Noble Born

“Some things can be taught, others acquired by force or trade. But they are all
inconsequential. The only thing that truly matters is the lineage of your blood, the noble
worth that flowed in your veins from the very day you were born.”

The high nobility of the Imperium are an enormously wealthy and powerful elite, a breed
apart from the common masses they rule. Many noble houses span the stars in an
intricate web of kinship, arranged marriages, and political alliances that ensure power
and influence will ever continue, even if the fortunes of a single world fail. The products
of centuries—or even millennia—of tech-assisted breeding and cultured refinement,
these noble lineages hold the history of the Imperium itself in their blood. They are the
finest that humanity has to offer—or so they would have you believe, at any rate.

Nobility of birth has never been a guarantee of good character, and for every example
of true enlightenment or greatness, there exist dozens of capricious, self-obsessed
noble scions who prove, by their base failings, that bloodline is no measure of
superiority in the Imperium. Worse still than the dissolute idlers and petty tyrants are
those nobles whose dark inclinations spill over into heresy and other forms of true
malignancy, often for no better reason than boredom or a sadistic love of power. This
last supremely dangerous group are the cause of many Imperial woes.

From almost their first breath, those born to the high nobility are schooled in the role
they must play and how they must play it. Their fine tutelage covers not only the details
of history, commerce, and power-politics, but an education in the finer points of taste
and etiquette. How to wear a mask of one’s own choosing, how to give an intended
slight, how to curry and mete favour, how to defend one’s honour, and how to comport
oneself are all lessons deeply ingrained. In some great families, these arts have darker
nuances yet—such as the correct use of poison, a well-executed betrayal, and the
employment of assassins.

Connected, socially skilled, highly educated, and able to move in the high circles of
Imperial society, those of noble blood are frequently as ruthless as they are charming
and as dangerous as they are well mannered, making them skilled and subtle members
of a Rogue Trader’s retinue.

Noble Born Characters

You were born into wealth and privilege, educated by tutors, and tempered by spiteful
intrigues. You know how to move in the high circles of Imperial society, you know how
to bend others to your will, and you have never been touched by the harsh life endured
by common citizens. You may be an honourable and faithful soul, well aware of the
duties your station imposes on you, or a dissolute, apostate rakehell who cares naught
for the low-born. Either way, the risk and the power of a Rogue Trader’s dynasty beckon
to you.
Characteristic Modifiers: – 5 Willpower, + 5 Fellowship
Starting Skills: Noble born characters begin play with Literacy (Int), Speak Language
(High Gothic) (Int), and Speak Language (Low Gothic) (Int) as untrained Basic Skills.
Etiquette: Nobles are schooled in how to comport themselves in all manner of formal
situations. They gain a + 10 bonus on Interaction Skill Tests when dealing with high
authority and in formal situations.
Legacy of Wealth: To be born an Imperial noble is to inherit a legacy of staggering
wealth. Even a scorned scion enjoys access to resources beyond the wildest dreams of
the toiling masses. This adds + 1 to the group’s starting Profit Factor.
Supremely Connected: Nobles have extensive connections, and they know that
dropping the “right” names into a conversation can open more doors than a fistful of
Thrones. A starting noble born character begins play with the Peer (Nobility) Talent.
Also, to reflect his family’s powerbase, he also gains one additional Peer from the
following list: Academics, Adeptus Mechanicus, Administratum, Astropaths,
Ecclesiarchy, Government, Mercantile, Military, or Underworld.
Vendetta: Every noble house has its sworn enemies and rivals who would do it and its
members harm. Even the protection of a Rogue Trader’s mission merely forces those
who wish you harm to be a bit more cautious and subtle in exacting their vengeance. As
a result, starting noble born characters have powerful enemies, perhaps in the shape of
a rival noble house or some other powerful group. The details of these enemies are left
to the player and the Game Master to define, working together to create a formidable
threat. Whilst they do not dog the character’s steps at every turn, these enemies aim to
inconvenience, harm, or kill him whenever he crosses their path. The noble character,
of course, is free to return the favour when it’s expedient to do so.
Starting Wounds: Noble born characters double their starting Toughness Bonus and
add 1d5 to the result to determine their starting number of Wounds.
Fate Points: Roll 1d10 to determine a noble born character’s starting Fate Points. On a
1–3, he begins with 2 Fate Points; on a 4–9, he begins with 3 Fate Points; on a 10 he
begins with 4 Fate Points.

Vaunted
You grew to adulthood upon the spire of wealth and privilege that towers, in some cases
literally, high above the common Imperial masses. You expected their obedience and
lived upon the fruits of their toil, surrendered to your extended family in solemn fealty. It
was an upbringing amidst proud scions, wastrel lords, and high-priced retainers of
silent, watchful competence. All the distractions available to the wealthy, bored elite
were arrayed before you for the taking, day after day—a panoply of decadence to
enervate the body and transport the mind. Those were years of fantastical exhibitions,
sordid entanglements, strange drugs, conspiracies for the sake of show, mindless
rivalries, and carefully hidden violence.

Effect: You gain the Decadence Talent and a bonus of + 3 to Agility or Fellowship (your
choice). You suffer – 3 Perception and 1d5 Corruption Points.

Zealot
 You possess faith so great that it has carried you far beyond the mundane life that
would otherwise have been your lot. Whether it is something that has always been a
part of you or was born in you from amidst a battlefield or came to you in a revelation,
where others merely believe, you have certainty. It is this faith that has led you on a
pilgrim’s path to the stars, where you will bring the God-Emperor’s will to the unbeliever
and the needy, to protect the righteous and punish the enemies of mankind.
Effect: Choose one of the following results and apply it to your character.

 Blessed Scars: You gain + 10 to Intimidate Tests and – 10 to Charm Tests, and one
poor-Craftsmanship bionic (you may spend 200 xp to upgrade it to common-
Craftsmanship or a total of 300 xp to upgrade it to good-Craftsmanship).
 Unnerving Clarity: You gain +5 Willpower. You also suffer your choice of – 5 Fellowship
or 1d10 Insanity Points.
 Favoured of the Faithful: You gain + 5 Fellowship and the Peer (Ecclesiarchy) Talent.
You suffer – 5 Toughness.
Ship-lorn
For those who ply the void, there are few things that provoke as much fear in them as to
be robbed of their starship, to have the very crux of their identity cruelly taken from them
by sudden destruction or betrayal. Whether by shipwreck, enemy action, or darker
reasons such as mutiny or deliberate abandonment, there are few more terrible fates for
an Explorer than to have been a castaway without help, either on a strange world or,
worse yet, lost in the icy grip of the cold stars. It takes a remarkable individual to survive
such a fate, capable of drawing on reservoirs of resolve and self-reliance few can hope
to muster, but such endurance can be a two-edged sword. To others who travel the
stars and brave the tides of the empyrean, you are marked out and distrusted for
surviving what you should not have endured, and the void born whisper that your ill-luck
will follow you wherever you go. You care not, for every day you stride the deck of a
ship and see another star dawn is another step taken in scorn of the doom you have
escaped.

Against All Odds: You gain the Survival Skill (or increase it by one level if you already
possess it) or the Dark Soul Talent. Additionally, whenever you spend a Fate Point to
recover Wounds, you may re-roll the dice if you wish but must accept the second result
even if it is worse.
Ill-starred: Reduce your starting number of Fate Points permanently by – 1.
Additionally, you suffer – 5 on Fellowship Tests when interacting with the void born,
Rogue Traders, and other voidfarers who are not personal friends, if they have heard of
your background and reputation.

Vengeance
Vengeance burns within your heart, flaming afresh in your veins each time you wake
from dreams of knives and murder. You seek revenge against those who have wronged
you. That desire gnaws at you, haunts your sleep, and shadows your every action. All
must toil to live, but with each step you take, you ask yourself: “Is this a step closer to
my revenge?” The need rides you, and it will do so until the day you stand above the
bloody corpses of the last of your enemies. And what then? It matters not, now, for that
day is far yet, and the path long. If retribution consumes you entirely between now and
then, making a ghost of the man you once were, then that is a price you are willing to
pay.
Effect: You gain the Hatred (choose one) Talent.

Power hidden is powermultiplied.., believes in disguising power, not all cards on the table

Shard of stained glass on a necklace