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Edge of the Abyss is the latest book from the Rogue Trader line. The book is primarily focused on the Storyteller here, giving up the goods on several new locations to explore and foes to tangle with. Alien races, strange worlds, hidden secrets, and Rogue Traders to ally or do battle with abound in this tome. There is also a new adventure in the book, to add to current endeavors if you so choose.
Without further ado, let’s take a look in this hulk and see what plunder awaits us.
And a Hulk may be the way to think of this one. There are several sections in this book that can be farmed for ideas, but the topics feel a bit jumbled. Previous books, such as the Disciples of the Dark Gods, had a theme that ran throughout the book holding it together. This one feels like one of the infamous Space Hulks, with many different ideas fused into one bigger form with some common threads flowing between parts that don’t seem like they should fit together. But somehow, it does. Each chapter (seemingly) holds independent topics for review but it’s only when you have fully digested the beast you see the ties that bind.
As usual, we get the Introduction to start our journey which overviews the direction of the book and provide a brief summary of the chapters. The presented theme is that of mysteries and legends, a topic they certainly get into in the first two chapters but the following two seem to drift from the legendary to luminary or dangerous when they move on to the topics of Aliens and the other Rogue Traders wandering the expanse.
The first big chapter is a collection of various rumors and reports presented as a player might find them on parchment, data pads, or in sealed transcripts. These are never fully explained, left to the GM to decide how to use these scraps of tantalizing mysteries. Something that Fantasy Flight has used before in their books, so if you have any of their books for Dark Heresy you have likely seen this before, but I still like the obvious effort they go through to give us evocative hints to mysteries in the Imperium such as mysterious ghost ships, bazars, and strange events to stir the imagination.
The next chapter is one of my favorites, the Islands of the Void. This covers several strange places, some known and some lost, that explores can interact with. I could go over each, but aside from the Stations of Passage (which are common stopping points when entering the Expanse) I had never heard of these places before reading about them here. Each place is described for the most part as something Players can read with sidebars on the dangers of this world or that and a sidebar on adventure ideas for that world. The text on some of these worlds implies deeper truths or forgotten horrors, but there is no truth predetermined to spoil anything for your explorers. When they land on these worlds it can be as described or a horror show beyond their most disturbed fantasies. And anything in between.
The section the Stations of Passage was particularly interesting for me; it describes the sites uses to get ones bearing’s when they travel the Maw. Each site was described as being vaguely cursed and shunned, even by the brave explores who come and go through the Maw on their way to and from Port Wander. I really wish this had been included in the Rogue Trader book, but I understand why it wasn’t. With this we now have a very good idea of how to describe the common points for any Rogue Trader game to share: Port Wander, Footfall, and the Stations of Passage.
To be honest, I would buy a sourcebook with nothing but this stuff. Worlds with hints on how to use them, full of possibilities and dangers with a few sidebars on each stop to give me a good starting point for further adventures. As it is I really like some of the world and will be adding them to my Warhammer 40K games, even if I have to change a few things to make them fit a Dark Heresy or Deathwatch game.
The next chapter, Foes and Rivals, goes over many of the alien and a few Imperial factions that an explorer may bump into. It kicks off with a very detailed look at the big Ork faction present in the expanse: The Undred-Undred Teef. A sector of space that is positively riddled with Orks, it goes over the many planets under their control, the potential dangers posed by this huge mob, and an Ork Kaptain to fear with his ship. The chapter then moves on to the Eldar and Craftwold Kaelor. I don’t know much about Eldar, but I suspect that this Craftworld was made special for Rogue Trader and has not been previously presented in lore prior to this book. Some Eldar pirates are then presented, along with their ship, to challenge the explorers in their journeys. This is followed by the Kroot, who get similar treatment as the prior two, but rather than a ship to plague your players with we get options to contact and hire the Kroot. I know they have announced a Xenos book but this chapter really punctuated for me that I can jury rig a foe from one of the big factions from Warhammer 40K’s big armies but we really need some complete rules for playing Eldar, Ork, and the rest. These sections were like popcorn, tasty but it leaves you wanting more. Each section also has some options for adding endeavors to include these races, but as a fan of the game I have been focusing on information on the Imperium for Dark Heresy so I don’t know a lot about Eldar or Orks and I really long for a comprehensive book on these races that lets me play with their armory, stats, and special abilities.
Then comes the big guns, new alien races! First up is the Rak’Gol, a reptilian like race that, according the pictures, seem to look like some of the Tyrannids but more advanced/evolved and less like locusts. Next up is the Stryxis, originally this race was presented in the book Into the Expanse but this chapter greatly expands on this magpie like race. Both races are nice additions, giving two very different foes for players to test themselves against. The Rak’Gol is a militaristic and aggressive foe for your combat lovers and the Stryxis are a vile race of traders looking to make a fast buck for your diplomacy and trade lovers.
We then move into more common fare for Warhammer, Chaos. Reavers come next, with a brief discussion of Chaos Pirates and then a mess of new Psy stuff for Chaos Sorcerers (or foolish players who bargain with the Dark Gods). Rules for Dark Sorcery are presented, which is promptly followed with some Daemons, and a Reaver ship for good measure. We then look at some of the Imperial factions the players can bump into such as the Disciples of Thule, Imperial houses, Criminal Syndicates, wandering Pilgrims, the Inquisition, and other factions. Some of these factions are familiar, others are not. Each have a fairly complete entry on the group, their goals, and what they may be up to that will make your explorers lives hard.
The next chapter, called Famous Rogue Traders, presents several new Rogue Traders to ally or offend in the expanse. Many references have been made up to this point, in chapters two and three, regarding their actions on several worlds and interactions with several of the factions presented. The new faces are all new to the book, so there is little point in going over the names, but each is fully presented with their ships and if you’re using plot elements previously presented then they all have ready-made ties to the story.
The final chapter is an adventure/endeavor for your explorers on a world not presented previously. During their work on the planet they uncover mysterious artifacts, which can lead off to new adventures. Structured like an Endeavor, it’s very loose in its approach giving almost an outline for running the adventure without getting too bogged down with pacing. I don’t normally run the adventures in the books unless I am in need for something fast because work kept me from my usual prep time, so I have not run the adventure, but it looks well thought out and functional. As a bonus, I like this style of adventure as it allows players to pursue goals at their own pace and I can tailor the experience easily to the players without flipping around.
In conclusion it’s a solid book, something I have come to expect. Not very thick, though, and for 40.00 I would like a little more meat on the bones for my money. For GM’s I would say it’s a definite buy, if you’re a player of Rogue Trader and your struggling to figure out what to do with your time this is a good book to look at. If money is a worry you may want to hold out for a bigger tome with more stuff that you can use.
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