This guy is really supposed to be the "ideal me" for 40k. Wihle this guy is many things I am not I feel that the ings he sares with me makes up for that. Here is a short back ground.
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Rouge Trader Jean Johannesson
Background:
Comeing from a small family on the mountainous forest world of Cantimatia, Jean was an a grave boy who prefured staying indoors and rather disliked to much physical actitvaty prefuring to stay as a desk and write about things, be they home made ideas for holo dramas or just his randomt houghts. However he was allways a pious boy and lerned his faith well and was even thinking about becomeing a Missionary but this comendbul path was cut short in laters years from Jean's poor mental health.
While hardly insane Jean was, and still is, often inlogical and has cincal, even nihilistic views on life, see the galaxy with what he call "Shades of dark grey" and beleavs that good and evil are what you make of them.
It was on his nineteenth birthday, a day spent dwelling on grim lines of though rather than hoasting a party, that a new life knocked on his door.
The Johannesson family had allways had a long history with the Cantamatian Homeguard, Cantamatia's PDF and SDF forces and was often shought after by recruters. It was during this time that a large invasion fleet on Xenos known as the Thyyrus were encroching on his home world and the Homeguard was asking for volunteers. A writer, Jean was at first glossed over by the recruters but as the war went on even Jean's helth could'nt keep him out of the war. Soon enough he was wearing a Homegurad great coat.
As the war progressed Jean rose through the ranks eventuly becomeing a Captain and close friends with the SDF's leader Commador Rukus and eventulay his number four. Most noteably however he met Rouge Trader Haiemonyamo Clien, patriarch of the Clien clan, Cantamatia's powerful rouge trader dinasty and even saved Clien's life twice in a row from Thyyrus bording partys on bord Clein's Ship The Faithful, forming a friendship that Jean would be glad of at the end of the war.
It was during this time that Jean's now famous paranoia and grim views towards life really begain to take hold, subtly at first but soon begain to apear in his evreyday life and even command style. The Thyyrus, well known for their mass casualtie tactics were face with wave after wave of SDF Homeguard ships and bording troops sent by Jean in the hopes that playing at their own game that the Homeguard could beat the squid like Xenos by drwoning them in a mass of bodies, shuch was Jean's stae of mind at the time.
Though Jean's tactics worked in the end it was well known at this point the Jean could be unstable at times and generaly a rather agrementuve commander.
As the war drew to a showdown, the Thyyrus begining to pullback to their few footholds on Cantamatia, Jean was still dismayed. Despite the fact The Cantamatia forces had basicly held on by their boot laces for most of the war, Jean was dissapointed that they had still needed help in pushing the Thyyrus back. Withe SDF now in controll of the spase around the planet, a victory acheaved only wityh the help of the Imperial Navy, Jean was now caught in loop of wondering what to do. The People of Cantamatia were in shock. While many praised the likes Commander Rukus and General McCovven, calling then "Hero" or "Victor", Jean on the other hand was called "Blood Spender" in refrence to his brutal tatics. Shuch as his mass wave attacks and attrition warfare. History would not be kind to Jean he knew.
Jeans friends shuch as Rukus and Jean's last few loyal officers and toops knew this too. It was them who desided that Jean would be for more useful and less dangerous to the SDF if he was gone and spirted him away then going as far as to make Jean and themselvs "dissipear".
Clein later hired Jean and his fellows on to his crew under false names and quickly set then to work.
Since then Jean has had a rather eventful life. Trader Clein passed a 25 years later from old age, at the ripe old age of 375 standard years. His family, includeing Jean, who had become something of an adopted son to the Clien Clan, gathered and begain to debate on who would scucced the leadership of the clan. It came as a surprise then that Old Clien had never gvin to much though to a true heir and said that it should be put to a vote.
It came down to Old Clien's Great great grandoughter, Vitra Clein, her cousin Belthar Grailtan or and much to everyone surprise, Jean.
In the end all the family member of the large Clien Clan cast their votes; 5 for Belthar, 7 Vitra and much to everyone sruprise 8 for Jean.
In the stun silance it was Vitra who, although bitter at her loos to an upstart who wasin't even of her blood, broke it proclaiming that the family had spoken and that Jean would take leadership, much to Belthar and Vitra's ire.
Vitra was not a happy person from that point on and gave Jean The Deep Pockets, wich Jean promtly renamed The Third Chance an crumbling old hulk that had once been a powerful cruser but had been striped doen and converted in to a large tradeing ship by her four time grand sire Firman Clien. Vitra giveing it to him in the hope that it would kill Jean in the end clearing a path for her to lead but every year she is dissapointed to Jean return to Nonalcan for the family get together.
As a Rouge Trader,Jean became a rather hard man to catch. However it was only a matter of time before the athoraties caught up with Jean and his crew. After of loading contraband weapons and supplies on a strugleing and distent coloany world called Gidion's Salvation, he and his crew were confronted by the Inquisition. At the head of the hunting party was Lady Inquisitor Victora Halhaupt. While Halhapt's Pro-Imperial law side was deeply disterbed by Jean's willingness to transport smuggled tech. However her Amalathian side was also impressed with his deep conservatisim. Very few people would break the law just to ship supplies to a far flung back water in an crazy effort just to try to keep in the Imperium.
"So all your underhanded activitys are for a good you think?" Halhaupt
"I like to think" Jean agreed
Halhapt Made him an offer then. She would erase their SDF records and give them all discharge papers for good mesure if they served her from then on as members of her small but skillfull network of agents acting are transport and muscle when needed.
Haveing been allready attacked by navy hunting partys and Comassiar teams Jean agreed.
Now as an Inquisitoral agent, Jean was quickly interdused to Amalathianism and Halhaulpt's "True-Amalathian" beleafs. However ofver time Jean as drifted away from Ture-Amalathianism and has instead becomeing more in line with Proteophobeism, wich had distanced Halhaupt somewhat.
As a Captain his general ability to gather friends despite his problems have served him well in life but quite often these people come and go after a while. His riches are few as well despite being known as one of the cheapest people in the galaxy, often finding ways to spend money on exspense trinkits and collectibles and books rather than saveing it. Even his own ship, the former battle cruser The Third Chance pays the pice for it, crumbleing even more than before, she is a rusting, delapadadted hulk drifting through space, Jean often refuseing to update tech or go in for minor repares calling it "A huge waste money". Even supplies are are a drab affair, Jean spending money on only the cheapest food, drink, clothing and weapons availabul, often leaving the crew decks with sparce bunks and rooms.
Jean is also known for mass press ganging unskilled labourers to to work the ships basic functions, though skilled officers are lacking due to the higher wage rates.
Allthough he is all that and has a extreamly deep seaded paranoia Jean dose have redeeming qualitys.
Namely his faith. One of the few things he did not cheap out on was the Chaple, built in a large converted unused cargo bay.
The many missionarys and preachers Jean employs aswell as the faithful members of the crew, includeing Jean himself, stalk the chapple grounds on a regular ship day.
Jean also made sure that a small, but well made, Mechanicus Shrine was built and a vast force of Enginseers were employed to oversee the ship. It is though by the crew that it is for that reason that The Third Chance is even still opperational.
Jean is also a friendly and compassionate man when one of his black moods isin't on him though he often choses to stay away from others unless he has too, makeing this fact unknown to many.
Jean cuts a rather ragged figure with a tattered and once very ornate Homguard Great coat and baggy clothing, long hair and scrappy beard. This often causeing people to think of him as a drunkard or some other kind of ragged person along those lines, even though the real truth behind it is rather simple, Jean reall dosen't care what he looks like.
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WS BS S T I WP SG NV LD
48 46 50 55 45 68 62 65 70
Weapons: Revolver with one reload, six Flechette rounds and laser sights, Sawn-off Pump-Act Shotgun (-5WT) preloaded with 8 inferno shells plus 1 normal, Short Sword, 1 frag gernade.
Armour: Mesh armour on chest and abdoman
Bionics: Crude bionic left ear
Other equipment: Motion Tracker
Skills: Dodge, Word of the Emperor, Knee to the Groin
It looks good so far, but a few things don't add up. A rogue trader's charter is very hard to get, not something given to any random lower commander in the planetary defence force. A battlecruiser is a massive warship, they would not just give something like that to a beginning rogue trader of low status. A single transport ship is what most of them get, and often they have to buy it themselves. And those things are massively expensive. To get a charter someone needs massive connection, most governors couldn;t get one if they wanted to. Someone like him would probably just get moved away to a safe place, or something would be slipped into his food.
You could have him hunting pirates later into his carreer and perhaps saving an old rogue trader from them. The man or woman is in need of an heir and makes him an offer in gratitude, he can be adopted. Of course he would have to become quite good friends with this rogue trader but that can be done.
A few good point there guy. Hummm... I will change how he got the charter like you said thats a rather exalent idea. As for the battle curser I figure it's second hand pehaps from that same old rouge trader. Well see.
I chose said battle curser as quite honestly I like the old battlefleet gothic rgoue trader and figured that i could build a small fleet of broken down ships to suplamet The third Chance (I know lame name) in all her rusted glory.
What's wrong with a regular-sized cruiser, rather than a battlecruiser? I mean, while it's certainly not impossible for a Rogue Trader to acquire a battlecruiser if he's cunning/ambitious enough, it more or less commits him to being bellicose rather than simply ambitious or influential (even if it is a wreck)
True. I may very well do that. But she not much of a battlecurser any more really. Also fluff updated.
Ok so I know it's been a long time and I normaly do thrednomancy but I have been in the prossess of revamping Jean's fluff and stats.
Also ferther crew consepts:
Rukus-Master Armsman, former SDF commander
Vincino Patcherham-Former Guard trained in water warfare and ex-schola teacher
?-Navagator
?-Astropath
?-Enginseer
If you have anyadvice of crewconsepts or Jeans fluff so far let me know. Of course All forms of C&C are wellcome