Hello, I'm very new to Rogue Trader and had a couple questions regarding acquisitions and armor.

1. I noticed on page 111 of the core rulebook, it talks about item availability and commerce or inquiry tests to see if the area the explorers are at even has the item they're looking for. There is however, no mention of these tests on page.272 when talking about making acquisition tests, so I am a little confused as to how exactly to have the explorers go about purchasing items. Will they always need to make a commerce/inquiry test based on the charts on p. 111 before buying anything, or is that not how it works?

2. I also noticed that there are no restrictions on which armor type different careers can wear. So my question is why would anyone ever go for anything less than power armor? Or, since the whole power supply thing exists, perhaps it would be more accurate to ask why everyone shouldn't just go for full storm trooper carapace armor? Are there rules I'm overlooking somewhere making these things unusable for certain careers?

Thanks in advance.

Without the rulebook in front of me, I can't really answer the first question there.

As to the second, there is no reason whatsoever… except the single most important reason to do ANYTHING in Rogue Trader - being cool.

I mean, sure, full carapace armour is good. No denying. But what about the seneschal who wants to go into battle with nothing more than a pin stripe suit, a data slate full of warrants, and a needle pistol? Or the Arch-militant who spent part of his youth in a death cult and still prefers nothing but synskin? My personal Rogue Trader distained armour, considering armour to be worn only by those that don't believe the God-Emperor would protect them from harm.

Mechanically? Anyone can tromp around in power armour. Stylistically? If it's cool, go for it. If you have to shoehorn armour in to your character design? Not worth it.

1. Yes, you have to make a Commerce or Inquiry Test to see how long it takes you to find someone who should be able to get you the item in question. You then make an Acquisition Test to determine whether your Dynasty's resources will cover the purchase.

2. There aren't any rules to prevent you from wearing the best possible armour, so it largely comes down to style. Personally, I tend to reward players that stick to their character concept. Without some good reasons why, a zealous Redemption priest is going to favour the traditional red garb and eviscerator of his order rather than clomping around in terminator armour, and is going to get less experience/rewards.

The other thing to keep in mind is the social implications of different armor types.

Carapace armor does not go over well at big social functions or in any civilized location. Wearing carapace means you are looking for and expecting trouble. This is going to make enforcers, criminals, and any other group take notice and keep track of you. i.e. there should be in game consequences to the group of super rich guys strolling down the road in military grade armor.

There is also the question of any local laws that may come in to play.

I use severe social penalties to counteract the overuse of heavy armor and big guns. Most of my players tend toward the style is more important than numbers philosophy, so it's usually not a problem. The other side of that coin is that I do not outfit enemies to counter the party, I outfit them with the equipment that would be appropriate for them to actually have in setting.

Ok, I think that answers my question about the different types of armor. I suppose I just wasn't thinking about it in role playing terms. Thank you.

As for the other, I'm still not quite sure I understand. You said that yes you do need to make a commerce/inquiry test to see how long it takes to find someone that sells the item for every purchase the explorers make, but what about the availability of the item based on population (the other table on p.111)? I suppose the way I should have phrased my question in the beginning is "How many tests are needed when the explorers want to obtain a new item via acquisition?" Is it 3, One commerce or inquiry test to see if the item is available where they're at, One commerce or inquiry test to see how long it takes for them to find the person selling it, and finally the actual acquisition test to see if they can afford it?

Process of Acquisition:

1. Make a Commerce/Inquiry Test to find someone capable of providing you with the item(s) you're after. You can choose to make another Commerce Test to reduce the length of time by one step, otherwise it's assumed that your retainers are seeking out the items for you.

2. Optionally, make another Commerce Test opposed by Commerce/Scrutiny to increase your effective Profit Factor.

3. Make an Acquisition Test.

Ok, thank you very much. Makes it a lot more clear. You'd think that they would have put these two entries closer together in the rule book, or at the very least made mention of one another and referred back to the table on page 111 while in the section about acquisitions or something.