[RT] The Silent Architect (OOC/Discussion)

[Machine God]

5 hours ago, Lysimachus said:

Reading through the rulebook, and realised that although Reynard has a Rebreather in his stash, for some reason it doesn't provide any protection against vacuum. You need a proper voidsuit.

 

I'm pretty sure most RT archetypes get one as standard gear, is there any way Reynard can pick one up before we start playing as it seems like a fairly (very!) necessary piece of kit? Could he spend some pregame cash or does this need to be done via Acquisition? Or might the uniform everyone gets given also include a voidsuit?

 

(If he needs to buy one, I'd imagine he might visit the gentleman's outfitters shop on Damocles before getting on the ship?)

 

 

@Mazer Rackham - yes please GM. A Remlock Survival Mask and Danger Sensitive Sunglasses too.

[Lysimachus]

So me and MG do get the extra item? Wooo-wooo! 

 

 

 

Now, what to take, though? I'm fairly happy with Reynard's weapons… although I'm tempted to replace his Command Laspistol with a Belasco Duelling Pistol? Not in fluff, just in rules, idea being that it might better represent his heirloom laspistol? Very Rare, so that's doable.

 

...

 

...

 

There was one other idea I had, but it might be a bit mad?

 

I've always thought it would be quite cool to give Reynard a Good-Quality Bionic Arm/Hand, primarily for the +10 to Sleight of Hand (for Gambling and other sneaking purposes) though extra Str and TB is obviously welcome too!

Common Bionic Limb is Scarce, so Good would be Rare, and Best would be Very Rare - so also doable, right?

 

(I think? I'm not 100% here?)

 

But why would anyone cut their own hand off? Well, Reynard really doesn't like the Inquisition having its ‘badge of ownership’ burned into his skin, even when it's switched off and dormant. Why, it's no better than being a branded grox! Would he go so far to get rid of it as going to the ship's doctor and having it replaced? I'm not entirely sure yet… maybe he would...?

 

 

 

Anyway, will have to think on it a bit more.

 

Edited January 11 by Lysimachus

[Mazer Rackham]

27 minutes ago, Machine God said:

@Mazer Rackham - yes please GM. A Remlock Survival Mask and Danger Sensitive Sunglasses too.

 

Not in this universe...!

 

If you're flying in null-g, hard-vac and you're not in a void suit - and your canopy pops, brother, you've likely got much bigger problems.

 

40 minutes ago, Trokair said:

I might well be missing something, but the Motion Predictor does not have the line of text that it is a sight and a gun may only have one sight in its description on page 134, unlike the Red-Dot, Photo, Omni-scope and Praysense sights on the same page.

I therefore took it to be a distinct upgrade that is not taking up the sight slot.

 

I have examined the errata and rulebook and I can find no conflict.

 

I rule that this particular combination is fine - however, what I will also rule generally, is that any player may benefit from only one sight at a time. Whilst the red-dot and motion predictor both work in distinctly separate firing modes, and the combo is thereby exempt, other combinations may not be so, and to prevent magical nonsensical combinations, that's how we stand.

[Mazer Rackham]

22 minutes ago, Lysimachus said:

But why would anyone cut their own hand off? Well, Reynard really doesn't like the Inquisition having its ‘badge of ownership’ burned into his skin, even when it's switched off and dormant. Why, it's no better than being a branded grox! Would he go so far to get rid of it as going to the ship's doctor and having it replaced? I'm not entirely sure yet… maybe he would...?

 

Be careful what you wish for.... 

[A.T.]

The orion is now functionally ready - it has three units of space and up to six units of power held in reserve.

 

Any additional elements must be paid for via backgrounds (i.e. nobles), downgrading systems, drawn from the profit factor or purchased as a character starting item.

 

As we have a primarily servitor crew and an archaotech shield any tech use skill is highly valuable, as is a capable gunnery character as the servitors are not the best shots...

[Trokair]

10 minutes ago, A.T. said:

As we have a primarily servitor crew and an archaotech shield any tech use skill is highly valuable, as is a capable gunnery character as the servitors are not the best shots...

Anastasia has BS39 and Mastery of Gunnery, dose that help. 

[Mazer Rackham]

There's an Explorator in the offing, gents, worry ye not.

[A.T.]

2 hours ago, Trokair said:

Anastasia has BS39 and Mastery of Gunnery, dose that help. 

 

The effect of the servitors is just a -10 to hit, so nothing too drastic.

 

The ships only macro-weapon works in much the same way as a normal full auto weapon - one extra shot for every extra degree of success, capped at 5 shots total. Normally you'd combine fire from two smaller weapons and make two easier hit rolls but we only have the one dorsal slot so it's all or nothing.

 

 

Against most targets you'd want to score at least two extra DoS to actually inflict damage. Other characters can offer some bonuses, things like MIU implants can be used, and as a void master you get free rerolls.

 

------

 

RT characters can spec to have one obscenely high stat (80+ in most cases) or speciality but they pay for it in other areas - not always a good idea to have the massive fellowship, minimum willpower and intelligence Rogue Trader for example, no matter how good their commerce rolls are.

 

Though space battles are a little less intense when your gunner is rolling against a target of 149 ... :p

 

 

Edited January 11 by A.T.

[Lysimachus]

4 hours ago, Mazer Rackham said:

 

Be careful what you wish for.... 

 

I'd just like to clarify that if I do go with that idea, Reynard doesn't want anything else chopped off... 

 

 

[A.T.]

Starting equipment question: can I trade my scarce- laspistol for a scarce(poor) familiar?  I'm not sure who is going around handing out guns to blind men

[Mazer Rackham]

18 hours ago, Lysimachus said:

I'd just like to clarify that if I do go with that idea, Reynard doesn't want anything else chopped off... 

 

I am perfectly happy for Reynard to chop off whatever he likes - within reason! 

 

Spoiler

No Long John Reynards!

 

18 hours ago, A.T. said:

Starting equipment question: can I trade my scarce- laspistol for a scarce(poor) familiar?  I'm not sure who is going around handing out guns to blind men

 

What flavour of familiar were you looking at?

Edited January 12 by Mazer Rackham

[Machine God]

3 hours ago, A.T. said:

Starting equipment question: can I trade my scarce- laspistol for a scarce(poor) familiar?  I'm not sure who is going around handing out guns to blind men

 

But Astropaths have the See Without Eyes ability!

[A.T.]

1 hour ago, Mazer Rackham said:

What flavour of familiar were you looking at?

 

I had considered just going with the dice, though a raven to look ominous while I read the tarot could be fun.

 

A poor quality raven familiar would have (rolls dice) :

-Default Statline (WS 35, BS 0, S 10, T 10, A 40, Int 10, Per 34, WP 20, Fel 15, Wounds 4, Armour 0)

-GMs choice - two of the following quirks - Wanderer, Inquisitive, and/or Paranoid

-GMs choice - one of the following features - Mechanical or Fine Specimen

-GMs choice - one of the following psychic features - Telepathic Relay or Psy-Detector

 

I could always pick it up when we get our first acquisition rolls. 82% chance before commerce rolls is a fairly safe bet.

 

 

1 hour ago, Machine God said:

But Astropaths have the See Without Eyes ability!

 

I was referring to my ballistic skill :p

 

Edited January 11 by A.T.

[Mazer Rackham]

48 minutes ago, A.T. said:

Quirks - Wanderer, Inquisitive

Features - Mechanical

Psychic features - Psy-Detector

 

These.

 

48 minutes ago, A.T. said:

I could always pick it up when we get our first acquisition rolls. 82% chance before commerce rolls if a fairly safe bet.

 

I'll let you swap out.

 

48 minutes ago, A.T. said:

I was referring to my ballistic skill :p

 

Blind firing is always hilarious, though...

[Machine God]

Kerr Restal.

 

It wasn't that he had forgotten, nor neglected to keep up the dosage. he'd been busy on Damocles and anyway in atmosphere it didn't seem that necessary.

 

Non-voider's didn't know, they just reacted negatively to his kind. The lank or close cropped hair, the grey sickly skin not touched by the caress of a sun.

 

The synthi-gruel diet and the horrid mandatory tablet supplements that he'd had to take to maintain his complexion. Where void-suits were old and thin, it always paid to look after oneself.

 

Sometime towards the end of the last mission he had found a loose dozen foil coated tablets of supplement within the lining of his trench-coat.

 

He had taken a few to re-start his diet.

 

Sure whenever he got back to the Black, he'd have to look up a Doc and check on the growth of his Void Skin.

 

 

 

 

[A.T.]

13 hours ago, Mazer Rackham said:

I'll let you swap out.

 

Thanks. And with that the character is playable save for some character background to write.

 

---------

 

The ship similarly is spent up to 40 SP though there is scope for anyone who wants to add their own touch, and also room to add and upgrade components throughout the game.

 

The exact compliment of smaller ships carried TBD - six squadrons total (approximating 60 starhawk sized vessels or 120 fury interceptors), plus landers, resupply ships, and salvage vessels. By rogue trader standards this is more of a close escort to intercept torpedoes and boarding ships than anything resembling an attack wing.

(could be exchanged for regular stowage, but the hanger gives the opportunity for a voidmaster or similar to hop into a cockpit and go all starwars on an enemy ship)

 

---

 

From an outsiders point of view much of the vessel is a nightmarish place of minimal life support and endlessly recycled servitors, with extensive hangars, storage bays, and salvage systems along the underside.

 

However perched atop the vessels' hull is a veritable palace for those of wealth and their countless household servants, a legacy of millennia spent planet-bound where the incomplete vessel had sat in crumbling docks on some forsaken world long lost to the Imperium, a would-be technobarbarian king upon his throne until discovered by the family De Wiart.

 

Considerably larger than a frigate the vessel carries a minimal crew of a few thousand ratings, stewards, and adepts of the machine god supported by some ten thousand servitors, and while not a warship by any conventional standard of the Imperium the array of heavy plasma batteries along its dorsal surface make it a risky proposition for any would-be commerce raider.

 

 

Edited January 12 by A.T.

[Lord_Ikka]

From what I see in the google doc, the ship is comparable to a Sword-class frigate but while faster and more maneuverable it is less armoured and has slighly worse sensors. Is that correct?

 

If so, it seems like a very good ship for raiding/blockade-running/all sorts of shenanigans. 

[A.T.]

2 minutes ago, Lord_Ikka said:

From what I see in the google doc, the ship is comparable to a Sword-class frigate but while faster and more maneuverable it is less armoured and has slighly worse sensors. Is that correct?

 

If so, it seems like a very good ship for raiding/blockade-running/all sorts of shenanigans. 

 

Kind of. The core orion ship is built as a fast cargo vessel, outrunning raiders rather than fighting them.

It is under-armoured by a hit or two per salvo compared to a frigate, generates little power by default, and is locked out of some of the combat bonus options.

 

But a 15 point difference in the base cost goes a long way - enhanced engines to claw back the power difference, uprated shields, and you won't find a frigate capable of launching assault boats or carrying the kind of salvaging and mining equipment available to transport vessels. Just don't try to ram anyone with it :p

[Mazer Rackham]

4 hours ago, Machine God said:

Kerr Restal.

Sure whenever he got back to the Black, he'd have to look up a Doc and check on the growth of his Void Skin.

 

Don't see a problem here.

 

56 minutes ago, A.T. said:

The exact compliment of smaller ships carried TBD - six squadrons total (approximating 60 starhawk sized vessels or 120 fury interceptors), plus landers, resupply ships, and salvage vessels. By rogue trader standards this is more of a close escort to intercept torpedoes and boarding ships than anything resembling an attack wing.

(could be exchanged for regular stowage, but the hanger gives the opportunity for a voidmaster or similar to hop into a cockpit and go all starwars on an enemy ship)

 

I'll look into what vessels are available, as well as ground vehicles.

 

56 minutes ago, A.T. said:

From an outsiders point of view much of the vessel is a nightmarish place of minimal life support and endlessly recycled servitors, with extensive hangars, storage bays, and salvage systems along the underside.

 

However perched atop the vessels' hull is a veritable palace for those of wealth and their countless household servants, a legacy of millennia spent planet-bound where the incomplete vessel had sat in crumbling docks on some forsaken world long lost to the Imperium, a would-be technobarbarian king upon his throne until discovered by the family De Wiart.

 

Considerably larger than a frigate the vessel carries a minimal crew of a few thousand ratings, stewards, and adepts of the machine god supported by some ten thousand servitors, and while not a warship by any conventional standard of the Imperium the array of heavy plasma batteries along its dorsal surface make it a risky proposition for any would-be commerce raider.

 

Sounds perfect. Excellent job, AT.

 

34 minutes ago, Lord_Ikka said:

If so, it seems like a very good ship for raiding/blockade-running/all sorts of shenanigans. 

 

But can it do the Kessel run in five parsecs? 

 

10 minutes ago, A.T. said:

Just don't try to ram anyone with it :p

 

My brain:

Spoiler

 

 

[A.T.]

3 minutes ago, Mazer Rackham said:

I'll look into what vessels are available, as well as ground vehicles.

 

By default two squadrons worth of each - so 40 fighters, 20 bombers, 8 assault boats(one squadron) and a squadron-hangers worth of aeronautica.

[Mazer Rackham]

25 minutes ago, A.T. said:

By default two squadrons worth of each - so 40 fighters, 20 bombers, 8 assault boats(one squadron) and a squadron-hangers worth of aeronautica.

 

I was thinking more personal assets for use by the individual Explorer Crew (like an arvus, or guncutter and some wheels).

[A.T.]

56 minutes ago, Mazer Rackham said:

I was thinking more personal assets for use by the individual Explorer Crew (like an arvus, or guncutter and some wheels).

 

The Childe carrys a normal complement of small ships for its size and class (as do all vessels) - 8-12 shuttles, lighters, cargo haulers and the like used for resupply, boarding actions, etc.

 

Giving up one unit of hanger space represents ~40-50 thunderbolt sized fighters or half a dozen plus super-heavy landers. In retrospect it might make more sense just to carry a third wing of bombers or fighters...

Edited January 12 by A.T.

[Trokair]

I know imperial ships are big, but I think the scale of this game is getting a bit byond me.. Good thing we have some experts on board.

[Mazer Rackham]

41 minutes ago, A.T. said:

 

The Childe carrys a normal complement of small ships for its size and class (as do all vessels) - 8-12 shuttles, lighters, cargo haulers and the like used for resupply, boarding actions, etc.

 

Giving up one unit of hanger space represents ~40-50 thunderbolt sized fighters or half a dozen plus super-heavy landers. In retrospect it might make more sense just to carry a third wing of bombers or fighters...

 

I think for simplicity, we'll just to stick with the mix, that way none of the Players is hurting for transport or options for boarding.

 

18 minutes ago, Trokair said:

I know imperial ships are big, but I think the scale of this game is getting a bit byond me.. Good thing we have some experts on board.

 

It will all shrink back when we get into the personal space of the Exploerers/Crew. 

[A.T.]

39 minutes ago, Trokair said:

I know imperial ships are big, but I think the scale of this game is getting a bit byond me.. Good thing we have some experts on board.

 

https://youtu.be/h67JpMyrOVE?feature=shared&t=55

 

In the scale of Rogue Trader games it would be entirely normal to turn up a day late to a world searching for a clue to find that a rival has gotten there first, flattened the three larget cities as a mundane display of intent and declared the system territory of his house pending official Imperial warrant, or to find that someone has rounded up an entire population of a backwater planet to make a quick turn-around in the slave trade.

 

And then for the players to have to go in sneaking under the radar or making contacts amongst the slavers to get to the clue about a possible piece of lost archeotech or rumoured warp map because that's all they ever cared about.

 

 

(and because Rogue Traders can't 'claim' worlds as such, rather they can trim a small slice off the worlds tithe in return for services to bringing it into Imperial control - the enduring profit factor of a warrant is based on the accumulation of countless little trades and cuts like this but the 'quick money' comes from adventuring out and finding the really rare stuff. Players just nuking stuff from orbit usually means that they have failed in some way.)

 

Edited January 12 by A.T.