Heyas folks I'm kinda new to the 41k scene and some friends of mine want me to join them in a new RT campaign. I've been researching the lore and I'm really loving the setting, but I hate all the RT classes except for the Rogue Trader and Missionary. Problem is, someone already called the Rogue Trader slot(And she'd do a much better job at RPing the captain/leader than me.) and while mechanically I like Missionary, I can't RP a devoutly religious character. I like the idea of being a psyker, but it seems Astropaths and Navigators can't do the combat mage/jedi role like a Imp Psyker can. Again however from what I've been reading Psykers can get seriously broken in DH and porting one into RT seems like a disaster waiting to happen. So me and my GM are bouncing around some ideas to weaken Imp Psykers without totally crippling them. My main goal is to modify them to get a jack-of-all-trades build that will be fun to play,

The rough background for my character is basically that he's going to be a Witch-borned Void-Born who during a warp incident teamed up with an Ordo Malleus(Daemon hunters) Inquisitor and his acolytes to take care of a minor daemonic incursion. The Inquisitor gave my character a deal with the devil, become his or I'm off to the Black Ships. Queue montage showing me training and going on missions with acolyte team. Some time later a Rogue Trader pulled some strings to get a semi-permanent detachment to help deal with some of the crazy **** that happens off in the Koronus Expanse. The Inquisitor agreed with the understanding that the RT and her crew and ship may be called upon(with reasonable compensation) to run missions from him, Given my skill set, my Inquisitor thought I'd be a good choice to serve as a liaison between the RT and the team of red shirts he sent.

Right now, the general plan I patched together is something like this. Firstly I'll never be able to use material from Ascension and I'll never be allowed past Psy-rating 4. After DH rank 9 I'll be allowed to cherry pick from other careers at 1.5x cost if I can justify it. To represent my mixed training I'll be allowed to to use the Cleric's Characteristics Advancement table just flipping BS and WS costs. I'll be allowed to buy the Daemon Vanquisher and Witchborn(Perilous Choice) backgrounds at half cost. From there I have 4500 points to buy from the ranks 1 and 2 of Imp pysker, Demagogue, Ordo Sicarius Initiate, and Agent of Reliquary 26. I'll be given Melee(Universal) and Pistol(Universal) for free. After that I'll be buying from the Templar Calix of the Scholastia Psykana Table and psychic powers from the RT books as the game goes on.

So basically I'll begin play with some nice social and investigation skills but poor combat skills. I'll be issued documents showing that I'm an Agent of the Ordos Malleus and be allowed to name drop my patron. Still I'm technically not a sanctioned psyker so that flimsy cover won't be enough to stop zealots, there's no soulbinding to protect me, and I have to roll using the renegade/sorcerer rules. Hopefully that will be enough of a leash to prevent me from going overboard with my powers. For official Inquisition missions I'll be allowed to try and requisition reliquaries and sanctified gear and ocassionally be given nominal command of a group of red shirts. Eventually I'll be able to build up my combat skills, but hopefully I won't overshadow the rest of the players,

Thoughts, comments, suggestions? I really new to the lore of 40k, but I hope this scenario doesn't break what's true to that world. Does this sound like a reasonable work around to get a DH character into RT as a valuable member of the crew?

1. Take the Astropath Career.

2. Replace Soul-Bound with Rite of Sanctioning as a free starting Talent.

3. Allow him to start with any Discipline.

4. Play a balanced Psyker.

5. Apply a boot to your head for wanting your character to be anything remotely resembling the DH Psyker.

Morangias said:

Ah, that's not entirely fair, is it? While DH did a pretty lousy job with their Psykers, core or Ascension, wanting to have a character who is more a psychic weapon, and less a psychic vox box, doesn't seem a bad idea, even in RT; it's just that the powers in RT SUCK for that. I know that Astropaths aren't supposed to be offensive psykers, but hurling fire, or bolts of lightning, getting a Discipline that makes up for losing most of the Telepathy Discipline would be nice. Granted, I'm not saying it's there, because it's not, but it's a shame it isn't. Sort of hoped that one of the Alternate Careers would cover the combat-psyker, if not for the "discovery of power means years elsewhere, while they train you, so you're missing the game". Oh well. Overall, it would be better to do this bit, possibly minus Step 5. Start with the TK Discipline, so you can have offensive power, and see how it goes. Simple is often best, and if it doesn't work, then you can experiment.

Personally, I'll never understand why so many people are against this idea. While it is a well-known fact that people in the Imperium are terrified of psykers, and taught to be, they can be very useful. Any use an Imperial Guard force could have for a battle-psyker, I could see a properly oriented RT crew benefiting from, too. The IG watch theirs with Commissars; the party could watch theirs with Armsmen. If OW isn't going to collapse with NPC Commissars (or even PC ones) capping PC psykers in the head just for getting a nosebleed, I don't see how RT would be unbalanced by it. But, RT did their little bit of "each character type relatively covers ONE thing, and that's about it" and make it hard to extrapolate. Oh well.

Divination in RT is outrageously good for being a psychic Jedi. TK ain't bad either. The Astropath has medium costs for Strength, Toughness and Agility, and an easier access to Force Weapons, which makes up for a lot of investment in melee talents. If you want some combat Talents the Career lacks, you can buy them as Elite Advancements, or figure out an alternate Career Rank that's more choppy.

Had a bit of an epiphany "dee dee dee" moment while I was chatting with my GM. I've been trying to reinvent the wheel when mechanically all I really want to is a be Rogue Trader with a few psyker powers that isn't actually a RT in the roleplaying lore sense. So I'm keeping my background story of me basically being a Daemon Hunting Agent of Reliquary 26 sent to help the crew take care of some of the freaky crap that happens in space.

Big change is that I'm just going to rank up as a Rogue trader, no dealing with any of the Imp Psyker stuff from DH. However I'll be allowed to go up to Psy-Rating 4 and allowed to buy a limited amount of RT psychic powers and some of the anti-Daemon Faith Talents from Blood of Martyr at 1.5x cost. Also I'll be able swap a few things to learn Psyniscience, Forbidden Lore(Warp/Occult/Daemon), Trade (Armourer/Technomat) and the Frenzy line.

So, your idea of a Career progression is a guy with a lot of combat and social stuff, both psychic and Faith powers and a side dish of lore skills? Did you consider adding some Navigator powers and The Flesh is Weak to round it up a bit?

Whatever works for you and your GM, but personally I think it'd be much better for the whole team if you chose one forte and stuck with it. All-rounders either suck at everything, or you manage to find a twinked-out combination and actually own at too many things. The former sucks for you, the latter sucks for the rest of the team. Trust me, I've been there.

Morangias said:

It's going to be much more limited than that. I'm only allowed to buy 1 new faith or psyker power once every other rank. So even at rank 8 I'll only have a max of 4 powers. I'm not allowed to use psychic abilites fettered. I have to roll using the renegade/sorc rules. Also I can only use my force weapons and abilities against entities, daemons, and confirmed tainted people. I'm just swapping out Rogue Trader's Forbidden Lore(Xenos), Common/Scholastic Lores(Imperium, Heraldry, Astromancy, Imperial Warrants, Navy, Expanse) and Trade(Voidfarer) for skills that make more sense that for my character to have learned.

So really in the end I'm just a Rogue Trader with a bit of RP fluff that will come in handy every now and again.

At the risk of sounding somewhat rude, why not wait for the Navis Primer? I'm almost positive we'll get to see some fun new psychic powers for combat (and everything else) in there. It'll also add the Weirdboy, which is fun.

Personally, I've always liked the Navigator! They're my favorite career in RT, what with the whole "kill anything with a look" ability. Just hide behind the best armour you can find (and the rest of the party) and wait to get lucky.