Hello RT,

I'm looking to start up a Rogue Trader game here in the coming months after my group finishes a few deathwatch missions. I've come up with a back story of a new rogue trader named Gaius Octavian who was a former solar admiral. Segmentum command took note of a series of succesful campaigns led by Admiral Octavian and felt that he was an approriate candidate for taking over the Battle Fleet. However he was one of the triumvirate within the admiralty made up of the Lord Admiral and another Admiral who saw this appointment as a power play by Gaius. Each of the triumviri were well connected with the other institutions of the Imperium within the sector and without, thus to avoid embroiling imperial resources in a civil war the Lord Admiral and Vice Admiral sought other means to get rid of Gaius. First to remove his status of Solar-Admiral they trumped up charges of treason and broguht in the Ordo Hereticus against him. Despite overcoming the charges Segementum command felt that Gaius could no longer hold the rank of Solar-Admiral for he would otherwise blemish the Imperial Navy with this stain of possible heresy. After being demoted back to an Admiral he was sent on a long range patrol on board his flag ship the Wrath of Angels, proud and honourable he obeyed his new orders and set out. While gone the other two requested that Gaius be grant a Warrant of Trade as a reward for his service to the Imperium. The Warrant was carefully crafted to prohibit Gaius from utilizing Imperial Navy resources and stripped him of the power and authority of an Admiral. The Lord Admiral requested Gaius to return to the sector headquarters and upon arrival was recieved in full military honors for his "retirement" and reward of a Warrant of Trade. One that forced him to explore, conquer and colonise the unknown wild space called the Andalian Frontier. He is to retain his vessel but no more, and his crew is transferred out (with wiggle room encase any of my friends wish to be fellow officers on board that resign from the IN).

So there you have it, my group will be starting out right after the ceremony and closed door meeting between the Triumvirate. A politically motivated rise (or fall depending on perspective) of an individual. I'm still flushing out the backgorund so its not all there or fully explained because I want to keep this just as is, a backstory.

My role will be both the Rogue Trader and Gamemaster.

To this efect my group will be going on missions given by me/the RT, my character will be playing a supportive role for the most part, trying to pull himself out of dperession while working on buidling a new foundation for his own hidden agenda.

Has anyone else performed this dual role? If so what are your thoughts?

A little background on myself: I have always ended up becoming the GM and simultaneously played a character alongside my friends, due to the fact we are a very small group (four people) and almost always no one really wants to take on the mantle of Game Master. Thus I've be very accustomed to working under these conditions and have had great success and several flops.

My group is going to start with an Exorcist Grand Cruiser, what are the pro's and con's of starting with this vessel/classification (grand cruiser)?
I was considering adding on two more launch bays just because my friends and I love the idea of dog fights in the void, is this viable?

I fgirue our first few endeavours will be trying to establish new relaitonships or curry old ones with various factions within the sector before setting sail into the unknown.

How do these first endeavor hooks sound?

-Commodore Hoshi (a friend in the battle fleet) informs Gaius that a squadron of frigates under his command mutined and may be hiding in the Emerald Reef (a large swathe of space filled with nebulaes), hoshi simply wants the mutineers dead and their leaders brought before him, he states that if the ships are recaptured that perhaps one of the vessels could be written off as scuttled.

-Trade Cartel Versia seeks the Rogue Trader to perform an escort run of a small convoy of transports to protect from a rival trade cartel.

-Trade Cartel Thracia seeks the Rogue Trader to raid a convoy of a rival trade cartel.

There is honestly little difference between these two Cartels, both are in the same market of goods and are minor players in the sector commerce. Small steps though could lead to bigger things, but supporting one over the other gives us a potential rival and a new ally (if every thing goes well). Plus this will give us all some expreince in the vairus skills sets, such as interaction and social challenges along with some combat.

My group thus far is myself Rogue Trader, a Void master specialising in strike craft, and a navigator whom seeks to explore and prosper his nomadic house. I'm hoping to convince a fw other people to join on and take up a role.

So ideas and suggestions?

EDIT: found the edit button… blarg

My biggest comments and worries are due to the player/GM dichotomy, but if you say you can handle it without turning it into the worst of GMPCs, then all power to you.

Follow ups:

Getting the Hereticus involved is a MASSIVE step. Those who do so run a serious risk that the Inquisitor won't leave, and may start to focus on them (either when he realises the charges are faked, or at some point during or after the investigation). Odds are there'd be a LOT of political fallout, even if the Inquisition never twigs that Gaius was being set up by someone. It might be safer for the conspirators if they'd called in the Arbites, but it's unlikely that they would do so (the Arbites has the legal authority to take down members of the IN and IG, but no-one in those groups wants to allow the precedent of letting the Arbites do so without a fight). Maybe set it up in-house? Use the Fleet Commissariat and Naval Disciplinary Detachment? Or possibly (if they want an "outside agency" to do their dirty work) get the Lord Governor (sub)Sector to set his troubleshooters on the case (in the Calixis, that'd be the Divisio Morales, in the Angelus Subsector it's the Department for Subsector Trade)?
Just a few thoughts, in any case.

Grand Cruisers are awesome ships, but they have their limitations. One is their high cost (a Dynasty starting with one of these things is not going to have much in the way of Profit for a while). Second, they tend not to be particularly nimble or maneuverable, with the possible exception of those fitted with high Space, low Power components (torpedoes and launch bays are ideal for this), as they can mount ridiculous numbers of Augmented Retro Thrusters. Still slow enough that smaller ships can keep ducking out of the GC's fire arcs (or just flee), but potentially maneuverable enough to keep re-acquiring targets. Another one that applies to the GCs from the Exorcist's design family (but not the Repulsive, or similar) is that you're limited to broadsides- no shooting for'ard or aft. Admittedly, a maneuverable GC can easily make a Scheer Turn to bring the broadside battery to bear, and again, carriers have less to worry about there because, well, carrier .
The accepted view is that GCs (and larger, BBs, the odd DN or SD) need supporting craft to guard their flanks. To a degree, that's not true, and even less so for carriers, but a ship that big is enough to persuade people they need to gang up on it big time. That means escorts are going to be **** useful, with all the logistical problems that entails (that "unable to call on/use Navy resources" bit is going to make life… interesting. Have fun exploring that). For that matter, keeping a ship that big in spare parts, food, crew and fuel is going to be a challenge in and of itself (remember- you're likely to be pretty poor for a Rogue Trader).

As for the extra launch bays- go for it! I've always felt the Exorcist never had as great a launch capacity as the model suggested (it takes twice as many Launch Bay pieces to make as the Dictator and the Mars, but only carried the same number of squadrons!). I'll note that my own group is currently using a Repulsive with all of the broadside slots fitted with launch bays, and are loving the ability to send out 8 squadrons of fighters/bombers each turn. You'd probably find that Bombers and Assault boats are going to be more useful to you than fighters in the long run (so… less dogfights, I'm afraid), but it's well worth keeping fighters around for defensive purposes.
In fact, test combats and a proof-of-concept build show that Exorcists are actually surprisingly effective and survivable even if outfitted as pure carriers. I mean, they'd be screwed against eldar carriers, or a ship with good enough point defence, but that's not something that generally comes up. The extra logistical hassle (and Maintenance/Upkeep checks) for the extra squadrons of small craft are going to be a pain though, I'm afraid.
I wouldn't recommend going pure carrier, but I would recommend fitting the remaining broadside slots with something reasonably long ranged, and either with lots of shots or high damage. Definitely macrocannons though. I'd also say you should probably invest in Pilot's Chambers, a Small Craft Maintenance Hangar and the extra Flak Turrets, although those last are mainly because I think it's thematically appropriate for a carrier to be better protected against attacks by ordnance.

Plot hooks- love that one with Hoshi in particular. It's almost a shame my guys are pirates, or I'd steal it.

BrotherFiacco said:

I personally have not done this, but I agree with Alasseo's view. From my experience with other GM's also playing characters, they tended to favor their characters and rail road the story, and sometimes if was all by accident. The stage light should on the other players PC's, not yours. You are setting the stage for them, not the other way around. If say, they wanted to off your character and take over command of the Dynasty, then what? Or say they leave your RT stranded on a planet, and leave him there to die, or some other form of replacement. IMHO for a RT game, make a PC other than the RT so you can assist the other players in their schemes/plans. But……….. If the other players agree with you playing the RT, and everyone is having fun, then congrats to you.

BrotherFiacco said:

Are you creating the ship for them or is this what they are asking for? It doesn't matter to me which option it is, but it might matter to your players because everyone I've played with enjoyed creating their ships tailored to the group. Hopefully you are asking your players for advice in what they want. As one GM to another, let them build their own. Once again, tailor the story to them, not to your RT.

Your concept for a ship is perfect though. I don't see a problem with it other than what Alasseo stated.

BrotherFiacco said:

I love them. They are simple and to the point, and yet leave an opening for so much more. Other endeavors you can also add as options are

1) The ADMECH at the base the PC's are at what them to investigate an anomaly they detected/ship they lost/outpost that quit communicating with them. The IN stated they would investigate said matter, but have yet to do so. Dun dun duuuuuh.

2) A criminal element/shady IN Officer is asking the PC's to transport some cargo/supplies to another port/waiting ship and are paying highly for discretion. Cargo could be stolen food/medical supplies/weapons/etc or even unknown if the PC's don't look at what it is. Maybe the IN area looking for the cargo but don't suspect the PC's would have it, so they let them by. Or maybe the IN has been tipped off, and require some bluffing/forging of documents/greasing of palms to get by. And/or maybe a rival criminal element tries to stop the PC's from completing their task at the drop off point/enroute to the point.

3) The RT knew/received word that in this certain area of space a rogue signal/salvage beacon was picked up, but the IN has yet to been notified of it/are slow investigating it. It's a race now to see who gets there first, and discover what it truly is.

4) Some Missionaries heard of the RT's new position, and wish him/her to transport a new flock of pilgrims/colonists to a new frontier planet so as to spread the word of the Emperor's Might to the xeno's in the area. Now, how close are those xeno's to that Ecclesiarchy colony, and how hostile/tough/prominant are they?

That's all I have. Anyhoot, as a side note, my experiences of GM's playing PC's is somewhat skewed. So if you've been doing it for awhile with little internal trouble and everyone is having fun, then please continue to do so. As I previously recommended though, IMHO the RT should be reserved as an NPC spot or a PC spot, with you playing another archeotype. Just my opinion, so please don't take it to heart. I wish upon you and your players many fruitful endeavors, though they may not always be prosperous.

Thank you both for the replies and insight! We've actually begun to draft an actual Warrant of Trade to reference in our RP binders (keeps things organized).

@Alesseo

You make a very valid point about the situation being in house. My friend was interested in beocming the arch militant in the group, so we decided that in the early stages of the the initial roleplaying at Port Cyrus (Imperial Navy Headquarters of Sector Nova Sierra) that he would be a fleet commissar. He felt that to add a little drama to the situation that the Lord Admiral would have offered him a deal to keep an eye on Gaius. Thus we get a Arch-Militant (henceforth referred to as his rank as Commissar) and some little plot devices to work with later. So I think we'll adjust the background to an "In-house affair" as it makes more sense with it being an Admiralty Triumvirate power struggle.

Aye the wording of the Warrant restricts the RT from using Imperial Navy resources, however this does not mean certain friends in the IN (like Hoshi) could not simply show up and "Give aide" to imperial citizens. All about how one words those pesky after action reports and calling in a favor from the RT whose butt you just saved/helped

@Nameless2all

Yeah it has been tough with other rpgs like D&D and star dund, but especially shadowrun was the worst trying to do both. It was never though a story issue, just game play mechanics and timing with people going to school and work. With the percentile system that FFG uses and the 40k setting we've amde it work really well. For instance in deathwatch my GMPC is an apothecary, I keep my marines alive and play the strong silent type of marine who has pulled many a geneseed from his fellow astartes. It has thus far worked out really well especially because I give us challenging situations as the gm and never put my character in a position of authority unless it involves a patient.

However with Rogue Trader I've found that no one was interested in being the Rogue Trader, in fact evryone wants to do something that involves a strong mixture of space ship combat and exploration. For instance the navigator in the gorup wants to explore the warp, ply out new routes. So I said "do it", my other firend wants to be a void craft pilot so I showed him the void master and eventual flight marshal path and he was stoked. Another friend wants to be an explorater and seek out mechanicus objects. After a little talk we may have an arch-militant. I know a buddy is who is the closet thing we have to a business lawyer and so I told him about the seneschal. I've mentioned what a RT is and thus far everyone wants to be something else. So I decided my character is the stone of which we start the story and they will be the stars of how it plays out.

The biggest aspect to the game is giving them the freedom to guide and help grow the new dynasty. My character is a former admiral, schooled in naval warfare, much of this commerce and dealing with other factions other than just Imperial Navy types is going to be hard, so I explained to my group that I want them to drive the ideas of how we progress. After playing DW and seeing how well my friends can develop the story themselves and just lay the goals then fun ensues. So I really hope our ship doesn't just expode due to some experimental technology we discovered cause of the epxlroators tinkering or we end up way off course thanks to our half crazed navigator (which is what my friend wants to be) but we'll roll with it and enjoy it either way, but crazy stuff like that has happened before.

Another thing I've done to great effect is give each player their own rp time, for instance we have several irregular memebrs of the kill team in deathwatch, so when everyone else is busy or jsut one or two of them show up, we play a one off mission. The Kill-marine devastor was sent off to hold the line agaisnt the tyranid hordes on the front lines, or the tactical is being used to assassinate the enemy tau commander. I see aspects like finding a new world, letting the void master take the chiroptrean down to the planet along with the explorater and seneschal in a gunboat to assess the planet to be an adventure in itself that does not have to involve my PC or others. We break up the group often to generate story arcs. Experience is the only issue that I work very thoroughly to ensure we all are ranking up at a decent pace, cause otherwise certain aspects get wonky!

By the way I very much like your endeavour hooks and look forward to integrating them in time!

@ Both

On the matter with the vesel. It was really thanks to watching a whole lot of Battlestar Galactica recently that the idea of using a carrier came to the fore. Honestly I suggested we use the exorcist based the RT's story as a former admiral and the description given in the old BFG codex. Plus I felt that using the consverative feel of fleet tactics that has taken a general dislike and sometimes outright hate for carriers in fleets would be a nice crux for both getting rid of a rival and a vessel "unworthy" of using true naval tactics.

The Group wanted a big ship, so I put together an example ship based on the dictator hull, but that was not big enough so thus the present suggested vessel and answered questions! I'll be working on the ship, they for the most just want input on the story and their characters role, although the navigator wants some dope upgrades on the ship so I'll work with him on that before laying out the entirety of the ship.

Which macrocannons would work with an exorcist? I like the idea of those disruption macrocannons that can disable components of the ship. Boarding actions was the biggest hook i got for the commissar so I would like to give him that, although with the hornets nest of strike craft we'll have enough shark baots to board that way I guess.

That was part of story, low profit factor because of IN background and being essentially barred from using IN resources. Thus we are going to need to make allies and friends, and grow a supportive fleet of our own in order to keep such a vessel going.

To sum the back ground up: Internal Power struggle within the IN leaves one of the Triumviri kicked out and sent off to die quietly in the void someone with a ship that hopefully would curse him to this doom, and this is the story of how this new dynasty struggles to rise or die.

BrotherFiacco said:

Good call drafting your own Warrant. I made a commitment to do that for every Rogue Trader that has a major role in one of my games, and my players have loved it.

On the matter of macrocannons for an exorcist, well, there's only a couple that I'd look at which aren't limited to Broadsides Only. Ultimately, it's up to what you think will suit your combat style best. I will note, however, that the ideal combat range for a carrier is around 12-18 VU from the target. This means your ideal weapons need a Range of at least 6 so they can strike their targets without range penalties (obviously a longer range is even better, as it means you can launch an Assault Boat strike from further away (the absolute maximum being 40 VU, but I would keep it to a max of 30 VU so you can stack two launches into one strike wave)). If you're choosing something with a range of less than 6 (which would, I'm afraid, include the disruption macrocannon), it may be worth looking into splurging on Turbo upgrades for them. Failing that, I'd say go for either Lathe Grav-Culverins or Hecutor Plasma Broadsides. If it was an Avenger rather than an Exorcist I'd recommend getting Bombardment Cannon (they're pretty awesome anyway, but they're designed for close-range smashing and line-breaker tactics).

I'd also note a neat trick to bypass a target's shields is to hit it with multiple types of Ordnance weapons in one turn: small craft AND torpedoes. Now, normally grand cruisers from the transitional design family (includes Avenger, Exorcist and Executioner, plus a few others I can't remember offhand) would be screwed, as they can't be fitted with torpedo tubes, but there is a neat way round that for carrier vessels like the Exorcist: Torpedo Bombers!
Launch a wave of those with some fighter cover first, then your second launch should be standard bombers (and/or assault boats) with their own fighter cover. Time their attack runs so they hit in the same turn. Your target will be forced to choose between firing his turrets at the torpedoes or at the incoming bomber/assault boat strike.
The only major downside of that trick is that torpedo bombers are more expensive/harder than standard, and you need to buy the torpedoes separately (also, unless you get yourself a Munitorum, there's a serious risk of the stockpiled torpedoes exploding if your ship is hit).

On the matter of a GMPC, I do it all the time. However, I do have the disadvantage of having only four of us total to begin with…so take that as you will. Anyways, I say if you want to and you think you can do it go ahead! You don't have to limit the personality of the PC to a silent background person, give him a good strong personality just as you would for a normal PC. I've played everything from a sarcastic Dwarf to a Vengeful Assassin to the Commanding Voidmaster! If you are worried about overpowering the PC, then have one of the players be a counterbalance to you, a designated person to stop you from getting out of control. That is what I do all the time. That is my 2 cents.

-J

On the matter of a GMPC, I do it all the time. However, I do have the disadvantage of having only four of us total to begin with…so take that as you will. Anyways, I say if you want to and you think you can do it go ahead! You don't have to limit the personality of the PC to a silent background person, give him a good strong personality just as you would for a normal PC. I've played everything from a sarcastic Dwarf to a Vengeful Assassin to the Commanding Voidmaster! If you are worried about overpowering the PC, then have one of the players be a counterbalance to you, a designated person to stop you from getting out of control. That is what I do all the time. That is my 2 cents.

-J

I usually do GMPC as well but have a hard time balancing the issues. I pretty much always go for a background character (seneschal usually to do the business in the background etc) but thought being an RT would be good for keeping the story moving, what woth my group not being used to sandboxes, but couldnt figure out how to get through most interaction settings without spotlighting myself instead of the others.

I just thought of a cool piece of equipment/implant. a mind sharer type deal. where if two or more get the implant they can connect to eachother, either wired or wirelessly, so one person can speak through anothers body, share thoughts sights sounds etc. obvious drawback being very noticable if wired, and short ranged if wireless. would definitely have to be archaeotech or best quality, but would be able to override a GMPCRT taking over the game during RT negotiations and so forth