I for one am very excited about this game.  Dark Heresy is fantastic and I'm sure Rogue Trader will be great as well (or else there will be hell to pay and a visit from an Inquisitional Team).

Good article out on the FF site-
http://www.fantasyflightgames....ge_news.asp?eidn=517

And same rules (just cleaned up language and with better examples)!  Compatibility!  Woot!


Navigator as a playable career.....that I am a little bit leery of.....
This message was last edited by the GM at 22:54, Sat 18 Apr 2009.

must ... buy
NAUW!

I dunno, Navigators were fun characters in Inquisitor, so I see nothing wrong with having them in RT. As long as they're relatively balanced, I'm sure it'll be fine.

Do they have a release date for it yet? Or is it still just "some time this year"?

I don't remember exactly, this summer seems to spring to mind but at the moment I am too lazy to check=:)  There is loads of information on the FF site.

I forget what FF are saying, but Amazon are saying mid-August.

And the day Amazon ships something on the correct date is the day i wear shorts on my head, stick two pencils up my nose and communicate only with the word "gobble"

LOL!  I pre-ordered my copy of "Creatures" in December, was told Feb.....then late FEb, then March, then mid-March, then April..canceled the order when it was then saying possibly mid-May.  No more Amazon for me, unless it is something they have in stock.

Well, I ordered Creatures from them a few weeks back, was told 1-2 weeks, and got it a week ago. That's Amazon UK though, so it's probably coming from a different warehouse than you. I have had the whole '1-2 weeks' turns to '4-6 weeks' turns to 'we'll let you know', though. When they're good they're good, but when they're bad...

I agree=:)  Some stuff comes in so fast but when I really need something....then it takes forever.  I wish my two local shops would stock the stuff.  I could order it through them but it is pretty slow, they usually need to order more than one copy, and it is expensive.  The expensive part is the one part I can swallow, heck if they had it in I'd get it right off the shelf.  One shop we have here in Saint John has really nice and helpful staff, and the other has good staff but the biggest jerk of a manager possible.  Sigh.

Another RT article on the Fantasy Flight site.  Check it out-

http://www.fantasyflightgames....ge_news.asp?eidn=530

Each article is getting me more and more psyched up!

Must Have Rogue Trader! Damn I am practically drooling over it in anticipation.

Stoked. This plus Ascendancy tells me where I can take my DH characters once they hit max ranks.

Yeah looking forward to this
Time to start thinking about a swashbuckling adventure on the rolling empyrean.
Raiding imperial vessels and living it all up in the seediest spacebars :D

Definitely looking foward to that day, my friend, we should get there in, what, a decade or so from now? Hope you've got plot planned for that long...

[Apologies to everyone else - I'm playing in both of WarriorPoet's DH games]

I'm workin' on it, I'm workin' on it...

What ended up happening with Creatures for those who pre-ordered on Amazon, I heard they repeated a major fubar on everyone, hope it didn't happen again.

I still need to get a copy of that...

it is a cool book and all, but they could have spent pages or made whole books on Orks and Genestealers.  Speaking of Genestealers you can still get a Black Industries "apocrypha" online for free and it has in my opinion much better stats for the stealers, not to mention goes into their whole cult and gives stats for each cycle the bug is in.  Anathema just throws out the typical stealer at you and that is that.  Yeah still out there, 19 page PDF, much better than Anathema in my purple opinion. I hope they do one on orks, but this probably won’t be around too long, of course GW and FF are clueless about a lot of stuff so who the hell knows?

http://www.koldborg.eu/genestealer.pdf

  I got mine through Amazon UK, no problem. Having had a chance finally to read through it properly I think I'd have to say I'm impressed. There's a really good spread of creatures, all of them well-thought out and atmospheric, and the adventure hooks give loads of good ideas on how to use them. They've done everything they can to encourage you not to just throw a random monster at your PCs. I'd have liked a little less space given to art and a little more to squeezing in a few more creatures seeing as that's what I've bought the book for, but that's just me being crotchety and old-school. I wouldn't have wanted any more space given to Orcs though - you've got a pretty good overview there (a lot more than I remember getting in my old copy of Rogue Trader, and that was when that was all you had on 'em, now there's no shortage of fluff out there if you want to find more). I agree the lack of discussion of genestealer cults is disappointing, though. I have a vague memory of reading stuff about patriarchs holding their hybrid and apparently 'normal' human descendants in thrall as they slowly built up an army of purestrains to lay waste to a world... but that was way back in the day. Are hybrids still counted canonical?

Apocrypha is the BI PDF on vehicles.  There are no stats for 'stealers or anything else (other than vehicles) in it.

Just checking out the link you sent right now...hmmmmm.....

Not sure but back in the day I sooooooo wanted some of the Ork hybrids.  Heck I'd still get them if I could find them.  I'm sure they are on Evilbay somewhere but with the amount of figs I still need to paint I can't justtify getting more.

Not much of an article but I love the pic!



http://www.fantasyflightgames....ge_news.asp?eidn=537

I just read through this thread and the linked articles. I'm drooling after this book myself. I've been trying to find a ship based DH games for a time now without luck. This system seems be the thing I've been waiting for.

That'd be the Dark Reign Genestealer supplement, written by some of the members there.

I'd know, I'm an admin there :P

Another articles about RT is out and it has me thinking evil thoughts!



"Will Rogue Traders encounter the fearsome Ork and their clumsy vessels? Yes, indeed, and always more of them than any sane man would like. Planets overflowing with gems, death-beasts, and precious metals? Rival Rogue Trader and Explorator fleets bristling with lies and macrocannon? These things also. The treacherous Eldar? Certainly, for they always have an agenda to fulfill. Charred worlds of xenos tombs and deadly artefacts orbiting cursed stars that died before their time? Ruined Imperial colonies? Space hulks belonging to foolhardy Rogue Traders gutted by the jagged warp? Mayhaps. Pirate scum who crawl before altars to the Ruinous Powers? A mythic STC upon a world of charred hive-ruins? Dark voids where man was not meant to tread, and where ghost-ships sail the Empyrean? The horrid remains of doomed archeoexpeditions who dug too deeply? Primitive beasts who carve tech-devices from the living jungle? Cities of stone suspended in the void? Worlds of heathen men who have never known the God-Emperor? A dark threat from a forgotten past that trumps all others? Well, you'll have to wait and see."


http://www.fantasyflightgames....ge_news.asp?eidn=561

One of the more encouraging things to emerge so far about Rogue Trader IMHO. They're confirming the main setting is the Halo Stars, and that there's scope for just about anything you want to put out there, including (and I'm particularly glad about this) worlds of pre-Imperium human settlement. Now that sounds like something really fresh and new for 40K and what's more something that is a great contrast with DH. RT and DH characters will likely have diametrically opposed worldviews, one seeing the Imperium as the hope of humanity, to be guarded against the threats of the outer and inner darkness, the other seeing hope as potentially found outside the Imperium, in the undiscovered riches of the Halo Stars. I'm starting to get more and more excited about RT now it's starting to sound more like privateers raiding the New World and less and less like Serenity meets 40K...

http://www.fantasyflightgames....ge_news.asp?eidn=570

An article about Navigators.

I can't believe I didn't see this on a chat or think of it earlier, but can you imagine how much treasure still is at the bottom of the shallow atlantic plate and the islands, billions of dollars worth of gems and gold literally billions maybe one or two I guess you throw billions around like a pink five dollar monopoly piece.  Now can you imagine billions of worlds all most likely with some way of leaving the planet, in the high millions for that tech level and then add in the xenos, holy crap the book could just be called Pawn Broker: The next to the furthest future.

Has any one heard of how they are going to handle the physics aspect of space travel, just juice up the table top, oh man that reminds me too Man O' War, dammit I have to go say goodbye to another cool game, talk about the stunty subs and ork things, although rolling for wind gets old a little fast.  The game made it too realistic and people started hopefully admire what early captains of War Vessels accomplished, brilliance.  Thank you Union members and Mafia related teamsters an 8 hour day and now we get drunk and forget what happen let alone why we were off today anyhow.  And Navy lads and sailors who now have a gun ship that can transform into three parts and go almost seventy miles an hour, small warheads optional. This would look ridiculous at close range the new ship next to a junker and eight guys with 30 year old AK-47's, overkill naw it's the Navy we make everything blow up, one thing we learned from the British Army, how to blow things up with style and panache.

Hey brother, dont forget my Marine Corps. We blow things up as well. And we learned it from the Royal Marines, of which we are the younger red headed step child to.

Damn straight. The British Armed Forces are some of the best in the world (except the SAS, who are the best).

Sweet!

http://www.fantasyflightgames....ge_news.asp?eidn=579

Finland isn't one of the countries where the even is. Must wait for the pdf. Is anyone going to run the adventure? I'd be eager to play in one.

Me too.

FF is doing such a awesome job, that now I have to own free copies for the art, if Langley did the cover he is now the GW master.  June 20th, just drool for two weeks.  Rouge is going to make the CON huge this year.

I'd be up for a run-through of the intro game too.

I'm definitely in if someone is willing to run it.  Just let me know if there's room.

It's coming soon......

Can't wait, next Saturday is going to be good with the mini intro being handed out for free and my local Comic/Gaming shop is running an intro game to give us a taster.

There are only two stores in my city and I am not sure if any are doing anything for Free RPG Day.  If not the module will be available in PDF format which IMHO is a brilliant idea!  I can't wait and hopefully someone here <hint hint> will run it.  I promise I won't read it=:)

Does anyone know how this is going to fit mechanically with DH?

I mean, how much could we use RT to drive DH ? Are we into munchkin turf or what?

Sorry, I'm out of the loop on this stuff.

The core game is the same, so the systems will cross very nicely.

From the taster I got on Saturday RT characters seem to be a bit more powerful than their DH counterparts, but that is to be expected.

The pre-generated characters in the intro have stats in the 30s and 40s for the most part and some very nice kit (chainswords for the RT and one of his team packs an Archeotech Hellpistol), of course they could be mid level characters so we will have to find out in a couple of months.

The big step away from DH is the freedom aspect of a Rogue Trader, money is going to be easier to get as your are a businessman (well sort of), there are rules in place to make money and you have a ship to go where you want, something most Inquisitorial Acolytes dont get to do.

Is there anyone running the preview module? I'd love to get in on it and give it a go :D

Preview of one of the RT classes is up on the FF site-

http://www.fantasyflightgames....ge_news.asp?eidn=644

The Explorator!

Looks nifty.  RT characters are quite a bit mote pumped up than their DH counterparts by the looks of things.

Sweet, just look at the equipment.  Curious about the traits.

Daaaaaamn, thats one powergap between DH and RT

The RT v. DH gap is of high topic discussion, but no one on FF forum or anyone from GW or FF has mentioned why?  From the beginning FF was preaching this was DH brother obviously we now know who the big brother is.  The only thing I can think of is a sales tactic where DH gamers can grab more loot and skills, TSR kind of tried that idea with DARK SUN, starting characters for AD&D at third level, but it made no difference and the supplement was never that popular.  I can see a lot of players switching to RT, but it is obvious way to make loyal players flip out the cash for another title, like the first comic book splits, where there was once 1 Uncanny X-Men now there are ten thousand.  RT supplements will probably sell just as well as DH, because of simple demand for what is no doubt going to snag countless awards for RPG of the year, the cover alone wins that.  Hey it could be worse GW could have gone bankrupt and sat on their hands again, but with Talisman, it is only a matter of time before other GW games slip into FF hands, rights are worth nothing if you can't sell anything and FF can. Ironic to be ripped off by a game titled Rouge Trader.  DH forever, You swarthy Rouge Heretics, Excommunication to all that fall into their greedy sinful hands. But RT NPC's against DH PC's and vice versa is a sweet hook.

So RT will be a bit more pumped.  I don't see it as a $$ grab.  The setting is totally different and probably a bit more harsh. I think it would be really cool to mix and match the two systems with A LOT of caution.  There is supposedly a huge distance factor to consider (The Callaxis system is supposed to be quite far away from where RT will be) and power level difference.  A few RT PC's could ruin the mix....or be nothing more than walking presents for the DH guys and gals.  Auto-gun + manstoppers and full-auto evens the odds up pretty quick and the DH crew could find themselves with lots of shiny toys.

I tend to agree with Flakk here. It's excessively cynical to see the power gap as being financially driven when there are obvious reasons why RT would have to operate at a higher power level (or at the very least a higher resource level).

The fact is that in RT you're talking about billions of thronegelt's worth of spaceship travelling unimaginable distances (again at massive cost) striking business deals worth likely several times more than an Inquisitor's annual expenses account (they'd have to be to justify the expense of travel). To imagine that a Trader, when budgeting on that scale, wouldn't shell out the peanuts that it would cost him to ensure that his retinue were decently equipped and trained beggars belief. An Inquisitor might have good reason to recruit hive scum and to have them equipped in a way that wouldn't draw attention, because he's operating clandestinely to hunt down traitors and heretics, but what reason does a Rogue Trader have to do this?

Is there any possibility that the Forsaken Bounty adventure is not using start level characters?
.

That could be true as well.  Looking at the new career preview though it seems to be a bit more powerful, skill, talent and gear wise, so really hard to say.  I'm pretty excited about RT but will not abandon my long running DH game for it.  I probably won't have time to run one but would love to play in one.

Just to expand on that for the benefit of those who haven't seen/can't spare the time to compare and contrast the one preview of a starting career package we've got:

The Explorator class (tech-priest equivalent) starts really, really loaded with nice gear. (A servo skull, enforcer light carapace, boltgun, good quality power axe). Now that could just be the tech priest's perk - I mean, stands to reason they'd have top-quality gear - but I'm guessing it's representative of what others have. Skills and talents-wise you get roughly the same number (perhaps a little more) than a starting DH character, but consider the relative power levels involved when some of those are things like Basic Weapon training (Universal) and Melee weapon training (Universal). Given that they can start play with bolt and power weapons I'm guessing those talents do exactly what they say on the tin. Gone is the whole waiting until you're about 3000 or so xp down before you can use a bolter. Now from the extract we've seen we don't know what sort of stats you'll start out with - advancement looks like it happens in the familiar +5% steps and at similar costs, but they may not start out at 30% average values if the sample characters are typical starting characters.

My guess from what we've seen is that the power level is a bit higher, and that this is deliberate, so that they can set you against really sick xenos beasts right from the get go. The fact is, DH is supposed to be a ton of investigation, beating up hive gangs, that sort of thing, with occasional exposure to the hideously powerful and monstrously weird. RT will have a whole different feel. You're out treading the void already, a hairsbreadth from the warp. And occasionally a bunch of you, wearing those nice red shirts, get to go down to some planet where some godawful xenos nastiness you don't have a chance of understanding slowly picks you off one by one. We may think that the underhive is dangerous, but the threats you face there are at least predictable. I'd take the upping of the power level to be a strong indication that the threat level is likewise being upped.

I'd hope that experienced DH characters could potentially 'graduate' to being part of a RT crew, and that conversion rules will be part of the core rules, but obviously they won't be wanting you to have to spend a thousand xp or so to create a starting character, they want something more straightfoward with less options. I'd see stuff like universal weapons talents as being a step in that direction. Figure your character should be able to pick up just about any basic or melee weapon and use it? Well, rather than have you spend 600 or so xp on that, we'll just give you a couple of talents that'll cover it.

Article up on the FF site about ships.  Pretty cool sounding stuff!

http://www.fantasyflightgames....ge_news.asp?eidn=656

There is a follow up adventure to the Free RPG Day module on the FF site.

http://www.fantasyflightgames....ge_news.asp?eidn=686

I just purchased the collectors edition. A hefty price, but as a college student who budgets himself wisely, I can afford it. Warrent Personalization: Johan Verdan. Keep your fingers crossed, as I hope to have him mentioned in some rogue trader material in the future.

Cool!  Did you order it directly off the site?  How is the collector's edition different from the regular?  Must....have....the precious....

I am pretty frugal except for the fact that I spend my money in big ole' spurts like for trips and big screens.  Been awhile since I have had a spurt (my upcoming vacation to Iceland is already paid so that doesn't count=:))

I ordered it directly. I feel slightly bad about doing it, but I will still buy the standard version when it comes out next month from my FLGS. (favorite local game store)

It was simple I just had to set up the account, much like buying something off amazon. Iceland uh? Cant do that, surrounded by a large body of water.

And note another one for a copy...
I missed the DH collectors, aint missing this one

Anyone got a spare $120 I can borrow?

Make that $240 so I can have one as well please.

But $120, thats more than £70 at the moment. GW did not even charge that much for the limited edition 40K 5th ed book.

On the other hand this book actually looks like it will contain something of value.

Do FF charge for delivery or is it free?

Postage is put on
Total for and quidk delivery to Sweden went around 192 $

Well worth it i say....but hey i paid 230 £ for a copy of Horror ont he orient express to ;)

Yea, for the book and shipping to the UK, it comes out at about £130-140, which is double what I'd put aside for it.

Mightily peed off about it, FFG is charging way too much for it, especially if you aren't in the US.

I just tried to place an order and it does not like my credit card (which currently has only $100 in charges and several thousand left on it so I know it is not the card).  Grrrr....

maybe its sold out already?

Quite possibly. There were only 500 of the unique copies.

I was told to phone the order in on Monday so here's hoping there are copies left by then.

EDIT:  Well I am an idiot.  My billing address is my in-law's place and I assumed it was where I have been living for the last 3 years.  Order processed=:)  $145.81 which is way more than I have ever spent on a book but I could not resist.
This message was last edited by the GM at 16:31, Sat 01 Aug 2009.

I hear ya flak. But I think it would be worth having your character in pesudo-canon dont you? I mean how often have players been able to affect warhammer 40K? Besides that eye of terror campgain several years back. Which to be honest was a slight disappointment to me. ( I have a theory that the newest Codex will always be the most broken thing, till the next. Which is why I am worried about my Space Puppies.)

Why are you worried at least you will have uptodate gear and if the rumours are true lightning claws that for some magical reason are better than those carried by other marines, nor will you be stuck with overly expensive under equipt troops and redundant special rules like my Black Templar.

Eh, I'm not that fussed about making my Rogue Trader characters canon, especially since I can just put them up on Dark Reign and have at least a few thousand people read them :P

Part of me is afraid that my army will be part of the power creep. Also I fear of losing some of the fluff. But time will tell.

"In addition, the Rogue Trader Collector’s Edition is still available for Pre-Order. There was a brief glitch with the web store over the weekend, so this is a special second-chance opportunity to stake your claim. Don’t forget that the copies available through the FFG web store are personalized with the name of YOUR Rogue Trader!

Rogue Trader is a roleplaying game set in dark gothic far future of Games Workshop's Warhammer 40,000 universe. Players take on the roles of explorers aboard a Rogue Trader's ship, searching for profit and adventure while discovering new alien cultures and threats in the uncharted regions of space."

My RT is registers as Captin Flakk, my 40k nick since '91=:)  Screw canon, I want MY name.

Not sure if there was a little confusion here about this release as there were lots of mentions of the tabletop game.  This is an RPG release.

There are still some copies left=:)

We thread jacked it I think. Sorry Flak. At any rate I just want to see how they do the space combat stuff, though I heard that they will introduce that later.

No problem.  I was just worried I was going crazy or something=:)
Maybe Captain Flakk should come with his boyz and pay me a visit....

Nope, Ross has said that that'll be in the book.

It's Ship Roles that are being put in a different book, roles being "you are ships doctor. In a ship-ship battle, you can roll (blah diceroll) to keep so many crew alive", that sort of thing.

You know, stuff you don't really need rules to do, but FFG are doing them anyway.

I like that it gives everyone something to do, like did scotty just sit on his ass, no he kept the ship together!

More Xp for Scotty!!! The Conclave is seriously worried that RT will take over the Dark Heresy PC's how could it not it looks as if it was crafted by the Slaneesh it has so many drooling.  The Conclave wonders if this is good for RPol or another split now with three core games and so much table-top pbp could be in trouble or is Ignato wigged out from Pleasure World obscura?

RT is a good thing for the 40k universe and will hopefully intergrate with DH rather than just replace it, because of its shiny, new, big-ass weapons for all setting.

What will worry me is them getting around to doing Deathwatch as we will lose the story aspect of the 40K setting which is what DH and RT (albeit with big ships and power swords) is all about and be introduced to a wargame-esque xeno kill-fest, as all that the Deathwatch are used for in the 40k universe are xeno kill-fests. And bescause of the level based progression system that he 40K roleplay games have, you just know they will have the Deathwatch Marines start off as scouts.

Well spoken Banjo, the Cardinal enjoys your posts.  Are you by chance a member of the FF forum community.  If so a scribe would be glad to take down your name to join allegiance there.  If you are not a member you would be a fine addition to some good posts and errata that is displayed there. Forges warm-

S.C.I.
This message was last edited by the player at 21:43, Wed 05 Aug 2009.

Hey, long time, no see. Had by accident removed this forum from my front page. What a shame.

So, Rogue Trader.

I will likely incorporate elements from DH into my RT campaigns and vice versa. Although Rogue Trader has that new feel to it (for obvious reasons!), I still want to play Dark Heresy. The two games offers various takes on the universe, and that is good (and, as rumored with the Ascension book for Dark Heresy, your DH characters will "ascend" to Interrogator and Inquisitor levels, bringing them on par with Rogue Traders and their like if you want to combine). So I'm looking forward to do some mixing and matching - especially if I manage to run a campaign where one or more of the characters becomes fully fledged Inquisitors. Could be fun.

Also, in a recent podcast (the link eludes me at the moment, but I think it's linked from the FFG site), Ross was forced to make an estimate on when we would get rules for playing xenos, which was sometime early next year if I remember correctly. Now that's going to be interesting... Earlier I was intrigued by the prospect of playing a xeno, but as I've grown more aquinted with the Dark Heresy setting (in particular, not much to go with on RT yet), I'm thinking it's less and less doable. How do you manage players who wants to play different xeno races? I could easily see how one might work with a Rogue Trader with a more carefree or radical approach, but even that could spell disaster and pose problems. (That said I haven't read many novels, so I wouldn't know of any good in-universe examples of such).

Well, that should be enough musing for now. Looking forward to the Collector's Edition :D Hefty price, true, but the product is oh so sexy. _{(That sounded a little... wrong. Oh, well)}

I agree.  I wonder if there will be rules for running groups of Xenos on their own which would make a lot more sense than adding them to a human crew IMHO.  Ork Freebooterz and Eldar immediately come to mind and might make for fun side adventures and a channge from always playing humans.  Mixing them in with human crew.....not so much.

And you are right North- the Collector set looks damn sexy!

Im not on FF forums at the moment it is one of those many things that I just have not got around to yet. Keep an eye out for a clown god of puppets and banjos cropping up in the near future.

The problem for me with getting people to play alien races in 40k is not finding a reason to have them around (which with a good bit of GMing is simple) but is actualy getting the players to play them properly.

The whole point of a xenos is that it is alien in its thinking and personality as well as physically (I know, the name kind of gives it away). Role players are unfortunately are human (well something close to human at least) and struggle to take up the roles because they act human when gaming, it is unavoidable. The whole point of xenos like the Eldar in 40k is that they are not like us and they do things for reasons that humanity can not even comprehend*, so a little book saying 'You're an Eladar, you're fast and ageless, but a little squishy, enjoy.' can not prepare players in any way shape or form to take up the role properly.

*Well that and be the masterminds of all plots to destroy the Imperium 63.9% of the time. Tzeentch comes a respectable second, the Old Ones and the C'tan joint third.

Aside from location, I would personally think most logical Xenos race would actually be the Tau, partially since it solves that very problem. Since while an Inquisitor working with Tau or Eldar is definately to the radical side, and even rouge traders probaly balk at such close association with Xenos. On the other hand Tau having human auxileries is completely canon and not even in the dangerous radical sense.

Also from the roleplaying perspective, I'm not even sure that the Tau are harder that the generic humans (And definately far, far easier than marines). I mean the average resident of the Imperium is pretty alien to modern man. Intense xenophobia and intolerance, the level of mystism in technology (When you load your Stubber it's not since you have any idea how it works it's because you were taught that if you pray hard enough and go though the ritual motions the machine spirit will be appeased and permit you to fire it - One of these days I want a chance to play a real life game and recite the standard prayer everytime I do an action)  That's before we even mention Tech-Priests and the warp (At least the eldar/Tau still have sexual drive and aren't as emotionly crippled.)

Yes there are a few inherant psychological biases in the Tau mindset on the other hand the society isn't as far removed from what we are used to. They still have a scientific worldview, they don't have religion and their society is pretty human itself. (I won't get into an arguement about which one it's based of personally I think British empire in India is a good start.)

With all that being said due to location the Tau turning up is unlikely, which is a pity.

As for Orks imagine you are playing a DnD dungeon crawl where everyone is chaotic evil and easily bored. (Of course these being the reasons I'm as unsure about Orks as a concept as I was of Deathwatch.)

The Banjo you knew is no more, he has been reborn on the FF forums as the Clown God, Banjulhu and is now trawling through the many threads discussing the rules and gamesmastering. Keep an eye out for me.

Excellent.  I am on there as well under the guise of Captain Flakk.

And I am on there under MILLANDSON :)

http://www.fantasyflightgames....ge_news.asp?eidn=721


Ship record sheets!

Leisuregames.com has got Rogue Trader down for the 28th August, and I've never known them to be wrong before, unless a product has come out before they predicted.

So, should be out in a week or two then!

I can guarantee with 90% certainty it will arrive late next week while I m away on vacation and have to wait a week to read it.

Aww, poor flakk.

I'll tell you all about it when you get back if that's the case ;)

If it's in while I am gone the first thing I'm going to do is head to my in-laws to pick it up.  I'm having it sent there just in case=:)

My order has the "Pending Shipping" status (or something like that).

I'm Northman over at the FFG forums, too. Usually just browsing the threads, since I have far too many forums I'm in...

Well, Leisuregames still has it set for a 28th August release, but I'd love it to come sooner (I doubt it'll come after the 28th. Like I said, leisuregames has never predicted too soon for me yet!)

Yeah well The word is it is now going to be late September for those of us UNLUCKY enough not to be at Gencon.

I just recently posted my opinion on the topic in their Forums. Pretty much saying that those of us who ordered the CE copy, should have been shipped our copies of the RT core rule book already. The main reason being is that a) they knew who was purchasing them and in what amounts. b) they made the books to sell at Gencon, so why didn't they have the CE ready for those who Spent the extra cash on it.

That is the last time I ever pre-order anything from FFG. They should have thought it out far more clearly then they should have done. Now I will have a crappy weekend as I listen to my Grandmother bitch at me, as we will be at a wedding and I am sharing a large suite with my grandparents and parents to keep costs down. Most likely causing me to be yelled out by older family members as I put the bitch in her place.

Sorry I am a U.S. Marine here, and I don't take kindly to being mocked or made fun of by anyone, even my grandmother.

(The Suite is 120 dollars a night, and I am staying for 3 nights....not looking so good for my sanity.)

I hate waiting. I was sure if I went away on holidays the book would arrive during that time=:(

Good luck Exalt. I feel yer pain=:(

Exalted... they never said that the SE would be sent out before the normal copies, so why would you expect them too?

I'm annoyed at having to wait an extra month, but, to be fair, they never made a promise that you would get your SE copy before the others.

Your right they didn't. I do wish to point out that they have already sold copies of it, without it getting to the main stream consumers.(By that I mean, getting to your LGS)Instead they push it back another month when the product is already packaged and ready to be sold. Its not like they are running through doing last minute changes. If they are doing that then they should not have sold the damn things in the first place.

How do you know it's already packaged? They said that they had all the copies they had printed to Gencon, and to print several thousand copies of the book would take a while, so that's not really an argument, as it's not ready to be sold because they don't have the books yet.

Also, have they already sold copies of the Special Edition? If not, that that entire argument is moot, because the printing of the normal copies and the printing of the SE are two separate entities.

How are they Different?

They are both the same book.

Only difference is in the packaging and display of the product.

Listen I am not going to keep arguing my point man, I feel like I am banging my head against a wall. I believe that FFg should have done a little more thinking about it before they opened it up to the public without releasing it world wide.

I feel that those without the time, money, or from being to far away, should not be made to made to wait. I am Just pissed off that they sold the damn thing without making it so that it is Available to everyone.

http://www.fantasyflightgames....ge_news.asp?eidn=782

Character generation looks fun!

Very Interesting. All stats starting at an average of 35 and coming with skills that are high level in DH. Overall I like the way the path works.

Although I do think its a bit silly that Prestige is the only motivation available for a Rogue Trader without GM permission (multiple 'free choice' rows), I think restricting classes to specific motivations is not a good idea.

well only time will tell Banjo.

It was updated to shipping status as off the 12th

This might be covered elsewhere, but I was wondering if anyone was interested in running a prologue to Rogue Trader. Since its release is (hopefully) scheduled soon, maybe a quick campaign that we could transfer our characters over to RT would be in order?

I'd be interested in it too.

I have 2 games, one I am running and another I am playing in, neither are DH or RT.

However with school, I may start running on in November or December.

http://www.fantasyflightgames....ge_news.asp?eidn=818

It won't be long now, and nice to know the Collector's Edition won't be too far behind the regular ones.

Woot.

Oh wait that means Travelling Man are going to call soon and ask for £100 or so.

[Starts raking around office looking for stray coins]

When will the books hit the retailers shelves? I've reserved one at my local store.

Did you get you Questlands discount on that Dave?

Yes. At the moment however they do not know the final price of the special edition.

I have to get in quick as each Traveling Man shop will only get one copy of the special edition, but the fact that I pass it by every morning whilst its opening up does help.

I'm told it will be in and around the £100 mark but until they get something solid from the wearhouse they just dont know. If I am lucky, one of the society execs will have the 15% off flyers left that we were handing out at freshers, just shame both discouts wont stack.

Prrrre-e-e-e-order = thumbsup! :)

Really looking for it, although I've began to realize that I need to get a regular copy to use while gaming. Until more people in my gaming group can get their copies of the rulebook, I as a GM will have to provide them with the rules... Judging by experience it can take anything from a week to a year before the first player buys the core rulebook of a game (or more than that in the case with Dark Heresy, actually, but then I didn't have a Collector's Edition in my tender care... The fact that it was sold out so fast might also have had something to do with it).

Right, so I need a way to transit my DH campaign over to Rogue Trader... Wealth and influence aren't exactly things I'm able to tie to my players' characters... Perhaps I should run the adventure in the back of Disciples of the Dark Gods? That's an easy way to wealth if the players are crafty... Once in Rogue Trader, the wealth system becomes more abstract anyway.

Ok....just got my mail confirmation. Should have it by this weekend. The long wait will soon be over!

Don't get your hopes up too much. Special Delivery, unless stated, only gets delivered on weekdays. If you don't have it today or tomorrow, it'll be next week before you have it. OF course, if it has Saturday delivery stated, then it might get there then too.

Mine should be here soon too, can't wait to have it.

I did it priority mail. The mail office does do it on every day cept Sunday. which is 2-3 days, so I should get it by sunday.

Mate of mine said his LE arrived this morning. Yours may not be too far behind.

Got my notification yesterday=:)

My will arrive on the 5th
I'm so happy i can burst :D

Got home last night to mine.

Much goodness.

It is so wonderful. I may even try to find a RT game if someone is willing to run one, I have 2 games I run, plus with college it is not fesible for me to try to run a RT game.

So RT is on shelves?  I will need to get a copy.

I have the CE version. The regular is supposed to be in sometime this week.

In the UK, RT is meant to be arriving in stores next week, according to a distributor or two I know.

US, side store owners say this friday. I guess it depends were it is shipping from. But from the picture from FFG site, I would say Stateside, which is why it will be arriving later next week for those in europe.

I have it on the shelf at my store right now.

Got to read through it today and while it was not the earthshaker I was hoping for it looks good to me.

I can't wait untill it hits the shelves here. My local store doesn't sell the CE, instead they every customer that has reserved a normal one has the chance to win them.

I liked it.

In reply to Exalt7212 (msg #125):

my CE arrived yesterday and I just picked it up from my in-laws place.  Rushing home to examine it....

Well we in the UK are getting a bum deal with the collectors edition.

The standard edition is £40, roughly the same price tag bar a couple of pounds as the US $60.

The retail price of the collectors is £120, that works out as more than $190. As far as I can tell many distributors have taken the US price tag of $120 removed the dollar sign and stuck a pound symbol in front of it.

My lgs have kindly contacted their supplier to ask why in the name of the God Emperor are they charging and extra £45 more than the US retail price.

Well the US dollar is tanking so they have to hose someone=:)  It is still very unfair.  And I thought I paid a lot for mine......

-Cries- 60 bucks is to much right now on my budget.

Well I am editing it to prevent this from becoming a Political nightmare....

So...yeah the tanking dollar....

;D
This message was last edited by the player at 21:51, Wed 14 Oct 2009.

This message was deleted by the player at 21:53, Wed 14 Oct 2009.

We did have a billion dollar surplus, if I remember correctly we were still actually over the Government budget...But thats politics, and I while I meant my comment, I will retract it.

After all this isn't the place for it. And some people (Not saying you Kurllumbenus, just in general) can't just agree to disagree.

Can we agree with the simple statement that most politicians are crooks and should not be trusted?

It's relevant to any WH40K game.

Yeah I dont trust them, thats why I always vote for the elder god as a write in, Why vote for a lesser Evil?

Well, having read through RT, I love it to bits.

I agree wholeheartedly MILLANDSON, I think the entire presentation is flawless, and it leaves so much room to stretch out a character while keeping it well-balanced. They definately put out a quality product!

OK I posted this just now on RPG.net but then realized I should have come here first.

Here is my observation and by the way I do really like the book but think this is a bit of a strange thing to have done.

While rolling up a character I noticed something that kind of annoys the hell out of me.

Each career path gives a list of starting skills and talents that the character should have. Now when you go to spend the starting 500xp the rank one table for that career path lists about 20 things that you could buy.

Why is it that all the starting skills and talents are inthis list.? I could understand if, like in DH, you get an and / or choice with your starting skills then I can accept the xp list needing the starting skills so you can buy the one you didn't choose at character creation.

RT doesn't give you a choice, you get all the skills listed. SO if I get basic weapon training as a starting talent why do I then get the choice to buy it again for 500xp.

As far as I can see you only need to buy a talent once and most don't stack so there is now need to buy it again.

Same with skills, you either get basic or advanced skills so why buy say Barter again when I've already got it. As a basic skill buying it a second time doesn't make it a trained skill and you can't buy barter +10, in the case of athe Seneschal career path until you reach rank 2.

So my question is does anyone know why the designers thought it a great idea to add starting skills to the rank one advancement table. THis only results in reducing the player's choice from 20 possible buys to 10. IMHO I think it was a total waste of time and space.

OR

Am I totally missing something to do with skills and talents that have changed from DH to RT.
This message was last edited by the player at 20:26, Sat 17 Oct 2009.

The way I kind of looked at is was as a tool for GMS to create different starting PCs by pricing the starting talents and skills against those that are gained.  Say a character, through ingenious character development and GM approval, decides that his character should start out with more scholarly skills at the sacrifice of some of his other talents and skills. Say, if you wanted to make a really mousy Seneschal, you could drop BWT Universal for Unremarkable talent and 300 xp in Evaluate, Secret Tongue (RTs) and Performer (Histories).

That's why I think they did it, and they did the same in DH, so I don't see the problem.

It confused me as well=:)  Assuming like the others have said that they are there just for comparative purposes and so if a DH character becomes a RT character.

Don'[t get me wrong I don't see it as a problem I just wondered why it was done like that and with no explanation to why I just thought it was unusual but with all the comments about why I can understand the reason now :o)

Personally I dont see much of a problem with it, it comes in useful when making homebrew careers.

I think my major critisism of Rogue Trader so far is how central the rogue trader chracter has to be to the party.

I know DH sets careers such as cleric up to be leaders of a party, but it is not set in stone, but in this it pretty much is if your RT you're in charge. So, unless you have a group that get on very well it can/will cause friction between players and the inevitable questions of 'why in the name of the chaos gods is he in charge?'.

Well clearly he is in charge because there is a corrupted administrator at the highest levels who is doleing out Warrants to those that will spread the Chaos Gods will outside the Imperium...

This message was deleted by the player at 15:39, Wed 21 Oct 2009.

Arrrrr.  Time for a mutiny maties=:)

Hey now, in our game I am trying to make an RT that listens and askes for advice on plans and such. I am aware that it can cause friction, so I will be trying to avoid that with a more Irresponsible Captain Taylor type captain. But not as much as an idiot as Taylor was....or was he really a genius...playing as an idiot?

Heh. Flakk, you're famous. See page 2. Anyone else here on the list?

http://www.fantasyflightgames....fficial-RT-names.pdf

Yuppers!  It's a wicked nice book and being on a list is pretty cool in a geekish way.

Page 6 for me.

Page 2 for me

http://www.fantasyflightgames....ge_news.asp?eidn=978

The Game Master's Kit!

It is time for Bnjos's Christmas Lecture which I have entitled

On Combining Games

(Part 1)*

*This is quite a long post (well 2 posts) written in the badly abused english of a Northerner, so you may want to give it a miss and have a cuppa instead, but for those involved in GMing Rogue Trader and Dark Heresey I believe it addresses a problem which I think is rather important.


Now as you know, I have said a few times in the past I am very interested in melding together Dark Heresey and Rogue Trader. Initially the idea seems simple and staight forward, the RT book even has a little paragraph on how to do it. Basic idea is a level 5 DH character is roughly eqivelent to a level 1 RT character at 5000xp ecah.

So you sit there and say to youreself 'I take my level 5 cleric drop him in and bobs your uncle everything is all fine and dandy'.

Or is it?

With 5000xp a cleric at level 5 is likely to have quite a few decent skills and talents such as Blademaster, True Grit, Nerves of Steel and a wide variety of lores (common, scholastic and forbidden) which all come in at 100xp each as well as upto nine extra wounds (8 of which cost 100xp the ninth costing 200xp), after that there is a smattering of 200xp and 300 xp skills and talents notable ones being tech use, medicae, swift attack.

So I flick to the RT book to gen a Rogue Trader for the cleric to accompany. At 5000xp he comes with the following

Skills -:
Command
Commerce
Charm
Common Lore (Imperium)
Evaluate
Literacy
Scholastic Lore (Astromancy)
Speak Language (High Gothic)
Speak Language (Low Gothic)

Talents -
Air of Authority
Pistol Weapon Training (Universal)
Melee Weapon Training (Universal)

Plus one or two other extras depending on background and the 500xp left over to individualise the character.

So when they meet the Cleric is likely to be more capable on a meachanical level than the Rogue Trader (hell my Commisaar in RevMark's Dark Heresey game, which is based on the cleric career, who is still only at level three has twice as many skills and talents as a 1st level Rogue Trader) the only difference being the stats which are on average 5 higher for a starting RT character or would be if the DH character did not have a bucket load of xp sitting around of which a nice proportion could be spent on stat advances which would mean only a few stats of the Rogue Trader are higher and very likely some of his stats are going to be lower.

On Combining Games

(Part 2)*

*I'm still blabbling on I'm afraid so for those still not wanting to do this go have another cuppa, probably worth going for the Chocolate Hobnobs as well. Don't worry it's Christmas, you can pig out on the world's greatest chocolate biscuits if you want, we wont hold it against you.


It gets even grimmer when you start leveling up the characters in a joint game stroy. In DH all the skills and talents that you would consider top of the line cost no more than 300xp (things like dual shot, wall of steal, combat master) with an average cost of 200xp and atainable at a relatively nice rate all the way to level 8 at 10,000xp. Now in RT after level 1 only a handful of skills and talents cost 100xp the rest costing 200xp or even 500xp, and the juicy ones in DH that usually cost 200xp are likely to set your RT character back 500xp.

When progessing side by side a DH character will leave an RT character so far behind it's laughable, an example being by the time an Rouge trader is in a position to buy Swift Attack and Chrushing Blow (two no brainer combat skills in my opinion) at level 4 for 500xp each he is at 13,000xp which means his cleric companion is more than halfway through level 8 and before the trader even reachs a posotion to get blademaster (for you guessed it, 500xp) at level 5 (17,000xp) the cleric has bought pretty much every skill and talent available to him.

Now the best bit is when you look at the different careers side by side and realise that when you compare similar career styles, combat, support, generalist etc on a purely skill and talent level there is very little difference between the characters of either system apart from the obvious one that RT characters have the option to take the new skills and talents most of which were created to interact with the new game mechanics of RT (there are one or two new general skills and talents such as unarmed master which are likely to find their way into DH: Ascension but they are in the minority).

This begs me to ask the question, if pound for pound a DH charcter is far more capable than an RT one how is RT a more powerful setting (to use FFG description)?

The answer is quite simple, its in the equiptment you use and the setting itself. In DH the only people you have are your cell normally, in RT you have an entire space ship with a crew, the power come from having the resourse to go anywhere. Along side this you have easy access to high level kit such as power swords an plasma pistols, stuff most DH characters can only dream about getting their mits on.

On top of all this is the way xp is dished out. In DH you are suggested to give out 200xp per session, one session being defined as 4 hours of gaming give or take, in RT you are advised to give out 500xp.

And now the penny drops. Individually, in their own games a DH and a RT character are likely to gain skills and abilities at the same rate simply beacuse the RT character gets more xp to offset his expensive advances and on top of that an RT character gets the good equiptment to make his setting more powerful (Although I prefer to describe it as more terminal at times).

But now I hit my problem, I'm not running a DH and RT game individually, I'm merging them into one. A DH character will walk into RT and just out pace the RT characters with the boosted xp and access to top of the line equiptment and conversely an RT character in a DH game just won't go anywhere as it will take way to long for him to advance whilst everyone else is moving along at the normal DH speed.

So what are the solutions? Actually I dont really know yet, I'm kind of hoping you lot will give me some inspiration.

One idea that crossed my mind would be telling the DH character in the RT setting that he could not have access to the same toys as the other boys and girls, but that just seems far to unfair, and in what sensible way are you going to say in game 'You can all use the Trader's resources to get some shiny new swords, you on the other hand can fuck off' especially when the Trader is likely to be played by one of the players who will probably do his best to get as many advantages on his side as he can.

My other idea was awarding DH charcaters 200xp a session and RT ones 500xp a session regardless of which game they are in, but when I take my GM hat off and put my roleplayer's one on my mind screams that is just unfair, the characters have just partaken in the same scenario, why should one merit getting so much more or less than the others given that they just overcame the same problems.

Here is where my rant... I mean verbal expression of my unease ends, for those that decided to have a cuppa and a biscuit you may continue with you drink happy in the knowledge I'm going to stop talking for a while.

For those that have read the whole thing, congratulations I think are in order (be very glad you dont have to read any of my MRes or PhD theses), now I would be very interested to hear your thoughts and ideas on my merging games problem.
This message was last edited by the player at 09:52, Thu 24 Dec 2009.

  I'm getting Rogue trader for christmas, so I'll probably be able to comment more sensibly afterwards, but my gut feeling, given the difficulty you've explained, is that running characters on RT and DH careers simultaneously is not possible to do fairly for the reasons you've outlined. You essentially have to make a decision which system you're going to use, and convert characters from one to the other as necessary. Probably, if you're wanting to use the kit from RT, that means figuring out what xp level the DH characters are, choosing an RT career for them, and doing all future advancement through that career, though you could do it the other way round. That should ensure that you don't get some outpacing others. Of course, that does mean that you lose a lot of the distinctives of the careers you lose - the other system is essentially just employed to provide an alternative background. The other option is to just accept that in games mechanics terms you will have some characters more powerful than others and to live with it. Another offsetting factor to consider is that, by and large, the RT classes are people of far more social significance and independence than DH classes. Some of the disparity could be explained by reference to this. A Rogue Trader, Explorator or Navigator is a person of real significance in the 40K universe, not just in terms of wealth, but in terms of influence, freedom of movement, and lack of oversight and management of them by other more important individuals. None of the DH careers have anywhere near that level of importance or social freedom (if you take away their standing as acolytes of an Inquisitor) until you get to really high levels.

Don't worry this is not a long ranting post.

FFG have put up another little player aid for RT in the form of the Drydock, a quick reference guide for the construction of a ship and space combat.

http://www.fantasyflightgames....e_news.asp?eidn=1015

FFG do seem to be doing well by their customers.

Hell, I just got a letter in the post from them today. Upon opening it, I found a Christmas card, posted from the US, to me, thanking me for being a playtester for the Rogue Trader supplements, and wishing me a Happy New Year ^_^

So yea, I like them ^^

New book coming up for RT, containing three adventures.

wow drool...

now that is enticing.

Oooh, shiny!

I don't know what it is but know I want it=:)

Same here, I am still trying to get a good feel how to make a proper RT adventure so this book would be a great help to me.

awesome, want this noooooow!

A RT story is always going to be a bit tricky to work out, We have lots of sources to craft a story within the Imperium and we know how the Imperium functions, or does not a lot of the time, but RT is special, it is a setting beyond the Imperium and not just in a physical outside the Imperium sense. Becasue of how the 40K universe has developed since the the early days of Rogue Trader (the old one not this one) the world outside the Imperium has not really been explored, the best we have to go one is that we can be sure to find Eldar, Orks, possibly some Necrons, a dash of Old One remains and a good smattering of human worlds that were not reached during the great crusades or worlds that were and were then subsiquently lost.

This gives us a lot of freedom in what we do within our RT campaigns but can burdan us as we are moving into unknown territory, we lack the knowlage of what is out there and so what we create could be at odd with the greater setting.

As one of the lead playtesters on this, now it's been announced, I'm allowed to say this:

It's really, really good.

Then all I've got to say is: HAWTNESS :)

http://www.fantasyflightgames....e_news.asp?eidn=1081

The RT adventure book is sounding better and better.

It sure does :) A gazetteer is just what the doctor ordered.

You'll really like that bit too :P

You playtested that one as well?

The gazeteer is in the adventure book as far as I can tell from the blurb.

As Ben said, the gazetteer is in the adventure book, so yep, I playtested that, as I playtested the entire book with my IRL tabletop group.

Well i take you up on your word then and believe it si going to be a great buy for me once it hits the shells.

http://www.fantasyflightgames....e_news.asp?eidn=1097

I can't wait!  Sounds fantastic.

It is... MWAHAHA! :P

I wish they'd hurry up and release it!

Hi folks, long time listner, first time caller!

I should give a bit of background on this I suppose =]

I have a few years as a GW fan and a couple as a staffer in store, I've had DH for ages and read the fluff but not really had the incling to play so never really bothered with the crunch much. I have an undying love of 40k and Rogue Traders/Battlefleet Gothic.... the more astute of you may see where I am going here...

I just recently picked up a copy of the RT core book (I'd love to play if anyone has a spot btw? Rmail or PM) and I'm looking at running what is looking like quite a complex game here on RPOL. Its a 3 parter and they run pretty much at the same time.

Players take on 3 sets of PCs if you like

BFG Fleet (pc have ships or squadrons? And their own RT Captains to play) for Space Combat
Rogue Trader PC (The Main NPC Rogue Trader's retinue) for Intrigue and serious RP
3:16 Mook (Fun Time) for letting off some steam and General Laughs

BFG rules are available as free PDF from GW main website (ask and I can help with that), I am assuming (bad I know) that everyone considering this has the RT rules by now and 3:16 Carnage Amongst The Stars has a free PDF that is easy to use. I am playing in a 3:16 40k style game at the mooment and I must say it is great for letting off steam in a 40k stylee!

-----------------------edit------------------------

I should also explain I love the idea of RT but feel that if everyone can't play the RT themselves then no-body really should. If I get a Co-GM I suspect they may get a RT PC but not the Fleet Captain, maybe his son or some such, just to round the party out.

So you have:
Fleet Action (everyone gets a RT and his little ship or flottila)
Intrigue (Classic RT action - almost like the Fleet's Senior Away Team)
Combat (Mass Carnage and mayhem from Boarding Actions to Planetary Assaults etc - quick and dirty style)

Go look up 3:16... or I will post a link asap!

Before I go mad and start ranting off and wasting time... Is there any interest in a game like this? I'm looking at at least 1 co-gm or moderator to help me with crunch and maybe 3-4 players (making a total party of 5-6 including GM/Co-GM PCs).
This message was last edited by the player at 23:53, Thu 18 Feb 2010.

Welcome aboard and I must say it sounds very interesting.  Wish I had timne for another game but have a full set right now, thank the Emperor=:)  Keep me updated on its progress and maybe some time will free itself up.

Taarnish, that's very impressive scaling for your campaign. Consider me interested - Let me know if you start up a troupe-style campaign.

If you want a kinship model for each PC to be the RT, make them relatives or married couples, all part of the same dynasty.

That way each PC gets a ship, and crew, and so forth.

PCs who are comfortable with troupe-style play can serve as Senior Officers under each other's RT.

Everybody's on the same dynasty, and each captain can take turns on other captain's staff, so there's incentive to work for the benefit of the team, regardless of personal subplots. For example...

PLAYER    PRIMARY      SECONDARY CHARACTERS
Allie     Capt. Axe    Brash's pilot, Ceili's pilot, Doom's pilot
Ben       Capt. Brash  Axe's concubine, Ceili's doctor, Doom's explorator
Chris     Capt. Ceili  Axe's bodyguard, Brash's gunner captain, Doom's missionary
Doe       Capt. Doom   Axe's navigator, Brash's astropath, Ceili's combat psyker

What do you think of this model?
This message was last edited by the player at 17:29, Fri 19 Feb 2010.

I was thinking of that kind of arrangement initially, however the concept of the game is complex enough without Multi-PCing Huge big reams of stats for umpty PCs. The ONLY real need for multiples would be for Space Combat, and switching to a Dynastic Fleet (I like that idea btw... maybe a couple of suitable Allies or Suitors to Dynastic Family might be tagging along?) and BFG Rules kinda alliviates that. Everyone gets a Rogue Trader and gets to make Fleet Combat Descisions without HUNDREDS of NPC Secondary Characters running hither, thither and yon.

Now being that the MEAT of the RT Campaign will revolve around the senior Retinue of the NPC Rogue Trader Fleet Master they will get to do all the interesting stuff. Say the Actual Main Rogue Trader has a Fear of leaving his ship or something. He would need a Capable Away Team to be his Eyes Ears Hands and Mouth. Thats where our RT PCs step in. Pick some Red-shirts to "Go With" and and Teleport yourselves into the Unknown. Fer a Buck!

For Gratuitous Combat we have Space Marines for the 3:16 Bit I think. Deathwatch has lent the Fleet a 10 Man Deathwatch Kill Team under the command of an Itinerant Inquisitor. Not only do you get to play Marines and Kill stuff (LOTS of stuff in 3:16) but because you are Deathwatch you get to pick your Chapter and we all get along nice too! Most of the time anyway. These duys will be dealing with heavy Combat Situations... Boarding Parties, Rescue Missions, Black Ops Snatch and Grabs, Planetary Anihilation, that kinda thing.

Throwing some stuff out there:

BFG (possible seperate Co-GM required?)
Fleet for the Standard PCs will be 400pts per PC. Co-GM Runs the Main RT's Ship instead, but thats for later. This gets you a fair choice of options from the Imperial Lists (I will accept any from Official GW Sources that may be taken by Imperial Fleets only)

RT (possible seperate Co-GM required?)
Standard Rank 1 Rogue Trader PCs. With Maybe 500 extra XP. Dunno. We need a Junior Rogue Trader to lead the Party, an Astropath, an Explorator, an Arch Militant and possibly a Seneschal. Since we have Combat Covered in other parts of the Game I will be playing the resident Gunbunny, but that leaves the rest of the Interesting Roles to be filled and there are no fights over who gets the Biggest Gun... (I know technically its the Explorator, but hey, let me dream...)

3:16
SOOOO simple game. Characters have 2 stats; Fighting Ability and Non-Fighting Ability, and Weapons have three stats; Kills inflicted at Close, Near and Far Ranges. Heavy on Narrative, light on Rules. It uses a Kill Counter that looks like this:

000,000,000,000,000,001

You are expected to run out of room.

Its made to be used with Spacemarine type Characters and Genocidal Xeno-Phobes at that. Deathwatch fit right in. You reckon a Deathwatch Marine could cut down three to four hundred pansy Eldar a Day without much sweat? I think so. Want to trade in a few of those Basic Scalps for some Harder Targets in the hope of getting a Combat Title, or fancy using Technical and Tactical Knowledge to rack up Non-Combat Titles (think Video-Game Unlocks for killing interesting things in imaginative ways)? Looking at Homebrewing that as we speak....

Using standard 3:16 rules with a little Modification and some Award Titles added for fluff and advancement. Basically fit the 40k Theme and our game specifically.

Still only one Victim... sorry Volunteer?

This way you only have Three Characters and they each get to do vastly different stuff, but you are included at every step of the way. Everyone gets ships, everyone gets an interesting RT PC and everyone gets a Marine from their Favorite Chapter to dish out the Pax Impirialis ad infinitum.

Simples.

I would be very interested in a 3:16 game with the focus on a deathwatch.

The 3:16 bit is just for laughs. The main section will be the RT plot with some bfg space battles.

I will say that I'm rather interested in playing this game, it seems rather unique and I would like to see how differently Rogue Trader runs as compared to Dark Heresy. Though would like to know a bit more about the systems, I read a bit of Battlefleet Gothic and it doesn't seem that different than the space combat rules they have in Rogue Trader, but with a wider range of ships. Of course would like to know how much creativity we'd be given, not to mention if we're going to be placed in the Kronus expanse or somewhere else in the vast emptiness of space?

It is a pretty big concept but I figure with at least 2 places to post (RT and 3:16 will be preety constant Posting with the occassional BFG Battle in the background to spice things up) there should always be something to do.

I have a fair Idea of the core Plot for the RT game, but it does have some Sandbox sections in it. I have a number of ideas that I will be running specific Chapters of the Story around (Certain Planets and Encounters that I want to run in particular) but I am more than willing to allow Players to be as creative as they like with the setting. I suspect the fewer players we have, the more I will allow Players to run free with the story. I am hoping the RT Story will be minimal Combat so you will have a chance to explore your Characters a little, but I wouldn't expect things to run to peacefully for your guys so beware.

As far as I know the Space Combat Rules for RT are a stripped down and abstracted version of the BFG rules so they should seem a little similar. Aparently the expanded Space Combat Rules that are coming soon are even closer to BFG so using it in this Game makes sense considering the scale of things.

As for exact setting I figured we would start out somewhere fairly Major... I was thinking Mars, after a fleet Refit etc. The entire House going back to work after a couple of decades in Dock... Might be good. Would explain new crews etc. First leg of travel would be out from Mars to the Rim somewhere, maybe the Kronus Expanse and the Halo Stars... could be somewhere else... up to everyone I guess.

So thats 2 players so far interested in the whole deal? And one that would be interested in the 3:16 section.

Hmmm.

I will do a little work and get back to you guys.

Anyone else?

Count me in as an Explorator, if that's possible.

i'm still looking for a group that needs a Rogue trader. please private message me if you have an opening

If anyone's looking for a great Actual Play campaign to follow along with, I recommend this one. This guy is a great writer, he's just doing amazing things in his campaign. In addition, he's fleshing out the myriad oddities with his ship and crew. A lot of it is just hilarious...

http://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?t=489083

http://www.fantasyflightgames....d=3&efidt=307862

My review of "Lure of the Expanse" for you all!

Nice review!  Skipped most of the spoilers as the adventures sound too fun not to play in=:)

It is, it's one of the better pre-written adventures I've ever read/run.

I will admit though, seeing one's name printed in a book does make you feel pretty damn awesome :P

I can see why that would be so! To bad that they didn't ask me ;)

Fantasy Flight have put up the errata for Rogue Trader.

http://www.fantasyflightgames....e_news.asp?eidn=1249

I notice that Universal Weapon Training (Melee) still does not allow you to use primative weapons.

Why would it if it was intentionally left out of the Universal trainings? I never thought of that as a mistake anyway.

It does help solve a few problems though, which is good.

Without primative weapons being included in the universal training characters are some how able to swing a power sword but are unable to figure out the simple versions which just makes no sense at all.

I can sort of see it...

If you wave a powersword around the weapon does all the work for you  - it cuts straight through all armour and most parrying weapons as well with minimal effort.  Whereas if you are using a bogstandard edged sword you need to know more about techniques, stances, armour vulnerabilities and so on.

Maybe it's like the difference between driving a manual gear car and an automatic one.  If you've only learnt to drive automatic, then manual seems like a mystery.

But as a GM, I'd probably handwave over it!

I just picked up my copy haven't read much but it looks good like dark heresy

More things to spend your gelt on- Woot!



The new character options sound good as well....but two Xeno races as playable makes me skeptical.  Every Emperor fearing (and even most profit hungry RTs) know better than to trust alien scum!  Burn them with fire!!!!

http://www.fantasyflightgames....e_news.asp?eidn=1329

Ooooooh!  I'll definitely pick that one up! :)

My guess for the Xenos? Eldar, Kroot or Hrud.

OOhh yes, vehicle Rules!!!!


And other stuff as well, but Vehicle Rules!

Though, playable alien races? Hmmm not sure about that. I like the xenofobic attitude of the Imperium.

I figured these were coming after I spoke with those evil geniuses. They really wanted to redo the BL rules from the Apocrypha. Let's just hope they took my suggestion of customization rules seriously...

Keep in mind, Rogue traders arent' always inside Imperial law.

Rogue Traders aren't inside the Imperium the vast vast majority of the time, since they only have their powers whilst outside of Imperial space. They're also some of the few people allowed to trade and interact with xenos.

I will say this though... the xenos rules are very fun :D

I hate you Millandson, you know already what is inside....

I am still waiting for Lure of the Expanse that has not arrived at our shops yet. Sigh.

I just finally got mine yesterday.  Haven't delved into it yet much more than a little fluff in the beginning and the end so that it doesn't spoil the adventures incase they or a variatoin of them get run in one of the RT games I'm in.  From the little I read much good stuff.

For a while now, yes. However, it's not as though they couldn't change stuff inside the book after I've seen it if they got a bad reception or new ideas from the other playtest groups.

I'm still looking forward to getting it, because I really want to see the art! :D

Woot!  Free stuff!

http://www.fantasyflightgames....e_news.asp?eidn=1375

It's also been announced (in a d6 Podcast, so I'm allowed to tell you too) that one of the two Xenos in "Into the Storm" will be none other than....

Orky Boyz! WAAAAAARGH!

Is there an estimated release date for Into the Storm yet?

Awesome!!!!!  WAAARRRGGHHHH!

Personally I dont think Orkz should be available as a player race.

They are one dimensional killing machines created by a long lost race of god like beings with the sole perpose of smashing things and then smashing them a bit more. What is the point of playing a character whose only reason for existance is to break shit, at least when a human does it you can add in personality and reasons but an ork by its very nature smashes stuff because its an ork.

If the second race turns out to Eldar I am going to swear very loudly for a long time. The problem with playable alien races is simply that they are alien. Their motivation, emotions and personalities are thing that that we can not understand because we dont think anything like them (particularly the Eldar in the 40k setting), so how on earth are people going to play them properly?

You're welcome to your opinions, but given I've already been using the xenos rules for a while now, you're wrong. The Freebootas have never been "one dimensional killing machines", they've been the closest Ork equivalent to mercenaries and "rogue traders" for a long time. It's been in the fluff for a very long time that Freebootas hire themselves out to other races for supplies, weapons and wealth.

So they seem, to me, perfect for a Rogue Trader game, especially with a huge empire of Orks in the middle of the Expanse.

I'd suggest you wait and see how it's done before writing it off wholesale.

In reply to Banjo (msg #211):

In this regard... what is the point of playing elves, dwarves and such...?

I've only played Rogue Trader with humans, though that was mostly due to player dumb that wouldn't be able to handle xenos or mutants (playing as them or what have you).  Yes, Mr. guy who knows the game better than me, let's tell the Canoness that we don't trust her and that we're only helping her because we have to.

Far be it from me, THE CRIMINAL ARCHMILITANT, to correct the HEAVILY RELIGIOUS ROGUE-TRADER whose ship may as well be a floating church (by his own admission/fluff, it's one of the most religious rogue trader vessels out there), but I'm pretty sure that any suspicions you have about the Canoness's motives should be kept to yourself...

Freebootas sound interesting, from what I've heard about them.  When's that new book getting out or is it already out?

I'm new to RT fluff but have been following Warhammer products for years (since WFRP v1). I would agree that Orks in 40K have long been the epitome of "mercenary souls." It was the Waaargh fleets that are the enemy of the Imperium. I think the Freebooter is going to be excellent addition to the crew of a ship. Think big, green, impossible to kill Jeyne :-) Not to mention the tension when they have to convince it to hide when they're talking to local Imperial Guard marshal!

I want to play a Freebooter called Mr. Spuck.

"This isn't WAAAAAGH, Lord Captain."

I know that I will not allow Xenos to be playable races in my Campaign. That said, I an curious that they did not choose the Kroot instead. Those sounds to be well playable to me. Plus they do not have a plot driven presence in the Expanse.

I'd love to play one sometime.  Sounds like loads of fun. :)

If one follows the line of 'merc' with being allowed to possibly play a Freebooter, than it's much more likely that we'll see Kroot.  If of course their mindset is alien species that occasionally work with humans because they are mercenaries and not I'm an alien who will occasionally ally with a human to deal with a bigger problem before backstabbing you.

In reply to Banjo (msg #211):

The problem with the 'unknowable' alien is that it's a crap excuse for GW not explaining things. Ultimately, they have houses, ships, societies etc, so they can't by definition be unknowable. Certainly they can have view points, priorities and the like that are difficult to understand, and the vast bulk of the Imperium doesn't bother to try, but they certainly aren't unknowable. As an Eldar you're arrogant, graceful, tragic and morbidly afraid of death. As an Ork you're brutal, war-like and have a she'll be 'right' attitude. Not too hard to get a handle on.

That's the one thing that has always bothered me about sci-fi and fantasy settings. We can never really grasp an alien mind-set. Yeah, we can do our best and that's 99% of the time good enough for an RPG. But there are some aliens/races out there that were designed to be completely enigmatic and approaching them from a humanocentric viewpoint makes it impossible to truly grasp them.

I realize this is "way too into sh1t" but it sometimes bothers me. I remember in Traveller when they allowed people to play Droyne and Hivers. Both races being described as completely non-normal. I've never allowed them in games because of that. WH40K sometimes feels the same way for me and it's one of the things that I love about it. Two examples exemplify my frustration:

-The Saruthi in Eisenhorn are a great example of this. Everything they did was so "wrong-feeling" and inscrutable to the humans. It really hammered home the Imperium line that xenos are just badwrong and should be killed. Twice. I loved that entire storyline because the aliens were so "icky."

-The Eldar are simply the coolest race ever. Eldritch, ancient ninja in bone armor with wicked-cool names and spaceships. They worship primal things and "know" more than all of the Imperium combined. They're just awesome. And I think they would make just excellent PC's except for the fact that we can't really get them! We're not supposed to! They're just crazy-a$$ strange and enigmatic, we don't know why they do what they do, go where they go, like what they like etc. I worry that in statting them up as PC's we're going to lose that aspect of them. That mystery and, deep down, that tingle of unease we have when they appear... At the same time, I want to play one bad enough to sell small, useless bones from my body for the chance! Apparently there are several in my ear I don't really use... ;-)

Sorry, rambling instead of working since it's more fun.
This message was last edited by the player at 18:50, Sat 29 May 2010.

I agree with the Saruthi, but you must remember, they were tainted by Chaos. As for the Eldar, there's a difference between being enigmatic and unknowable. Yes, many people don't know why they do what they do, but some do and certainly people RL do. They react to prophecies and predictions humans don't have access to. They fight to preserve their dying race. If humans had Farseers and were nearly extinct, I believe they would be acting exactly the same way. Thus, they can't be unknowable. Without knowing about their prophecies, the do end up looking fickle, but it all makes sense to them, and the people who bother to figure it out.

The reason aliens in the 40k universe are strange is that citizens are taught not to contemplate their doings, so of course you can't understand what you don't bother to understand.

As an example, I devised an alien race for a different universe. These aliens were incapable of 'Anthropomorphising' things. That is, they were psychologically incapable of forming emotional attachments to inanimate objects and creatures not of their species. This would make their behaviour inhuman, certainly, but there is an understandable reason for it, hence not unknowable.

I will have to agree with Webseer whole heartedly on this one, the whole reason that they're unknowable is that people are too damn stubborn to learn about it. Of course, the official line of the Imperium, Administratum, Mechanius, and everything else shows that if an original through somehow came through their heads, would cause it to blow up, or someone else to blow their head up because it's H3R1ZIZY. There are undoubtedly some weirdness there, but with some time, you can at least figure out their motives, even the Eldar which is simply a matter of time. That and of course the reason why aliens are going to stab them in the back is because humanity is going to do so from previous encounters and you get into a circular logic there, which I will admit is fairly realistic. There's likely individuals of a certain race, as the same as a certain human, such as some Ork Boss who is more than willing to honor a deal for weapons  as well as an Eldar lodging a crysknife in your back as soon as you fended off the daemons because he just didn't like your face. Then you got the fact that it's hard to not hit a right bastard in 40K, so it's no surprise that you can't trust anybody in the game world.

Though I will say that I will agree that perhaps an Ork would not be a good idea for a standard Rogue Trader race, if an uncommon one, just due to some other facts about how they work. While it's definitely possible to have an Ork Freebooter on the ship without too many problems, it wouldn't be too much different than having a Klingon or Krogan aboard a human ship. I will say that the Kroot would be a much better choice, not to mention the fact that it might be fun to get your NOM on?

Also I would just want some advice in plugging in some of your own alien races, class and progression wise, what is fair, what is unbalanced, and other things. Not only would this give GM's some ability to work with alien PC's, but would be able to flesh out a few more careers that don't really conform to the already listed classes. Because that's what I want to see in 40K, they go on and on in the fluff that the Imperium was so wide, with so many worlds with so many cultures, and so many little alien empires that can not be counted, yet everything fits within eight or so classes. But that's just my little pet peeve of mine...

I can't wait for Orks!  They are going to be so much fun to play.

http://www.fantasyflightgames....e_news.asp?eidn=1399

I'm not sure about role-playing an ork.

Combat: "Ugh. KILL!"

Diplomacy: "Ugh. Me Grosh, Who you? KILL!"

Down time:  "Ugh. (Swig large drink), KILL!"


I may be wrong but wouldn't that get a bit samey after a while?

That's not too different from the Inquisition

Combat: Heretic! Kill! (or sub in Mutant, Witch, Xenos, or Daemon easily)

Diplomacy: Hi, you're a heretic.  First we will torture you and then...Kill!

Down time: Where's the next heretic to...Kill!

You can dilute just about anything in 40k down to that. ;)

In the grim darkness of the far future there is only KILL!

LOL!

Blood Axe and some of the other Ork clans are a bit "odd" in that they use "tactics" and often do other human activities.

An Ork could organize a fight club.
Or could be a death cult leader.
He could go Skull-bowling or Table-Skull-Smacking.
He could be in charge of destroying heretical stuff.
Riot Control.
Or he could soften the meat in the mess hall, although that would probably not be very tasty.
If trained correct, an Ork might keep his cool for a moment.

Ork's! Ork's! Ork's! Ork's! Ork's! Ork's! Ork's!

Right I'm advertising now, I dont care how hard it's gonna be to pull or or how much of a headache it will cause. Who wants to add and Orksee Mech boy/Mad doc to their crew? Mwahahahahaha! Ohh I can see it now.


"Ohhh holy Frack! My leg, my fracking leg!"

"Quick, get him into the shuttle and upto the Doc!

4 weeks later

"WHAT IN HIS HOLY NAME IS THAT! FETHING HELL!!!"

"Whizzup pinky, you no appy with onic?"

"YOU'VE STUCK A FETHING WHEEL ON ME!"

"Red on'n eveythin, go fasta! Ook!"

"What the...."*Vrump, sizel*

"HARHARHARHARHAR Ustom blasta in kneee!!!!!"

"Sir, that shipment of Lasguns has gone missing, Sir."
"Look, Funny-Legs, what BrumBrum made for me. A LasRevolver. And it has ten barrels. If only I could carry it. Fetch me that TechPriest guy, and tell him to make me an arm strong enough to carry this LasRevolver."
"But Sir, BrumBrum killed him."
"Why, funny legs?"
"Because he needed spare parts for his Sikrat proyekt, Sir. And the tech-priest objected."
"Well fetch me BrumBrum then and tell him to build me an arm."
"But Sir, BrumBrum is dead, Sir. You killed him for being Xenos, Sir. As an example to the men to not be Xenos, Sir."

In spite of the genocidal nature of the or..[checks spelling]..ks. Casualties among the ork race are lower in downtime than you might expect.  Diplomacy boils down to Is he bigger than me? If yes, agree to everything he says.  If no:  Order him around lots.  If he is Gazghull.  Look I don care if I'm taller than 'im, you don argue wiv da Prophet.

Then there are the little things like: You were arguin wi' dat Snakebite. Bad, very bad.  I opes you're never on a Cyboar...

Playing an Ork would be extremely fun and all. But I seriously have doubts about Xenos and humans willingly dealing with them. The hatred against everything Xenos is something every Imperial citizen is brought up with.

You also need to consider:
The effects on morale, the effect of dealing with Imperial authorities
Try explaining a Xenos to that nice Inquisitor over there, look he has a comfy chair waiting for you.

You point the ork at him and scream "KILLLLLLLL!!!!" If it work then wooooo, no more inquis. I f it dosent, weel you smegged ether way :P

You can hide anything if you're smart and careful.

Except that, as said before, Freebootas have been working with all other xenos and humans, at least those willing to pay in weapons and explosives and stuff, since the start of the setting. Rogue Traders have been hiring Orks forever (hell, they've been trading and hiring all sorts of Xenos in the setting and the novels forever), so it's hardly new or complicated.

Just to tell you all...

The next lot of xenos are the Kroot! :D

http://www.fantasyflightgames....d=3&efidt=342104

Kroot, just what I expected :)

Hoot hoot, whistle whistle!

Cool beans!  I'm really looking forward to that book.

Upcoming RT stuff....drool....

http://www.fantasyflightgames....e_news.asp?eidn=1483

I know, The battlefleet book is what I am looking foreward to though. Still a ways off but I hope that they add some of the heavy imperial cruisers. If only so at some point I can have a RT with a small Battlefleet fighting a Rogue state or destorying a Xenos empire.

Well, I'll hopefully know soon enough about what's in it! :D I'm looking forward to my group giving it a proper thrashing! :P

More stuff on "Into the Storm".

You forgot the link. http://www.fantasyflightgames....e_news.asp?eidn=1541

If the Necron become playable, I'll be open-jawed at how they did that.

They won't, I can pretty much guarantee that.

I am still not sure about playing Orcs and Kroots or Harlequin Kisses as they are known here (don't ask). Though both have great comedy value. My players are talking about bringing a Giant Cat as pet for the Kroot. Naming him Silvester. A bird and a Cat what a great combo.

The idea of having A Mek Boy 'improving' the ship............

Not sure if my campaign can handle that much comedy ;)

It's only comedic if you make it so. If you expect that to be the default position of the book, you are very much mistaken ;)

For the experienced Rogue Traders in here, what is it like?  I've found it very hard to be enamoured by the sheer character power in the system since I'm not very good at coming up with epic backgrounds for my characters, and I find it very hard to come to terms with what my characters can do.

My group is great at turning even the most dark and gritty into light hearted comedy. And Orks, mind you I like them, but they are all about fun and comedy (and being deadly as what). Even in 40k Battle.

Theoretically there is a whole bunch you can do yes, but it is all dependent on the mindset of the Rogue Trader and the elusive profit factor.

Some RT's will be bombastic and oozing with flair and confidence, others will give the feeling of just scraping by while avoiding larger things using either humor (like mine does) or morose cynicism.  The different outlooks of the RT themselves will let you tailor your personal goals which then can be expanded into goals for the ship and perhaps the command crew.  From there you quickly start to find that you'll be travelling sector wide and beyond...

As long as you've got a decent GM that is.

I have a blast playing the underdog currently who is hamstrung in more ways than one, but I'm always angling for the future to built up rep and profit as well as eventually working on a ship...starting at an all time powerful 30 profit factor makes it a bit slow at the get go when you also start with a problem laden merchant ship....but that's the fun in overcoming it all to build up an veritable merchant empire.

If you say so. I've only ever seen or played them as dark, uncaring, selfish cunning savages. My players, therefore, have come to hate the vile xenos.

In reply to MILLANDSON (msg #252):

It doesn't help that some players still have fond memories of 40k the earlier editions. They are depicted as being funny a lot of the times.

It might help that they haven't met a lot of them up close and personal.

It does hark back to earlier editions of 40k, but not just 40k.

In fantasy battle the reason why orks (and skaven) are so beloved is that a wrong dice throw can destroy a game as often as win it (and these are compulsory).  For player who is out to have fun regardless, these two armies are great, but that is in the grand picture of pushing little figures about a tabletop.

In truth orks are a minimum of seven feet tall and all of that is muscle and bones.  They are vicious, savage, brutal and cunning.  Some orks might engineer circumstances to destroy their rivals, but they are far more likely to call them out in the middle of dinner because that way everyone gets to see the winner win.

Hey, you calling yourself the captain again?  Get back to the bilge, deck-scum! ;)

Definitely want to second the whole sillyness of 40K, think it's better when the tone of the setting is moved a bit more towards the less serious mode. Because otherwise, it's pretty hard to feel sympathetic for anybody in cannon, and yea you can really say that the orks are nicer than most Imperial Humans, not even counting the Spiky boys. Of course I'm not entirely certain about how most Rogue Trader games work, but it does look like you have more freedom than any other game, which can be both a boon and detriment. But of course you can really kick down the wall of craziness, by taking the aformention crew and adding a Kilrathi in there.

See, I like my 40K to be grim and dark, with perhaps the occasional touch of dark humour.  I don't really dig the '80's version over the top silliness at all.

But then I got into the whole thing through Dawn of War, Dan Abnett and Dark Heresy which all present it as dark and serious.  So that's the version I love.
This message was last edited by the player at 09:19, Tue 17 Aug 2010.

A world book with an adventure?  Heck yah!

http://www.fantasyflightgames....e_news.asp?eidn=1592

Ooohh nice! Gimme gimme!

Sounds very useful and it will help me once I finish the Lure of the Expanse campaign.

Think of the factions, plot hooks, etc, that were in Disciples of the Dark Gods

Then add more Rogue Trader stuff (new planets, myths, etc).

Then make it twice as good as DotDG.

You then have Edge of the Abyss. I can't wait to have a proper copy of it for my non-playtest group to use!

Well I never saw disciplines of the Dark Gods supplement as I am only a player in our DH campaign. But it does sound tremendously useful.

Edge of the Abyss!

http://www.fantasyflightgames....e_news.asp?eidn=1666

Sounds like a neat book to me.

If we end up with more detail about the 'unknown' Expanse than Calixis, I'm gonna go all dakka on someone.

Dakka them from me as well! ;)

http://www.fantasyflightgames....e_news.asp?eidn=1681

Orks and snow!  Sounds good to me!

Jumps up and down with glee!

Put on Karaoke and starts singing (badly) to!

I will get this for ork rules alone if they are in there.  Time for some ork hordes wooooo

You gotta figure an Ork war horde is going to get statted up. Carts, guns, different troops. It's definitely going to be great for Deathwatch and Rogue Trader.

Im already working out mutant hordes using the discipls of the dark gods.  Loads of mutants with the odd supermutant or high level psyker.  The fan made horde rules on dark reign give some good ideas on how to make your hordes have a different feel.

Linkie? I find Dark Reign to be a slog when looking for stuff since it's all based on recent uploads. Takes forever to find something you looked a month earlier.

http://darkreign40k.com/drjoom...248-new-horde-traits

Much obliged!

From the new book coming out- Edge of the Abyss!

The Rak'Gol certainly look and sound interesting!

The only thing I'm a bit disapointed by, apart from the creation of new races when there are some perfectly servicable races that have been neglected for years, is the gun. It just looks far too human, it does not really fit in with the rest of the image.

I will say however thank the god emperor we have another non-bipedal race, the alomst everything being the decendants of the Old Ones and C'tan thing was getting a bit too much for me.

Maybe they are scavengers?  And yes I agree, it certainly stands out.

It actually really reminds me of tyranids.  Minus the gun of course -- I agree to human looking

So Edge of the Abyss only came out now? Oh, that must be the reason why my Into the Storm and Edge of the Abyss order came in late by two weeks.

Anyone else got the book already? If not, lemme know if you want me to give you a first impressions from it, or sumptin' (by the by, the Rak'Gol also caught me eye when I first leafed through the tome).

I picked up Edge of the Abyss (in the UK) from Leisure Games several weeks ago...

Same here, I already got it. But thanks for the offer.

I think you got a point with the gun. Of course they do use SP weaponry and there is only so much you can do with those.

Yeah, so I reckoned that things were not right if I had a copy before everyone else. It's the FFG dev diaries coming up now that confused me.

Beep.

I'd give my left nut....or at least a chest full of gelt, to play in this one!

Yes, I am very curious about this one..........
For more then one reason.

grappling hook gun+ power sword+ melta bombs + gargant reasons?=:)

Lol, now that sounds as the good part. I already had my players tangle with one of those very small gargants. On a small planet named vaporius. With all the crashed down stuff, I thought it would be grand to have Orcs down there building stuff from the scrap.

Hey all, I'm hoping to take part in a RT game, is there any interest in these parts to have a new one started, preferably with a small and 'cozy' group of players, 4-5?

I would also be interested. The problem, as always, seems to be the question about who is going to GM it. Once that would be settled, there are often volunteers to play =D

Surely there are lots of people here with ideas for campsigns or settings, or a sandbox game they want to try out? :)

I found that I am not much good at being an RPol GM. But as player, I am interested.

I'll post in the wanted - GMs forum, since we have at least 3 interested players now.

Frozen Reaches is a fairly interesting adventure, and probably the hardest one I've had to test, with the additional rules for the planetary/space invasion and controlling units world-wide.

I hope you guys enjoy it though :) It looks to be a good start to a great trilogy ^_^

I'd be interested in that too, tbh. Sounds pretty neat. And I tend to avoid reading the official adventures as well.

Would be interested in any Rogue Trader game. Would like to get a little more RT expereience under my belt since I'm actually running a game on another site.

Colour me interested as well. Jist git summin' goin', eh.

Hm, we still need a GM.  I have found another game, but it's full, and in any case, I'e no issues with playing in two of them. :)

In reply to Donan (msg #295):

I'd like to join an RT game if someone's looking for a player.

Oh, me too!

The RT GM wanted thread is the best place to make requests...even though I was the bad guy and started of saying how cool it would be to play The Frozen Reaches=:)

I'm the even badder guy, in that I've already played it but can't tell you all the juicy bits yet :P I can't wait for it to be released though, I want a proper copy of it with all the pretty artwork! :D

I am worse off. I haven't played it yet! I'll also have to GM it for my own team once we get hold of it.

Look at this long awaited goodie!

http://www.fantasyflightgames....e_news.asp?eidn=1875

Oh, you guys are in for a LOT of goodies :D

Sweet!

http://www.fantasyflightgames....e_news.asp?eidn=1915

More news on the contents of Battlefleet Koronus ^_^

I hope that the mass combat rules will prove to be handy. Normally I would do thing like that narratively but I can see how important they can become.

Don't worry, those rules can be used to run mass combats in a narrative manner, just as normal combats can be, without any models, maps, or whatever. I mean, that's what I did during testing, because I detest using models in an RPG (since if I wanted to use models I'd play 40k tabletop again).

I mean, dice rolls and stuff are needed, but no more than in any other combat, or at least that's how I found it.

Hope that helps :)

All I can say is that rules for fighters, bombers, and torpedoes in there. Been hurting to do a good Death Star trench run to my enemies' ships!

I'm playing a rogue trader in RT game I'm in and seem to have come across a dilemma. A potential Arch-Militant who wants to sign on has just told me that he's carrying a suit of Traitor legion power armor in a stasis box covered in purity seal that he's on a quest from the Ministorum to cleanse this item and bring it back into the light. I'm having a very hard time to just not shoot him for heresy (I know I'm not an Inquisitor and it's not my job)

Now, My character has a plan to warp jump to the nearest Space marine chapter world or fleet and hand it over and hope for the best. Am I being too optimistic in the situation at hand or is there a better way of handling it so that we do not cause TPK (total party killing)

Leave the armor on the steps of the Chapter Keep, knock on the door and run...

LOL, I suspect if there are any Dark Angels around at the Space Marine Chapter to hear that story the blades of reason will be brought out and your arch militant will be asked a few questions about where he got that suit from and then the person he/she got it from would be next in line...you might even get caught in the firing line.

That is rather tricky, how did he/she come up with that story?

You're right, it's not your job. Your job is to try and profit as much as possible from this development.

If it's a mission sanctioned by the Ministorum, you're probably ok there. But of course not everyone will be as liberal-minded as you are. So the Ministorum will probably need to pay a premium to justify you endangering your ship transporting such a dangerous item.

They may also want to visit it and minister to it to make sure those purity seals are maintained. So you'll have to charge them for the lost profit you could have gained by simply jettisoning it into a sun and going on your merry way.

These are just off the top of my head and not very creative, but you probably get my point. Let the Missionary worry about the theological implications and grey-areas. You're the Rogue Trader, and remember the Rogue Trader credo: There's profit to be had!
This message was last edited by the player at 18:46, Mon 31 Jan 2011.

Don't know how the player came up with the story. That's between him/her and the GM. There just seem to be a lot of holes in the story. Why would the Church give it to a lowly Arch-militant. Not insulting the character but for something that important to purify, why not have one of the order do it? How does an arch militant get a stasis box and transport it across multiple sectors of space with no questions asked?

Either way, My characters plan is to become a Calixian privateer so I plan on steering it around in ym favor and use it as a bargaining chip with a space marine chapter. That is, if the inquisition doesn't get to us first.

You're a rogue trader.  Like others have said, the only thing you should be thinking about is where is the profit.

Ignore the Inquisition, their power over you is limited, especially if you are outside of Imperial space (such as in the Koronus Expanse).  Using as a bargaining chip with a space marine chapter is a good idea.  You could use it as a bargaining chip with multiple people to be honest - there's many who would part with all manner of useful and valuable things for something like that.

A privateer? A pirate? :D A man after my own heart, you go boy! Be a Pirate, arrrggghhhh. I think negotiatie with the space marine's from a distance. I still think that the idea of heritic armour in the hands of a normal human is going to cause big problems with any chapter...

Well, question is, does your character cares about those things? Enough to react and spend more time looking for a suitable AM while he could earn money?

Also, does he actually know what the AM is talking about? Does he have relevant Forbidden Lore Skills to even recognize the suit to be heretical?

For most of us lower beings, SM's are stuff of legends. Mighty and good, smiting  the Xenos wherever they go. Think about delivering a suit back to SM chapter! What opportunities, what profit can be made. It must be an ancient suit with lots of history, opportunity awaits the bold.

He admitted to it being taken from the body of a traitor marine

Still, what is a traitor marine? Traitor sounds bad enough and the idea that a Space Marine could betray his own kind is a horrible idea.

Once more, does the RT even realize what he truly has here?

Not entirely but we worked it out. The AM joined my crew and now we're jumping to the nearest Astartes presence in the sector. We'll hand over the armor and see what we can get in return. I'm hoping they'll be able to sponsor me for a letter of marque.

Good for you.

Still all I was trying to say is that you should try to ignore things you as player know and only act on what the character can know. This can result in some great fun.

Our DH group has been unknowingly assisted some traitor chapter for a long time because our characters had no reason to suspect them to be bad. As players we knew all along and we committed heresy after heresy with a smile and a groan as we knew that we were going to be in deep deep trouble.

Oh the fun of doing what you already know is a bad idea under the pretense of it being a good thing. However it does make for a great deal of fun trying to play out of heresy without being all that bad,,, really what is the difference between the good guys and baddes here? We get to kill everyone anyways;-)

Okay looking through Into the storm, thanks to something that happend in a game I'm in, and saw the Fury Interceptor and thought gee wouldn't that be nice to play a game with a group of pilots and their crew similar to the old Rogue Squadron in Starwars idea.

Not sure if it fits better in RT or DH but since it is in the RT book but I've put it here. Would anyone be interested in playing, or even better GM, a game like that? I'd really like to play either a gunner or a pilot of one of the furies but perhaps two crews maximum and play out the missions and sorties of two crews of green fury pilots and work our way up to being aces?

Either as part of a RT game or as a more military type game along the lines of DW but in the Imperial Guard or Navy?

I think the upcoming Battlefleet Koronus book will have rules for stuff like that.

Product Description
Battlefleet Koronus is an extensive sourcebook for the Warhammer 40,000 Rogue Trader Roleplay Game, covering the myriad starships traversing the Koronus Expanse. It also provides a host of enemy starships to challenge Explorers, and delves into the rich history of the Imperial Navy and Battlefleet Calixis. With new rules on Nova Cannons, torpedoes, attack crafts, and squadrons, plus new options for outfitting player ships, this book is perfect for players and GMs alike!

http://www.fantasyflightgames....e_news.asp?eidn=2020

More info on the upcoming Battlefield Koronus.

I expect that book to be most helpful for my campaign.

Okay, I've got Battlefleet Koronus in my watch list in Amazon, and today I checked it to see that the date has been pushed back to April 15! Now I'm just wondering has the entire book been pushed back, or is this something similar to Rites of Battle, where they're delaying Amazon's shipment to give their own store and FLGS a chance at it?

Amazon are known to be awful for RPG books. I would totally ignore whatever release date they are giving and look at dedicated stores, such as leisuregames.com, for the release dates.

It's not just this. The books come to the FFG warehouse before they go anywhere else so FFG may fill the orders for other stores before sending them to Amazon. Also, Amazon does not have the same priority for RPG books that, say, your FLGS may have.

Also, here in Blightyland, FFG books are notrious for getting stuck in customs.  If that happens it means we don't get them for 2-4 weeks until after they are released and there's nothing anyone can do about it.

And where I live, it will be one or two months behind everybody else has got their stock. Sigh.

I understand this is unlikely but if anyone wants a Deathwatch Space Marine aboard their Rogue Trader ship PM me. i know the 2 games can be incorperated in with one other and i am flexible to make my character around your rules and most of your requests.

Death Watch marine would work well with the Inquisition. If you'd like to play a spacemarine in Rogue trader, there's the Navigator House Belisarius that has ties to the Space wolf chapter and has a squad or two "under" their command. A single Wolfblade could easily be guarding a higher up in House Belisarius.

Surely some other Chapter has as tight cooperations with a Navigator House.

In reply to Devilish (msg #331):

So does that mean you have a game I can join?

http://www.fantasyflightgames....e_news.asp?eidn=2039

More stuff on ships.  Sounds like a solid book.

Indeed, we will at least get some more good shiphulls to play with. I am curious if we find more about alien vessels as well.

Though, I doubt that my players want to upgrade to a bigger ship. The frigate they have now got everything they want. It is fast, agile, packs a nice punch and is quite sturdy. It can destroy anything it cannot outrun and got plenty of space for cargo and some luxuries. It is a perfect flexible ship.

Frigates are good as well as raiders if you can get some archeotech in there to lower the space requirements, especially in the engine area. Though if you want a good lance batteries or have room for a compartmentalized cargo hold without being a dedicated cargo transport. That and it'd be hard to reenact the start of Episode 4 without a properly large battleship.

Though that only makes me want the book all the more! I got a game where my players are going to pick up their own space dock out in the middle of nowhere. So I'd like to get as many rules about space ships as possible, even if I just turn it into a Battlefleet Gothic game with profit margins.

Anyone have an official date on Battlefleet? I'm about 30minutes from FFG so can't wait to race over there and snatch it up. Along with Rites of Battle... OMG IT HAZ WARHOUND!

Well, it's out in the UK tomorrow, same with the rest of Europe, so I'd say... now?

You mean Rites of Battle or the book about the ships (forgot the name)


Ps. About the Warhound. I am a bit surprised that it has less structural points then a Landraider!

I think he's on about Battlefleet Koronus, since this is the Rogue Trader thread :P

Anyways, Warhounds aren't built to be very tough, they're designed to be faster than a Land Raider and carry heavier weaponry, but end up skimping on structural integrity because of it.

Not according to the rules of Apocalypse and Epic. A scale of measurement a lot of people will use. We are talking God Machines here. Even if it is just a scout.

Quick and simple discussion of the contents. Looks good!

http://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?t=566405