I’ve been looking at non-human (inhuman?) antagonists for my Rogue Trader game, and particularly ones where talking your way out isn’t an option (curse the crew of the Blessed Eventide and their ability to solve 60% of plots by throwing a party or formal dinner, and another 20% by calling in contacts made or solidified at a previous party or formal dinner). Not wanting to descend into importing ‘Nids, and being bored with Orks, I looked into the bestiaries and source books of the 40K RPGs.

There’s three stand-outs, and I was wondering what the assemblage of the forum have done with them in the past.

The Rak’Gol are nasty blighters in a fight. Savage and brutal looters like Orks, but even more murderous. They’re also downright inscrutable in motivation, save for some manner of interest in or link to...

The Yu’Vath, dead (and possibly dreaming) sorcerous entities with a habit of creating or recreating construct entities and minions. Hunting through he ruins of their fallen empire is nothing compared to the threat that they might not be as dead as everyone thinks.

The Slaugth are another bucket of worms all together. Infiltrators and beast masters, encounters are far more likely to include tracking through an increasingly gribbly maze of deceit and cut-outs.

So, how have you used these in your games, or what plots have you hatched that have failed to materialise?

I... have serious issues with the Rak'Gol (purely personal, mind you, so that's where this post is headed). I think its just that they're depicted as slobbering tyranid-esque villains without the Hive Mind for intelligence. They seem powerful enough in a fist fight, and have some nasty weapons to fight with, but their ships seem a little underpowered once the Explorers build up a bit of a fleet, and they haven't been depicted as having more than a smash-and-grab mentality.

Not my kind of villain, but it might work for you.

Yu'Vath were similar, but mostly because I never explored the idea that the empire wasn't really dead, and it was just their constructs running around. Dangerous, yes, and excellent traps; but a little 1-note for a reoccurring villain.

As a question, where are the Slaugth from? I have several of the books, but apparently not that one.

Now, the villain that I like the best are Eldar. There are at least 4 distinct factions in the Expanse that are properly documented by Imperial forces, and that doesn't count in the possible fringe groups or small Corsair fleets that are pursuing their own agendas.

The thing that I really like about Eldar is that they have a very strict plan that they're keeping to, and if they need something then they are willing to burn Void and Holy Soil to get to it. I've had quite a bit of luck with an Eldar Corsair group that has goals in the Expanse that run completely counter to what the Rogue Trader wants to do, and is willing to fight tooth and nail to make sure that the Explorers don't succeed.

A good example would be a shrine on a planet's surface that the Corsair group has dedicated themselves to protecting, but that contains knowledge, Cold Trade artifacts, or juicy resources that the Explorers really want to get at. No amount of persuasion, parties, or gifts is going to allow the Corsair fleet to allow the Rogue Trader to land on their Maiden World, and chances are that they have some powerful ships and highly trained aspect warriors ready to defend the shrine at all costs.

Another example might be racing the Explorers to recover some lost piece of Eldar heritage before the grubby Imperials get their hands on it.

It might just be me, but I like the idea of a group that has its own agenda that is at least as complicated as the Explorers', and has the resources to make their life difficult. It feels like a more worthy opponent to me instead of just a tough brawler that doesn't know when to quit (though the Eldar make excellent use of those too when the need arises!)

I... have serious issues with the Rak'Gol (purely personal, mind you, so that's where this post is headed). I think its just that they're depicted as slobbering tyranid-esque villains without the Hive Mind for intelligence. They seem powerful enough in a fist fight, and have some nasty weapons to fight with, but their ships seem a little underpowered once the Explorers build up a bit of a fleet, and they haven't been depicted as having more than a smash-and-grab mentality.

Not my kind of villain, but it might work for you.

Yu'Vath were similar, but mostly because I never explored the idea that the empire wasn't really dead, and it was just their constructs running around. Dangerous, yes, and excellent traps; but a little 1-note for a reoccurring villain.

As a question, where are the Slaugth from? I have several of the books, but apparently not that one.

Now, the villain that I like the best are Eldar. There are at least 4 distinct factions in the Expanse that are properly documented by Imperial forces, and that doesn't count in the possible fringe groups or small Corsair fleets that are pursuing their own agendas.

The thing that I really like about Eldar is that they have a very strict plan that they're keeping to, and if they need something then they are willing to burn Void and Holy Soil to get to it. I've had quite a bit of luck with an Eldar Corsair group that has goals in the Expanse that run completely counter to what the Rogue Trader wants to do, and is willing to fight tooth and nail to make sure that the Explorers don't succeed.

A good example would be a shrine on a planet's surface that the Corsair group has dedicated themselves to protecting, but that contains knowledge, Cold Trade artifacts, or juicy resources that the Explorers really want to get at. No amount of persuasion, parties, or gifts is going to allow the Corsair fleet to allow the Rogue Trader to land on their Maiden World, and chances are that they have some powerful ships and highly trained aspect warriors ready to defend the shrine at all costs.

Another example might be racing the Explorers to recover some lost piece of Eldar heritage before the grubby Imperials get their hands on it.

It might just be me, but I like the idea of a group that has its own agenda that is at least as complicated as the Explorers', and has the resources to make their life difficult. It feels like a more worthy opponent to me instead of just a tough brawler that doesn't know when to quit (though the Eldar make excellent use of those too when the need arises!)

Edit: sorry, went off on a bit of a rant when it looks like you were looking for help. If you had to choose between the three, I think it would be interesting to have a 'dreaming' Yu'Vath intelligence (artifact? lingering presence?) be intentionally leading on a large pack of Rak'Gol to some greater end. It could either threaten your Explorers' holdings, or the goal they're looking for, or both!

It would be very similar to something I set up, just with different antagonists and a different end goal. In this case, if the intelligence gets its way the Explorers lose a chunk of their resources and a new beast is on the loose in the Expanse. If they succeed, they get a crack at a possible treasure vault of Yu'Vath secrets (and whatever other poor victims the vault has drawn in over the centuries)

The Slaugh (spelling?) are from DH, I believe.

I LOVE Eldar, so I can agree with this. It's also nice to see these Eldar; most of my other reading of late is OW, and the Spinward Front only seems to have degenerate Dark Eldar, whom I hate.

A one-off you might run, you could hit your crew with Enslavers. Not your ship, maybe, but they find a crew of near-zombies, and have to fight them and the Metroid masters that made them. If some of them might be people the players knew, that could be cool, too.

As a question, where are the Slaugth from? I have several of the books, but apparently not that one.

The Slaught appear in the adventure included in the DH GM's Screen , and the DH supplement Disciples of the Dark Gods . They are freakin' scary . Example: their weapons have a new Special Quality- Disintegrate (if the target takes any Critical damage, it is reduced to dust...). Discovering an infestation of these things might be a good excuse to have your Rogue Trader team up with some Space Marines (either from the Deathwatch, or the Calixis-based Storm Wardens Chapter, whos' fluff indicates that they previously fought a brutal campaign against the Slaught, and would be looking for a rematch).