How powerful is a newly minted Rogue Trader?

[NPC]

1. Military Power

Depends on the Rogue Trader and what they are given. Still even a destroyer can do a lot of damage to a planet without significant orbital defenses. A light cruiser, assuming it has a reasonable weapons load out is extremely powerful. Even low quality macro cannons can wreck cities and I've never seen much evidence for the average Imperial planet being able to stand up to a light cruiser. A pre-warp civilization doesn't have much of a chance even if they know you are coming.

2. Political Power

A Rogue Trader is a peer of the realm putting them in the same social rank as a Planetary Governor, Chapter Master, or Inquisitor, among others. It's a hell of an asset to arrive over a planet and ask (and probably receive) a personal audience with the planetary governor of all but the most powerful of hive and forge worlds. Cutting threw red tape is a huge asset in 40k.

3. Economic Power

Here's where things get harder to quantify as it depends on the local area's trade profile. To operate interstellar trade in the Imperium you need a charter from Imperial authorities, sometimes hereditary but often not, but always limited in what the charter allows you to do, often just allowing trade on one trade route (hence why many merchants are called charterist captains for the charter they carry). Rogue Traders don't need to deal with this nonsense and can go most everywhere in the Imperium that's not a forbidden zone. Furthermore, most Rogue Traders can extend their travel rights to other ships they employ.

So depending on what the local trade regime is, a Rogue Trader is just another ship captain or they have Imperial permission to circumvent all the shipping monopolies that dominate local space.

4. Privileges of Rank

The things only Rogue Traders can do are very important. They have an unlimited ability to go beyond the Imperium to explore, conquer, colonize, and trade. They can even deal with Xenos legally, though I wouldn't recommend spreading it around too much. Obviously just how profitable this is dependent on the Rogue Trader's access to other resources. A light cruiser and a small army would let a Rogue Trader pillage and enslave most pre-space flight civilizations at will but access to overpopulated Imperial worlds and markets would allow the colonization of entire planets, perhaps the first steps to building a new Imperial sector, or a personal empire. Not to mention the obvious benefits of exporting resources back to the hungry markets, forges, and mouths of the Imperium.

Other factions that wish to expand may approach a Rogue Trader to use their privileges for their own territorial ambitions.

 

[ThePoarter]

Cool. Just trying to imagine how my new Rogue Trader from a hive world with a dauntless class cruiser would do?

 

[Q99]

Cool. Just trying to imagine how my new Rogue Trader from a hive world with a dauntless class cruiser would do?

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That's really a sweet spot for flexibility. It's upkeep costs are not super-high and it has long range, so distance exploring is pretty good for it. It's too tough for all but the strongest pirates, and it can outrun heavier military ships. It has enough cargo for pretty good sized hauls, and enough firepower to go after lightly defended planets. It's not quite the best at any of these things, but the combination of strong enough to be safe and fast enough to go whereever is a really nice spot for a RT and allows a lot of adjustment on the fly, they can be opportunistic and switch approaches as needed.

The main limitation of a Dauntless in a naval fleet is it's not truly tough enough to fill a spot on the line compared to cruisers, but a Rogue Trader doesn't want to do that anyway!

 

[Hykal94]

Just as an aside, has anyone done a Wrath and Glory campaign with a Rogue Trader heavy focus?

 

[ThePoarter]

That's really a sweet spot for flexibility. It's upkeep costs are not super-high and it has long range, so distance exploring is pretty good for it. It's too tough for all but the strongest pirates, and it can outrun heavier military ships. It has enough cargo for pretty good sized hauls, and enough firepower to go after lightly defended planets. It's not quite the best at any of these things, but the combination of strong enough to be safe and fast enough to go whereever is a really nice spot for a RT and allows a lot of adjustment on the fly, they can be opportunistic and switch approaches as needed.

The main limitation of a Dauntless in a naval fleet is it's not truly tough enough to fill a spot on the line compared to cruisers, but a Rogue Trader doesn't want to do that anyway!

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Yep. On most civilized world's your the big player there. On hive and forge world's it's like being a billionaire. Still great but not significant.

 

[Kaiya]

1. Military Power

Depends on the Rogue Trader and what they are given. Still even a destroyer can do a lot of damage to a planet without significant orbital defenses. A light cruiser, assuming it has a reasonable weapons load out is extremely powerful. Even low quality macro cannons can wreck cities and I've never seen much evidence for the average Imperial planet being able to stand up to a light cruiser. A pre-warp civilization doesn't have much of a chance even if they know you are coming.

2. Political Power

A Rogue Trader is a peer of the realm putting them in the same social rank as a Planetary Governor, Chapter Master, or Inquisitor, among others. It's a hell of an asset to arrive over a planet and ask (and probably receive) a personal audience with the planetary governor of all but the most powerful of hive and forge worlds. Cutting threw red tape is a huge asset in 40k.

3. Economic Power

Here's where things get harder to quantify as it depends on the local area's trade profile. To operate interstellar trade in the Imperium you need a charter from Imperial authorities, sometimes hereditary but often not, but always limited in what the charter allows you to do, often just allowing trade on one trade route (hence why many merchants are called charterist captains for the charter they carry). Rogue Traders don't need to deal with this nonsense and can go most everywhere in the Imperium that's not a forbidden zone. Furthermore, most Rogue Traders can extend their travel rights to other ships they employ.

So depending on what the local trade regime is, a Rogue Trader is just another ship captain or they have Imperial permission to circumvent all the shipping monopolies that dominate local space.

4. Privileges of Rank

The things only Rogue Traders can do are very important. They have an unlimited ability to go beyond the Imperium to explore, conquer, colonize, and trade. They can even deal with Xenos legally, though I wouldn't recommend spreading it around too much. Obviously just how profitable this is dependent on the Rogue Trader's access to other resources. A light cruiser and a small army would let a Rogue Trader pillage and enslave most pre-space flight civilizations at will but access to overpopulated Imperial worlds and markets would allow the colonization of entire planets, perhaps the first steps to building a new Imperial sector, or a personal empire. Not to mention the obvious benefits of exporting resources back to the hungry markets, forges, and mouths of the Imperium.

Other factions that wish to expand may approach a Rogue Trader to use their privileges for their own territorial ambitions.

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Inquisitors and Chapter Masters do not exist on the same level nor scale as a planetary governor. A governor is a local dictator. An Inquisitor can have a governor flayed alive for looking at them wrong, and the practical consequences to doing so will be being inconvenienced. An Astartes Chapter Master isn't the same sort of power as an Inquisitor, but it's still wildly, wildly beyond anything a rogue trader or a planetary governor can pull off.

Rogue traders don't end worlds when they feel like it. Inquisitors and Chapter Masters can and do.

 

[NPC]

It should be noted that although Rogue Traders are shipmasters who travel the vastness of space, their authority to do so comes not from a Merchant Charter, but rather a letter of appointment that elevates them to the authority equalling Space MarineChapter Masters, Inquisitors and Planetary Governors.
Citation : Rogue Trader Rulebook1a: pg. 322
Source : Lexicanum

In hard power it depends on how big/powerful the Rogue Trader's fleet is but in prestige and soft power Rogue Traders are Peers of the Realm.

 

[Captain Orsai]

Inquisitors and Chapter Masters do not exist on the same level nor scale as a planetary governor. A governor is a local dictator. An Inquisitor can have a governor flayed alive for looking at them wrong, and the practical consequences to doing so will be being inconvenienced. An Astartes Chapter Master isn't the same sort of power as an Inquisitor, but it's still wildly, wildly beyond anything a rogue trader or a planetary governor can pull off.

Rogue traders don't end worlds when they feel like it. Inquisitors and Chapter Masters can and do.

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It's a lot more complicated than that. Inquisitors may have theoretical absolute power. But the actual constraints on it are substantial, and based a great deal on circumstances, for e.g. a lone Inquisitor trying to boss the Dark Angels or Black Templars around on the bridge of the Rock or the Eternal Crusader is liable to get short shrift indeed. To quote the explanation given by Lord Inquisitor Kolgo in The Bleeding Chalice;

[Inquisitor Thaddeus says]"But my lord, the Mechanicus must bow to your authority. It is not much that I ask. I regret only that my own authority does not stretch as far as to force the hand of the archmagi. If I could learn what I needed by myself I would have gladly done so, but your word carries far more weight than mine so I must ask that you do this for our mutual good."

"Thaddeus, the Mechanicus supply the ordinatus which inquisitors under my remit will use to destroy the targets they identify. The Mechanicus maintain our ships and the weapons we carry. Most importantly, it is their magi biologis who are being used by us to examine all aspects of the plague and the horrors that follow them. This operation requires closer cooperation with the Adeptus Mechanicus than any I have commanded before.

"When this Inquisitorial command was formed, I had to ensure that cooperation would not fail. Archmagos Ultima Cryol met with me to confirm that we would do all we could to help one another. He promised me the ordinatus, weapons and support we desperately needed. I promised him in return that the forge worlds of Sadlyen Falls XXI, Themiscyra Beta and Salshan Anterior would not fall to Teturact.

"Salshan Anterior is already gone. We believe its servitor stocks were infected and were scrapped rather than incinerated - they returned to life, rose up and killed every living thing on the planet. This is bad enough, I am having to make concessions I cannot afford just to keep Inquisitorial warships in space. But Themiscyra Beta is showing signs of infection, too. I have flooded the place with inquisitors and their staff, but they cannot find the source of the infection and are having precious little success in stopping its spread. You understand, Thaddeus, that I simply cannot ask for any more favours from the Mechanicus."
[...]
"Eumenix would have fallen under the jurisdiction of the subsector command on Salshan Anterior, which is impossible to access if indeed it even exists any more. The only repository for the information you seek will be the Mechanicus sector command itself, and the archmagos ultima considers the information it contains to be a sacred relic. At the best of times it could take years of politicking to get an inquisitor inside. As you are no doubt aware, these are not the best of times."

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And then, when Inquisitor Thaddeus ignores Kolgo's warning and sneaks into the Mechanicus sector archives (incognito, and resulting in significant damage therein);

"Our mistake was both underestimating and overestimating you, Thaddeus. Underestimated because we thought that your skills were not yet well developed enough to allow you to pursue the Soul Drinkers as closely as you have. Overestimated because we thought you would be quicker to develop a sense for the consequences of your actions. The Inquisitorial remit is theoretically limitless, but Thaddeus, for the Throne's sake - Pharos? After I told you how delicate our situation with the Mechanicus was. The damn place only blew seventy-two hours ago and already sub-battlefleet Aggarendon has lost three ships to the withdrawal of tech-priest support. Ordinatus units on Calliargan and Vogel are about to fall silent. The Mechanicus are convinced that Teturact somehow got at Pharos and the tech-guard presence there has been tripled."

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Quite simply, smart Inquisitors do a lot of wheeling and dealing to get their way, saving the throwing around of weight for extreme circumstances; for the simple and good reason that using the club of naked authority routinely makes it less effective. And if an Inquisitor gives an order that won't be obeyed to Mechanicus or Astartes personnel for e.g., they're liable to end up dead or worse.

 

[Q99]

Inquisitors and Chapter Masters do not exist on the same level nor scale as a planetary governor. A governor is a local dictator. An Inquisitor can have a governor flayed alive for looking at them wrong, and the practical consequences to doing so will be being inconvenienced. An Astartes Chapter Master isn't the same sort of power as an Inquisitor, but it's still wildly, wildly beyond anything a rogue trader or a planetary governor can pull off.

Rogue traders don't end worlds when they feel like it. Inquisitors and Chapter Masters can and do.

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Rogue Traders can end worlds when they feel like it, provided it's outside the bounds of the Imperium.

Basically inside the Imperium they're reasonably big deals but it's not that out there, they're just rich and influential, while on the outside their mandate is broad and powers great enough to do all kinds of stuff and with almost no oversight. And unlike Planetary Governors, who have official bosses and people who can just order them dead, Rogue Traders are in the higher step of 'there's no-one they technically report to. Though they do have to be mindful of other power players in the Imperium, even an Inqusitior would have to have a really good reason before they could go after a Rogue Trader.' It is entirely possible for an Inquisitor to be the one in trouble with their own bosses for attacking a Trader! If they're a respected Inqusitior and can provide the evidence, that's one thing, and it's never a good idea to piss off the Inqusition, but none of the blam-happiness that Inquisitors are known for.

While the least-powerful of the 'no real boss,' tier, being one of the few groups in the Imperium that doesn't have to bow and scrape when an Inquisitor shows up puts them in a rare class.

 

[ThePoarter]

Yeah. Dauntless Class Cruiser can let you sell high quality or medium quality time stuff in bulk and you'd still make a profit.

 

[Spartakrod]

Okay let's upscale or downscale the size to a battlecruiser or escort class ship. Now what?

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A battlecruiser can bully entire systems into compliance on its lonesome if they don't have the defenses able to resist a capital ship of that scale. Without large orbital defence stations or heavy void shielding and planetary defense turrets or at the very least; escort ships with the torpedo armament to menace a battlecruiser; the rogue trader's battlecruiser is effectively able to do as it pleases. Even without munitions specialised for orders of Exterminatus which are restricted to the inquisition and the astartes, they can cause mass extinctions by just firing at planets with their ship to ship weapons and most uncontacted human civilisations can't withstand that.

 

[Q99]

A rogue trader, especially a powerful one, is one of the few people an Inquisitor will have to/want to ask a favor from.

 

[Kodiak]

A rogue trader, especially a powerful one, is one of the few people an Inquisitor will have to/want to ask a favor from.

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There's probably a good overlap between "things an Inquisitor will be able to easily punish a Rogue Trader for" and "things so stupid or dangerous the problem solves itself." Dealing with/worshiping Chaos, outright piracy, making friends with Dark Eldar, etc.

It's always struck me as one of the most interesting viewpoints in 40k. They're mostly immune to the strict rules and compartmentalization (Space Marines make for boring RP/narrators, let's be real), but in no way immune to the risks.

 

[Q99]

There's probably a good overlap between "things an Inquisitor will be able to easily punish a Rogue Trader for" and "things so stupid or dangerous the problem solves itself." Dealing with/worshiping Chaos, outright piracy, making friends with Dark Eldar, etc.

It's always struck me as one of the most interesting viewpoints in 40k. They're mostly immune to the strict rules and compartmentalization (Space Marines make for boring RP/narrators, let's be real), but in no way immune to the risks.

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Yep, being a RT is all about risk management. Chaos is probably the one that Inquisitors most often have to get to them on, but interestingly I don't know any chaos corrupted Rogue Traders. I guess because they have exceptions in other areas, like xenos, most'd rather go off and play in the areas they're allowed to break.

 

[Kodiak]

That a Rogue Trader can't be casually BLAM'd for knowing things probably helps with Chaos. One starts finding bits and pieces of that secret lying around the sane response is "Fuck that, just say no."

 

[Kaiya]

Yep, being a RT is all about risk management. Chaos is probably the one that Inquisitors most often have to get to them on, but interestingly I don't know any chaos corrupted Rogue Traders. I guess because they have exceptions in other areas, like xenos, most'd rather go off and play in the areas they're allowed to break.

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I feel like also a Rogue Trader isn't immune to their cultural upbringing. Most of them just wouldn't fuck around with Chaos for the same reason as any other Imperial citizen wouldn't: It's dangerous, monstrous, and wrong. Xenotech is profitable, sure, but fuck demon stuff, who needs that in their life.

 

[ThePoarter]

Yep, being a RT is all about risk management. Chaos is probably the one that Inquisitors most often have to get to them on, but interestingly I don't know any chaos corrupted Rogue Traders. I guess because they have exceptions in other areas, like xenos, most'd rather go off and play in the areas they're allowed to break.

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Plus all that time wondering in the void means the ones that do fall to chaos die or become mutant spawn.

 

[Old Spice Guy]

How much does the power depend on the Warrant of Trade? Doesn't one signed by the Emprah himself back in the day give you way more ability to just do whatever you want, especially compared to a newer one?

 

[Captain Orsai]

How much does the power depend on the Warrant of Trade? Doesn't one signed by the Emprah himself back in the day give you way more ability to just do whatever you want, especially compared to a newer one?

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The older Warrants do, indeed, tend to be a lot more empowering, largely because they're a lot less specific. Like, a modern Warrant, written to a more consistent standard, might name specific worlds in a given region that the bearer has rights of supply, recruitment and press from, whereas an older one might just say "All worlds in X region"; same with strictures about who they can and can't make pacts and alliances with, about acting as a defacto agent of other Imperial Adeptuses and so on.

Of course, older Warrants also have the problem of people wanting to half-inch them off you during the inheritance process; the Ecclesiarchy has been willing to risk the wrath of the Adeptus Arbites for one signed by the Emperor.

 

[Old Spice Guy]

Of course, older Warrants also have the problem of people wanting to half-inch them off you during the inheritance process; the Ecclesiarchy has been willing to risk the wrath of the Adeptus Arbites for one signed by the Emperor.

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Ah. You read Legacy too*. There needs to be more Arbites novels.

*Black Library books generally aren't great but they're fun schlock and actually one of the things I miss from when I used to spend more time in the UK. Just convenient.

 

[Q99]

How much does the power depend on the Warrant of Trade? Doesn't one signed by the Emprah himself back in the day give you way more ability to just do whatever you want, especially compared to a newer one?

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It depends on both who gives them and what it says.

It may be signed by the Emperor but only, like, cover certain sectors or say that the trader has to perform a specific task occasionally (like provide transport for the Inquisition occasionally or do stuff for Mars).


The main thing about an Emperor signed one is no-one can revoke it. A high-lord granted one can be revoked by the high lords, so even if it says "You can do whatever," the high lords can say, "Nope, we changed our minds."

Also some can say, "You have an open-ended mandate provided you do this specific task first." For an old one it's almost always fulfilled, but a RT could have a specific job.

Plus age in general adds to prestige.



Supreme tier warrant:
Emperor signed, "Go beyond the boundaries of the Imperium and do the whole RT thing," with no specific limits or conditions.

Also, Primarch-signed is about as good until a certain smurf defrosted recently. I have always wondered what people'd think of a traitor-primarch signed one from before they turned!

Very High tier:
As supreme, but has some limits in what you can do.

High tier:
High Lord granted but no particular limits (which is lower because it has the unspoken limits in that 'the high lords can yoink it').



On down to the lowest, which is recent High-Lord granted and with significant strings attached.

Even the crappiest one ever beats the heck out of the merchant charters that Chartist captains have, which involves swearing loyalty to fleet authorities (I.e. they have a boss), and have a lot more limits on where they can trade (a Heredity Free Charter is almost like a mini-RT in that they can decide their courses within a particular segmentum of the Imperium, but not outside it. Most free captains are allowed to trade anywhere inside the Imperium except the established routes, pick up the slack as it were. And most Fleet Charters and Heredity Fleet Charters can't decide their route at all, they're stuck to one or a few set routes).

 

[ThePoarter]

Yeah. Even the worst Warrants of trade are worth their weight in gold a hundred times over at least. Even if you are restricted to about 1000 light years from a planet or 27 sectors that's still alot.

 

[Kaiya]

Question: How powerful would a rogue trader dynasty which has been existence since the Horus Heresy be? In this case assume they have a hundred capital ships and nearly a thousand other warships. There are also thousands of descendents. I purposely made them overpowered for a reason but wish to

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They would be as powerful as a rogue trader dynasty with a hundred capital ships and a thousand war ships, with thousands of descendants. You just literally listed out all the stuff they have. They're as powerful as you've stated they are.

 

[Gul Damar]

There are also faked Warrants in circulation, like Roboute Surcouf in the Priests of Mars trilogy who pretended to be a licensed Rogue Trader when offering his services to Archmagos Kotov who found out but employed him anyway, and at the end of the adventure gave him a real Warrant.

 

[ThePoarter]

Question: What does a profit factor of 50-70 usually translate too?