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My tabletop group is picking up Rogue Trader. Our GM already said he didn't trust any of the other players to be in charge of a ship as big as Long Island, so he'll be making me the Captain. Is there any advice anyone can give on captaining a ship?

I already made my character before he broke the news. I'm an Arch-Militant/criminal type with high Fellowship. Should I make a new character? or will I be fine?

Once again, I'm new and didn't see a better place to post this.

Hold on, you're the one in charge, but you're not the Rogue Trader?

H.B.M.C. wrote:Hold on, you're the one in charge, but you're not the Rogue Trader?

Nope. I'm sure the rules say that any class CAN be the captain. I think if push comes to shove, the GM may brew up a figurehead, but ineffectual, RT captain.

If nobody else is the Rogue Trader, which happened with my games until a while ago, just have someone else step up to take charge and make the GM be the RT. Or you could always say that while the RT is the overall boss of the group, he/she is too young/inexperienced/stupid to handle a big ship.

Running a ship isn't that hard, you've got underlings who take care of most things for you. You all run the ship together really. The "Into the Storm" supplement has a nice list of jobs and titles in the back for those who feel like they need to do something specific while on board.

Anyway, you'll be fine. Criminals can be shipmasters as well, just look at good old Krawkin Feckwad and Jeremiah Blitz.

I had the idea 0and this may be a heretical take on canon- that as big as a RT ship may be, an entire family/clan of nobles may have a 'estate deck' on board. Similarly, the Adeptus Mechanicus may maintain a small presence, etc. The 'estates' are in a sense separate from the actual ship itself, yet of course the two are interdependent.

First, this is a resource for new characters. Need a new character? Well maybe at the last port the nobles took on Joe Somebody and have decided he needs to work with the ship's crew, justifying a new character showing up. Maybe a scion of the family decides that 'Blood will tell' and he is of course better suited to run things than those commoners that have been doing it so far. (A noble Rogue Trader character shows up).

However, relevant to this thread, normally the nobles are assumed to be too busy dealing with personal intrigues, sleeping with each other, or whatever and expect the ship and crew to be a big device that makes money for them.They've given some poor schlub (the Captain) the job of doing things and almost, but not quite, full authority (until he screws up bad enough, of course) to run things, take care of the ship, and even reinvest (I.E. buy upgrades).

An alternative would be to say that the PCs are all part of a 'executive council' selected by various factions of said noble family. Some picked a smart guy, some picked an intimidating guy, whomever they thought would get things done. The PCs all get a plot hook of their faction wanting to take charge, but have to work together and maybe decide on a 'captain' or 'ceo' amongst themselves as someone has to take charge in a crisis.

Nothing heretical about that, it is a good possibility. Plus the executive council seed is quite common on large flotillas of multiple vessels (see: Legacy by Matthew Farrer), not to mention an excellent excuse for the GM to sow some discord between the PC's and spice things up a bit.

An interesting suggestion my girl gave me was when in need characters for players: thaw them from cryostasis. A bit cheap maybe, but having people on ice for the right situation is always handy for when you are in deep space and in need of a few bodies or the likes.