[Other] (Rogue Trader) The Cambrian Depths

[Code H]

Game Name (Rogue Trader) The Cambrian Depths

Game System Other Roleplaying Games

Theme High Courtier Commerce and Low Spelunking Exploration

Flavour Negotiations, Trade, Adventure, and Exploration in the Grim Darkness

Plot Summary The fate of all things is woven from the same six threads. Time and place, actions and intentions, and man and machine. It is where they converge where opportunities present and legends are forged. The time, 952.M41, the tide of the Third Armageddon War turned back in the favour of the Imperium. Scores of brand new Falchion-class frigates had been hastily laid down to replace the heavy losses suffered by the Battlefleet. But, as the orks were turned back, the warp storms abated, and the pressure let up, the fleet turned its priorities to licking its wounds, repairing its damaged capital-ships, and pressing the fight back against the greenskins. So, now dozens of new frigates were left, mostly completed, but uncrewed and unsupplied. The man. That was just the opportunity that was needed by the scion of an ancient and once powerful and prosperous rogue trader house. Just what was needed to begin rebuilding their fortunes. The House Iddideron had several millennia ago fallen into complete obscurity and near destitution. Since then, they had lost all their ships, and all but a small fraction of their once glorious fortunes. The scion had been wandering, tramping on whatever ships would take him for as little as he could pay for, visiting with whatever nobles would have him for as long as it took to wear out his welcome. He’d spent the war just trying to stay out of harm’s way, before suddenly realizing it as the opportunity it was. The last of the house’s fortunes were spent on buying one of the fresh unused frigates, hiring a crew, outfitting their stores. And now, they could set out to reclaim their lost fortunes. The Machine, The Resplendent. So of all the vessels throughout the wider Imperium, the little ship was the most unusual thing, brand new. The steel still gleamed. The halls were near sterile. It had been laid down only three years previous, had been clear of the berth only a mere eight months. The crew was fresh, untrained, untested. The machine spirit was little more than an infant, almost entirely unaware. It had no story, no record. Some might have considered it the height of bad omen. The scion chose to see it as a fresh start. Which brought our tale finally to the place. It was not so much of a complete fresh start, as The Resplendent charted a course back to where it all began, intent on reclaiming the lost treasures of the once powerful merchant house. The bulk of their fortunes had been stored up in a great gleaming palace on a long lost world. The venture would lead them into the depths of a broiling warp storm, into space uncharted for thousands of years. The Cambrian Sector. Once, many millennia ago, Cambrian Sector was a grand and prosperous center of commerce, mercantilism, and industry. A beating heart of the segmentum and wider Imperium. Alas, over its long and sorry history, it had been scoured many times. Disaster, destruction, pillaging, and raiding slowly stripped it of habitable and flourishing worlds. Now, it was more likely than not that even experienced travelers would never have heard of it. It was an abandoned backwater. Only the most ancient of Mechanicus scribes would still recollect a time when the forge world Nimitin could be mentioned in the same breath as Risa and Voss. Now, it was a distant neglected ruin. Some officers of the navy might recognize the name as a source for some of their new reserves. Battlefleet Cambrian had been stripped of dozens of grand old ships over the years, leaving them with only a handful to patrol the whole expanse. Perhaps it was only the most faithful who would easily recognize it. As pilgrimage to the holy world of Hierophant still drew many aspirants and wanderers, some hoping perhaps to set foot within the grand Cathedral of St. Tabathine itself. __________________________________________________ _____________ The game will lean slightly to playing the Rogue Trader and Officer Crew as the high powered, lofty officials they are. Sometimes the players will be boots on the ground and getting dirty. But they are the commanders of a crew of nearly thirty thousand. So just as often, they will be meeting with the most powerful people of the sector, negotiating and discussing. They will be commanding, amassing, inspecting, and managing their assets. I'm planning to play the Rogue Trader himself as an NPC. But him being a bit aloof and unskilled, meaning well but self admittedly not an expert, leaving the bulk of the duties and decisions to his trusted officers. Additionally, I'm looking for the players to be mostly good, at least as good as folks come in the Imperium. They aren't cutthroat, they're looking to do good at least on average. They can be looking to make a profit and acting in their own interest, but they'd prefer to do it by improving the world around them rather than exploiting and looting everything they can. Only acting ruthless grudgingly and if there are no other options. They're just folks trying to do the best they can in the crushing grinding machinery of the Imperium and the swirling darkness of the galaxy. Finally, I’m looking to try and have a high post rate. I’m hoping for players to be able to commit to post around three times a week if possible. Breaks are fine, but a target of three would be great. __________________________________________________ _____________ Application, Character Name: Career Path: Origins: Description: Backstory:

Name	Player	Class	Status
Proust Gershwin	SpatulaOdoom	Seneschal	Done
Commander Kizurra	Ramble	?	In Progress
Vargus Colborn	Rylus	Void-Master	Done
Father Euric	mightymconeshot	Misionary	Done
Kennoch	Solitaire64	Explorator	Done

[SpatulaOdoom]

I was this close to saying "I'm in" until I saw the posting rate. The best I could guarantee would be about 3 a week. There are at least two days a week where posting is all but impossible, and every second Sunday is as well.
I'll check in later to see if the rate changes.

[Code H]

Hey sorry to hear. I'll give it a week and see how many are interested at the current daily rate. And if there isn't enough, I'll try dropping it to every other day 3-4 posts weekly. Check in next week.

[mightymconeshot]

Yeah I am in the same boat. Probably could realistically do 2 to 3 a week. Definitely not daily.

[Code H]

Hey, so I looked through other game ad posts, and I realize that a daily posting rate is a lot more than pretty much all the games. So I'm setting it at 3 per week now. Sorry guys, guess its been longer than I realized since I ran a game here and got used to more often from playing with friends on discord. But I thought it through and 3 per week should be good, so that's what I'm aiming for now.

[mightymconeshot]

Cool. Are we designing the ship or are you?

Also, all sourcebooks allowed?

[Code H]

I had my heart set on a Falchion Frigate. But, you will definitely be allowed to make any modifications you'd like with the rest of the crew.

Mostly all books will be allowed. (I got them all in the recent humble bundle). But go easy on me, as I haven't read it all yet and am only familiar with the core book. So, yes feel free to grab something from any book, but I reserve the right to refuse anything that gets too crazy.

And I will be looking to accept at max one non-human character.

[mightymconeshot]

All right.

I will put an app up but I am going to probably go Death Worlder, Fringe Survivor ( Into the Storm), Crusade ( Into the Storm), Calamity, Vengeance, Missionary. Also planning on using Alt. careers Red Consecrator, Torchbearer, and Beast Master if I can pull the stats and talents off and have your approval.

Going to play a melee/flame blasting priest that buffs allies with a menagerie of deadly animals following him.

[Code H]

Nice. That all sounds good.

I like the beastmaster angle, I'm looking forward to playing the game heavily on the various assets of the crew, so the growing army of beasts will fit in great. Helping any fights, having to feed and maintain them all.

The one thing I'm not completely sure on yet is the background overlap of beastmaster and priest, so I'll have see how you sell it in the backstory.

[SpatulaOdoom]

OK. I'm in then.
I'll give another shot at a character that's been in a couple of short lived games, but as a Seneschal this time.
Proust Thaddeus Gershwin the wastrel malfian lord and master of obfuscating stupidity.

[Solitaire64]

Definitely interested. What is the deadline to apply?

[Code H]

Lets say two weeks, So get everything in by the weekend of the 12th of Nov.

[SpatulaOdoom]

Is the game starting at Rank 1, and do you have any house rules you care to implement?

[Code H]

Yes, we will start at rank 1. But I'm thinking I will rank you guys up a bit quicker than usual, at least for the first couple levels. And no house rules as of now, I'll give it a little more thought, but there isn't anything I know of.

[SpatulaOdoom]

Very much a WIP for the moment

Character Name: Proust Thaddeus Gershwin
Career Path: Seneschal
Origin path: Noble born, Vaunted, New Horizons (Seeker of Truth), This represents Prout's time as an Inquisitorial acolyteDark Voyage, Prestige, Heir Apparent (Shameful Offspring).
Description: Medium height, lean build, rakish good looks. Looks younger than he actually is due to juvinant treatments.
Backstory:

 

Proust was born in the lap of luxury, albeit a deceitful luxurious lap, on the Hive world of Malfi to the noble family of Gershwyn. The Gershwyns are shipping magnates, with concerns throughout the Malfan sub-sector and beyond into the rest of Calixis. They also hold a number of modest industrial goods manufacturing plants across the southern continent, and portions of the world's little remaining wilderness, kept as reserves and vacation spots of the planet's elite.

He is very much a child of the complex, layered, and poisonous society of Mafli. He learned at a young age that trust is a rare and fleeting commodity, even within one's own family. Beyond his own parents and perhaps his great grandfather Harrison, the patriarch of the family, there wasn't a single other person in his own family that he trusted completely, including his own sister and brother. He also learned the ins and outs of business and deceit, which in Malfan society are practically one and the same.

In his teenage years Proust quickly grew bored with the endless squabble and empty intrigues that seemed to lead nowhere but to more of the same. He sought refuge in his grandfather's massive libraries and went openly to the dens in iniquity that he peers only visited clandestinely, and ignored the games of prestige and position practised by his peers.

His parents decided that the solution to his ennui and embarrassing behaviour was to send him off to the Naval academy to learn discipline. Proust found himself of two minds regarding it. On one side it lacked much of the luxury he was used to. Even the finest of foods served officer trainees was a far cry from what he enjoyed at home, and the entertainment was much coarser. Worse yet, people expected him to actually do things that looked depressingly like work. On the other hand he felt a certain sense of purpose to what he did, and after he loosened up Proust got along famously with these naval types, who seemed to actually comport themselves in a relatively straightforward and honest manner. A refreshing change indeed.

Eventually an incident with an admiral's grand niece and some doilies occurred, and Proust found himself “called back home on family business” for his own safety. Back home Proust returned to his indulgent ways, going to parties, fighting the occasional duel, spending thrones on the latest toy or distraction, and on the rare occasion where he couldn't dodge it, actually putting in some work in the family shipping business. Some time during those few years Proust apparently acquired a grudge of his own, with three known attempts on his life in a relatively short time.

Some time during that period Proust even served briefly on the pleasure of an Inquisitor come to Malfi on business best left unexplored outside of Proust's nightmares. Fortunately, he rode the perfect line between competent enough to succeed at his tasks, and incompetent enough that the Inquisitor did not choose to acquire him on a more permanent basis for his retinue.

His life would have probably returned once again to indulgence and ennui had he not run into a certain friend of the family. (Name) was almost as much of a black sheep as Proust himself, his family near destitute, at least compared to the heights they once knew, and his Warrant of Trade was not the driving force it once was. Proust felt a certain kinship with the man, and when the opportunity arrived, Proust jumped in the boat with (Name) with both feet, helping to negotiate the ship's purchase, and even bringing his not inconsiderable personal fortune into the mix. House Gershwyn was happy, almost deliriously so, and were quick to wish him well, or wish him die quietly and quickly in some forgotten corner of space that he would stop wasting away Gershwyn money and tarnishing their good name, though all but a few had the good taste not to say so to his face. They threw one last party for him, and promptly forgot of him the moment he broke atmosphere, returning instead to the usual Malfian plots.

A few though. A few did not forget. They forgot not that in addition to being a continuing drain and embarrassment, Proust has an almost uncanny luck and talent for dodging every problem thrown his way. So instead they chose to make sure in fine Malfian tradition.