Only two xeno companions?

[Moa Rider]

So we're only getting two xeno companions, both are Eldar, one is already confirmed to betray you regardless of what you do and the other is a Dark Eldar so them betraying you is pretty much a given. The whole point of Rogue Traders is the fact they're the only humans in the Imperium with the freedom to interact with aliens and take them into their retinue. The only reason I was interested in Owlcat making a Rogue Trader RPG was because I thought we'd be getting a lot of interesting xeno companions, but it seems like Rogue Trader is going to be just another Human-centric 40K game.

[Kuhnives]

The imperium hates xenos. This is all lore accurate. Get over it.

[zastcat]

Originally posted by Ace-Of-Blades:

Originally posted by zastcat:

the gradual phase out is absolutely happening in both lore and sales

I still don't know why they felt the need to justify making newer mini's. There didn't need to be a lore reason as to why the mini's now represented SM's actual height better on the table.

the minis come 1st, the lore is made to accommodate, they wanted to move the setting forward a tiny bit to remove claims of "it's in permanent stasis or the setting ends" and this gave them an excuse

by making them separate this also pressures people who want a full army to actually get all the new things instead of just sticking to their existing models and saying it's the same thing, by phasing the firstborn units out slowly they also have a mix of fomo to grab them before they're gone and further pressure to get the new things that are replacing them

Originally posted by Kuhnives:

The imperium hates xenos. This is all lore accurate. Get over it.

the imperium does hate xenos, it also routinely works with xenos and there are sanctioned xenos as a known thing

the imperium hates mutants, it still has them as a known and tolerated part of many of its worlds and casually makes use of abhumans who often have a higher rate of mutation as well as space marine chapters with consistent mutations

the imperium hates psykers, it still relies heavily on them for everything from communication to combat

the imperium hates lots of things, the actual individual opinions on them vary from character to character, the willingness to make use of them changes from story to story, even the question of whether they're kill on sight, avoided and shunned, or simply considered a thing to insult changes from story to story

[Rozenade]

Thanks for spoiling a plot point you asshat

[Darx]

Thanks for spoilers dumbass

[MeGa]

As people points out, this is a big spoiler few days before release.

What is next? A thread complaining about the ending like "there is no bad ending?" Or "why the bertray at the end" or similar

[pplr1]

Originally posted by D-Black Catto:

what do you want, a zoo?

Yes. Or the option to have a zoo. A lot of the classic RPGs like Baldur's Gate let people have a range of characters they have of their party of different races and alignments.

On top of that if you can become a powerful Rogue Trader and end up owning massive space stations, moons, or even planets then you probably have room for as many as you want and arguably should be able to stick them somewhere keeping an eye on things for you until you come back.

1 of the great things about Rogue Traders is they can interact with, trade with, and hire aliens (xenos). This gives them the potential to cut through some of the problems the Imperium makes for itself when it comes to dealing with non-humans.

Limiting things to 2 aliens/xenos which both betray you is actually something of a letdown. Sure 40k prides itself on grimdark, but it doesn't have to be grimdumb as well. The latter is optional. Let the player decide if he or she wants to do that as well.

[pplr1]

Originally posted by Rozen:

Thanks for spoiling a plot point you asshat

This kind of spoiler is actually very useful to have ahead of time. It lets players know if the game is allowing them to make full use of their characters' position/abilities or not.

[AdahnGorion]

Originally posted by D-Black Catto:

what do you want, a zoo?

I could have understood a T'au along with what we have.
But the OP most likely wanted Ork, Necrons and Tyranids.. and lots of other... because they don´t know much about the lore.

I think its fine as it is tbh. The fact we have both a Aeldari and a Drukhari is great.

[Croxio]

for the tau , without warp magic it seems complicated to me. Since the tau are only in their zone, and hardly in other regions of the galaxy. For the other big factions. You can not easily chat with them: tyranid, Big no; necron, you can only speak with necron leader/lord; ork yes but the ork spores and their ultra violent character... At the limit of abs human would be possible like furries but they are a rare minority.

As for companions, there is already a wide spectrum. There are camps that we can't be together, it's not pathfinder/dnd where you can have teams with really exotic mixes.
And again I'm excited to see how the Drukhari can join the team, I imagine there will be a good reason not to execute him.

[pplr1]

Originally posted by zastcat:

Originally posted by Kuhnives:

The imperium hates xenos. This is all lore accurate. Get over it.

the imperium does hate xenos, it also routinely works with xenos and there are sanctioned xenos as a known thing

the imperium hates mutants, it still has them as a known and tolerated part of many of its worlds and casually makes use of abhumans who often have a higher rate of mutation as well as space marine chapters with consistent mutations

the imperium hates psykers, it still relies heavily on them for everything from communication to combat

the imperium hates lots of things, the actual individual opinions on them vary from character to character, the willingness to make use of them changes from story to story, even the question of whether they're kill on sight, avoided and shunned, or simply considered a thing to insult changes from story to story

Zastcat, you are more correct than you realize.

1st

Probably most important in relation to the game since it is based on Rogue Traders, is that a Rogue Trader's Warrent of Trade means they are allowed to trade with aliens/xenos. It does not matter if the Imperium hates aliens/xenos, Rogue Traders can still cut deals with them, trade with them, and even join them in some of their (the aliens/xeno's) wars provided it serves the Rogue Trader's interest and does not directly betray the Imperium (that last bit could result in a visit from the Inquisition if it happens).

So it does not matter that much if most of the Imperium hates aliens/xenos. Rogue Traders get an exemption.

And that exemption is within the lore.

So Kuhnives is actually wrong on this even if he would be correct on other kinds of characters.

2nd

Not only does the Imperium rely on psykers for communication and combat but to get their spaceships and navies from place to place. No psykers means the Imperium effectively falls apart.

Some of the most important people in the Imperium are psykers. Granted you said "everything from" so you were clear that psykers did a wide range of things in the 40k storyline. But that may have understated just how important psykers are to the Imperium.

[Ace-Of-Blades]

Originally posted by zastcat:

the minis come 1st, the lore is made to accommodate, they wanted to move the setting forward a tiny bit to remove claims of "it's in permanent stasis or the setting ends" and this gave them an excuse

by making them separate this also pressures people who want a full army to actually get all the new things instead of just sticking to their existing models and saying it's the same thing, by phasing the firstborn units out slowly they also have a mix of fomo to grab them before they're gone and further pressure to get the new things that are replacing them

Fair points, same for the rest of your post. I still would have preferred it if they had just come out and said 'Our new range of Space Marines are much larger in scale to more accurately depict how they are in the setting/lore, wielding brand new weapons and armor conceived by the combined genius of Cawl and Guilleman!'.

I don't know but the very concept of the Primaris still just erks me a bit. Like they're just an extra level of silly I can't get behind. The setting could have moved on without including them.

[AdahnGorion]

Originally posted by Croxio:

for the tau , without warp magic it seems complicated to me. Since the tau are only in their zone, and hardly in other regions of the galaxy. For the other big factions. You can not easily chat with them: tyranid, Big no; necron, you can only speak with necron leader/lord; ork yes but the ork spores and their ultra violent character... At the limit of abs human would be possible like furries but they are a rare minority.

As for companions, there is already a wide spectrum. There are camps that we can't be together, it's not pathfinder/dnd where you can have teams with really exotic mixes.
And again I'm excited to see how the Drukhari can join the team, I imagine there will be a good reason not to execute him.

Well yes.. but you could still make a good story about it and make it work.
As I said, I think the two we already have is more than enough.

[pplr1]

Originally posted by Zrani:

How do you get the Dark Eldar companion?

Possibly by making a reservation at the wrong kind of nightclub.

[pplr1]

Originally posted by AdahnGorion:

Originally posted by Croxio:

for the tau , without warp magic it seems complicated to me. Since the tau are only in their zone, and hardly in other regions of the galaxy.

Actually Tau do have their own slow moving (compared to the Imperium) trade fleets.

Additionally that could be a bonus for the Rogue Trader. If he or she mades a trade deal with them then many other people are not likely to reach the Tau (read limited competition or outright monopoly) and the Rogue Trader may be able to ship Tau made goods much further than the Tau can.. for a significant markup.

Originally posted by AdahnGorion:

Originally posted by Croxio:

And again I'm excited to see how the Drukhari can join the team, I imagine there will be a good reason not to execute him.

Well yes.. but you could still make a good story about it and make it work.
As I said, I think the two we already have is more than enough.

I may worry the Drukhari is there to execute your character.

Though this brings up a different issue. There may be something wrong in this game if the Craftworld Eldar betrays you but the Drukhari does not. Isn't betrayal something about as typical as eating breakfast in the morning for Drukhari?

Maybe the game makes you choose between the 2 or something.

If it fails to do that then the story better have a good reason.

[brago90]

Originally posted by Starstruck:

Originally posted by Moa Rider:

So we're only getting two xeno companions, both are Eldar, one is already confirmed to betray you regardless of what you do and the other is a Dark Eldar so them betraying you is pretty much a given. The whole point of Rogue Traders is the fact they're the only humans in the Imperium with the freedom to interact with aliens and take them into their retinue.

To be fair, Eldar and to a much lesser extent Drukhari are pretty much the only Xenos that would even be acceptable, from a meta perspective I mean. You coukd maybe slide in a Tau but that's difficult because of how the Ethereals indoctrinate and brainwash their subjects... unless its a Farsight Enclave Tau they're sure to undermine you too.

What do you want, an Ork? A Necron?? A Tyrannid?!

Rather than Xenos, Abhumans as companions would be much more doable... but those wouldn't be attractive romance options. Oh well.

To be honest, the missing xenos with the most justification to be playable would be the Kroot since they usually work as mercenaries but they are one of the least popular viable xenos races.

The tau can be an option with the right narrative, for example it can be a fugitive who is being hunted by the tau empire.

Tau and Kroot could perfectly come together in the same DLC and include tau weapons in the game along with a specialization class that focuses on the use of exoarmor. It would be a relatively simple DLC to implement.

The orks are complicated because it is not just the ork, it is the entire fungal ecosystem that the ork carries on its back simply by existing and that inevitably affects the ship.

Necrons are not impossible but they have very little room for customization and are technically immortal, however I would see it possible to get a Necron robot as a reward for a mission and to use it as a mercenary. However, the simplest way to have a playable necron is if Pascal wanted to transfer his consciousness to a necron skeleton that we got in a mission (obviously this would be the result of encouraging heregy in Pascal's soul).

I'm not sure about the tyranids, but a genestealer mutant could be very interesting and enable a new narrative branch because if you put a genestealer on a ship it will try to infect you and thereby enlighten you on the path of the four-armed emperor with all the radical narrative changes that this would bring to the entire game.

Regarding abhumans, both Ogryns and Squats are the most possible options and the second could bring some type of class focused on the use of machines.

Regarding humans, the most interesting thing that would possibly remain to be covered is the Oficio Asesinorum, but it is possible that it is already in the game and we do not know it.