Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader

"For millennia, our esteemed dynasty has served the Imperium of Man, bringing forth worlds from the darkness of the void and into the light of Holy Terra. Yet I am but an instrument of His Will, a sword in His Hand. In His Great Wisdom, the Emperor bestowed a sacred mission upon his followers most true: to explore the frontiers uncharted; to claim relics unthinkable; to thwart threats unnumbered. And I too come the day I dread will leave this mission to you my heir. What will your fate be? One of service? Of glory? Of heresy? One can only hope... it will be better than mine."

―Theodora von Valancius^[1]

Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader is a role-playing video game currently in development at Owlcat Games and set in the Warhammer 40,000 universe. It's the first ever role-playing video game set in Warhammer 40,000.^[2] The game is slatted for release in 2023,^[3] on Steam, GOG and Epic Games Store.^[4] A console version is also planned at some point.^[5]

Setting[]

Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader put the player in the mantle of a Rogue Trader, bound to explore the Koronus Expanse at the helm of their own voidship.^[2] Environments includes Agri-worlds and Forge Worlds, with enemies ranging from Chaos cultists to Xenos.^[6] The tone of the game will range between exploring unknown and foreign worlds to witnessing "slice of life" of the civilian aspect of the Imperium of Man.^[7]

The game will start with the player as a distant relative to Theodora von Valancius, working at her service but called upon to replace her as she disappear after having to face problems from her past^[7] (something that might have to do with Necrons)^[1]. Taking upon the responsibility of a von Valancius Rogue Trader, the player will travel from world to world in the Koronus Expanse while it grows more and more dangerous for reasons related to Theodora's disappearance. To get to the bottom of it, the Rogue Trader will have to follow the footstep of their predecessor and learn what happened to her.^[7]

Gameplay[]

Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader is a role-playing turn-based video game, where choices and decisions impact the world. Along with the central player character (the Rogue Trader) comes a diverse panel of companions,^[6] allowing the player to bring five of them on missions. Players will have access to a set of character creation tools for the Rogue Trader, and will be able to develop the main character^[7] (through a career system reflecting both the background and progression)^[8] and its companions further during the course of the game, through gameplay and story choices, including toward a more heretical path.^[7] The progression is supported by a system of levels.^[8] Naval combat will also be part of the game,^[9] as well as several management mechanics related to the Rogue Trader's trading empire aspect.^[3]

Characters fall into one of the classical role categories: damage, tank, support and caster (as Psyker), and can specialize in wielding one category of weapons among full melee, ranged (including aoe weapons, snipers, auto-weapons) or a mix of ranged with melee.^[7]

The turn-based combat system is skill-based, with each companions bringing unique abilities to the battlefield. The progression system work on a system of careers, with each characters starting with a background and two basic careers. Careers consist in a "chain of choices", allowing a single career to provide various paths. Furthermore, different careers can affect each-other through synergy, and items also have some level of reactivity with careers.^[10] several companions share a basic careers at the start of the game, like adepts (Pasqal Haneumann and Idira Tlass), who study the battlefield to find opportunities, or "tank fighters" (Heinrix and Abelard Werserian), who provide protection. Through the game, the player will unlock new careers tiers: advanced and elite, each bringing more complexity and specialization.^[11]

During combat, a gauge called "Momentum" fill with each attack or healing action. Once completely filled it unlock the use of an "Heroic Act", an ultimate-like ability, but they can also be used before the gauge is complete for a price. One example is "Daring Breach", which allow a character to move and attack several times in a single turn. If used before the gauge is complete, the ability is called "Desperate Rush" instead, with the effect of stunning the character for 2 turns after. Ennemies also uses this mechanic, with unique means to fill it.^[11]

Combat also feature a cover system, with full and half-cover.^[11]

Development[]

Years before the start of Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader development, even before pitching the game to Games Workshop, Owlcat's employee had three campaign of the tabletop role-playing game Rogue Trader running. The tabletop game is serving as a main inspiration for the video game, without restricting the developers into a copy of its game design.^[7]

The game was announced by Owlcat Games on June 1, 2022, during the annual Warhammer Skulls event,^[2] dedicated to promote Games Workshop affiliated video games.^[12]

While previous Owlcat games were conceived to focus on "real-time combat with pause", and turn-based was brought in later on,^[13]^[14] Rogue Trader is currently set to only provide turn-based tactical gameplay, allowing to "showcase characters more" as well as enemies, according to Creative Director Alexander Gusev.^[7] It will nonetheless be very similar to previous Pathfinder games by Owlcat Games.^[15] However, Owlcat hope to make turn-based combat more approachable to newcomers.^[16]

In the couple of months following the game announcement, several interviews with Creative Director Alexander Gusev were published, aiming at providing some early context to the game setting, with much emphasis on the liberty offered by the Rogue Trader as the main character.^[7]^[8]^[15] During Gamescom in August, journalists were shown combat gameplay for the first time, with the demonstration of two combat scenarii against Kabalite Warrior. Matt Purslow from IGN compared the game with the X-COM series, finding it was "tactically rich" and with great potential.^[11]

Music[]

On October 20, Owlcat Games released the game Main Theme, by Paweł Perepelica.^[17]

Founder Packs[]

While previous Owlcat's games were financed and supported through the Kickstarter crowdfounding platform during development,^[18] Rogue Trader is already fully funded,^[7] but want to allow players to weight in with the Founder Packs, launched the day of the game announcement. The service allows for early purchase of the game with various rewards,^[2] including access to Alpha (in 2022) and Beta release (in 2023) of the game:^[19]

Core Digital Pack ($39,99): PC Digital Copy (available on Steam, GOG and Epic Games Store), Beta Access and Discord Role.^[4]
Premium Digital Pack ($49,99): Previous rewards, set of 3 exclusive in-game items (Negotiator Pistol, Digital Las-Ring and Xeno-Pelt Cloak), Unique Voidship Model (Falchion-class escort frigate) and name in credits.^[4]
Ultimate Digital Pack ($69,99): Previous rewards, Digital OST (FLAC and MP3), Digital Artbook, ready-to-print A2 poster and name in in-game Shrine of Remembrance.^[4]
Developer's Digital Pack ($99): Previous rewards, Alpha Access, name in credits "Special Thanks" and in-game Alpha Supporter Bridge Banner.^[4]
Collector's Edition: To be announced.^[6] It will features a statue of Cassia Orsellio.^[20]