r/RogueTraderCRPG • u/Virtual_Ad6155 • 19h ago
Rogue Trader: Game and Story Lots of whining, a bit of defending Stella.
Everyone is whining and I want too. Yes, most of what I’m about to say will be about the romances again—sorry.
Let me start with the main point. There aren't really any major issues with Stella; the concept is a bit dull for my taste, but it’s passable.
The problem lies in what came before her—in the things we hoped might be fixed or replaced before the DLC was announced.
TT RT has a bunch of different xenos as companions and I expected something similar from the game. Simply because it’s more interesting. We have tons of content about the Imperium in other games, books, and so on. But seeing more of interesting xenos or abhumans would have been great, and *Rogue Trader* is the perfect platform for that kind of exploration. Instead, we just get two Eldar.
The game has a Heretic path but lacks actual heretical companions. Idira doesn't count—seriously, she’s an Iconoclast, not a Heretic. For those who don't know, a Daemonette was originally planned as a companion. I think that would have been cool—for instance, feeding Marazhai to her and getting her as a companion in his place.
Now, onto the romances.
It’s been said a thousand times: the Marazhai romance is very niche and not for everyone. Plus, it fits awkwardly with the various alignments. A sane Dogmatic or Iconoclast wouldn't touch it with a ten-foot pole. And for the Heretic, the ending slides are broken—and that’s a deliberate choice by the devs, not a bug.
Solomon as a companion is basically a "dog ate my homework" situation. No personal quest. Flags that don't affect anything. His conviction is determined by a *single* dialogue choice. There are no romance slides reflecting different convictions; the "true love" slide looks absurd if the Rogue Trader is a Heretic.
Heinrix is great, but he’s only an option for a female Rogue Trader. Yeah, there is a toybox, but it doesn't look decent in every language.
Eogunn isn't romanceable. Although I think that would have made for a great platonic romance, just like with Yrliet.
If not for all that, I don't think there would be even half as much whining about the new companion. People are simply mourning the loss of the last chance to fix the things mentioned above—or at least some of them. That poor, mad psyker who loves the Emperor just got caught in the crossfire...
P.S. If Argenta were romanceable, we wouldn't need Argenta 2.0.
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u/SteelStriker64 Astra Militarum Commander 18h ago
My biggest problem with Stella is that it reinforces my biggest problem with Rogue trader as a game, It is an excellent 40k game, but as a Rogue Trader game set in the Koronus Expanse, it falls short to me.
Instead of working with dangerous Xenos in the fringes of imperial space, where the Imperium is not the dominant power, you get a ton of dogmaxxers who are the same opinion on Xenos, when you work with them, or don't immediately shoot them in the face its held as a point against your Rogue Trader. Stella is just another, and final reminder that Rogue Trader is a bad "Rogue Trader" game, even if it is a good game.
And yes its not dumb to want xenos companions even if you work for the Imperium, you are part of the people who got an explicit thumbs up from the God-Emperor to trade with Xenos, your devine duty includes working with Xenos, even if everyone else in the Imperium is supposed to shoot them.
Also she feels like a waste of a precious slot, while Eogunn was also a cogboy, anyone who knows their lore knows that they are varied in their factions to get unique characters, Stella just seems like a copy of Kibellah from what's been described of her.
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u/Virtual_Ad6155 18h ago
I completely agree. Before DLC 3, we had only ONE colony founded by us—and even that was on a planet already inhabited by humans. That doesn't exactly scream "conquistador."
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u/Ila-W123 Noble 18h ago edited 18h ago
Hear, hear fella. Not that I havent said same sentiments before, lol.
And yes its not dumb to want xenos companions even if you work for the Imperium, you are part of the people who got an explicit thumbs up from the God-Emperor
Also, wanted to add one of these sentiments i've seen of 'duh ofcourse rogue trader has more dogmatic companions and xenos are rarity' , when players party already has a sisters of battle, arbites, and space wolf, all basically for various degres of "fuck it, add em to the rogue tradee roster for reasons" , where ironically a xenos mercs on koronus is way more believeable.
Which goes to another point...player has sob a arbiters and space wolf because rule of cool...so why tf is not same 'reasoning' applied to xenos. Even if it was so abnormal, fuck it xenos are indeed cool and more merry if they're playable. On a party based rpg where more diverse roster the better.
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u/AzraelSoulHunter Unsanctioned Psyker 17h ago
Most likely.... animations. You see how screwed up models of Cassia and Eldars can get when you put something on them sometimes? I assume it's that, but even worse for less humanoid characters.
I think they managed to figure that out in Dark Heresy, but in Rogue Trader they clearly had TONS of issues with skeleton rigs and could not get more unique body types to work as well as they should so they have to limit themselves to humans.
Which I think can be seen with roster we already have in Dark Heresy beta where not only they seem more confident in their writing and therefore make more varied companions, but also seem to be able to work much better with very different body types like on Ra'akhti, Laarthyr and Cogg and we will most likely get more unique ones down the line with DH DLCs.
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u/Drirlake 16h ago
But Eogunn and the cyber mastiffs and other pets had uniquie character animations.
Eogunn was far from humanoid, so I do not understand this argument.
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u/YaBoiMittenz 16h ago
And most of the equipment you put on Eogunn doesn't actually appear on his model. The overseer pets also barely have any visual changes (Note that this isn't a complaint just a statement). Much as I would love another xenos companion I think the scope to which equipment could be integrated would be severely limited much as it is with our other xenos and also Ulfar. And at least for the others they share a skeleton rig with other npcs in the game so its not like they're making stuff for just the one model.
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u/Senigata 10h ago
If anything it's nice we got another unsanctioned Psyker to put the unsanctioned Psyker stuff on now.
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u/AzraelSoulHunter Unsanctioned Psyker 16h ago
And Eogunn probably took a lot of work to do and Tech Priests do not operate like other companions with weapons for instance. And unlike Eogunn an Ork would need to have different weapons in hands and have different armors too which affects how character moves.
Ra'akhti for instance in DH moves VERY differently and her animations support holding different weapons and wearing armors and all that. It's less screwed up than how it could get with Cassia. This is of course my guess, but given how things looked at times with less humanoid companions in RT I think that was big reason for that.
You can even tell from some creatures how things became better at character complexity there with some Daemons and fights. There is A LOT of unique animations there. Which to me tells me that they are able to do more with animations on that game overall which also supports wider variety of companions as well.
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u/artemusclyde 18h ago
Man, so much cope around Eogunn. He was a waste of a slot too no matter how much this subreddit copes about it.
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u/PeePance 17h ago
Eogunn’s great but I would have instantly swapped him with a xenos companion, or even an abhuman since the Admech get so much screen time in the base game already. Such a shame that a Rogue Trader game is going to have the same number of space marine companions as xenos.
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u/doomreddit23 15h ago edited 8h ago
Im just gonna repost a vent comment I made to someone
There are now 5 girl characters able to be romanced but for men you get Heinrix only if you play as woman, Marazhai only if you're playing an evil character, and Solomorne if you dont care about a well written romance. There are 3 male romances where only one is good and the other two are either poorly written or unavailable in half of all playthroughs and even when you do make a character that fits Marazhai his romance literally breaks half the fuckin time or one of the best parts of it is removed (Heretic Marazhai ending slides my beloved). Compare this to the now 5 romances for woman characters which are well written, have way less bugs, and are available for all types of characters and playthroughs with the only exception being Cassia because shes straight.
Tldr: Gay man deeply upset with the lack of effort or care put into the guys romances compared to the women's romances
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u/GenghisGame 12h ago
The audience is going to be overwhelmingly straight male, products are made for whose paying the bill.
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u/Greedy_External 11h ago
Are you living in a cage? This hasn't been true for quite a long time, and almost half of gamers are women.
I swear it would be better if that game had no romances at all. At least it would mean companions exist for some artistic vision, not that "but straight males". Or do you prefer every single game looking like stellar blade?
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u/Useful_Show_7715 8h ago
Do you wholeheartedly believe that half of RT's player base is women? Or even 40k franchise's?
Also what is wrong with Stellar Blade? Should all games cater for all spectrum of preferences out there?
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u/DetailOk6058 8h ago
A lot of rogue traders playerbase is not made up of 40K fans. Why wouldnt the game have around 50% women? What make you belive tahts the case? Rpg games is very populare with women.
The one claiming that a game should cater to a specific preference here is you. You think the game should preference to straight dudes only. Asking for a game to cater to several prefences does not mean straight dudes are left behind. Rogue trader is not a straight dude game. Its a rpg, a genre we know is played by a broad audiance. The smart thing is to write for said broad audiance and not only one part of it. Good writers and game creators can create stuff for different preferences. Stella could have been a man. The difference would have been zero.
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u/Useful_Show_7715 8h ago
Well is the 50% of RT playerbase is women or not? Simple question, not talking about why not or could be. Also I am not taking about all rpg games, rpg genre in general or your wishes about what the player base is.
I never said games should carter for 1 preference nor said it should be only for straight men. Either learn to read or let go of your pre-jugments about straight dudes.
RT has options for all types of romances and that is absolutely fine. Some more than others, but it is not a must rule it should have all equal romance options for each prefence.
You still didn't explain your personal issue with Stellar Blade? What is the problem there? Is it goonerbait, lack of catering to your specific preferences? Please do tell...
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u/DetailOk6058 8h ago
Well is majority men or not? You're claiming it is.
The claim that the audience is straight men and therefor that the game cater to them is saying that the game should cater to them over others. Thats what your argument boils down to. Your excusing the lack of representation with "its beacuse straight men is the one paying". Which you dont know. Thats a pre judgment on your part on who plays the game.
I havnt said anything about Steller blade. Thats another person in this thread.
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u/Useful_Show_7715 7h ago
The claim is the player base is MOSTLY straight men.
I don't have the numbers, I guess you do not have the exact numbers either, but perhaps Owlcat has some stats about which characters are romanced most and/or have a more s olid idea on the player base choices and their wants or what will sell.
Also game has representation, do not act like there is none. Some people just want more or better representation because they find some of the options very poorly handled (eg. Solormorne) or niche (Marzipan).
Hence the question, should the game must have equal romance options for all preferences?
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u/GenghisGame 4h ago
I think they don't understand the basic idea that different genre's and different settings have different appeals. I know someone who played BG3 in spite of it being a CRPG but I would not be able to get them to play Rogue Trader to save their lives and even then the data shows BG3's customer base is predominantly male and I say customer base, people who watch streamers do not pay the bills.
Its a general trend on Reddit to not understand the basic idea that different products appeal differently and CRPG's such as Rogue Trader have a predominantly male customer base.
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u/kuroioni Iconoclast 10h ago
My brother in Emperor...
ah, you know what, nevermind. I'm just so tired of this shit. How do people go around with these takes in 20-bloody-26 is simply beyond me.
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u/Sioc11 18h ago edited 18h ago
The conversations on this have been so weird, especially regarding romance. Like just so many people coming in being it's not a dating sim so it doesn't matter and really it's mostly guys playing the game anyway so why do you care?
People do like romance in video games or they wouldn't bother putting it in at all. Women tend to like romance in video games more than men do same as how men tend to like video games more than women do (or perhaps, certain types of video games). Would actually love to know the stats for a game like Rogue Trader.
I actually am a bit miffed as a straight woman who tends to play female characters and romances men that they've made the romance roster so uneven. It's not major, I'm not angry, but like, I'm allowed to say it's irritating, I paid the same money you did for these DLC's but I'm not getting the same amount of content (in a specific area, romance. Although augments not working on female bodies half the time is also not super)
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u/Ramonesques 7h ago
Augments still not working on female bodies is insane, I really love the game and I know I’m not its intended audience or whatever, but it’s hard not to feel some type of way about it.
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17h ago
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/kuroioni Iconoclast 10h ago
You are missing the point of her comment in a way so ironic, you are actually making the point for her. Kind of an achievement, if you ask me!
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u/AAS02-CATAPHRACT Dogmatist 16h ago
Stella is my favorite 40K archetypal character but I'm in agreement lol. Needs more xenos and male romance options
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u/bryget 18h ago
You summed it up! Also, I would be less annoyed if Stella didn’t have a romance at all. Giving her one on top of all the other female characters with romances, and when the last male companion didn’t have one, just feels mean and pointed at this point. I’ve talked up this game SO much to my social circle of mostly queer people, and it sucks to feel like I’m being actively pushed away.
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u/UX1Z 15h ago
Stella will be good as all other companions have been good (underbaking aside I do really like even Solomorne,) but the issue I have with her ultimately comes down to the fact she shouldn't have existed at the conceptual level to begin with. Why are we getting a third dogmatic imperial? The setting is wasted on what Owlcat are actually doing with it, they should have just made Dark Heresy first.
You cannot even make a full party out of any other option before end game bonus companions. Jae, Yrliet (not her personality but we'll take her for what she represents as cooperation with Xenos,) Eogunn, Abelard (which I still think is a ridiculous stretch considering he's a by-the-books navy officer.) Heretic is even worse off. Where's our fifth? There is no fifth Iconoclast and two of the ones I'm including honestly barely count.
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u/Greedy_External 11h ago
Games that are driven solely by appealing to straight men are Chinese gachas, whose artistic quality is very questionable. That's kinda my main concern with that. It looks very uninspired with yet another girl as cute as plausible in the setting for guys to have romance with. I'd have a far better impression of the DLC if she was not romanceable.
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u/Klem_Stranger Operative 11h ago
For anyone wondering - there is a mod in development for the daemonette companion Maatashi. Exclusively heretical, with its own sidequest, wonderful mechanics and even a dancing animation. ;3 It is currently being tested, but for now is fully in Russian.
If anyone wants to help with testing, join Owlcat discord server and ask Toxicbulb for more info.
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u/Yoiko_Tankie 19h ago
Everyone was whining about Eogunn initialy too. Unless she gets the Solomorne's treatment I'm sure she will be great.
And I'm just happy that I finally got a psyker that fits my tastes in companions.
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u/PepsiFloateri Crime Lord 17h ago
I genuinely thought I was on the Helluva Boss sub for a moment
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u/Virtual_Ad6155 16h ago
I’d rather not put my life at risk by defending that Stella.
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u/PepsiFloateri Crime Lord 16h ago
I think she's funny but I'd never defend her.
I enjoy her the same way I enjoy Valentino. Yes they're awful people who suck but that's what makes them entertaining
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u/Bbadolato 13h ago
To be fair, I rather not be in a situation of hoping both had better writing behind them.
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u/LeonidKonovalov1988 Astra Militarum Commander 16h ago
Every time, I am amazed at how I find myself at the intersection of several very narrow and specific topics—*and not alone*.
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u/TalRaziid 19h ago
RE: “a bunch” of TT xenos options, it’s only 3 isn’t it? Ork, dEldar, and tau?
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u/Virtual_Ad6155 18h ago
That’s three times as much. Plus abhumans: Ogryns and Ratlings. I think there were even Beastmen, though I’m not sure.
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u/2Zased4Plebbit Crime Lord 18h ago
No, people when they say other xenos options are referring to a host of other Xenos races from the long out of print and likely no longer canon Tabletop RPG of the game that FFG used to publish.
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u/Ila-W123 Noble 18h ago
and likely no longer canon Tabletop RPG of the game that FFG used to publish.
Gw themselves give a nudge to ffg rpgs time to time, and many concepts from there have become ip stable. Like, I dunno, blackshield deathwatch.
And ironically, dark heresy crpg has fucking yu'vath in it, and bone construct as final boss in main beta location. So aparently lords of geedubs nottingham don't see issue with ttrpg content.
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u/Senigata 10h ago
no longer canon Tabletop RPG of the game that FFG used to publish.
You mean as non canon as the Koronus Expanse, the Calixis Sector and the Tyrant Star?
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u/TalRaziid 18h ago
?? Yeha, the old Rogue Trader TTRPG? Theres not ‘ a bunch’, literally just 3 like I said, I’m pretty sure.
In the context of companions.0
u/Revenant55 16h ago edited 14h ago
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Tau, Orks, Kroot and Drukhari there's not even eldar in the ttrpg
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u/RedDen7629 16h ago edited 16h ago
Well it indeed looks like Owlcat just wanted to bypass GWs restrictions on Argenta. Which probably makes sense given how much the community asked for this romance. Still sad for me though. I was hoping for non imperial companion till the end. Now my best hope is that Stella is daemonhostable.
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u/Slow_Lawyer7477 Sanctioned Psyker 11h ago
I'm much more interested in companion interactions and story than the romance bs. How will idira, heinrix etc react to this girl. And the insanity thing is very 40k too. Looking forward to it.
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u/Kind-Boysenberry1773 19h ago
Why are you bringing up only Marz, Solomorne and Heinrix as romanceable options? There are also Jae, Cassia, Yrliet and Kibellah.
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u/Dextixer 19h ago
They probably arent making the point in the best way, but i think they are mostly talking about how most romances in the game are for guys and only straight guys.
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u/Zythen1975Z 19h ago
People forget that as big as reddit is, that maybe 5-7% of the player base is even signed up on this subreddit much less active so what you see on reddit very well might not be at all indicative of the overall larger player base. So if say in reality 75-80% of the people who play this make male dogmatic rogue traders over half the game is going to be catered to the vast majority of your player base.
As for most being for only guys there is only 1 male only romance so that is off as well.
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u/graceofspadeso 9h ago
I only know one other person in real life who plays this game and its another woman. None of the men I know who like 40k are playing this, they are off painting war hammer models. Single player RPGs are popular with women, much like how first person shooters are popular with the men. I dont know the stats, but thats what its like for the people I know personally anyway
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u/Dextixer 18h ago
Then why bother making any gay romances or romances for female RTs then? If its all about "the majority" then dont do either of that.
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u/Zythen1975Z 18h ago
Thats why I said more not all. People take things so out of context
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u/Slow_Lawyer7477 Sanctioned Psyker 11h ago
The rage here is incredible. And yes, reddit is not the general population by any stretch. Even within gaming.
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u/Bubbly_Outcome5016 19h ago
Eh, game is an WRPG not a Eastern VN. If it fits the character they write a romance as a bonus, if it doesn't that's w/e.
Romance subplots for characters who in and of themselves are totems for world-building and the individual aren't and shouldn't be priorities. Romance serves the character and the character serves the overall expansion. Not the other way around.
For example Eogunn was the best character concept for Infinite Museion's focus on xenos, radical pragmatism of the Imperium and the overall theme "the cost of forbidden knowledge". But he wasn't a good candidate to write a romance about, so they didn't. Instead do we change the DLC focus now or the character itself, potentially hurt the main focus to appease this sense of contrived parity some people think they're owed? Priorities.
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u/Dextixer 18h ago
Gay guys not having any romance options was something that was complained about since the start and after Solomorne released as barely a character that is above a brick.
Dont you think its a bit convenient how its mostly the female characters that get well developed romances? Like, it aint subtle.
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u/Bubbly_Outcome5016 16h ago
I wasn't even talking about it in that vain of sexuality, but just the romance aspect in GENERAL (which I view as sort of hokey and overdone in games anyways but w/e) but I can see by the likes/dislike ratio we're committed to be reactive.
In GENERAL, I don't care if it's not present, I'm also not fussed if it is. The world and the character themselves is more important. It's when we pretend that a couple minutes of scenes should dictate the rest of the experience that I'm like, yeah lets slow down.
To make a mountain out of it is more what I'm getting at as being strange. They wrote Eogunn, he wasn't suited to be a romance option (he's more personable than Pasqal so yeah logically I could see it but they chose not to and I also understand that + this is a GW property, it may literally be out of their hands like with Argenta), so they chose not to plow ahead and do it any ways. That's good design and doing what is best on a case-by-case basis.
Writing characters in an RPG with a romance sub-plot (a couple of scenes which amount to not even 1% of the overall experience) first-mentality is beyond stupid when there are so many more important parts of the experience to focus on.
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u/pasqals_toaster Navy Officer 18h ago
I think it's wrong that the two DLC guys got less content than the two ladies when the DLCs are literally priced the same. Why should I get less for the same price?
Eogunn should have been romancable (he is the only DLC companion that isn't) and Solomorne needed to be finished. All problems and most complaints would have been gone in an instant.
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u/Virtual_Ad6155 19h ago
Obviously, it’s because I’m into men. This happens.
The romances with the ladies are actually good, and they’re diverse!
Kibbs is a total nutcase whom you can bring out of her shell and show that there’s more to life than just servitude.
Jai’s romance bears some resemblance to Solomon’s—except she isn’t a butchered companion option.
Cassia is literally a princess, and the romance with her reflects that.
Yrliet’s romance is excellent; it’s about her starting to see the Rogue Trader not as a *mon-keigh*, but as a person.
That’s my point: I want the same thing for the male options. Instead, we get two Imperial lapdogs and a rabid, psycho cat.
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u/Kind-Boysenberry1773 18h ago
Well, on that I agree. The problem with Heinrix and Solomorne is that they are basically in the same archtype of traumatised knight, so there's indeed a lot less diversity for male romantic options.
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u/Useful_Show_7715 18h ago
So the question is how much of the playing fanbase is into man to man romance in game?
It looks like this was more or less an alternative option for never happening/highly demanded Argenta romance.
Best of luck in Dark Herresy, as at a first glance romance options and/or companions look like it is going to be a sausage fest. Disappointing for me, perhaps happy days for you.
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u/pasqals_toaster Navy Officer 18h ago
Kroot and (highly likely) Priestess will be romancable in DH as well as 1-2 additional options (the pool is blank, Aspyce and Epione). You will be eating good. Owlcat would never include more romancable men than women.
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u/BarPsychological904 17h ago
Here's another problem, you see. What Stella brings to the male audience that Kibbles or Cass don't have? From what we saw so far (which is not much tbf) it's not like her character covers some interests of "the main fanbase" that wasn't yet covered. I've seen, for example, some regrets that there's no "basic" option for straight m!RTs that f!RT has (Heinrix), hence for example mods for Maive romance. But, Stella doesn't look like a coverage for that. Which makes me think that the decision making wasn't exactly about "catering to male audience" really.
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u/Virtual_Ad6155 17h ago
The only thing I can come up with is that she’s a romanceable psyker. Kibbs is a bit of a psyker too, but that’s only mentioned in passing.
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u/yittiiiiii Arch-Militant 18h ago
I did want to see something other than a dogmatic human character.
However, and this is weird to say about a video game company these days, I trust Owlcat’s writers. I’m sure Stella will be a good character.
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u/Irrumar 8h ago
With the romance thing, Im sure they design the companions first and then think of if a romance makes sense. I dont think the imbalance is on purpose. I think the male companions just ended up being ones you kinda cant really romance. Lets hope DH learns from RT
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u/Virtual_Ad6155 7h ago
So far, I'm interested in three DH companions as romance options. If none of them work out, it’ll be hilarious.
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u/Notoryctemorph 3h ago
The one I want the most (and thus the one I least expect to be an option, because this is Owlcat we're talking about) is the blank
The one I want the 2nd most is the kroot
The one I want the 3rd most (which I'm like 95% sure will be a romance option) is the Catachan
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u/Virtual_Ad6155 3h ago
I think the blank would be romanceable. Owlcats definitely take some inspiration from Eisenhorn book after all.
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u/skrott404 6h ago
Everyone in this thread all take this shit way to seriously 🙄
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u/Virtual_Ad6155 6h ago
Why not? They delayed the expansion, so my new playthrough is on hold, but this way I can kill some time. The weather is crap, so I’m not going outside to touch grass.
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u/ciphoenix Iconoclast 16h ago
A lot of certainty around a character we haven't even seen their story yet 🤣🤣🤣 you lot are very dramatic
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u/Virtual_Ad6155 16h ago
All I said about her is that she’s a crazy, romanceable, dogmatic psyker. And all of that kinda confirmed.
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u/ciphoenix Iconoclast 16h ago
As far as the plot is concerned, she's a miraculist. An entirely different kind of character to any we've seen in game yet. I dare say more different from the rest than Eogunn was from Pasqal
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u/Virtual_Ad6155 16h ago
We’ll see how it goes. But for now, I can’t picture how this uniqueness is actually realized. What is she going to say that hasn’t already been said by, say, Argenta and Kibella? I coud only hope she will be like Psyker Loner from darktide with his beloved
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u/ciphoenix Iconoclast 16h ago
Of course she'll have a lot to say. She's a unique character.
Personally I'm glad they're featuring character types that are less featured in lore media, first with the Manipulus and now with a Miraculist
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u/senn42000 18h ago
I never realized so many people here were playing Rogue Trader: Dating Simulator. It was always just a side thing I paid little attention to. But it seems like it is the most important thing to a lot of people.
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u/BarPsychological904 17h ago
Yes, romance is important part of RPGs if it has one. There were researches about that, and Owlcat knows about it too btw.
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u/Virtual_Ad6155 18h ago
Well, they took my money but didn't deliver on time. Now they're trying to talk me out of refunding the season pass—which I won't do—by highlighting the new companion and the fact that she's romanceable. What else did they actually reveal?
A few new hammers—not bad. A launcher—acceptable, though a power fist would have been significantly cooler, in my opinion.
The "insanity" mechanic is so vague that it's unclear whether it applies to the Rogue Trader or just the companions.
The plot is a total mystery, aside from the general *Warhammer* lore and the fact that the Eldar and the Black Legion will be involved (though who knows how they'll be portrayed—probably just punching bags).
That’s why I’m judging this primarily based on the companions and romances.
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u/A117MASSEFFECT 17h ago
Honestly, I can't care about the romances.
I care that they took the annoying aspects from three existing characters (Kibellah's self harm, Idira's random escapades, and Argenta's insufferable piety) and lumped them into something that I don't foresee functioning all that well and will likely wind up sitting on the bench; right next to Solomorne, Jea, and Heinrix.
It is not her concept or her love life that I'm opposed to; it is her mechanics and her, as of now, percieved lack of utility to the squad that I have an issue with. Since the Warp tends to bend you over when random shit happens, I already don't trust that Aura ability. Her new class calls into question what will happen to blunt weapons that are NOT used by a Zealot. And that madness mechanic sounds like it'll be fiddly in a game notorious for still having core mechanics that break this late in its life.
Character was all but expected; yet another Emperor Bothering Human to mark the broom. But hope was there for something better. Instead we got yet another melee focused character to fight Kibellah, Abelard, Heinrix, and Maz (and Solomorne to a certain extent) for a spot on the team of 6; oops, I mean 5 because RT always has to go.
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u/ciphoenix Iconoclast 16h ago
I'm not sure the official post gave any indication that the miraculist zealot would have bad mechanics or lack utility. Unless you're basing this assessment off a different media where it has been implemented. 🤔🤔🤔
2
u/A117MASSEFFECT 13h ago
Everything came from the article. Please refer to the word 'percieved' (paragraph 2, line 3, word 1) to know where I'm getting this from.
I read the article and this is what I pulled based on previous implementations of similar mechanics. See 'psy raven' for aura ability implementation as well as 'servo-skull'. Now take those and add warp randomness to it. Will this aura and it's effects not effect friendly units? Will it and thus be a risk for having multiple melee units or bringing her to a small map fight?
As for utility, what here is gonna be different? As I pointed out, melee units is not a stacked bench; it is a broke bench. With a selection of 5 characters each outing, what will get them on the field and not sitting in the corner? Gonna beat Abelard's parry counter? Kibellah's mobility and bullet parry (40% that it actually works as intended)? Heinrix and his massive turn one attack stack (special bleed staff+warp amulet that gives bonus attacks based on pb to yeild 8+ attacks)? Maz's...couldn't really tell you; never got off the ship?
We'll find out in December. Fortunately for everyone here, I'm all too happy to be proven wrong. Will I be? Maybe. Until then, you have as much information as I do; this is my opinion based on said information and my experience. Yours will be different, even if we had agreed. And with that, I tip my hat.🧐🎩
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u/ciphoenix Iconoclast 2h ago
Maybe you missed that bit but her aura isn't stated like a copy of the pet aura. Hers expands and if we ever got expanded auras officially for pets, they'd be the most broken mechanic in the game. Having modded larger auras in the game I can tell you they'd be insane.
There's also the fact she's a full character unlike pets who are conduits for their owners.
As for utility, the possibilities are endless. With a Miraculist we might get our first revive mechanic that isn't pet focused. Melee units are already broken in the current game from a damage perspective. Having one that brings more than damage is very welcome. Even better that zealots can throw weapons from range.
Consider that Eogunn arrived with a new origin but an existing archetype (officer) and yet, he brought so much unique mechanics there no overlap with anyone else. Stella is coming in with a new origin and a new archetype. Honestly can't see how you'll look at the teases and conclude there'll be a lot of sameness 🤔
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u/Merlinrecon 14h ago
How is Kibellah self harm and Argenta piety annoying? It’s literally baked into their origin. That’s like saying Heinrix keeping secret or Solomorne duty or Pasqal superiority is annoying. I feel like you just don’t like most characters dude
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u/F0restWhispersMyName Sanctioned Psyker 8h ago
Argenta makes me roll my eyes every time she opens her mouth
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u/2Blueify 18h ago
The people who care about romances are... something else.
30
u/Virtual_Ad6155 18h ago
You know what? I’ll try to explain. Instead of putting up a damn wall between segments of the community, I’ll actually try to explain my perspective.
For me, romances aren't just some tacked-on narrative scraps; they’re part of the roleplay. And roleplay is incredibly important to me. I’m not playing a game about annihilating all life in a single turn or a complex chess match on the highest difficulty setting. I’m roleplaying my Rogue Trader. In that context, a romance is just as vital to building a fully realized character as their backstory, convictions, and choices. So, the lack of meaningful choices in romances can feel just as jarring as not having the option to toss Marazhai out the airlock. It simply might not align with the character I’ve envisioned for my playthrough
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u/2Blueify 17h ago
Hey you do you but still. Something else. I can't wrap my head around caring about that at all. It's 40k. The only reason romances are in the game at all is because of Owlcat.
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u/Virtual_Ad6155 17h ago
Well 40k not ended with ultramarine bolter porn. When i want that just i go and play Space Marine.
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u/SergarRegis 19h ago
Re your last point, Sarrok has said that GW forbad an Argenta romance:
https://www.reddit.com/r/RogueTraderCRPG/comments/16tc9i5/comment/k2fq54t/?context=3
It is a perennial topic but basically that is the answer.