Doesn't Rogue Trader title sound kinda weird?

[Kshahdoo]

And almost dull? English isn't my first language so maybe I don't understand how deep and meaningful the phrase "rogue trader" is but to me it's like to give somebody in D&D the title of Fighter. Or Cleric. Or Paladin.

Why don't call it somehow like Perfide Mercator? Sounds pretty high gothic and lore friendly, I'd say.

[Sotanaht]

"Rogue Trader" definitely gives the wrong impression. Knowing nothing of 40k except perhaps that it's in space, I think most people would envision a character closer to Han Solo when they hear that title. Someone operating on the edge of legality, smuggling as much as not, and generally a very small operation so as to remain under the radar. The absolute ruler of many worlds and trillions of lives would never be what someone associated with the title of "trader", rogue or otherwise.

But then, that juxtaposition might have been what they were going for all along.

[Cutlass Jack]

Balekai eredeti hozzászólása:

However, the title of "Rogue" is a bit off in that it suggests the powers are not legal or are not on the up and up when they are. It's supposed to refer to their independence really, but feels more like it's referring to the roguish aspect of many Rogue Traders that abuse their powers.

Rogue is highly off as a title. Since you're hardly acting rogue when you have a big wall sized piece of paper saying its legal.

Its simply that they picked a word they thought sounded 'cool' and tried to have it make sense later.

[Kshahdoo]

Balekai eredeti hozzászólása:

No weirder than Warhammer 40K for a space tabletop game lol.

Especially as the setting gets spinoffs like the upcoming series.

Sure, but nobody in the game calls the world "Warhammer 40 000" while everybody constantly calls you Rogue Trader. One thing is a marketable name for a product to sell and the other thing is an in-game title.

[Coldhands]

After getting to Act 3, I vote for the name Merchant Vagabond. : p

[TaKo]

Cutlass Jack eredeti hozzászólása:

Rogue is highly off as a title. Since you're hardly acting rogue when you have a big wall sized piece of paper saying its legal.

its legal for a rogue trader as its considered a necessity for their role but for someone else it wouldnt be legal

the imperium is full of contradictions and exceptions like that

[=DeadShot=]

TaKo eredeti hozzászólása:

Cutlass Jack eredeti hozzászólása:

Rogue is highly off as a title. Since you're hardly acting rogue when you have a big wall sized piece of paper saying its legal.

its legal for a rogue trader as its considered a necessity for their role but for someone else it wouldnt be legal

the imperium is full of contradictions and exceptions like that

All laws aren't absolute. All laws have exceptions. So it isn't strange.

[TaKo]

=DeadShot= eredeti hozzászólása:

All laws aren't absolute. All laws have exceptions. So it isn't strange.

its not strange as in unexpected it is still funny to poke fun at such a dogmatic empire, ya know

for example the imperium is pretty harsh on mutants, but also it requires them, navigators and psykers, astarters if you count them(i do, they sure aint true humans)

or how the imperium and the adeptus mechanicus just agree to act as if the emperor and the omnissiah are one and the same or one is the manifestation of the other since they need each other

[pascal.difolco]

I'm not a native English speaker neither, and thing is the "rogue" word is pretty awkward to translate in my language (French) that has no real equivalent, so I suspect it can be the same in other languages
But well it's an "official" WH40K title, so who cares ?

[Traynya]

pascal.difolco eredeti hozzászólása:

so I suspect it can be the same in other languages

If you're really interested, in Russian, Rogue Trader translates as "Вольный торговец". It means he's acting on one's own free will and not constrained by any rules or prohibitions. I think it perfectly conveys the meaning of the title... and sounds very euphonious.

[legion248]

Sotanaht eredeti hozzászólása:

"Rogue Trader" definitely gives the wrong impression. Knowing nothing of 40k except perhaps that it's in space, I think most people would envision a character closer to Han Solo when they hear that title. Someone operating on the edge of legality, smuggling as much as not, and generally a very small operation so as to remain under the radar. The absolute ruler of many worlds and trillions of lives would never be what someone associated with the title of "trader", rogue or otherwise.

But then, that juxtaposition might have been what they were going for all along.

Well traders vary with great degree. they are on the edge of legality after the premise of letters of Marque, so check. They are absolutely smugglers, on massive scale at times, because there permitted trade with xeno goods at all. And in absolute scale of the Imperium they are individually small potatoes.

And the 3 traders in the expanse, and the Von Valnicus in particular are in exceptional circumstances. The expanse is effectively permanently on the frontier because of the turbulence of traveling the Maw. Normally even dynastic traders are perpetually pushed out by normal imperial institutions, because within the official borders, the warrant offers no legal protection, and the Trader only has there personal power/means to stand on. Additionally the fact that the Von Valnicus has even survived the intervening millennia accords them some measure of respect and power.

[pascal.difolco]

Traynya eredeti hozzászólása:

pascal.difolco eredeti hozzászólása:

so I suspect it can be the same in other languages

If you're really interested, in Russian, Rogue Trader translates as "Вольный торговец". It means he's acting on one's own free will and not constrained by any rules or prohibitions. I think it perfectly conveys the meaning of the title... and sounds very euphonious.

That's nice ! In French "rogue" translates mostly similar to hooligan/ruffian/thief/rascal, which conveys much less good vibes !

[Heart of Storm]

The name comes from the original "Rogue Trader" roleplaying setting, which ultimately became Warhammer 40K

This "Rogue Trader" game is based off a more modern version of the original RPG, but it's very much a name that has meaning to fans of the setting.

[Vexillarius]

Ummm perfide is french not english and it doesn't even remotely have a close translation to rogue anyway. Mercator doesn't even mean trader at all it's a name for map projection.

[Gracey Face]

Cutlass Jack eredeti hozzászólása:

Its simply that they picked a word they thought sounded 'cool' and tried to have it make sense later.

It's not so much that, it's that the lore has changed over time. Rogue trader fit better back in 1e, but the entire lore was different back then, for example in 1e the book opens by stating how the emperor is blessed by the gods and was given his position by them. That would be heresy and totally against canon now.

But the lore in 1e for what a rogue trader was is someone who was so much of a problem that the ecclesiarchy (who ruled the imperium in 1e rather than the administratum now) wanted to get rid of them but could not "legally" kill them, so instead they gave them orders to perform trading missions on the fringe of human space. That is where the name rogue comes from, because you were an outcast and a rogue which is why you were punished by being a rogue trader.

That is almost completely different from the lore now though, which is why the title doesn't fit any more.

[REhorror]

Gracey Face eredeti hozzászólása:

REhorror eredeti hozzászólása:

Warhammer tries to use simple English in a lot of thing, but I'm surprised Rogue Trader doesn't have its own latin title like Adeptus Astartes.

They only ramp up the faux latin when there's a copyright issue and GW bagged the Rogue Trader copyright.

Makes me appreciate it tbh.
Warhammer is working class, stuff like Sister of Battle (they are monastic women going to battle), Space Marines (tm), Imperial Guards are easy to understand.