Hey guys,

I have read and own Rogue Trader, but then I started to take a look at this game and thought maybe this is more on the scale that I'm looking for. I just have a free questions for you experts;

1 can players use starships? The main draw of rogue trader to us initially was the use of the gothic ships. Are there books that have stats and rules for space combat and ships? Or is this just not an option or how dark heresy plays? I know there won't be any Star Wars or firefly freighters, but I am interested in slumming in a ship with a crew of, I don't know, a modest 200!! Haha.

2 We like fighting Orks and Eldar in addition to cults. Do books and supplements contain these ad well?

3. Is the Haarlock Trilogy good? Does the trilogy come in a single book or slip case?

1) No, not really.

2) Creatures Anathema (sort of Monster Manual) features both species, though both are rather uncommon in the Calixis sector. Dark Heresy focusses less on xenos than Rogue Trader, even though Dark Eldar make an appearance.

3) I sort of like it, even though the ending is a slight disappointment. The GM has to invest some work to improve it (take care to take a look at the supplement Disciples of the Dark Gods, which features part zero of the trilogy so to speak). All three books became available as a single combined book in the meantime.

1. The rules for voidships are in Rogue Trader, as they're kind of core to that game. Dark Heresy is about being a small team of expendable schmucks sent in to deal with things far, far over their pay-grade. While your characters can grow rather wealthy by the endgame, a voidship will likely forever be out of their reach.

2. Orks are in Creatures Anathema, and also in several Rogue Trader books and the upcoming Only War. Eldar are also in Creatures Anathema, and have further support in Rogue Trader: The Koronus Bestiary.

3. I couldn't tell you.

1) I don't own all the books for DH, but I do own allot. There are currently no true rules for vehicle/spaceship combat other than in RT. There are fan supplement materials, that have compiled most of the vehicles in the various DH and RT books into one book with attached rules, called "Apocryphy Vehicles." Link here for the darkreign40k.com/drjoomla/ DH Vehicle Aprocryphy, and you could probably google to find a few more and/or click on my link below and find it in the plethora of extra material I have accumulated over the years. As for spaceships with a crew of 200 or less, those would be system cargo haulers, but not listed rules/stats for those exist. Actually, now that I think about it didn't the RT GM booklet have an Endeavor in it that had system ships? You might be able to use those stats if you like.

2) What everyone else said.

3) I have ran it straight through once, and about half way a second time. I really enjoyed it and my groups did too. But as Luther Harkon stated, the GM does have to improve and/or improvise when needed. But hey, what game doesn't require you to do this? Various people have commented on this forum about the improvements that they did, and these are a great source for ideas and guidance if you desire to view them.

Happy gaming, and welcome to the world of 40k.

So how does a party get from one planet to another? And also, what is the point of the pilot skill?

Sadly, the coolest thing about the 40k'verse is the Gothic ships, but Rogue Trader is just too immense to get my head around roleplay wise. I would have to play as thousands of npc's in a singles session….that's an exaggeration but you get the idea. Can you use Rogue Trader rules for Dark Heresy?

GalaxyUC said:

PCs either have to buy passage on a voidship, or have it arrainged by their Inquisitor. Pilot Skill is mainly for flying aircraft or shuttles; the command of voidships is left to NPCs in this game.

GalaxyUC said:

The 'mechanical' rules are mostly compatable; Profit Factor (the core of RT) doesn't really translate to DH, though. But you could design a campaign involving a team of Acolytes permenantly based aboard a voidship- possibly an Inquisition vessel commanded by their Inquisitor. Go with Ordo Xenos and you will ahve plenty of opportunities to fight Orks and Eldar.

1. Players mainly use starships for transport. DH is very investigation focused. You can also have an investigation on a big starship/space station/space hulk. Starship combat is not covered.

My experience with the Pilot/driver skill is that the players always try and get a local to drive them around, so those skills do not get used a lot.

2. As others say.

3. I think my players liked it. You are mainly fighting chaos/heretic cults, other inquisitional teams and the odd (powerful) alien.

1. My Players are convinced that at some point I'll give them a Gun Cutter. This won't happen. They basically want the Bebop so that they can do 'jobs'.

2. Yeah Creatures Anethema (or there's the Deathwatch Antagonists section (also some in Black Crusade's descriptions and loads in Only War.)

3. No idea, haven't run it. Not enough Chaos in my Campaigns, and now it's too late… I've decided onthne Slaugth, personally.

Pg. 159 Inquisitor's Handbook (IH) for costs of a ride on a ship.

As for Pilot skills test, refer to pg 105 DH Core book and pg 235 IH for more information. Pretty much, it's all narrative. Like say your PC's are raiding a Cultists Hideout on a moon/desolate area or a Space Station. These areas probably have ground-to-air defenses. So, once the shooting starts, your PC tests to see how well he dodges with the ship (ship being gun-cutter size). Or maybe a freak storm hits the ship, a veracious winged predator attacks the ship, someone sabotaged the ship and both engines are blown, etc etc. So, the PC needs to test his Pilot Skill to see how well he can dodge/evade/land/not crash. Maybe passing gets them safely landed, failing gets them 1d5 damage +1 per degree of failure, and passing superbly gets them closer to their destination before the PC has to land.

As for playing NPC's on a RT ship, all you have to do is create names, descriptions, and a few quirks for about 3-6 NPC's on the ship. These would be (when referring to page 224 ItS "Ship Roles")

1) First Officer (or whoever the PC's delegate to be in charge of the ship while they are all planetside)

2) Engineer Prime (Tech priest in charge of all the other Tech-Priests, so, Scotty)

3) High Factotum (A Seneschel type character / Spy / Diplomat)

4) Master-at-Arms (person in charge of Security)

5) Choir Master (Astropath)

6) Warp Guide (Navigator)

Obviously some of these roles could be played by a PC, so you can skip them as needed. Your stats for these characters can be from other NPC's already in the books, unless you want to create a whole character sheet for them ( I had a palyer who loved creating characters, so I allowed him to and he want all out on these NPC's). Referrencing RT pg 370-375 the First Officer can be a Free Trader Captain, Navy Officer or a Void Pirate Captain (this all depends on your PC's); Engineer can be a Tech Adept found in DH pg 336-345; High Factotum could be a Dissolute Noble or a Merchant Magnate from DH; Master-at-Arms can be a Navy Officer or Oathsworn Bodyguard from RT or an Arbitrator and such from DH; Choir Master an Astropath from DH; and the Navigator….. yea…. that one you have to flesh out a little more if you want stats. Mind you, some of these classes, like the Astropath, are lacking in a few things, so buffing up a few stats by +5 or +10 and giving them a few additional talents, traits, powers (like Astropath getting Astral Telepathy, etc) and/or equipment is a good way to make them fit in better. All I ever did was take one piece of paper, write down who it was with a description and any quirks they had, their stats below this with equipment, powers, talents, skills, and traits. I could fit everyone of importance on that one piece of paper, with extra space for when the PC's made someone else important and all I had to do was jot down a name, brief description and and their occupation, with no stats or anything else. Like a Pilot they liked having fly them around, or a Priest they preferred confessing to, etc etc.

All other NPC's of importance I kept on a separate piece of paper. Like the Governor they left in charge on a colony they created, or a Free Trader Ship Captain they saved and wanted to keep contact with, a Navy Officer who's ship they hailed, taunted, and then hid from, a Criminal boss they crossed on Footfall, etc etc. Pretty much just names, description, who they are, and why they are important now.

As for using RT rules for DH, yes and no. For vehicle combat (like Aerial Dog Fights) yes. For other stuff, it depends. I wouldn't do to much crossing over though, because then it would get really confusing. Best of luck to you.