RT2
RT2 is a feeble attempt at bringing Rogue Trader up to date with the rest of FFG Warhammer PnP lineup mechanically. It is also meant to include a cleaned up equipment list, a homebrewed skill system, a Retinue mechanic inspired by the Comrades system as seen in Only War, and campaign-level mechanics.
Contents
Basic mechanics
Dice used, types of tests, degrees of success, etc.
Character creation
Character roles
Archetype vs role played, the need for well-rounded characters that can shine both in exploration, ship-based and land-based adventure. Hierarchy as it applies to characters (with a link to Rogue Traders chapter).
Retinues
Archetypes
And their skill aptitudes
Combat Mechanics
Skills
Talents and Traits
Armoury
Psychic Powers
Ships
What's on a typical ship, as far as equipment is concerned? Ship crews: demographics, sociology, hierarchy, qualities for different social stratas depending on recruitment areas and established order on the ship. Crews as sources of Retinue. Spacefaring. Ship designer. Space-based combat.
Ship Size
The Imperium produces and employs a vast array of ships of all shapes, sizes, and purposes. For the purposes of RT2, they can all be divided into four categories by size:
Size | Ship classes |
---|---|
1 | Corvettes, Raiders, Frigates, Fast Transports, Blockade Runners |
2 | Destroyers, Light Cruisers, Transports |
3 | Cruisers, Battle Cruisers, Heavy Transports |
4 | Grand Cruisers, Battleships, Battle Barges, Bulk Transports, Space Factories |
There are space-capable vessels both larger and smaller than listed in this table: attack craft and aerospace-capable aircraft are smaller than Size 1, while space stations are easily larger than Size 4. Many Space requirements for ship Components (see below) scale with ship Size.
Ship Components
Ships in RT2 are built out of components. Each component represents a particular set of machinery, not necessarily placed in a single place of a ship, but perhaps dispersed through its entirety, that performs a particular function, takes up valuable space under the thin skin protecting the insides of the vessel against the void, and consumes energy produced by the ship's generators. Essential components provide vital functions that no Imperial ship can go without; while supplemental components are not required for one to function.
Essential Components
Bridge
Crew Quarters
While most Components help vessels navigate the Void and the Warp, fight back threats or generate profits, Crew Quarters provide the people manning these ships with the physical and mental comforts needed.
Poor Quarters: the interior of the ship is incredibly cramped. Ratings don't have any sort of personal spaces and sleep at their stations, either on the floor or at best in hammocks hanging in the corridors of their assigned sector of the ship. Petty officers have to share bunks with each other (three men per bunk is the usual norm, but four is not unthinkable, either), and even senior officers have to share a common room where their bunks are located. The captain might be the only person on the vessel with a personal room. Food is consumed at the stations, same as medical attention, which is at best provided by a buddy system. With no designated places for prayer the crew has to make do with pectoral icons or Imperial and Cult Mechanicus symbols applied to the machines they service to serve as their focus for devotions.
Decent Quarters:
Rich Quarters:
Luxury Quarters:
Life Sustainers
Plasma Drives
Void Shields
Supplemental Components
Augur Arrays
Warp Engines
Geller Fields
RT2 Campaigns
Profit Factor mechanic (and Thrones as its less abstract representation, awarded monthly, spent on ship, crew and Retinue upkeep).
The Galaxy in the 41st Millenium
Types of Planets
As backgrounds, as trading destinations, and as sources of plot hooks
Organizations
Imperial agencies (including Adeptus Administratum, Arbites, Ministorum (and Sisters of Battle), Space Marines, Imperial Guard, Imperial Fleet, Mechanicus, Inquisition, Adeptus Astra Telepathica, the Navigator Houses, with mentions of Senate and Officio Assassinorum), sector-level powers (sector governors, trading cartels, noble houses (including Knight households), large criminal and smuggling cartels), planet-level powers (governors, PDF, enforcers, local cults and gangs, including psykers and xenos)
Altogether focused in their potential role in a RT2 campaign, with plot hooks, if at all possible.
Rogue Traders
The role of Rogue Traders. Types of Warrants (with game-related effects). Dynasties, sources of income, and petty empires. Power dynamics in a dynasty, in a fleet, on a particular ship: absolute authority vs collective decision-making.