Tau Player Characters

By Montva, in Rogue Trader

Hello from Advanced Tau Tactica ,

I just wanted to let those who are interested know that we are beginning work on a detailed guide to building Tau Player Characters that would fit into FFG's Rogue Trader system. The brainstorming and working drafts are being written and conducted behind the scenes of our forum, but we wanted to reach out to the community to see what their desires were with exploring Tau in Rogue Trader .

Our intentions are to release guides that will not only allow GMs to seamlessly integrate individual Tau into their existing games (similar to the old Por'la Vior'la Kais'uam character from Inquisitor ), but with the release of Stars of Inequity, also to delve into gameplay based around Tau Exploration and Diplomatic teams acting as the vanguards for follow-on Tau forces. These speartips operate far in advance of the main bulk of the Tau forces, and their job is to discover new worlds, establish contact with the local population, decide how best to exploit the planetary resources, and either prepare the world for colonization or mark it for future invasion.

These teams are comprised of and led by Tau from each of the four castes, who are hand-picked by the Ethereals for their tenacity, skill, and intellect. A fair bit of cross-caste training will have taken place considering how far forward they operate ahead of the ever expanding territories of the Tau Empire. As these teams demonstrate more proficiency and initiative in their travels, they are granted more resources, equipment, and responsibility with which to facilitate the integration of more and more vassal worlds.

Any thoughts, suggestions, or feedback is more than appreciated, and a better understanding of what the community-at-large would like to see will help us better focus our efforts.

Thanks,

Doombringer (Montva)

This sounds awesome! I'm excited.

Sounds very interesting, and I would like to see more. I have actually been looking into Tau a bit as a future antagonist/ally for my Rogue Trader campaign. I think they make for an interesting enemy/ally as they are a bit more accessible to negotiations (vs. Chaos, Necrons, Tyranids, etc), while still being not too overpowered individually to make it impossible to work against and of course lots of opportunities for profit.

What I would like to see are:

  • Character paths for multiple castes and/or species e.g. Fire Warrior, but also Kroot, Niccassar, Gue'vesa etc
  • Ship building. Hulls and components. Special rules as applicable (e.g. “Warp” Travel)
  • Consolidated Armory. (Expanded on Deathwatch and/or Rogue Trader)
  • Vehicles

If a hand is needed on the ship building/ships part, let me know. I was planning to work on this myself, and have been collecting/analyzing a bit, so I would be happy to help out.

Sounds very interesting, and I would like to see more. I have actually been looking into Tau a bit as a future antagonist/ally for my Rogue Trader campaign. I think they make for an interesting enemy/ally as they are a bit more accessible to negotiations (vs. Chaos, Necrons, Tyranids, etc), while still being not too overpowered individually to make it impossible to work against and of course lots of opportunities for profit.

What I would like to see are:

  • Character paths for multiple castes and/or species e.g. Fire Warrior, but also Kroot, Niccassar, Gue'vesa etc
  • Alternate Career ranks (e.g. Kroot Handler)
  • Ship building. Hulls and components. Special rules as applicable (e.g. “Warp” Travel)
  • Consolidated Armory. (Expanded on Deathwatch and/or Rogue Trader)
  • Vehicles

If a hand is needed on the ship building/ships part, let me know. I was planning to work on this myself, and have been collecting/analyzing a bit, so I would be happy to help out.

Berhagen said:

What I would like to see are:

  • Character paths for multiple castes and/or species e.g. Fire Warrior, but also Kroot, Niccassar, Gue'vesa etc
  • Ship building. Hulls and components. Special rules as applicable (e.g. “Warp” Travel)
  • Consolidated Armory. (Expanded on Deathwatch and/or Rogue Trader)
  • Vehicles

also Worlds Populated or Controlled by the Tau

Cjalw1 said:

Berhagen said:

What I would like to see are:

  • Character paths for multiple castes and/or species e.g. Fire Warrior, but also Kroot, Niccassar, Gue'vesa etc
  • Ship building. Hulls and components. Special rules as applicable (e.g. “Warp” Travel)
  • Consolidated Armory. (Expanded on Deathwatch and/or Rogue Trader)
  • Vehicles

also Worlds Populated or Controlled by the Tau

Specifically what those worlds look like and also what its like for the native populace to live there under the Greater Good Ideology.. Do they plan revolution or are they largely content..etc

That sounds awesome. I would like to see a firewarrior path that takes one from the basic firewarrior, all the way to being a tau commander. Add in some alternate ranks for pathfinder and stealth team progression as well. For water caste I would like to see something like a cross between seneschal and missionary, where the player excels at commerce, making deals, and subverting populations to the greater good. For the earth caste I always imagine a techpriest type, that has cybernetics more like utility drone controllers rather than mechendendrites. I imagine aircaste lines for voidmaster like characters, maybe one for void and another for air support.

I also imagine a chart with the four elements, having overlapping areas. With that in mind, I hope the career paths for the castes have some overlap in abilities. I also am curious if you will do an ethereal path as well, if you do, Im imagining something like a cross between rogue trader and missionary. I hope to see an origin path that includes the various tau spets, including the farsight enclaves.

Seeing rules for tau ships would be awesome, and I look forward to what they look like, especially how the compare to the ones I posted in these forums (if you are curious just search tau ships). I also hope to see info on tau colonization, exploration, first contact, and expansion.

Sorry about the double post.

Cryhavok said:

That sounds awesome. I would like to see a firewarrior path that takes one from the basic firewarrior, all the way to being a tau commander. Add in some alternate ranks for pathfinder and stealth team progression as well. For water caste I would like to see something like a cross between seneschal and missionary, where the player excels at commerce, making deals, and subverting populations to the greater good. For the earth caste I always imagine a techpriest type, that has cybernetics more like utility drone controllers rather than mechendendrites. I imagine aircaste lines for voidmaster like characters, maybe one for void and another for air support.

I also imagine a chart with the four elements, having overlapping areas. With that in mind, I hope the career paths for the castes have some overlap in abilities. I also am curious if you will do an ethereal path as well, if you do, Im imagining something like a cross between rogue trader and missionary. I hope to see an origin path that includes the various tau spets, including the farsight enclaves.

Seeing rules for tau ships would be awesome, and I look forward to what they look like, especially how the compare to the ones I posted in these forums (if you are curious just search tau ships). I also hope to see info on tau colonization, exploration, first contact, and expansion.

Yes!! I second all of this!!!