Rogue Trader: Lost Legacy

 So it’s done. I’m doing it. I worked hard on prepping for this campaign, and I want to really give it a shot.

Of course you most likely don’t know me, so you don’t know the weight of these words, but hopefully, you will soon learn the passion I have for this campaign.

I was thinking veeeery long about how to word this recruitment, and I decided to go with what I call…

Questions That I Think Would Be Frequently Asked

Or QTITWBFA for short.

When?
It’s all up there buddy. This will be the day and time we will be playing, and it will also be the date when I make a final decision on what players I pick, then week after we will have session zero. While the day is non-negotiable, I can push or pull the start time a bit, but this will be discussed when I pick the party.

So what is it about?
The Dynasty was hit by a terrible tragedy. The Rogue Trader is dead. Sarvus Trask in the process of building his demesne, decided to make a surprise attack on the Dynasty, killing their ruler and taking over all of their assets, under the pretense that the Dynasty was committing horrible acts against the Imperium. Of course, all of that fabricated.

But Dynasty’s flagship, moved by a mysterious protocol hidden in its machine spirit, escaped through the Warp to Port Wander, making Trask believe that it was gone in the Warp in a desperate attempt to escape.

The whole Dynasty was in shambles, all of the closest retinue of the Rogue Trader dead, himself horribly wounded and mentally distraught… But he could swear that he could hear the screams of anger, when the Warrant of Trade hidden in the Dynasty’s Palace turned out to be a fake.

Looking at the original Warrant of Trade, Old Seneshal began the repairs of the Flagship, and his quest to look for the last heir of the Dynasty, and replacements for their retinue.

Woah those are very vague terms!
It’s not a question, but it’s a good point. It’s because I want to create a Dynasty with you! Determine all the details, create the ship together, and make sure that this story feels personal for you.

So what, one of us will be the boss?
Not quite. First of all, maybe none of you want to play a Rogue Trader, and that is fine. I have planned for that. Second of all, I assume we all want to have fun. While Rogue Trader might be the leader, they can’t do everything themselves. And players want to have fun with other players, so of course no one will be abusing the power OOC, and IC we can have fun with roleplaying hierarchy, all the cool titles, and immersing ourselves in the world of the Biggest Fishes of Warhammer 40k universe.
So only one of us will be making cool decisions?
Absolutely not. I have a very specific idea for how to run this game, and that is seeing the Dynasty as a miniature Imperium. Rogue Trader sits on the Golden Throne, while everyone else represents different parts of the Imperium.

Arch-Militant is a representation of Imperium’s military.
Astropath deals with the supernatural.
Explorator is of course Adeptus Mechanicus.
Missionary is Ecclesiarchy.
Navigator is nobility.
Seneschal is Administratum.
Void-master is the underbelly, but also just the average person toiling for the Imperium.
Sanctioned Xeno is, of course, how this all interacts with the world outside.

Which means that when running this campaign I will focus on everyone’s little universe that they are the leader of. Rogue Trader will be on top, dealing with things like diplomacy, while Arch-Militant will be taking care of the military, Navigator will be dealing with their houses’ intrigues, Void-Master will be taking care of the communities on the Flagship, etc.

It’s extremely important to me that this campaign is going to be very character-focused, and led by your character’s personal plots.

So it’s a sandbox?
Not exactly. I don’t like pure sandbox, I don’t like campaigns where you are just thrown into the world, stuff happens, and you just walk around. I like narratives, and I like very emotional, epic narratives. BUT the setting of you being a Rogue Trader and their retinue means that there has to be the feeling of freedom.

So as you can see already from the setup, you will start with a very clear motivation of retaking what’s yours, and some starting hints on how to achieve it - and from there, you will be free to do whatever. Go on, surprise me. I love when players do that! And later of course other narratives will be uncovered, and I do have plans of the Big Overarching One, but I won’t spoil it here, silly!

Why Warhammer 40k?
I love Warhammer 40.000, but I don’t like how just from the nature of the game, it always has to have the status quo. There are a lot of things we will never see in canon, a lot of mysteries we will never learn the truth of. That’s why I want to run a Wh40k campaign so much - because I can do all of these things here. I can introduce new things, I can make canon-shaking events, I can make important characters die, and I can make this all through you making choices, and have you experience all of that first hand, as movers of the universe.

How grimdark it’s going to be?
A lot, but it’s important for you to understand how I see grimdark. There are basically four parts of it that I want to focus on.

Scale. Things are big, gothic. Feelings are big, gothic. The characters are big, gothic. Consequences are big, gothic. And so on. While there is a place for subtlety, it will always relate to something important and big. And gothic.

Hope in hopelessness. The future is dark, and there are no good factions in this world. Imperium is a dystopia, and most Rogue Traders are products of the Imperium, so even though they have freedom to make things better, they will make things worse most of the time. BUT. People are still people. And some people are good people. That’s the story about them. You might not be able to change the universe, because no one person can do that. But you can make choices that will give people some semblance of hope. You might create connections that are real, deeply human, and you may decide not to sacrifice them for reasons of pragmatism. Or you might decide to do that! But then you have to face your own darkness.

Horror within, horror without, horror beyond. The grimdark galaxy is full of terrors, and you will have to face them. Horrible monsters, influence of dark gods… But also horrors within. Those that are products of your characters’ own choices. Horrors of imperial society. Horrors of endless toil of the common person. And you will sometimes have to uphold them, and face the horror of that responsibility.

Humor within, humor without, humor beyond. It will be impossible to face those horrors without some coping. The wh40k universe is full of humor. It can be orks, it can be absurdity of how Imperium works, it can be characters acting completely straight in face of those absurdities. The classic “By god sir, you have lost your leg!” with “By god, sir, I have!” as a retort.

Is this game LGBTQ+ friendly?
YES IT IS, and not only that, it’s kind of a… Feature. Warhammer 40k in my experience (and I live in a very conservative country unfortunately) is full of chuds, conservatives, fascists, and especially on the internet they think they are a majority. In most cases when I try to get myself involved in new communities and they are not by default LGBTQ+ friendly communities, I see slurs, I see racism, homophobia, transphobia, and I am so tired of it.

So yeah. I am a non-binary person. This game is LGBTQ+ inclusive and there is zero tolerance for racism, sexism, homophobia or transphobia.

What about the in-game universe? Imperium is very puritan, all sex that is not happening for procreation is seen as decadent. Imperium is also clearly a horrible place to live. It’s not a good thing. You can be shot for being 2 seconds late for your shift. Frankly I don’t think anyone would shoot you for being gay.

The level of how much it is explored in the game will be a matter of discussion between the players. We can just completely ignore themes of in-universe bigotry towards lgbtq+ people, or we can include some, it’s not anything that I have planned to be the core of the story.

Also Space Marines can be women. But I don’t think they think about gender at all. I don’t see how Cawl wouldn’t fix that stupid limitation when making Primaris marines, but I think that this limitation is just plain fucking stupid and should be retconned like, right away.

Wow wow wow buddy, what about the sacred CANON?!?!??!
I love the setting, I love lore, I will be using it constantly, but I will also be changing it, because I find it fun. I won’t change anything super basic, and I will warn you if something major is changed. I want you to feel comfortable with your knowledge of the setting, but I will add new things, give answers to some secrets, and generally make things interesting.

So do I need to know lore well?
I’m sorry to say that, but it would be good if you knew at least the basics. From playing tabletop, maybe you played one of the video games, or watched some lore videos. If you know lore well you will definitely find some extra fun in me making references, but it’s not needed. But I don’t think I will be able to completely introduce you into the setting from grounds up, it might be a bit too difficult.

What ruleset?
Rogue Trader 1E (so not the unfinished fan-made 2E). I will also be using some fan-made additions, for example the Aeldari character guide and revised colony system. I will also be using most of the supplements if not all. More likely all.

It's a bullshit system, you should use XYZ.
I don’t care ⸜(｡˃ ᵕ ˂ )⸝♡ no, okay, I understand, you like another system more, it might have less holes, be less clunky… I get it. I am an experienced GM, I considered every option, and this option is one that I find the most fun. If mechanics is a dealbreaker for you, then I’m afraid you just won’t enjoy the game, that’s all. No hard feelings on my part, picking players will make me cry anyway.

Okay, so what about roleplay/combat balance?
It’s always such a difficult thing for me to explain… I don’t want combat to be separate from roleplay. Of course the game slows down, we talk more about mechanics, but it still should be roleplay. I would like you to describe what your characters do, think why your characters take a particular action! Because then it’s 100% roleplay even when it’s combat.

But I would say that it will very much depend on you and how you want to deal with your issues. But because in the dark future of the 41st millennium there is only war, I would say that it will be a healthy balance of 60/40 in favor of roleplay. It’s impossible to avoid those assassination attempts.

So how do you GM things?
What I love the most about ttrpgs is going through emotions. I like to create immersion, make sure the stakes are high, so everyone can really get in character, and create meaningful connections between their character, and other PCs or NPCs.

I try to make things cinematic, visually appealing, I use maps and music extensively. I love creating memorable NPCs, giving them unique voices, and cool motivations. I like building up what you set up, whether it’s about your character’s backstory, ambitions, relationships. If your character falls in love with someone, whether it’s a PC or NPC you can be sure this will become an important part of the plot. EVERYTHING is important to plot, because plot is what is happening on the session.

But I will also admit, I have ADHD and anxiety. I forget things a lot, and I just ask you guys to sometimes be patient with me. I promise that if I forget something, it’s not out of malice.

What kind of players do you like?
I like people that I can throw a ball to, and I know they will either throw the ball back, or throw it at someone else. I like players that take initiative, explore the world and characters within it. In this campaign this is especially important, since the story is going to be guided by your decisions, so you need to make decisions for the plot to follow.

I really love players who want to worldbuild with me. Who surprises me with questions or actions. I love players that ask me “So is there some kind of temple?” when they get to a new place, so I can get excited about learning what ideas they have.

I love players that sometimes derail the game, because they invite the rest of the characters for a tea in their quarters. I love sitting back and listening to characters building their relationships, and I even love it more if there is an NPC I can use to interact with them while this is happening.

I love players that describe how they shoot their lasgun, who say what orders their character shouts during the space battle, not just saying “Sooo let’s shoot a lance at them”.

And first and foremost, I love players who know that the highest priority in a game is for everyone to have fun, and want to create a comfortable atmosphere, where everyone feels safe to do some silly roleplay.

What kind of players do you dislike?
I don’t like people who make me feel like running a game is a job. Who guilt me for not being able to run sometimes, or for forgetting things.

I don’t like players who put rules over the fun from the game. When someone forgets a rule, I prefer to make a quick ruling and check how rules work after the game, rather than halting the game completely to find some obscure rule.

I really, really hate players that tell other players how to play their characters, either mechanically or in roleplay. In my games advice can be given only when asked.

I struggle with players that are very passive. I genuinely don’t mind someone who is a bit more silent, reserved, or reactive, that is absolutely fine, but there is nothing more demotivating for me, than asking the party “So what do you do?” and hearing deafening silence.

When it comes to being passive, I also struggle with situations where characters don’t want to take risks at all, to avoid failures at any cost. You will fail, and that’s fine, this is what makes the story interesting.

Finally, but this is kinda obvious I hope, I hate people who belittle others, sexists, racists, homophobes, transphobes, and generally bigotry and being an asshole.

I already have a cool character idea, I have this portrait generated with AI…
GET THAT OUTTA MY FACE! I have a strict no-genAI content policy. I will not (knowingly) use anything that is AI generated, and I also will not accept my players using genAI in my games. This will not be discussed. That’s just how it is and deal with it.

I WANT TO START PLAYING, WHAT DO I DO!?!?
So there is that application thread below, go there and post an application in that thread. If you post a separate post, I will send it to you in your DMs, and ask you to post it in the application thread. If you send it to me in DMs, I will gently let you know to post it in the application thread. I can’t believe that every time I recruit people on here I have to say that, because I feel that people post application without even reading this whole thing, but I guess everyone is excited :D

After you post it, on the date mentioned up there as the game starts I will pick 5 players. I might do some extra vetting by doing a discord call, but based on my experience it won’t be necessary. Week later we will have a session zero, and then week after that we will start playing.

If there will be a lot of applications, and in my brain I will be like "Yeah, I think I know who I'm picking" I will let you know in the application post that I will be finishing the application process quickly, but I will definitely give you 24h to at least post a placeholder, so I know there is still someone writing an application. If you will post the placeholder, then I will know I have to wait longer.