So, I recently inherited a third Rogue Trader campaign from a friend who said he needed to stop GMing. If you see this thread, Jimmy, I'm talking about your game. So don't read further.


The primary antagonists are Eldar and Chaos, with the Rak'Gol as a wild card. I'd like to tie all three together, and I was rolling dice to randomly generate star systems when I got one with a Stellar Anomaly, which can be anything from a tiny black hole to a relic from the dark age of technology.

I really like the idea of an ancient, powerful space station, A La the Star Forge from KOTOR. I'm just not sure what the actual capabilities should be. Is it a high quality cloning facility (I'm sure Chaos would love to be able to mass produce CSMs. Or Nurglings could clone a particular plague carrier) or maybe it sucks power away from the sun to fire giant lasers? I'm not actually sure what would make for both an interesting adventure and be fluff legit for dark age.

What's something that everyone involved would be interested in? (Admittedly, Chaos and Rogue Traders will take anything that isn't nailed down, and Eldar could just be interested in blowing it up because their farseer said it'd be a problem)

susanbrindle said:

The Forces of Chaos have discovered an ancient Yu'Vath station that implants their accursed crystals into the body of any sentient being placed inside. for Chaos Sorcerers this is greatly amplifying their connection to the Warp. For Chaos Champions they become mad with rage and destructive. For your average Chaos soldier they can have their will completely subsumed by an attuned leader who can coordinate their actions with frightening efficiency. The Eldar have caught word of this station and, not trusting the humans to destroy such a station once it is discovered have embarked to destroy all who know of it. Although it might be possible to negotiatee with them, they have already seen that humans cannot be trusted with this technology and may even turn on the Explorers even if they pledge (and mean) to destroy the Space Station.

At the height of the climactic battle, the Rak'Gol show up to try and spoil whomever seems to have the advantaeg at the moment. For Chaos, they seek out those implanted with Yu'Vath technology and attempt to tear it out of them. For Eldar, they are hunting those who have been destroying caches of covetted Yu'Vath technology throughout the Expanse. For Rogue Traders, they seek to destroy any who would challenge their activities inside of the Expanse.

Star forge screams yavath factory to me. I would have it be under control of the rak gol who have colonized it. Their technomages are fusing the yavath tech into thier stuff. The eldar want to destroy it because if it continues it could cost them a huge number of lives. Chaos, rather than occupying it, have decided to try to manipulate the rak gol into targeting victims they choose for the rak gol. Chaos is also running interference against the eldar, blocking thier attempts to destroy it. All three groups dont want a rogue trader anywhere near it, and will be initially hostile towards them.

A (partial) Dyson Sphere is around the star. It was used to power a factory the produces the Men of Iron, but that factory is now dormant for some reason.

None of the factions will be able to gain control of them, or take them on solo, forcing alliances to be made. Also, the Men of Iron happen to be omnicidal.

This could work just as well with Oldcrons, but being a proper faction and not a monster of the week, I'd personally avoid using them unless you want Necrons to be a player in the larger story.

1. Dark Age of Technology Orbital Astronomical Array can spy out systems and planets within (large) radius. Eldar don't want anyone finding their (Craftworld/Maiden World/Exodite Colony), Chaos and Rok Gol want to use the station to spy on stuff.

2. Yu'Vath station extends into the Warp, where it captures souls. It is overriding nearby Eldar spirit stones and causing Rok Gol implants to malfunction.

3. More "standard" stellar anomaly, such as a neutron star, or variable star, or stellar nebula.

"Ancient Imperial cloning facility" reminds me of an Index Astartes article in White Dwarf #260 about the Cursed Founding, regarding the Imperium's attempt to clone Space Marines with levels of performance close or equal to the Primarchs of old. It's a rather interesting piece of fluff, especially as the psychic connection between whatever powerful CSM Lord was involved (it sounds like it may have been Fabius Bile?) sounds almost like a deliciously ironic reverse of the connection between the Emperor and his lost Primarchs.

There's an online backup of the article available on this website .

That said, Erathia's idea sounds rather interesting and should be considered as well!

As for OP's concern regarding "fluff legitimacy", I'd simply refer to 40k's Laissez-Faire policy. The franchise does not have a true canon in the sense that there is some single truth (as often erroneously believed), but rather lots and lots of different visions and interpretations. I think Aaron Dembski-Bowden described it best when he said the material should simply be regarded as "different lenses through which we can view the setting".
In essence, any official product we read is nothing but half-truths and myths .. unless you as an individual want it to be more for your own personal interpretation of the setting. So, go wild! The only thing I'd recommend is to maybe check back (cautiously, without spoilering all you really have in mind) with your group to see if your vision of the setting aligns with your players'. One of the worst things that can happen to a player is a game breaking their established perspective on the setting.

Wish it could be a Blackstone Fortress, or suitable ripoff.

Other things I would like to say just don't fit. There aren't Tau in RT, but a lone, cloaked station of the Tau could be awesome. Necrons are another good option, if you want them around; a "damaged" Tomb System, activating only the lower-level Necrons, while their leader units and more tactical-oriented programs remain suspended might be wise.

A standing webway gate might also be cool, if your players could figure out how to use it, and get the Eldar involved in their adventures, whether as wary observers or violent suppressors is up to you.

A powerful Space Gun might be a fun find; some ANCIENT, derelict emplacement, like a Nova Cannon or heavy lance in space. If the players could keep it, and have a planet they need protected, it could fend off attackers, or they could sell it to a strategic asset planet, or the AdMech.

If you really want to mess with the players your could just say its an awesome derelict archeotech relic from the Dark Age of Technology, giving them rumors of what it could be from the above ideas, and then when they arrive its just an abandoned STC Monitor Station watching some random thing. This gives your players a chance to be sneaky and set up the Chaos and Eldar who are looking for it to arrive there at the same time and destroy each other without the players ever firing a shot. As for the Rak'gol who knows what those crazy space barbarians are up to.