Dominic Prospero, the Rogue Trader – Steal this Background

This background is written for Rogue Trader, a far-future science-fiction roleplaying game from Fantasy Flight Games set in the Warhammer 40,000 setting. Rogue Traders (and their key crew members) are larger-than-life individuals who enjoy a much greater freedom and prosperity than the teeming masses of people living more pedestrian (and controlled) lives across the million worlds of the Imperium.

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Dominic Prospero brought no end of problems to his father, Arcturus, patriarch of a merchant family that once enjoyed more prosperous days. A smart child, Dominic learned all that his tutors taught, but always wanted to know more. This always seemed to take him in pursuit of forbidden knowledge. One tutor tried to temper this brashness of youth by having Dominic study his family’s history. Oops.

Dominic learned of the exploits of one of his ancestors, Angelo Prosperatus, a Rogue Trader. Angelo had tamed an entire sector of space, the Avernice sector, and established a closed-loop economy that had prospered over the generations. He also maintained an uneasy truce with the Eldar, an enigmatic alien race. Even though most of his followers would have gladly killed the aliens, Angelo was able to keep them in check. As he approached death, he knew none of his descendants were strong enough to carry on his legacy, so he nominated a governor and returned to the core of the Imperium and founded a line of nobility. Unfortunately, generations of descendants squandered their heritage and eventually lost their nobility through complicated political machinations.

Dominic’s tutor warned Arcturus of the young man’s interest in the Eldar. Not wanting to have the family accused of heresy, Arcturus paid off Dominic’s tutors and assigned him to Dominic’s older brother, Ricellius, heir-apparent of the Prospero Trading Combine. With Ricellius not knowing the full details of why Dominic came to him, it was easy for Dominic to convince Ricellius that he should send Dominic to the far-off Avernice sector to put as much distance between him and the family as possible.

Ricellius granted Dominic’s request and put him in charge of a merchant ship to head out to the Avernice sector. Captaining the “Star of Avernice” and armed with a forged Warrant of Trade (the Imperial document granting the recipient all of the rights and privileges available to a Rogue Trader), Dominic is off to seize his destiny.

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