So, my story has hit another snag, of sorts, and I am looking for advice. How do you handle families aboard a ship? I know that many of the nameless sheeple aboard the vessel have all their family there; the ship is like their hive city, and they have lived, grown, and died there, for generations. What about "important" people, though? If your character found spouse, and had a child, would they stay aboard the dangerous, possibly combat-prone ship, or would you find a safe place to "keep" them, and just try to visit as often as you could, but never enough?

The only good example I have is Aoife Armengarde. Her daughter Igraine is kept aboard another ship, learning the ropes, while her mother continues to risk the worst for profit and fame. Would your Rogue Trader do something similar, or keep them aboard, where the totality of your power might protect them?

In my story, Navigator Asteira Volaris has just recently given birth to her first child. Being the next in line to lead House Volaris, and the subject of an in-depth experiment to "clean out" much of the genetic degradation Navigators suffer from, this child is very important (will prove if her genetic improvements are more than a fluke). In the time she has been stationside, where her baby was born, Asteira has grown rather attached, and is now uncertain if she can leave the girl behind, as she is due to resume her service aboard the Silver Ravens' Passage of Judgment. Under normal circumstances, it wouldn't be too hard to imagine many such children being raised by servants, while their important parents see to critical matters, and a Navigator House seems very much like just such an organization, able to train her and keep her safe, especially stationed aboard a powerful Rogue Trader's space station, but the idea of leaving the child behind is understandably iffy. There is a strong enough Volaris presence aboard the ship, and servants to cover while Asteira goes on missions, or guides the ship, but ship life is risky. Would there be important children aboard the warship, possibly getting underfoot, or would the characters have to arrange for more appropriate, and safer plans?

As an extra, are Navigators born with first mutations, and their third eye, or do those develop with puberty?

As far as Rogue Trader families are concerned, I believe there is no such thing as a wrong answer here. It will depend on the individual personality and their manner of thinking, as well as potential pressure from their extended families (such as leaders of their bloodline - think Venetian merchant princes influencing lesser members of their family). Some Rogue Traders will consider themselves and their ship safe enough, perhaps not believing in the chance of a defeat in battle due to hubris. Other Rogue Traders will lack stationary/planetary assets such as bases and mansions, instead considering their ship a mobile home that carries everything the Rogue Trader owns. Other Rogue Traders may have planetary assets, but could fear that without their personal presence the threat of assassination is simply too big to leave their heirs there. And yet other Rogue Traders could even risk conflict with their own merchant families (if they have them) by disregarding an order from the house leader to leave their child with them, preferring to raise the kids themselves in an environment controlled by them personally, rather than having relatives influence them (this is something for extended, powerful families of Rogue Traders with several ships and massive wealth, but also lots of internecine rivalry).

For Navigators, this is a bit more complicated, as almost every Navigator is a member of a Navigator House and thus always subject to the will of the Paternova, removing the option of a purely personal consideration and making it a choice between acceptance of or refusal of House authority. Since the Navigator gene can only be passed on between two Navigators, the Navis Nobilite perceive a need to enforce strict policies regarding promulgation, so the various Navigator Houses have established breeding programs following the concept of political marriage centered on their holdings on Holy Terra itself. A Paternova does not have to order a child of a Navigator to the family holdings - but it is a possibility to consider.

If you're interested, this article from GW's Inquisitor RPG goes a bit into detail concerning the Navis Nobilite. Perhaps you find something of inspiration there.

As noted, it boils down to 'is there anywhere safer you trust to leave them?'. A navigator household definitely would have. There will be children aboard the warship, but the more influential the faction they represent, the more likely they are to grow up somewhere else.

As an extra, are Navigators born with first mutations, and their third eye, or do those develop with puberty?

Never made clear. Certainly the navigators continue to mutate as life goes on, so basic non-humanoid mutations probably come in over time. The Third Eye is a genofixed element of the navigator genome, though, so they're probably born with it.

I read somewhere that the eye sometimes opens with time and growth, and that even are some cases where it has to be surgically opened during adolescense.

My RT player's story says that his father had a Captain comission bought for him in the Imperial Navy of the Calixis Sector after he finished his studies in Scintilla.

But his father in this specific case was more interested in living free of the burden of a family that in actually protecting his son (after all, commanding an IN ship is not necessarily safe if you look at the spinward front).

I read somewhere that the eye sometimes opens with time and growth, and that even are some cases where it has to be surgically opened during adolescense.

Even if this isn't part of studio fluff, I'd probably adopt it into my own interpretation of the 'verse. The idea of small bumps on kids' foreheads that, when poked with a scalpel, reveal an additional eye underneath is just too fittingly creepy for 40k to ignore.

I read somewhere that the eye sometimes opens with time and growth, and that even are some cases where it has to be surgically opened during adolescense.

Even if this isn't part of studio fluff, I'd probably adopt it into my own interpretation of the 'verse. The idea of small bumps on kids' foreheads that, when poked with a scalpel, reveal an additional eye underneath is just too fittingly creepy for 40k to ignore.

And of course, Then the screaming starts!

It's like when the first teeth are coming out!

I think I am going to go with Asteira brings her daughter along. House Volaris is a Nomadic House, so no matter how strong they might be, I could argue that they have little property on Holy Terra; as a smaller House, much of their group is situated on Lord-Captain Korvallus's space station (Shield of Valos), at Valos III, and spread among his fleet of assets, with some also still assisting the Adeptus Mechanicus, as they did before Korvallus purchased much of their services. Novator Volaris is now going to remain there, and fix some issues that developed in his absence, but Asteira is going back to her ship, and with the veritable bloodshed that happened on-station, aboard the Passage might actually be safer. Some determinations cannot be made until the baby is older, so there is some downtime. If the worst happens, they did take several genetic samples from both mother and child, and the father is still stationed aboard the Shield

That, and I often come down a bit against the "grimdark" of 40K. I often feel a need to squeeze a little love, romance, and humanity into my portrayals of it, if only to show that their version of Humanity still deserves to exist; they are still people. I figure with her two Psylakis Guardians, her lover, and her own skill, baby-protecting shouldn't be TOO hard.

I read somewhere that the eye sometimes opens with time and growth, and that even are some cases where it has to be surgically opened during adolescense.

Even if this isn't part of studio fluff, I'd probably adopt it into my own interpretation of the 'verse. The idea of small bumps on kids' foreheads that, when poked with a scalpel, reveal an additional eye underneath is just too fittingly creepy for 40k to ignore.

And of course, Then the screaming starts!

The reference you are looking for is from the Space Wolf novel Wolfblade I believe, and I agree its too 40k-creepy to ignore. The Wolfblade novel is actually full of interesting background for Navigators and a great insight into how there families work, and just how much power they can throw around.

Regards

Surak