Day 27: Rogue Trader
Thetys Goya von Mannteuffel
Some 250 years ago, shifting priorities in the Imperium’s warmaking meant that the planned conquest of the Causticus Cluster and its nebula-hidden worlds was postponed indefinitely and effectively abandoned. For Imperial Admiral Theosophia Goya von Mannteuffel this was inacceptable, but all her arguing and politicking fell on increasingly deaf ears. What she finally achieved was her being granted a Warrant of Trade upon her retirement from active naval service, along with a light cruiser she had served on for parts of her career. Very much in line with the admiral’s wishes, the terms of her Warrant stipulated that it be used to bring the Causticus Cluster under Imperial rule. However, after overseeing her cruiser’s refit and mustering her crew, the old admiral died en route to the Causticus Cluster, never getting to see the start of the conquest she had dreamed of for long decades. Her dynasty, though, has waged a private crusade against the worlds of the Cluster continuously for the last 200 years. Limited means – not limited ambition – have seen this endeavour take the shape of little more than an extended campaign of piracy and merchant warfare for the greater part of these centuries. The only fixture in the ebbs and flows of the dynasty’s fortunes being the Envy of Princes, the original cruiser outfitted by the admiral, and their dedication to the narrow remit of their Warrant and the promise of lordship over an eventually conquered Cluster it entails.
The current holder of the Warrant is Lord-Captain Thetys Goya von Mannteuffel, daughter of Lord-Captain Themis Goya von Mannteuffel and great-great-great-great-granddaughter of Admiral Theosophia Goya von Mannteuffel. Like her forebears, she is single minded in her determination to bring the Causticus Cluster to heel, freely spending the riches plundered from Cluster shipping and the strange alchemical compounds found on many of its worlds to lure in the crew and soldiers needed for the next venture into the hostile nebulae. However, she faces significant internal opposition, with Lieutenant Theoderich G. von Mannteuffel-Brückner and his grandfather Eduardo Brückner, the patriarch of the branch line, looking to refocus the dynasty’s attention away from the dreams of conquest they see as a fool’s errand. With the Lord-Captain being as of yet childless and the heads of the dynasty’s traditional style of leading right from the front at the sharp edge of boarding action instead of from the relative safety of the Envy of Princes‘ bridge, the ambitious old man and his grandson are just waiting for their chance.
The Envy of Princes
Hull: Light Cruiser
Class: Endeavour-class Light Cruiser
Dimensions: 3.8 km long, 0.5 km abeam at fins approx.
Mass: 22 megatonnes approx.
Crew: 67,500 crew, approx.
Accel: 3.9 gravities max sustainable acceleration.
Speed: 6
Manoeuvrability: +9
Detection: +20
Void Shields: 1
Armour: 20 (Prow 22)
Hull Integrity: 60
Morale: 100
Crew Population: 100
Crew: Veteran (50)
Weapon Capacity: 1 Port, 1 Starboard, 2 Prow
Turret Rating: 2
Essential Components
Jovian Pattern Class 3 Drive, Markov 2 Warp Engine, Gellar Field, Repulsor Shield, Good Quality Command Bridge, Mark 1.r Life Sustainer, Pressed-Crew Quarters, Mark-201.b Auger Array
Supplemental Components
Port and Starboard Las-burners, Best Quality Prow Fortis-pattern Torpedo Tubes, Prow Voss-pattern Torpedo Tubes, Cargo Hold and Lighter Bay, Barracks, Empyrean Mantle, Minelayer Bay, Good Quality Power Ram, Reinforced Prow
Upgrades
Good Quality Starchart Collection (applies to Causticus Cluster only), Good Quality Storm Trooper Detachment
Special Rules
Equal Shares: Endeavours undertaken by the Envy of Princes generate only half the normal Profit Factor (round up), but each point of Profit Factor so gained immediately increases Morale by 1d5+10.
Gilded Torpedoes: Each of the Envy of Princes‘ Torpedo Tube components stores one special gilded boarding torpedo reserved for use by the Lord Captain and her personal retinue. A Hit and Run attack led by the Lord Captain from her gilded torpedo either gains a +20 bonus on the opposed Command Test or determines Critical Hits by rolling 1d10 instead of 1d5. Furthermore, the Envy of Princes‘ crew knows that if the gilded torpedo is loaded, their captain herself is putting her life on the line, Morale is immediately increased by +1d10 and for the rest of the battle the Envy of Princes‘ Crew Rating improves by one step (i.e., from Veteran to Elite).
Vessel of the Fleet: The Envy of Princes possesses the Vessel of the Fleet background package in its Steadfast Ally version.
Notes:
This spiralled somewhat out of control. It started with the pretty obvious idea of sometime during the month doing an actual Rogue Trader as a pirate. And then… well, suffice it to say, that things kept piling up, until I was left with a new region of space, dynastic politics, new ship add-ons/rules, a statted starship, a solid handful of character concepts, ideas of strange cosmic phenomena, bio-compound mining operations, and… stuff. This probably mandates a follow up. Or two. Or more. Also, why is the Endeavour-class the only imperial hull with two prow weapon slots (or one prow and one keel)? (Hm. Now that I write this, I probably could have put together a new ship’s component allowing torpedo tubes to be mounted in a dorsal slot… too late now for the Envy.)
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