I'm a little confused about how the Rogue Trader dynasties fit into the structure of the Koronus Expanse (and the Calixis Sector).

From my reading, it seems that the Warrant of Trade grants a RT a license to operate warp-capable ships in the Expanse. Does that mean that there are no merchants or other non-RTs that are allowed to operate warp capable ships? If so that would imply every human ship in the Expanse either belongs to a RT or the Imperial Navy. If not, then what purpose is the Warrant?

Another question is how many ships does a Warrent let you have? It seems from my reading that a RT can simply pick up an additional warp capable ship and add it to his fleet. If so, why doesn't he just allow a large fleet of merchant ships to operate under his warrant and pick up a % of their profits? Wouldn't RTs be bombarded with requests from merchants to piggy back onto their warrant? This type of setup would seem to undermine the uniqueness of the Warrant and of RTs in general -- in fact a RT could sit back, do nothing and just let others do all work.

Finally, is the setup any different within the Imperium? Are there RTs there also?

Thanks in advance for helping me understand this better!

A Warrant is far more than a License to operate in the Expanse. It's equivalent to a diplomatic passport now- someone who holds one, and usually his subordinates have a get-out-of-jail-free card for virtually anything (they can ignore local laws, sector laws and most Imperial laws, should they wish). I bring this up primarily to point out that strictly speaking you don't need a license to trade/explore the Expanse, you need a license/writ of immunity from certain crimes that are pretty much inevitable outside the Imperium: trading/dealing with xenos, and trading/dealing with non-Imperial humans, for example. This doesn't prevent numerous Imperial noble and trading houses and cartels from sending ships Out There, either just beyond the border to, say Footfall, to make trades the Imperium would frown upon (with each other, or with returning Rogue Traders), or as full on missions to Boldly Go and profit where none have profited before.

If they're purely doing resource exploitation out there, then there's no legal trouble. Even if they do do something contrary to the Lex Imperialis, they need to be caught (and the Navy really doesn't have that much strength out in the Expanse. Even Port Wander is generally over-stretched to mount a really effective customs inspection system). The only real issue is that without the Warrant to cover them, there's less they can get away with arming their ships with (and if there's no Lex Imperialis, and little-to-no Naval patrols, they'll need it to protect themselves and their claim from pirates and other cartels, houses and dynasties).
This doesn't stop people, of course, and points out also the extra profitability for pirates and privateers in the Expanse, with comparatively less in the way of risk.

You do make a good point about the advisability of "piggybacking" on an existing Warrant. The limiting factors I can think of would depend upon the exact wording of the Warrant (potentially a limitation on the total tonnage, a requirement that the Rogue Trader be "present" for the legal protections of the Warrant to apply), but some things to bear in mind would be that the Imperium as a whole is set up as a federated feudal system. This would be reflected in documents like many Warrants of Trade, with the result that a) to benefit from the Warrant, it may be necessary to become a vassal of the Warrant Holder (which would mean more than simply giving them a % of the profits- closer to giving up your ship, assets and independence in return for protection and probably a % of the proceeds. There would likely be ways around it, but they'd depend on the language of the Warrant, and be too complex to set down here) and b) anything covered by the Warrant is done in the Bearer's name, and as such is his responsibility. All it'd take is one ship to haul genestealers to an Imperial planet, or try and summon a daemon (or even carry a Halo artefact), and the Inquisition can come down on the whole **** Dynasty like a ton of bricks.

As for the stay-at-home Rogue Trader- well, there's nothing preventing that happening now, except for the whole "reputation" thing. And that's a big point in any feudal system.

In Imperial space- sure there are Rogue Traders. They have a license to go (almost) anywhere and do (almost) anything, after all. The majority of shipping, however, is owned or licensed through the Administratum as part of the Civil and Merchant Fleets. There's a good work-up of that in WD139/WD140 (or, in the likely event that you don't have access to vintage White Dwarf mags, a just-about passable version is here).

To add to what Alasseo stated, there are also "Free Captains" (pg 315 RT) who trade in the fringes of known regions/sectors. Mind you, trading in illegal and heretic items would get them killed and their charter revoked, but hey, who doesn't live on the edge in Warhammer 40k?

There are also "Pirate Captains" (pg 314 RT), Merchant/Mercenary Escort Captains, Adeptus Mechanicus ships, Administratum ships, Inquisitor ships (Black Ships , and even Adeptus Arbites ships (pg 84 BFK), though the last entry is a rare event indeed.

As for how many ships a player in RT can have, well, that's for you and your players to decide. Obviously at the beginning you will probably have 1 or 2 ships, depending on how expensive/cheap you go, but after that it's all about what your Dynasty can afford to sustain/upkeep. Higher PF, the more likely you are to have extra ships owned by your Dynasty. Though the catch is, are they busy doing stuff that allows you to have that high PF? Take them off that Trade route your Dynasty has kept for hundreds of years, and poof, their goes 10 PF or so. Any and all ships you do acquire will have to be reported to the local Navy office, or risk being blown out of the sky (or confiscated with your crew killed because it was owned by another Dynasty who reported it stolen) with questions asked later. All of the stuff I just mentioned are pretty much House Rules, and can get pretty in-depth. Just browsing through the forums can help answer some your questions, I'm sure. Best of luck to you.

Forgot to mention that their are also "Sub-stellar" ships (pg 317 RT), which will make up the bulk of the ships you come across around civilized "Imperial" worlds. Heck, I'm sure Port Wander and Footfall both have a decent amount of sub-stellar ships owned by mining companies, ship-yard owners, local merchant houses, criminal underworlds, etc., floating around conducting business with the next wealthy looking Rogue Trader that enters the system.

Tron_18 said:

Large dynasties like Winterscale and Chorda have a fleet of merchantmen of their own. They must do, to maintain all their operations. I don't imagine Calligos Winsterscale personally delivers the output of his planet-wide Nephium business by flying it around in his Grand Cruiser. It is said he splits his time between managing the affairs in his realm, exploring the Accursed Demesne and Cinerus Maeficum, and hanging around in seedy dives. The Nephium mining business is just one example we are given of how he makes his money. There must be others. If he had to personally deliver all that stuff it wouldn't give him time for anything else. That's what minions (in minion ships) are for. "Dynasty Transports" are explicitly mentioned in the section on Lucin's Breath. And if large dynasties have a fleet of transports, seems reasonable that small ones must have at least a few.

That's how I plan to handle it when anything like this crops up in our game. I see the Rogue Traders like the great explorers of the Age of Discovery. The players' job is to go out into the unknown and discover new avenues of profit. Once they have had the adventure that sets everything up (and perhaps done the run once to establish that it is viable), the enterprise moves into the background and the dynasty transports (or sub-contracted merchantmen) take over. I'm not going to expect the players to personally fly every cargo in and out of the Expanse, it would get a bit boring (unless they really want to). They won't need to worry about their old schemes until there is some kind of hitch with them that needs fixing, though they will be reminded of a how their enterprises are getting on every time we have a "grand sit down" to discuss how the dynasty is doing.

From Edge of the Abyss:

"Winterscale's fleet runs the gamut of vessels from seedy tramp freighters and lurking raiders to huge mass conveyors and everything in between…

…Calligos prefers to commission or employ "independent interests" for his tasks, and thus the ship flying the Winterscale flag that shows up at a port may not actually be a dynasty vessel. Therefore the size of his fleet is constantly in flux, making it impossible to estimate Winterscale's true strength. Perhaps that is his goal."

So clearly he does exactly the thing you were talking about.

Tron_18 said:

Most warrants wouldn't have any limitation on the number of ships, but that doesn't mean that the RT can just snap his fingers and a fleet of vessels will sign up to hand over 5% of their profits to him. Most ships out there will already have a profitable business running charter jobs or whatever inside the Imperium. Most won't be all that anxious to give that up just so they can dive into the deadly warp-tides of the Expanse. Those who do feel so inclined are going to sign up with someone powerful like the Winterscales, someone who can provide them with security and regular business. This does not describe the average PC Rogue Trader.

Most Non Rogue trader captains are some form of what is called "chartist captains" These Captains and their ships service known or existing interests. The key difference for a Rogue Trader is that he is expected to prospect for new resources and interests and create profit from them. Many chartist captains do not even employ navigators because they use well charted calculated jumps along know stable routes. The Rogue Traders Legal immunity stems (originally) from the Emperor himself, who recognized that these explorers would have to operate outside of normal Imperial strictures just to do what they were intended to do!

The bulk of warp-capable Imperium ships are from one of the three fleets:

• The Battlefleets
• The Merchant Fleet
• The Civil Fleet

The Battlefleets are the warships of the Imperial Navy. They pretty much operate like how you would expect a Navy to operate except that they have no logistic wing within their structure. They do not have ground forces (marines, naval infantry, or similar units), but they do operate the equivilent of the Imperium's air force.

The Merchant Fleets are transport ships which ship which carry official cargo or people between worlds within the Imperium, essentially a state owned shipping company, provinding most of the Imperium's logistical infrastructure. Usually it is the Administratum (or a branch of it) that arranged their cargo. These ships are either fleet owned or ships whose owners have sworn an oath of freaty to the Merchant Fleet (these owners are Chartist Captains). While these ships are almost always armed, all of them primarily cargo haulers, lacking the combination of speed, maneuverability, toughness and firepower at the expense of being able to carry more goods. Like Naval ship their ability to travel worlds or even sectors is dictated by their sail order - usually determined by the cargo they need to carry.

The Civil Fleet are the civilian owned ships, these ships can range from ragged pilgrim ships to opulent noble star yatchs, and is not truely a fleet as it has no overall command structure. The owners of these ships are Free Captains and unlike state ships are resticted in their range of travel. Most of these ship (but not all) are non-combat ships, and they must purchase a right to travel for each interstellar route they use. The main function of this "fleet" is to maintain a register of all civilian owned inter-stellar ships. In times of war, these ships may be officially activated for the war-effort (Officially, this seldom happens due to the hassle of the paperwork, unofficial comandeering is more likely). It is very likely that ships owned by other organizations in the Imperium are registered to this registry for identification purposes. Free Captains usually ply their trade along less travelled routes not serviced often by the Merchant Fleet or routes that cross segmentium or sector borders where the paperwork makes using the Merchant Fleet troublesome.

Other than the three fleets, a few other organizations do operate warp-capable ships for various uses, including:

• Adeptus Mechanicus: Exploration, Ship building, Testing, Transporation, Warfare
• Rogue Traders: Exploration, Trade, Transportation, Warfare
• Space Marines: Transportation, Warfare
• Adeptus Arbites, Adeptus Astra Telepathica, Inquisition, etc: usually Transportation, sometimes Warfare

Note that of all these, only a Rogue Trader is allowed non-violent contact with non-human races, even if many of these organizations can operate outside Imperium space. This is seen as a necessary but unpleasant duty (sort of like garbage collection) by polite company in the Imperium, necessary for their role as precursor reconnassance in preparation for solonization or conquest.

So, as I am feeling simple, and am more a visual learner, WHAT is a Warrant, physically?

1. Is it a virtual file, or some ancient piece of literal parchment, hopefully kept in a vacuum-sealed box?
2. Where is it kept? Is it safely stored on, please GE Earth, and can be brought up via a file search, or is it sitting in the Captain's stateroom, meaning that if the ship is lost, the ancient, nigh-priceless document is lost?
3. Lastly, who does the RT need it for? Most people they meet (aliens, Cultists, and pirates) don't care if you have a document saying you can cause them trouble, and even another Rogue Trader is as likely to size you up, and see if they can get rid of you (another competitor), to make their lives easier. If you rarely return to the Imperium (the Expanse, and other outside places are your realm of profit), no one will ask to see it.

Any assistance on some of this stuff would be great.

venkelos said:

According to fluff and House Rules, it can be all of these. It can be digitally stored in the Captain's Baton, a parchment the RT carries, kept in a stasis vault on Holy Terra, etc. I'm sure copies/originals of these treasured documents are kept within the Dynasty's homeworld "House."

venkelos said:

According to page 321 RT, it is required for safe passage throughout Imperium Space and beyond. Most of known / explored space is controlled by the Segmentum Fortressess / Imperial Navy and only ships with the above mentioned Charter's can operate in these regions. Rogue Traders, by virtue of their Warrants, are able to travel freely outside known space and act in accordance within the warrant granted to them. So, say a ship the RT owns (and he/she might be on it, or might not be) is traveling in the void and encounters a Navy Patrol, enters an Imperial Port, Sector, shipping lane, etc. If the RT ship(s) isn't registered, they will flag it as pirate and attack it. If the ship is registered but out of it's jurisdiction, they will flag it as pirate and attack it. What happens if it's registered under another Dynasty's House other than the one occupying the ship? Well, that's for you and the players to decide I guess. Of course, this is where Profit Factor probably comes into play. The higher the PF of a RT House, the less likely the Imperial Navy is to mess with your ships as long as they are not doing anything too heretical. Refer to Hostile Acquisitions, Chapter 1, Crimes Against Humanity for more information.

I don't believe it stated in any of the books that no-one ever asks for a copy of your Warrant. I know it doesn't explicitly state they do ask to see it, but nor does it state that they won't ever ask to see it. GM discretion is advised.

As for Pirates, Heretics, and Aliens caring about your Warrant? Well, maybe your PF can speak more to their liking. Or not….