what should I as a brand new GM need to keep in mind or think about when running RT?

In most RPGs, the player might obtain a slightly better sword. In RT, the player is making decisions that affect planets.

The Imperium is a horrible, horrible place... but it is still preferable to the alternatives, all of whom are far worse.

Cuteness does not, per se, exist within 40k. Everything is Grimdark. Everything!

that's the thing, Planets. Whole SYSTEMS! how with a universe of options do I not get lost in the sea of possiblities? I mean what if I dangle oppurtunites for profit and plunder and they decide hey we just wanna go and raid trade caravans.

Then come up with exciting trade caravans for them to raid! RT is a sandbox, so be open to new ideas.

To an extent you can try and have some game hooks in mind, dangle them in front of your players, and hope they will bite. Sometimes however they won't bite. So inevitably you will either have to adapt something you've previously come up with for another purpose, or if that doesn't work, just wing it for a while. If you are not comfortable coming up with stuff on the fly you should probably have a small collection of standalone encounters or mini-adventures prepared. While I feel the campaign modules are otherwise a bit too linear, they do include a large number of optional encounters that you can use for this purpose.

After all, the players have money, a ship, and for the most part, they really can go pretty much anywhere they want to!

I've run the published adventure that comes with the GM screen and am beginning The Frozen Reaches with my group. FFG does a great job with their modules and I highly recommend checking them out. Oftentimes, they have a very simple main objective with a large open space to either side for GMs to play with. If nothing else, they'll give you a good idea on how encounters, endeavors and achievements should be rewarded and provide a wealth of enemies, adventure hooks and NPCs that you can cannibalize for your own campaigns.

If you are new to being a GM and new to RT then keep it very simple. Start out with basic characters and their equipment. Engage in a sample combat with a few adversaries. The first session should involve no earthshaking plotlines, just the basics.

I agree with bobh: keep it simple and even limit their abilities do to things you are not prepared for. Just give it to them plain and simple: you are just starting out and there's a learning curve. Right now you are only prepared to let them go this far and no further. Once you are comfortable giving them more freedom let them know.

I'd highly advise you to make a reference sheet for yourself & the players of some quick rules and modifiers (if you got the GM screen make it supplemental). I'd also highly advise you to make some sample characters and NPCs so that when one of your players takes you by surprise you can simply take one of those and tweak it a bit to the situation (leave out some skills so that you can fill them in on the spot appropriate to the profession/career they need to have). The key to good improvisation is to have a good basis to work off.

Last but not least: i'd agree with the players before the game starts that in those cases where you don't know the rules you'll make a judgement call and one of them is responsible for jotting down what kind of rule you need to look up after the game. It's seriously disrupting to gameflow if you need to reference rules all the time. As a beginning GM (and maybe also players) you'll need to get used to the system, so just let them know you'll make judgement calls for now and look up afterwards (you can always let them know the right rule at the beginning of next time's session). If there are rules lawyers among your players: use them for it but doublecheck afterwards ;-)

Zso Sahaal said:

One of the best tricks I've learned over the years of GMing is to listen to my players. Let them role-play planning their next move while you listen, and make note of any ideas that strike your fancy. If all they want to do is raid trade caravans, let them raid trade caravans. Throw down your prepared plot hooks among those caravans and wait for them to pick one up.

Sometimes, the best way to get a plot moving is to give the players something mysterious and let them theorize about what it means. Pick your favourite of their theories, add your own twists. Your players will be astounded at "your" creativity. The best games are the ones where the plot is a collaborative effort, whether or not the players realize they're collaborating.

Don't get too protective of your plot ideas. If the players aren't doing what you want them to, adjust your plot to suit what they want. I'm not saying you should bend over backwards and give them everything they ask for - no, no. But don't railroad them into your predetermined ideas either. If they buck the system, let the system get bucked.

Also, if you're worried about your ability to improvise when the players go off the rails, it doesn't hurt to familiarize yourself with various cliches of TV and movie storytelling. TVtropes.com is a great resource.

Steve-O said:

Quick note, it's also a massive time waster. Be prepared, bring a friend and set an alarm.

Improvisation should be usualy simple.

Take a story you like and distord it.

- Toy Story, some sevitor on the ship became taintied and are trying to flee the ship. They are vessel for warp entity or even simply spectral remnant of dead crews.

- pendemonium, the players awake from stasis after a pretty bad warp transfer, they have no idea how long they where there (stasis field coudl hlod on for centuries), the player find their ship is in total disarray, bands of deevolved humans roam the ship trying to eat them. The ship is in thruth crashed deep in a sea, on a eldar maiden world or any other world you can start from, where there is a population and you can fix the ship slowly, etc. They get back to port wander realise that their original ship just left few minutes agos (time paradox).

Those are just simple ideas. That is what Impro shoudl start as, then you can expend, the servitors where infected through a warp entity living in the hull of the ship, etc.

For starters too when improvising see the moment and describe it as much as you can without behing to overdramatic. Blue seeling ain't that important, but maybe the less clean attitude of the marine to the left and is quick straitening before entering the boss chambers, those usually create organic feelings. Also tell about facial expression, currious, unresponsive, distant.

Sometime a few simple details on relative npc make the story more lively and the players will expend on those by themself, quickly you will be creating whole details scenes with new and original characters. Somtime my players ask me why I did that part of the premade so wel and that part was ok. Then I tell them the part they liked was not in the book at all. Since it is my scene, I don't have to view it in my minds eye, it is there already, often start with looking at the NPC feet, then pan your view, so if you where to meet my Black Roses heretical Sister:

"Infront of you, you see this tall and powerfull built women. She is wearing a power armor painted black, with trimed red and pink edges. On her head is a torn corwn that pierces the skin, drawing little dropplets of blood, that mate her hairs back and give her face a very bright contrasted and lively appearence. She walks with a decisive stance, her bolter trained with her eye sight as if from a second nature.

- How you where able to infiltrate the second level of the tower of suplice is a mistery still but to have been abel to force the secret doors or the chambers of torturing pleasure, you are either very bright, a fool or a fellow servant of the pleasure god...

- heretic!

- I tough so, just a fool, now lets see if you like this", says she as she unbuckled the seal of her breatplate. A long clang as the plate falls on the floor and where shoudl have been the holy flseh of the Emperor Sororitas was a small near perfect visage[...]"