-installed and unremovable is a big deal in terms of game balance.

Alternatively, you could take that Falchion and go for the "saber dance" build. That is, dance around an opponent and cut them to pieces with a barrage of long range fire. With torpedoes and two Sunsear batteries, don't underestimate the amount of damage a Falchion can dish out at range 12. Just do everything to max out your ballistic skill, and watch out. My group of players recently used this tactic to destroy a light cruiser and they only took 4 hull integrity damage doing it; worse, they're flying a Firestorm which is considerably less effective at this tactic.

Cheers,

- V.

Another option if you wanted to use Reliquary is to simply say that the component, whatever it is, was salvaged from an older ship and used on this one. Example, you could say that a Modified Jovian-pattern Drive was salvaged from an ancient ship brought to dry-dock at Voss. Since the ship was too badly damaged to rebuild, they used the ancient engines in a Falchion-class. The fact that the ship is so new, but the drive is so old would easily explain the -20 Tech-Use tests to repair.

Simple, doesn't break lore, and gives you a few more options if you wanted.