Complete Guide To Character Creation In Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader

Character creation in Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader is 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:

Hecata

Hecata is a disgraced war hero for whom a single catastrophic failure undid decades of service. She fights best at range, from behind cover, with allies nearby. As she levels up, use Characteristic Advances to increase her Fellowship and she’ll make an excellent Master Tactician. Alternately, you can progress her to Bounty Hunter to focus on her main stats – Ballistics Skill and Perception – to make her a one-woman army.

Darrius

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. His precise, adaptable fighting style makes him an excellent sniper. He’s perfect for leveling up into the Assassin or Bounty Hunter Archetypes.

Bahardor

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 a Vanguard or Arch-Militant later 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 by selecting 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 has no effect on gameplay, stats, or story – it’s purely cosmetic. Choosing one of the standard portraits will adjust 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 World

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 can take a hit, Death Worlders are a great choice.

Once per battle, whenever a Death Worlder is reduced below thirty percent of their maximum Wounds, they immediately recover an amount equal to twenty percent of their maximum. These are Temporary Wounds, which is important because Death Worlders also get a bonus to Dodge and Armor whenever they have any number of Temporary Wounds.

As a Death World character levels up, they’ll gain access to traits that increase their critical hit chance and further enhance their survivability.

Voidborn

Voidborn characters don’t have a homeworld per 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 have incredible luck. If a Voidborn character fails at a task, there is a one-in-five chance that 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 World

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 deploy Heroic 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 character loses Resolve instead.

Later abilities for Hive Worlders focus on helping allies and fighting as a group.

Forge World

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 choose one cybernetic implant that grants them a permanent bonus:

• Analytics System: increases the character’s critical hit chance based on their Intelligence.
• Locomotion System: increases the character’s Movement and Dodge based on their Agility.
• Subskin Armor: increases the character’s Armor based on their Toughness.

After leveling up, Forge World characters have access to abilities that enhance their durability, improve their performance with high-tech weapons, and use Intelligence in place of Fellowship for key social skills.

Imperial World

“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 to choose 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 World

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 called Never 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 a relentless combatant, with access to talents that increase the likelihood that Never Stop Shooting will go off, or help them stay in the fight with free reloads and 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 our full breakdown of each Origin here.

Triumph And Darkest Hour

Your character has already had a notable career by the time the game begins. Their Triumph and Darkest Hour represent the highest and lowest points of their backstory. They also incur a minor Skill Bonus and Penalty, respectively.

Each Origin interprets the Triumph and Darkest Hour differently, including which Skills are affected.

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 overview of 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 get thirty points to distribute among your Characteristics. These points can be added in multiples 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 the tens digit of 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 to name your ship, then start the game!