Character Creation Complete Guide in Warhammer 40K Rogue Trader

• Weapon Skill (WS) – Determines your character’s melee combat abilities. Higher WS will make your character less likely to miss, and also more likely to parry attacks.
• Ballistic Skill (BS) – Similar to WS, but for ranged weapons. Greatly raises the accuracy of ranged attacks.
• Strength (STR) – Determines how much damage your character deals with melee weapons.
• Toughness (TGH) – Affects the overall defense of your character. Higher TGH will lower the damage you receive, as well as make you less likely to get affected by physical status ailments.
• Agility (AGI) – Determines your character’s speed. Higher AGI allows them to take the initiative and greatly increases their dodge chance.
• Intelligence (INT) – Your character’s knowledge, it’s primarily used for skill checks. It’s important for support units as it raises their Medicae and Logic skills, allowing them to more easily heal their allies.
• Perception (PER) – How well your character perceives their surroundings. Greatly affects the Awareness skill, as well as increasing dodge chance.
• Willpower (WP) – A character’s mental strength. Required to learn psychic powers and to deal with the terrors found in space. Also helps with negotiations and resisting mental status ailments.
• Fellowship (FEL) – A character’s social ability. Mostly used to persuade and coerce others in conversations, allowing you to befriend or charm others.

• Athletics – Mostly affected by Strength. Determines your character’s ability to traverse treacherous terrain.
• Awareness – Mostly affected by Perception. Higher awareness allows characters to detect traps, hidden objects, and other secrets.
• Carouse – Mostly affected by Toughness. Determines your character’s ability to resist physical status ailments, such as poison.
• Coercion – Mostly affected by Fellowship. Determines your character’s ability to manipulate others to do their bidding.
• Commerce – Mostly affected by Fellowship. Represents your character’s business know-how. Higher Commerce skills might allow them to barter for deals.
• Demolition – Mostly affected by Agility. Allows your character to deactivate traps and use explosives to break obstacles.
• Logic – Mostly affected by Intelligence. Determines your character’s ability to form rational thoughts, solve puzzles, operate cogitators, and the like.
• Lore (Imperium) – Mostly affected by Intelligence. Determines a character’s knowledge of the Imperium’s history and tenets.
• Lore (Warp) – Mostly affected by Intelligence. Helps the character understand the nature of Warp entities, as well as psychic abilities.
• Lore (Xenos) – Mostly affected by Intelligence. Determines a character’s knowledge of known alien lifeforms. Also grants knowledge of alien tools, which can be used to disarm alien traps.
• Medicae – Mostly affected by Intelligence. Governs a character’s ability to identify and treat injuries, making it a key skill for support units. Also improves the efficiency of Medikits.
• Persuasion – Mostly affected by Fellowship. Determines a character’s ability to negotiate and convince others. Unlike Coercion, this is a more peaceful skill that relies on making good impressions.
• Tech-Use – Mostly affected by Intelligence. Determines your character’s technological know-how. Higher levels allow characters to use and repair complex machinery, as well as to hack doors and cogitators.

• Death World – The homeworld of survivalists and fighters. Characters from this world forgo INT and FEL in favor of physical stats. Their Survival Instinct talent allows them to better survive wounds and also boosts their dodge and armor.
• Voidborn – Perfect for intellectual-type characters. Voidborn characters have extra WP and INT, but less STR. Their Fortune talent allows them to reroll certain failed skill checks, such as dodges and parries.
• Hive World – A homeworld with large dense cities. Characters from this world have higher FEL and AGI, but lower WP. Their Strength in Numbers talent empowers them when they’re surrounded by other creatures, even if they’re hostiles.
• Forge World – The world of skilled craftsmen. Less FEL than others, but more INT and TOU. They can pick from three starting talents: Subskin Armor to boost Armour, Locomotion System to boost AGI and Dodge, or Analytics System to boost Crit Chance.
• Imperial World – A homeworld ruled by the Imperium. They have no set stat bonuses. Instead, their Humanity’s Finest talent lets you choose any stat you want to give a +10 bonus to. This causes no penalty for any other stat, either!
• Fortress World – A homeworld engulfed in constant warfare. Characters from this world have extra PER and WP, but less FEL. Their Never Stop Shooting talent grants them a chance to get free turns after killing enemies.

• Astra Militarum Commander – An elite of the Imperial Guard. Gets extra PER as well as boosts to Medicae and BS. Their Regimental Tactics ability lets them buff adjacent allies’ Perception.
• Commissar – Ruthless officer of the Officio Prefectus. Gets bonuses to WS, FEL, Coercion, and Athletics. They can use the At All Costs! Ability to boost their next attack, marking and weakening enemies.
• Crime Lord – A rebel who leads a life of crime. Extra boosts to WS, PER, Awareness, and Logic. Their Sure-Fire Plan talent grants them a versatile variety of bonuses at the start of combat.
• Ministorum Priest – A charismatic member of the Ecclesiarchy. Gets bonuses to TOU, WP, Lore (Imperium), and Medicae. They can use the War Hymn ability to grant extra momentum to their allies.
• Navy Officer – A member of the Imperial Navy. Gains extra AGI, FEL, Commerce, and Demolition. They get the Brace for Impact! Ability, which will boost the defenses of their nearby allies for one round.
• Noble – A member of the Imperium’s privileged elite. Gains bonuses to INT, FEL, Coercion, and Persuasion. Can assign one ally as a servant with the “You. Serve Me.” talent, which provides bonuses for the servant.
• Sanctioned Psyker – A member of the Imperium with strong mental powers. Gets bonuses to TOU, WP, Carouse, and Lore (Warp). They can raise their Psy Rating to acquire new psychic powers.

Basic Archetypes:

• Warrior – The main combative force, they focus on high mobility and melee combat. They’re resilient and tanky, making them perfect frontline units.
• Officer – Leaders who use their Willpower and Fellowship to bolster their allies. A support unit that primarily relies on buffing and helping allies.
• Operative – A cunning unit that uses their high Intelligence and Perception to find enemy weaknesses. They can deal high damage to single targets, debuff enemies, and penetrate defenses.
• Soldier – Masters of ranged combat. They rely on using cover and ranged weapons to obliterate enemies from a distance.

Advanced Archetypes, can be learned after Level 16:

• Assassin – A unit that focuses on quickly taking out single units with extremely damaging attacks, perfect for prioritizing targets. Can be learned by Warriors and Operatives.
• Vanguard – A powerful frontline unit. Leaders who show their might by leading the charge themselves. Extremely resilient, but can also provide buffs to allies. Can be learned by Warriors and Officers.
• Bounty Hunter – Cunning individuals who focus on single targets. They prioritize critical hits and defense reduction, as well as positioning. Can be learned by Soldiers or Operatives.
• Master Tactician – Support units that can use momentum to bolster their own damage or buff allies. Can be learned by Soldiers or Officers.
• Grand Strategist – A support archetype that can deftly control the battlefield by buffing allies and debuffing enemies. Can be learned by Operatives and Officers.
• Arch-Militant – Master of all weapons, an extremely versatile unit that excels at both ranged and melee combat. Can be learned by Warriors or Soldiers.