For all the GMs out there,

In your campaigns how often do the Explorers defer to autority or actively look to the power blocs of the Imperium to solve certain problems?

When a xenos warfleet begins to swarm do your Explorers gather their allies and fight for their right to the Expanse or send a distress call to the Navy and slip away into the void?

When they discover a possible Traitor Legion Titan buried under tons of rubble do they investigate its inner workings, salvage it outright, or sent a full report from the Inquisition and wait patiently for outside experts to arrive and weigh in before taking action?

The above examples may seem pretty specific, and that's because they've both happened in my campaign over the past 3 months. Have any of you had similar experiences? Do your Explorers go it alone and make their own laws, or do they expect Imperial institutions to come to their aid?

Outside the boundaries of Imperial space, the Rogue Trader is Imperial law. As long as he doesn't do anything blatantly heretical, or contrary to Imperial interests, that Warrant means the RT can do as he pleases... and is expected to clean up his own messes.

In my campaign, the RT character has just reached level 6. Since we started with everyone as level 1 newbies, the campaign has been running for some time. In all that history, the players have done a "small favour" for the Imperial authorities on three separate occasions, and have yet to ask for help.

Cheers,

- V.

The closest my players ever came to requesting Imperial assistance was tricking the bulk of Battlefleet Koronus into meeting a waagh-fleet from 'Undred-'Undred Teef and looting the corpses later.

Never had it happen in our campaigns, however i could easily see that they might. A xenos fleet of warships gathering that is outside their ability to defeat would necessitate getting help of some kind (or diverting the ork waagh to take those xenos on). In that case it's either another rogue trader (which'd be costly), or the Imperial Navy ... who are already patrolling parts of the expanse and with a vested interest in expanding imperial rule there.

As for the titan: i doubt any of our players would ask for help with that. It's just too good a bounty to pass up. Making a deal with the Admech to give them the position in return for something the players want ... now that i could see happening very easy. Titans need specialised operators which take years of training, so they can't use it for themselves anywho. And any explorator aboard is likely to notify the admech if they don't trade for it.

Vandegraffe said:

I know that, and you know that, but for whatever reason my players forgot on those two occasions.

As for selling the titan off to the Mechanicus, something similar to that happened when the Explorers found several caches of biotechnology on a cemetery world. The sold the whole thing off to the Mechanicus and in the process sold out an order of Ecclesiarchy monks that had already settled the planet.