Rogue Trader
The Legacy of a Rogue
Scope
The motivation behind building Rogue Trader
My motivation for this world build is to have a concise site where all their pertinent data about the Calixis Sector and the Koronus Expanse can be found.
The goal of the project
I'm hoping that I will be able to consistently come back to this site for the current campaign I am working on and future campaigns set in the same universe. I want my players to feel like they have been immersed in a living - breathing and changing galaxy that acts and reacts to their presence and that they can get more enjoyment from the depth and agility of the setting.
Rogue Trader's Unique Selling point
This setting has inspired me since I was a teenager, which was some time ago now. I love the grim dark setting and the absolutely crushing existence most individuals in this universe lead while your characters subject themselves to the worst things imaginable to sacrifice for people and places they will never know or see. Only the truly inspired can get anywhere in this setting and the situations and revelations that the characters are subjected to mold them into being one of those individuals eventually or sees them destroyed.
Theme
Genre
Grim-Dark Science Fiction. Science and technology are extremely necessary and important in day to day life of people but they are in a dark age of technology ruled over by fear inducting ecclesiarches that keep the common man down. Magic exists as an untrustworthy ally in the form of sanctioned Psykers or as a damning foe imbued with the powers of dark gods hellbent on the destruction of the human race.
Reader Experience
I want the world to feel awe inspiring, exciting, terrifying and heart breaking at how far man has fallen when once the entire universe was within it's grasp. With a dash of hope sprinkled in the characters will look for that silver lining and try to make a difference in a system designed to crush the human spirit and murder any that would stand in the way of this continued dark age.
Reader Tone
Dark, very very dark. The Witcher is the fantasy equivalent of this sci-fi setting.
Recurring Themes
Xenophobia. Isolation. Corruption. Fear. Hope.
Character Agency
Agency is what you make it in this setting. Most characters will change nothing in the long run and the Imperium will grind onward in no direction, just fighting for survival. A small few might break through the noise though and accomplish something truly game changing and most will strive for something like that. Optimism against insurmountable odds.
Focus
Drama
Ork Waaagh! gaining strength and beginning to Push out from Undred-Undred Teef
Chaos Marines are pushing into the sub-sector to corrupt the citizenry and bolster their numbers
Long-thought dead cultures and technology are making themselves known again
The crew that must work together is split by conflicting goals and moral compasses.
Subversive elements are making their way into the ranks of the characters and forcing them together or apart depending on the goal.
- Ancient races rising from tomb worlds
- The great devourer seems to be moving into the sector
- An alien consciousness is infecting the crew's only means of transport
- Prophesies are threatening to come true
- Unprecedented events are happening often around the characters