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Let’s start with the physical object: the cover has some explorer riding a bike holding a Flamer on some alien world. The interior art and graphic design is as you would expect: Full color with the pictures holding a uniformed feeling and style. The entire book feels very gothic when you flip through it, which is true of all the Dark Heresy, Rogue Trader, and Deathwatch books to date. Periodically you come across some handwritten reports, accounts, and in-character musings that add to flavor of the chapter its included in. The cover is firm and hard-backed, the binding is excellent, and the pages are glossy without smearing. This is true of just about all my books, I have been very impressed with the quality of these books since my first copy of Dark Heresy. The only complaint I may have is that these tomes start to wear out due to constant use. I also really like the art used in these books, some of the rpg books I have read use very different art at points in the book ranging from very serious to cartoony and while some may play Warhammer 40K in a very humorous fashion the art has been very dark and evocative of the gothic setting and source material. And now, for the meat and potatoes.
Chapter One is the Advanced Character Creation chapter. It starts off with a list of new home worlds for your Character to originate from. The new home worlds include Frontier Worlds, Footfallen (Kronos Expanse colonists children), Fortress Worlds (like Cadia, the fortress world outside the Eye of Terror), the Battlefleet (Void born imperial navy children), Penal Worlds, and Child of the Dynasty (children of a Trader Dynasty). Each new Home world adds some new options and backgrounds, are free for the choosing to new characters, and adds some good flavor to the overall setting. Some of these world options are going to require some explaining, for example a Fortress World is a planet that stands at the edge of hostile space and must stand against invasions. As a result Fortress worlds are hard and unforgiving places that forge stronger warriors or the planet falls to whatever it must oppose. I am not sure why Child of the Dynasty was not in the main book, but its inclusion is welcome here.
The chapter moves on to present an alternate Origin Path chart, complete with new starting points for the new Home Worlds presented and each box on the chart now has two options to chose from in the box. For example, under Birthright you can now chose the Scavenger birthright or the Fringe Survivor birthright. These new options now cost experience from your starting pool to take as these packages offer better starting options for the new explorer than some of the older ones. It is very similar to the packages presented in the Inquisitors Handbook, you start with some additional features but it costs a little extra to exorcise these options. Just as in the main book one of these optional choices can have several different sub-selections for a more tailored background. For example, Fringe Survivor includes the Survivalist (300xp), Heretek (100xp), and Pit Fighter (200xp).
The following are the new optional choices with their sub-selections in parenthesis, I have not included the experience cost for each. The new Birthrights are: Fringe Survivor (Survivalist, Heretek, Pit Fighter), Unnatural Origin (Contaminated Environs, False-man, Tainted by the Warp), and In the Service of the Throne (Tithed, Born to Lead, One Amongst Billions). The new Lures of the Void are: Crusade (Call to War, Chasing the Enemy, Warrior), Hunter (Bounty Hunter, Xenos Hunter, Hunted), and New Horizons (Seeker of Truth, Xeno-Arcanist, Archeotechnologist). The new Trials and Travails include: Darkness (Forbidden Knowledge, Warp Incursion, Dark Secret), Product of Upbringing (New Blood, Rivals, Decadent), and Lost Worlds (Lost Dynasty, Rogue Planet, Beyond the Pale). The new Motivations are: Devotion (Creed, Duty, Loyalty), Knowledge (Knowledge is life, Know thy foe, Knowledge is Power), Fear (Enemy in Ascendance, Hunted by Thy Own Sins, Tormented by the Unstoppable), and Exhilaration (New Horizons, The Thrill of War, No Joy Unexplored).
The next part of the chapter is the new Lineage rules. Entirely optional, these selections offer some additional history for the character by giving additional insight into their back story. Each of these options also cost Experience to use. These Lineages include: A Long and Glorious History (A Dark Secret, My Great-Grandfather Built This Colony, Prominent Ancestry), A Proud Tradition (Heir Apparent, Uncertain Inheritance, Shameful Offspring), Accursed Be Thy Name (Outraged Scion, Secret Taint, Vile Insight), Disgraced (Another Generation of Shame, the Last Child, the One to Redeem Them), Of Extensive Means (A Powerful Legacy, Born to Wealth, Far-Reaching Contacts), Witch-Born (Perilous Choice, Proven to be Pure, Witch-knowledge).
The next part of the chapter introduces a new way to generate both starting Profit Factor and Ship Points with its own Origin Path. I won’t continue to bore you by listing the various options on this chart, but each selection adds both depth and flavor to the Warrant as the choices add both starting Profit factor and Ship Points. The suggested method is to have the Trader start the choices then move around the table with each player selecting a feature until the process is complete. Some selections offer free Xenostech or Archeotech to the ship. I am looking forward to adding this my next game, I like the additional plot hooks the players can select here.
Chapter Two is called Kronos Careers and presents the first two Xeno characters to the Warhammer 40K line first and foremost. Both the Kroot Mercenary and Ork Freebooter are accompanied by background material about both races, their home culture, and why they may join a Rogue Trader. For those who don’t know the Kroot are a mercenary race of cannibalistic bird-like warriors. With the War game they are commonly found in Tau armies, excel at close quarters fighting, and have the ability to genetically advance themselves by consuming their foes ritually with the aid of shamans called Shapers. They tend to use Tau Pulse weapons which appears to be way outside of what they should be capable of. As the Tau are (according to cannon) on the other side of the galaxy their weapons are explained as a payment for services rendered. For those who have looked at Deathwatch know there is a warp gate connecting the Jericho Reach (the setting of Deathwatch) and the space between the Kronos Expanse (the sector that Rogue Trader is based in) and the Calixis Sector (the setting for Dark Heresy) and that could explain their presence in this part of space but it is much more likely that any Kroot encountered are just wandering guns for hire.
The Orks are much more famous both with long time 40K fans and in the Imperium itself. Considered by the Imperium to be something of a disease, they are brutal race that lives only to fight and make war. They don’t even want to conquer anything, just fight. They are also as much a part of the setting as Chaos is. The Freebooter is a bit of an oddity as they don’t value Teeth as currency, they actual understand the value of things and act of that knowledge to acquire new weapons and equipment. Ork gear is not known for its function, the Ork using the weapon is far more deadly than the Choppa (sword) it’s using, but a Freebooter understands that better gear makes it a better fighter. Their unusual mindset allows them to see Humies (Ork for Human) as something other than a source of constant conflict, indeed joining a Humie crew could see them fighting even more impressive foes than the original Humies are.
Both races are given unique traits and talents unique to their races. There is also some new traits available to Xeno races in general that allows them to be slightly more accepted in Imperial society. There is also good information about Xenos in general considering the fact that they Xeno are a constant source of fear and hatred, but a Rogue Trader is expected to deal with Xeno races and make deals for the betterment of the Imperium at large.
Following the two new Xeno races comes Alternate Career Ranks. For those who have not seen this before in Dark Heresy an Alternate Career Rank replaces one of the standard “bracket” of advancement. In the Warhammer 40K games as you spend experience you move up a ladder to the next “bracket.” Your current rank, sort of like a Level in other games, is based on how much experience you have spent rather than how much you have. A Rank One character who has earned 1000 experience is still Rank One, but his friend who has spent that 1000 experience is 1000 experience closer to Rank Two. As previously mentioned an Alternate Career Rank replaces one (or potentially more) steps in the ladder. Alternate Ranks are highly specialized, they either represent a dramatically different course of training or a highly specialized course of action. Some require certain background options to be present, some require your character go hunting for this unique knowledge, and some reflect a terrible choice that presents new paths. Often times these Alternate Ranks break the normal progression and makes getting more advanced abilities much harder or even impossible. Missed abilities can be acquired at GM discretion as an Elite Advance, meaning you can pay a surcharge to acquire those missing advances. Careful consideration should be given to Alternate Ranks, if it fits your concept they can be excellent additions to your character. If not they can dramatically change who your character is and dig you a hole that you may regret. We are also presented with Elite Advance Packages, charts added to normal advancement instead of replacing them. With approval from the GM you can add this to your character and then spend experience on these charts freely no matter what your normal Rank is just by spending experience to add them. Each Elite Package requires you to meet certain requirements before they can be added.
The new Alternate Ranks are: Acquisitionist, Augmenticist, Calixian Privateer, Drusian Adherent, Flight Marshal, Genetor, Gland Warrior, Legend of the Expanse, Navis Scion, Transubstantial Initiate, Torchbearer, and Xenographer. Xeno races have three for the two new races given: Kroot Shaper, Ork Kommando, and Ork Mekboy. The new Elite Advance Packages are: Agent of the Throne, Glimpse from Beyond, Rite of Duplessence, and Sanctioned Xenos.
Chapter Three is the Extended Armory. As expected there are new modified guns and weapons of all sorts, from special versions of existing weapons such as a longer range single firing bolt gun to new weapons such as the Pulse weapons commonly found in the hands of the Kroot. There is some talk of Combi-weapons and the Force trait is introduced for Rogue Trader. Force weapons only shine in the hands of a Psyker, when used by one its Penetration and Damage are increased by their Psy rating and when a blow lands they can make a Focus Power Test as a free action. Each degree of success adds another d10 to the end damage, this damage ignores Armor and Toughness. There is also some new modifications presented for existing weapons, new armors to wear, and discussion on Force Field technology. New options for gear are then discussed including Clothes, Drugs, Exotic and Alien gear, and Bionics. The chapter rounds out with an Ork Armory and a Kroot Armory. The gear is very interesting and flavorful, I have not found anything I would consider game breaking but then I have not yet allowed some of my more rules-focused players at the book yet.
Chapter Four is Starships Expanded and it gives us new Hulls, components, and even some ready built ships to buy with your ship points. Seven new hulls are presented running in size from Transports to Cruisers. There is a good section on life aboard one of these ships, remember that generations will be born and die on these ships never to see the light of day. Much like the new character creation options in the first chapter players can now skip the complication section and choose one of the new ship backgrounds in exchange for a few ship points. I would have liked to see more than the five presented, but the ones presented are varied enough for now. There are several new components listed, from new drives to new weapons. Several new Archaeotech devices are also presented for installation including new shields and weapons.
Chapter Five is the new Vehicles Rules. Previously the only Vehicle rules available were downloaded for the Dark Heresy game, as Rogue Trader is all about exploration and new worlds this section was much needed especially since the Void Master can become something of a piloting savant. It covers maneuvers for both aerial and ground vehicles and then presents repairing rules and a selection of various vehicles. The included vehicles are the Aquilia Lander (space-air personnel carrier), the Arvus Lighter (space-air personnel carrier), the Calixis-pattern Fury Interceptor (star fighter), the Chiropteran Scout (spy spaceship), Drop Pods (Combat Lander), Gun Cutter (Orbit to ground fighter and transport), Halo Barge (cargo carrier, land to space), Hephaestus Ore Seeker (mining refinery ground vehicle), Land Speeder (hover transport), Rhino APC (famous military transport), the Scout Bike (lightly armored motorcycle), the Sentinel Walker (two legged cargo loader), a Venator Pattern Air Yacht (a skimmer that can be used as a hunting base), and the Warbike (an Ork designed bike built by Mekboyz). This is a section that really should have been in the main book, but I understand why it was bumped to this one. I would have liked more vehicles, however, as this section feels much lighter than I would have originally expected.
Chapter Six is Expanded Psychic Powers. We start with new Navigator Powers, while Navigators are not psychics but mutants they are considered psychic by the rules. They get Corrupting the Flesh (which inflicts corruption points on a target), Disrupting the Empyrean (cloud the Warp making it harder for other Navigators to “see” in the Warp resulting in ship damage), Immolate the Soul (use the warp eye to emit flames), Obliterating the Immaterial Wake (obscures the ships trail in the Warp), Refresh and Revitalize (removes fatigue from the navigator and holds off exhaustion), Scourge of the Red Tide (anything looking at the Warp eye gets disintegrated, including inanimate objects), Stripping the Husk (shred flesh from bone on a single target), Stacking the Deck (used to improve starship combat, improving the ships stats), and Stupefy the Soul (deal fatigue to anyone looking in the Warp Eye). It would seem the Navigators are getting some more juice for combat and for major ship actions during ship to ship combat. Astropaths also get some new powers in all their disciplines, but the big thing here is the new discipline of Theosophamy which is the Discipline of Warp Manipulation. The discipline is focused on detecting and using Warp breaches and keeping the warp at bay, although there is a power that lets you merge the warp with a weapon granting it the Warp Weapon trait. I am on the fence with this new discipline, it seems cool but I think the older disciplines are better choices as this one does not seem as robust. There are then additional details on what an Astropathic Choir is and its purpose on the ship, which then moves on to how Navigators and Astropaths help during Starship Combat.
Chapter Seven is Enhanced Game Mechanics, which next to the first two chapters was the most interesting to me. We start off with an expansion to the basic rules, Social Interaction Challenges. These are used to manipulate targets and achieve endeavor objectives. We then move on to the Meta and Background endeavors. This is the endeavor system expanded to the campaign level and the behind the scenes. At the campaign level it gives a GM a general framework for the campaign, allowing those who want to track at this level of play the overall objectives of the game such as what they need to due to expand their dynasty and how many endeavors they need to work through to establish an empire in a region. It makes sense to expand up this way, and because the way endeavors are presented as being very fluid in their resolution it makes a smooth transition in the scale. Background endeavors are a system for dispatching menial lackeys to handle stuff beneath the players. For example, setting up a trade route is now complete so they would launch a Background endeavor to have ships escorted along the route and to set up supply lines to linked colonies. This is followed by a very nice Meta Endeavour to exploit a star cluster, six pages of framework showing how to set up and plan a Meta Endeavour. This particular one is to milk a star cluster, but its easy to see it scale up to founding another ship in the Dynasty or expanding an empire. New Acquisition rules are then given allowing players new options to getting what they want and the dangers of getting overextended or making inquires in indiscrete places.
My favorite part is one that I already implemented and have since I started running Rouge Trader, Ship Roles. The nice thing about this section is that it gives a very codified list of jobs on the ship and their expected ranks in the hierarchy of the ship from the Lord Captain (who may or may not be the Trader) on down. In the games I have run I had to divide duties for folks playing the same character types but since I lack a military background I am sure I have done a less than stellar job at creating these roles. This is a good look at what a character should be working toward if they want to fill these positions.
Chapter Eight is Port Wander, and it gives a detailed breakdown of the important folks present in the Port and important places of note in the last bastion of the Imperium before entering the Maw. We also get the history of this Naval base and silent sentinel over the Kronos Expanse. This is good material for a place that just about every Rogue Trader is going to pass through if they are playing in the Expanse at all.
Overall this is a good book that fills out a lot of the gaps left by the original Rogue Trader book while giving some excellent options for new characters. The Alternate Ranks are interesting and the new Xeno races are welcome additions to the crews everywhere I would expect. The only race that I get people asking to play are the Eldar, so I find it odd that the first two Xeno races presented are the Orks and Kroot but I feel that both races offer some options to players looking for challenges or who are tired of playing Imperials. I really like the book, but if you’re not playing Rogue Trader there is not a lot here that has not already been covered in other places. If you’re playing Dark Heresy the downloaded vehicle rules should be all you need until a Dark Heresy book covers it. If you’re playing Deathwatch its only a matter of time before these rules are printed in a supplement as only the Rhino is presented and tanks are as much a part of the Space Marine setting as Bolters are. There is not enough information here for Dark Heresy or Deathwatch players to use unless you plan to play a Kroot or Ork in one or the other, and it is going to take serious work to modify the character for either not to mention the difficulty in explaining a Xeno amongst a Kill team or Inquisitorial Retinue. If you’re playing a Rogue Trader game then it’s a definite buy, if you are not then it’s a pass.
