Warhammer Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader Pre-Release Thread [GAME RELEASED, GO TO NEW THREAD]

[Sykar]

Why not both?

 

[Drop Duck]

Can't wait for the SJW edition of WH40k: "In the grim darkness of the 41st millennium, there is only friendship."

"Cherish the Xeno and love in the name of the Emperor of all Personkind!"

It's going to be brilliant, D1P.

This but without the sarcasm. Necron cuties better be in the game.

 

[Comte_II]

Can't wait for the SJW edition of WH40k: "In the grim darkness of the 41st millennium, there is only friendship."

"Cherish the Xeno and love in the name of the Emperor of all Personkind!"

It's going to be brilliant, D1P.

This but without the sarcasm. Necron cuties better be in the game.

Dude you a coomer?

 

[ERYFKRAD]

successful medicae tests which can kill you

That could be because your medicae is actually a weirdboy.

 

[PlacidDragon]

About the space marine: I think there is a trilogy (?) of space wolf related novels, where a small team / squad of space wolves act as protectors for a certain Navigator house, because of some contract between the house and chapter. i.e., the house provides navigators to the space wolves, the space wolves provide protective services of various kinds.

I think you are referring to William King's Space Wolf series (4 books, then some other writer took over and i lost interest because the writing quality just dropped off a cliff).

The series is following the creation of Space Wolves, then on to missions, how the Space Wolves have a special relationship with the Belisarius family of Navigators. In the 4th novel (Wolfblade), it explores this in depth by going to Terra (Wolfblades are Space Wolf bodyguards of the house of Belisarius). William King also wrote the book "Farseer", which deals specifically with a Rogue Trader.

 

[Fedora Master]

The sheer knowledge of the lore in this thread is astonishing. But I suppose that's the target audience.

 

[Parsimonious cook]

New screen from the discord. I guess the PC is in the center (white and blue colors), in the rear there is the Eldar girl (which makes me doubt the player has fallen to Chaos here), the guy on the left of the PC in red robes could perhaps be a techpriest/explorator (though there are no mechadendrites in sight, so who knows). the two humans with rifles could be pretty much any class, the guy with the armor on PCs right is probably some melee fighter (I dont think its a Crusader though), though again looks too generic to tell.

 

[Vermillion]

I wonder how the devs will treat corruption in this game? In Tabletop it was basically just another way to give your character an early retirement, alongside insanity. It did have a lot of flavor to it though. Both insanity and Corruption had your character develop some interesting ticks, with them worsening as you reached different tiers of insanity/corruption. A character might develop phobias from insanity which the GM would rule in favor of your experiences (deathly afraid of small wildlife after time on Catachan) or hallucinating death Companions. Corruption could force you collect the knuckle bones of those who die around you, eventually culminating in you needing to do a ritual murder once a day. Corruption would get even worse with you actually developing mutations, which could be anything from devolving in intelligence, fusing your limbs together, to becoming a pseudo demon prince depending on what you roll on the mutation table.
I can't see them using the insanity rules at all, but they did seem interested in using corruption as a player option. I wonder how willing they'll make it? In Tabletop you could end up rolling 2d10 Corruption points just for picking up a Daemon Sword. Using Sorcery (Psychic powers for non-pskers, in effect) was always corruptive but you could do some things that you couldn't with psyker disciplines. So will they treat it like Dawn of War did, where your actions contribute to building your corruption until it reaches its breaking point and you fall, or will they just have the player choose to go full chaos? I really hope they play it as insidiously as it is in tabletop. They don't have alignment dialogues anymore, so what if they made hidden dialogue variables based on how corrupt your character is? Certain thresholds unlocking certain dialogues and barring others?

View attachment 26296

New screen from the discord. I guess the PC is in the center (white and blue colors), in the rear there is the Eldar girl (which makes me doubt the player has fallen to Chaos here), the guy on the left of the PC in red robes could perhaps be a techpriest/explorator (though there are no mechadendrites in sight, so who knows). the two humans with rifles could be pretty much any class, the guy with the armor on PCs right is probably some melee fighter (I dont think its a Crusader though), though again looks too generic to tell.

Ugh, I hate Owlcat's melee animations, hopefully they change them on release (doubt it) but it's not filling me with hope for having a sword and gun Rogue Trader. The gun characters are probably just using modified crossbow animation but at least they look decent in the screenshot. Depending on how faithful they are to the source material, I might have an idea what the classes will play like (Explorator OP) most Xenos tend to have their own class based on their species, like Orks being a Freebooter or Weirdboy instead of Rogue Trader and Astropath.

I didn't mention this in previous posts, but the "Origins" for the heir they have seem to be a more condensed/streamlined version of character creation, combining the homeworld and previous experience into one choice. Commissar is basically the Schola Prgenum Homeowrld (From Dark Heresy) mixed with the Imperial soldier origin from Rogue Trader. It would actually be a decent choice for the PC Rogue Trader, the class specializes in Fellowship and Melee combat and usually acts in support of other classes by granting immunity to fear and sharing (the Rogue trader's) hatred and rage talents. It was more the Ship Master that's the shooty one of the bunch.

 

[Reinhardt]

sounds like ableism

 

[Parsimonious cook]

I seriously doubt they will touch insanity at all as it requires a bit too much imagination and work to get done right. In the games that I GMed I had plenty of fun developing various disorders and homebrew mechanics that came with them for some players who enjoyed such an in depth approach to their characters, but most people I played with didnt really like the mechanic, I guess they didnt like the idea of the character slowly slipping away from their control.

I can imagine the corruption being included as something along the lines of the Light Side/Dark Side mechanic from KotOR - ie you do good guy things and you get good guy points, while heresy/bad guy stuff will get you corruption points. Again, getting this done right would be too much work, but unlike in case of insanity, corruption could bring something that the player might enjoy as a positive thing if he wants to play a heretic (ie. mutations or even something along the lines of ability to enter into Dark Pacts).

The character backgrounds as presented so far ("rogue," navy officer, commissar) seem fine to me. PnP Rogue Trader didnt have exactly deep character creation (quite a few people I played with complained that they could not make the sort of character they want - of course the elite advances were the solution to most of these problems).

 

[Vermillion]

I seriously doubt they will touch insanity at all as it requires a bit too much imagination and work to get done right. In the games that I GMed I had plenty of fun developing various disorders and homebrew mechanics that came with them for some players who enjoyed such an in depth approach to their characters, but most people I played with didnt really like the mechanic, I guess they didnt like the idea of the character slowly slipping away from their control. I can imagine the corruption being included as something along the lines of the Light Side/Dark Side mechanic from KotOR - ie you do good guy things and you get good guy points, while heresy/bad guy stuff will get you corruption points. Again, getting this done right would be too much work, but unlike in case of insanity, corruption could bring something that the player might enjoy as a positive thing if he wants to play a heretic (ie. mutations or even something along the lines of ability to enter into Dark Pacts).

I think I mentioned or alluded to them dropping the concept. I do hope they at least use it as ideas when building their characters, the Rogue Psyker for example already sounds like a high insanity high corruption character (either one can end up with you hearing voices). Most likely they'll have corruption be like Dawn of War where certain choices are flagged as corruptive and you move slightly closer to the red side or something. That's if they even implement corruption. I hope they do and use it as a RP tool instead of the effective game over it was on Tabletop. Corruption can be a lot of fun, playing a Daemon Host in dark Heresy is an express train to character death and damnation but you can get some memorable stories from it, gibbing chaos space marine Terminators with unarmed attacks being the least of which. I just don't have much hope for it being done well.

The character backgrounds as presented so far ("rogue," navy officer, commissar) seem fine to me. PnP Rogue Trader didnt have exactly deep character creation (quite a few people I played with complained that they could not make the sort of character they want - of course the elite advances were the solution to most of these problems).

How much variation did your groups need? Sure the amount of "classes" you could play were limited to their roles, but even those could become differentiated via the Elite Advances (as you mentioned). The Origin creation of Rogue Trader was actually fairly in-depth as I recall. Given each choice then had its own chocie of what abilities you got from it. Even purely RP you could make plenty of characters from this. You could be a mutant, Vat baby, Damned Noble chased by Demons turned Religious fanatic. You could be a merc who won your Trade Warrant in a bet or you could be from a long lineage dating back to the Emperor. If you chose Footfallen or others, you could be some form of latent Psyker.

 

[Parsimonious cook]

Yes, the origin creation was good enough (the table reminds me that I made a fairly cool Explorator character with the Calamity trails and travails, now that was a good game), the problem was primarily with the classes themselves. I remember people saying that for example the Rogue Trader class was effectively bound to develop only in two possible directions on the basis of skills that were available without the elite advances (though its been years and I am not able to reproduce their arguments in detail right now without pulling out the rulebook and taking some time to reviewing the skill tree). Now personally I think that proper GMing solves that issue just fine with the elite advances, but many people indeed saw this as a problem regardless - guess they wanted some "hard wired" solution in the rules (the elite advances after all require a bit of thinking to justify).

Anyway, since the the Rogue Trader will have at least three possible backgrounds that will likely translate to at least somewhat different character builds, it might actually end up with some more diversity for this particular class than the PnP rules did. We will see of course.

 

[Vermillion]

Anyway, for anyone who thought Warhammer was a strange IP for Owlcat to veer into. Just as planned.

 

[Incendax]

Space Wolf was probably chosen because they have functioning junk, and people WILL want to romance the space marine. Even if it's basically beastiality.

 

[Mauman]

Space Wolf was probably chosen because they have functioning junk, and people WILL want to romance the space marine. Even if it's basically beastiality.

I could have sworn it was already debunked that the Space Wolf would be a romance option.

 

[Drop Duck]

Can't wait for the SJW edition of WH40k: "In the grim darkness of the 41st millennium, there is only friendship."

"Cherish the Xeno and love in the name of the Emperor of all Personkind!"

It's going to be brilliant, D1P.

This but without the sarcasm. Necron cuties better be in the game.

Dude you a coomer?

Did I say anything about jerking off to that? Nothing wrong with wanting more quality Owlcat romance interests. The idea that Warhammer is all about war because it happens to be in the title is something toxic incels insist on since they don't know anything about the setting.

 

[Vermillion]

Can't wait for the SJW edition of WH40k: "In the grim darkness of the 41st millennium, there is only friendship."

"Cherish the Xeno and love in the name of the Emperor of all Personkind!"

It's going to be brilliant, D1P.

This but without the sarcasm. Necron cuties better be in the game.

Dude you a coomer?

Did I say anything about jerking off to that? Nothing wrong with wanting more quality Owlcat romance interests. The idea that Warhammer is all about war because it happens to be in the title is something toxic incels insist on since they don't know anything about the setting.

You joke but depending on the Necron Lord, they might just invite the Rogue Trader to a fancy meal just to prove the superiority of Necrontyr culture before their servants quietly has you disposed of. Of course you have just an equal chance of them wearing your face as a party mask, so I wouldn't risk it.

 

[Spectacle]

Space Wolf was probably chosen because they have functioning junk, and people WILL want to romance the space marine. Even if it's basically beastiality.

I could have sworn it was already debunked that the Space Wolf would be a romance option.

Mods will fix it.

 

[Harthwain]

I can't see them using the insanity rules at all, but they did seem interested in using corruption as a player option. I wonder how willing they'll make it? In Tabletop you could end up rolling 2d10 Corruption points just for picking up a Daemon Sword.

Sounds like a high potential for an incline - having hidden rolls, with no way of telling how high your Corruption is, until you reach a certain level and your Corruption manifest itself in some way after you did too much stuff that makes you corrupted. The only way of knowing how to avoid Corruption could be by reading subtle item descriptions, having someone who knows these things or just avoiding anything shady, as the Emperor's servant should.

Edit:

InD_ImaginE

I don't mean this potential will be realised in Owlcat's game. I mean what could be done with it when handled properly in a cRPG.

 

[Sykar]

So can the MC be a psyker?

 

[Fedora Master]

Unlikely. I'm not up to date on the FFG ruleset but if the MC is meant to be THE Rogue Trader of the story the class is pretty much locked in. A psyker would be too valuable and dangerous to give a Warrant of Trade to anyway.

 

[Drop Duck]

You joke

Do I?

The Maynarkh Dynasty truly stood on the brink of tearing itself apart, nearly falling into a spiral of self-destructive anarchy, until the last and most heavily protected of the stasis-crypts opened, releasing the Maynarkh's true ruler and Phaerakh: Xun'bakyr, the Mother of Oblivion.

If a rogue trader wouldn't attempt to get together with that then I don't know what would do it for them.

but depending on the Necron Lord, they might just invite the Rogue Trader to a fancy meal just to prove the superiority of Necrontyr culture before their servants quietly has you disposed of. Of course you have just an equal chance of them wearing your face as a party mask, so I wouldn't risk it.

My char stats will allow me pass a check during the date that will let me, I mean my character, wear their Necron booty as my new pair of glasses. The danger only makes it more exciting. I trust Owlcat to deliver the true Rogue Trader experience and they haven't disappointed me so far with their Pathfinder games.

 

[lightbane]

Regarding the corruption and insanity arguments, to be fair for RT games, the MCs are less likely to go through piles of heretical shit (possibly literally) unlike the average Dark Heresy cannon fodder/inquisitor aspirant, so insanity and corruption are less of a problem. Of course, you're more likely to degenerate due your own poor choices (ie: taking a fancy sword that's totally-not a daemon weapon just because it's promising you riches). That unsanctioned psyker though is likely going to be a literal fountain of IPs and CPs though.

 

[Vermillion]

So can the MC be a psyker?

Only if they allow Awakened Psyker Elite Advance, just know that it's a fast track to corruption and insanity. There was also the maddened prophet elite advance which let you use your insanity score to replace your intelligence on tests and to treat many specialist skills as untrained basic skills. The downside was that you'd worsen your insanity with successful checks.

Unlikely. I'm not up to date on the FFG ruleset but if the MC is meant to be THE Rogue Trader of the story the class is pretty much locked in. A psyker would be too valuable and dangerous to give a Warrant of Trade to anyway.

Accounting for the fact that Owlcat will condense skills heavily, there's enough elite advance classes locked to the Rogue Trader or open to all classes to go as a melee focused meat blender or a charismatic face. The Rogue Trader is can mostly be built as a merchant focus, diplomacy focus, or battlefield control type character. I think with certain builds they can get up to Fear 2 or Fear 3 which is basically demoralize as a free action with a Thug dip. Fantasy Flight was less of a by the numbers sort of game and more treating abilities as narrative tools. Decadence a skill very easy for Rogue Traders to acquire just makes you immune to being drugged because you're already too much of a degenerate. Most Elite Advances required a good lore explanation for why you could take it, but I imagine Owlcat will just make them available with minimal requirements, unfortunately.

Regarding the corruption and insanity arguments, to be fair for RT games, the MCs are less likely to go through piles of heretical shit (possibly literally) unlike the average Dark Heresy cannon fodder/inquisitor aspirant, so insanity and corruption are less of a problem. Of course, you're more likely to degenerate due your own poor choices (ie: taking a fancy sword that's totally-not a daemon weapon just because it's promising you riches). That unsanctioned psyker though is likely going to be a literal fountain of IPs and CPs though.

You'd be surprised. Rogue Trader adventure packets followed a continuous story. The game started small with you finding a Psychic Star map in one of your dig sites (either befriending or killing the Eldar that wanted it) and escalated to you defending a planet from an Ork invasion, pulling a heist on a chaos controlled moon, riding an Eldar Ghost Ship through the Webway, defending a space station from a chaos fleet, and finally fighting a Chaos Lord inside a corrupted Craftworld.

 

[Cryomancer]

CAn I play as a Psyker or not?