Musings on Rogue Trader

By | Published May 30, 2010

A few more thoughts on my Rogue Trader game as it pushes forward.

Combat

When I was running Dark Heresy I found combats to be ugly, brutish and short. One or two autofire bursts and someone—PC or NPC—would wind up a bloody mess. In Rogue Trader, this hasn’t been the case.

For instance, the superior stats and equipment Rogue Trader PCs start out with, and the similar abilities of their suggested opponents, has the effect of making combat drags on. The problem, as I see it, is that while the capacity of Rogue Trader PCs to soak damage is considerably better than starting PCs in Dark Heresy, the effectiveness of the game’s weapons seem kind of flat. As a result most combats seem to be a back and forth marathon.RT Cover.indd

So right now, I’m working on ways to speed it up. For instance, I’m considering only applying a characters toughness bonus (instead of doubling it) and making all tens rolled in damage open-ended, rather than requiring another attack roll. At the end of the day, I want my combats quick and deadly.

A Pirate’s Life

Overall though, I’m finding that the vibe of the game is great. I was a little worried that having five players in charge of a ship with 95 000 crew would be a little overwhelming, but it’s actually been a blast. Each of the players has really taken charge of their domains on the ship and are constantly breathing life into the ship’s micro-setting.

Along similar lines, I’m playing pretty fast and loose with the game’s morale mechanics. I’m sticking to the spirit of the rules, but I’m making sure that the actions of the PCs can have a direct effect on the ship’s crew. And really, they set themselves up for trouble on this front from the get go.

For instance, the PCs opted for the ‘reclaimator’ option on their ship (basically injured and deceased crew men are converted into gruesome cyborgs), purchased the cheapest possible life-support system, and over-crowded crew quarters. Add to that the murderous zeal of the ship’s Explorator and frankly totalitarian tendencies of the Arch-Militant and you’ve got a GM’s dream. You can imagin my glee when, after dropping morale by a point because of their long trip out into the void, the players wound up debating every imaginable option to stave off mutiny.

I can only say it’s a good thing that the Captain overruled the Arch-Militant’s plan to string-up anyone muttering discontent…

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Sandboxes in Spaaaaaaaace!

By | Published May 14, 2010

My Rogue Trader game is definitely rolling along. Our last session went smoothly, although I found combat dragged a bit (and the PCs seemed a touch untouchable). I’m mulling around a few ideas as to how to fix it for my purposes, but for now I’m just going to stew.

One thing I am going to do is keep this game as sandboxy as possible.

The PCs are, after all, nearly as wealthy as a small planet and command a five-kilometer long starship containing around 95 000 souls.

It’s tough to justify saying ‘no’ to any place they want to go or any thing they want to try to do.

That said, it’s a new game and only one of them is super-familiar with the setting. As a result I’m trying to balance the freedom of a good sandbox with lots of hooks for them to enjoy.

I plan to flip the chart below to my players, as a reminder of the various hooks they’ve run into, along with a link to the Koronus Expanse. I’ve also got a bit more detail for myself in a ‘Rogue Trader’ excel document that I use to keep myself organized (actually, I’m a little ashamed at how much I rely on Excel for GM-ing these days).

So please take a look and tell me what you think!

World/Region Hook Possible Booty Known Complications
Magoros/Winterscale’s Realm An ancient map leads to a secured storage facility of Zaphod’s long dead, and long condemned ancestor Whatever Xeno and Archaeo-tech Sybelle was not bold enough to bring back to the Imperium At this point, Orks, lots and lots of Orks
Zayth/the Heathen Stars Hentzau of Rurrit, the Prince of a Zaythian City-State looks identical to Rook the Archmillitant due to a common ancestor and ancient genetic enhancements Zayth is rumored to have a great deal of tech left over from the Golden Age of Humanity; including a Macro-Cannon design unknown in the Imperium. Jonquin Saul is escorting Hentzau to Zayth and has long been working to open the world to trade.
Footfall The last scion of the Stubbs Dynasty, Morgan managed to lose the family’s storage vaults, repair facility and general headquarters An HQ on Footfall The Bloody-Handed Brotherhood, a gang of extortionists and other scum live there now. The Mechanicus will also need to be wooed into maintaining it.
Xarit/the trailing-rimward corner of The Cauldron Hierophant Nereus wants someone to head to this long ignored colony to confirm its Heterodoxy. Getting the Ecclesiarchy on side. The world may also require its tithe to be collected, if the PCs check in with the Administratum Finding a route to the world. The world has been isolated for a long time, so anything is possible.
Helliot XI/Winterscale’s Realm Aspyce Chorda has suggested that someone break Winterscale’s trade monopoly with the Chen-Horvath Mining Combine’s operations on this world. The rare chemical and metallurgical wealth of Helliot XI Facing whatever planetary defenses are in place. Setting up a rival mining operation or extorting Chen-Horvath’s goods. Pissing off Calligos Winterscale.
Footfall/Wherever Bystra, she of the void-shielded vaults for discerning citizens, has a connection for selling any legal or illegal Xenos artifacts the Dynasty finds A fence connected to the Imperial Nobility and other buyers None, yet.
Footfall/Wherever Bystra knows a group looking to establish a colony away from prying eyes A colony with a debt to the dynasty to trade with There’s probably a reason they want a discreet colony…
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Thoughts on Rogue Trader

By | Published May 12, 2010

Tonight will be our second session of Rogue Trader, not counting the initial character creation session. A couple of observations:

I’m a little worried that in the flurry of chaotic activity that is character creation that some of my Players marked their career, skills as ‘basic’ rather than ‘trained.’ Not a big deal, but it could be a bit annoying if I have to audit everybody’s sheets.

The centerpiece Rogue Trader’s character creation system is a life path of sorts that takes you from your homeworld to your career (or you can just as easily work backwards). This makes for an interesting character with a bit of a back-story out of the gate, which is great. The book also encourages you to play up any ‘intersections’ with the life paths of other characters (for instance, two PCs could have met when they were press-ganged).

This is reminiscent of a similar mechanic in Mongoose’s Traveller that I was quite fond of. In Traveller, if the two players could come up with a reason their characters would have met during a PC-life path event, they earned a skill point. In Rogue Trader they earn…nothing but the good graces of the GM.

So my first house rule has been to offer up 500xp (roughly one session’s xp) for each player if they can come up with a way that their character knows at least one other PC. I’m hoping the carrot will help inspire my players a little.

Another observation is that characters will always be upgrading. This might be a problem because I have a huge group at the moment and one solitary copy of the corebook. Give the cost of the bloody thing, I can’t really expect my players to fly out and buy their own, either. Really, I wouldn’t find this as frustrating if the career advancement tables were available in an ugly, print friendly form, but, alas, they aren’t.

Playing the game itself has been a good time so far. One of my players only has D&D experience, so the system isn’t intuitive to him. For the remainder, however, percentile dice rolling is about as simple as it gets.

So far the only real slow down the group has experienced was due to our space combat starting too late in the session and the fact that I haven’t been good about giving each player something to do in the combat.

We shall see whether I can get this right tonight!

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Gamer ADD or Swinging GM?

By | Published March 24, 2010

My name is Mike, I’m a GM and after reading this great post, I don’t think I have Gamer ADD.

Contender #1

Contender #1

What I do have is a million ideas and inspirations bouncing around in my balding noggin and the certain knowledge that I will never get around to running most of them.

For me at least, playing with different settings, sandboxes and mechanics is a big part of why gaming is fun. I admire GMs who can sheppard a single campaign over years of play, but for me the thought of it is torture. How would I be able to indulge my 70s Glam Sci-Fi ideas while I’m locked in Dungeion Crawl mode?

While I suppose I could continuously transform and inport outside other concepts into an ongoing game run with a suitably flexible system, I confess that it wouldn’t quite scratch that itch to try something new.

Variety is, after all, the spice of life.

Contender #2

Contender #2

So I don’t think I have Gamer ADD, I just like to swing from game to game. Life’s too short for one campaign, in my opinion.

Which brings me to today’s conumdrum. I’ve been running an Old School D&D game since my Noble House Burning Wheel Campaign came to its end. Preparing for the game was a delight. Mapping out my dungeon, rolling on random tables, placing loot and traps…it was just what the doctor ordered after six months of intrigue and bloody-handed betrayal. But now, nearly three months in, I’m bored.

And I have a kid on the way, which means my gaming will almost certainly be curtailed for at least a couple of months (although my wife and I have an understanding for once

Contender #3

Contender #3

we start sleeping semi-regularly).  So as far as I’m concerned, I shouldn’t settle for anything other than awesome for players and I.

The only question is what to run instead. I intend to give my players the final choice between three games.

My Current Contenders Are:

Rogue Trader- Set in the Impossibly Metal Future of Warhammer 40K, Rouge Trader is all about Exploration, Colonization and Conquest in the Wild Expanses beyond the Imperium of Man.

Damnation Decade- Run with FATE, it’s League of Extraordinary 70s Film and TV characters racing to save the world before world ends on Dec 31st, 1979.

Cthulhu Invictus- Call of Cthulhu in Ancient Rome. The PCs are part of a secert order charged with protecting Rome and answering only to the Emperor Tiberius.

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To the Heathen Stars

By | Published March 24, 2010

So, one of the games I’m currently considering running is Warhammer 40K: Rogue Trader. Below is the pitch I’m sending out in the nearish future.

Rogue_Trader_RPG_Cover_by_andreauderzoTo the Heathen Stars

Billions of Humans, on Millions of Worlds wage constant War against Thousands of Xeno, Daemonic and Heretical Threats. They are led by divinity made flesh in the form of the God Emperor of Man upon his Golden Throne. This is the Imperium of Man…

…And you are one of the few entitled to seek their fortune beyond its borders.

You are a member of a Rogue Trader Dynasty, capable of rivalling Inquisitors, Imperial Commanders and the Great Noble Families of the Imperium.

Divine_Intervention_by_The_First_MagelordYou command a vast ship crewed by thousands of souls, and you do not fear the tumultuous Warp or the foul and corrupt things that exist beyond the Imperium.

Your Warrant of Trade obliges you to travel the wilds of the Koronus Expanse.

There you are charged to enforce the will of the emperor, trade with heathen worlds, spread the gospel of the Ministorium and expand the Imperium through colonization and missionary work.

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