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Kudaku
2010-02-07, 10:03 AM
I picked up the Rogue Trader Core Book the other day and had some friends over last night - it was our first time exploring the Roleplaying World outside D20, and it was pretty interesting. Though I avoided combat scenarios for the session (I had barely had the time to skim the rules and the rest had never read the book, though they did have some experience with the WH 40k universe from games and books), the combat looks pretty damn lethal. The Critical Damage charts are amazing!

We decided to try the game out by playing it, but as we played we ran into a few questions that the book seemed unable to answer - as such I come to seek the Holy Wisdom of the GitPers, hope you can help me out :smallsmile:.


Several of the classes have talents listed both under "starting talents" and under "Rank 1 Advances". For instance Rogue Traders have Pistol Weapon Training (Universal) on on both lists. Does this mean that Careers do not start with all the talents listed under their Starting list?



Half the Careers do not start with Literacy, which is labelled as an Advanced Skill. Does this mean that these characters are literally illiterate? I know its a GrimDark universe but it seems to me that basic math and reading skills are common, especially when you consider how exceptional the typical Rogue Trader is. For instance the Missionary starts with Knowledge but not Literacy - that's a lot of knowledge to memorize.


Answered and solved by Pasto - I'll houserule that in :smallsmile:.


A player playing the Astropath Transcendent was interested in the Precision Telekinesis Technique listed on page 171. Specifically he was wondering if he could use this technique to do melee attacks with a shock maul from long distance, and use his willpower stat for the attack rolls. Initially I disallowed this since it struck me as unbalanced, and the player didn't seem upset by my decision. However I'm not sure if I made the right call here - would using the technique in this way be overpowered?



Not having had a chance to run a fight yet, I'm a little curious about the battle rules. Initially the (very) low Wounds on a rank 1 character made me worry quite a bit but I realize that there are Dodge, Parry, and Cover rules to throw into the mix. How lethal is Rogue Traders compared to other games, and how "sturdy" are the average character really?


On a few instances we have found references to items, talents, or skills that are not listed in the book. With a bit of research I found that they were instead listed in the original Dark Heresy book. I was dismayed by this, since I was under the impression that Rogue Traders is an independent product and I wouldn't have to pick up Dark Heresy as well. How independant are the books really - do I need to get a copy of Dark Heresy or is Rogue Traders playable on its own?



Hope ya'll can help me out, looking forward to seeing your replies :smallsmile:

pasko77
2010-02-07, 10:59 AM
2. Half the Careers do not start with Literacy, which is labelled as an Advanced Skill. Does this mean that these characters are literally illiterate? I know its a GrimDark universe but it seems to me that basic math and reading skills are common, especially when you consider how exceptional the typical Rogue Trader is. For instance the Missionary starts with Knowledge but not Literacy - that's a lot of knowledge to memorize.
Hope ya'll can help me out, looking forward to seeing your replies :smallsmile:

For this point... well, the same in WFRP, almost nobody can read in 1st and 2nd edition. While it can be "normal" given the scenario, it is annoying, so in 3rd edition they fixed it with the addenda: any "literacy" ability gives you read/write. So your missionary, having a literacy-related ability, should have basic literacy skills.
You can fix it this way.
HTH, Pasko

Duke Elric
2010-02-07, 01:15 PM
Lemme take a shot at this...

1. The starting talents and skills are indeed the talents and skills they start with. Tey're also relisted in Rank 1, even though they already have these abilities. I suppose it was just for showing the power of the characters, as they are supposed to be a cut above the rest.

2. If you don't factor in craftsmanship and fate points as my groups test run did, it can be quite lethal. Particularly with fully automatic weapons. A regular bodyguard with an autopistol nearly killed my best friends Navigator, actually. However, with craftsmanship, fate points, dodge, parry, cover, and armor points, its likely that there will be quite a few rounds where no one takes any damage. I suggest balancing fully automatic weapons to increase the survivability, or maybe tack on another wound or two on the players.

3. I haven't run into the missing items and talents yet (except for the hunting rifle), so if you could point out some of them I'd be grateful. Rogue Trader is supposed to be a standalone game, although it's easy to bring over Dark Heresy material, for most cases.

4. The Literacy skill is specifically meant for hard problems involving words, for example: dialects, archaic phrasing, damaged papers, etc.

5. I have to get back to you on the Astropath though...

Hope that helps!

D Knight
2010-02-07, 09:08 PM
just to warn you the combat rules are DEADLY. i speak from exp my 2 guy had both arms and a leg taken off, not on the same person be it so. but yes the combat is fun and a challenge. it is possible to lose an arm just from seeing the effects of the Warp, like when a enemy explodes into a bunch of bugs. :O

The Random NPC
2010-02-08, 05:12 PM
In my experience with Dark Heresy, combat tends to have a lot of misses on both sides. When someone hits, people tend to explode. Automatic weapons have a lot of chances to hit, and therefore have a higher chance of killing whoever it is pointed at.

Also the skills are listed again for completions sake.