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29 of 29 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
An excellent sequal, October 26, 2009
This review is from: Rogue Trader RPG: Core Rulebook (Warhammer 40,000 Roleplay) (Hardcover)
Rogue Trader is the next line of Warhammer 40k RPGs put out by Fantasy Flight, following Dark Heresy by a few years. The system has certainly benefited by the time that has gone by and the work done on the line. It operates with very similar concepts to its predecessor, including a d100 system, a system of spending experience to purchase skills and talents (special abilities) and leveling is based on experience spent, and an articulated character background system based on your homeworld and other background information. The largest changes come in the addition of space-ships and themes of the game.
Chapters 2 and 3 are based around character creation and rules. This game makes use of an "origin path" system for generating a character background. This information has mechanical effects that give you special boons and disadvantages based on your character's life thus far. The book and the Fantasy Flight web page provide a graph they encourage you to use for the entire group to develop pre-existing character relationships and shared interests/histories. This system is quite different form what was provided in Dark Heresy, but ends up with a more articulated and customized character. "Classes" only have one straight path of advancement, instead of the complicated routes of advancement in Dark Heresy. This takes away some customization, but it really is ok. You can still spend your experience to pick plenty of skills and talents. The classes made available include the Rogue Trader, Astropath Transcendent, Navigator (a second psycher), Exporator (Tech-priest), Arch-Militant (Fighter), Missionary, Seneschal (knowledge keeper), and Void Master (pilot).
A chapter is dedicated to Astropaths and their disciplines/powers. It gives some rules for their use and their abilities, and is followed by a similar chapter for Navigators. Anyone playing either type of character will need to go through these sections at character creation. There is some additional background information to be dealt with here, that has a mechanical impact on your character.
A major departure for this game comes in its monetary system. Rogue Trader creates an attribute not unlike strength or agility called Profit. This attribute is rolled like any other attribute to see if the character can acquire the new item. It is modified by rarity of the item and your location when trying to acquire it. This system is a major boon to the system since the game does stress how much money is actually flowing through your hands. It feeds the idea that you have people to keep the books for you. The rules are not exceptionally complex, and work well, but you might just not be able to get that new storm bolter even with a very high profit.
The section provides some base templates to build from, and at character creation the number of build points you have for your ship is determined (there is a chart that gives you a starting profit and ship points in an inverse manner: the higher your starting profit, the fewer ship points you get). These build points let you get a bigger and better ship. The templates that are provided range from small merchant ships to navy cruisers.
The information of background for this game is of similar design to what was in Dark Heresy. There is a chapter dedicated to detailing the universe in general and the Imperium of Man in specific. The following chapter gives great details on rogue traders and their place in the universe. These chapters can help players not familiar with the setting and have a desire to make their characters more connected to it. It would be a good idea for anyone to read through this of course, even if you are an old fan. There is always information of the Kronos Expanse (the actual setting of the game) that could be of use.
The game is incredibly easy to set up and run as a one-shot game if you have nothing else to do (say your weekly game will be missing a player and you still want to play), and it can also benefit from campaigns. The character creation system is designed to be done as a group activity, and the game certainly expects players to operate as a team. The rules are fairly intuitive, but do require the book or print-offs on hand at all times (see below). Difficulty of tasks and rolling is handled well, where you roll a d100 and try to get under your attribute (which is modified by conditions and the difficulty of the task). The system is a great deal of funwhen you have all the information you need on hand. A lot of the art is beautiful, and evokes the feel of the game, especially in the early chapters. Character images are especially well done in the class chapter.
What keeps this game from getting 5 stars is a problem that existed in Dark Heresy that continues on in Rogue Trader (and will likely not be fixed any time soon). You need to constantly be ready to reference a large number of charts to determine a number of issues, including difficulty modifiers to rolls, critical hit results, and so forth. This can severely slow a game down (especially in combat). You will need to have ready access to all these charts on a regular basis when playing the game. It also is in need of an errata, as there are a few typos (which is disappointing considering how long it took for the game to finally ship and how long it took to publish). Some of the art is not as sophisticated as would be expected. Ship images are especially disappointing. Considering the incredible gothic structures that act as ships in this universe, the seemingly poorly designed computer images of ships does not evoke the ancient and foreboding feel vessels of Warhammer 40k deserve. When you expect medieval gothic cathedral and get Babylon 5, you are bound to be disappointed. Other art that is not as pleasing still fits what has been done for Warhammer 40k, but still might not appeal to someone new to the setting.
Overall, I can say I enjoy the game. It is an improvement from Dark Heresy, which was itself an excellent game. This seems more playable to someone new to the setting, and gives people an entrance to Warhammer 40k for people that have previously not been interested. It is certainly worth picking up, and can only get better with supplements, though none are really necessary to really get into this game. I could not ask for much more in a game.
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8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Olde and New: 2nd ed D&D meets 40k in a good way, November 4, 2009
This review is from: Rogue Trader RPG: Core Rulebook (Warhammer 40,000 Roleplay) (Hardcover)
First I must confess that I haven't played the game yet -- my group and I have made characters, which many found quite fun and engaging, but I wanted to post a positive review for the book.
Having stayed with RPGs now for a couple of decades, my point of view is that, recently, game books have become harder to read and burdened with byzantine rule systems. Case in point, Shadowrun (3rd/4th ed). I find the game extremely predictable and the rulebook a headache to wade through.
Rogue Trader is a breath of fresh air. From the past. If that is possible. Overall, the character building system is straightforward and helps players immediately get plugged into the game's backstory (even for GW newbies). The career path system I think is excellent because, as a player, they make backstory dovetail with your skillset and weaknesses. There are reasons why you are the way you are. And all of this is in the space of about 50 pages that don't require you to read all the way through. On top of this, players can see the "intersections" of each other character's career paths, which encourages unity and common purpose. This is rare in most games I've encountered (usually, the GM has to work hard to find ways to unite the player characters -- here, it is done for you).
I also see similarities with earlier games from the 80s, like the first editions of D&D. There are a lot of charts here. Whether you use them (the combat critical chart) or not, may be up to you, but I think they add a lot of flavor to the game without burdening the rules on specific rule subsets to handle certain combat permutations. Moreover, they are quite humorous.
I was worried how RT would handle larger, mega events like starship combat. Again, I haven't played with these rules yet, but what struck me is that even at this macro-level, every player gets a chance to do something cool aboard the ship, plus, these major events can be resolved in a timely manner, allowing the game to return to character-centered adventure.
Lastly, with a few exceptions, the rules are written straightforward and nicely organized into chapters that make absorption of the rules and background possible in short doses. RT is one of the heaviest books I've purchased (really heavy -- I need a stand to hold it up as I peruse: perhaps my only complaint). I think the $60 sticker price is sharp, but worth it. It's a beautiful book, well written, well organized, and offers a different slant on space opera.
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4 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Very good production, November 20, 2009
This review is from: Rogue Trader RPG: Core Rulebook (Warhammer 40,000 Roleplay) (Hardcover)
I'm a big fan of 40k RPG, and Rogue Trader is an awesome addition to it. I was around for the original RT, so it's nice they're keeping the tradition alive.
The artwork is really impressive and seems like a natural evolution for a line that produced such fantastic art pieces as seen in older works like Lost and the Damned and Slaves to Darkness.
The only two issues I have with the products, this one included, are character integration between RT and Dark Heresy and editing issues. Both issues are relatively minor--it's pretty easy to integrated DH characters into RT, but I'd like a better sense of everything being one big RPG, rather than this being a separate game. I'm hoping this continues when Deathwatch comes out. I would much rather have DH, RT and DW as parts of one big, expanding universe. Playing a space marine in a large campaign eventually is something I'd like out of this series, and it would be cool to be able to work a character all the way from DH through.
The typos and other such editing errors are just a distraction from an otherwise beautiful work. Then again, I've edited professionally.
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