History TabletopGame / RogueTrader

* AuthorityEqualsAsskicking: Not only are the player characters the ones that run the ship, they're all but inevitably the most powerful, well-trained warriors on the ship as well.

%%* HordeOfAlienLocusts: Surprisingly, not the Tyranids but the Rak'Gol, a new canon addition.%%ZCE

%%* SeanConneryIsAboutToShootYou: The cover for the ''Hostile Acquisitions'' supplement.

The game has an upcoming computer RPG adaptation, ''VideoGame/Warhammer40000RogueTrader'' by Creator/OwlcatGames, announced in 2022.

%%* AncestralWeapon: An option for your character at creation.

%%* MerchantPrince: Any Rogue Trader is basically this.%%How?

[-''For the original ''Rogue Trader'', see ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}''; this article is for the 2009 {{Tabletop RPG}}.''-]

* ArbitraryMinimumRange: The game has minimum range for [[WaveMotionGun Nova Cannons]], as they cannot safely be used too close to the ship, having splash damage and a chance to explode closer to the firer than intended (technically they can still hit the firer if you fire at the absolute minimum range and roll very badly). This is a holdover from their rules in ''TabletopGame/BattlefleetGothic'', as RT space combat rules are heavily based on that game.

* {{Mordor}}: The planet Inequity, home to [[BigBad Chaos Lord Karrad Vall the Faceless Lord]]. It is located in a star system where a red giant dances with a black hole, and the whips of plasma siphoned off it lash the planets around it creating detritus and dangerously unpredictable gravity shoals. Navigation to the planet is only safely possible by a damned warp beacon [[PoweredByAForsakenChild powered by hundreds of sorceress sacrifices]][[note]](not unlike the Astronomicon the entire Imperium uses for navigation, but shorter range, with a greater relative consumption of souls, and guided by the [[GodIsEvil Ruinous Powers]] rather than [[BigGood the Emperor]])[[/note]]. Its surface is covered in caustic atmosphere and acidic rain drawn from boiling seas. Quakes are frequent and eruptions are a constant danger. Slaves toil to their deaths in the mines and manufactora. Daemons stalk the surface drawn from warp rifts deep in the planet's crust exposed when the original settlers DugTooDeep. It is a haven for Chaos reaver SpacePirates, and all of its cities are {{Wretched Hive}}s that makes life in an Imperial underhive [[UpToEleven look pleasant by comparison]]. Above it all Vall rules this domain from his infamous [[IDontLikeTheSoundOfThatPlace Citadel Of Skulls]], a combination fortress, armoury, manufacturing centre, treasure vault, palace, and debased temple to Chaos.

* WoodenShipsAndIronMen: [[RecycledINSPACE IN SPACE]]! In most cases, you're playing the chief crew members of a Rogue Trader ship, probably have a Warrant of Trade (a letter of marque from the High Lords of Terra, meaning the crew is probably part {{Privateer}} and part IntrepidMerchant). And your job is to [[SpaceIsAnOcean sail the void in kilometers long ships armed with broadside arrays of macro cannons and lances]]. [[Franchise/StarTrek To explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations, to boldly go where no man has gone before]]. [[{{Metaphorgotten}} And conqueror it all in the Emperor's and your dynasty's name,]] [[WarForFunAndProfit crushing anyone or anything who stand in your way for prestige and profit]].

* BigBad: Karrad Vall the Faceless Lord, and Morgash Kulgraz, Kaptin of ''Da Wurldbreaka'' are both strong contenders for being the ultimate Big Bads of the Koronus Expanse.

* HordeOfAlienLocusts: Surprisingly, not the Tyranids but the Rak'Gol, a new canon addition.

* MerchantPrince: Any Rogue Trader is basically this.

* PowerCreepPowerSeep: [[CharacterLevel Rank 1]] ''Rogue Trader'' characters are significantly more powerful than Rank 1 ''TabletopGame/DarkHeresy'' characters; in fact, they're explicitly noted as the equivalent of Rank 5 ''Dark Heresy'' characters (which has a maximum of 8 Ranks).
** Theoretically, at least. However, in practice, using Dark Heresy characters in Rogue Trader is a bit unbalanced. Well-built DH characters [[MagikarpPower quickly out-scale RT characters]] because of cheaper advances (usually 100 to 300 xp vs. 200 to 500 for skills, and 100 to 300 vs. 500 or 1000 for talents), a larger variety of options, and the fact that while RT characters start with 5 more points in all their characteristics, they only have 4 characteristic advances, whereas DH characters have 6 total (with Ascension).
*** Which does make a kind of sense. High level ascension characters are the most loyal, singularly powerful servants of the Imperium short of the [[SuperSoldier Astartes]], and have been through constant high intensity missions whereas a strong rogue trader is a civilian that does not generally need to adapt to anywhere near that level of stress. Generally.

** DevelopmentGag: [[{{invoked}} ]]Per WordOfGod, Trask was the Rogue Trader that the production team used for their primary in-house playtest. He had horrible luck with [[SanityMeter sanity checks]] and every time he [[RandomNumberGod rolled to gain sanity points]], he would [[FinaglesLaw roll the maximum amount possible]]. The player controlling him decided to eventually just roll with it and shoot for awesome.

* ArmorIsUseless: Averted like the plague. Try walking around without armour -- unless you're a particularly feared psyker, you'll find something sticking out of your flesh soon.
** There are actually some results on the Critical Damage tables that only occur if the character is not wearing armour, or that have a worse effect if the character is not wearing armour.
** Armour is a mixed blessing for Kroot characters. They have trouble finding armour that fits them in any case, but if they wear anything more than the slightest of physical protections then they cannot benefit from several of their racial advantages, like SuperSenses and SuperReflexes. Normally they count on those to DodgeTheBullet and [[DefendCommand Parry The Sword]] more than they do armour to shield them.

* AwesomeButImpractical:
** Averted by plasma weapons, which now work a lot better than they did in ''TabletopGame/DarkHeresy''.
** Played completely straight with [[PoweredArmor Power Armour]]. It provides the best protection available, but makes you easier to hit and the power cells only last 1d5 hours, so its use is situational at best.

* HollywoodSilencer: Averted. While the silencer weapon upgrade makes it harder, it is still possible for gunshots from a silenced gun to be heard.

* {{Mordor}}: The planet Inequity, home to [[BigBad Chaos Lord Karrad Vall the Faceless Lord]]. It is located in a star system where a red giant dances with a black hole, and the whips of plasma siphoned off it lash the planets around it creating detritus and dangerously unpredictable gravity shoals. Navigation to the planet is only safely possible by a damned warp beacon [[PoweredByAForsakenChild powered by hundreds of sorceress sacrifices]][[note]]([[NotSoDifferent not unlike the Astronomicon the entire Imperium uses for navigation]], but shorter range, with a greater relative consumption of souls, and guided by the [[GodIsEvil Ruinous Powers]] rather than [[BigGood the Emperor]])[[/note]]. Its surface is covered in caustic atmosphere and acidic rain drawn from boiling seas. Quakes are frequent and eruptions are a constant danger. Slaves toil to their deaths in the mines and manufactora. Daemons stalk the surface drawn from warp rifts deep in the planet's crust exposed when the original settlers DugTooDeep. It is a haven for Chaos reaver SpacePirates, and all of its cities are {{Wretched Hive}}s that makes life in an Imperial underhive [[UpToEleven look pleasant by comparison]]. Above it all Vall rules this domain from his infamous [[IDontLikeTheSoundOfThatPlace Citadel Of Skulls]], a combination fortress, armoury, manufacturing centre, treasure vault, palace, and debased temple to Chaos.

** DevelopmentGag: [[{{invoked}} ]]Per WordOfGod, Trask was the Rogue Trader that the production team used for their primary in-house playtest. He had horrible luck with [[SanityMeter sanity checks]] and every time he [[RandomNumberGod rolled to gain sanity points]], he would [[FinaglesLaw roll the maximum amount possible]]. The player controlling him decided to eventually just roll with it and shoot for CrazyAwesome.

* WoodenShipsAndIronMen: [[RecycledINSPACE IN SPACE]]! In most cases, you're playing the chief crew members of a Rogue Trader ship, probably have a Warrant of Trade (a letter of marque from the High Lords of Terra, meaning you're crew is probably part {{Privateer}} and part IntrepidMerchant). And your job is to [[SpaceIsAnOcean sail the void in kilometers long ships armed with broadside arrays of macro cannons and lances]]. [[Franchise/StarTrek To explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations, to boldly go where no man has gone before]]. [[{{Metaphorgotten}} And conqueror it all in the Emperor's and your dynasty's name,]] [[WarForFunAndProfit crushing anyone or anything who stand in your way for prestige and profit]].

* AncestralWeapon: An option for your character at creation, actually.
* ArbitraryMinimumRange: The game has minimum range for [[{{WaveMotionGun}} Nova Cannons]], as they cannot safely be used too close to the ship, having splash damage and a chance to explode closer to the firer than intended (technically they can still hit the firer if you fire at the absolute minimum range and roll very badly). This is a holdover from their rules in ''TabletopGame/BattlefleetGothic'', as RT space combat rules are heavily based on that game.
* ArmorIsUseless: Averted like the plague. Try walking around without armour - unless you're a particularly feared psyker, you'll find something sticking out of your flesh soon.

* GoMadFromTheRevelation: There's only one Navigator power that all of them share. It's called the Lidless Stare, and it basically lets them open their third eye (and that's a literal one, not some wishy-washy metaphor). If anyone looks into it, they see the [[HyperspaceIsAScaryPlace Warp]]. This can be... detrimental to your health. At Master level, it's a possible OneHitKill.

* LighterAndSofter: Than the other ''Warhammer 40000'' games, at least. There is sense of adventure, discovery and making lasting changes in a wide-open sandbox area of the galaxy that is free from large-scale wars or plots and conspiracies threatening to bring everything crashing down.
** Note that ''Rogue Trader'' is the only one of the [=RPGs=] in this series which allows multiple kinds of xenos as {{Player Character}}s. Let that sink in a moment: xenos partying up with humans from an AbsoluteXenophobe culture. The freedom granted to a rogue trader gives a lot of leeway for shrugging off some of the darker aspects of the setting.
*** Do note that while said Xenos career options include Orks and Kroot which by far aren't the darkest of the xenos in the setting, you also have the option of creating Dark Eldar characters, who by their very presence make campaigns significantly DarkerAndEdgier.
* LightningBruiser: The Rak'Gol, again. They are surprisingly fast, hit very hard, and can take more punishment than an Ork.

* MilitaryScienceFiction: Averted, unsurprisingly if you're familiar with concept of a Rogue Trader, not unsurprisingly if you're only familiar with the parent franchise.
** The ''Battlefleet Koronus'' supplement includes expanded rules for starship combat and rules for large-scale ground warfare, allowing the game as a whole to take on more of this flavour.

* PunchPackingPistol: Rogue Traders and their officers tend to have quite the variety of options....

* [[SeanConneryIsAboutToShootYou Sarvus Trask Is About To Shoot You]]: The cover for the ''Hostile Acquisitions'' supplement.

** Also, In the entry on Void Kraken, there is an account of a sailor who told his captain that that there was no [[Franchise/{{StarWars}} moon]]...

** There are two types of human flavour: Regular Joes who are in it for the money, and [[TheCorruption Chaos]] pirates who are in it ForTheEvulz at best. And some Rogue Traders do this, too.
*** The ''Into the Storm'' expansion turns the Ork Freebooter into a playable character class (they're in it [[BloodKnight cus Orks are made for fightin' and winnin'!]]).

* InsufficientlyAdvancedAlien: The Rak'Gol have human-level technology and widespread cybernetics use, but seem to be almost entirely mindless when encountered.

** DevelopmentGag: Per WordOfGod, Trask was the Rogue Trader that the production team used for their primary in-house playtest. He had horrible luck with [[SanityMeter sanity checks]] and every time he [[RandomNumberGod rolled to gain sanity points]], he would [[FinaglesLaw roll the maximum amount possible]]. The player controlling him decided to eventually just roll with it and shoot for CrazyAwesome.

* {{Mordor}}: The planet Inequity, home to [[BigBad Chaos Lord Karrad Vall the Faceless Lord]]. It is located in a star system where a red giant dances with a black hole, and the whips of plasma siphoned off it lash the planets around it creating detritus and dangerously unpredictable gravity shoals. Navigation to the planet is only safely possible by a damned warp beacon [[PoweredByAForsakenChild powered by hundreds of sorceress sacrifices]]. Its surface is covered in caustic atmosphere and acidic rain drawn from boiling seas. Quakes are frequent and eruptions are a constant danger. Slaves toil to their deaths in the mines and manufactora. Daemons stalk the surface drawn from warp rifts deep in the planet's crust exposed when the original settlers DugTooDeep. It is a haven for Chaos reaver SpacePirates, and all of its cities are {{Wretched Hive}}s that makes life in an Imperial underhive [[UpToEleven look pleasant by comparison]]. Above it all Vall rules this domain from his infamous [[IDontLikeTheSoundOfThatPlace Citadel Of Skulls]], a combination fortress, armoury, manufacturing centre, treasure vault, palace, and debased temple to Chaos.

* CitadelCity: Citadel ''Station'', in the form of Port Wander. Carved from a large asteroid and built out, it serves as the primary naval base in the region though it also has a sizable civil population. Well defended by void shields and macro-cannons, the patrol hub for numerous Imperial Navy squadrons, and possessing several military-grade drydocks, it is the last bastion of Imperial might at the frontier-edge of the Calixis Sector and the last port of call before passing through the Kronus Maw.

* {{Cloudcuckoolander}}: Sample character Sarvus Trask is described in ''Edge of the Abyss'' as being considered a bit of a madman. The Trask dynasty was a falling house with many creditors, but Sarvus made a grand entrance on the stage of the Kronus Expanse as soon as the family warrant fell to him, and quickly made a reputation of winning fame and fortune through almost [[CrazyEnoughToWork foolishly bold risk-taking]]. As much as this has gained him though, the risks take their toll and his profitability is hampered by the costs he incurs getting that profit to begin with. He was once even rumored to try and buy a [[HumongousMecha Titan]] from the [[MachineWorship Adeptus Mechanicus]], not to use for war, but to ''mount as a prow ornament on his ship''.

* CorporateWarfare: When major Rogue Trader houses clash, it takes this form. Each house is effectively a multiple star-spanning MegaCorp unto itself, and when massive profits are at stake and they are well outside of Imperial jurisdiction, the violence can get as ugly as any of the wars in the setting, if not typically at the same scale. The brewing conflict between the houses of Winterscale and Chorda are probably the biggest example of this in the Kronus Expanse.

* DerelictGraveyard: The Kronus Expanse hosts quite a few:
** The Battleground, one of the Stations of Passage through the Kronus Maw. According to legend, it is the site of a great battle between the Rogue Trader brothers [[CainAndAbel Trame and Ettimus Lathimon]], fought each other's fleet to mutual destruction, while others assert that the field of derelict spaceships was present before that battle took place and the battle only added to it. Some Rogue Traders attempt to salvage from this site, but given its proximity to Imperial space most of the very profitable salvage has already been claimed, and the riches beyond the Maw make what little is left seem too paltry to be worth all but the most desperate Rogue Trader's time.

* IntrepidMerchant: The player characters, in most of their business as a Rogue Trader crew. Profit is often a unifying (though almost never the sole) reason to go hurling themselves into the unknown of the Kronus Expanse, looking for new opportunities for trade and bounty to bring home the wealth.

* [[OurOrcsAreDifferent Our Orks Are Different]]: While the Orks in the Kronus Expanse are largely similar to their counterparts elsewhere in the galaxy, the isolated stellar geography of the place has given them a bit of "kulture" distinct from the rest of the species. In particular, they tend to rely less on space hulks and converted asteroids than other Orks, and have much more enthusiasm for building actual ships, [[WhatAPieceOfJunk as ramshackle as they are]]. Even the Ork enthusiasm for [[HumongousMecha gargants]] is more restrained here, with the maddest of the Ork mekboyz preferring to focus their effort into giant Orky dreadnoughts as idols of Gork and Mork rather than the more land-locked preference of Orks elsewhere. There are more traditional Orks around, though, and some of them would very much like to turn Port Wander into their playground. Stopping them (especially where the Navy can see you) is a great way to make friends in high places, and perhaps lower prices on ship upgrades.

* PlanetSpaceship: The Gaelan Sphere, an asteroid hollowed out and built entirely over by Dark Age of Technology era humanity, with any crew it once had long since abandoning it, though its arcane automated systems still maintain it. At some point, and by unknown means, it drifted into the [[PortalNetwork Eldar Webway]], where it was found by outcasts from [[Characters/Warhammer40000DarkEldar Commorragh]] who were driven out by vicious Kabal politics. They set up a ViceCity there called the Nexus of Shadows, establishing it as a port for the slave trade between many different species, allowing them to profit off the sale of beings sentient and otherwise and indulge in their sadistic sport at the same time. While its presence in the Webway means it does not have a defined location in real-space, most of its shortest real-space termni are in the Kronus Expanse.

* WarForFunAndProfit: Literally in the case of war-related Endeavours. A Rogue Trader can act as a [[PrivateMilitaryContractors mercenary force broker]], lending services to one side or another, whether that be naval protection, private army deployment, supply transport, scouting, or just plain {{privateer}}ing. Heck, just arranging arms deals is often quite profitable in itself. The ''Battlefleet Kronus'' sourcebook expands a great deal on this aspect of the game.

** In terms of Las weaponry, there's the [[SniperPistol Archeotech Laspistol]], [[ArmCannon Las Gauntlets]], Belasco Dueling Pistols[[note]]One shot per reload, overcharged and ornate las pistols, which should one aim properly, can make any rival Rogue Trader regret insulting your ship/family name/hat have regrets for doing so[[/note]], [[ArmorPiercingAttack Hellpistols]], and if the needs call for it, loading any standard las pistol with a Hot-Shot Charge pack for a single powerful shot.

* LighterAndSofter: than the other ''Warhammer 40000'' games, at least. There is sense of adventure, discovery and making lasting changes in a wide-open sandbox area of the galaxy that is free from large-scale wars or plots and conspiracies threatening to bring everything crashing down.

* [[OurOrcsAreDifferent Our Orks Are Different]]: While the Orks in the Kronus Expanse are largely similar to their counterparts elsewhere in the galaxy, the isolated stellar geography of the place has given them a bit of "kulture" distinct from the rest of the species. In particular, they tend to rely less on space hulks and converted asteroids than other Orks, and have much more enthusiasm for building actual ships, [[WhatAPieceOfJunk as ramshackle as they are]]. Even the Ork enthusiasm for [[HumongousMecha gargants]] is more restrained here, with the maddest of the Ork mekboyz preferring to focus their effort into giant Orky dreadnoughts as idols of Gork and Mork rather than the more land-locked preference of Orks elsewhere.

* PlanetSpaceship: The Gaelan Sphere, an asteroid hollowed out and built entirely over by Dark Age of Technology era humanity, with any crew it once had long since abandoning it, though its arcane automated systems still maintain it. At some point, and by unknown means, it drifted into the [[PortalNetwork Eldar Webway]], where it was found by outcasts from [[Characters/Warhammer40000DarkEldar Commorragh]] who were driven out by viscous Kabal politics. They set up a ViceCity there called the Nexus of Shadows, establishing it as a port for the slave trade between many different species, allowing them to profit off the sale of beings sentient and otherwise and indulge in their sadistic sport at the same time. While its presence in the Webway means it does not have a defined location in real-space, most of its shortest real-space termni are in the Kronus Expanse.

*** Which does make a kind of sense. High level ascension characters are the most loyal, singularly powerful servants of the Imperium short of the [[SuperSoldier Astartes]], and have been through constant high intensity missions whereas a strong rogue trader is a civilian that does not generally need to adapt to anywhere near that level of stress.

* LostTechnology: Archaeotech, items designed long before the current Dark Age. They're better in pretty much every way beside availability.

* {{Cloudcuckoolander}}: Sample character Sarvus Trask is described in ''Edge of the Abyss'' as being consider a bit of a madman. The Trask dynasty was a falling house with many creditors, but Sarvus made a grand entrance on the stage of the Kronus Expanse as soon as the family warrant fell to him, and quickly made a reputation of winning fame and fortune through almost [[CrazyEnoughToWork foolishly bold risk-taking]]. As much as this has gained him though, the risks take their toll and his profitability is hampered by the costs he incurs getting that profit to begin with. He was once even rumored to try and buy a [[HumongousMecha Titan]] from the [[MachineWorship Adeptus Mechanicus]], not to use for war, but to ''mount as a prow ornament on his ship''.