So, I am a newly minted Rogue Trader, leaving for the Expanse with my ship, my crew, and my ambitions for wealth to make Aladdin shiver in awe. I screw around in the Koronus area for a time, rack up some money, some allies, and some enemies, and then, for whatever reason, I decide that I am a bit bored of the Koronus Expanse (perhaps I am mildly stupid, or maybe this one enemy is bigger than I like). Can I go other places, or does the Warrant specify a region of conquest (the Koronus Expanse, for instance)? Say in my travels, I heard that there is this relic out in the Maw, and that it leads to another part of the galaxy, where the Imperium is fighting another Crusade; if I were a military and patriotism-minded RT, could I persuade my way past Admiral Horne and Metis Base, and go do my RT thing in the Reach, with the Warrant I already have, or is it only good for the region of space I start in; the Koronus Expanse? It seems it should be a "go anywhere" card, but for the purposes of the game, they might want to keep you in the supported area, I don't know. It would seem that a few Rt-minded individuals could go far, and do well in the Reach, and the Jericho forces could benefit from some Rogue Traders, too, being stretched a bit thin. I could see less loyal individuals harvesting Nids, or their shells, maybe doing some illicit dealings with the Tau, or whatever, but the "good guys" among the Rogues could be a great asset, though I know that traffic through the J-M Gate is strongly restricted, and even most of the battling soldiery don't know where they really are.

Could the Reach be a good, higher-end threat zone for a party of Rogue Trader + Crew? Would it be a reasonable "next destination" for when the end of RT is looming in the horizon?

Yes, especially for Trader Militants. It's also a wonderful place to get completely decimated and lose your fortune, your life and your dynasty. As far as the area covered by the warrant, that would be detailed in the warrant i.e. completely up to the GM.

The Warrant says where you can or can't go. New warrant are usually precise but very old warrant are very vague. You can't really make a lot of profit in Imperium since well everything is either owned or direclty under a sector right to ownership (or of limit all together).

Warrant can be edited on extremely rare occasions, if you are daring or you have very powerful friends…

p.s. Basically check with your DM, does he want the game out of the Expense, will he be able to do it and have fun too, etc. OR it will become a work laod for him since he is not familliar and the game could just falter… Also check with your team mate, have they finished what thery wanted to do in the Expense, thier career, etc.

venkelos said:

One of the Deathwatch supplements has a page devoted to Dark Heresy and Rogue Trader games set in the Reach, and/or merging them with Deathwatch campaigns. So the game's creators certainly seem to think it a reasonable next destination.

Each warrant is different, and comes with its own requirements and conditions, but I don't recall reading of one which authorised a Rogue Trader to operate solely in the Expanse (I may have missed that if there is one). It is really up to the GM if he wants to use the warrant to limit the players' freedom, or indeed to set them loose with the entire galaxy as their playground. Their freedom to operate "outside the Imperium" could surely include the "Wilderness Space" between and even within sectors too, if you wanted it to.

So, I am a bit aware that some Warrants have interesting little "extras" on them. Some allow for the possession of IG units, while others might even describe a relationship with a Space Marine Chapter. In the later case, what sort of benefits might one be able to marshal? One doesn't bug Space Marines with little things, and they aren't so prevalent in the Calixus/Koronus area, to begin with, so they aren't so likely to save you at the last minute. I'm not too fond of the idea that you just so happen to be carrying an Astartes boarding team, and much of their gear is SM-only. So, what advantages might one have? In my fanfic work, I have created the Silver Raven Dynasty, a powerful organization led by a famous, elderly Rogue Trader, Edric Korvallus, who is looking for his would-be successor (if I was running a game, the party would either start working for him, and a few sessions in, one of them (the RT-in training) would receive the Warrant, or the group runs a section of it, so that I don't need to figure out where the PF goes, as Korvallus has a huge PF score, after 100+ years of mighty deeds in the Emperor's name). Now, say I decided that it might be cool to sneak in at the bottom, in fine print, a relationship of sorts between the Dynasty and a Space Marines Chapter (I was thinking the Raven Guard, for obvious, silly reasons; their symbol is practically the same, even). If they aren't one of the biggies, they don't have as much to offer, and even the bigger Chapters focus most of their efforts on their own deeds. Without having it impact every game session (it shouldn't; this is Rogue Trader), what perks might there be? Other than grabbing a Talent from Ascension, Oath Bonded to the Angels of Death (Ascen., p.117), or maybe just Peer/Good Rep (specific Chapter), I just don't see an obvious one, and I don't expect Rogue Traders to have so much more contact with Space Marines than other "regular" Humans do.

As for Guard, where would you go to collect a group of them? I know that some Rogue Traders can have them (some receive a group from the start, to use as they please), and use them in their endeavors, and that's the point of several ship upgrades/components, but say you want to carry a regiment (or a more reasonable quantity), to fight enemy hostiles on the planets you find, and claim in His honor, who has a regiment just sitting around, kitted, and ready to go, that they just give to you, as if they were sitting in standby, heedless of the fact that the Imperium is constantly at war with numerous foes, on multiple sides of the galaxy?

If we are talking about the Reach, it could be easily explained, and the Deathwatch book I mentioned suggests two possible ways. They run a little like this, if memory serves (though I have embellished the bare ideas somewhat):

One, the Rogue Trader has been granted an Imperial Warrant to operate in the Reach (something normally forbidden). They have effectively signed up for the Crusade. They are under military command and a Deathwatch Kill Team has been seconded to them. They are expected to act as taxi and backup for the Deatchwatch for the duration of their service, and so the PCs can have fun doing military-style adventures in the Deathwatch mould. At the end of their term of service they will be paid a hefty sum, and probably allowed to operate as they see fit in the Reach (a desirable state of affairs as not many Rogue Traders can do so). This situation presumably came about because they have contacts in the military, or the Crusade's commanders are actively looking to recruit Rogue Traders for this purpose.

The other option is that the Trader and his ship have somehow managed to wangle permission to operate in the Reach, got themselves into deep doo-doo and been rescued by the Deathwatch. In return for the rescue the two parties strike up a bargain so that the Deathwatch can call upon their assistance when required, and assign a Kill-team to the PCs. The PCs can go about their normal business, but will often have to divert from what they are doing so their Kill-Team can go and put some fire out somewhere, as the situation demands.

Some chapters (like ultramarine) have very deep ties to Navigator famillies and to some rogue trader family, maybe the RT dynasty made a sucessful blocade run (with a hold full of void onions) to save a world own by the Marine chapter, etc.

Many chapter have a high honor, they may assign a guard too said dynasty. Either as punishment, as a training in diplomacy (Ragnar int he space wolf books), a reward (to some very backward chapter, being able to see the universe), as a covert ops (Dark angel and many of it's successor chapters, "Whay are they on board Sir? - Shut up and row and never ask that question again"), as a reclaimer mission (any Space Marine artifact discovered should then be the chapters but they will provide support to the RT when ever he goes planet side)…

Etc.

crisaron said:

LOL Game of Thrones tidbit. Hehe. Love it.

In my game my guys turned it into a Trader Militant Warrant with the appropriate talent purchases. I let them raise a House Guard from their Homeworld with appropriate acquisition rolls and even adopt some natives into the regiment. At current they have nearly 200k with tanks and plenty of nice kit. Manpower is not the problem, neither is kit due to the way Acquisitions are. It's not getting yourself taken out while raising the force. Have the players be creative in their descriptions of where the troops are from and how they raised the force outside the normal PDF channels.

They also have a Space Marine Homeworld inside the Dynasty borders and the relationship with the Dynasty is more of equals. The dynasty imports food (all done in the background) and the Space Marines do whatever. The Dynasty can ask for favors (such as a squad to help clear out a Space Hulk they found, the current adventure) but the SMs are perfectly in their rights to ask for appropriate favors as well. Any relationship with a powerful imperial organization is going to be one of give and take.