“The Battlefleet serves as a cornerstone of the Imperium’s mighty war machine. You are descended from a long and noble line of naval families and warship clans. As a member of the Battlefleet of the Imperial Navy you have a proud lineage—you are mankind’s shield against the darkness of the void.”
The great battlefleets of the Imperial Navy are among the most ordered and disciplined organizations in the Imperium. The men and women of the Imperial Navy’s officer class
stand apart, even from other Void Born. They have their own culture, and descend from a long and noble line of naval families and ship clans that can trace their lineage back millennia. It is with great distinction that these members serve the Golden Throne, persecuting renegades and pirates in the name of God-Emperor of Mankind. Many battlefleet members can trace their origins to the rulers of worlds that administer the battlefleets’ ships. Here their families collect
and organise battle-won wealth, judiciously managing the spoils of war so that the great battlefleets may continue to serve the God-Emperor with distinction and honour.
LIFE IN THE BATTLEFLEET
The men and women of the Imperial Battlefleets are a proud, martially-minded people with a strong sense of honour. Crews live together on ship, eat together, and face the enemies of the Imperium together. Since they are trained from birth, they have knowledge of shipboard life
that surpasses many of the most knowledgeable void-born.
From the moment they are able, the people serving the Battlefleet are taught how to move about in zero gravity, deal with ship-board emergencies, and handle warp travel. As they mature, they progress on to more complicated pursuits such as learning ship-based weaponry, spatial navigation, and basic naval tactics. They learn the history of their ship and their Battlefleet, and they learn the pride that comes from being among the Emperor’s finest.
Members of the Battlefleets are a diverse and varied lot, but they have a few things in common with each other. They almost universally respect duty, loyalty, and integrity, and show great strength of character. Conversely, they despise those who show weakness, deceit, and those who are generally lazy and inconsistent. Compared to the Void Born of Chartist and trade vessels, they have a larger physical build, the result of living in more normal gravity conditions than that of their counterparts.
Members of the battlefleets are also more respected for their role as humanity’s protectors among the stars.
Battlefleet Characters
You were born to a life aboard ship. Nothing stirs your blood more than sailing the void or facing pirate ships with gun batteries locked. Yours is a tradition of bravery, honour, sacrifice, and adventure. The void is where you truly feel alive.
You have grown up within the confines of the Battlefleet and as such you are confident, arrogant, loud, and brash—with the skills to back it up. You see yourself as born leader and commander, and a Rogue Trader’s ship offers both a desired challenge and a chance to write your legacy amongst the stars.
Characteristic Modifiers: + Willpower; + Fellowship; – Perception
Starting Skills: Battlefleet characters begin with Common Lore (Imperial Navy) (Int), and Speak Language (Battlefleet War Cant) (Int) as Trained Skills.
Officer on Deck: Battlefleet characters are generally officers, and as such they are used to giving orders and having those orders obeyed. All Battlefleet characters gain a +5 bonus to all Command Tests while aboard any spacecraft.
Void-Born Ancestry: Members of the battlefleets are closely-related to the Void Born, and their service provides opportunities to hone a Void Born’s innate abilities. A Battlefleet Character may choose Navigation (Stellar) or Pilot (Space Craft) as a Trained Skill. They also gain Void
Accustomed (see ROGUE TRADER, page 19).
Ship-Bound Fighter: Living and training on a spacecraft is vastly different than living and training on the ground. Because of the close-in nature of ships, Battlefleet characters are unaccustomed to fighting in open spaces or on the “dirtside” of planets. While they are on a planet they suffer a –2 penalty to Initiative Tests and double the Ballistic Skill penalty for firing weapons at Long Range or greater. These penalties don’t apply to the character if they are inside a tunnel or other confined space.
Starting Wounds: Battlefleet characters double their starting Toughness Bonus and add 1d5 to the result to determine their starting number of Wounds.
Starting Fate Points: Roll 1d10 to determine a battlefleet character’s starting Fate Points.
On a 1–6, he begins with 3 Fate Points; on a 7–10, he begins with 4 Fate Points.
Ultima Tectum 