I plan on doing a one shot game soon and I want to make sure the details line up. Trying to get a handle on where the Sector Governor's authority officially ends. Does the Sector Governor have official authority over the Imperial Navy or does he need to maintain his own private "coast guard"? Just wondering if there's any official word on this.

My initial impression is that Navy battle groups are sent in to the sector with a specific mission (such as patrol) and are not actually beholden to the Governor directly. Then again being the boss of a few dozen planets would seem pretty difficult if you had to raise your own fleet.

Any input is appreciated.

Garner said:

He does not have any official authority over the Imperial Navy. Any Imperial Navy in the sector gets its orders from the Segmentum Fleet Headquarters and its Lord High Admiral. Still, as part of the Adeptus Terra a Sector Governor (in contrast to planetary Governors) has some sort of "inofficial" authority or influence on certain Adepta, including the Imperial Navy. Apart from that, he needs to maintain his own "coast guard" in the form of intra-system ships and monitors. Laying his hands on warp-capable ships under his command should be difficult and almost impossible for reasons 40K-history has shown...

The Old Republic early invitation came out yesterday so I forgot to reply!

Thanks Luthor for helping reaffirm my initial speculation. I read about the Challiced Commisarat in the Acolytes Handbook and immediately thought up a one shot involving them boarding a vessel in orbit. The gambit being that the ensuing battle on board the ship has made certain evidence in danger of being annihilated. The Inquisition naturally concerned about various plots within the sector sends a team of acolytes via the Imperial Navy to the beleaguered ship to recover the evidence before time runs out. The battle between the ships defenders and the Challiced Commisarat actually acts as a back drop for a time sensitive adventure.

This was a question that I was asking for the first campaign I ran as well. I decided for the Sector Governor to take things into his own hands a little since Battlefleet Calixis is pretty small in general, and the Arbites fleet is event smaller. Along with the Chalice Commisarat, he also created Calixis Sector Customs Enforcement. It is a fleet primarily of sector defense ships that attempt to enforce the mandates of Lord Hax on the shipping within the sector. In addition, the CSCE also has a small fleet of warp capable customs sloops used to intercept Charist ships. The ship that the players were assigned to was called the Shard of Dispair. (Originially called the Shard of Purity).

Salcor

Ready to watch me make something up?

Okay, the easiest way to work with Marius Hax is probably to say he is an Inquisitor... That is to say he is, in no way an Inquisitor, but he uses a similar mechanic. The way I would do things is he has an Influence stat, like an Inquisitor and their retinue. In the Lord Sector's case, his Influence is a whopping 130 (Ascension, p.14, and detailed in The Ear of the Lord Sector influence talent, on p.118). When he needs to get the battlefleets of the Imperial Navy to do something, for example, he has to play Inquisitor, and make requests courteously (Influence tests), as on p. 15-16 of said book. One would deem his standing gives him some leeway against losing Influence for failures, but his stat is so high that it hardly matters. A few tweaks with Good Reputation (Imperial Navy/Inquisiton, various sector-based agencies) (for now), and any other silly Influence talents he might possess (sort of fun to talk about this as if he's a character, rather than an NPC who auto-succeeds by story need), and he pretty much CAN request anything he needs, with a high likelyhood of success. This is also why the Ear talent is so nice in game (and a variant could be cool for DW Inquisitors trying to kit up, if they are chummy with Lord Militant Tetrarchus, of the Achilus Crusade; the party can use his Influence, in place of theirs, and suffer big time if they still fail.

In this way, he does not have any on-paper ability to force his will on the Navy, or a handful of other agencies (the Conclave, for instance), but as a mighty politician, with tremendous resources, connections, and clout, he can pull strings, or spread garnishes, and browbeat, or politely obtain practically any services or requisitions needed, in the performance of his duties as a Lord Sector.

As for maintaining a standing fleet of his own, he can probably make said Influence tests against ships, like how Rogue Traders acquire new ones, and it would be just as hard for him. Doable, and necessary, but expensive, time-consuming, and rare. Most likely, he's got some pull with the Lathe worlds, and some of the ships they have been building are for him. Otherwise, he'd have to find the same "miraculously available relic ships" Rogue Traders seem to, and fight them over the table for such assets, before they get them, and his resources prove useless, due to the expanse of the galaxy. Sometimes, even being Lord Sector isn't easy.

I think Venkelos has some good points, though as a NPC I imagine the sector governor doesn't have to throw dice - the ST just decides what would make sense and be cool. They'd have a zone where their requests will be handled with certainty, and probably a zone where it depends on the circumstances. In the case of a Lord Sector, I have difficulty imagining anything they don't have at least a chance at succeeding. If a Lord Sector works hard at it and pulls all the strings at his disposal, I can certainly imagine them eventually starting the cause for a crusade or having their issue heard by the High Lords - sure, it will be very hard, but imo doable.

This is the system as far as I know it - essentially there is a two-way feudal relationship between the liege (the Emperor, represented by the HLoT and, by proxy, the adepti) and the vassals: local governors, whether planetary or sector. The local lords have some responsibilities towards the Imperium. It's basically the same feudal deal everywhere - recognize Imperial authority, supply the tithe when asked, and do not have dealings with the Imperium's enemies. There are some details, naturally, but these are the basics. In return, they can call on the Imperial adepti and the Imperial armed forces when needed. Now, due to the near-complete mess that is the Imperial system and the Imperium being pressed on all sides, they don't always get what they want - but chances are, if the Imperium hears that some governor somewhere just had an ork invasion, it will send some force - not to do so would not only cost it a world, but may lead other lords to start doubting if the arrangement is very good for them. As the sector governor, Marius Hax is a level above "mere" planetary governors. He is, in a sense, responsible for any s..t going in the entire sector - and just as he has a wider area of responsibilities to worry about (and, if things get bad enough, lose his head over), his requests will be taken a lot more seriously.

How should that work in the game? Well, imo if a Lord Sector speaks, Segmentum command listens, takes notes, and debates not whether it can or should be done at some point in the future , but how best to do it - ASAP. If the situation is dire enough and the relevant other channels have been pursued, I'd expect a Lord Sector can certainly call on nearby Space Marines or Adeptus Mechanicus forces with very good chance of receiving their aid. On his own end, he has some authority over the PDF and enough naval forces to regulate shipping, possibly minor piracy and perhaps slow down any more serious problem until the cavalry arrives.