Ok a word of explaination first - I like the concept of Rogue Trader and own teh game and most of the supplements, but of the four Warhammer 40K rpgs it's teh one that least floats my boat.

I've been thinking about it and I think that the reason is that the Expanse has never "grabbed" me as a setting. I'm thinking it's *me* more that the setting itself so I was hoping that you (noble reader) could sell it to me. What's so cool about the Expanse? I could (of course) set my campaign in the Calixis Sector or even the Jericho Reach (with a bit of work) other than the work involved why shouldn't I?

What has the expanse got to offer? Why do *you* like it?

Nerd King said:

Because, contrary to Calixis, a Rogue Trader got his powers at 100% rather then being a 'tolerated' high ranking official with no real power when in the Expanse. Everything you discover there is yours by right, instead of being given to semone else by the Administratum in Calixis, it's sadnbox, so a GM can pretty much invent everythign and anything for the Pcs, while a more explored and colonised sector, while ahving lots of secret cracks, is pretty much known and not very much is left to be discovered.

Braddoc said:

(Playing Devil's advocate here) The same could be said of the Jericho Reach. Likewise I could (if I had the time and inclination) create a complete "homebrew" sector. What makes the Expanse stand out? Why should I want to set my games there?

There is no reason why a billions X trillions cubic light years of space is cooler then another unfathomly big area of space.

In theorie there could be lots of unexplored planets in the Imperium it self. The biggest reson why Koronus or Jericho? They are out of the main Canon and BL play area. So no one can come and break your sand box....

In other words, WHAT WILL YOU SELL YOUR PLAYERS? cause you are the DM it's your story put it wherever you feel but FFG made a nice few books to felsh out Jericho reach and the Koronus expense. And if you have both sets of books you realize they are very connected so you can very well endup playing in both sectors.

Just like there is splinter fleets of nids roaming the Imperium you could be hunting, billions of frontier world that haven't seen the light of the Imperium in decades or century.

40k happens in space and spans the galaxy so there is a near infinite number of possibility and of you ever reach it well there are nice neibhourg galaxy to explore.

The Milky Way has 14 known dwarf galaxies orbiting it, and recent observations[4] have also led astronomers to believe the largest globular cluster in the Milky Way, Omega Centauri, is in fact the core of a dwarf galaxy with a black hole in its center, which was at some time absorbed by the Milky Way.

Why Koronus? And why not Calixis or Jericho Reach? Let me answer the second question first:

As others have already rightly pointed out there's nothing in the Calixis sector for a Rogue Trader. While you have a ship and some special privileges you can't do anything there. Trade? Everybody with a ship and a permit can trade there. The battlefleet keeps piracy at a minimum, in short you can bore yourself to death.

Now the Jericho Reach is different. But it's still nothing where a Rogue Trader can make a fortune. In the Jericho Reach there is war. Trading with the Tau or Chaos Marines would be considered high treason, trading with the Tyranids is impossible, other aliens are sadly very rare and trying to plunder old alien ruins in the same sector as Erioch? Dude, set your engines to critical overload, that's less painful.

Now the Koronus Expanse. In the Koronus Expanse you are the master (unless another Rogue Trader with a bigger ship is nearby). Being there is risky, but there are also high rewards. You can plunder Yu'vath ruins, you can unearth lost human technology, you can trade with Eldar, Kroot and Orkz if you are smart, you can create your own planetary kingdom, the Koronus expanse is unlimited possibilities.

Or to make an analogy, the Calixis sector is the Old World, the Koronus Expanse is the New World and the Jericho Reach is Russia in winter during Napoleon's invasion.

If your group is focused on warfare, Jericho can be a decent place to play. Traders Militant are definitely a part of the war effort and do make a huge difference, though many of the powers that be (especially in the Navy) are loath to admit it.

But this does change the general theme of exploration and exploration of RT to a more warlike one, although the exact effects would be up to you. Despite what others say, the Deathwatch are not omnipotent and all knowing in the Reach, and there are plenty of opportunities for profit, plunder and outright warfare.

If your group has a powerful ship and a belligerent disposition Jericho is a perfectly serviceable setting.

Koronus is more the archetypical RT setting. And although you could create your own sector out of whole cloth...its not necessary. Nothing about the published info is immutable, and much of it serves as springboards for ideas and ventures. You can clip, change and add anything you wish to make Koronus match your desired setting...and on top of that the published info can be used to further enrich your setting with fluff details and background. Want to add a massive warp whirlpool in the center of the Maw where the two warp storms clash? Go for it. Add a mini sub-sector with its own burgeoning human/xeno empire? All up to you. A lost forgeworld? A string of maidenworlds inhabited by Eldar?

Koronus is what you make it, just with lots of information, ideas and solid information backing it up.

Basically, the question should be "Why NOT Koronus?" because unless you had a compelling reason not to play there, I don't see why you wouldn't.

Mjoellnir said:

I have to disagree somewhat with this statement: there is certainly less for a Rogue Trader in the Calixis Sector than in the Expanse, but not nothing . The Calixis Sector is a "frontier sector" by Imperial standards, quite young and with many, many undiscovered worlds. Much less freedom, but more opportunities for social interaction and political intrigue. So, I argee that the Koronus Expanse is the better starting point, but if someone really likes the background of the Calixis Sector, it can be a viable alternative.

And of course, there is no reason why a really big campaign can't sprawl across both settings...

My own Rogue Trader game takes place in a custom setting. The Sandillion Gloom; which is fringeward of my custom Dark Heresy setting, the Selveria Sector.

While there is nothing wrong with wanting to take a game of Rogue Trader into the civilized sections of the Calixis Sector or the wartorn salients of the Jerico Crusade, they don't quite capture the spirit and themes of Rogue Trader as well as an unexplored frontier region.

Not Jericho: to many wars, not enough possibility for profit as the wars that are there seriously threaten whatever you can build up. Plus you'd need special priviliges just to know about the gate leading there, meaning you'll prolly be on a short leash (rogue-trader wise).

Not Calixis: it used to be Yu'vath territory. Meaning that pretty much all that's not explored is likely chaos/warp tainted. It's an imperial sector already meaning that the inquisition is watching a lot more keenly there then it does outside of imperial space. You can make a profit there, but it's going to be a lot harder and you'll have to stay on the straight and narrow more then you would in the expanse.

Why the Expanse? simple: it allows you to carve out your own empire (can't do that in either the Reach or the calixis sector), it has a whole host of interesting races there (Kroot, Ork, Eldar, Human, Chaos, Rak'Gol, ...) meaning as a GM you can credibly create story-arks around all of them or mix them up as you like. It's low priority for a crusade atm meaning you can work your way up from scratch to owning a sector-spanning mini-imperium of your own & the limited accessibility to it means you can have a chokehold on trade should you want it (and who doesn't if he's a rogue trader).