This is a two-part quandary of mine. I am wondering what happens when/if two Rogue Traders become a single agency. Say you ran through Lure of the Expanse, and met Lady Charbelle Armelan, and decided you actually LIKED her. Over several adventures, you cross paths again, maybe as allies, or maybe just as neutrals. You maybe don't know about her family's hard times, or you wisely keep quiet, and simply work on a positive rapport with her. Eventually, one of you (probably you, because she is rather proud, no matter how dire her straits) might propose a merging of your respective Dynasties. You might not get a lot, but she stands to benefit, and she does have some cool stuff you might gain access to (Eldar weapons, like her HK, or favorable terms with any local Kroot you might think to hire). In this scenario, what happens? Do you combine PRs of a new, cohesive unit, or keep them separate, and just have good dealings?

If things were less cordial, how might you seize another Rogue Trader's power? Can you capture their Warrant, and force their subjects to your employ, or would the Lords of Terra just say "yours' isn't the name on the document."?

When a RT falls from power, or two choose to combine theirs, how does it break down? Thanks.

venkelos said:

To truly answer this, all I can say is "It depends."

Now let me clarify. Some rare Warrants might state that the bearer of this warrant has full rights and access to what he claims yada yada yada. No where in the warrant does it state that his son's or daughters get this warrant when he dies. So, yes, I could be "seized," but once again, it depends on the wording of the warrant. Others might state that the closest family member receives the warrant. Like sons and daughters. Now what happens when say the Warrant holder dies, and he has a brother, but he also has two sons. Who gets the warrant? Well, it depends on the wording of the warrant and who has the more political sway, IMHO.

No matter what though, in my games all Warrants have to be ratified, signed, filed, and processed through the proper channels in order for it to be a legitament document. This channel could be through the Adeptus Ministorum, Administratum, Inquisition, Imperial Navy, etc etc.

As for merging of Dynasties, this can take months to years if done correctly and with the consent of all parties. If someone in the Dynasty is fighting it / contesting it, then it could take longer or it might never happen. Like if the Warrant states that "The bearer of this Warrant is granted vie only a majority vote in the council of the Seharis Dynasty. The Seharis Dynasty has the right to change the living bearer of this Warrant to another claimant, but only with if all council members vote 'Yay.' In this case, it would be quite possible that they get married, and you get nothing other than a bride at the end of it. While in the situation with you, if say the bride dies and she has brother/sisters and also a daughter with the husband, who's to say the marriage agreement is still valid? Maybe the brother wants to get married to the now ex-hubsand, and can we say what a scenario this could turn out to be?

I would say that only 10% -25% of the other's Dynasties PR can be used until all the proper channels, claims, disputes, contestants, documents, etc etc are finalized. Once again, this could take months to years, if ever depending on the wording of the document. And, to help you figure out the wording of the document, just use the Into the Storm Warrant creator.

Two examples from games I've been in that might be helpful.

a) The seneschal cousin of the rogue trader managed to snag a minor warrant of trade. So there were missions that had PF gain split between two warrants.

b) In a campaign I ran, the rogue trader and command crew launched a successful decapitation strike against the Fane of Takara (weapons manufacturer and guild in Gunmetal City on Scintilla). They kidnapped the Takara seneschal, reprogrammed him and returned him to the Takara holdings. I made willpower rolls each time he stole enough of the Takara wealth to give the dynasty PF to see if his mind would break from treachery. They gained +2 PF before the seneschal snapped and was put down.

In order to merge dynasties… there will have to be marriages. Maybe a FEW marriages…

Assuming you could get through the various role-playing challenges; I would assume that such a merger would be very similar to a modern merger between two (Very!) large companies. Typically, The smaller company becomes part of the larger and essentially ceases to exist as an independent entity. The larger company takes on the assets that are useful to it and divests itself of the rest. (Basically a net game of half the smaller traders PF.)

Radwraith said:

I let that concept. Especially about the part of half of the smaller Dynasties PF. The base could be half, while you could have a series of tests/challenges, like the Exploration and Investigation challenges found on page 264 RT, that could increase this by say, +5% to +10% per success. Instead of Exploration or Investigation skills, it would be Negotiation based skills, like almost all of your fellowship related ones. Max PF net could be 90% to 100%. And like Gavinfoxx stated, a series of marriages would smooth this transition over. Of course, not everything comes down to dice rolls, so yes, intense role playing and quick thinking would need to be involved. I like your style guys.

Nameless2all said:

I would leave the max gained of the smaller house at 50 - 70% of the smaller house's PF. No matter how well you organize your new assets there are going to be a number duplications of assets. Maintaining both sets is bothe inefficient and costly! It could even result in a negative PF if the player insists on it!