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For those who have been following my woes in the Rogue Trader games, I've found a group as a player and we had our first game this Sunday. In a nutshell we play using a modified setting, where the players are all command staff of an Imperial Navy vessel. Most classes are represented, though not all sadly. I initially wanted to go as a Void Master who specializes in fighter craft but that was shot down due to a limit on what we could choose. So instead I went with option two: Imperial Navy Intelligence Officer a.k.a. Seneschal. The rest of the group has a Captain (Rogue Trader), Preacher of sorts (Missionary), Security Officer (Arch-Militant) and a Munitorum drone of sorts based on the Dark Heresy Adept who acts as our, dunno yet. So far we've lost our first vessel, Gladius 3, a Cobra class, to an ambush and got transferred to a new vessel, a medical ship named Ursa Minor. Can't quite remember the name of the class, but its an ugly one. While the rest of the sector fleet is massing for an operation called Damocles (Not that one though) we are sent off to re-establish contact with a cluster of systems that ceased paying their tithes for a while now. To make things even worse almost all available data on the system has been wiped by an Inquisition data eating virus and we're told to bug off as an Inquisitor is inbound for one of us, we don't know who as of yet. We're left on a cliffhanger as we just enter the system, where a space station was under attack by two vessels claiming to belong to the "Empty Hand". DUN-DUN-DUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUN.
Here's my character:
Spoiler:
WS 40
BS 33
S 38
T 34
Ag 36
Int 45*
Per 46*
WP 30
Fel 51*
Homeworld: Noble born
Birthright: Vaunted
Lure of the Void: New Horizon – Seeker of Truth (100 XP)
Trials and Travails: Darkness – Forbidden Knowledge (200 XP)
Motivation: Pride
Career: Seneschal / Imperial Navy Intelligence officer
Skills: Barter, Commerce, Common Lore (Administratum, Underworld), Deceive, Evaluate, Forbidden Lore (Pirates, Archeotech), Inquiry, Literacy, Scholastic Lore (Cryptology), Speak Language (Low Gothic, High Gothic)
Talents: Peer (Nobility), Peer (Administratum), Decadence, Paranoia, Enemy (pirates), Basic weapon training (universal), Pistol weapon training (universal), Unremarkable
Gear: Microbead, void suit, arms case, footlockers (3), Uniform (SP1), Greatcoat (SP 2 B + A), Enforcer light carapace armour (SP 5), Iron Talon service pistol, Iron Claw boarding shotgun, Officer’s Cutlass, Book (Memoirs of Leoten Semper, hero of the Gothic War), Reliquary of a Saint (a thigh bone in a wooden box with a glass panel)
Acquisitions: Dataslate, multi-keys, chrono
XP spent: 5500
As you can see, I am going to suck at combat and I have so far played my character as a quiet, somewhat sombre and pessimistic character who sees the assignment as a means of high command getting rid of us before the gak hits the fan. I also stick around the captain a lot, like a batman of sorts, but not the toadying sort. That we're stuck on a medical vessel with almost no guns does little to assure me of a bright future either. So true to form I like to, I don't know, become something of an information source or some other fiendish character that can hopefully be of some use to the others. I've already compiled a list of objectives that I want to present to the GM as personal objectives that my character strives to implement.
Objectives:
- Set up a network of informants, spies and feeders who can keep an eye on the factions within the ship and their respective leaders, I can put part of personal funds to use for this objective, discretion is the key.
- Establish informal lines of communication with Fleet Intelligence at sector command without the other crew and in particular, the captain, knowing about this, ignorance is bliss and the less they know the better for now.
- Gather a cadre of trustworthy crew around me that I can use for the task at hand. Preferable just a small group of both medical and armed personal. They must not be squeamish and must do as ordered. I have a feeling torture and other means of extracting information might be required in the future.
- Establish an intelligence network on each world brought back into the fold, preferably through trusted agents and contacts. This must be researched further but to me seems a viable and most important implementation. Usually this falls outside of Battlefleet jurisdiction, but seeing as we are on our own, we must do whatever it takes to not only maintain our newly established hold on these worlds, but also ensure that we can see any traitorous blows coming.
To further clarify, here are some of the goals I hopes to achieve with these resources:
- Prevent mutiny, sedition and other schisms from happening from within by preventing them at all cost, both covert (assassination) and overt (ship security) means.
- Ensure safety of all top tier crew at all times.
- Prepare for disastrous eventualities.
Lastly, should the GM greenlight the clandestine use of the Astropathic Choir for my own use, I plan on using it for the following queries:
- Any information, no matter how vague, on the "Empty Hand".
- Any word on the Inquisitor, (s)he must’ve arrived by now. If so, is (s)he in pursuit of us?
- All data on the Danar sector, when was it purged? Can the data virus be tracked down and given its attack given a timestamp?
- Has taskforce Damocles cast off yet?
- Any news in general the captain and crew should know about? Sector reports? Global Imperial reports worth mentioning?
Okay, I'd like some extra suggestions on what I could or should do with this character. I don't play to win, I play for the story and erm, well, I will fight, but so far fighting has been almost absent except for a short scuffle in space between our ship and the two enemy vessels.
And for those interested, here are some of my character's journal extracts:
Spoiler:
Personal notes on Gladius 3:
That was a close one. Between the fires and a fecking live torpedo stuck in the bow, we shaved it close, we're in a better state than the rest of the squadron, those poor bastards. At least I still have my eyebrows, let's hope we keep our rank pins after this disaster.
Personal notes on meeting the admiral:
I forgot his name, or maybe he deigned that we didn’t need to know it. True to Battlefleet command we were berated for the state of Gladius 3, which now ruined the view of the good Admiral’s view port. He didn’t seem too impressed by the report from Gladius 1, or was it just another shot at being indifferent to everything. In any case, we were told to bugger off, sit the night out and wait for new orders in the morning. I'm going to need a drink or two.
Personal notes on task at hand:
It feels as if we have been cast aside, other fleet formations are about to enter the annals of Battlefleet history as part of Taskforce Damocles, which sounds glorious and important. Instead, we are stuck on medical vessel sent off into the unknown. On the bright side plenty of women are on board. On the downside, where do I begin? A severe lack of information is what made my gut churn the most above all other things. While the stack of data I got handed by the Admiral was impressive, it is by no means extensive or final. We had our inkie cogitate it and he quickly deduced that over half of the info was missing, including all info on our point of entry. Things are looking grim. Not that I want to knock the noble spirit of our new vessel, the Ursa Minor, but I feel we are under gunned for the task at hand. I wish I could share the enthusiasm of my captain and my fellow officers, but mine is sadly tempered by a feeling of dread and utter fear of what we might find at the other side of a journey through the warp. Will we find an entire system that has grown lazy or one that has been set ablaze by the fires of rebellion and sedition? I loathe to think how soon the medical bays will be filled with the wounded. On the bright side, nurses don’t usually have cold hands.
This message was edited 2 times. Last update was at 2011/05/10 18:22:13
Hmm not sure on where else to build on as one of the main ones our seneschal is doing is building up a spy network. He also isn't that involved in fighting either so he has acquired equipment to help him avoid it (hallucegenic grenades and launcher), equipment that helps him hide like synthsuit and an infernus pistol to make sure he can stop anything that gets too close (or if there is a "problem" that needs discretely removing).
Forgot if you have read the BL book Nemisis he has also decided he wants to acquire a cogitator gauntlet like the vanus has.
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2011/05/12 18:28:55
