Rogue Traders, originally called Rogue Traders Militant during the era of the Great Crusade and the Horus Heresy, are unique and powerful Human individuals who serve as a combination freelance explorer, conquistador and interstellar merchant for the Imperium of Man.

They are hereditary Imperial servants and nobles, given a starship, a crew, and sometimes a contingent of Space Marines (in very rare cases) or troops of the Astra Militarum and carte blanche to roam those worlds of the galaxy that still lie beyond Imperial control or knowledge.

In their task of exploring and exploiting the still-uncharted regions of the galaxy for Mankind, Rogue Traders might come across worlds harbouring long-forgotten Human civilisations which will be later incorporated into the Imperium by official Adeptus Mechanicus Explorator fleets and expeditions of the Imperial Navy and Astra Militarum.

Other times they find empty or alien-dominated planets ripe for colonization, conquest or exploitation by the Imperium — and themselves.

The bearer of a sacred Warrant of Trade that empowers them to journey beyond the boundaries of the Imperium to trade, explore, and make war in the God-Emperor‘s name, a Rogue Trader is a unique figure in the grim darkness of the Imperium.

They may be a newly entitled power on the rise or hail from a long lineage of nobles and voidfarers, but all bear their titles with pride, striking out into the unknown in search of fortune and glory.

A Rogue Trader is a power unto themselves in the dark voids, master of all they survey — at least as far as their force of arms and sharpness of wits can press the claim.

A Rogue Trader can be many things but whether standing as diplomat before a planetary ruler, cutting a shadowed deal in a void station undercity, bellowing orders amidst an armed host set upon plunder, or striding the bridge of a mighty starship, they remain one thing above all — free.—The Gaffer

—

The Corvus Cluster is a Warhammer 40K blog documenting our gaming adventures in the fantastical sci-fi universe of Games Workshop, with crossovers to Frostgrave, HP Lovecraft’s Chulhu Mythos, and the World of the Witcher.