I'm new to Rouge Trader and I was reading through the core rule book and I don't really understand what the aim of Rouge Trader is... I GM both DH and DW and I understand that they both work for the inquisition if various ways but RT, I can't seem to find any definitive idea on what you do in the game. Can somebody please help me in this regard?

Also how compatible is the system with DH? I can see my group alternating between RT and DH so it would be cool if they were to play both sides of the rogue trader / acolyte relationship. Would this play well? Or would the differences clash and make a complicated mess of dice, blood and rubber shavings?

Contrary to DH, where the PCs are the inquiqition's servants, a Rogue Trader is basically free to do whatever he wants when he's out of the Imperium. Baisically, the players in Rogue Trader are treating the universe as their own private sandbox, to loot for whatver they're interested in.

Think pulp fictions exploration or the like. Usually th'yre poking their noses into untrovavelled places lookig for the chance to find something valuable to exploit for profit and fame. As a GM, you'll ned to dangle some rumors, tidbits and informations and the like in the hope they'll bite and follow the lead. Considering teh nature of the game, the need for repute (and teh general inpetness of the average NPC crew) also mens that they will have to get personally involved into whatver situations they'll find.

Disregard xenos, acquire currency!

The major purpose in life for most Rogue Traders is the accumulation of vast amounts of wealth, however you can run a more standard campaign quite easily as well.

The two campaign systems aren't particularly exclusive unless you're trying to include a character from one campaign in the other, but if you intended to have them come to loggerheads, you'd probably find the acolytes hardpressed to use their wider variety of skills to triumph against the explorers' resources.

So a good starting mission to get my RPers in the mood for it would probably be one where the RT of the group is new to the station and a good target for the first adventure would be something like a rare and valuable map has recently been rumoured about and the prize at the end is decidedly valuable, something like a tiny fragment of an STC or a damaged piece of archeo-tech that if repaired would possibly reveal the locations of several STCs?

Or not.... If anybody thinks of a more appropriate mission then please shout out

Personally I find the whole "Find an STC for massive wealth!" plotline a bit overdone and try not to use it in my games. Depending on how long the Rogue Trader's dynasty has been around, I like to play on their history; maybe a retainer of the old Rogue Trader arrives from the deep void, bearing with him the results of a mission that he had been set on decades before the PCs acquired the Warrant. Maybe a forgotten clause in their Warrant comes to bite them in the ass when the Inquisition (rightfully?) demands the use of one of the Rogue Trader's vessels on a mission. A new Rogue Trader needs to build a name for himself, either as a canny master of coin or a lord-militant capable of turning the tide of battle in his favour. Ask your players what they want to do. One of the most terrifying and fun aspects of GMing Rogue Trader is just how much freedom the players have to decide their fates. They're quite able to ignore any plot hooks you might throw at them and just fly off to the other end of the Expanse on a whim.

It doesn't have to be an STC - even coming back to report, say, the last resting place of a minor Imperial Saint, etc, would be valuable to the right people. Then you can profit by selling navigational info to the appropriate departments of the Missionaria Galaxia, or escorting pilgrim fleets out and back.

So something easy to get my players interested but nothing to cliche, like STCs. How about a clause in the will of the last RT of the ship that dictates that the new RT must complete at least one mission where the result benefits the imperium, such as aiding the ecclesiarchy set up new places of worship the Imperial Cult on new planets, or aiding the AD MECH in searching out interesting and unusual pieces of tech that will one day aid the imperium as a whole. Anybody got any more interesting ideas cause its way too early in the morning for me to be creative (it's like 07:15 am here in the UK )

Well, what characters do you have in the game? Tailoring this first mission to match the party make-up will help get them engeged. Even better, have two missions running, but which conflict with each other or with the personal prejudices of the PCs. Would you players enjoying setting up a smuggling pipeline? Or an apparently simple request to obtain a particular species from a backwater world, that turns out to be much, MUCH more dangerous than anticipated?

also, check your spelling at the top - unless party make-up has double meaning XD

I am running my campaign based around a Rogue Trader crew with inteludes for Dark Heresy and Deathwatch (these are interludes that relate to elements touched upon in the in the main campaign - a good way to tie up loose end and give clues to the major story arc happening in the background).

Arnu said:

WEll, in that case you'll have to incorporate the Inquisitor - how has he gotten such a hold over the RT crew? That could be your cross-over hook - the Rogue Trader gets tempted into doing something really really bad, much worse than merely smuggling - and the Inquisitor arrives to let him know that he's prepared to overlook this, on the condition that he does a few small favours for these acolytes, etc... transporting them to a planet where the RT has many political rivals, etc.

I don't have any characters set up for my group yet I was just going to get them to create some test characters and do the first mission then if they liked it they could create new characters (or use the test characters lol) and proceed from there of they liked it. I really have no idea how they will react to RT seeing as they seem to like the mission based system of DH and DW,the freelance feel of RT may make them mess around, and if I punish then for messing around then they won't play Rt lol they'll always insist on DH or DW. My PCs are noobs in the role playing world, my DH was the first RP many of them had done but they took to it quickly. Idk maybe I'm being too critical of thier behaviour.

Well, let us know how it goes

The Inquisitor has financial ties to the ship (and family ties to the dynasty a cousin/cousin in law to the family/unconfirmed which).

The Inquisitor ask them to do the odd job for him (nothing to major or illegal so far) and in turn they pass on any tidbit of information that they think maybe of interest (and of no real use to them)

If they do get too close to the Inquisitor then that may affect their dealing with others (which could be fun to play).

One of the upcoming interludes is based on discovery of a Cryo-crate that was accidently loaded on to their ship, it contained a Xenos creature). As there hands were clean they turned it over to the Inquisitor's agent. The interlude will be based around a Deathwatch team location and distroy the facility where it came from (the Xenos is a mock up of a Genestealer being manufactured for the Beast House)

In my opinion, the overall point of Rogue Trader is to say to your players "okay, this time, the story's in your hands. You can go whichever way you like." Two of the biggest limits of most RPGs are structure and expectations. Have you ever played D&D? When you start, you have a group of people who sat down to play a game, with a group comprised of people who made what they always play, and others who made what fills the remaining gaps. Then, they have to decide how they know each other, if they do at all. Do they immediately trust one another? They need to be in a place where a task needs doing, and while the big NPCs are busy screwing around with the other big NPCs, though the world is still in danger. We also often expect you to be good. There's an overarching plot, and it hinges on you making several "correct?" decisions.

Rogue Trader pulls out the rug, a bit. Here, you can be as good, or as bad, as you want. You actually have some of the best stuff in the universe, and the means to try to collect more of it. The group can start with a plausible reason to know each other, and THEY can decide on their missions, whether to spread the Imperial Creed, or line their pockets with ill-gotten gains from defenseless savages. Loot, pillage, sell people into slavery, or battle xenos scum, and enlarge the boundaries of the Imperium. It's all about giving the players considerably more freedom than they might otherwise expect, and Rogue Traders have more freedom in the grim future than practically anyone else. Even Dark Heresy and Deathwatch are different. In Dark Heresy, you are minions of an Inquisitor, or you are the Inquisitor and retinue, but you'll be running around, seeking out heresy, always on edge. Deathwatch is similar, where you play Space Marines, and invincibly battle your way through hordes of foes, but only because only you can. Both games are more grim, IMO, and focus a great deal on fighting and sneaking. Rogue Trader is different, with chances to fight and sneak, but also to evaluate, conduct diplomacy, initiate trade, and make tons of money. It feels a bit like an Empire Builder game, but it has great potential.

For working the three games together, DH is a lower power level game than RT, and DW is higher (DH-2-RT-4-5-DW-7-8, or so). I'd likely ignore Space Marines, so that they can stay the distant near-legends most people see them as, since they tip scales in combat. They also have their own mighty ships, and are often very busy out in xenos-crowded areas. DH is easier to get involved, and also vould be very profitable. Imperial troops often need transport, and RTs can provide that, some times. Inquisitors, and their retinues/underlings also need to get around, and they often use RTs and Charist Captains for this. RTs can benefit from following Inquisitors to interesting places, where valuable stuff might be found. The Inquisition cares little for money, so they won't likely take it before you, unless it's obviously Chaos or very xenos, and even then, the chance to keep a good relationship with his cabbie often gets Inquisitors to overlook "little heresies". The only little trick might be that Rogue Traders usually work outside the Imperium (where it's rules don't hinder them), while Inquisitors usually work within it (where its rules make them almost all-powerful), so having both in the same place often could be tricky. One fun could be a RT who failed to live up to his Warrant, and gave up the title, but has his ship, and hires on with the Inquisitor's group. He's have a ship, which they could use to get around, and he's a good build with leadership qualities. Dark Heresy into Rogue Trader, though, that's a bit harder for me.

@Everyone: thank you very much to those who posted and a little meh to all of you who looked at it and decided not to post.

@Drhoz: Finally got my crew sorted out, I have a RT ( obv lol ), a seneschal, a master at arms, a navigator and a void master.

Now that I have my crew and ideas for my first mission ( I plan on leaving the group to tell me what they want to do next, then coming up with difficult scenarios based on that XD ), I think I'm all set for playing RT. Any further suggestions it ideas are very welcome and I will be reading this page every couple of data to keep abreast of the news XD

If you throw enough hooks in the first adventure, everyone will have their own goals from that point on.

Nothings better then giving them an enemy who is more powerful then them and hates their guts, preferably with a german accent and a silly moustache to. Some one who they can really hate and lose to very often.

My rogue trader is currently trying to restablish her dynasty she's the last of her line and is constantly being hunted by the rogue trader who killed her father and crushed her empire. The first few games we played she only know of him and had never met him persoannly but he did send a couple of assasins her way and shes being spied on by certain members of her crew. When she did meet him in person it was on his terms, she was trapped surrounded by multiple cruisers and he stole her ship and blasted her out the airlock in nothing but a rusty old space suit. It took a dark pact with a demon to get her ship back. I'm planning on having her viciously crush this guy eventually but the alliances and choices she has to make are going to come back to haunt her and creat new enemies for her to ovecome each one more powerful then the last. Thats how you keep a game going think about it like a television show with each game being a weekly episode with both a wwekly problem to ressolve and a much bigger one thats slowly built up to the season finale. Don't be afraid of being rough with your players they should be scared of the people they face.