Rogue Trader - Registration and Discussion Thread

Post by **Montresor** » Mon Jan 17, 2011 8:48 am

I think I only mentioned to this to Stone but, about half a year ago, there was a short story contest between the university contests here. The word limit was low, so I reworked Konrad Ingmann's first post into a story set in a generic early 19thC European setting and entered it. I didn't attend the awards night but, according to the guy who organised things from my college, they refused to read out the 1st place entry. Mine came third and, again according to the same guy, my story 'shat on everything else'. I got a lot of praise for it from those at my college who read it, and it was great fun to do. It was very similar to the original, though I got rid of the purple prose (which suited the tone of VoB Ingmann, but not a serious entry). The ending was very different.

On that note, I am trying my damndest to get a fair bit of work done here so that I can free up more time. I want to get back into VoB myself. A lot of my free time depends on a funding issue which is currently up in the air at the university.

Post by **Goatkiller666** » Mon Jan 17, 2011 9:11 am

Why'd they refuse to read the first place entry? Too graphic? Or... it belonged to the second cousin of one of the judges, and they didn't want anybody to know that it was really crap, but the judge's aunt made her score the guy high. So they made up some story about how it was too graphic, just to avoid having to read it out loud.

Post by **Montresor** » Mon Jan 17, 2011 10:02 am

I'm not really sure. It wasn't exactly the best system of judging. The panel was one academic. That's it.

Post by **Stone Magnet** » Mon Jan 17, 2011 12:09 pm

^Congratulations! Nothing ventured, nothing gained.

Goatkiller666 wrote:Stone, did Dorian happen to mention that he was also keen to get back into VoB? Not to seem like a nagging bitch, but... you know... it was a good story, and I'm keen to continue with it, is all.

Yea just RP in general I think. Actually it's probably more my fault about VoB...we've got into an arrangement in which we're both writing bits at the same time...and I haven't posted mine yet. Works quite well actually, and i'll try to post it soon. Hassle him by facebook p.m, that's what I do.

Post by **Goatkiller666** » Tue Jan 18, 2011 5:28 am

And also, I am a nagging bitch.

Post by **Stone Magnet** » Tue Jan 18, 2011 1:49 pm

Damn! Way to rock the boat haha. I think i'll hold off posting until Salt's finished...gonna have to change my tact a bit now though.

Post by **Montresor** » Tue Jan 18, 2011 2:15 pm

I wouldn't wait too long. I'll have to move the whole conference along to a resolution pretty soon.

And Salt's trying to break Andrea's record of pissing off NPCs, I think . . .

Post by **Salt** » Tue Jan 18, 2011 4:49 pm

Shortest military career in history!

Post by **Stone Magnet** » Wed Jan 19, 2011 1:28 pm

Montresor wrote:I wouldn't wait too long. I'll have to move the whole conference along to a resolution pretty soon.

Sorry for the slackness, I'll post within 24 hours (before midnight your time).

Post by **Stone Magnet** » Thu Jan 20, 2011 11:57 am

Seems I've failed at even making my own deadline. Again. Just moved out of my flat etc etc excuses excuses. Bleh. Will post after sleep.

Sat Jan 22, 2011 5:29 am

No worries. I think Salt and I are doing just fine without you.

Post by **Montresor** » Thu Jan 27, 2011 12:28 pm

You all sort of played into his hands a bit anyway.

Thu Jan 27, 2011 11:27 pm

The troubleshooter in me notices that their Astropath is the single point of failure here. We've just proven that we'd be willing to kill off thousands of ratings to defend the ship. I do not accept that we couldn't wipe out these guys if pressed. Losses or no, they'd all be gone. Their stuff would still be here.

The tricky part would be NOT killing the ones who know where the damned planet really is. So, they fail to cancel the endeavour... our rep stays mildly good... then we torture the location out of someone, go to the place ourselves, and set up shop with their gear.

We'd need to find a market for the stuff, but... that's not too hard. The Imperial Navy is everywhere, after all.

(Of course, I'm sure we'd find out that the people on our ship don't know where it is... they'll get an encoded message by Astropath once we arrive at the penultimate stop.)

But all we really have to do to protect our rep is kill that Astropath. Then we can spread rumors that the Alid-Yuril broke their contract, tried to capture our ship, and were executed as pirates. And what the hell, Garrius is a Rogue Trader... he has the authority to just smack them around if he wants to. Who can argue with him, really?

Post by **Montresor** » Fri Jan 28, 2011 12:18 am

You might find you have to kill your own Astropaths too. They're all independent, in that they directly work for the Astra-Telepathica (don't have my books in front of me, but the name is something like that), and are essentially 'on loan'. Astropaths have something of a sacred mission and, because of soul-bonding with the Emperor, form a kind of fraternity which transcends petty allegiances and debates. That is not to say that they cannot be intimidated, lied to, corrupted etc, just that you'd likely find more than one of them completely outraged by your actions and ready to send a message off themselves.

There is also the fact of having to concoct a story to cover up your crime. Not just for the Alid-Yuril Consortium, but for your own crew. Piracy is common with Rogue Traders, but it has never been a part of the ship's life, and they might not take kindly to it.

You can murder the Consortium mmbers, of course, but then you would most likely lose any chance you have at profiting from the endeavour - and you might find the Amphael Dynasty becoming outcasts, if things go badly enough. Consider also that - if you succeed in getting the co-ordinates from them but also betray the Consortium - the Consortium will probably offer their venture to another Rogue Trader. So, you might get there, establish a colony, and then find that another RT arrives intending to do the same thing. If you're not there watching your colony, it's likely they would just seize it.

I'm not trying to dissuade you from piracy, just pointing out the extreme risks you would face. The current situation is largely the result of Amphael actions having handed the Consortium a strong bargaining chip on a platter. Keep in mind that, for a two-week delay, the Dynasty got +1 PF. If you lose money on the Endeavour, it may already be offset by this loss.

Post by **Goatkiller666** » Fri Jan 28, 2011 12:49 am

It wouldn't be piracy. First we'd be enforcing our contract. Then we'd be defending ourselves. Then we'd be recouping our battle losses. Then later, when that other Rogue Trader showed up, we'd be defending our holdings.

Given how long it took us to get here, assuming we could prevent the message from getting back there, if we started repairing that space hulk now, it might be almost ready to defend our new colony by the time the enemy showed up.

(Yeah yeah, they probably wouldn't pick someone with only one ship, next time.)

As for the Astropath angle... we have three days to figure out how to kill that one guy in a way that doesn't provoke the rest.

But anyway, this is all OOC ramblings. Specifically OOC because I'm not going to try it IC. Still, it amused me to think it through.

It also, as a thought exercise, exposed me to some OTHER ideas that I won't share here because they ARE viable for IC use.

Be afraid. Be very afraid.

Post by **Montresor** » Fri Jan 28, 2011 3:27 am

Reparing that space hulk would take years and a lot of investment. You would be very unlikely to do it at all without an increase in your PF of as much as the Consortium offers. Even if you could get started straight away, and delayed the endeavour for it, you'd find that whoever the Consortium offered the endeavour to would have been ensconced on Albinus for at least a year. This is, of course, assuming you can even find the planet.

The reality of the situation, unfortunately, is that the Amphael Dynsaty made a mistake in escorting the transports. It might be in their benefit to have done so in the long-term but, in the short term, the damage to the ship and crew was severe. Resources are stretched and morale is sinking to levels where ship performance is compromised. The Consortium are understandably pissed, and are after assurances that their venture is safe. Since the previous contract didn't stop the Amphael dynasty from a diversion which has jeapordised the entire venture, they are now considering extreme alternatives (such as making the offer to someone else). At the very least, a stricter time schedule with a potential financial penalty is their idea of a better garuntee.

You must also be aware of the logical conclusion that they have already contacted their superiors, who will no doubt be waiting for word from Menz as to whether the venture is cancelled or not.

I'm not trying to rail-road things here, just playing out the logical reaction to the very bad position the PCs and Dynasty have put themselves in.

Post by **Stone Magnet** » Fri Jan 28, 2011 4:53 am

^All sounds fair enough. Shot Andrea on that observation, though it didn't appear to change anything.

Post by **Montresor** » Fri Jan 28, 2011 5:16 am

Also, I will update the thread a little early. Things will be moved along tomorrow night - so a little more than 24 hrs away. I will keep to my original assumptions about the decision. As I will be travelling around Qld for a week from the day after, I will not update anything during that time. I'll try to leave some issues to be dealt with in the mean time so that we can move the campaign along. The deadline for those (if I get them up), will be when I return in a week.

I am rather curious to what the other IC ideas are.

Fri Jan 28, 2011 2:57 pm

If I reveal them now, you'll be able to think up counters to them.

Post by **Montresor** » Fri Jan 28, 2011 11:57 pm

Andrea Chan-Gauthier wrote:If I reveal them now, you'll be able to think up counters to them.

Ha! I think up counters at the drop of a hat :p

Kevin's Watch

Kevin's Watch

Rogue Trader - Registration and Discussion Thread