Note that no where in here does this actually affect her Profit Factor downward. Essentially, she is able to continue her role as leader of a Segmentum Fleet. Her holdings and underlings keep the organization running, and project her political power across the Imperium.

Does this sound right?

My players have a habit of picking a lower PF in trade for a higher SP ship, kitting it out explicitly for fighting, and then spending a fair chunk of the rest of the campaign complaining that they can't buy anything despite having the wealth of worlds at their disposal. Actually getting profit factor high enough that they can acquire the things that they want is rather awkward, all things considered.

[...]

(She uses a Fate Point, giving her an additional +10, for a PF of 185)

[...]

Afaik, you can't do that.

Per RAW there's nothing against it, in the same way that a Rogue Trader's Exceptional Leadership can benefit an acquisition test as well.

See, that's the part I think is interesting. A Profit Factor check is a percentage check - its a sine wave effectiveness: every added bonus helps a lot on the low end, is moderately effective in the middle of the range, but when you get to the upper end (70-80%), every little bit is only partly useful... at least until you get to 95%+ where its essentially guaranteed. But the scale itself is logarithmic (having a profit factor of 80 is a lot more effective than having a profit factor of 40).

Also, the description of Fate Points says that one of the ways they can be used is to add +10 to a test before you roll, no restrictions on the types of rolls. As Errant mentioned, I assume that represents extra pressure or concessions or whatever else good roleplaying represents (flattery? gifts?).

Another example:

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Lord Davros has a 75% chance of receiving extra security soldiers from the Levy on "permanent loan." That means that he still has a 25% chance, after walking into the room, of having to offer the Levy a significant political favor in the future in order to receive the soldiers. Lord Davros will happily agree, even though it shows off how weak he is in the grand game of the Expanse.

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Is this a good way to represent high end profit factor then? Or does the same system that works for picking up weapons and individual ships not quite work for the highest tiers of Imperial Society?

Personally, I'm of the opinion that Profit Factor actually represents larger organizations better than smaller organizations. Unless the ultimate goal is to prompt the Explorers to do more to gain large objects like powerful mercenary organizations, armies, and ships.

Am I reading that right?

Ultimately, Profit Factor is an abstraction that isn't really meant to model the large scale movement of money, goods, favors and political power throughout the Imperium. It may serve as a guideline for the GM if you're not sure yourself whether guy X could realistically procure equipment/good/favor Y, but for the most part everywhere has whatever resources at their disposal you deem appropriate, adhering to the rules strictly only when they concern the PCs.

Ultimately, Profit Factor is an abstraction that isn't really meant to model the large scale movement of money, goods, favors and political power throughout the Imperium.

Don't you mean it is meant to model the large scale movement of money, goods, favors and political power? Page 270 RT states "Profit factor does not, however, represent any one thing, but rather a combination of all the aspects of wealth and power at the Explorers' command. This means that Profit Factor is all at once the amount of coins in their coffers, their standing in Imperial Society, and their complex web of loans, favours, and debts."

Hope that answers some questions.

Ultimately, Profit Factor is an abstraction that isn't really meant to model the large scale movement of money, goods, favors and political power throughout the Imperium.

Don't you mean it is meant to model the large scale movement of money, goods, favors and political power? Page 270 RT states "Profit factor does not, however, represent any one thing, but rather a combination of all the aspects of wealth and power at the Explorers' command. This means that Profit Factor is all at once the amount of coins in their coffers, their standing in Imperial Society, and their complex web of loans, favours, and debts."

Hope that answers some questions.

Nope, I meant exactly what I meant. The key phrase in the passage you quote is "at the Explorers' command". Explorers = PCs. It's a system that abstracts how the PCs acquire and spend goods and favors. The model it creates is too inaccurate to actually represent the inner workings of the Imperium on a larger scale.

So no, the Lord Admiral doesn't roll her Profit Factor to acquire a wing of battleships from AdMech, and Lord Inquisitor doesn't roll his PF/Influence to ask the Storm Wardens Chapter to donate a few volunteers to the Deathwatch. Such things happen when it makes sense for them to happen from the perspective of either the world or the story (or, preferably, both).

So I guess that might be where some of the confusion is. I was using those two (the Admiral and the trade guild) as an example for a player stand-in. Imagine a Rogue Trader whose managed to amass a giant empire/set of contacts. Or maybe Winterscale talking with his Mechanicus contacts.

Though, that does also mean that you could use the broad outlines of Profit Factor to figure out if a certain NPC could get something, or if they'd have to offer concessions and future promises. I don't think I'll ever get that detailed in my games though.

Arguably the Lord Inquisitor WOULD use his Influence to encourage the Storm Wardens into handing over some of their own to the Deathwatch, but the narrative bonuses would be such that it could be an automatic success.

Nope, I meant exactly what I meant. The key phrase in the passage you quote is "at the Explorers' command". Explorers = PCs. It's a system that abstracts how the PCs acquire and spend goods and favors. The model it creates is too inaccurate to actually represent the inner workings of the Imperium on a larger scale.

Well yes, I totally agree that the PF representation they have in RT for various NPC factions is misconstrued. I even made a different table in my google docs below to attempt to fix it. But, PF ratings are a great asset for NPC RT's in what they can/can't bring to the table. And heck, your rolls can even be introduced into the game story (I don't do this often, I just tend to narrate implementations what I think is necessary, though during combat encounters the unexpected is much more fun [yes yes, I said much more])

For example, your PC's adversary, RT Noname, has a PF of 45. He attempts to purchase a refurbished Frigate at Port Wander, and fails the roll. The PC's, upon later going to Port Wander, hear rumors that RT Noname tried to acquire a Frigate but was unable to. What was this for you ask? Only further Inquiry checks can tell.

I'm not saying you should always do this, but sometimes random rolls, even for NPC's, helps create a story unique for those PC's experience. Just food for thought. Wish I would of thought of this sooner, now that I think about it.