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Character creation inWarhammer 40,000: Rogue Traderis as simple as choosing the options that you like best. Whether you’re looking for the best stats for your perfect build or want to create a personalized roleplaying experience, you’ll be able to make the Lord Captain exactly the kind of spacefaring adventurer you like.
There’s no need to be daunted by the number of tabs, stats, and abbreviations that you see during character creation. This guide will break down the entire process for you to help you start your journey in the Koronus Expanse.
Pre-Generated Characters
If you’d rather skip all the minutiae and get started right away, Rogue Trader offers three pregen characters who can perform admirably as the Lord Captain:
Archetype
Soldier
Hecata is a disgraced war hero for whom a single catastrophic failure undid decades of service. Shefights best at range,from behind cover, with allies nearby. As she levels up, use Characteristic Advances toincrease her Fellowshipand she’ll make an excellentMaster Tactician. Alternately, you can progress her toBounty Hunterto focus on her main stats -Ballistics Skill and Perception- to make her a one-woman army.
Operative
Darrius once ran an organized crime ring that spanned an entire system, but lost it all after being captured and tortured by Imperial law enforcement. Hisprecise, adaptable fighting stylemakes him an excellent sniper. He’s perfect for leveling up into theAssassin or Bounty HunterArchetypes.
Warrior
Bahardor is a decorated military officer, but privately he struggles to cope with sending thousands to their deaths. He’s the only melee-oriented pregen character, so if you’re looking to get stuck on the front lines, he’s a great choice. He’s a natural choice to upgrade to aVanguardorArch-Militantlater in the game.
Appearance
You can select a portrait, character model, and voice for the Lord Captain. This includes tattoos and cybernetic implants if you want to really blend in with the game’s dark future setting.
You can even import a face of your own by choosing the “Custom” tab in the Portrait section!
NPCs will refer to the Lord Captain by the pronouns associated with their gender presentation, chosen byselecting the Roman numerals at the top of the Appearance tab.Characters with Body Type 1 will present as female, while Type 2 will present as male. Regardless of the character’s gender presentation,their title will always be Lord Captain.
Your character’s appearance hasno effect on gameplay, stats, or story- it’s purely cosmetic. Choosing one of the standard portraits willadjust your character’s appearance to match it, but you can change any and all features afterward until you’re satisfied.
Homeworld
There are thousands - perhaps millions - of habitable worlds within the Imperium. The type of planet that your character hails from will impact their base stats and unlock traits that can’t be earned anywhere else.
Death Worlds were never meant for human life, and only the strongest survive to adulthood on these dangerous planets. If you want to play a character who cantake a hit, Death Worlders are a great choice.
Once per battle, whenever a Death Worlder is reduced below thirty percent of their maximum Wounds, theyimmediately recover an amount equal to twenty percent of their maximum.These are Temporary Wounds, which is important because Death Worlders also geta bonus to Dodge and Armorwhenever they have any number of Temporary Wounds.
As a Death World character levels up, they’ll gain access to traits thatincrease their critical hit chanceandfurther enhance their survivability.
Voidborn characters don’t have a homeworldper se, instead having been raised aboard a spaceship or orbital station. They’re accustomed to the dangers of space travel, but Imperial superstitions around the Void mean that characters born there will be seen as odd or off-putting.
There might be something to those superstitions, because the Voidborn haveincredible luck.If a Voidborn character fails at a task, there is aone-in-five chancethat they will succeed instead, overriding the results of the initial roll. If the original chance of success was less than twenty percent, the do-over will be limited to the original probability.
Leveling up as a Voidborn character gives you more ways to use this strange good fortune, or even manipulate the luck of allies and enemies.
Hive Worlds are the Imperium’s population centers, where tens of billions are born, live, and die in enormous arcologies - many without ever seeing the sky. Hive Worlders are used to crowded conditions and teamwork, to the point of being deeply uncomfortable when alone.
Hive Worlders increase their Resolve, a stat which affects the team’s ability to deployHeroic Acts, as long as there are three or more creatures within three spaces of them. These creatures can be enemies - crime is common on Hive Worlds, so being on their toes is second nature to their denizens!
If there are no creatures within three spaces, a Hive World characterloses Resolve instead.
Later abilities for Hive Worlders focus onhelping alliesandfighting as a group.
Forge Worlds - and their denizens - are entirely covered in machinery. Typically dedicated to industrial production, these planets are home to tech-savvy humans and the cybernetic priests of the Adeptus Mechanicus. A Forge Worlder gets to chooseone cybernetic implantthat grants them a permanent bonus:
After leveling up, Forge World characters have access to abilities thatenhance their durability,improve their performance with high-tech weapons, anduse Intelligence in place of Fellowshipfor key social skills.
“Imperial World” is a catch-all term for the vast majority of planets within the Imperium, which don’t fit into any of the other categories. Imperial Worlders, in general, are loyal and unquestioning… at least around their superiors.
A character from an Imperial World gets tochoose one Characteristic, other than Weapon Skill or Ballistics Skill, to get a +10 bonus. This makes them great for specializing a build!
Imperial Worlders who level up can get some very useful generalist talents, especially when they’re fighting alongside other humans. Then again, what loyal citizen would dare stand shoulder-to-shoulder with a xeno?
Fortress Worlds are often located in systems of strategic importance, or were at some point in the distant past. Regardless, they’re the military strongholds of the Imperium, where everyone is conscripted at birth.
Fortress Worlders have a trait calledNever Stop Shooting, which gives them a chance to get an extra attack in the turn after they kill an enemy. Despite its name, this bonus can be triggered with both melee and ranged attacks.
An advanced Fortress Worlder is arelentless combatant, with access to talents that increase the likelihood that Never Stop Shooting will go off, or help them stay in the fight withfree reloadsand stat increases.
Origin
Your character’s Origin is the job they had before they came aboard the Von Valancius flagship. It serves as their “class,” offering further increases to Characteristics and Skills plus an important key ability. You can see ourfull breakdown of each Origin here.
Triumph And Darkest Hour
Your character has already had a notable career by the time the game begins. TheirTriumphandDarkest Hourrepresent the highest and lowest points of their backstory. They also incur aminor Skill Bonus and Penalty, respectively.
Each Origin interprets the Triumph and Darkest Hour differently, including which Skills are affected.
Lore (Imperium), Athletics, or Persuasion
Awareness, Coercion, or Medicae
Logic, Coercion, or Demolition
Awareness, Persuasion, or Athletics
Logic or Lore (Imperium)
Persuasion, Carouse, or Commerce
Lore (Imperium), Lore (Warp), or Athletics
Awareness, Persuasion, or Medicae
Tech-Use, Commerce, or Awareness
Logic, Commerce, or Persuasion
Persuasion, Commerce, or Coercion
Lore (Imperium), Lore (Warp), or Carouse
Lore (Xenos), Persuasion, or Coercion
Lore (Warp), Logic, or Awareness
Archetypes
Archetypes determine your character’s combat style, combining with your Homeworld and Origin to give a full picture of their capabilities.Read our full overviewof all the Archetypes in the game, from the four available at the start to the ones you’ll unlock later!
Characteristics
Now that all the major choices are made, you getthirty pointsto distribute among your Characteristics. These points can be added inmultiples of five, but you can’t give more than ten points to a single Characteristic.
Try to get as many of your Characteristics up to the next multiple of ten as you can; bonuses are calculated using thetens digitof the associated stat, which is important for things like damage calculation!
Skills are associated with specific Characteristics, so increasing a stat will also increase the relevant Skill.
Once your Characteristics are finalized, it’s time toname your ship,then start the game!
