Brave New Worlds is intended as a months long Rogue Trader adventure path that I'll detail here in this column. This month, I discuss what books and downloads are needed, the order of adventures, and character creation. Character creation includes both Explorer and dynasty creation, with an emphasis on how to get new players up and running in Rogue Trader quickly while keeping their interest high. Brave New Worlds uses three Rogue Trader books and four free downloads. The core idea is to take fully fleshed out adventures and find an order to the various locations the Explorers may visit. Then the Endeavours are extracted and put into one possible logical sequence to present to the Explorers (or to be uncovered by the Explorers).

The Books and Downloads

To get started, here is what I recommend:

• Rogue Trader core rulebook and Epoch Koronus free PDF
• Forsaken Bounty free PDF
• Dark Frontier free PDF

Two other books are more optional:

• Into the Storm

Not strictly needed but highly recommended and if you are going to use it, you need it before Explorers are created. Into the Storm is to Rogue Trader what the Advanced Player's Guide is to Pathfinder. It opens up many possibilities and deepens character creation. Specifically, xenos (aliens) can now be playedóthe ork freebooter and the kroot mercenary. Also, dynasty creation goes from a roll on a table to a more in depth origin path. Other rules cover ship roles for Explorers, vehicles, and more Explorer options in regards to origin, career, and equipment.

• Lure of the Expanse and --Traitor's Nexus free pdf

This book of three adventures is useful to have up front because of its description of Footfall, but it isn't critically needed until the adventure in the rulebook and the PDFs are played through. The bonus PDF adds content to one of the adventures.

Adventure Locations and Order

Into the Maw in the core book starts just outside the Koronus Expanse, in the Calaxis Sector. Forsaken Bounty takes place inside the Passage between the Calaxis Sector and the Koronus Expanse.

Dark Frontier can take place anywhere, after Forsaken Bounty is played.

Lure of the Expanse starts at Footfall and goes elsewhere from that location.

So the only complication is that Into the Maw and Forsaken Bounty overlap. This challenge actually works well right from the beginning as it gives the Explorers a choice: run two Endeavours at once and risk Misfortune or take on only one but lose out of the chance for bigger Profit.

Hook the Explorers at Character Creation

One way to really tie the Explorers into the game is to make them integral parts of the provided adventures. For Into the Maw, the NPC Orbest Dray could be replaced by an Explorer. This Explorer wants to get off Port Wander and back onto a ship. The newly minted Rogue Trader of his dynasty is his ticket back into favour.

Any Explorer other than the Rogue Trader who has taken Trials and Travails of Press-Ganged, Calamity, or Ship-Lorn could easily end up stranded on Port Wander after suffering much grief.

In Forsaken Bounty, the location of a lost ship can be passed on to the Explorers in a variety of ways. The easiest way to do so is to have an Explorer with Ship-Lorn or less likely Calamity offer to trade the location for serving as part of the Rogue Trader's inner circle. The Explorer had served on the lost ship and barely escaped with his or her life and is now really down and out.

If two Explorers want to join the crew with two Endeavours, the Rogue Trader and his or her fellow Explorers will be off to a great start in risk taking and possible Profit making.

Finally, every dynasty needs a reason for giving a new Rogue Trader his Warrant. A good option is that the Rogue Trader is tasked with finding out anything and everything about a treasure planet called the Dread Pearl. The Rogue Trader is to stop at nothing to lay a claim to the planet and bring in Profit for his dynasty. When the adventure path begins, the Rogue Trader hasn't even heard a hint about the Dread Planet but a later visit to Footfall will foreshadow his or her getting the chance to find it and fulfill the obligation to the dynasty.

Starting Endeavours

Starting with the hooks above, a newly minted crew will start out with two Endeavours:

Endeavour: Plunder the Righteous Path: Achievement Points Value: 1500

Endeavour: salvage the Emperor's Bounty: a bonus of +10 is listed in the adventure but is incorrect. Maybe this freebie adventure used an early draft of the rules. Instead, the Explorers need to accumulate 500 Achievement Points to increase Profit Factor by +1. See Achievement Points next month for a breakdown.

The Explorers are also tasked with finding out where the treasure planet the Dread Pearl is and staking a claim on it. At start, they have no clues (but see below for a possible hint about the seven witches).

Explorer and Dynasty Creation

I highly recommend using Into the Storm. The Expanded Origin Path is on page 16 and Power and Profit: the Ship and Warrant Path is on page 33. Also, a player may decide to play an ork freebooter or kroot mercenary. Point the player to Sanctioned Xenos on page 107. I also highly recommend you request a xeno Explorer put half of earned XP toward getting this Elite Advance so they aren't cut off from certain locations heavy with Imperial personnel for the entire length of the campaign.

If an Explorer hails from Footfall, give them an overview of their starting home and some background on the Seven Witches as given in Lure of the Expanse on pages 8 and 11 respectively.

The Expanded Origin Path and Power and Profit should be navigated as a group. It is entirely possible to create characters from scratch and still play a short encounter in a four-hour session if multiple core rulebooks are available. The first encounter will take place on Port Wander and I'll cover that next month.

Next Month

The first adventures in the Brave New Worlds Adventure Path: Into the Maw and Forsaken Bounty.

Safe Journey,
Charlie