Lord Captain Questionnaire
Been scouring some oc questionnaires and tried to compile one of my own; the setting-independent questions are still a wip, and these ones are the questions specifically for the Rogue Trader context.
Feel free to add onto them or use them as an ask game if you like, and shoot me an ask if you'd like to see me answer any of them c:
I. The Warrant & Sudden Ascension
Who were they before the Warrant and what do they think of that person now?
When they learned they were an heir, did they feel chosen, trapped, or disposable?
What did they believe the Warrant was before inheriting it and what is it to them now?
Do they treat the Warrant as a sacred trust, a legal loophole, or a personal shield?
What part of Rogue Trader authority still feels unreal or undeserved?
Do they believe they deserve this title? What lie do they tell themselves about being “worthy”?
What responsibility tied to the Warrant frightens them most?
What freedom granted by it do they indulge in the most/without apology?
Is Rykard Minoris their first decision that still haunts them? If not, what is? Do any of their decisions even haunt them at all?
If the Warrant were revoked tomorrow, what would they miss most: power, protection, or purpose?
II. Theodora von Valancius & Inheritance
What did they truly feel about Theodora before her death?
What emotion do they associate most strongly with her memory: admiration, resentment, fear, gratitude, or grief? Something else?
One lesson from Theodora they try to follow? One they refuse to repeat?
Do they see themselves as her successor or her replacement?
Do they ever fear becoming her? In what way?
It’s implied not all potential heirs were brought aboard ship, only the exceptional ones. Do they believe Theodora chose them for who they are? What do they think made them exceptional in Theodora’s eye?
What about them now would disappoint Theodora? What would secretly please her?
What unanswered question about Theodora still gnaws at them? Do they regret not knowing her as a person?
III. Their Background (Pre-Warrant Life)
What habit or instinct from their old life refuses to die?
What part of their former self feels incompatible with being a Rogue Trader?
What unexpected skill from their past makes them better at this role?
What or who did they lose the moment they became heir?
What do they miss about their old life? Do they miss being “no one special"?
What would people from their old life think of who they’ve become?
What part of their upbringing still shapes their moral instincts?
What lie about their past do they allow others to believe?
What truth about their origins would shame them if exposed?
If they could return to their old life for one day, would they? And what would they do?
IV. Faith & Heresy
How genuine is their faith in the God-Emperor?
Do they see themselves as an instrument of His will or an exception?
What Imperial law do they bend or break most easily, and how do they justify it?
What line, if crossed, would make them fear they’ve become a heretic?
How do they rationalize the use of xenos, mutants, or forbidden tools? Does it even bother them to use these tools?
Whose judgment do they fear more in the end: the Imperium’s or the God-Emperor’s?
What doubt would get them killed if spoken aloud?
Do they believe the Emperor would approve of them, specifically?
V. Power & Responsibility
How do they emotionally process being responsible for and ruling over entire worlds?
When do deaths stop being numbers to them? How many need to die for it to affect them?
Which suffering hits them harder: an individual’s, or a population’s?
What kind of casualty report hits them hardest?
Do they think about the people under their rule before decisions or only after? Or not at all?
Do the sacrifices they order stay with them? How do they cope with their weight?
What kind of ruler do they fear becoming?
What kind of ruler do others believe them to be?
Is there anything that would make them step down?
VI. Dynasty & Legacy
What do they want their dynasty remembered for?
What would they consider a failed legacy?
What matters more to them: expansion, stability, or survival?
Bloodline or chosen successors, which do they value more?
What would they sacrifice to secure the dynasty’s future?
What part of the dynasty’s history embarrasses or troubles them?
Do they see themselves as another link in a chain or a turning point?
What truth about their reign do they hope history forgets? What stories do they hope will be told about them?
If the dynasty ends with them, what does that mean to them?
Does their dynasty end with them, in the end? Do they have children? Who with? Alternatively, how do they secure an heir?
VII. The Retinue
VII.I Trust & Tension
Which retinue member do they trust the most?
Who do they respect but find irritating?
Who challenges them the most, and how do they respond?
Who do they secretly feel inferior or inadequate around?
Who do they secretly feel superior to and look down upon?
Who do they feel most protective of?
Which retinue member do they enjoy spending downtime with the most?
Who would notice a lie from them first? Which retinue member understands them the best as a person?
Who do they rely on most for political and personal guidance? Do they trust them as a person, and/or do they trust them as an advisor?
Do they trust anyone from their retinue with life-or-death decisions?
VII.II Authority & Conflict
How do they handle open disagreement or disobedience?
Who could make them lose their temper the fastest?
Who do they fear might betray them and why?
Who would they voluntarily follow if that person had become the Rogue Trader instead?
Which crew member makes them question their own morals or decisions the most?
VII.III Personal Bonds and Affections
Who do they like? Who do they merely tolerate? Who can they not wait to be rid of?
Who do they feel closest to, emotionally? Who do they fear losing the most, and what would they do to prevent it?
Who do they admire and secretly wish they could emulate? What parts of them specifically?
Who makes them feel at home? Who brings out the private side of them they show to almost no one else?
Who do they feel responsible for beyond duty?
Who do they rely on when their duty feels too heavy? Who do they confide in?
Who are they willing to forgive easily, and who do they hold grudges against?
How do they celebrate or mourn milestones within the retinue?
Who reminds them of their past life? For better or worse?
… bonus “and why?” for any and all of these. Explain and expand on them as in-depth as you’d like.
