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

Stoned Ape

Savant
Joined
Jan 9, 2018
Messages
586
Location
The belly of the whale
https://www.ign.com/articles/warhammer-40k-rogue-trader-rpg-choices-characters-enemies

Classic RPG Rogue Trader Will Explore More Than Just the War in Warhammer 40,000​

Arguments, hard choices, and deals with aliens await.​


Casting ‘magic’ in the Warhammer 40,000 universe is incredibly risky business. A psyker (see: space wizard) must draw their power from the Warp, a volatile dimension that’s home to daemons and chaotic gods. As such, every spell, no matter how trivial or powerful, comes with the chance of injury, insanity, demonic possession, or death. In Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader, the upcoming RPG from Owlcat Games, you’ll have to weigh up that risk every time you consider eviscerating a foe with your mind.

Perils of the Warp, the system that governs whether your head explodes or you live to cast another day, is one of Alexander Gusev’s favorite mechanics from 2009’s Rogue Trader, a tabletop RPG set in the grimdark future of the 41st millenium. He and other members of the Owlcat dev team played the game for years, and so the chance to turn this pen-and-paper hobby into a video game was something of a dream. But one golden pitch to Games Workshop later and that dream is a reality; Gusev is now creative director on the very first Warhammer 40k video game RPG.

“We were making more sandbox-style RPGs than most [other developers],” Gusev says, referring to the studio’s incredibly open Pathfinder games. “You had your kingdom. You were traveling, exploring the map, learning stuff about this unknown place, The Stolen Lands. And this constantly reminded me about what parties in Rogue Trader do.”

Most Warhammer 40k video games have you take part in mankind’s millenia-long quest to wipe out every other race in the galaxy (there are no good guys here, sorry). But the Rogue Traders, with their opulent spaceships and impeccable fashion tastes, are not your battle-hungry Space Marines. “Rogue Traders shine in a way that differs from many other factions in Warhammer’s Imperium in that you can also interact with xenos [aliens] in ways other than just killing them,” explains Gusev.

A Rogue Trader’s mission to explore, trade, and broker deals in regions beyond the limits of Imperial space means they are free to see the stranger side of the universe. “It's probably the best [subject] within the Warhammer 40k setting to approach from a CRPG perspective,” says Gusev. “It allows us the opportunity to give you powerful enemies and do really epic stuff, without going completely away from the RPG part and completely into the combat. It also allows us to show the world and show how normal people live there, and to show how peaceful parts of Imperium look.”

A Rogue Trader Imperial Cruiser. (Image credit: Games Workshop / Owlcat Games)
A Rogue Trader Imperial Cruiser. (Image credit: Games Workshop / Owlcat Games)

A Rogue Trader’s freedom to negotiate with, and even recruit aliens means that tensions will inevitably run high among your crew. Your protagonist will be surrounded by characters that can only be described as religious zealots, and each has their own interpretation of how one should serve the God Emperor of Mankind. For many, uttering a simple “hello” to someone outside of your species is considered heresy of the highest order. And so it seems that part of Rogue Trader’s challenge will be managing the clashing viewpoints of your party.

“There are certainly high points of conflict in our game,” teases Gusev. “There are certain points where you can just allow one character to kill another. An Adepta Sororitas character wouldn’t be comfortable around unsanctioned psykers, for example.”

Should you wish to see those particular sparks fly, you can… just recruit both an Adepta Sororitas (warrior nun) and an unsanctioned psyker into your retinue. Other hireable companions include a Seneschal (your right-hand pulled from the Imperial Navy), an Adeptus Mechanicus Magos (cyborg engineer), an Interrogator from the Inquisition, a Navigator, and - of course - a Space Marine from the tribal Space Wolves chapter.

“We were looking for characters that will show the universe from different points of view,” says Gusev of Owlcat’s companion choices. While the aforementioned characters all hail from the Imperium, they each have very different cultures and conflicting beliefs. Of course, the real oddity will be the Aeldari Ranger, a space elf from an empire much older than mankind’s, who no doubt will be looked upon with suspicion by their human bunk mates.

Settling debates among your quarreling crew will be just one of the many, many choices in Rogue Trader. Gusev promises a fully branching narrative, “There will be significant differences, depending on which choices you make in different parts of the game,” he assures me. “Some decisions that you make in the first half of the game can change later parts of the game very dramatically.”

“We are still making a companion-focused classic RPG,” Gusev says, so Owlcat fans can be assured the values of Pathfinder will find their way into the 41st millennium. “You will be able to change these characters. They will have personal quests, they will have their own epilogues. Some of them will not be very comfortable with some choices that you're going to make. And you will be able to – by the way that you interact with them, by the way you have dialogues with them, how you react to their interruptions in some dialogues, and so on – you will be able to change their fate.”

While Rogue Trader may bring a huge focus on your crew, their personal tales are just part of the grander picture. As the announcement trailer revealed, the story will involve several of Warhammer 40k’s most notable factions, including Chaos, Aeldari, Dhrukari, and Necrons. Where Warhammer stories typically take two or three factions and throw them into battle, Rogue Trader is set on exploring multiple fronts.

“We have an advantage here, because our games are quite long, so the stories aren't short,” explains Gusev. “Those enemies aren't introduced as a deus ex machina. We have time to introduce them properly, and to tie them to the story.”

Imperial Servitors. (Image credit: Owlcat Games / Games Workshop)
Imperial Servitors. (Image credit: Owlcat Games / Games Workshop)

At the bare minimum you can expect excellent enemy variety, then, with a collection of foes lovingly translated from their plastic miniature form to digital models. You can then blow them to bits in turn-based combat, which is a new venture for Owlcat (real-time-with-pause was used for Pathfinder). “We chose to go with turn-based because we wanted to focus more on combat encounters, and to focus more on each individual character and what they do,” says Gusev.

That brings us back to Perils of the Warp. While Gusev holds back on explaining exactly how Owlcat has adapted the tabletop rules for Rogue Trader’s combat system, it’s obvious that your unsanctioned psyker could potentially burn out their own brain if you’re not careful. But Gusev promises an array of artifacts from the 40k armory will be present, correct, and blessed by the Machine God. “We'll have both melee and ranged weapons. It is not quite common for many turn-based games, but it is very common in Warhammer to have a bolt pistol and a sword at the same time.” Hopefully this leads to an interesting blurring of the lines between ranged and close-combat battles.

Right now there’s no word on when we can expect Rogue Trader to see release, but Owlcat already has a series of beta stages planned that can be accessed by purchasing a Founder’s Pack. Getting hands-on as soon as I can is something I’m personally greatly interested in, as there’s simply nothing like Rogue Trader in the extensive library of Warhammer video games currently available.

This kind of character-led storytelling is really only accessible via the Black Library; Games Workshop’s colossal collection of novels. And even then, most are war stories that see legions of Space Marines unloading freighters-worth of ammunition into alien forces. To see the kind of party-based adventure that an RPG tells is a rarity in the 41st millenium, and I’m fascinated to see what Owlcat does with the freedom Rogue Trader provides.

“There are certainly high points of conflict in our game,” teases Gusev. “There are certain points where you can just allow one character to kill another. An Adepta Sororitas character wouldn’t be comfortable around unsanctioned psykers, for example.”

Looks like I won't even have to rid the sector of that particular timebomb myself.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Glory to Ukraine
Joined
Nov 22, 2020
Messages
2,164
Strap Yourselves In Codex Year of the Donut Codex+ Now Streaming!
Concept art for the Commissar background from the discord.

Commisar.jpg


Here is a concept of the bridge - I guess player will be spending plenty of time here.

Voidship-bridge-concept.jpg
 

Pink Eye

Monk
Patron
Joined
Oct 10, 2019
Messages
5,793
Location
Space Refrigerator
I'm very into cock and ball torture
That's your character's mother, she's not going to look beautifully young.
Intradasting. You've piqued my brains. Are you telling me that, over time, a woman develops masculine features as she gets older?

425e5c63-28f7-4a6d-a125-cd3a2e4ccc26-national-and-washington-woty-melinda-gates-topper.jpg
Brah. Ya know what that reminds me of. Robert Williams dressed as a woman from that one movie:
iAMW7Es.jpg
I again check back in only to see alleged adults seething over a fictional old woman not making their sub-5 inch dicks hard, the codex is a silly place.
Imagine obsessing over other people's penises. Just imagine. At least the rest of us red blooded big T males obsess over big booba womenz.
 

Humbaba

Arcane
Joined
Aug 12, 2021
Messages
2,939
Location
SADAT HQ
https://www.ign.com/articles/warhammer-40k-rogue-trader-rpg-choices-characters-enemies

Classic RPG Rogue Trader Will Explore More Than Just the War in Warhammer 40,000​

Arguments, hard choices, and deals with aliens await.​


Casting ‘magic’ in the Warhammer 40,000 universe is incredibly risky business. A psyker (see: space wizard) must draw their power from the Warp, a volatile dimension that’s home to daemons and chaotic gods. As such, every spell, no matter how trivial or powerful, comes with the chance of injury, insanity, demonic possession, or death. In Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader, the upcoming RPG from Owlcat Games, you’ll have to weigh up that risk every time you consider eviscerating a foe with your mind.

Perils of the Warp, the system that governs whether your head explodes or you live to cast another day, is one of Alexander Gusev’s favorite mechanics from 2009’s Rogue Trader, a tabletop RPG set in the grimdark future of the 41st millenium. He and other members of the Owlcat dev team played the game for years, and so the chance to turn this pen-and-paper hobby into a video game was something of a dream. But one golden pitch to Games Workshop later and that dream is a reality; Gusev is now creative director on the very first Warhammer 40k video game RPG.

“We were making more sandbox-style RPGs than most [other developers],” Gusev says, referring to the studio’s incredibly open Pathfinder games. “You had your kingdom. You were traveling, exploring the map, learning stuff about this unknown place, The Stolen Lands. And this constantly reminded me about what parties in Rogue Trader do.”

Most Warhammer 40k video games have you take part in mankind’s millenia-long quest to wipe out every other race in the galaxy (there are no good guys here, sorry). But the Rogue Traders, with their opulent spaceships and impeccable fashion tastes, are not your battle-hungry Space Marines. “Rogue Traders shine in a way that differs from many other factions in Warhammer’s Imperium in that you can also interact with xenos [aliens] in ways other than just killing them,” explains Gusev.

A Rogue Trader’s mission to explore, trade, and broker deals in regions beyond the limits of Imperial space means they are free to see the stranger side of the universe. “It's probably the best [subject] within the Warhammer 40k setting to approach from a CRPG perspective,” says Gusev. “It allows us the opportunity to give you powerful enemies and do really epic stuff, without going completely away from the RPG part and completely into the combat. It also allows us to show the world and show how normal people live there, and to show how peaceful parts of Imperium look.”

A Rogue Trader Imperial Cruiser. (Image credit: Games Workshop / Owlcat Games)
A Rogue Trader Imperial Cruiser. (Image credit: Games Workshop / Owlcat Games)

A Rogue Trader’s freedom to negotiate with, and even recruit aliens means that tensions will inevitably run high among your crew. Your protagonist will be surrounded by characters that can only be described as religious zealots, and each has their own interpretation of how one should serve the God Emperor of Mankind. For many, uttering a simple “hello” to someone outside of your species is considered heresy of the highest order. And so it seems that part of Rogue Trader’s challenge will be managing the clashing viewpoints of your party.

“There are certainly high points of conflict in our game,” teases Gusev. “There are certain points where you can just allow one character to kill another. An Adepta Sororitas character wouldn’t be comfortable around unsanctioned psykers, for example.”

Should you wish to see those particular sparks fly, you can… just recruit both an Adepta Sororitas (warrior nun) and an unsanctioned psyker into your retinue. Other hireable companions include a Seneschal (your right-hand pulled from the Imperial Navy), an Adeptus Mechanicus Magos (cyborg engineer), an Interrogator from the Inquisition, a Navigator, and - of course - a Space Marine from the tribal Space Wolves chapter.

“We were looking for characters that will show the universe from different points of view,” says Gusev of Owlcat’s companion choices. While the aforementioned characters all hail from the Imperium, they each have very different cultures and conflicting beliefs. Of course, the real oddity will be the Aeldari Ranger, a space elf from an empire much older than mankind’s, who no doubt will be looked upon with suspicion by their human bunk mates.

Settling debates among your quarreling crew will be just one of the many, many choices in Rogue Trader. Gusev promises a fully branching narrative, “There will be significant differences, depending on which choices you make in different parts of the game,” he assures me. “Some decisions that you make in the first half of the game can change later parts of the game very dramatically.”

“We are still making a companion-focused classic RPG,” Gusev says, so Owlcat fans can be assured the values of Pathfinder will find their way into the 41st millennium. “You will be able to change these characters. They will have personal quests, they will have their own epilogues. Some of them will not be very comfortable with some choices that you're going to make. And you will be able to – by the way that you interact with them, by the way you have dialogues with them, how you react to their interruptions in some dialogues, and so on – you will be able to change their fate.”

While Rogue Trader may bring a huge focus on your crew, their personal tales are just part of the grander picture. As the announcement trailer revealed, the story will involve several of Warhammer 40k’s most notable factions, including Chaos, Aeldari, Dhrukari, and Necrons. Where Warhammer stories typically take two or three factions and throw them into battle, Rogue Trader is set on exploring multiple fronts.

“We have an advantage here, because our games are quite long, so the stories aren't short,” explains Gusev. “Those enemies aren't introduced as a deus ex machina. We have time to introduce them properly, and to tie them to the story.”

Imperial Servitors. (Image credit: Owlcat Games / Games Workshop)
Imperial Servitors. (Image credit: Owlcat Games / Games Workshop)

At the bare minimum you can expect excellent enemy variety, then, with a collection of foes lovingly translated from their plastic miniature form to digital models. You can then blow them to bits in turn-based combat, which is a new venture for Owlcat (real-time-with-pause was used for Pathfinder). “We chose to go with turn-based because we wanted to focus more on combat encounters, and to focus more on each individual character and what they do,” says Gusev.

That brings us back to Perils of the Warp. While Gusev holds back on explaining exactly how Owlcat has adapted the tabletop rules for Rogue Trader’s combat system, it’s obvious that your unsanctioned psyker could potentially burn out their own brain if you’re not careful. But Gusev promises an array of artifacts from the 40k armory will be present, correct, and blessed by the Machine God. “We'll have both melee and ranged weapons. It is not quite common for many turn-based games, but it is very common in Warhammer to have a bolt pistol and a sword at the same time.” Hopefully this leads to an interesting blurring of the lines between ranged and close-combat battles.

Right now there’s no word on when we can expect Rogue Trader to see release, but Owlcat already has a series of beta stages planned that can be accessed by purchasing a Founder’s Pack. Getting hands-on as soon as I can is something I’m personally greatly interested in, as there’s simply nothing like Rogue Trader in the extensive library of Warhammer video games currently available.

This kind of character-led storytelling is really only accessible via the Black Library; Games Workshop’s colossal collection of novels. And even then, most are war stories that see legions of Space Marines unloading freighters-worth of ammunition into alien forces. To see the kind of party-based adventure that an RPG tells is a rarity in the 41st millenium, and I’m fascinated to see what Owlcat does with the freedom Rogue Trader provides.

“There are certainly high points of conflict in our game,” teases Gusev. “There are certain points where you can just allow one character to kill another. An Adepta Sororitas character wouldn’t be comfortable around unsanctioned psykers, for example.”

Looks like I won't even have to rid the sector of that particular timebomb myself.
Oh boy we're gonna have conflicting party members like BG2 again :bounce:
 

Stoned Ape

Savant
Joined
Jan 9, 2018
Messages
586
Location
The belly of the whale
FXhX5q4XwAAl7nw


One thing that does concern me about this is the level design.

Everything they have shown so far has looked a bit flat, with not enough LOS obstructing terrain through the middle of the map.

40k is always better with more terrain, and preferably with more structures to climb up/walls to destroy, etc.

Sticking a few sandbags and barriers around for cover will not make for interesting decisions for the player when approaching a scenario.

Also, the maps have all looked quite small. There should be areas where heavier weapons and snipers with range superiority have more effect.

Honestly, I'd have preferred a default camera zoomed out by 2x compared to the picture above.

They should take inspiration from something like Laser Squad when balancing long corridors and rooms in maps, and should make players to split up their party to cover incoming threats from multiple directions at once.

I think a lot of these levels look more like something that would work well in a fantasy game, rather than one that features a lot of ranged combat.

EDIT:

Maybe they should also look at Zone Mortalis terrin from Forgeworld, it might inspire their design a bit.

1-jpg.112668
 
Last edited:

Humbaba

Arcane
Joined
Aug 12, 2021
Messages
2,939
Location
SADAT HQ
FXhX5q4XwAAl7nw


One thing that does concern me about this is the level design.

Everything they have shown so far has looked a bit flat, with not enough LOS obstructing terrain through the middle of the map.

40k is always better with more terrain, and preferably with more structures to climb up/walls to destroy, etc.

Sticking a few sandbags and barriers around for cover will not make for interesting decisions for the player when approaching a scenario.

Also, the maps have all looked quite small. There should be areas where heavier weapons and snipers with range superiority have more effect.

Honestly, I'd have preferred a default camera zoomed out by 2x compared to the picture above.

They should take inspiration from something like Laser Squad when balancing long corridors and rooms in maps, and should make players to split up their party to cover incoming threats from multiple directions at once.

I think a lot of these levels look more like something that would work well in a fantasy game, rather than one that features a lot of ranged combat.
Imagine getting this worried about pre-alpha footage.
 

Stoned Ape

Savant
Joined
Jan 9, 2018
Messages
586
Location
The belly of the whale
FXhX5q4XwAAl7nw


One thing that does concern me about this is the level design.

Everything they have shown so far has looked a bit flat, with not enough LOS obstructing terrain through the middle of the map.

40k is always better with more terrain, and preferably with more structures to climb up/walls to destroy, etc.

Sticking a few sandbags and barriers around for cover will not make for interesting decisions for the player when approaching a scenario.

Also, the maps have all looked quite small. There should be areas where heavier weapons and snipers with range superiority have more effect.

Honestly, I'd have preferred a default camera zoomed out by 2x compared to the picture above.

They should take inspiration from something like Laser Squad when balancing long corridors and rooms in maps, and should make players to split up their party to cover incoming threats from multiple directions at once.

I think a lot of these levels look more like something that would work well in a fantasy game, rather than one that features a lot of ranged combat.
Imagine getting this worried about pre-alpha footage.
So worried I made a post on a forum that took me a couple of minutes to write. I must have been practically crapping myself.
 

Black_Willow

Arcane
Joined
Dec 21, 2007
Messages
1,866,230
Location
Borderline
https://roguetrader.owlcat.games/news/en/3

THEODORA VON VALANCIUS: OF POWER AND GLORY​



It is a rare breed of human that dares to leave the confines of Imperial territory and brave the still-uncharted void of the galaxy. Unwavering courage, devious cunning, even outright recklessness – all of these traits and more help ensure the survival and prosperity of those who are granted a Warrant of Trade and vested with a mission to roam the unknown depths of the void in search of profit and plunder. They are Rogue Traders, unique individuals empowered by the Emperor’s authority to serve Humanity in the most unorthodox way possible – by crossing the boundaries of the Imperium and committing deeds otherwise considered heretical.

Lord Captain Theodora von Valancius Massimo af Scarus is a hard woman – anyone who stands at the helm of an ancient Rogue Trader dynasty for as long as she has is either broken or steeled by the experience. Theodora owns a voidship crewed by thousands of loyal servants, reigns over a vast conglomerate of worlds that bring her immense wealth, and vies for supremacy with the other Rogue Traders of the Koronus Expanse – a competition unequaled in its ruthlessness. Yet the Lord Captain has always yearned for more, and so she ventures into the deepest and darkest parts of the Koronus Expanse, leaving trading and affairs of governance to her subordinates.

But sometimes the Rogue Trader’s endeavors bring more trouble than expected – after all, there are nightmares between the stars better left undisturbed. Theodora’s aura is as illustrious as ever – she and her air of authority bow even the most willful heads, and her power sends fear into the hearts of her enemies. Yet those closest to her have noticed strange changes – a tinge of worry in the curve of her lips, a ghost of uncertainty in her steely gaze. Unknown to others, time after time Theodora’s thoughts sink into what’s to come - the grim future that will snuff out her shining star and give way to the next Rogue Trader of the von Valancius dynasty whose fate is still undetermined.

Teodora-Concept.jpg

Theodora von Valancius concept art
Hey I'd love to have Theodora in my party!
 

InD_ImaginE

Arcane
Patron
Joined
Aug 23, 2015
Messages
5,365
Pathfinder: Wrath
? These are all Unity games.

Maybe it is my lack of understanding of game dev and how unity operate but how both use the engine is different. As I understand you create a structure around Unity. And then build around that structure.
 
Joined
Jan 14, 2018
Messages
50,754
Codex Year of the Donut
? These are all Unity games.

Maybe it is my lack of understanding of game dev and how unity operate but how both use the engine is different. As I understand you create a structure around Unity. And then build around that structure.
Unity as a general purpose engine is much different than say, what Bethesda uses which is tailored specifically for their needs. Unity is expected to be extended & heavily customized by dev teams larger than a few people.
So, yes, you're right. The "engine" used by InXile includes the technology built ontop of Unity and completely different from what Owlcat has built.
 

Spectacle

Arcane
Patron
Joined
May 25, 2006
Messages
8,363
? These are all Unity games.

Maybe it is my lack of understanding of game dev and how unity operate but how both use the engine is different. As I understand you create a structure around Unity. And then build around that structure.
Indeed. If you program your first game with the assumption that the maps will be more or less flat, all your data structures, AI code etc. will be based around that assumption. Then if you want your next game to have more verticality, you'll either have to rewrite everything from scratch, or try to hack in some 3D logic in your 2D code. Both approaches have their costs, so maybe you'll decide that verticality isn't all that important anyway, and you'd rather spend your resources on something else.
 

Infinitron

I post news
Staff Member
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Messages
97,228
Codex Year of the Donut Serpent in the Staglands Dead State Divinity: Original Sin Project: Eternity Torment: Tides of Numenera Wasteland 2 Shadorwun: Hong Kong Divinity: Original Sin 2 A Beautifully Desolate Campaign Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire Pathfinder: Kingmaker Pathfinder: Wrath I'm very into cock and ball torture I helped put crap in Monomyth
https://roguetrader.owlcat.games/news/en/4

PRIVATEERS OF THE IMPERIUM​


“The armchair-admirals at the Navy academies will have it that combat in space is a predictable, scientific affair, akin to a game of regicide.
They teach that you should only engage your enemy at this or that range, that it takes a particular number of escorts to engage one cruiser and a hundred other such nuggets of tedious, received wisdom.
What do they know? These academics and experts who have never felt the rush of blood as you close on your foe, his plasma containment failing as he bleeds out into the void? Who among them has closed to ranges that make the ‘experts’ splutter with indignation? Which of them know the visceral thrill that is the bloody murder of combat in space?
I have felt the frozen kiss of the void as my hull split, and lived. I have hurled my warship at my foe as if it were a torpedo, and defeated him utterly. And I will do so again, a thousand times, until the Emperor or the universe decides I’ve done it once too often.”



–Rogue Trader Lucien Gherrit of the Clan Arcadius, at the victory banquet aboard the Wotan following the defeat of the traitor 88th Flotilla.



Rogue Traders

The Imperium is a vast, scattered realm, extending over almost the entire galaxy, impinging itself upon the more compact areas of alien settled space. The million or more inhabited worlds the Imperium controls are but a tiny fraction of the galactic whole. Then there are the fringes and halo zones, remote areas where the Astronomican does not reach, and where the only human settlers are renegades or pioneering groups whose ancestors were forgotten millennia ago. Most of the galaxy remains unexplored, unknown, and extremely dangerous.

The potential of new worlds, alien civilisations, and unimaginable resources made necessary a class of free-ranging Imperial agents known as Rogue Traders. Licensed and often equipped by the Adeptus Terra, the Rogue Trader is free to explore the far regions of the galaxy, the areas where the Astronomican does not reach, and those areas within its reach as yet unvisited.
Rogue Traders have even attempted to cross the voids of interstellar space, but over such distances even the Astropaths’ powers of communication are useless, and whether such missions have succeeded is unknown. Operating in isolation from the central authority of the Imperium, the Rogue Trader must decide how to react to alien cultures, new discoveries, and threats. If he judges a race to be potentially dangerous, he may attempt to destroy it or to gather as much information as he can so that others may do so.
If he decides a race may be of use to humanity, he may attempt to make contact and establish relations. If merely rich in technology or minerals, a planet may be plundered, and the Rogue Trader will return to Terra laden with the treasure of space—alien artefacts, rare and precious minerals, and undreamed of technology.

photo_2022-07-14_15-47-28.jpg


Needless to say, the Rogue Trader requires a considerable resource in spacecraft, troops and other staff if he is to complete his mission. His total responsibility may extend to dozens of spacecraft, often huge, lumbering cargo vessels crammed with a small army, a full crew of technicians, and volunteer settlers to establish colonies on new worlds. Most important, however, are the fighting troops, for it is they who will have to deal with any potential threat.

Rogue Traders have a reputation as outcasts; many are people whom the priesthood deems better kept at a safe distance. Operating beyond Imperial control, Rogue Traders are a law unto themselves. Some are highly pious individuals, bringing the Emperor’s light beyond His rule; others are nothing more than glorified pirates and scoundrels.
Many Rogue Traders exude confidence and are highly charismatic, often charmingand roguish, skilled diplomats (some would say confidence tricksters) and hardened killers when the situation demands. Rogue Traders will often gather an entourage of hangers-on and companions, and this may contain alien warriors, mutants, and other undesirables.
Many in the Inquisition would take to marking the Rogue Trader out as a heretic. Many Rogue Traders have highly unstable personalities—some destroy worlds on a whim or experiment with alien species out of macabre curiosity.

photo_2022-07-14_15-47-28%20%282%29.jpg


Rogue Traders usually return to Imperial space every few years, to unload their exotic wares and re-supply, recruit, and rest until the next foray into the darkness. During these periods they may come into conflict with members of the Adeptus Terra or the Inquisition.
Rogue Traders wield incredible power, and it is easy for them to forget that once back within the Imperium, they do not have free rein to act as they wish. This strident attitude will draw attention from the authorities.
Many Rogue Traders dispute the right of the Imperium to exercise authority over them. As men who have wandered amongst alien stars and conversed with all manner of cultures, Rogue Traders are viewed as susceptible to all kinds of heresies, from wayward philosophies to infection by alien creatures or possession by warp entities that live in the darkness between stars.
All of these factors can lead to violent confrontation, particularly if the Rogue Trader has knowledge or an artefact that others covet.



The Warrant of Trade

By dint of the fact that the vast majority of space travel is tightly controlled by the Segmentum Fortresses, the Imperium is able to impose a great degree of control over the movement of its subjects. The Imperium being spread out across such a vast region of the galaxy, it lacks discrete borders and is defined more by the warp routes that connect individual sectors.
On the fringes of Wilderness Space, the populations of isolated or neglected worlds do interact with alien cultures, trading with them or taking up common cause against a mutual foe. For the most part, however, humanity is fearful and untrusting of the alien and non-Imperial cultures, taught from birth that Mankind is possessed of a manifest destiny to rule the stars, and that contact with outsiders brings at best moral pollution, and at worst world-razing devastation.
Contact with proscribed cultures is therefore forbidden, by ancient decree, to be undertaken only at the very highest levels as sanctioned by the High Lords of Terra and their duly appointed servants.

Despite the general prohibition against dealings beyond the Imperium, the High Lords of Terra long ago recognised the value of expanding the borders of Humanity’s domains. The Warrant of Trade issued to all Rogue Traders grants not only the permission to go beyond the Imperium’s borders, but to deal with who or whatever might be out there with the fullauthority of the Senatorum Imperialis, the High Lords.

The Warrant also elevates the recipient to the highest of ranks to which a servant may rise, granting him equivalent status with such men and women as Imperial Commanders, Inquisitors and Space Marine Chapter Masters. They are granted the power to deal with such peers of the Imperium as equals, and the Warrant allowing them to call upon what aid they can negotiate.
While the Warrant of Trade confers upon its bearer tremendous privileges, it is when the Rogue Trader passes beyond the borders of the Imperium that the true power of the Warrant becomes manifest. Within the Imperium, Rogue Traders move within the established power structures of the Imperium. Outside of the Imperium, Rogue Traders define those structures themselves.
Indeed, it has been said that the Rogue Trader speaks with the authority of the Emperor Himself beyond the Fringes. Furthermore, the Warrant of Trade grants enormous rights to the recipient, allowing him to claim by conquest whatever worlds and privileges he may obtain in whatever manner he wishes to do so.

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Many Rogue Traders use the Warrant to conquer or colonise newly discovered planets, taking up the role of Imperial Commander and thus pushing outwards the Imperium’s borders.
Others use the Warrant to gain exclusive trade rights with newly discovered cultures, earning for themselves unimaginable riches.

Quite aside from the financial gain, many Rogue Traders seek the fame and glory success can bring. Few men in the 41st millennium can ever hope that their name will be spoken of beyond the limits of their birth world or the span of their own lifetime. For many, the most valuable reward is the opportunity to establish a lineage, with themselves as the primogenitors, of a noble house that will endure throughout the ages
 

Desiderius

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https://www.ign.com/articles/warhammer-40k-rogue-trader-rpg-choices-characters-enemies

Classic RPG Rogue Trader Will Explore More Than Just the War in Warhammer 40,000​

Arguments, hard choices, and deals with aliens await.​


Casting ‘magic’ in the Warhammer 40,000 universe is incredibly risky business. A psyker (see: space wizard) must draw their power from the Warp, a volatile dimension that’s home to daemons and chaotic gods. As such, every spell, no matter how trivial or powerful, comes with the chance of injury, insanity, demonic possession, or death. In Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader, the upcoming RPG from Owlcat Games, you’ll have to weigh up that risk every time you consider eviscerating a foe with your mind.

Perils of the Warp, the system that governs whether your head explodes or you live to cast another day, is one of Alexander Gusev’s favorite mechanics from 2009’s Rogue Trader, a tabletop RPG set in the grimdark future of the 41st millenium. He and other members of the Owlcat dev team played the game for years, and so the chance to turn this pen-and-paper hobby into a video game was something of a dream. But one golden pitch to Games Workshop later and that dream is a reality; Gusev is now creative director on the very first Warhammer 40k video game RPG.

“We were making more sandbox-style RPGs than most [other developers],” Gusev says, referring to the studio’s incredibly open Pathfinder games. “You had your kingdom. You were traveling, exploring the map, learning stuff about this unknown place, The Stolen Lands. And this constantly reminded me about what parties in Rogue Trader do.”

Most Warhammer 40k video games have you take part in mankind’s millenia-long quest to wipe out every other race in the galaxy (there are no good guys here, sorry). But the Rogue Traders, with their opulent spaceships and impeccable fashion tastes, are not your battle-hungry Space Marines. “Rogue Traders shine in a way that differs from many other factions in Warhammer’s Imperium in that you can also interact with xenos [aliens] in ways other than just killing them,” explains Gusev.

A Rogue Trader’s mission to explore, trade, and broker deals in regions beyond the limits of Imperial space means they are free to see the stranger side of the universe. “It's probably the best [subject] within the Warhammer 40k setting to approach from a CRPG perspective,” says Gusev. “It allows us the opportunity to give you powerful enemies and do really epic stuff, without going completely away from the RPG part and completely into the combat. It also allows us to show the world and show how normal people live there, and to show how peaceful parts of Imperium look.”

A Rogue Trader Imperial Cruiser. (Image credit: Games Workshop / Owlcat Games)
A Rogue Trader Imperial Cruiser. (Image credit: Games Workshop / Owlcat Games)

A Rogue Trader’s freedom to negotiate with, and even recruit aliens means that tensions will inevitably run high among your crew. Your protagonist will be surrounded by characters that can only be described as religious zealots, and each has their own interpretation of how one should serve the God Emperor of Mankind. For many, uttering a simple “hello” to someone outside of your species is considered heresy of the highest order. And so it seems that part of Rogue Trader’s challenge will be managing the clashing viewpoints of your party.

“There are certainly high points of conflict in our game,” teases Gusev. “There are certain points where you can just allow one character to kill another. An Adepta Sororitas character wouldn’t be comfortable around unsanctioned psykers, for example.”

Should you wish to see those particular sparks fly, you can… just recruit both an Adepta Sororitas (warrior nun) and an unsanctioned psyker into your retinue. Other hireable companions include a Seneschal (your right-hand pulled from the Imperial Navy), an Adeptus Mechanicus Magos (cyborg engineer), an Interrogator from the Inquisition, a Navigator, and - of course - a Space Marine from the tribal Space Wolves chapter.

“We were looking for characters that will show the universe from different points of view,” says Gusev of Owlcat’s companion choices. While the aforementioned characters all hail from the Imperium, they each have very different cultures and conflicting beliefs. Of course, the real oddity will be the Aeldari Ranger, a space elf from an empire much older than mankind’s, who no doubt will be looked upon with suspicion by their human bunk mates.

Settling debates among your quarreling crew will be just one of the many, many choices in Rogue Trader. Gusev promises a fully branching narrative, “There will be significant differences, depending on which choices you make in different parts of the game,” he assures me. “Some decisions that you make in the first half of the game can change later parts of the game very dramatically.”

“We are still making a companion-focused classic RPG,” Gusev says, so Owlcat fans can be assured the values of Pathfinder will find their way into the 41st millennium. “You will be able to change these characters. They will have personal quests, they will have their own epilogues. Some of them will not be very comfortable with some choices that you're going to make. And you will be able to – by the way that you interact with them, by the way you have dialogues with them, how you react to their interruptions in some dialogues, and so on – you will be able to change their fate.”

While Rogue Trader may bring a huge focus on your crew, their personal tales are just part of the grander picture. As the announcement trailer revealed, the story will involve several of Warhammer 40k’s most notable factions, including Chaos, Aeldari, Dhrukari, and Necrons. Where Warhammer stories typically take two or three factions and throw them into battle, Rogue Trader is set on exploring multiple fronts.

“We have an advantage here, because our games are quite long, so the stories aren't short,” explains Gusev. “Those enemies aren't introduced as a deus ex machina. We have time to introduce them properly, and to tie them to the story.”

Imperial Servitors. (Image credit: Owlcat Games / Games Workshop)
Imperial Servitors. (Image credit: Owlcat Games / Games Workshop)

At the bare minimum you can expect excellent enemy variety, then, with a collection of foes lovingly translated from their plastic miniature form to digital models. You can then blow them to bits in turn-based combat, which is a new venture for Owlcat (real-time-with-pause was used for Pathfinder). “We chose to go with turn-based because we wanted to focus more on combat encounters, and to focus more on each individual character and what they do,” says Gusev.

That brings us back to Perils of the Warp. While Gusev holds back on explaining exactly how Owlcat has adapted the tabletop rules for Rogue Trader’s combat system, it’s obvious that your unsanctioned psyker could potentially burn out their own brain if you’re not careful. But Gusev promises an array of artifacts from the 40k armory will be present, correct, and blessed by the Machine God. “We'll have both melee and ranged weapons. It is not quite common for many turn-based games, but it is very common in Warhammer to have a bolt pistol and a sword at the same time.” Hopefully this leads to an interesting blurring of the lines between ranged and close-combat battles.

Right now there’s no word on when we can expect Rogue Trader to see release, but Owlcat already has a series of beta stages planned that can be accessed by purchasing a Founder’s Pack. Getting hands-on as soon as I can is something I’m personally greatly interested in, as there’s simply nothing like Rogue Trader in the extensive library of Warhammer video games currently available.

This kind of character-led storytelling is really only accessible via the Black Library; Games Workshop’s colossal collection of novels. And even then, most are war stories that see legions of Space Marines unloading freighters-worth of ammunition into alien forces. To see the kind of party-based adventure that an RPG tells is a rarity in the 41st millenium, and I’m fascinated to see what Owlcat does with the freedom Rogue Trader provides.

“There are certainly high points of conflict in our game,” teases Gusev. “There are certain points where you can just allow one character to kill another. An Adepta Sororitas character wouldn’t be comfortable around unsanctioned psykers, for example.”

Looks like I won't even have to rid the sector of that particular timebomb myself.
https://www.gutenberg.org/files/1944/1944-h/1944-h.htm#link2H_4_0009
 

The_Mask

Just like Yves, I chase tales.
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Some random guy on YouTube: One of the funnest part of Rogue Traders is their diverse crew. It sometimes even contains sanctionned Xenos, like the Kroot, or unsanctioned ones like an Aeldari ranger. Allows for unique story telling opportunities!





Owlcat Games

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there will be an Aeldari Ranger in your crew! :3
Was this known? I don't keep up as much with this thread.
 
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That there will be xenos companions? Sure, the picture of the Eldar Ranger was in fact the very first thing that the game was presented with. From what we know so far there might be conflicts among the party members and some will likely be exclusive (ie if you want to have a Sister of Battle, you probably wont be able to have xenos/heretics/radicals and such).
 
Glory to Ukraine
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Another concept art for the starting backgrounds: some kind of rogue/pirate, commissar and Navy officer.


rogue_traders.jpg
 

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