I have been wondering this for quite some time and trying to come up with a satasfactory answer but I just can't seem to think of one.

In the online adventure Dark Frotier the players have Writ of Claim from the administratum allowing them to claim the welath of a wreck their going to search.

But I find myself wondering what the hell is the point of this document. If a rogue trader doesnt have one can they not sell the goods they aquire from a planet or space hulk?

Also I that were the case why would rogue traders fight over planets since only the trader with the Writ of Claim could get any profit out of it anyway.

Overall it seems like a very useless bit of info but I feel like it should play a more important role especially since its one of the resons rogue traders have to do things themselves and not just leave it up to their men, its a good excuse to force the players into not just having underlings do it for them.

Sorry a writ of claim is actually mentioned in forsaken bounty not dark frontier

In my games, a Dynasty has a number of obligations to the Imperium. One of these is to report any wrecked Imperial vessels they come across, along with any goods they may have 'reappropriated' from said ship. In general, I would say that you do require a Writ in order to claim any salvage rights for Imperial vessels or their goods, and may the Emperor have mercy on you if His Auditors should have reason to believe you've lied about your income.

Planets in the Expanse are a bit more of a thorny issue. The Imperium strictly doesn't care who rules the planet, so long as the tithes are met. Which is why you have the situation on Lucin's Breath. Both Dynasties have laid claim to the planet, both are ferociously plundering its riches while attempting to force the other off the surface, and the Imperium cares not a whit so long as the nephium shipments arrive on time.

If I remember the scenario correctly, the Forsaken Bounty was a lost Navy ship that was basically written off as not worth the effort of recovering. In this case, the writ of claim is a permission from the Navy/Administratum to make off with one of their ships. Doing so without the Writ, even for an RT, could get you into hot, torpedo filled, water very quickly.

Plasmafest said:

Righteous, thanks for clearing that up.

it is indeed a Wirt of Claim not a Writ of Salvage...

My Seneshal played a word trick on me on this one, well my seneshal did is job...

Same thing gose for the Battleship size ship in the Dread Pearl, any players wanting to salvage this ship will need a wirt of claim since it's not written off (in my game still in the book as honorary but still in) and the Captain alive (and some crew decendnant alto not acutal crew and could be tricked in writting this as official for a way off the ship, the mutants don;t really have any rights) means you can't claim it as a hulk (sea salvage rules currenlty in the 20th century).

Outside of the Imperium a rogue trader may do as he wishes. Inside the imperium his authority is limited. The ship in the adventure of which you speak is on the borders, maybe a legal grey area.

Also, the wreck is clearly a navy vessel. They own it. A writ of claim is a good way for a rogue trader to avoid any unpleasantness, its a concrete legal ownership of the wreck that they can use to settle any disputes.

Yeah. I can see that. I'm pretty sure any Navy ship, even if it's been gutted and the crew massacred, would still count in the technical, legal sense as being under Navy ownership. And if anyone was still alive, if the ship could be counted as an operating vessel of the Navy in any way, the ship may well be legally considered an extension of the Imperium. It's something that I would bear in mind should players decide to get creative. A Writ of Claim should clear things up - what you can take, what you can bill for, what you're not allowed to steal, that kind of thing.

I do the same thing with Pirate ships and such. Who says the damaged Raider and Transport ship they captured from some pirates wasn't owned by two other different Rogue Trader Houses. The Raider ship was lost over 4 decades ago, they wrote it as destroyed, and cheated the Navy/Administratum/Mechanicus out of Insurance/Compensation Thrones because they claim they were doing a specific hired job for that group. This means it is now legally the new RT's ship. While the Transport ship was written as captured by pirates a decade ago, and have a reward for anyone that recovers said ship.

Of course, the PC's could strip the Transport ship, and give it back. Or the Dynasty no longer has the funds for an reward, and is now the PC's ship. Or, the PC's never report either ship to the Navy and Administratum, but that means the Navy (and Rogue Trader's with Navy backing) will investigate aforementioned ships once they come across them in space/a docking station/etc..

I know they clarified some of these issues in one of the new supplement books, but I don't have any of my books with me. Getting RT withdraws here.

Hi:

Maybe checking the "reel world's" writ of claims, sent by queens/kings, governments, potentates & such in the Age of Exploration, would help? I believe the game's are based on such stuff.

16-17th centuries.

HtH

L