The players in my campaign mostly opted to be from a Fortress World, and between us we hammered out the recent history of Merates Null 5, a rogue planet that Lord-Captain Ibrahim van Baroque conquered during the Meritech Wars, at huge expense, and claimed as compensation. It's a small, lifeless, airless rogue world, drifting far from any of the stars of the Merates cluster, and further yet from any of the civilised planets of the Calixis Sector, but the Meritech Clans made heavy use of its secret locale and mineral deposits, and the battle to take it eventually descended into years of tunnel fighting, draining the van Baroque accounts to an almost unconscionable degree, and subsequent decades of repeated Ork attacks haven't helped. But the current inhabitants of Merates Null 5 have persevered, mostly due to sheer bloody-mindedness, and have become so good at fighting Orks and especially fighting Orks in tunnels, that the now heavily fortified planet is informally nicknamed 'Goffmorgue' , and the Guard Tithe forms the Merates Tunnel Rats, and see heavy use on the ongoing war on Kulth.

GalaxyUC said: Some kind of set or reference cards or specialized reference sheets would certainly be very helpful for my players and even me. If anyone is putting some together or plans to do so, please count me in. Maybe post the files on rpg geek.com or something I just typed up a quick .doc, included relevant addenda regarding bonuses for their ship, etc, illustrated the cards with a suitable picture to save time searching them (a BFG miniature for the Manoeuvering cards, Tech-Priest Casu Marzu for the Tech-use based extended action , etc ) and glued them onto index cards. Would you like me to email you it?

fourtykiller said: Thanks a ton for the help! That all makes a lot of sense. I was hoping to use other tyranids other than just genestealers for the adventure, thats why i was thinking maybe a hive fleet or part of one anyways. But genestealer cult could be fun. Do the other tyranid breeds appear outside of a hive fleet or tyranid army ever? I would like to have something other than just genestealers if possible, but if thats not how they work i can work with it. Thanks again. There's been fluff about Tyranid genera turning up on death-worlds all over the galaxy ( and any planet where they show up, even without the support of hive-ships, is going to become a deathworld in short order ) , and apparently even traveling backwards in time, so it's not impossible.

Genestealers? Yikes!

A minor criminal who got lucky. Very lucky. Born on the Imperial Shrine-world of Kringle, and then known as Rosenkrantz, he was one of thousands of POWs taken by the Tau when Kringle was overrun. Shipped off to an experimental colony where the Tau were trying to encourage all their various POWs to embrace the Greater Good, Rosenkrantz soon became involved in various shenanigans, was tortured almost to death by his own people for something he didn't do, and was so enraged by this injustice he promptly went to work full-time for the Tau. This didn't go according to plan, either, and Rosenkrantz, now Jak Frost, found himself wandering around the Koronus Expanse at the other end of the galaxy, where he eventually lucked out and was hired on to the starship Rose Tattoo, when his abilities soon saw him earn a position of considerable responsibility. Not bad going for a traitor and heretic, especially one with such bizarre fashion sense, Imperial tastes leaning more towards 'Over-Elaborate with Extra Skulls'.

kenshin138 said: One of the easiest ways to simplify and speed up the combat is to make some "flash cards". Basically, put all the Actions on an individual card. Then the party can hand out who is doing what each round. The card can have the rules on them so it reduces players flipping through the book. Another thing you could do is have some duplicate cards, giving each player only the cards they would be good at. This cuts down on the amount of choices they have and helps focus. We have moved to this in our game and it works well. We actually have our Rogue Trader hand them out which kind of feels like the Lord-Captain giving out orders. Of course we discuss stuff, but it does have a nice feel to it. That's a bloody good idea! *grabs the box if index cards*

Angron41 said: I really like that idea MDMann! definitely going to use it. However, since they are low level and haven't met those NPCs (yet- they'll meet them in later campaigns) the names will change, and the motivation for kidnapping and forcing the marriage will probably be something more mercantile than a space battle (shipping rights I'm thinking). I think also there will be a subplot of an "undercooked" xenos escaping its cage and attempting to hunt down the wedding party one by one (thanks DrHoz!). no worries

There's a world the players in my campaign recently claimed. They haven't discovered that every estuary on the planet is studded with dozens of Oklo reactors yet. Might make settling it a bit tricky... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_nuclear_fission_reactor

Bride apparently kidnapped by a heartbroken ex-beau, Keeping the piece between assorted branches of the family, hurriedly replacing the amasec supplies because the cargo lifters broke down down on the planet, explaining human breeding customs to a Xenos, etc. The Roast escapes from the kitchens and has to be pursued through the corridors?

Vandegraffe said: Kagra said: Wow, the picture of a fully intact and uncorrupted STC being found somewhere in the Koronus Expanse just made me twitch. Ahem, that has happened. [FFG has published info about just such a find, twice.] "Kail Lineage: Ended by assassination within days of Fenton Kail's declaration of finding an intact Standard template construct in 388.M41" - RT core rulebook, page 362. "388.M41 Fenton Kail declares that he has discovered an intact Standard Template Construct on a dead moon circling twin red stars when he puts into dock at Port Wander, seeking backers and stating his intent to re-equip and hire mercenaries to exploit his find. A few days later, he is assassinated before he can mount his expedition and his 'secret' dies with him. His ship, the Malcontent, passes to the hands of his first mate by right of succession and is destroyed a few months later through the seemingly-accidental overloading of its plasma reactors. There are no known survivors of the ship, and Kail's death ends his direct bloodline. The dead moon supposedly harbouring the STC described by Kail has never been discovered by other hands, although faked copies of 'Kail's map' regularly appear on sale to the gullible in several ports." - Epoch Koronus, page 6 Now, here's the fun part. Who, precisely, would NOT want the Imperium to regain its lost knowledge and power, and has the resources and agents in place to prevent it? Someone didn't like that particular change to the status quo. Note the date, and that the Cult Mechanicus has had a half millenium or so to follow up on this particular, very public announcement. Also note that the Cult Mechanicus has not made any follow up efforts... or at least none that are public knowledge. Then again, every xenos race in existence would have a huge vested interest in not letting the Imperium recover such a thing given how the Imperium treats xenos! One of the sneakier xenos races might well have pulled off that assassination. Just my 2 thrones worth, - V. Well, there's also the problem that binary red dwarfs are the most common star type in the galaxy. Even assuming Kail wasn't trying to divert attention from the real source.

Deep in the heart of a wrecked warmachine on the ruined planet Zayth, Jak Frost is questioning the last priestess of Mykybe, Zaythi Goddess of Love & Good Fortune, about the mysterious Veil, source of the X-1 archeotech that has since vanished from under the nose of Acting-Captain Marzu. The priestess's mutant offspring move to assist her prognostications, unbolting a pneumatic tube from the wall, draping it around her python-like, and letting her breath deeply of the fumes that have accumulated over the centuries. Her vision is suitably oracular and ambiguous. Priestess : You have seen the veil, held before the Goddess that she not drive Man mad with her beauty... I see you tread the path of the thief and the avatar, see you follow in their footsteps to the place of light... but I see only darkness! There is a place, like this, writ large, where they lay offerings before the God of Flesh, and pray for the return of the Gods of Iron, and they know nothing of the world beyond! *long string of babbled Navigator's Cant* I see you seeking a pearl of great price, but you are not the only ones who seek it... seven after seven after seven... you will be damned by your greed... I see war in your future... Damaris! Oceans of blood! Beware the beastman! Beware the creatures beyond the Veil! ..... Make haste! The demons are coming! All annoyingly vague, and worrisome, and generic. Are these Gods of Iron heretical robots? Khornate Chaos Marines? And Seven is the number of the Ruinous Power Nurgle... Although those co-ordinates may actually mean something concrete, and are relayed to Benetek. Jak Frost : Well, that was all very obvious. Beware the mutants! Beware the Orks! Beware the Tyranids, they're quite nasty... Beware the Stinky Cheese! I wonder who that refers to? Acting-Captain Casu Marzu : I can't imagine. Jak now has to decide what to do next - the Priestess begged him to show kindness to her people, but they ARE all mutants and witches, so he would be entirely within his rights to hose them all down with gunfire and have the site nuked from orbit. Instead, he decides to make it Somebody Else's Problem, and persuades the landship Ironclad that detouring to ransack the war machine for salvage is worth it, especially if they get a priestess and oracle as well. The Rose Tattoo's Tech-Priests want to spend the weeks until the Ironclad can crawl there studying the machine in depth, of course, learning everything they can of its technological arcana. This Jak hesitantly approves, on the condition they don't punch holes in the still intact sections, and take precautions against being blown away by the next superstorm. Up on the Rose Tattoo, we learn more of what has been keeping Marzu too busy to meet with the Zaythi. He's ordered a complete breakdown on all data-security logs and power usage for the ship, searching for any evidence that the X-1 is still on board and trying to infiltrate the data-vaults. It doesn't appear the Inquisitor and his retinue had it in their possession, despite his scans of their quarters. GM : You really want to scan the rooms? It's generally a very bad idea to take an interest in the activities of the Inquisition, lest they reciprocate. And Inquisitor Lammergeier's interest in Lord-Captain's van Baroque's illness has him worried as well. Leaving the Lord-Captain in suspended animation, citing the risks of trying to repair his brain without the very best chirugeons to hand, has been convenient for Marzu's megalomania, but if the Inquisition are so intrigued by the case, than perhaps he should try and repair the damage himself, even if organic brain tissue is such a poor substitute for the purity of silicon. GM : So Marzu spends a few days bent over a microscope, operating on the Lord-Captain's brain. *looks innocent* GM : Anything you want to inscribe on the Lord-Captain's new steel plate, before you sew him up? Jak Frost : A *****. Acting-Captain Casu Marzu : Hey, that's not fair. I wouldn't do anything like that. GM : No. You'd nano-etch it in figures a few molecules high. Acting-Captain Casu Marzu : Not true. I like the Lord-Captain. If it wasn't for him I wouldn't be out here giving orders and doing whatever the hell I like. BWAHAHAHA. Tech-Priest Casu Marzu : Good news, crew! The operation was a success! Our valiant Lord-Captain will soon be fit to resume his command! GM : 'Just ignore this remote control I'm holding.' The Lord-Captain is cautiously pleased to see that his ship is still intact and most of the crew still alive, despite Marzu being in command. However, the confession that the X-1 Unit is missing nearly puts him back into a coma. Jak Frost : How could you loose a box??? Tech-Priest Casu Marzu : It..... good question! Jak Frost : Were any the Inquisitor's acolytes carrying a box big enough to hold it? Tech-Priest Casu Marzu : Cylinder. Round ends. It was an X-box 360 Lord-Captain van Baroque decides to punish Marzu and Frost - by promoting them both. Jak will now be responsible for the ship's financial endeavours, and Marzu will handle the details. ALL the details. GM : Clever. You can sit back and relax, while Jak strangles under the responsibility, and Marzu drowns in the paperwork. But first, the results of Marzu's electronic security checks are coming in. There's no evidence of the X-1 being active in the last few weeks, but there are some peculiar oddities over the last few months. Tech-Priest and Lay-Technician cognomens being used to log into the ship's systems at points far removed from where those crew members should be. Cross-referencing them to the Rose Tattoo's camera records, patchy as they are, reveals something alarming - they have a Tech-Priest aboard that Marzu doesn't recognise, and this individual has being going from section to section of the ship, avoiding the Enginarium and Command Spire, familiarising himself with the layout and systems, unchallenged by the crew. A Tech-Priest IS a good disguise - the robes conceal much, and mere crew dare not question what he is doing lest it intrude upon the sacred mysteries of technology. Jak immediately passes on a description to the various joy-girls and scum he found places for on the ship. Van Baroque does the same with his own spy network among the crew. Marzu determines that the intruder has an unhealthy interest in the Rose Tattoo's Munitorium, and its life support systems, and Malakai determines that the now unused Alienage, cleared as it is of missionaries, and powered down to divert extra power to the ship's sensor arrays, would be a good place for a spy to hide. He leads a thorough search, and indeed they find something interesting - one of the Alienage's comm-lines has been hacked, with a socket for a burst receiver/transmitter. Jak rigs a concealed camera to watch the area, in case the spy comes back. Jak learns that the fake Tech-Priest has been seen in the ship's sewerage works, where, for reasons of Tradition, rickety walkways hang over the bubbling vats, and talks to the sergeant at arms responsible for that section. GM : It's not one of the most prestigious postings on the ship. Jak : That's an understatement. Have you seen this Tech-Priest doing anything unusual down here? Sergeant-at-Arms : Well, sir, no. He said it was a surprise inspection. Jak OOC : Clearly we need to consult the Evil Overlord list. There are no such things as surprise inspections. Anything else? Sergeant-at-Arms : Well, we had that outbreak of ****-flies last month, but we got it under control. Jak : Oh? Did you use flamers? Sergeant-at-Arms : Oh, NO, sir! No naked flames down here! Marzu, Jak and the rest inspect the Munitorium, directly over the sewerage works. Tech-Priest Casu Marzu : Have any of you seen any Tech-Priests in here? Raise your hands. Munitorium Servitors : .....* all raise hands, power-lifters, etc.* Jak : Tech-Priests other than Marzu. Munitorium Servitors : *all lower hands* They place extra guards on the Munitorium, pending the capture of the spy. They don't want him dead just yet, in case he's an Inquisitorial agent. A suspicious hotspot on one of the Munitorium walls turns out to be an illicit still in one of the gun-decks. The gun crew clan in question is relieved that Marzu isn't angry about this - he's understanding about their needs ( providing the design is one of the approved Illicit Still Configurations ) GM : After all, it saves on industrial solvent too. Unfortunately all this running around searching for the spy has left the rest of the ship in the hands of the ordinary crew. And even with the extra sensor arrays online, they completely fail to notice the four Ork raiders coming in to attack, until it's too late. GM : The Oracle told you that the demons were coming... Jak : That could have meant anything! Lord-Captain van Baroque : Orks? Excellent! GM : Yes, more heads for your trophy room. Happily, the Orks prove spectacularly incompetent at everything, from shooting to boarding to even maintaining morale. After the lead vessel Big Loota gets blasted out of the sky, Marzu even manages to intimidate the second into leaving to find an easier target elsewhere. GM : Possibly your threat was a bit wordy for Orks. Lord-Captain : 'You grotz ain't fit to sniff da dags of Ghazgull Thraka!' GM : Better. 'You like all dat dakka? Well dere's plenny more where dat came from!' GM : I can only assume that first wave of Ork boarders attempted to board via the Rose Tattoo's engines. While they were running. Eventually, the Rose Tattoo having run rings around the other four ships, noses up behind the last, which is so damaged it can only go in straight lines, and has no rear-facing weapons. Tech-Priest Casu Marzu : See that Ork on the stern? Waving the white flag? Target the main guns on him first. Jak Frost : I can imagine the conditions on their ship. 'Hey, Boss, is dat dere air dukt supposed ta be spitting fire like dat?' But Malakai realised something in the middle of battle - even with the firefight raging, he really should have kept the Munitorium locked. Because within minutes of the Orks defeat, and the crew drooling over the thought of the loot they can capture from the hulks, a massive explosion rips through the armoury and the adjacent laser batteries. In retrospect, the middle of the battle was the best time for the spy to make his move. Malakai : All he needed to do was be on one the gun decks, 'blessing' each shell, and have one sent back to the Munitorium as defective. GM : *nods* Just as well you dealt with the Orks so quickly - imagine how bad it would have been if the Munitorium and Sunsear batteries had gone up during the battle? Could have been worse - the explosion could have blown out through the crew barracks, or down through the sewerage works. That would have been a short sharp shower for the planet below. Of course, given the conditions on Zayth, they probably wouldn't have noticed. The explorers order a total lockdown of the ship - they're going to find this agent if it's the last thing they do....and it very well might be. A few quotes, whose context I have forgotten Jak Frost : Pardon me, my pants are shaking Lord-Captain van Baroque : Necrons dancing the Robot. Jak Frost : Tech-Priest/Necron Dance-off!

Nah, just stuff him into the armour after some EXTREME liposuction, and chainsaw off any bits that overflow. After all, what Nurglite cares if the bleeding stump of his muffin-top goes gangrenous?

Gribble_the_Munchkin said: 2) Alexia De Winter. The final straw was that after the ssevere beat down she gave them, she handed them over to one of her minions, a sadistic torturer who inflicted some truly horrible injuries on them (one PC lost both eyes, another had his peripheral nervous system burnt out, another had a shattered skull and brain damage and one lost an arm), it wasn't pretty. The admech managed to fix and upgrade them but boy do they hate her. 3) The Red Bishop His highlight in game so far came when he assassinated an opponent at a huge dinner the PCs held with a large number of RTs. His weapon of choice, Boreworms. It led to one rogue trader being eaten from the inside out, one similarly killed food taster and the PCs needing to use flamers to purge the beasties. They fingered him for it pretty quickly so he politely apologised for ruining the mood but explained that the man had offended him in business and that such insults cannot be tolerated. They've given him a wide berth ever since. Niiiice

*shrugs* same thing happens with most of the other threads I contribute to. I intend to draw some Stryxsis eventually, but a picture of a Logician Assassin finishing off assorted party members seems more likely, come the next session.

ieatdeadpeople said: Nice drawing very creepy. thanks

Lord-Captain Maximillan dePledge ( and his creature, Dragan ) Lord-Captain Maximilian dePledge; Marquis of Anaradai Prime, Mirabile, and Mirai; Master of the starship Royal Privilege; patron of the arts, and of the 1st Anaradai Mounted Regiment; master diplomat and trader; and spymaster. Accompanied by his bodyguard, Dragan. dePledge is some 230 years old, and has held the dePledge Warrant of Trade for most of that. Over the centuries he has had most of his body aside from his central nervous system replaced with the finest Imperial cybernetics, but that's the kind of thing you can get done when you're a techno-fetishist with more money than God. The PCs have only met him the once - he invited them to dine in the ornamental garden aboard his fabulously outfitted cruiser Royal Privilege while at Port Wander, but he did seem to know an alarming amount about their backgrounds, and intentions. In reply, the Rose Tattoo's crew attempted to shift Inquisitor Konstantin Lammrgeier's attention from themselves to dePledge. They will regret this - for one thing is was a most appallingly ungentlemanly thing to do. Pic by myself, will post more as I illustrate other major NPCs - Goff Kaptin Buzzkill, Logician Harlan Cayne, and the assassin that at the end of last session blew up the Rose Tattoo's munitorium and Sunsear batteries. They don't know who he works for yet - hardly surprising, given the range of options.

Lord-Captain Maximilian dePledge; Marquis of Anaradai Prime, Mirabile, and Mirai; Master of the starship Royal Privilege; patron of the arts, and of the 1st Anaradai Mounted Regiment; master diplomat and trader; and spymaster. Accompanied by his creature, Dragan. dePledge is some 230 years old, and has held the dePledge Warrant of Trade for most of that. Over the centuries he has had most of his body aside from his central nervous system replaced with the finest Imperial cybernetics, but that's the kind of thing you can get done when you're a techno-fetishist with more money than God. Rival Rogue Trader & Augmenticist in the campaign.

Knight of Dark Renown said: they went for the kill on all three heretic vessels (including the Soulcage, with it's cargo of innocent slaves). Well, better than anything the poor bastards could have expected on Iniquity

Episode 11. Earlier instalments have been helpfully collated into a webpage by Olaf van Tol, Benetek's player. Acting-Captain Marzu's player was absent for yesterday's session of Rogue Trader, but that's OK. Marzu had a lot on his mind, not the least of which was Inquisitor Lammergeier's acolytes demanding access to his private lab, and the X-I unit missing from its hiding spot afterwards. Indeed, I ruled he spent most of the next fortnight in increasingly paranoid checks of the Rose Tattoo's cogitators, in case it was trying to take over the ship. The other PCs certainly noticed this odd behaviour, but refrained from comment - only some of them knew the device was on board, and there are at least 6 people on the ship that would kill Marzu for it, and several hundred that would just kill him for having it. And it's not like Marzu can go to the Inquisitor and complain, even if it was them that took it. Smart man, that Inquisitor - after all, his first move after Marzu and Magos Vilchis unwisely discussed the existence of high-up traitors in the Adeptus Mechanicus right in front of him was to transfer to the Rose Tattoo. Not only did that mean he was no longer surrounded by thousands of AdMech personnel, it also followed from Lammergeier's suspicion that the Logicians would target AdMech ships first. But although Inquisitor Lammergeier and his acolytes have now disembarked at Lucin's Breath, so that he can return to Footfall and start preparing his own moves against the Logicians ( or not - after all, the Explorers have no idea what Lammergeier's motivations actually are ) there are other problems the Rose Tattoo faces. Such as replacing and retraining crew whilst avoiding the risk of Logician assassins getting on board. And gaining allies and military support for the second attack on C-6751246 Ji Xiu without getting rival Rogue Traders involved - after all, if there is any profit to be made from this war, the PCs want all of it. And then, of course, there was Marzu's transparent attempts to shift Inquisitorial suspicion from the Rose Tattoo to other Rogue Traders, especially Lord-Captain Maximillian dePledge. DePledge might not be annoyed when he finds out, but he may be mildly aggrieved. But at least they can finally off-load all those missionaries, if they take a few months off for a run to Zayth. Secondly that gives them an opportunity to turn some attention back to the mystery of Mykybe's Veil, and good charts of a shortcut between Lucin's Breath and the Heathen Stars are valuable in themselves, particularly if the route avoids the ill-omened Valcetti's Quadrangle in the middle. Navigator Benetek : Alright, everybody, prepare for transition. GM : He's got into his speedos and is ready to surf the Warp. Jak Frost : Argh, my eyes! Malakai Tubreau : Don't worry, it's not as though you can actually see the speeds under all those rolls of fat. Navigator Benetek : Actually I'm not going to surf this time, I'm going to hang one elbow out the window and nod to all the Deamonettes as we drive past. We ought to get a... what do you call those things? The roof rolls back? Jak Frost : Sunroof? Navigator Benetek : Something like that. So we can cruise around in a convertible. Malakai Tubreau : You know what I dread? One day we may have to investigate Benetek's own Black Holds. Navigator Benetek : If you ever want to smuggle something I've got a few hiding places... Jak Frost : AIEEEE! Malakai is still unused to having a Navigator that's actually competent, and indeed has become quote phobic about Warp Travel. GM : But Benetek's first trip with you was made in record time, with no warp encounters at all. Malakai : That just means we don't KNOW what went wrong. Navigator Benetek : This next calculation is quite difficult - I have to take my own gravitational field into account. Malakai Tubreau : His hoverchair must have forklift prongs on it, just to get him to lunch. GM : Actually the forklift is to carry his pre-lunch meals. Surely you can't expect him to get all the way from the cupola to the dining room without some sort of preliminary lunch to tide him over and get his digestive juices flowing? Malakai Tubreau : Elevenses. Just a small four-course meal... But once again Benetek proves his worth, shaving 17 days off what even he thought would be a three week trip. Navigator Benetek : Time for a snack. Jak Frost : 'Send in the first Cuban child!' GM : Actually I prefer Mexican for lunch. GM : He's going to make you money just on the food supplies you'll be saving. On the other hand, you also have him on board, so maybe not. Their current location, roughly halfway between Lucin's Breath and their destination, is the planet Solace Encarmine, almost unique in the Koronus Expanse in that it's actually a nice place to be. Indeed, there's a trio of Navy patrol ships in orbit, enjoying some R&R. Jak, however, resolves to press on to Zayth without delay, to the dismay of the other explorers and the crew. GM : You could spend a fortnight here and still get to Zayth ahead of schedule! What are you going to use the ship's condom supplies on otherwise? Astropath Adrik Starsson : I station myself in the Teleportarium with a heavy weapon. GM : And growl at anybody that turns up with a suitcase, Hawaiian shirt, and hopeful expression? Astropath Adrik Starsson : If I can't have fun, no-one can. And get rid of that ****ing shirt! Jak Frost : Okay, time to get moving. Somebody wake up the Navigator. GM : And hose him down. Just don't be within arm's length when you do, he wakes up hungry. Navigator Benetek : HWWARRRR *flails* OM NOM NOM NOM The next leg - all the way to Zayth in one hop - is likewise cut to less than a quarter of the expected duration, which doesn't help the levels of disgruntlement among the crew. At least Malakai can put it all down to the Will of the God-Emporer. Malakai : Think about it - Lord-Captain van Baroque was going to have you all thrown out the air-lock, and he goes and collapses on the spot. And we wouldn't have met Benetek if Marzu hadn't ordered us back to that system. Clearly, the Emperor has a Plan for us. Navigator Benetek : I'm an Angel sent by the Emperor. GM : Just imagine the little cherub wings. Jak Frost : AIEEEE! Eye bleach! Eye bleach! GM : If there's one problem with the Rose Tattoo, it's with whatever idiot put the Observation Dome a kilometre from the bridge. But at least you have that little monorail running down the length of the ship. *sings* Monorail.... Monorail... Monorail... Monorail... Marzu's brain's all cracked and broken, Sorry crew, but Jak has spoken - All : Monorail, MONORAIL, MONORAAAAAIIIILLLL Sometime long ago something passed through the Koronus Expanse, killing and half-killing stars. But Zayth is an example of a murdered world, biosphere destroyed by saturation nuclear war centuries ago, oceans dried up, and torn by storm severe enough to overturn even the gigantic land-ships of the remaining Zaythi people - who are still at war with each other. Some of the landships ignore the Rose Tattoo's hail, others warn them off from approaching, but a few, including the Ironclad, welcome their arrival and invite them down to the surface. Jak flies the explorers and some of the missionaries down with panache, although his choice of call-sign causes some comment. GM : Rainbow Dash?!?!? Malakai Tubreau & Jak Frost : *Brohoof* The Ironclad is significantly larger than the Rose Tattoo, and entirely capable of shooting the starship out of orbit should it come to that. So it's probably just as well the landship's Navigator-Captains are pleased to see them, and delighted to accept the missionaries along with a donation of that month's supply of food the Rose Tattoo won't be needing. Indeed, the second-in-command is more than pleased, and she invites Jak to her room for the evening. It could be Jak's charm, or the need to improve the landship's genepool after centuries of inbreeding. Malakai Tubreau : The rest of us are just annoyed that he stops us landing on the pleasure-planet, but HE is still getting some. Pillow talk includes some interesting information about the religious beliefs of Zayth - Mykybe was indeed a Zaythi goddess, of Love & Good Fortune, and her main temple used to be on the northern edge of Zayth's only continent. It might even have avoided being nuked into a glowing crater. Of course, Mykybe isn't the only deity from Before the Start of The War, and one of them - the Silver God of War, is still worshipped by the Zaythi even after all the centuries of genocide. Intriguingly, Jak's host claims that that god once descended to Zayth, clothed in human flesh, and nearly lead the Landship Indefatigable to a successful campaign of re-unification, before he was treacherously cut down and the Indefatigable sank back into almost total ignominy. All useful information to pass on to the missionaries before they begin to assimilate Zaythi beliefs into orthodox creed. Jak : You know, this is the first time I've been in bed with somebody and we've talked about military tactics. Dora : Oh, but knowledge of the great campaigns of the War is vital! It's the duty of the Navigator-Captains to protect our people from the vile scum of the other ships - Jak : I didn't say it was a bad thing - it's nice to be with somebody that's that passionate about something. The next day they fly out to the salt-scalded, fall-out encrusted ruins of the Mykybean temple complex, and are rather startled when the two psykers detect signs of life down in the ruins, in the wreckage of a merely 10-storey tall military support engine. Benetek stays on board the Aquila Lander while the others investigate. GM : After all, I don't think they make a Void-suit big enough. Astropath Adrik : A void mu-mu. Mystery Psyker's telepathic whisper : Please.... do not be afraid. All who come to worship at the Temple are welcome here. I ask but one thing - show my people kindness. I see your answer, but also that I must ask. Show my people kindness. There is indeed a psyker on board the abandoned warmachine - and she and her handful of relatives having been eking out an existence here for over 1200 years. Not surprisingly, most of them are appallingly mutated and inbred, and utterly terrified of Jak, Malakai & Adrik, although they seem childlishly delighted when Jak makes a contribution to the collection box one of them tremblingly proffers. The pskyer herself is little more than a skeleton covered in stretched-tight skin, although her hair in a long silver braid, and her eyes and flesh shimmer with moonlight. Mystery Psyker's telepathic whisper : Welcome, you who have come to the temple. I have seen your coming, and welcome you. I see your purpose, and as the Last Priestess of the Goddess, I see it is my Duty to answer your questions...

Blood Pact said: Braddoc said: Jeremiah Blitz (A FFG-made NPC Rogue Trader) won his Warrant by winning a game of cards with a nameless High Ranking person from the Adeptus Terra, and he's a womanizing scoudrel/cold trader which always helps. But arguably, the average citizen is not going to have the money, or the reputation, to get in on a game of cards where the stakes are so high that it will allow them the chance to win a warrant of trade. Actually, that's pretty much what Blitz managed to do, with a combination of bluff and sheer gall.

Of course there is that requirement for a ceremonial inspection by the Sector Governor a few times a century, so finding one in a space hulk might not work unless you have a huge amount of Gelt for bribes, sorry, 'gifts to the Administratum'. On the other hand, there was Calligos Winterscale, who turned up claiming to be the Winterscale heir, and stomped all rival claimants before they could object.

How would you devise Endeavors? "Go stomp sum 'umie gitz, take dere stuf'?

Bear McCreary's Apocalypse Theme from BSG : The Plan I'll be using it as the soundtrack in my campaign when the PCs launch their second attempted assault on the Logician planet

Netzach's father was the product of hundreds of years of careful breeding to perfect the Navigator Gene that makes interstellar travel possible - careful breeding he threw away on a dalliance with a comely lower-deck wench. The emergence of Netzach's Third Eye and associated psychic abilities, some 13 years later, came as a huge shock to everybody concerned. Netzach grew up without the wealth and influence normal for a Benetek, but this has bred an independence and ruthlessness of spirit that has served him well during his work in the Koronus Expanse. His two attendants are of course nods to the Guild Steersman scene in David Lynch's version of Frank Herbert's Dune

Badlapje said: dunno bout the Webway, but logically the chaos gods ought to be present, as they reside in the Immaterium which is a dimension that runs parallel to our own. It could be however that the barrier between the two dimensions is a lot thicker there though, meaning they have less sway. But there's also no known intelligent life Out There to fuel the growth of the Ruinous Powers and lesser demonic entities. It's entirely possible that Warp Space that far away from anywhere inhabited by sentient life is placid and virtually empty.