Hello All!

So, first time on these boards- visiting from over in the Dark Heresy Forums with a bit of a request for help. Never Played Rogue Trader before- not quite sure what motivates them save for Profit, Exploration and Survival (Perhaps in that order?) I figured I would ask the experts how YOU would resolve or handle this situation!

The Story so far (For you Rogue Traders):

So you're a rogue trader whose fallen on Hard Times- made some bad deals with some bad people and fallen into considerable debt. One day you meet this syndicate who offer to fix your problems if you'd do them a small favor. And I indeed, the favor is small and insignificant enough that you reluctantly accept the devil's bargain. But your problems are not so easy to fix- and more are popping up by the second: if the syndicate was able to fix the first, maybe they'll fix the second and the third as well. More bargains are made- more small favors are exchanged… but more problems keep popping up. Now as a Rogue Trader, you're still intelligent- and investigations, started before the first bargain was made but too slow to stop that decision, begin to surface: disturbing information on the syndicate and the "people" running it (rumored to be horrendously vile xenos….)

But its too late to do anything about it now- soon, you find yourselves in the Calixis Sector, on a dying, decaying planet Called Sinophia Magna, needing to do one more "favor." Wit the syndicate's previous agents murdered, you've been asked to handle estate and recover 13 artifacts linked to the Haarlock Legacy- one of which is already in the possession of the Syndicate Overseer on the planet and another stolen from the previous agent's (from now on "Legate Dole" )possession before he could deliver to the Overseer.

One day, as you're pondering how your going to go about your mission in the central travelers hub in Sinophia, a group of rowdy characters walk to your table asking for your help: they want a bit of information in order to track down the Legate Dole's murderer. Likely Bounty-hunters or private investigators or some such- you give them a bit of information, but decide to use this to your advantage instead and recruit them at the Task of finding the Artifact- A Pendant (His and Hers pendants, of which the second is already in the Overseers possessions)- With a reward of about 10k thrones and perhaps more information upon their return. They leave, optimistic with their chances of finding the pendant, leaving you looking forward to their return.

Its early morning when you get the call- a cold and clammy voice slithers out of the vox, sending a chill across your spine. Whoever… or whatever… it is has a strange, inhuman accent and despite an emotionless tone, you can feel its anger seeping out, threatening your physical well-being and your sanity. It seems the Overseer has been attacked in the night- four men and a woman- raided his "Lair" and stole the pendant left in his possession. Get it back- without betraying its importance, or else…

Based on his description- you recognize the group you'd met yesterday… Heading off to the Turning Hand (where you'd met them), you find them sitting there waiting for you. A bit of discussion over, and you offer them the reward, as agreed upon, for the pendant (They couldn't know that it wasn't the one that they were originally after…) But they remain evasive- not wanting to sell, before turning Greedy. 25k EACH! You wish you had that sort of Cash- maybe than you wouldn't have made the damned deals with the syndicate in the first place. In any case, its just a damned golden pendant- can't give that much for it or they'll get even MORE suspicious- bad enough that they probably know about the Overseer: they've been hinting at the existence of the second pendant- they want you to slip up, to blackmail you maybe?

Thats when he walks in- the Venerable Father Vornes: the Overseers personal voice- he moves with an eerie stumble, almost as if he can't hold himself together: its quite disturbing. Slowly but surely, he takes a seat near you- completely ignoring the bounty-hunters/detectives. He leans in close and whispers something in your ear- with the same cold and hungry voice. " Recover the pendant… One way or the other… remember whats at stake. " And then, right before leaving…. " They are Inquisition. "

At which point, your stuck between a rock and a hard place. And no way out- Venerable Father Vornes is virtually always at your side- if not on your ship. You offer them one last chance: 20k, from your own pockets. They refuse. Whats left do now? For all you know, they've likely branded you a heretic already- dealing with creatures like the Overseer, trafficking in Haarlock Artifacts (likely warp-tainted…). There was just the five of them there- getting rid of them couldn't be that hard, and the Syndicate would likely contribute resources- that would solve that problem.

Then again, maybe they could help you out of the jam? Slipping them some information to tip the balance might get the Syndicate off your back. If anybody could get you out of that mess, it had to be the Inquisition- assuming they don't purge you first, right?

Not to mention, whoever killed the Legate was still out there. What if the Inquisition was responsible for that?

Standing up, you head back to your private shuttle to meet up with your crew aboard the ship- Maybe they would know what to do, and maybe it was time to start listening to their advice.

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Gamemaster's Information (For those that want the Technical Side of things):

So, to those that managed to sit trough that- therein lies the situation: The Rogue Trader is in trouble- and by extension, so am I! The acolyte cell has deemed the Rogue Trader Heretical BUT they don't want to deal with the Paperwork of a trial or formal accusations. Instead, they've elected to exact the Emperor's Justice themselves and snipe her from afar.

How would a Rogue Trader go about protecting themselves from such an attack? I've always assumed she travels by private shuttle, even planet-side ( I can't believe those things are that big, could likely fit in between a streets.) What about a crew?

The players are likely to try a double-sided attack- but their plan is… simple… but they want me to make it happen. In essence, they are going to wait (One of them in a street corner with a couple of bolter pistols, the other atop a building with a bolt-carabine)- and just shoot her when she walks by, reducing her to pulp.

Is there anyone aboard the ship that could stop such a cowardly attack? I know Navigators are Psykers- but they aren't diviners, and Rogue Traders don't really have access to those. What about assassins with Rapid Reflexes that could throw themselves in-front of a bullet- or some sort of Explorator-provided force-field?

On the one hand, I don't want it to appear as if everything is designed to block the assassination attempt- but seeing as I wasn't particularly expecting them to deal with this part of the game at this time, I didn't even stat HER out! (Well, there's a basic template in a book I could have used if they had pulled the guns out straight at the table.) But generally speaking- she needs a crew from scratch.

What security measures would you take given the circumstances?

Thanks!

I wouldn't take any "precautions." After all I'm dirt broke and not even truly a Rogue Trader anymore.

My personal calculations of ship cost for a rogue trader ship. Based on the Idea that it's similar to an aircraft carrier and that 1 throne = 10 USD (decent conversion I think) A typical freighter is 2.6775 Billion Throne. His warrant of trade itself which is described as (priceless) could of course be sold for something as well, 200 Million Throne wouldn't be out of the ballpark.

*Rant about Rogue Trader system* I think part of the reason for introducing profit factor in the system was to keep players from becoming cyborgs with 20+ implants at level 1 because really they do have the money to do so. I remember how much I looked through the Dark Heresy book figuring out what I wanted to buy when I was comparatively broke. I can imagine how much worse it would be if you allowed players to literally buy anything, even with the problem of finding someone to sell it. Although when I finally get around to running my game I'll do my best to run it that way.

I digress. If I was the Rogue Trader and I had any way to do so at all I would grab my warrant of trade and run. If I have to hide in the sewers with the mutants for months to break off the alien pursuit so be it that's where I'd go. If there was an alien tracking device in my body I'd risk the surgery to get it out. Then I'd take the 3-5 years necessary to travel sufficiently far such that I don't have to worry about being pursued. Talk to another rogue trader and get a new Identity, work under him as a trader. My objective would merely be to run away.

A Rogue Trader without at least 500 million thrones isn't a rogue trader.20% down on a ship . I'd have a speech handy in case I got caught though blaming all my problems on the vile Xenos scum. Claim they must have bewitched me with arcane artifacts to make me buy 10,000 tons of calexian seashells. No one would buy them. They had such a high value when they were rare but how many seashells do people need? I would never have made such a mistake on my own. etc.

Otherwise I would go around pretending to try to hire mercenaries that I can't afford. Pass off a notecard to the heroes that say's "Save me" if I walk by them. Normally a rogue trader would go around with guards but since he's so destitute just make them scum in rags with naval shotguns. If he survives the ambush by running away have him report to the authorities that he thinks they killed the noble guy in order to take his valuable artwork. Readily admit he wanted the artwork as well. He's a collector of that type of artwork. It's only considered valuable to a select few but has great sentimental value to him. That type of artwork originated on his homeworld.(lies obviously)

Hey!

Sorry about the delay- University started again and all that, and six classes a week is quite a time-drain!

Hmmm, So I realize I completely screwed up the scale of resources allowed to these guys- but, understandably, introducing 125k Into a Dark Heresy game is… slightly… horrendous. On the other hand, a quicker or cleverer person would likely have found another way to Siphon off these funds from his players without it seeming too crazy- after all, there's only so much you can spend it on in Sinophia Magna.

Running isn't an option for several reasons- of which the main one is the Xenos thats right there, holding the Rogue Trader's life in the balance. Lets call her a Trader now, not really a "True Rogue' Trader anymore, you're quite right about that.

So generally speaking, you'd advice running away- or taking steps to ensure an escape. That implies two things- 1) Freeing herself from the Xenos and 2) Freeing herself from the Inquisition.

This would be possible IF she manages to get them to fight each other. This is likelier easier to arrange by having her contact the players with more information on the Xenos, on the pendants- on pretty much everything.

She's unlikely to do that herself though, sending instead members of her crew while she does her best to locate and purge her body from the Xenos worm-spawns.

I like the idea of pleading bewitchment as well- washes her hand of things.

Now to stat her up and her crew…

Saldre said:

Yes the RT would travel by shuttle to certain hanger bays, starports, docking areas, etc. But to travel from street to street they would normally (an average to rich RT anyways) do it in style, with private cars, limo's, etc. And more than likely, they would always have a bodyguard +. How well trained and equipped is this bodyguard? Depends on how much $$ I have. Could be anything from a group of thugs armed with flak coats and autoguns (like in your case) to a group of veterans wearing carapace and hellguns. Yea, pretty much what Cultadium stated.

Saldre said:

They are probably going to be waiting a long long time. Unless they placed tracking devices on the RT or his personal shuttle craft, they have no idea where he will be headed. Then again, they can always requisition the PDF's help and see where he gets clearance next to land or just track his shuttle via radar areas.

Saldre said:

Do you know when your next getting into a car accident? About the best an Astropath can do in this case (and that is if the Astropath is good), is foresee into the future and see a possible outcome that is imminent. Probably no specific names, or locations, besides riddles and signs. Like "I foresee a cloaked man, hidden in shadows, waiting for your death to come. And then all I see is red and gold." This could be the Inquisitor agent hidding in the alley, stepping out and shooting him with a golden cross hanging from his neck and wearing a red cloak.

Saldre said:

Pretty much what Cultadium and you just stated is the RT's best course of action. I mean, how much does the crew know of the RT's dealings? How much does the crew like the RT? Has the RT been good to the crew or not? Does the RT have anyone in the crew that he trusts? Are they actually trustworthy and won't sell the RT out? I know if I was a crew member, and I had no idea about the dealings of the RT and didn't care for the person, and all of a sudden I hear the Inquisition is after the RT, I'd give the RT up in a second. Or mutiny. Of course, if I was a cutthroat guy, and aided the RT in his deals with Xeno items, and heard about the Inquisition gunning for the RT and probably me next, I'd kill the Inquisition or run away. So basically, I'm curious on the crews disposition. Could be another angle you could do there, depending on how drawn out you want it to be or not.

In all retrospect though, I tend to utilize the KISS method. Keep It Simple Silly. Have fun and I hope you and your players have many fruitful adventures together, though they may not always be prosperous.

Also, Refracter Field. Fiat DM a success on the first shield roll (that's what screens are for!), which allows the traider to get behind cover and fight it out with the help of the bodyguard. Even if they are a 'former' Rogue Trader, they should have a Fate point or two, and that's one thing they're very good for.

Hi Saldre,

oh my desperate fellow, you are asking ALL OVER THE FORUMS for help with your little RT Sinophia Problem aren´t you?

Oathsworn Bodyguard
No matter how lowly a RT might have become, he will have one or four of them with him. You know the drill? Where the RT will go, one of them will go and check first. They will try to shield him with their bodies while he moves about in the open. They will start to cover him with their bodies if things get ugly.

What does this mean for the game mechanics?
You have go guys with a rather high Awarness (Awareness+10, perhaps Heigtend Senses (Sight) and/or some IR googles to check for heat-sources in windows) who look for trouble. If their are more of them, they will assist each other with their checks. HECK, if one of them has Agility 40 (and ONE could have this, right?) you could add the Guardian Talent (short form: sacrifice your next action and put yourself in harms way instead of your charge. Once per combat; I guess you need to be aware of the danger; KEEP ASSISTING AWARENESS IN MIND!).

If everything fails; make the RT burn the FatePoint (I know he got it) to make one of his bodyguards take the first volley). Energie Fields are your friend, mastercrafted mesh vests are as well. Having one or two Servo skulls flying around to check the surrounding would not be to odd, either.