[RT] The Silent Architect (OOC/Discussion)

[Lysimachus]

2 hours ago, A.T. said:

 

Assuming maximum hits - roughly 18 hull damage to a cruiser-sized target, 25-30 against a raider/frigate/light cruiser at close range (and precisely zero damage against big castellan-shielded warships :p )

 

Fortunately NPC ships are usually firing with their 30-40 crew rating rather than some BS 50+ player character with bonuses from their allies.

 

To be totally honest, I worked out that ship build ages ago and (edit: because I can't remember how ship stuff works) I'm not sure if you're saying it's good or it's bad... 

 

I wasn't sure if it was wise (or allowed?) to go up to the bigger Cruisers - the recommended starter one (the 'Sabre', I think?) was where I was working from, so the one I had created was broadly similar to that.

 

Would taking so much stronger a ship limit us once we start playing - in terms of being balanced by a pretty low Profit Factor, I mean? Also, you get more space, guns, and HI, but you also lose out on speed, maneuverability and detection... so I guess it depends what kind of ship we want to play? And what kind of storyline and enemies Mazer has in mind for us?

 

 

Edited January 8 by Lysimachus
Clarity

[Mazer Rackham]

51 minutes ago, Lysimachus said:

To be totally honest, I worked that out ages ago and (edit: because I can't remember how ship stuff works) I'm not sure if you're saying it's good or it's bad... 

 

That's perfectly fine for it's displacement, I thought?

 

PS, I'm going to start using nautical terms, so if I do, and someone gets lost, shout up.

 

51 minutes ago, Lysimachus said:

I wasn't sure if it was wise (or allowed?) to go up to the bigger Cruisers - the recommended starter one (the 'Sabre', I think?) was where I was working from, so the one I had created was broadly similar to that.

 

Would taking so much stronger a ship limit us once we start playing - in terms of being balanced by a pretty low Profit Factor, I mean?

 

Yes. The Profit Factor forms your Acquisition stat, think of it like the Black Crusade Infamy scale. The lower your PF, the less you can do with it when stuff gets broken, lost and also when you want to buy stuff sometimes.

 

51 minutes ago, Lysimachus said:

....what kind of storyline and enemies Mazer has in mind for us?

 

Dangerous ones...

[A.T.]

1 hour ago, Lysimachus said:

To be totally honest, I worked that out ages ago and I'm not sure if you're saying it's good or it's bad... 

Generally speaking player ships have much more firepower than an NPC ship of the same layout but are not any tougher outside of certain gimmicks - so a raider/frigate fights well against ships of their class but would get chewed out by a full cruiser (the light cruisers are a very mixed bunch).

 

So it depends if space combat is on the cards. Frigates and raiders (and orion transports) get to start with a whole lot of extra gadgets like supply vaults as the ship point cost jumps something like 20 points between the 'small' vessels and the more powerful combatants, and that is a whole lot of profit factor.

 

 

On the flip-side i've found that characters with a lot of profit factor will absolutely use it. A 75 point battlecruiser with 25 points of profit factor is going to be sporting the most minimal of gear and scratching for pennies to repair battle damage, while a 25 point orion transport with a 75 profit factor is going to be buying up xenotech and exotic ship components in bulk while the captain makes a tour of his guilded pleasure dome.

 

The sample light cruiser i've put in the folder is an example of this - it cuts a whole lot of corners to come in at 60 SP, 10 more than the frigate while sporting a lot of unused space... though that unused space is potential to grow. At the same time the Rogue Trader is a whole wealth step worse off.

Edited January 8 by A.T.

[Mazer Rackham]

Right, just taking stock so far, we have:

 

AT (possible Astropath, but flexible)

Lysi (Reynard/Seneschal in waiting)

Tro (Ana/Voidswoman, Mistress of Gunnery)

MG (Restal/Arch Militant in waiting)

Xin (Possible Navigator/Drunken Dwarf Engineer)

 

Have I missed anyone?

 

@Xin Ceithan Tro and I were working on a Votann/Squat, so it's doable with some bending. Look in your Lathe Worlds hardback (rich devil) and look for the Lathesmaster, IIRC.

 

Edited January 8 by Mazer Rackham

[Machine God]

@Mazer Rackham - Kerr Restal is at 3050 XP which is Level 5. the extra 1950 XP puts him at 5000 XP.

 

From looking at his character I cannot see that he took a Lvl 6 free pick. There's nothing from Death Adept or Freeblade on his character sheet in Traits or in Purchase History.

 

Perhaps I cannot see the wood for the trees.

 

 

 

 

 

[Mazer Rackham]

12 minutes ago, Machine God said:

@Mazer Rackham - Kerr Restal is at 3050 XP which is Level 5. the extra 1950 XP puts him at 5000 XP.

 

That's fine. Like Lysi/Reynard he should round out to Level 6 at 5,000xp.

 

The xp level is all that matters, as 5k is Rank 1 in RT.

 

12 minutes ago, Machine God said:

From looking at his character I cannot see that he took a Lvl 6 free pick. There's nothing from Death Adept or Freeblade on his character sheet in Traits or in Purchase History.

 

Can you remember if anything was agreed in lieu?

 

If you can't mind, I'll have to go back through the chargen sheet, see if there's something that shouldn't be on there. Might even pull through the Damocles OOC and Char threads to see if anything was allowed/agreed in lieu.

Edited January 8 by Mazer Rackham

[Machine God]

10 minutes ago, Mazer Rackham said:

 

That's fine. Like Lysi/Reynard he should round out to Level 6 at 5,000xp.

 

The xp level is all that matters, as 5k is Rank 1 in RT.

 

 

Can you remember if anything was agreed in lieu?

 

If you can't mind, I'll have to go back through the chargen sheet, see if there's something that shouldn't be on there. Might even pull through the Damocles OOC and Char threads to see if anything was allowed/agreed in lieu.

 

No I am fine with you scrutinising the chargen sheet that's why I posted. I am not trying to hide anything.

 

I did notice that I'm running out of Box for XP Expenditure.

 

Also:

 

1. Take a GM disbursement of 1,950 xp which MUST be spent on DH Talents and Traits, or;
2. 1,450 xp spent in DH, and 500 xp from RT: Core.

 

I'm going to go for Option 2, but I would like to purchase a couple of Skill Advances and Characteristic Advances, if that is allowable?

 

 

 

[Mazer Rackham]

I didn't think you were hiding anything, just wanted to make sure everything was clean and set so we don't get unintended cross-ups.

 

Yes, you can pick up the advances from Arch-Militant (I'm assuming) or the career path you want to spec into later. This can easily be explained by your void-born background.

Edited January 8 by Mazer Rackham

[Machine God]

I found the Free Pick, it was Step Aside.

 

Duly deleted from character sheet!

 

 

 

 

 

[Mazer Rackham]

Good work! Decks are clear!

[Lysimachus]

48 minutes ago, Machine God said:

I did notice that I'm running out of Box for XP Expenditure.

 

If you click/tap on the row number of the last row in the box (on the left hand side of the page) it should give you the option to add more rows and make the box bigger?

 

 

[Machine God]

8 minutes ago, Lysimachus said:

 

If you click/tap on the row number of the last row in the box (on the left hand side of the page) it should give you the option to add more rows and make the box bigger?

 

 

Well I tried something but I don't think that I did it right

[Lysimachus]

Spreadsheets can be a pain in the rear, all the buttons move depending on whether its Excel or Docs and if you open it on a mobile device or laptop, etc, etc.

 

There you go, enough extra lines added to the box for a Rank or 2!

[Mazer Rackham]

Wait!

Did you use the sacred unguents?

[Xin Ceithan]

2 hours ago, Mazer Rackham said:

Right, just taking stock so far, we have:

 

AT (possible Astropath, but flexible)

Lysi (Reynard/Seneschal in waiting)

Tro (Ana/Voidswoman, Mistress of Gunnery)

MG (Restal/Arch Militant in waiting)

Xin (Possible Navigator/Drunken Dwarf Engineer)

 

Have I missed anyone?

 

@Xin Ceithan Tro and I were working on a Votann/Squat, so it's doable with some bending. Look in your Lathe Worlds hardback (rich devil) and look for the Lathesmaster, IIRC.

 

Didn’t I cover the drunken Engineer part with Redcloak already?  
 

I don’t think this lot is going to like his fees. Or his outlook 

 

For the record I wasn’t looking to cover the Ship’s Enginseer position at any rate / species, though. 

[Machine God]

All xp spent for Kerr Restal - Void-Master in waiting.

 

Will have a tidy up later to check his funds and then add a post.

[A.T.]

2 hours ago, Machine God said:

I'm going to go for Option 2, but I would like to purchase a couple of Skill Advances and Characteristic Advances, if that is allowable?

 

Probably best that DH characters gain access to the new skill charts but continue to advance with their original characteristics table - mixing the latter gets weird.

[Machine God]

11 minutes ago, A.T. said:

 

Probably best that DH characters gain access to the new skill charts but continue to advance with their original characteristics table - mixing the latter gets weird.

@A.T. - That's what I did.

 

@Mazer Rackham

 

The Shattered Blind:

You had life sussed out, didn't you? Knew all the tricks and pitfalls, killed and caroused as you pleased. The world was yours for the taking. People, places, things, all made sense, all part of the plan. Life made sense. The Emperor was Enthroned, and the world kept turning. Right up until it stopped.

 

Characters with this Talent gain 1D5+3 Insanity Points (Reduced by WP Bonus, to a minimum of 1) from surviving having their point of view turned upside down, or surviving contact with something, or some circumstance which would be earth-shattering to any normal servant of the Imperium.

 

Is the D5 rounded up or Down?

 

Kerr Restal  got a 9. 

 

 

 

 

[Lord_Ikka]

I'm interested, but don't think that having a potentially self-explosive pysker on deck would be super useful, so will likely not have Nicios come along. I'll be able to roll up a character Wednesday night when I get to my work computer and RPG file stash.

 

What type of character is needed now to "round out" the party?

[Lysimachus]

Hmm, speaking of choosing which Advance tree to use...

 

In general, I'd much rather stick to the DH Scum tree rather than swap to the Seneschal tree (or any of the RT ones). It feels like the things available at Seneschal Rank 1 would be a step down from abilities I could take from Scum Rank 6.

 

However... the one Skill that seems pretty vital in RT is Commerce, but if Reynard sticks with the Scum Tree he can't ever get it, because that Skill doesn't exist in DH? Could he use Barter or Evaluate in place of Commerce, he's got both of those?

 

Edit: Actually, could I take Commerce as an Elite Advance of some sort? It's a starting Skill for a Seneschal but Rank 1 lists a xp value of 100, could I maybe pay 200xp for it? Not sure how Elite Advances work across game systems in that way...

 

 

Edited January 8 by Lysimachus

[A.T.]

21 minutes ago, Lysimachus said:

In general, I'd much rather stick to the DH Scum tree rather than swap to the Seneschal tree (or any of the RT ones). It feels like the things available at Seneschal Rank 1 would be a step down from abilities I could take from Scum Rank 6.

 

Edit: Actually, could I take Commerce as an Elite Advance of some sort? It's a starting Skill for a Seneschal but Rank 1 lists a xp value of 100, could I maybe pay 200xp for it? Not sure how Elite Advances work across game systems in that way...

 

Rogue Trader page 39  - base cost of 500xp

 

IIRC the DH experience tables run through to 15000xp, half way between rank 4 and 5 in Rogue Trader (just in time to pick up extended Rogue Trader career paths like the Acquisitionist)

 

 

25 minutes ago, Lord_Ikka said:

What type of character is needed now to "round out" the party?

 

Currently only the combat types are solid, plus a DH Scum/Seneschal type.

 

No-one has looked to play a priest type or the Rogue Trader themselves, the navigator/engineer is either/or at the moment, so it's all fairly open.

Edited January 8 by A.T.

[Mazer Rackham]

48 minutes ago, Machine God said:

Is the D5 rounded up or Down?

 

Kerr Restal  got a 9. 

 

D5: Roll a D10

1-2 = 1

3-4 = 2

5-6 = 3

7-8 = 4

9-10 = 5

 

So you'd have a 4.

 

32 minutes ago, Lord_Ikka said:

I'm interested, but don't think that having a potentially self-explosive pysker on deck would be super useful, so will likely not have Nicios come along. I'll be able to roll up a character Wednesday night when I get to my work computer and RPG file stash.

 

What type of character is needed now to "round out" the party?

 

Welcome aboard!

 

So far we have no dedicated Arch-Militants, Explorators, or Seneschal. We have some combat power and a touch of Tech Use in the two DH characters, but that doesn't force multiply the ship at all.  I'm prepared to go with an NPC Rogue Trader, but that slot is open too.

 

We have openings for Void-Master in Helmsman (Master of Space) and Augurman (Master of Augurs).

 

27 minutes ago, Lysimachus said:

Hmm, speaking of choosing which Advance tree to use...

 

In general, I'd much rather stick to the DH Scum tree rather than swap to the Seneschal tree (or any of the RT ones). It feels like the things available at Seneschal Rank 1 would be a step down from abilities I could take from Scum Rank 6.

 

I slotted you into Seneschal because basically they run finance and are the RT's spymaster, but I can continue to run an NPC one, or if @Lord_Ikka wants to do that and you report to him, that's fine. Up to you. 

 

27 minutes ago, Lysimachus said:

However... the one Skill that seems pretty vital in RT is Commerce, but if Reynard sticks with the Scum Tree he can't ever get it, because that Skill doesn't exist in DH? Could he use Barter or Evaluate in place of Commerce, he's got both of those?

 

You do get to use Barter and Evaluate in small dealings, whereas Commerce ties in with Profit Factor and is for lager deals.

 

Think of Barter as Tactical trading and Commerce as Strategic trading. Does that make any sense?

 

27 minutes ago, Lysimachus said:

Edit: Actually, could I take Commerce as an Elite Advance of some sort? It's a starting Skill for a Seneschal but Rank 1 lists a xp value of 100, could I maybe pay 200xp for it? Not sure how Elite Advances work across game systems in that way...

 

They work the same. Elite Advances in RT cost 500xp, with however much I want to sting you for it on top. As with the other games, you need a reason or background story for it, etc.

 

EDIT: NInja'd a lot by AT! I'll leave my reply as it covers other bits and bobs as well.

Edited January 8 by Mazer Rackham
NINJAAAA

[Lysimachus]

12 minutes ago, A.T. said:

Trader page 39  - base cost of 500xp

 

Oof, 500+xp is a bit steep for a Skill that is free or 100xp. If that's the case, I'll leave it. 

 

 

12 minutes ago, A.T. said:

IIRC the DH experience tables run through to 15000xp, half way between rank 4 and 5 in Rogue Trader (just in time to pick up extended Rogue Trader career paths like the Acquisitionist)

 

I think if you use the Ranks table from Ascension, they fix the DH xp levels to be in line with RT and everything else? In which case, DH maxes out at 13,000 at the start of Rank 9, which is the start of Rank 4 in RT.

 

 

Edited January 8 by Lysimachus

[Mazer Rackham]

We cross that bridge if when we come to it. 

[Lord_Ikka]

Hmmm- I think a Void-master (Master of Space or Augurs) might be fun. A craggy, ex-Imperial Navy Lieutenant who demands his section follows naval discipline. Earned his way onto the ship (and out of the Navy), for his penchant for leading boarding actions that were successful but... approved after the fact. 

 

Going to decline trying out the RT himself, I'm better with a secondary character than a full leader.

Edited January 8 by Lord_Ikka