The core book brings up the possibility of Inquisitors and their acolytes potentially becoming rogue traders, but i'm curious, is the opposite also possible? and if so how would that work out? would a rogue trader have to walk away from his dynasty in order to take up the rosette? would he be able to balance both somehow? What happens if a rogue trader becomes the acolyte of an inquisitor? can that even happen? and if so, would the rogue trader in question have to stop most of his less legitamate dealings in order to comply with the laws of the ordos, even in "free" space?

The possibilities (and thus the questions) are endless here.

rulewise: Agent of the Throne (Into the Storm, Elite Package).

But I havent seen them so I do not have any opinion yet.

This is curiously part of the background of my Dynasty. One of the Dynastys forebearers was a latent psyker who became possessed and came near close to damning the ship and the crew. Its youngest and last scion went on a penitent crusade putting his resources at the services of the inquisition to save the dyansty from being purged. The ship impounded, his warrant confiscated, his senior crew cryofrozen for the day when the dynasty would be forgiven.

The current rogue trader grew up in a Schola Progenium in the Calyxsis Sector, unawre of who is parents were, but drilled in combat and leadership by his Drill Abbots, initially working as a administratum frontier world notary, he becomes through a series of strange coincidences a catspaw for a Inquisitor. By the end of a couple of years of service and mopping up the loose ends of a previous inquisitors (his father) work his august parentage is revealed and his Dynasty is absolved by the Inquisition. He is given his ancestral warrant of trade, his ship impounded for 400 years was put to bert again, his retainers unfrozen.

The whole Inquisitorial background thing was suggested from his 'Dark Voyage' on his origin path, which kinda drove the background created for the dynasty. Now the Dynasty is trying to find the planet were the ancestor went all warp fiend as it appears they have 'unfinished buisness'. I havnt really played Dark Heresy much, but wouldnt mind playing out my the RT early years to see exactly what he was doing for the Inquisition.

Also check under roots in the Core Rulebook p.324

The Inquisition
Although rare, there are recorded cases of an Inquisitor being
granted the Warrant of Trade and taking up the rank of Rogue
Trader. The most likely reason this might occur is as a result
of political manoeuvring within the Inquisition itself, perhaps
resulting in the outmanoeuvred individual being offered the
Warrant as an alternative to a far less desirable outcome.
Upon being granted the Warrant, the Inquisitor will
understand that he has no alternative but to accept. As it is most
often members of the alien-hunting Ordo Xenos who find
themselves being appointed as Rogue Traders, these individuals
will be well equipped for their new career. Although no longer
able to call on the nigh-limitless resources of the Inquisition,
the Rogue Trader will still wield considerable powers and
influence. The main difference between his old and new roles is
the context—rather than hunting out corruption and treachery
within the populace of the Imperium, he will be seeking such
threats out amongst alien stars, and will no doubt prosecute his
new duty with as much vigour as he did his old. It is not only fully appointed Inquisitors who may become
Rogue Traders, for their many and varied servants might end
up in such a position too. Those servants of lower rank would
consider themselves fortunate indeed to be made a Rogue
Trader, for the alternatives are often too terrible to dwell
upon should the true price for whatever deed has earned their
elevation be exacted.

The important thing to keep in mind here is that a true Acolyte knows that there is no one Inquisition, only many Inquisitors. The amount of latitude our Rogue Trader acolyte has is entirely dependent on his or her Inquisitor. One Inquisitor could only be interested in combating Chaos and therefore fully tolerates the Cold Trade and usage of Xenos items. Another could be a hardcore Puritan and severely limit our RTs options for profit.

The other important implication of the divided Inquisition is that Inquisitors often work at cross purposes. This means that by courting the favours of an Inquisitor, a Rogue Trader can gain protection from the activities of other Inquisitors. In my games, both Rogue Trader and Dark Heresy, an Inquisitor who tries to move against a powerful Peer of the Imperium will frequently find some other Inquisitor countering them, unless there is hard evidence of guilt in something the rival Inquisitor also feels is Heresy.

The down side is that the Inquisitors don't grantn favours for free. I see this as a major way that an Inquisitor can build a power base- by abusing the Inquisitorial Authority to unseat a Planetary Governor and place an ally in his place, for instance, an Inquisitor gains a world where the local authorities can be counted on, perhaps even having a private fortress or void-station given as a reward.

So if they find an Inquisitor whose beliefs are in step with theirs, a group of PCs could gain a great deal of freedom from Inquisitorial interference by offering to place starships at that Inquisitor's disposal and freely share any knowledge of the expanse.

@ tellose: looks like i'm buying into the storm once my paycheck comes in.

@ everyone else. all good ideas so far, keep them coming! one question: say the inquisitor in question is a radical, say, a xanthite. obviously the RTs would have a lot of leeway in the way of cold trade, xenos artefacts and even warp tech, to a degree. Say the RTs were to be caught with such materials. cold trade goods and xenos gear short of Halo Artefacts can be overlooked by most inquisitors, save maybe hardline Ordo Xenos. Warp tech, however, is another matter entirely, and is almost universally seen as heretical. The inquisitor sponsoring the RT is not going to want the RT to go down, not while he's still a useful resource and definately not when the RT can be tied to him. how far does an inquisitor's protection extend? are there limits, or is it really up to the necessaties of the game?

An Inquisitor's and a Rogue Trader's duties are inherently very different and in fact conflicting. (Note I say duties, influence is a whole other matter.) While Rogue Trader's protect the Imperium for external threats (well thats what their duty really is, but most focus on their right to trade and line their own pockets), an Inquisitor protects the Imperium from threats within. Just due to the fact their theater of operations is so far apart means there is no way you can do both at the same time. Due to the amount of authority they have in the areas they operate, which are completely different, they are very useful to each other.

For an inquisitor: Rogue Traders have the advantage of being able to use diplomacy with any faction provided it is done outside Imperium space - This is useful for any inquisitor trying to investigate a trail that leads outside the Imperium or a radical trying to get in contact with a xenos faction. An Inquisitor technically no longer has authority outside the Imperium but a friendly Rogue Trader can literally send an army to enforce the Inquisitor's will. While an inquisitor can technically requisition a lot of stuff, actual hard currency will be a problem, something a decent RT will have a good amount of, and as investigators they do have a use for hard currency in large amounts occasionally. Lastly, a RT has freedom to travel anywhere at without huge amounts of paperwork - something very few can do.

For a Rogue Trader: Inquisitors on the other hand have a huge amount of authority within the Imperium, a RT with dirt on a competitor can get his friendly neighbourhood inquisitor to investige this and generally be at least a nuisence to said competitor, at worse declare find real dirt - the executable kind. While richer, somethings are just not for sale, an inquisitor's ability to requisition almost anything can become quite useful for the RT. Finally, inquisitors, tend to be in contact with some of the most powerful people in the Imperium, Astartes chapter masters, Sororitas canoness, Primaris psykers, Cardinals, Magos, crimelords, sages, nobles, prefects, generals and admirals - many of which a RT will never meet in course of their normal activities but can still be useful to know for the RT.

Gillam Harrow said:

The authority of an Inquisitor is, in theory, unlimited- until it runs into that of another Inquisitor or someone just says "No". So a wise Inquisitor is careful about throwing the weight of Inquisitorial Authority around, and of treading on the toes of powerful rivals without cause.

Also, don't forget that association with an Inquisitor is a double-edged sword. A running theme in the published novels is of the fall from grace of an Inquisitor whose peers declare him a heretic. The more Radical an Inquisitor is, the more likely that Inquisitor is to find a group of enemies calling a Conclave and putting him on trial. So, with an extreme Radical Inquisitor as a patron, a Rogue Trader and crew could, in theory, use all manner of Xenos Tech and Warpcraft with impunity. Until the day comes when they return from a voyage into the Expanse to find their Patron has been tried and executed by the Conclave Calixis, and they, like all his other followers and allies, are being purged as accomplices to his Heresy.

A mainstream Moderate-to-Puritan stance Inquisitor won't give the same freedom of action, but won't be nearly as risky.

In theory, there is no saying "no" to an inquisitor - directly anyway unless the inquisitor asks for something stupid - there are a lot of indirect ways to screw up an inquisitor and the inquisition is not a forgiving organization.

The trick to dealing with inquisitors is to deal with more than one. Being a contact of the Calixis Conclave is much better than being the agent of Inquisitor Lord Ihavebigballs. The talent good reputation applies to an organization rather than an individual. Also deal with inquisitors smartly. If Inquisitor Lord Ihavebigballs wants to buy xenos artifacts from you, make sure you do it where its at least quasi-legal - like Footfall. If Inquisitor Lord Ihavebigballs asks you to do something blatantly illegal and especially if its also extremely heretical, such as transporting a demonhost, say no but say you will pretend it didn't happen, hope he has a change of heart and you will put him in touch with individuals who will move anything for a price.

In my games Rogue Traders and the Inquisition do not marry. Each of these institutions wields virtually equal power and influence within their theatres and - as someone else pointed out - these theatres rarely overlap.

On top of that, Rogue Traders see attempts to insert an Inquisitor into their ranks as a gross violation of the freedoms their dynasties are given through their Charters and attempts to do so can result in a serious backlash from the RT organization. (such as it is)

Likewise, the Inquisition harbors a general mistrust of the RTs and their so called "freedoms" to traffic in otherwise forbidden materials and deal with otherwise proscribed xenos races.

Anyone daring to try to bridge that divide would find themselves in danger from both sources. (while both also attempted to manipulate and use them to further their individual interests)

That said, my players' eventual Inquisitor is a man who belonged to a RT family but was low in line for inheritance, so faced little real resistance when he chose to serve the Imperium at a young age. As such things sometimes happen, however, years after the man had made Interrogator, and mere months after he was scheduled to be raised to the position of Inquisitor, a tragedy struck his family and he was left the soul surviving member of the line. (and least in direct succession, but the politics and whatnot are backstory not necessary here) So, to all appearances the man resigned his post as Inquisitor to take his place as the new head of his Trade family ... in actuality, however, he never gave official notice of resignation and still maintains his status as a member of the Inquisition. As I suggested above, the other RT families are leery of him and wonder if he isn't simply working as an spy to increase the reach of the Inquisition, while the =][= wonders about his loyalties in the face of his responsibilities as an RT; thus he is trusted by neither faction, but each sees ways in which he can be useful to them. (not to mention he commands a powerful RT carnival, which makes neither side want to outright denounce him) The man himself - a masterful manipulator and charismatic personage - uses his unique situation to play both sides of the coin and expand his influence.

In personality he is brash, brilliant, often seen as debauched and roguish, though a master orator and talented tactician. If you've watched the HBO series "Rome", I patterned much of his personality on the character of Mark Antony. (in fact, his name is Marcus Orelius Antonius)

In my campaigns this is the only individual to have done such a thing in recent history, (the last several centuries at least) which makes him unique in all of the Calixis, if not the Empire. The players, as the eventual acolytes of this RT, will find themselves embroiled in webs of intrigue between the two groups -which can at times be at cross purposes - which should add another level of complexity to their already interesting and difficult careers.

The only thing that comes to mind is 'unless the RT is poor and in need of something only the Inquisitor can provide the RT has ZERO motivation to become an acolyte'. He is already top of the heap and can do as he pleases.

Inquisitors can be 'put out to pasture' if a conclave to kill them won't succeed. Throw a warrant at him and give him they eye until he accepts and hikes his irritating rump off to the hinterland.

as writen in chapter one of rogue trader core book. (i think) yes a rogue trader charater could be played in DH he would likely be the richest man in the party getting somewhere around 1500 too 1700 trone a month. even so he will probly be one of the most down on his luck chars ever.

however there nothing said you couldn`t have a former acolyt (remember lvl 5 starting point) join or be a rogue trader you would have too learn some skills you don`t normaly get in DH too play RT but as a background thing there is nothing stopping you from doing it.

personaly between going into the scariest always close too death never whats going on moments for the ][ or goind it for personal glory and fame and riches and untold posibal power. i`ll take door number 2 in a hartbeat