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Hey guys, I'm running a Rogue Trader game I was looking for input for giving my players a ship as a reward for a big endeavor. They simply don't have the profit factor to get anything interesting yet and I am wanting to give them a lower end raider. Is this a good idea or should I make them work for the profit factor and earn it the long way. They are well on their way to earning good reputation with the mechanicus (they do a ton of generous thing for them) so I would allow them to buy an old ship off them. Any input would be nice, thanks for any direction everyone.

What ship have the party got at the moment from their starting profit factor?

Given the length of time they take in construction it's more likely that any ship the party are able to acquire will be a salvaged one that was repaired (which your idea of the old one fits into) or one they're able to acquire some other way e.g. seizing it from an opponent.

Once players can field multiple ships though it can start to get harder to balance the space side of things though.

Edit -- Forgot to mention once the deal is done acquiring the ship is something that should still take a sizeable chunk of time so if other events are going on in the adventure that might be time dependent don't forget to advance those along too. When the group I was GMing for acquired a second ship I set up the purchase ahead of the start of a campaign and then had them complete the rest of the campaign before it was ready.

I wouldn't just handout a ship as the ship is an indicator of the groups prestige. Personally I would require at least 2 greater endeavours (which don't give any profit) concentrating on the ship. The first would be its aquisition (space combat and boarding or locating and salvaging it from a hulk etc) and the second would be outfitting it and making it space worthy, locating contacts, signing contracts, hiring crew etc. Just letting them buy it is a little too easy IMO.

I would also make sure that it is an upgrade to whatever it is they have now.

Personally I don't like having fleets in Rogue Trader, I much prefer the PC's to control a single ship whle the other House ships are providing off screen aid or doing something vital elsewhere.

Thanks for the advice guys, I think I've figured out a plan based on your input.