Commanding immense personal wealth, characters in a Rogue Trader game are far beyond needing to count every Throne. They only need worry about the purchase of the most extraordinary and rare items, and the large-scale maintenance of their dynasty. These rules are intended to give a quick and easy way to represent the runnings of a financial empire, and how much spare capital the PC's will have available during each story.

The prosperity of a dynasty is measured by their Prestige, representing their influence and regard in wider Imperium society, their Assets, representing commercial interests and business ventures, and their Funds, representing the amount of disposable income they can bring to bear at any point in time.

Gameplay in a Rogue Trader campaign is split up into Ventures, interspaced with Misfortunes and preparing for the next adventure.


1: Roll for a Misfortune
2: Address or ignore Misfortune (Social / Quick Encounter)
3: Determine total Funds
4: Determine the type(s) and scale of the next Venture

During a Venture:
1: Accumulate points towards Objectives.

After a Venture:
1: Determine success of the Venture.
2: For every three points above the minimum (round down), gain +1 Prestige.

Running a Dynasty inevitably comes with all kinds of problems and petty demands that threaten its finances or reputation.

Roll 1d10 + Prestige to determine the severity and nature of the threat. On an even number, the Misfortune threatens Prestige, and on an odd, it threatens Funds for the upcoming Venture.

1-5: No Misfortune.
6-15: Inconvenience (-1)
16-20: Annoyance (-2)
21-25: Perilous (-3)
26+ Disastrous (-4)

The nature of a threat can be determined by rolling 1d12 on the relevant chart, or by coming up with something appropriate.

To avoid each Misfortune, the PC’s can do one of the following, where appropriate for the nature of the Misfortune.

1: Assign an NPC ship to cover it. These ships cannot be brought along on the mission or contribute to Funds. A warship might hunt or discourage pirates, while a freighter might carry precious cargoes to relieve a crisis. Any ship can deal with an Inconvenience or Annoyance, while a Perilous or Disastrous Misfortune must be handled by a heavy freighter, light cruiser or cruiser.

2: Engage in a quick encounter to sort it out. This may be a Dramatic Task, Quick Encounter or Social Encounter depending on the nature. The difficulty is usually related to the size of the penalty. If this fails, the penalty is one point worse but if it succeeds, the problem is resolved for the time being.

3: Ignore it, and accept the penalty.

4: Make it the centre of the next Venture. The penalty is not taken unless the Venture fails to reach its minimum Profit rating.


Funds:
1: Ork raiders begin to attack the Dynasty’s holdings, and must be driven back.
2: A spy from a rival dynasty is discovered within the Dynasty, and cannot be allowed to escape.
3: A mutiny erupts on a ship or colony of the Dynasty and must be defused or brutally suppressed.
4: Pirates attack the Dynasty’s shipping and steal cargo before vanishing back to a hidden base
5: An economic slump rolls across the Sector, meaning that moneylenders and investors become hesitant to provide funds.
6: Administratum bureaucrats hold an audit of the Dynasty’s interests, discovering irregularities or demanding bribes.
7: An outbreak of disease disrupts colonies and forces ships into quarantine.
8: Money is going missing and the ledgers don’t add up--is this embezzlement?
9: Criminals plan a heist to steal some valuable treasure of the Dynasty.
10: A more powerful Rogue Trader moves to seize or usurp control of a Dynasty asset.
11: A creditor picks the least convenient time to call in a debt.
12: A powerful crime syndicate is gaining control over an asset, or exerting pressure directly on the Dynasty.

Prestige:
1: An Inquisitor investigates some employees or aspects of the Dynasty, making their associates suspicious and quick to distance themselves.
2: A noble takes a dislike to the Dynasty, and starts to use their influence to harm them.
3: A firebrand cardinal of the Ecclesiarchy accuses the Dynasty of impiety or outright heresy.
4: The circumstances of the Warrant of Trade being inherited or granted are called into question.
5: The Dynasty is accused of misappropriating Imperial Navy resources.
6: Adeptus Arbites detain officers of one of the Dynasty’s ships, on piracy charges.
7: A dark cult festers among the Dynasty’s lower ranks, tainting its reputation.
8: An anonymous blackmailer threatens to release an embarrassing secret about one of the PC’s.
9: An outlandish conspiracy theory about the Dynasty or a prominent member begins to circulate, and picks up a passionate following.
10: A rivalry with another Rogue Trader is sparked (or an old one flares up), and many mutual friends step back and refuse to show support for either side until it is resolved.
11: A PC is accused of a major high-society faux-pas, and must either make amends or prove the accusation is frivolous.
12: Radical members of the Adeptus Mechanicus have accused the Dynasty of using proscribed technology in their starships, or trafficking in xenos-tech.

Determine the number of Achievement Points needed to complete the Venture. Points are gained through completing Objectives and seizing Opportunities, and bonus points can be gained through certain ship components.

Minor: 5-9
Major: 10-14
Grand: 15+




Excess Achievement Points can be traded for Prestige, one Prestige per two Achievement Points. Other things gained during a Venture might include the following:



Unique items or hoards of no practical use, but of tremendous value if the right market can be found. Treasures can be sold to raise funds, or be used as ostentations to improve the standing of the Dynasty. They can be traded for 1-3 Prestige or Funds between each Venture.

Examples Treasures: A palatial planetside or orbital estate, control of a pilgrimage site, a hoard of valuable metalwork or gems with no practical use.



Unique or exceptional items that cannot be purchased with money alone, artifacts have a practical use that is typically limited in scope but very powerful. Many artifacts carry curses or legends about themselves and their previous wielders.

Example Artifacts: An Ecclesiarchy-certified relic of an Imperial Saint or Primarch, pages of the journal of Sebastian Winterscale, the Brass Prism, a map of an unknown warp route, a Bloodforged Blade, an unknown Halo Artifact.



Bale Eye: This incredibly rare bionic eye appears and functions as a normal bionic of its type, but also contains a built-in las weapon that acts as a one-shot Hellpistol (Range 12/24/48, Damage 2d6+2, AP 1, ROF 1, Ammo 1), which recharges from the body heat and kinetic energy of the bearer in about one hour). If the user has a Power Cell bionic fitted, the Bale Eye can be linked to that.

The Brass Prism: This unremarkable-looking device can be interfaced with using an MIU or the Mechanicus Implants trait. The user must make a Spirit check (at a cumulative +2 difficulty for every enquiry after the first, this penalty resets after they go a week without using the Prism) and if it succeeds, they gain a d10 to their next Smarts-based skill check, rolled in addition to the normal dice and which can also Ace. If it fails, they are subjected to an ecstatic overload of knowledge, and only roll a d4 for Smarts checks and skills for one hour.

Chronal Energizer: This strange black tetrahedron can warp time around the user, allowing them to take an additional round’s actions after the first one. The user cannot use this extra action to take multiple actions, though they can move again. The time warp usually lasts one round, and the user is stunned for one round after using it (if they are somehow immune to being stunned, they cannot use the device). It is possible to extend the duration of the time warp before suffering the side-effects, but after each turn after the first on which the device is used, the user must roll one die of any type. If they roll an odd number then, after taking their additional action, they are obliterated, crumble to dust, vanish into the warp, are irreversibly frozen in time or suffer some other fate that permanently removes them and all their equipment (including this artifact) from the game and the known universe.

Fragments of Winterscale’s Journal: These count as Navigator charts for the Winterscale’s Realm region, and are of such good quality that they halve the duration of any journey to or within that region. In addition, each one contains clues to a promising world discovered by Sebastian Winterscale that so far remains undisturbed, though a certain cipher or cross-referencing with another journal fragment will be needed to unlock it.

Holy Relic: No matter the form it takes--a bone of an Imperial saint, a weapon once borne by St Drusus, or a shard of armour said to once belong to a Primarch, or something else--this Ecclesiarchy-verified relic inspires fanatical devotion. If carried on the person, it grants +2 to all Spirit and Faith rolls to the bearer. If kept on a ship, it increases maximum and current Morale by 1, and gives a +1 bonus to Boarding Action rolls. However, the owners acting against the Imperium may bring a curse (the Bad Luck Hindrance) down upon them.

Vortex Grenade: Using barely-understood vortex technology, this archeotech grenade (Range 4/8/10, MBT) has the distinction of being almost as dangerous to the user as the target. When thrown, everyone in the sphere must make an Evasion check at -2 (-4 if they were directly hit) or be sucked into the Warp. This generally spells the end for them, though some truly extraordinary methods can allow for survival or escape. Daemons are banished to the Warp, though they can attempt to return at a later date. Vehicles hit suffer 1d4 Wounds. Inanimate objects (or the portion of them) within the template are destroyed. After being created, the Blast Template remains in play and anything it contacts will suffer the same effects. Roll 1d6 to see what happens to it at the start of each round.
1-4: The template moves that many inches in a random direction.
5: The template drops in size to a Small Blast, and moves 1d6” in a random direction. If it is already a Small Blast, it vanishes.
6: The template expands to a Large Blast, and vanishes at the start of the next round.




Sometimes, the favour and regard of the powerful can be a priceless asset in itself. Each Favour is generally good for a single potentially game-changing act of support or service. However, calling in a favour can depend on the reach of the organisation and the ability of the ally to provide the aid you want within a useful timeframe. Once used, a Favour is gone.


Example Favours:

This list is examples of the sort of things PC’s may be able to do with Favours, and can be used as a basis for if the PC’s gain Favours from factions not listed here.

Adeptus Mechanicus: Repairs and refitting, bionics, access to archaeotech items, weapons and transports, archaeological teams, servitors, Explorator survey records, service of skitarii troopers.

Administratum: Fabrication or destruction of records, turning a blind eye to bureaucratic corruption, hastening a bureaucratic request (or delaying one of a rival), redirection of goods and supplies, skipping customs checks.

Crime Syndicate: Sabotaging a rival, finding a supplier or market for proscribed goods, providing no-questions-asked manpower, obtaining deeply illegal goods such as xenos artifacts or unsanctioned psykers.

Ecclesiarchy: Popular rabble-rousing, recruitment drives, contracts for pilgrimage routes, supply of colonists, certification of an item or place as holy, military intervention from the Adeptus Sororitas, squads of arco-flagellants.

Imperial Navy: War support, use of shipyards, Naval scouting records, skilled ship crew, rare ship weapons and ammunition such as Stygies macrocannon shells or vortex torpedoes, forming a picket around a world or jump point (or allowing access through such a picket).

Inquisition: Classified information, forbidden lore on a planet, artifact, daemon or xenos, beginning an investigation into someone (provided at least some evidence can be produced that they are of genuine concern).

Noble House: Invitations to society events, words in the right ears, introductions to other nobles, a market for rare and decadent luxury goods, marriage into the family, financial sponsorship, the services of Imperial Knights.

Pirates: Knowledge of hidden warp routes, raids upon a rival’s interests, access to hidden bases for repair and resupply, a share of the booty.

Space Marine Chapter: Chapter records, an Astartes squad or single Battle-Brother provided in support of a righteous cause, help breaching a space hulk.

Xenos: Knowledge of the Expanse, proscribed xenotech goods, powerful and deniable mercenaries.
This message was last edited by the GM at 13:15, Mon 08 Nov 2021.

The PC’s available Funds are calculated through the following means. Funds cannot go below zero.

Assets: Each Asset represents a steady source of income for the Dynasty, and adds to the overall score. Example Assets could be:
--A productive colony (producing food, fuel, weapons, rare minerals, etc)
--An archaeological operation, recovering archaeotech or proscribed xenos artifacts.
--A freight route or smuggling operation.
Assets are classed as Minor, Major or Grand and provide +2, +4 and +6

Expend Asset: You can double the value of an Asset by expending it, either destroying it or overtaxing it so much that it becomes useless until serious effort is spent to restore it. You do not count this Asset towards your overheads, and lose it from your Dynasty.

Liquidation: Once during this phase, you can trade 1 Prestige for 2 Income.

Treasures: Any Treasures can be traded for wealth at this point.

Patrol: You can assign ships from your fleet to earn income, under the leadership of your subordinates. Transports can ship valuable goods to market, while military vessels can hunt xenos, safeguard trade routes, or protect from (or engage in) piracy. Each ship assigned in this way cannot be used, but adds 2 to your Income.

Upkeep: Ships do not come cheap. Each raider, frigate or transport in your fleet deducts 1 Income from your score, while each light cruiser or cruiser deducts 2.



Once the Funds for each Venture have been determined, they can be spent. For most common things, it can be assumed the characters can afford it with no meaningful reduction in their balance. Reducing Funds is reserved for truly huge expenditures, purchases on a huge scale or for rare and sought-after items, or for massive projects.

Make an Abundant or Common purchase: 0
Make a Rare purchase: -1
Make a Very Rare purchase: -2
Make a Near Unique purchase: -3

Making Purchases is conditional on the item, individual or service actually being available--for some things, finding the right market or retailer and getting them to consider selling to you might be an adventure in itself. The same thing might have different rarities at different venues (weapons would be easier to get hold of at a Forge World, an isolated colony might be much harder to recruit from), but for a list of examples:

Abundant: Rations, untrained thugs, lasgun.
Common: Voidsuits, hired guns, skilled crew, heavy stubber.
Rare: Carapace armour, skilled mercenaries, bolt weapons, tanks and APC’s.
Very Rare: Xenos items, death cult assassins, force fields, power armour, battle servitors, small voidcraft.
Near Unique: Master-crafted armour & weapons, rare xenos items, archaeotech items.
This message was last edited by the GM at 19:37, Wed 03 Nov 2021.

Prestige is a measure of the reputation of the dynasty and the respect commanded by the Rogue Trader and those who act in their name. It has the following benefits:

Prestige:
1: Newcomer
3: (1 extra Favour)
6: (1 extra Favour, 1 reroll)
9: (2 extra Favours, 1 reroll)
12: (2 extra Favours, 2 rerolls)
15: (3 extra Favours, 2 rerolls)
18: (3 extra Favours, 3 rerolls)
20: Legendary

Free Favours: Gain an additional Favour. Rather than being with any particular organisation, this represents your ability to use your reputation and clout, and can be applied to any organisation or individual who might reasonably have heard of you and be impressed by your reputation.

Rerolls: You can use these rerolls in social checks when dealing with people who know of you.