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Post by Deleted on Nov 27, 2015 9:03:50 GMT -8
Anybody got experience with the Rogue Trader game? I'm about to join an already running campaign of it but know basically nothing about the system and little about the setting (I know a fair bit about 40K just not the RT parts of it). Any pitfalls in terms of classes to avoid (I'm looking at the missionary class at the moment), things to know or just general advice about how it works? I'm a little apprehensive based on what I know, it seems to be a fairly crunch / stuff orientated system which isn't my usual forte and I also wonder about the Star Trek command issue, ie would the senior crew really be leading away missions etc.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 27, 2015 11:27:46 GMT -8
I can't speak for Rogue Trader, but the System Mastery podcast did a review of Dark Heresy which you might find enlightening. Pretty much everything from that game should still be applicable.
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Post by the0gekko0state on Nov 27, 2015 18:17:17 GMT -8
I find it more of Firefly in Warhammer 40k. I've only read some of the rule book, never played. I have played Dark Heresy, which is pretty much the same rules. It can get a little crunchy. It is also based on the Warhammer Fantasy Role-play 2e. If you've played it at all. The PDF for Rogue Trader is available on drivethru. But pretty much you're privateers looking to make money dealing with illegal things every now and then.
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Post by archmagezemoc on Dec 8, 2015 9:05:44 GMT -8
Idk if you still have questions but I've read the vast majority of the Black Library concerning Rogue Traders and I might be able to shed some light. Although it will depend because almost everyone I've ever seen run a W40K rpg have pretty different views on the setting and how they play it out.
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Post by Malex on Dec 9, 2015 6:22:10 GMT -8
I'd talk to the GM and see what the other PCs are.
If you end up making a loyalist to the Empirium on a ship full of near-heretics it can make for interactions that you may not be comfortable with; as was my experience with RT.
As for the away mission bit, you just have to suspend disbelief a little. It makes no sense for the command crew to go planetside for a fight, but if it's for diplomatic talks or because they are needed to command their underlings for an expedition then it makes a little more sense.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 9, 2015 8:14:46 GMT -8
So I've ended up with a Missionary character that is definitely a lot more pious than the other characters and as is the way for 40K a bit of a fanatic as well. I'm still trying to work on how to fit in the character with the rest of the group, especially the piety / xenophobia vs the more open approach most of the characters seem to have. Mostly I'm going with a sort of wilful blind spot approach. For example simply having a Letter of Marque must mean the Rogue Trader indirectly has the Emperors blessing to do things those of lesser spirit do not. Likewise I'll tolerate the Ork Freebooter as previous events have (to the mind of my character) demonstrated it is an instrument of the Emperors divine will. It may not have a soul but so long as it has a use it can be allowed to live etc.
Mostly the thing I'm struggling with right now is taking all that and building it into a more rounded three dimensional character, somebody with personality who doesn't simply spew forth sermons 24/7.
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Post by Malex on Dec 9, 2015 8:35:53 GMT -8
Went with the Fire and Brimstone Missionary.
I tried RPing a reformist Missionary, which was why he was with the crew. Philosophy was more skewed toward not murder hoboing in the name of the Empirium, and trying to be a more humane voice in the Echlesiarchy. It didn't jive well with the rest of the party.
Had the same issue, it felt so....hollow to RP someone who's main focus was preaching all of the time.
My suggestion for giving the character more depth is to have scenes with his followers. Assuming that the GM is interested in that sort of thing and not just driving toward the next 40K style combat.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 9, 2015 10:19:01 GMT -8
I shall have to ask about followers, wasn't something I had thought of. I'm still trying to get a handle on the GMs style, especially since I'm the 7th player in the game so screen time is quite divided. Been a long time since I was in this position, finding it harder than I expected going back to being a player.
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Post by Malex on Dec 9, 2015 12:11:34 GMT -8
Yeah, once you have been a GM a while it's hard to settle into the role of a PC.
As for followers, you should have a whole ship full of them if they worship The Emperor. You're basically like a Cardinal on board of a massive spaceship; in order for you to administer 'the word' to everyone you have to have clergy members under you.
I'd pose that to the GM, might make scenes about your character more interesting.
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Post by archmagezemoc on Dec 10, 2015 13:06:34 GMT -8
The marque isn't an indirect ok from the Emperor to act outside the laws of the Imperium. It IS an ok from the Emperor to do that, as long as it benefits the Imperium of Man. In the HH book Nemesis we learn that during his time among us The Immortal God Emperor gifted each house of Rogue Traders their Marque, signed with an actual drop of his blood.
Now after the events of that book and the ensuing Heresy itself they obviously couldn't keep signing em like that but still, you get the idea.
Missionaries are the open hand of the Emperor. The part of the faith that seeks to always turn it to the benefit of the Imperium. They are the ones who figure out how to turn other human cultures religions and myths into representing the Immortal God Emperor so that they may be taken into the fold. They are the ones who secretly accept that allowances must be made in certain situations, that for the time being may seem even heretical at times, as long as it eventually benefits the Imperium of Man. But remember, deep cover agents of the faith must be wary of the Inquisition lest they be mistaken for real heretics. . . . >_>
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Post by henryhankovitch on Jan 17, 2016 23:43:08 GMT -8
One thing that's always important to Rogue Trader PCs is answering the question of why you're on a ship, on the fringes of space, doing whatever it is you happen to do. A member of the Ecclesiarchy could be leading a flock of Imperial subjects on some world somewhere, or he could be serving the Imperial Guard as a militant chaplain, or could be a cog in the massive space-Vatican bureaucracy that keeps the Imperium running. Why does he have this job, with its combination of extreme danger and extreme individual power? Is he secretly (or openly) conniving to amass a great fortune of his own? Does he see himself as the firebrand who will inspire some great crusade? Is he looking for glorious martyrdom? Is he genuinely concerned with protecting the souls of the officers and crew from all the corrupting influences that surround them? You can take almost any religious archetype and tack it onto a Rogue Trader's missionary.
One sort of Missionary might turn a blind eye to a Rogue Trader's xenophilia out of pure greed. Another might do it based on the belief that short-term corruption can serve a greater long-term good. Another might just be accumulating evidence to be turned over to the Inquisition in good time.
Most of the PCs in a Rogue Trader game are outwardly focused. Fighting external threats, chasing after material riches, acquiring knowledge, that sort of thing. The Missionary has a lot of opportunities to be inwardly focused--acting as the foil for the other PCs. He can be the one reminding the Rogue Trader of the dangers of xenos influence or heretical knowledge. He can be the one scrutinizing the crew for disloyalty or apostasy. You might even start acting secretly to protect your fellow officers from themselves...
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