Hello Rogue Trader fans!

Before I begin this designer diary, I’m thrilled to announce that Lure of the Expanse is shipping out of our warehouse this week, and will soon be coming to a friendly local game store near you!

With that in mind, I’d like to spend a little more time talking about Lure , and in particular, the adversaries found within.

Rogue Traders and their trusted companions are individuals with vast power, wealth, and influence. Beyond the reach of Imperial authority in the Halo Stars, they are bound by no laws but their own, and potentially the remit of their Warrant. Rogue Traders are free to trade with xenos, wage wars, and even scour planets with the weapons aboard their starships. While that is all very impressive, it does bring up the question—who is powerful enough to pose a threat to these larger-than-life individuals?

In Lure of the Expanse , some of the most dangerous threats the Explorers will find themselves pitted against are other Rogue Traders. While they are all quite competent individually, the true danger lies in the resources at their disposal. Each possesses their own starship (or in some cases, their own flotilla!), and their own vast wealth and considerable influence. And each of them sees the players as rivals in gaining the fabled treasure they know is theirs.

I’d like to take a closer look at one of the rival Rogue Traders in particular, the fellow on the far right. Jeremiah Blitz is a consummate rogue and charming scoundrel, originally a dubious dealer in xenos art objects, not a scion of a famous dynasty. Nobody knows for certain how he claimed a Warrant of Trade, but most stories claim he won it in a game of chance with a Sector Lord of the Adeptus Terra. With singular luck, Blitz left the game possessing nothing—save the promise of a favour of the Sector Lord.

Within the year, Blitz was granted a Warrant and a cruiser, the Ordained Destiny . In short order, Blitz has carved his name across dozens of sectors, with short-term deals and trade arrangements of dubious legality—not to mention vast sums of money from the outright illegal Cold Trade. Blitz is a man of action who relies on his own resources and is not afraid to plunge headlong into a situation. His primary motivator is personal wealth and fame, and he is only reliable as long as he is receiving a steady stream of Thrones. However, he is not unwilling to working with others, especially if it will get him something he could not claim on his own.

His ship, the Ordained Destiny , is a mirror opposite of the man. Where Blitz is cooly competent and not prone to flashy showmanship, his cruiser is gilded and ornate. Much of the hull is plated in gold-leaf, and huge statues of Imperial saints and heroes rise along the dorsal ridge. It’s said that the Ordained Destiny was the Sector Lord’s way of taking a petty vengeance on the scoundrel. If so, his plan seems to have backfired, as Blitz treats his ship with a backhanded but sincere affection...and has outfitted it with powerful weaponry.

However, rival Rogue Traders aren’t the only adversaries in Lure of the Expanse . A foe who strode the stars when man was still trapped on a single world moves against the Explorers. Ancient, mysterious, and powerful, these opponents have long foreseen the Explorers’ actions, and now gather to destroy them.

Rogue Trader is a roleplaying game set in dark gothic far future of Games Workshop's Warhammer 40,000 universe. Players take on the roles of explorers aboard a Rogue Trader's ship, searching for profit and adventure while discovering new alien cultures and threats in the uncharted regions of space.