Endless Possibilities, Endless ProfitsA Preview of The Koronus Bestiary, an Upcoming Rogue Trader Supplement
“Do not waste your fear on the unknown, for in Koronus we have known terrors aplenty to fill your nightmares."
–Seneschal Venton Tiebolt
In December, Fantasy Flight Game announced the upcoming release of The Koronus Bestiary, a supplement for Rogue Trader. This comprehensive tome features art and descriptions for a range of foes, including Shadowkith, Thornmaws, Void Krakens, and others...plus a Xenos Generator that allows players to create alien species as varied and dangerous as they can imagine!
Some months have passed since we last previewed the pages of this terrifying tome; unexpected issues with the printing process unfortunately delayed its release. Now, however, The Koronus Bestiary is back on track, and its deadly predators will begin stalking local retailers in the middle of July.
In our past previews, we’ve surveyed the most vicious beasts of the Expanse, the cunning plots of sentient xenos, and the vile warp spawn that prey on the souls of humanity. Today, we’re pleased to present a Designer Diary by writer Jordan Goldfarb, who worked on the versatile Xenos Generator.
The Alien Wears Many Forms
Hello, Rogue Traders (and Arch-Militants, Astropaths, Navigators, and the rest). This is Jordan Goldfarb, a writer for The Koronus Bestiary. The Warhammer 40,000 universe is a huge place, with all sorts of alien denizens lurking throughout, and it was rather difficult fitting all the material you might want to have for tackling it. If any single tome could do the job, it would have to be this one. In addition to covering the more archetypal alien races, The Koronus Bestiary has an expansive set of guidelines, suggestions, and random generators for making your own aliens to populate the Koronus Expanse.
The generators in The Koronus Bestiary use a detailed system of Species Traits to customize the alien life for your Rogue Trader game. Alien life can be found across all sorts of different worlds, evolving to create and adapt to unique ecosystems and environments, and the resultant creatures are naturally (or unnaturally) going to be radically different from humanity and from each other.
The goal I took to heart in writing this material was to make sure aliens stayed alien, both to humanity and to each other. Some fauna might not be too different from that of modern Earth except for acidic blood or a few extra legs, but these only serve to accentuate the sense of the Other you encounter when a two-ton mound of living rock starts spraying bio-electricity. And of course, as any loyal Imperial citizen knows, the only thing worse than a horrifying alien monster covered in tentacles and spikes is one that appears perfectly harmless…
The Grass Beneath Your Feet
Even the simple plant life of the Expanse can be a threat to unwary Explorers—or a chance to claim big profits. In The Koronus Bestiary, you’ll find all sorts of rules for plant-based aliens, from toxic, spore-choked forests to active foliage that make animal predators look positively lethargic. There are even Species Traits specifically for the more deadly forms of xenoflora.
The Flora Generator was one of my favorite parts to handle in the writing process. There’s just something so very Warhammer about a planet where the firewood can chop back, and the meadows thirst for the blood of grazing cattle. I anticipate a great deal of Profit Factor being sunk into Flamers and other brush-clearing devices once this book makes the rounds!
The Strange Faces of Opportunity
The Xenos Generator is not limited to feral beasts and deadly blooms. Sentient xenos races can also be created using the tools within. These are beings no less strange than their bestial counterparts, but far more open to bargaining with an enterprising band of Explorers. A careful and canny Rogue Trader can make great profits in such deals, assuming they can maintain control of the situation.
There’s a truly staggering variety of possibilities available through the Xenos Generator, and I trust fans of Rogue Trader will find every single one of them exciting. Get ready for the galaxy to get a lot more interesting when your GM starts making use of these tools in just a few short weeks!
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Endless Possibilities, Endless Profits
